Weber State students gathered in the Shepherd Union building on Jan. 24 in an attempt to find comfort and healing through yoga.

The Women’s Center opened their doors to everyone of all skill levels to participate, with the hopes of creating a space to help people cope with trauma and stress. They provided yoga mats, along with water and fruit, to everyone that came. The yoga class was in connection with the Generation F* series, the Women’s Center’s workshop series on feminism.

The class was taught by current Weber State student Charley Whitney, who also teaches yoga classes at different gyms and dance studios.

Whitney explained the goal of the class was to inform people about yoga and help them to learn to manage traumatic and stressful situations, even if they’re just small.

“I know people who have had traumatic experiences and I’m especially moved by a lot of our military that come back with those traumatic experiences,” Whitney said. “I know yoga can be a form of therapy to help people get past those sorts of situations.”

Kinsee Gaither, the program specialist for the Women’s Center on campus, said the center always hopes that whatever event they put on will help build their support base and motivate people to keep coming back.

“We want people to figure out how to use yoga as a way to find empowerment, comfort and healing… because it’s different for everybody,” Gaither said.

The class was taught in a specific manner to help everyone attending feel confident and capable of overcoming any challenges in their lives, whether emotional or physical.

“I liked how it was very beginner,” said Tarica Bostick, who is completing her first year as a student at Weber State. “I am not very skilled at yoga, but she did it in a way that was easy for us to follow, and it was really comfortable to be here.”

Many of the students that came to the class were attending for the first time.

Carrie Stone, a senior at Weber State, expressed her gratitude for the class. “It was a lot of fun,” Stone said. “I’m glad I could be on campus participating in something I wouldn’t normally have taken the time to drive back to campus for.”

Gaither said they try to do a Generation F* every month, but that this is their first time doing Trauma-Informed Yoga.

“With each Generation F*,” Gaither said, “we try to cover a broad variety of topics. This year we’ve done a panel discussion with campus legal authorities about getting to know your rights as a student on campus. We’ve done film screenings around issues of reproductive justice and speakers talking about domestic violence.”

Each of these events is put on by the Women’s Center with the hope of reaching out to those in need and educating students about different issues happening today. Future Generation F* workshops will be posted on the Women’s Center social media and on their website at weber.edu/womenscenter.