Newsroom

Winter, 2007

Article Brief:
The Yoga, Empowerment and Service Club is being started at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) in order to address campus issues of violence aggression and stress, in addition to helping students to be more confident, creative and dynamic.  Leadership and service opportunities will be offered.  Several students have had amazing benefits from practicing yoga and breathing practices.  The Y.E.S. Club is affiliated with the Art of Living Foundation and will be offering the YES!+ program this October with an opportunity to travel to India for a service-learning and leadership program in December.

Yoga, Empowerment and Service Club Takes Life One Breath at a Time
By M.Stipkala

According to Ekaterina Jeleva, the founder and president of BMCC’s Yoga, Empowerment and Service (Y.E.S.) Club, “the reason for violence is isolation and stress.”  Jeleva, a nursing student at BMCC and a yoga teacher-in-training, is no stranger to stress in the past few years.  “My mother passed away.  I got angry and disappointed and had a lot of problems with my job and relationships,” she shares.  But then she found a course taught by the Art of Living Foundation.  She states, “it was an organization of volunteers helping with various programs.” At BMCC, Jeleva noticed, “after Virginia Tech, students and professors are angry – I decided to do something.” The Art of Living offered programs to the Virginia Tech community to give the chance to get rid of stress and recover from the trauma of the shooting there. Inspired by her experience through the volunteer-run, non-profit educational and humanitarian organization and its work, she decided to bring similar programs to empower and relieve students at BMCC.

The club’s mission is in response to the demand for better ways for BMCC students to care for ourselves and our community. The Y.E.S. Club’s mission is to share  programs and techniques that will give students the opportunity to learn simple, practical, yet powerful ways, not only to eliminate stress, but to become more at peace and confident.  “When stress falls away students are left with energy, positivity, creativity and the desire to give back to the community” according to Jeleva.

Many students may have heard of yoga, however not all have had an experience of yoga or its benefits. Yoga, meaning “union” in Sanskrit, is the ancient science of bringing the body and mind into harmony.  It’s an approach which offers a complete vision of one’s life which integrates physical, mental, social and emotional health. 

At meetings the club plans to explore yoga, mediation, the nature of the mind, and  nutrition, among other topics and issues. The club will also focus on leadership and service opportunities. “Our mind tends to hold onto negative events” Jeleva said.  “We can use our breath to change our mind and reduce our level of stress to be more helpful.” 

Events that the Y.E.S. Club will be bringing to BMCC this fall include, October 9th-14th, the YES!+ course, an innovative and dynamic educational and life skills program for students and young professionals.  “This program occupies you so you can be uplifted & connect with people.  It occupies your mind so you’re so you don’t feel isolated and alone” Jeleva said. Additionally, over the winter break the Y.E.S. Club will offer the opportunity for students to participate in a dynamic service-learning and leadership program in India.

When sharing about the YES!+ program, Ekaterina lists a number of benefits: tools to eliminate stress, rid the system of negative emotions, develop strong social and leadership skills, heighten awareness and increase mental focus, among others.  As a nursing major she finds the benefits well-founded through research studies about the physical and emotional benefits of the program.  And Jeleva is not alone in her experience of benefits.

Amy Spengler, a liberal arts major, said about her yoga practice of six years that “it awakens part of you. I don’t feel stiff.”  She also took programs of the Art of Living Foundation. She said “At that time in my life, I was looking for a change and anything that would better myself.  I was really shy.  I thought I’d give it a shot” Her experience was very positive.

“I felt safe there,” shares Brooklyn-born Spengler. “The environment makes you feel safe.  You don’t have to worry about the silly little things when you’re around people, the activities. All the little things added up and made it great.”

Overall, her experience of the course was very beneficial. “Before the course I had been through things.  I was very inside myself - very cautious and very protected.  It made me not as fearful of other people, and myself, too. It brought out this happy energy I had lost - and the desire to be friendly to people.” The desire to be friendly returned, she said. “It blossomed and has stayed since then.”

While some stress is healthy and worthwhile, like taking challenging courses to better ourselves or starting a new job, long-term, high levels of stress create a negative impact on the body and mind of any student.

This long-term stress can arise from many places, from navigating course loads and demanding schedules, social situations or new relationships, to family responsibilities or a job.  In addition, many students on campuses across the country have to navigate the reality of aggression and violence that can plague campus, as was the situation at Virginia Tech in 2006, and more recently to the community of Delaware State University.

Besides creating difficulty in focusing, low energy levels, and worry, students may seek out ways to alleviate stress, through drinking, recreational drugs, or promiscuous sex, all of which have high levels of risk involved.  Some studies have found that up to 60% of students suffer from some form of depression.  Overall, stress affects one’s body, health, relationships, communication and can create many more problems.  Yet, the source of aggression violence and depression are all the same - stemming from feelings of isolation, a weak sense of community, and lack of belongingness and responsibility.

The Y.E.S. Club aims to uplift all of BMCC through these programs which have helped transformed the live of people around the world.

For more information about the Y.E.S. Club contact:
Ekaterina Jeleva
ekaterina.jeleva@gmail.com