School’s back in session. That means alarm clocks going off at 7 in the morning, staying up late studying for exams and trying to stay awake in class. And that means lots of stress.

There are many different ways to combat this, though, as a college student, you can’t always do that. Get enough sleep? Yeah, right. Take a five minute nap during the day? You’re lucky if you have five minutes of freedom. But there’s another way to help you fight stress, and can help you feel better about yourself in the process. Yoga.

What exactly is yoga, you may be asking yourself. Despite what you may have heard, yoga is not some hokey religion that has you twisting your body into strange shapes to worship some sun deity. Yoga is an ancient technique that helps relax your mind, body and soul. And it’s something that you can do at any time of day. The morning commute, right before you give a speech or at night before you go to bed.

“What we commonly call yoga in the west is technically hatha yoga,” says www.yogabasics.com. “Hatha yoga (‘ha’ means sun and ‘tha’ means moon) attains the union of mind-body-spirit through a practice of asana (yoga postures), pranayama (yoga breathing), mudra (body gestures) and shatkarma (internal cleasnsings). These body-centered practices are used to purify the body and cultivate prana and activate kundalini, the subtle energies of the body. Modern Hatha yoga does not emphasize many of these esoteric practices and focuses primarily on the yoga postures.”

Yoga can also help to improve knees injured in sporting accidents, aching backs from staying hunched over papers and books all day long as well as clear your mind and get you ready to either start or end your day.

According to Yoga.com, “Even if you have been introduced to yoga only recently and consider yourself a beginner, it’s never too early to start incorporating these ancient techniques into your daily routine. Yoga is a practice that will slowly unveil its benefits when applied on a regular and consistant basis. If your schedule doesn’t allow for a full practice session in the morning, set your alarm clock for 10-15 minutes earlier, and do a few rounds of Sun Salutations or any other sequence you have learned in class to get the juices flowing. Finish by sitting still for a few moments to set your intention for the day ahead. With your body awakened and your mind focused, set out into the world.”

But why this sudden trend in yoga? Sure, the practice of yoga has been around for thousands of years, but why has it suddenly gained enough popularity that yoga studios have opened up all over the country, and has people spending hundreds of dollars on yoga mats and yoga videos?

“Beginning about five years ago yoga became the ‘in’ thing to do because so many celebrities and TV stars began including yoga as part of their daily workout routine,” says coach Dennis Taylor, who teaches the yoga class here at UTM. “You were cool if you were into yoga.

“The discovery of the tremendous negative impact that stress has on our health is also a major reason for the rise in popularity of yoga,” says Taylor. “Stress relief, I believe, is the most important benefit of a good yoga practice.”

To get the new school year started off right and stress-free, a yoga class was offered this past Sunday morning to anyone who wished to take it, with Professor Marti Herdon instructing.

“We offered this class as a stress relief opportunity for those who enjoy yoga,” says George Daniel, director of the Student Success Center.

“I attended several confrences throughout the summer where yoga was offered,” says Trish Guy, a research associate for the Student Success Center, who was responsible for scheduling the yoga class. “I thought that it was something that students might be interested in. I hoped to get them interested early on so that they could have a safe and healthy way to reduce stress throughout the semester.”

There are many different types of yoga for you to try. There’s ashtanga yoga, power yoga, or the new hot yoga. You don’t need an instructor or even a video to do yoga on your own. And it will be able to help you, no matter if you run laps every day, or only count walking to and from the TV as your daily exercise.

“Another reason for yoga’s popularity is that everyone can do it, and everyone can benefit from it,” Taylor says. “The out of shape couch potato can benefit just as much as a great athlete can.”

So if you’re bogged down by stress, like most college students are, or you’re simply looking for a way to take off those few extra pounds you gained over the break, but you don’t feel comfortable enough to hit the gym, then yoga is something you’ll definitely want to try.

And even though the idea of setting our alarm clocks even just a few minutes earlier than usual is not an idea that most of us like, getting up and spending a few minutes doing yoga could help you take on another day with more energy and a clearer mind.