A yoga “master” to some, counselor Ms. Carqueville has had nine years of experience with different types of yoga. Since it’s worked so well for her, Carqueville decided to start an eight-week yoga and stress relief group for freshmen and sophomore female students with counselor intern, Ms. Jones.

“The funny thing is yoga’s been around for thousands and thousands of years, but it’s not really something that’s been in mainstream practice until recently,” Carqueville said.

Jones described the yoga group as one that’s designed to to help students understand their stress through yoga techniques, meditation and breathing. The group will also have the subject of girl empowerment weaved within.

“We think that it’s important to help students understand who they are, empower them and also teach them ways in which to be comfortable with themselves,” Jones said.

Carqueville said that learned behaviors are going to be addressed within the group, such as examining a panic attack. This coping mechanism can be corrected through the stress relief group’s efforts,  according to Carqueville.

This is why the club encompasses freshmen and sophomores because the aspect of early intervention is brought in. According to Carqueville, the group may be unsuccessful for juniors and seniors who might be more set on their ways.

“There’s a lot of resources for junior and senior students; we’re doing a lot of college stuff and a lot of academic planning and things like that,” Jones said. “A lot of resources tend to get poured into the older students sometimes, so the sophomores kind of get lost in the mix. It’d be nice to reach out to them and offer them something.”

Sanya Hemani, Div. 164, is one of the club members of the yoga stress relief group. This is her first yoga experience.

“I’ve had a lot of trouble managing my stress because of school and expectations that are put on me from my teachers and my parents and of course, myself,” Hemani said. “I’ve been actually slacking off and my grades have been going down. I just really want to get back and focus and improve on myself. “

Carqueville said that the ideal group number would be 15 students. This number enables students to grow to be comfortable with each other and open up with each other. Beginner’s yoga will be implemented into the plan.

“One great thing about yoga is that you really can cater to what people can do, so if you have done it before, you can graduate to more elevated moves,” Carqueville said.

Carqueville said that each group will have a theme, such as “the importance of focus, the importance of positive mindsets, focusing on positive aspects of your life, building strength and confidence, acceptance, commitment and reflection.”

“Those are all of the things that we’re going to try to do, really highlight and utilize both physical strength as well as the social/emotional group therapy chat,” Carqueville said.

Meetings start after school on Thursday’s in the CCC. An introductory session took place on March 15.