Yoga helping homeless Manhattan students beat their blues

New York, Dec 25 (ANI): Yoga classes are not just restricted to the affluent lot of the society as many people believe - and Karen Nourizadeh, an instructor of the practice, has proved it.

Nourizadeh goes through stress-relieving positions for a group of homeless people in Manhattan.

Nourizadeh offers yoga class at an East Side shelter for many homeless people, who come wearing tattered clothes and tired expressions to practice yoga and try to centre their topsy-turvy lives.

"I really want them to take all that pressure and stress and throw it out the window," The New York Daily News quoted Nourizadeh as saying.

Every Monday, Nourizadeh teaches yoga at the Mainchance Drop-in Center on 120 E. 32nd St. from 2 to 3 p.m.

"I want to do yoga for people who really need it," said Nourizadeh.

In her class Nourizadeh teaches the students a series of basic yoga exercises to limber them up and relax their minds.

And the muscle stretching poses seem to have left her homeless students with a positive mindset, as five participants were peacefully chanting "Om" and most said they felt a calmness coursing through their weary bones.

According to Maura Cook, a volunteer coordinator at the center, homeless outreach workers have been spreading the word about the classes, which have drawn 15 to 20 participants.

"They've been through a lot. They don't really have the chance to exercise. Having someone like Karen come in and teach them absolutely means the world to them," Cook said of the people who have taken the class. (ANI)