Prompt: Is yoga framed as more than exercise? In what ways is it suggested at your practice space that yoga can "empower" you? Why not run, or do zumba?

Response: Yes. Many times during a yoga class an instructor will make claims about benefits that only yoga can bring. When taking a class held at Stockton by an instructor named Mary, she stated multiple times that yoga made you more successful people. She stated that yoga was all about going with the flow of life and taking care of yourself, almost like a spiritual daily practice rather than just an exercise. She spoke about how we would feel all of our stress melt away, and that we were making ourselves better people by choosing to practice yoga on that night. These claims are not out of the ordinary. Yoga is the only exercise class I have experienced that makes claims to benefits outside the realm of physical fitness. Zumba may boast results about dropping fat, but it never tells people doing it that they are bettering themselves emotionally and spiritually by doing this.