It’s back to school time. And all over the US, millions of college students are heading back to the dorm, out to the quad, into the campus center – and for many, onto their yoga mats.
But not all colleges are created equal when it comes to providing access to yoga or mindfulness programs. So we made a list. We scoured the college reviews, student forums and too many syllabuses to name, and put together for you a rather unscientific list of the best traditional 4-year colleges and universities that would make a yogi feel at home.
10. Ball State University, Muncie, IN: often quoted in Yoga Journal, home to an annual wellness summit that includes Laughter Yoga, and blocks from Lotus Alternative Pain Center. Well played, Muncie.
9. Pratt, Brooklyn, NY: more than just an elective PE credit or fitness program, Pratt sees yoga as part of a holistic approach to healthy learning. Namaste to that.
8. SUNY Purchase: they keep a Kundalini lecturer on staff at this artsy campus, and if you need the counseling center to work on your dosha, they’re down with Ayurveda.
7. Reed College, Portland, OR: situated in a super green, creative nexus with an entire curriculum dedicated to ‘inquiry and self-inquiry,’ with a populist approach to yoga.
6. Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT: in addition to the campus’ attitude of radical acceptance, they offer a course in AcroYoga. For credit. Seriously.
5. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO: the faculty is in the middle of a study on the benefits of Bikram and the students are winning Yoga Asana Championships. Go Rams!
4. University of New Mexico at Taos: in addition to the Holistic & Healing Arts degree program, UNM-Taos offers accredited yogateacher training on campus.
3. Oberlin College, OH: consistently rated one of the healthiest, most liberal, most veggie-friendly and best colleges for “Birkenstock-wearing hippies.” Case in point: Yoga for Singing?
2. University of Vermont: the word ‘yoga’ appears on nearly 1,700 pages of the UVM website, which sounds about right on a campus with a Mind-Body Wellness Department and local yoga/meditation center directory.
1. University of California at Santa Cruz: 7 faculty mind/body teachers, dozens of weekly classes from meditation hikes to warrior yoga, in a city with possibly the most yoga studios per capita and a sunny, healthy disposition year round. They even claim to be the birthplace of organic farming!
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