From downward dog to the warrior pose, City College Yoga Club helps students exercise mindfulness and let them have an escape from the day-to-day stress of college life.

“It’s nice to just stop studying, pull out your yoga mat and do some yoga for a little bit,” said club President Bianca Torrico.

The club ended the week with a calm and tranquil yoga session Friday, April 19 at the Maxwell Overlook on East Campus.

Torrico stretched with the group as teacher and master practitioner Rosabeth Dorfhuber guided the group through a physical and mindful meditation journey.

“I bring what I learn in workshops into my yoga mentoring,” Dorfhuber said

Techniques involving breathing and connecting with nature is what Dorfhuber incorporates to bring the group into a serene state.

Throughout the session, she guided students through their poses as kinesiology student and soon-to-be yoga instructor, Andrea Carriedo, watched and assisted Dorfhuber.

“It’s always good to have someone to help,” Dorfhuber said about Carriedo.

Carriedo is in training to become a yoga instructor, which requires 500 hours of practice with a certified instructor.

She is planning to practice and teach Restorative Yoga when she becomes certified, the style that Dorfhuber uses with the Yoga Club.

Students in the club appeared to be thrilled with the guidance they received from Dorfhuber and Carriedo.

“I’ve been doing yoga since I was 20-years-old,” said Douglas McKenna, a student, and member of the club. “It heals you and doesn’t just adjust things on the inside but the outside, too.”

Dorfhuber encouraged the group to connect with its surroundings when practicing their skills while overlooking the ocean, a sight she called “breathtaking.”

“People travel from all over the world to see this, we have it in our own backyard,” she said. “Have gratitude and give thanks for this, for what we have, our body, and our health.”

Focusing on the ocean was helpful for some of the students, who admitted that yoga isn’t as easy as it may seem.

“There’s a lot more to making your body flexible and balanced,” Dorfhuber said. “If you were to move a limb slightly, it would change your position, and the stretch entirely.”

When the meeting came to an end, students took a few minutes to calm down with some relaxing poses like the child’s pose to be fully stress-free.

The Yoga Club meets 2:15 p.m. Tuesdays in Physical Education Building Room 113.