Math teacher Bobby Otto said he was excited about the greater opportunity to share his passion of yoga and expand his teaching skills by creating a yoga club.

A donation of old yoga mats from Lifetime Fitness in St. Louis Park will help make this possible.

Otto said this donation arose after hearing from his instructor Corrine Saintey, the head of yoga at St. Louis Park Lifetime Fitness, that Lifetime Fitness was getting new mats, and he asked if they would consider donating the old mats to Park.

“After (yoga) class one day, Corrine was talking about how they were getting new mats delivered, and I asked her if they were doing anything with the old mats,” Otto said. “She said that they weren’t, so I asked if they would want to donate them to the high school.”

Senior Marco Giovanelli said he’s interested in attending the class because he thinks yoga is a nice way to destress.

“Hopefully going to his stress-free yoga class would reduce my stress enough to make me more productive that day,” Giovanelli said.

Senior Gabby McCaa said she believes having this yoga class makes yoga more accessible for high school students.

“It’s a way for high school students to stay active and work on their bodies without having to pay for an expensive yoga class,” McCaa said.

According to Otto, the yoga mats are two-years old but in good condition since Lifetime Fitness cleans its mats regularly.

“The nice thing about Lifetime is they are able to wash those yoga mats, so they are disinfected a bit better than most yoga mats might be,” Otto said.

Junior Miriam Hope said the yoga sessions will benefit high school students because they will help relieve stress and encourages other teachers to share their passions with their students.

“I think it’s a good stress reliever, and I think all teachers should think about pursuing their hobbies in a school environment,” Hope said.

Otto said being able to provide yoga mats will help more students participate in yoga.

“I think it will greatly increase the participation because there (are) only a few things that stop people from coming to a yoga class and a mat is one of them,” Otto said.