Free classes for fitness

Improve your health with free stretch classes

Residents in Barraba will soon be able to benefit from free stretch classes to help improve mobility, strength, balance and overall health, while also reducing stress.

Yoga teacher Kaz Bishton, from Selah Yoga, is running the free classes throughout May and June, thanks to funding from the Hunter New England and Central Coast PHN and support from the Bingara Node of the Southern Queensland and Northern NSW (SQNNSW) Innovation Hub.

Kaz said she was offering Sit & Stretch classes, as well as men’s-only stretch classes. “The one-hour sessions help people with their mobility, range of movement, strength and balance as well as offering breathing and relaxation techniques to reduce stress, tension and encourage improved sleep,” she said. “These gatherings improve your overall health and provide a great social outing. In regional areas like ours, it is so important to make time to connect with our friends and neighbours.”

Kaz said her men’s classes had proven extremely popular in the past, as they gave local men a place to catch up with mates and release some of the tightness in their bodies.

“Men are more inclined to put their health on the backburner, and only deal with issues as they become a problem,” she said. “As a result, men are more likely to develop and sustain back, knee and shoulder injuries. Thankfully, we are starting to see more men looking after their bodies – even professional sportsmen and teams now build yoga and pilates into their fitness regimes.”

Both the Men’s Stretch and the Sit & Stretch classes also teach relaxation techniques to combat the stresses of general life. This can help improve your sleep and better cope with day-to-day demands.

A recent participant started going to Kaz’s classes because his wife had noticed he was getting wound up with the stress of work and drought.

“I kept going because I realised the benefits of stretching and breathing to free up the tightness and strain that your body develops from stress and lack of beneficial exercise,” he said.

Janelle Schafer, the Bingara Extension and Adoption Officer with the SQNNSW Innovation Hub, said she was pleased to support this program of stretch classes for the local community. “Maintaining overall health and wellbeing is critical in managing the daily pressures of farming or living in an isolated area,” she said. “We’re very grateful to Kaz for offering this service – she is a highly experienced yoga teacher who understands the benefits that these classes can bring to men and women of all ages.”

Sit & Stretch classes will be held at:

• Barraba: Tuesdays, May 14 - June 25, 4pm - 5pm, Barraba Golf Club

Men’s Stretch classes will be held at:

• Barraba: Tuesdays from May 14 until June 25, 7 - 8pm, the Barraba Golf Club.

Numbers are limited for all classes and bookings are essential. Phone Kaz on 0429 647 928.