Kali Gawinski is fit, but was surprised how much of a workout yoga is.

The MHK candidate is looking for participants in a study of the physiological benefits provided by practising yoga, which involves specialized breathing techniques, physical exercises and postures, and meditation.

“We’re comparing hot yoga to regular yoga, trying to determine whether they provide physical benefits on a par with more traditional forms of exercise,” says Gawinski. “Does yoga impact cardio-vascular fitness?”

In preparing for her research this spring, she decided to try yoga herself.

“I was a varsity athlete,” says the former long distance runner, who competed with the Lancer cross country and track teams. “I can tell you yoga is pretty tough, challenging in a very different way from sports.”

She is looking for volunteers new to yoga willing to try it for two months. They will receive free classes at the Downtown Yoga Studio and will have their health monitored—heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol levels—during the study period.

“I found a lot of prospective subjects are excited at the thought they will get to go in the BodPod,” the kinesiology department’s high-tech diagnostic tool, Gawinski says.

Her study requires volunteers, either male or female who are between the ages of 18 and 35 years and work out vigorously fewer than two times per week.

For more information or to volunteer, contact her at 519-253-3000, ext. 4984.