Community yoga session shines a light on Men's Health Month
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Under the shade of a large tree in Milwaukee's Washington Park, community members and leaders joined together for a yoga workout Thursday morning as Men's Health Month continues.
"This is my first time really doing yoga for a full session," said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. "To actually get out here on the mat with, not just the people, residents of Milwaukee County, but to just be out here in nature, listening to the birds, listening to the wind, listening to the nature was definitely fulfilling for me."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while men making up 50% of the United States population, they make up 80% of suicides. Men in the U.S. also die, on average, five years earlier than women with leading causes, including heart disease, cancer and unintentional injuries.
For Milwaukee-native and martial arts/yoga instructor William Muhammad, a session like the one hosted in Washington Park can help your physical and mental well-being.
"Any type of exercise helps the body to produce dopamine and dopamine is that chemistry that helps you cope, it helps your mind respond and get over loss, get over grief," Muhammad said. "If we're not doing things in a healthy manner to produce the biochemistry necessary to combat those things, then we get overtaken by suicide and things like that."
Crowley echoed Muhammad's message, discussing the importance of being active and healthy in the community.
"We want to make sure that men understand the importance of, not just your physical, but your mental health as well," Crowley explained. "Yoga finds a way to encapsulate all of that with a bunch of movements; to stretch, to gain some strength, but more importantly, to challenge your mindset."
Along with yoga workouts, the event featured a resource fair for participants. Muhammad says events like this can help unify the community.
"It doesn't mean uniformity where we're all doing the same thing, but all throughout the city, if we were on just one accord, trying to get our mind on the same page: health," Muhammad said. "I think that helps benefit us all, being on one page, one mind, one goal."