Sondra Mulford, 37, a nurse who used to teach high-impact aerobics, has changed her routine to yoga.

"And I'm an adrenaline, sweat junkie," she laughed. "My flexibility was shot. I had hip pain when I ran. I couldn't run more than a mile. Now I'm back to running three miles again."

After only two yoga classes, she noticed a difference. As an occupational health nurse at State Farm Insurance Cos., it was her job to research the benefits of yoga and make a recommendation on whether the company should offer classes.

"We did some brown bag lunches to introduce it and we were blown away," she said. "We had to turn people away."

More than 400 signed up for five classes last fall so the company doubled the number of classes, held a lottery and started a waiting list.

She's seeing employees with lower blood pressures. Others say it's alleviated their back pain, they sleep better and can breeze through stressful work situations.

At a late Monday afternoon class, Janice McMillan of Normal, who's new to yoga, stretched out on the carpet in a high-ceilinged room used for storage in the Corporate South complex.

"I turned 50 this month and thought I'd do something special," she said. "This is great because it helps me relax. I've always had a problem with insomnia. This does help."

Zora Esposito, 45, said she used the deep breathing techniques before a meeting she was keyed up about and it worked.

"I've learned how to relax more on my own," she said. "It's low impact but yet you still feel a benefit. You even feel more energetic when you're not here.

"Everybody can do it," she added. "You don't have to be able to bend over backwards. You don't have to be coordinated."

Del Roberts, a communication coordinator "on a very big project," has been doing yoga twice a week since January. He also runs and lifts weights three to four times a week. His goal is to lower his blood pressure and learn to relax.

"People think it's about contorting your body. It's more about taking a motor boat and turning it into a sailboat. I tend to be a motor boat," he laughed.

The 51-year-old has been on the fitness path since he turned 50.

"I feel good being more in control of myself. It gives you confidence."

After a morning class at Bloomington's Main Street Yoga Studio, Leann Rasmus, a critical care nurse, said she uses yoga to deal with stress.

"I have teen-agers," she laughed. "And in my job, I'm lifting, twisting and pulling and I need to keep my body strong. I'm very go- go-go so aerobics wasn't something I needed to do. I needed something relaxing."

Twenty-three-year-old Tonya Keach of Bloomington has been taking classes less than a year but noticed a big change when she started alternating racquetball with yoga.

"You walk out of class and you're a completely different person," she said. "I am so much more at peace."

She scores standardized tests for grade-schoolers and goes to class twice a week.

"Physically, I'm feeling much, much better. It's constantly challenging me but I never feel overwhelmed by it. It kind of builds confidence. I've had people tell me I look really great. It's not so much physically I've changed but emotionally and psychologically. I'm more grounded."

Jill Turgeon of Bloomington, a 40-year-old mother of two, was in a physical rehabilitation program after her third back surgery when she asked her doctor about yoga. He told her to try it.

"It turns out a lot of physical therapy stretches are yoga," she said.

After going twice a week for the past few months, she's completely recovered, she said.

"I'm back to my old self. This has been the last little cherry on top to feeling good. Not to mention the feeling of well-being. I'm so relaxed I'm almost afraid to drive home after class."

(C) 2001 The Pantagraph Bloomington, IL. "Popular Classes Improve Flexibilty, Lessen Pain"
via Bell&Howell Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved

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