It’s just after 7 p.m. on June 8, and I’m sprawled out on the wooden floor of the Glade Outdoor Theatre. With each stretch of my tight, stiff muscles, my body moves into positions fit more for a limber gymnast. Despite my discomforts, I am told to breathe deeply and relax. And gradually, the pain fades.

There’s a good reason why I am here on this creaky floor, turning myself into a human pretzel. The reason is Stress Busters, a weekly-guided meditation and yoga workshop designed to help Texas State students deal with summer stress. The program, held from 7 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday night this summer, was started by Art of Living at Texas State, a student-run chapter of the Art of Living Foundation led by President Chandu Chood, a computer science graduate student.

Tonight, Chood and I are in the same boat — we are both doing yoga for the first time — and we’re experiencing the pains and, ultimately, the joys of our newfound form of relaxation. Before the class, I told him I had never done anything like yoga before, and I had no idea what it is and what it is about.

“Oh, you’ll feel it,” Chood quietly whispered to me.

The most common form of yoga, hatha yoga, is a combination of exercises and stretches meant to relax the body and clear the mind. Lucky for me, it is not necessary to be extremely flexible because the class focuses mainly on the act of relaxation instead of the required movements. The instructor for today’s workshop is Preeti Bhat, a gentle, quiet leader of a small group that ranges from first-timers to experienced stretchers, all seeking to clear their minds from classes, jobs, spouses, bills and many other summer stressors. Preeti speaks smoothly and softly in a way that almost rids my body of pain.

“Raise your arms. Breathe in. Breathe out,” Preeti says repeatedly.

After every few breaths, Preeti instructs the class to move into a different and sometimes awkward position. For the past two years, Preeti has been leading workshops for the Art of Living Foundation, an international organization focused on teaching people to live fully and freely through skill, intuition, creativity and knowledge. With workshops being led in 146 countries, the foundation features many programs designed to create a sense of belonging in its students, restore values and encourage people from all backgrounds, religions and cultural traditions to join together in celebration and service. For many of these workshops, most of the attention is put on breathing using a technique called Sudarshan Kriya, a breathing pattern used to free the mind from anger, anxiety and worry. According to the Art of Living International Research and Health Promotion Center, it has also proven to relieve depression, reduce cholesterol levels and improve brain function.

“Like we bathe each day, our minds need to be clean,” Preeti says. “We use breathing to release stress.”

Preeti tells the class that focusing on breathing is helpful because it causes us to think in the present moment and forget about our past and current stresses. We become stressed, Preeti says, when breathing is an afterthought in our daily routines.

“Breathing is often a neglected thing,” she says.

And to Preeti, this constant focus on breathing, stretching and movement is what brings her happiness and a desire to lead workshops.

“When I feel that joy, I can’t help but share it with others,” she told me after the class.

Simply stated, meditation is doing nothing. Contrary to popular belief, meditation is not about concentrating — it’s about not concentrating, Chood said. It empowers participants to relax and shut off the brain from the trials and tribulations of daily college life.

As night approaches, I’m done stretching and bending myself into odd positions. I’m lying on my back with my eyes closed, trying not to concentrate. Occasionally, my nonconcentration is broken when I peek my eyes open at the setting sun above me or at some Frisbee golfers in the distance. My body starts to ache in reaction to the previous exercises, but, eventually, I drift into a peaceful, tranquil state. After what felt like just a few moments, the hour of physical and mental relaxation ends when Preeti tells the class to sit up and think about their experience. Stress Busters does exactly what it claims to do. It’s like getting a shot at the doctor’s office; it’s slightly painful, and there’s usually a reward afterward. Only here, the reward is peace of mind, not candy.

After the class, Chood greets me with a big smile.

“I’m getting myself comfortable with my daily environment,” he says of yoga. “I feel good doing it.”

The first two sessions of Stress Busters are free. After that, it costs only $10 to join for the rest of the summer — a small price to pay for a clear consciousness.

For more information on Stress Busters, e-mail chandu@txstate.edu.