Roll out your mats and get your body moving during Virtual Yoga, a new initiative the Wellness Committee at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry started in late June.

Offered in short, 30-minute sessions, Virtual Yoga will be offered monthly and open to all UTHealth faculty, staff, students, and residents. For more information about upcoming sessions, contactLauren Moran,

Yogi Justine K. Fanarof, JD, MPH, E-RYT 500, led the inaugural, virtual session June 30 via Cisco Webex. Participants joined from the comforts of their home or office, while others followed the stream from the Garza Classroom.

Participants were encouraged to have a yoga mat, two foam blocks, two thin cotton or wool blankets, and a yoga strap. Other optional items included folding chairs (backless preferred) and a rectangular bolster.

Listening to one’s body was the focus of the session. From a seated posture, either in a chair on or the floor, Fanarof guided viewers through an awareness exercise focusing on different parts of the body working up from the feet to begin, followed by a “who breath” exercise, where air is drawn in through the nose and expelled slowly through pursed lips as if to say softly the word “who.”

After several rounds of the breathing exercises and seated twists and rotations, Fanarof led participants through several floor exercises to get the legs involved.

Fanarof is the owner and founder of Fanarof Law and Justine Yoga. She serves on the faculty at The Jung Center’s Mind Body Spirit Institute, and is the board president of Houston Coalition Against Hate.