Audubon, IA, September 26, 2023 – This September, Dr. Stephanie Vampola’s Pop-Up Fitness Series began with a free Pop-Up yoga class. Dr. Vampola and more than a dozen community members of all ages and levels rolled out their mats as they progressed through various yoga poses.
On the third Saturday of each month this fall, you will find Audubon County Memorial Hospital’s Dr. Stephanie Vampola at the Audubon Rec Center introducing different fitness programs to our community.
These free one-hour sessions are Dr. Vampola’s way of giving back to the community. She told September’s class, “I am an osteopathic doctor which means I believe healing includes the mind, body, and soul. Yoga is a practice that can help with building strength, flexibility, and relieve daily stress.”
As a former competition dancer and an avid runner, Dr. Vampola lives a healthy lifestyle. Many patients have asked her how she stays healthy. This Pop-Up series is her way of answering those questions on a practical level. In these classes she shares her own fitness interests and healthy living tips, including her own special recipes for healthy smoothies, snacks and meal options.
Throughout the yoga class, Dr. Vampola offered advice for physical placement during movement exercises, as well as modifications for those that are new to the program, just starting out in fitness, or have health limitations.
“On the website of the Osteopathic Association (of which she is a member), it says that yoga helps with athletic performance and stress, and we all have stress,” said Dr. Vampola.
As Dr. Vampola led the class through a series of poses she explained the mind, body, soul connection and related it to medical healing. “Headaches and stress often begin with the neck muscles. Beginner yoga can help stretch these muscles and reduce tension,” she said. She also took the time to describe the “key to each position” and explain how each pose helps medical conditions such as carpal tunnel and sciatica.
Dr. Vampola put health and wellness into perspective stating, “I do yoga 1 to 3 times a week. Starting your yoga flow practice only needs to be 10 to 30 minutes added to your day. We scroll on our phones for 10 minutes. There is no excuse.”
“The great thing about yoga is that you can always modify it,” she said. If you find you don’t have time to “get on the mat,” use one of the most effective tools of yoga: your breath and follow the Doctor’s Orders: “Breathe in and out slowly. Listen to your body and release the tension.”
If you’d like to explore a new fitness program, spend time with Dr. Vampola learning about her healthy lifestyle, and have the support of other community members, take this one hour for yourself and join us.
All ages. All abilities. All levels.
Dr. Vampola will be hosting the next free fitness class, Pop-Up Pilates with Dr. Vampola, on Saturday, October 21st from 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM at the Audubon Rec Center.
Participants can pop-in day of event or you may pre-register by calling ACMH at 712-563-4611 or email ToftH@acmhhosp.org.
