Valentine’s Day is approaching, and time is slipping away for students to find creative ways to spend time with their significant others.

Oakland University Recreation and Well-Being and Ballroom Dance Club will both host events that tie in the theme of Valentine’s Day: Be My Yoga Valentine and Ballroom with Bae.

Be My Yoga Valentine

This one-hour yoga event will be held 8-9 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13 in Studio 919 of the Recreation Center. Attendees must come with a partner, and an $8 guest pass must be purchased from the front desk if the partner is not an OU student.

“It is designed to be a fun event,” said Erin Davidson, OU Rec Well fitness and programs and services coordinator. “We had a great response from last year, and we wanted to bring it back.”

She said there will be a Valentine’s Day atmosphere, with elements like candles, chocolate and music.

OU Rec Well is expecting 30 to 40 attendees, who will be doing intimate poses that are designed to be done with a partner.

Davidson said it will be an upbeat class.

“We encourage people to laugh and have fun with it,” she said. “They can chat during the different poses, so it is not your typical yoga class. [It is] more loose.”

It’s also a way to have a healthy date.

“Working on your flexibility is encouraged to do at least three times a week,” Davidson said. “It relaxes your mind, it relaxes your body, improves your overall well-being.”

She explained that the Rec Center offers yoga classes in a variety of formats.

“We have gentle yoga, slow flow, yin yoga, power yoga, vinyasa,” she said. “We try to offer different formats to apply to different people.”

Yoga instructor Eileen McNally will teach the Be My Yoga Valentine class. Davidson explained how to prepare prior to the event and recommended attendees come in with an open mind.

“Make sure you have your student ID, because you can check out a yoga mat for free,” Davidson said. “You can also bring your own yoga mat. Even if you find yourself to be less flexible, you can use blocks, straps and other yoga props to get yourself deeper into posters, especially if you don’t have the flexibility established yet. Eat 30 minutes or more before.”

Ballroom with Bae

This event, hosted by Ballroom Dance Club, is another alternative to a typical Valentine’s Day dinner and movie. Instructors will be teaching romantic dances, specifically tango and rumba. 

The event will be held at 9:15 p.m. on Feb. 13, directly following Be My Yoga Valentine, in Studio 919 of the Recreation Center. The cost of attendance is $10 per couple or $6 per person.

Vice president of the club, Ryan Bates, said the event will feature romantic, modern music. The dances will be instructed by Bates and two other students, club president Jessie Felix and treasurer Megan Carson.

If there without a significant other, the club encourages people to switch around to dance with different partners.

Bates said people can come with or without a date, and added that this isn’t a super fancy event.

“We’re going to dress up a little bit, but people can wear whatever they want,” he said. “Bring a pair of dry shoes to avoid from slipping. The smoother [the] sole [of the] shoe, the better.”

Ballroom Dance Club hopes that people will become interested in pursuing ballroom dance after this event. The club welcomes those who want to learn to dance dance socially, as well as those interested in competing.

“We have the social class, which meets up to three days a week,” Bates said. “We do waltz, tango, foxtrot, cha cha, jive, samba, quickstep. The competition team has two additional practices a week. We travel and compete at U of M and MSU as well as in Ohio.”