Final post

After months of trying various yoga classes I can say that I genuinely missed practicing yoga. Yoga gives me an outlet to destress. The physical practice of yoga makes me feel good about myself because I like working out, and being physical but because of school its often the first thing I stop doing. Yoga is accompanied by philosophy and beliefs that emphasizes the individual and the importance of health, wellness, and a sound mind. I firmly believe that exercise and physical activity are necessary for those who want to be happy or in a better mental space. Though this philosophy is important to yoga many instructors in my experience treat it as just a work out and do not talk about philosophical elements. While I do not want an instructor who preaches throughout class I do think it is important to remind people to relax, and enjoy themselves, and the moment. Life is crazy and many of us are on the go so these simple reminders can go a long way. I only had one instructor that emphasized the importance of relaxation. Overall I do not feel like a different person, I have always been able to see things from multiple perspectives and understanding. Meditation however does deliver those new ideas and understandings if I'm focused on a particular subject. While doing yoga I did not experience any spectacular healings but one session in particular corrected a kink in my back and ended a week of back pain.

meditation 4/18

This time around I decided to find a guided meditation track on youtube. I have never done a guided meditation before so I was curious to see if I was able to visit beautiful scenes simply by having someone describe it. I'm very unimaginative so this meditation did not work for me. I listened in detail as the individual described a beach scene hoping to find myself on the beach. Most of the time I tried to visualize myself on the beach with no avail. Having someone talking throughout the meditation session distracted me and kept me very aware of time which prevented me from reaching a sound mind. Usually it is easy for me to get in a meditative state but not doing this particular method. The only upside to this method is that I did not get sleepy like normal meditation does. After the session I felt no difference in my mood and ultimately felt like I sat still for a half hour for nothing.

meditation 4/10

I attempted to do an hour meditation. To set the atmosphere I put on relaxing piano music. Meditation in silence is uncomfortable for me if I am trying to do a longer session. Music keeps my mind active without producing too many side tracking thoughts. It takes me about 10 minutes before I can become relaxed. I did the meditation at home and I did not want to get side tracked by any commotion outside of my practice. Meditation is one of my strategies for coping with stress. It is easy to get caught up with the demands and needs of daily living and it is nice to have a moment to practice peace. More importantly it is nice to take time for myself which is something I feel I dont do too often.
I noticed that after quite some time my attachment to my physical body is removed and there is periods where I do not feel any sensations, but I am extremely aware of my surroundings. After awhile I stop counting my breath, and find myself telling myself to breathe because I feel as if it has been awhile since my last breath. Its very weird and do not know how I feel about that. I know breathing is done automatically, but there are periods where I was convinced I havent been breathing. Changing my breathing pattern is essential for the relaxing qualities to meditating.

Yin Yoga 4/6

I went to a drop in class with a random instructor. This particular class was a yin yoga class. The philosophy of this class is that a yin practice balances out the hectic chaotic activities of daily living. Yin is associated with surrender, peace, femininity, and relaxation. The poses are held for a lot longer than a typical yoga class. This allows for stretches to become deeper which is supposed to lengthen and strengthen the muscles used. The longer a pose is held the more muscles become engage, mostly secondary muscles and tissues not regularly used.  This particular style is said to be almost meditative due to the deep long stretches. The deep stretches are said to move prana (life source) and awaken it. As far as the poses goes most of them were floor (mostly seated) poses which makes sense because upright poses are more engaging and require more power. There were downward dogs from time to time, but not too often. I think this was incorporated to have brief periods that were more engaging to balance out the periods of stagnation. The instructor talked softly and had atmospheric music playing in the background. I particularly enjoyed this practice because I did not feel like I was going to die at any point. It was really relaxing which is exactly what I need right now.

Meditation 4/5/18

The in class meditation on Thursday was a nice experience. I liked how the instructor had a brief lecture prior on the benefits and effects of meditating. It was cool to see that there has been clinical evidence for those claims as well. My only complaint is that it went on a little too long for the amount of time left. I felt that the meditation started late so some who were not as experience may have struggled. I started my meditation 5 minutes prior to everyone else to have a chance to reach some point of “zen.” Throughout the meditation the instructor would talk about sensations of the body, and stream of thoughts, and mindful breathing. It was easy for me to acknowledge the sensations through out my body. The cool thing about the session is that I was able to reach a sound mind quickly. My technique is to count my breathes and slow my breathing. Eventually instead of seeing nothing I able to visualize shapes and patterns, they are not prominent but i could compare them to seeing light spots after staring into a light. This technique allows me to focus on something simple and avoid a wandering mind. Although the session was brief I was able to have a moment of relief and felt less stressed afterwards. I will do a meditation session more frequently because it helps with my own self care, especially at this point of the semester where stress present.

Yang/yin yoga

I decided to go back to Bethany for another yang/yin yoga class, and just like before the first half hour was hell. I went back just because I wanted to see if I could keep up with the flow this time around. Most of the poses in this class were apart of the seated sequence in Ashtanga Yoga with some added extras. I think I struggle with yang yoga because the seated postures rely on core strength, which is where i lack strength. The purpose of the pace and seated postures ultimately creates the intensity, heat, and activity that American postural yoga seeks. This style seems to be heavily influenced by fitness culture. The second half hour is yin yoga where poses are held for 3-5 minutes at a time. The holding of the poses aims to further the stretch of certain muscles in the various poses. The extra slow pacing of this is supposed to be relaxing for recovery from the intense activity of the yang portion. This embodies the priciples of yoga philosophy which are healthy body, and relaxation. I can make this claim because the music played changes to set the atmosphere. During yang yoga the music is fast, and electronic, whereas yin yoga is slower music, and more natural. Another thing about this class is we use boxes and straps from time to time to further a stretch or focus on form and the alignment of the body during poses.

Vinyasa Flow 3/22/18

i found out Tracey is no longer teaching yoga at the gym I was going to for classes. This week I did a vinyasa class on my own. I found a YouTube video similar to the routine we did in her class. I’ve been doing sun saluatstions and various other poses regularly so for the strengthening and endurance purpose I chose a familiar flow. I played my own music that was very slow and relaxed, and my flow aligned with that. I wanted something that would feel like I did some work without exerting myself like I have in some other classes. The poses usually done in vinyasa flow classes are beneficial for me. I have a tight back, and thighs so a lot of the poses help with my own mobility and functioning. I sit a lot due to school, and my internship so usually when it’s time for yoga there’s kinks in my body somewhere. Yoga is a form of self care for me so having slow spacey music really helps destress from the week. I liked practicing on my own because then I can make my experience what I need. However I am looking into other local classes for the following week.