Yoga: East Meets West

          Throughout this semester I have learned more about what is yoga than what I previously presumed it was. From starting the semester off doing Bikram yoga as a practical to learning the history of yoga and where it started and came from. I have learned the different perspectives of yoga in the east compared to the west. From my interpretations of yoga are that it is a physical and spiritual practice that uses breathing techniques, exercise, and meditation. The interpretations of yoga in the west is about people practicing yoga to attain the perfect body. Yoga is considered more of an industry where they advertise a product to get people to be interested in doing yoga. Whether it is by selling sex appeals, fertility, a healthier body, etc. While in the East is where yoga came from India where they accustom it to their religion. Yoga is more about spirituality than the physical practice and exercise. We learned the difference of how yoga is described in th...

For this week yoga practice I decided to stay home and do a meditation. I grabbed my yoga mat and lay it on my living room floor. I turn the lights off and turn on some scented candles to give some lighting and a good smell to the room. I turn my TV on and put some water fall background sounds to help me ease more into the meditation. I sat down on my yoga mat in lotus style and close my eyes. The only thing I was focusing on was me breathing in and out. I mediated for 30 minutes and after I finished I had a sense of clarity and could think and do task more easily after the session. I had an amazing experience and I need to do more in the future.

No, I don't believe that yoga is a religion. Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, an ancient text that is widely referred to in yoga classes today, clearly presents a moral code for yogis to follow and outlines the path toward a mystical state of enlightenment known as samadhi, or union with the Divine. The yoga tradition also recognizes the path of bhakti yoga, the branch of yoga whose adherents devote themselves to a personal form of God. Its practices include chanting to deities, setting up altars, and even praying. Yoga aids all who practice religion, regardless of their persuasion, by balancing the nervous system and stilling the mind through its various exercises (from posture to breath control to meditation). Yoga’s heritage is comprehensive enough so that anyone can find just the right techniques that will not conflict with his or her personal beliefs.

The yoga practice that I did for this week is that I went with a friend to the Stockton University yoga session they have every week. It was different compare to others that I went to in the past. There was fewer people that were of attendance than to ones I have been to before. The intensity of session was a lot less tense and more relax. We started with some warm up exercises and then went right into the poses. The poses were fairly easy to do. The session only lasted an hour long. The session is very different from what I learned in my class. It was more exercise oriented compare to the spiritual aspect that will learned in class. The session was good but probably will not attend another one from the school. 

The attention that is given to the breathing in my yoga practice space is very minimal. The instructor focus more on us doing the poses than focusing on our breathing. There are some students that have past experiences in yoga that focus on the breathing but the majority doesn't. The breathing is explained and taught as breathing deeply in yoga can actually help you avoid injury. Deep breathing can also allow us to experience our true essence. The flow that the steady in and out action of breathing creates stimulates a transformation in the body and mind, purifying and cleansing them so that our true essence shines forth. My experience of pranayama is that its 10 rounds of a simple pranayama technique or a few minutes of breath work that can immediately influence the students and put their nervous systems into a new state. This means students can use their breath to energize or calm the body in a significant way. 

This week of my weekly yoga practice I attended my local yoga session at my local gym. There was an usually large amount of people that attended the session. The female instructor started the class and we all took our spots next to our yoga mats. We began with some warm up exercises to get the blood flowing and then we dove right into the practice. I can feel my muscle fibers being pull apart when doing the postures. The room started to get hot and I was sweating excessively. The session was an hour long but felt much shorter. After the session I honestly felt really good that I decided to work out weight lifting for another hour to strengthen my muscles.

T he ways meditation is used in my practice space is to get a peace of mind and clarity. To help me see clearly on the goals that I want to complete. Meditation is a mind and body practice that has a long history of use for increasing calmness and physical relaxation, improving psychological balance, coping with illness, and enhancing overall health and well being. Mind and body practices focus on the interactions among the brain, mind, body, behavior.  Meditation and yoga are interrelated. They are both part of the Eight Limbs of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. They go hand and hand. They work together to unite our small self with our higher soul self. One cannot be present without the other. The impression I have on meditation is that its an alternative form of exercise to keep the mind and body healthy and happy. Practicing yoga improves balance, endurance, flexibility, and strength, while meditation helps keep the mind sharp, relieves stress and anxiety, and c...

In my weekly practice of mediation or yoga I unfortunately was sick with the flu and was unable to perform the physical aspects of yoga but I instead ended up mediating in my living room. I mediated around 9 in the evening. I turn of all the light and turned on a couple of Eucalyptus mint candles to give some light and smell to my practice space. I sat on my yoga mat in lotus and close my eye. I cleared my mind and only focus on the sound of the flames on the candles. After my 30 minutes of mediating was completed. I open my eyes and took a huge breath in and out. This mediation session were different from the others because I was able to have sense of clarity and mindfulness. This session was interesting and I am willing to do more in the future.

In the United States yoga began as a spiritual practice but has become popular as a way of promoting physical and mental well being. Yoga is predicted to be one of the highest ranked fitness activities. Yoga grew in popularity through advertisements and health benefits. Whether you are looking to lose weight, build muscle, increase flexibility and mindfulness. The popularity of the practice has resulted in yoga evolving from the traditional asanas to an amalgamation of different workouts and formats. They are odd types of yoga practice like nude yoga, beer yoga, and cannabis yoga. As compared to the definition of yoga in India which is the discipline to improve or develop one's inherent power in a balanced manner. It offers the means to attain complete self realization. Yoga in India is embedded into their religion and there is more of a spiritual practice to it rather than just breaking a sweat.

Sivananda yoga was an interesting type of yoga that I did in class on Thursday. It consisted of just 12 poses which may not seem a lot but it was enough to get the blood flowing and the heart pumping. I like this form of yoga because I was able to have my breathing under control while doing the poses. There was more mediation while holding the pose and repeating the same pose multiple times. The atmosphere of the room was quiet and calm which I was able to clear the mind and easily get into the poses. I was able to perform almost all the poses except one because I felt like I was going to break my wrists. I would gladly perform this form of yoga again in the future.

What I have notice that yoga firmly establishes it as pop culture is Americans imagine yoga has a secular practice , which has been gendered, racially categorized, and socially classed in a particular way that is free from the entanglements of any religious traditions and beliefs. The western prospective of yoga focuses on the one main component which is the physical act of doing yoga. They do yoga to reduce stress or get into shape like most other Americans do. There are some many pop culture yoga practice in the United States like hot yoga, nude yoga, beer yoga, and even dog yoga. The effect of yoga in the West is that yoga ended up becoming commercialize and a industry. In a way that they will promote and sell their product which was yoga. They completely forget the spirituality and religious beliefs of yoga. They consider yoga a more of a workout rather than it being a lifestyle that has been embedded into the Hindu religion.

I did something different with practicing yoga this week rather than mediating at home or doing it in class. I part took in a class they were teaching in my local gym that I go to. When I walked in the room there was a mixture of men and women all different sizes and shape with the one goal of losing weight. What was interesting about this session was that they were playing music while the instructor had a mic on her shirt instructing the poses. We immediately were copying the poses she was doing and I already started to sweat. I was able to get into almost all positions. This type of yoga was more exercise oriented than the spiritual meditative aspect of yoga. The session only lasted an hour but it felt longer than that. I was completely drench with sweat as with everyone else in the room. I was exhausted after the session but also felt very good. This was an interesting form of yoga and I will be eager to try it again in the near future. 

Yoga is seen as a healing practice at my practice space by creating strength, awareness, and harmony in both the mind and body. The relaxation techniques in yoga can lessen chronic pain like for example arthritis, high blood pressure, headaches, insomnia, etc.  As long with the mental benefits that helps people to manage stress, copping skills, etc. Practicing yoga communicates to me first mental by reducing all the stress and clears my mind. It helps me focus clearly to achieve the tasks that I want to accomplish. As long with physically making me feel better with reduce muscle and joint pain along with increase flexibility and energy. The way I feel after a yoga practice is that I feel a lot lighter than when I entered the room. I feel clear minded and take the advance after doing yoga to accomplish some stressful tasks like doing homework and studying for an exam. For some reason I have an increase productivity when doing it after I completed a session of yoga. The good thing is...

A sense of community is important to positive mental health. The factors of a sense of community is the sense of membership, belonging, and being able to contribute to the needs of others or being influenced by others. Yoga enhances body systems related to social connections. The synchronized movement creates bonding and presence increase connection. I feel well connected with the community of my yoga class. Even though I do not know their names or who they are. I have a form of connection to them because we are all in the same room every time performing the same poses together. It makes feel that I am part of something bigger than myself.

The atmosphere of the room was quiet and relaxing. I was able to get into the right state of mind before the instructor came into the room. When the instructor came into the room she had us do some warm ups to get the blood moving and feel the heat inside our bodies. I already was starting to sweat and feel the heat from inside. She had us do most of the primary series of Astanga yoga. I really enjoyed doing the poses because many of the poses I was able to do and felt the stretch in my body. Out of the three different yoga sessions we had in class Ashtanga so far is my favorite. I love the complexity of the poses and importance of breathing when you are in those poses. After I completed the yoga session it felt like a huge weight came off my shoulders and I felt lighter than before. I was clear minded and my body was sore but also felt good. Every different type of yoga we do the more different it is. I can not wait on the next type of yoga we are doing and I will like to practice mor...

I believe that the act of attending a yoga class or doing your own practice in itself is consider a ritual. A ritual doesn't have to deal with spirituality or religion. It provides a sense of routine that many of us crave in our lives in order to stay committed, grounded, and balanced. For example going to the gym everyday is consider a ritual in itself or reading a book before I go to sleep. Both of those examples doesn't deal with spirituality or religion, but gives a sense of commitment and balanced to the body. I haven't been able to do as much yoga lately, but I have been doing mediation twice a week which has been consider a therapy and stress reliever for me. To me I believe these practices help release all the tensions, stress, problems,etc from my body. It honesty gives me a peace of mind and helps me visualize the reasons why I do the tasks that I do to get where I want to be one day.  I am at a point that if I don't preform these rituals twice a week that I d...

Iyengar yoga was very interesting and different compared to the Bikram yoga we did a couple weeks ago. There wasn't as many poses to Iyengar yoga compared to Bikram. When I was performing the poses I noticed that we will hold the poses for long periods of time which can be challenging for some of the poses where you have your legs up in the air or lifting your body with your arms. It was interesting that we used props through out the session like the two blocks we used to keep us balance and to prop ourselves up. I honestly wasn't as mentally focused when performing the Iyengar yoga compared to Bikram. Not sure if it was from struggling to perform the poses correctly or the distractions from my fellow classmates, but I didn't have that calm peace of mind that I had before. Iyengar is definitely more meditative and interesting form of yoga. I can't wait to preform the other forms of yoga through out the semester will definitely try Iyengar yoga again. 

I believe that yoga is more than just exercise. In the West though they believe that yoga is a mere way of exercising through the physical movements. To attain that "perfect body" that everyone wants to get. Yoga was a mind body practice with a strong religious and spiritual element. Strong empathizes on the "was" because after it was introduced into the West it lost most of the spiritual underpinnings to it. Many people practice it for some significant health benefits if done regularly. Like for example yoga can be a good way of reducing stress and maybe pain also. Some ways that yoga can empower me is turning my pain, weakness, and vulnerability into strength, connectedness, and presence.  Yoga teaches me to be self reliant and to not care what anybody thinks of me. I feel that yoga promotes a balance in body and mind as compare to running which is repetitive and lackluster that misses out on the balance of the body.   

Antonio Sajiun September 19       I unfortunately did not have the time to attend a yoga class outside of school so I decided to do something different instead.  I wanted to try meditation and the best place I know to do it was at home. I look up videos and articles on the best way to meditate in your household as a beginner. After hours of researching I finally had an idea on how to do it. I decided to meditate in my back yard early in the  morning so I can have a strong connection with the Earth and little to no noise from other people. I was sitting down in lotus position on top of a yoga mat. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. Every breath drew me closer to the spiritual world. I wanted to visualize my goals better and to quiet the inner chatter from my mind. I was able to quiet the mind. I remember listening to the buzzing of bumblebees and dragonflies flying passed me constantly. After I thought felt like hours was just only minutes. I was ab...

Antonio Sajiun 9/12/19 I walk into the class having no idea what to expect. I noticed other students with gym attire and yoga mats. Since it was my first class because I join the course later. I didn't think that I was going to go right into it the first day, but I was very wrong. Everyone was moving furniture to give room to place our mats on the floor and opening windows to let fresh air come into the room. At this point I just went with the flow and did what everyone else was doing. The mood of the room was relaxed. While we were waiting for the yoga instructor to come in I was mentally preparing myself for what was to come. When the instructor came in she introduced herself and told us that we were going to perform 26 poses. In my head I thought that this was going to be a piece of cake cause how hard can stretching be, but I was very wrong again. We started by doing some breathing exercises to get us prepared for the class. Throughout every pose we did, my body went into p...