Yoga: East Meets West

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.