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...