My Yoga Experience Reflection
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 the films Enlighten up and Naked in Ashes. We preform different types of yoga throughout the semester in class to get a wide range of different practices and to which practice fits each of us best. We practice Bikram, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Sivananda, viniyoga,vipassana, and pranayama in class with different instructors. Each practice has their own unique styles that fit for different people lifestyles. My personal favorite is Ashtanga because of the complexity of the poses and importance of breathing when you are in those poses.
We learned the authority in practice of community & ritual space in the different views of the Nervin article and Smith article. The Nervin article discusses that there is more of a serious engagement in the practicing of Ashtanga yoga compare to other forms of transnational yoga. Practitioners refer to Ashtanga as a physically demanding style of asana. The spatial layout of the practice room, visuals, sounds, and smell are all aspects of this performance. There is a strong teacher's interaction with students during practice that further shapes their experiences of yoga. As compared to the Smith article that there is a sense of physicality of teaching and traditional authority of the teacher. There is an emphasis on daily practice and physically demanding nature of practice. The teacher controls the development of each student practice.
The importance of yoga as medicine through the different types of yoga practice to the sister science Ayurveda. Ayurveda reminds us that health is the balanced and dynamic integration between our environment, body, mind, spirit. They are three primary forces Vata, Pitta, and Kapha that are responsible for our mind and body. The important goal of Ayurveda is to identify a person's state of balance. The claims that yoga makes for healing are stress reduction, lowers blood pressure, increase bone density, lower heart rate, reduced blood insulin levels, increase flexibility and strength. Every different yoga practice has a different type of medicinal claim to it, whether its strengthen muscles to enhance lung capacity. Yoga has be used in medicine for the prevention and treatment of medical conditions.
The compare and contrast of the three ancient texts Baghavad Gita , Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. The Baghavad Gita defines yoga as to connect one’s consciousness to the supreme consciousness by controlling one’s body, mind, and senses; good health is just a byproduct of this endeavor. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali defines yoga as union and the purpose is to teach the practitioner of yoga, called the yogi, how to achieve union or spiritual absorption into the supreme absolute or God. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika defines yoga as an elaborate presentation of practical guidelines for Hatha yoga, intended to lead the practitioner from awareness of the body to awareness of the self. They all have their own explanation to what yoga is and how it should be practiced in reaching enlightenment. Each text serves as its own manual to how to live in this material world.
From the practices during class and outside of class this semester I have a better idea of what yoga is and what does it mean to me. To learning how yoga is consider a physical culture, to practicing yoga is consider a ritual, from yoga practices is consider a community and its healing claims. Yoga is the spiritual development practices to train the body and the mind to self-observe and become aware of their own nature. Yoga teaches us that just as we must find balance in our body during certain poses, we must seek balance in our lives. It's hard to see what's really going on in a yoga class just by peeking through the window or siting in the corner. The big lessons happen when you are committing to the moment on your mat, breathing, and making space for all that abundance to really fill you up. The best way to learn anything from the practice is just to show up, be open, and do the work.
We learned the authority in practice of community & ritual space in the different views of the Nervin article and Smith article. The Nervin article discusses that there is more of a serious engagement in the practicing of Ashtanga yoga compare to other forms of transnational yoga. Practitioners refer to Ashtanga as a physically demanding style of asana. The spatial layout of the practice room, visuals, sounds, and smell are all aspects of this performance. There is a strong teacher's interaction with students during practice that further shapes their experiences of yoga. As compared to the Smith article that there is a sense of physicality of teaching and traditional authority of the teacher. There is an emphasis on daily practice and physically demanding nature of practice. The teacher controls the development of each student practice.
The importance of yoga as medicine through the different types of yoga practice to the sister science Ayurveda. Ayurveda reminds us that health is the balanced and dynamic integration between our environment, body, mind, spirit. They are three primary forces Vata, Pitta, and Kapha that are responsible for our mind and body. The important goal of Ayurveda is to identify a person's state of balance. The claims that yoga makes for healing are stress reduction, lowers blood pressure, increase bone density, lower heart rate, reduced blood insulin levels, increase flexibility and strength. Every different yoga practice has a different type of medicinal claim to it, whether its strengthen muscles to enhance lung capacity. Yoga has be used in medicine for the prevention and treatment of medical conditions.
The compare and contrast of the three ancient texts Baghavad Gita , Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. The Baghavad Gita defines yoga as to connect one’s consciousness to the supreme consciousness by controlling one’s body, mind, and senses; good health is just a byproduct of this endeavor. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali defines yoga as union and the purpose is to teach the practitioner of yoga, called the yogi, how to achieve union or spiritual absorption into the supreme absolute or God. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika defines yoga as an elaborate presentation of practical guidelines for Hatha yoga, intended to lead the practitioner from awareness of the body to awareness of the self. They all have their own explanation to what yoga is and how it should be practiced in reaching enlightenment. Each text serves as its own manual to how to live in this material world.
From the practices during class and outside of class this semester I have a better idea of what yoga is and what does it mean to me. To learning how yoga is consider a physical culture, to practicing yoga is consider a ritual, from yoga practices is consider a community and its healing claims. Yoga is the spiritual development practices to train the body and the mind to self-observe and become aware of their own nature. Yoga teaches us that just as we must find balance in our body during certain poses, we must seek balance in our lives. It's hard to see what's really going on in a yoga class just by peeking through the window or siting in the corner. The big lessons happen when you are committing to the moment on your mat, breathing, and making space for all that abundance to really fill you up. The best way to learn anything from the practice is just to show up, be open, and do the work.
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