Yoga has brought more
light into my life than I honestly think it would. The teachings itself and
what yoga is all about has, I liked to think, gave me more of a pathway than
the practice itself so far. There has never been a time while being at Stockton
that I attended a class, and then went out of my way to research and read more
about a subject than this class. More specifically, I found a deep interest in
Ayurveda. I recently just purchased a book called “Ayurveda: the Science of
Self-Healing: A Practice Guide” by Vasant Lad. There was something about
reading “The Hidden Secret of Ayurveda” by Robert E. Svoboda that really caught
my attention and interest to the point where I felt like reading more about it
could change my perspectives on life itself. Although the physical practice of
yoga is interesting too and I plan on continuing to practice it, I find the
practice to be more meaningful when there is an understanding of a deeper
educational meaning behind the reasons we practice it in the first place.
Yoga for me provides me with a mental, physical, and
spiritual balance that allows me to slow down aspects of my life and really
appreciate the purpose behind life. The one teaching I really got out of this
class was that we must detach ourselves from the material world. Before
starting this class, in the back of my mind there was something telling me to
always be a person who acts on behalf of God with actions that are beneficiary
to others and society. After taking this class and reading multiple resources,
I feel as if everything is coming together and making sense. I notice that I
show a greater appreciation for life and what it has to offer. The optimistic
mindset, I believe, comes with the practice of yoga. And who doesn’t want to be
known as an optimistic person?
Along with our outside practice, I really took an
interest on our in class practices. In order from most preferred to least
preferred yoga practices that we had in class, I would say this order goes as
is: Sirvananda Yoga with Laurie Greene, Bikram yoga, Ashtanga with Joanne Mc
Garrity, Meditation with Marcello Spinella, Iyengar with Annie Stiver, and then
Viniyoga that was shown on the tapes. In fact, there is about three to four
times a week that I practice in my own room in the comfort of my home.
Sometimes I will do it in the morning outside and other times I will do it at
night. The physical sense of limberness and flexibility is one of many reasons
why I continue to practice. The mental and emotional feeling it provides me
with afterwards is very relaxing. I like to put my body into deep stretching
positons because once in the position, I will really feel the body part that is
being pulled and breathe and relax into that pose. I believe this allows me to
understand and feel my body more. On a deeper level, each time I stretch or
perform some type of yoga, I use this as a way to meditate and the ultimate
feeling gives me a sense of spiritual liberation.
Another reason why my yoga involvment has been nothing
but a positively radiant experience was because of the professor that teaches
it. I do not think there was one time I attended class and Professor Greene had
a frown on. Her uplifting nature is one of the reasons I would like to
persevere more with yoga practice. In the beginning of the semester, I had more
of an adverse outlook on life due to high levels of stress because of school,
work, family, financials, and graduation related issues. However, her outlook
on life and deep determination for yoga made me reconsider the way I should
perceive life. Additionally, I really felt as if I could relate to the book “21st
Century Yoga: Culture, Politics, and Practice” by Carol Horton and Roseanne
Harvey because there are stories that describe peoples life issues and how the
upbringing of yoga cured them. Knowing someone with a chronic illness and
addiction, I would like to shine the knowledge that yoga gave me onto them
because I really feel as if yoga is a lifestyle that can change people’s
outlooks on life for the better. Because
we received multiple handouts on Ashtanga, Bikram, Sirvananda yoga postures and
practices, I’ve decided to take my practice to another level in the summertime.
I would like to continue this yoga journey every morning in the proximity to
the ocean with my yoga mat and practice out there. The reason for this is not
only because I am a fanatic with physical fitness, but I would like to become
more spiritually involved and I believe meditation and yoga is one of the ways
to attain this.
I understand, however, that I have only scratched the
surface of what yoga is and what it can do for people. Although I learned a
great deal in this class, there are many things that I feel as if I still need
a greater understanding in. Subsequently, I know I will continue to purchase
more books on yoga, its philosophies, its effects on people’s lives, and the
deeper understanding behind it. In fact, my mother, someone who is not
interested in physical activity at all, recently brought up the idea of taking
yoga classes in the summer. This is another great reason why I want to continue
learning and practicing yoga. Yoga is about healing, learning, and progressing
life’s divine purpose and shedding yogic information on others I believe is one
of the steps towards serving a higher being.
Schedule of yoga
practices:
I attended most of my
yoga classes in the TRLC with Jason. The remaining classes were taken at Lakeside
Lodge with Luanne Anton:
1/26 w/ Jason
2/2 w/ Jason
2/9 w/ Jason
2/16 w/ Jason
2/21 w/ Luanne Anton
2/28 w/ Luanne Anton
3/9 w/ Jason
3/23 w/ Jason
3/30 w/ Jason
4/3 w/ Luanne Anton
4/13 w/ Jason
4/20 w/ Jason
4/27 w/ Jason
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