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Yoga Summary

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  Through this semester I have gotten the opportunity to set my mind to something and achieve it. That goal was to do a yoga class at least once a week for the duration of the semester. I found that having this set schedule of doing yoga every week had helped me stay focused, in this class and other classes.   In the beginning I found it was hard to stay motivated to do because the yoga classes that were available to take were online.   Though I found it was much easier to keep up with the classes and do them in my time. As well as getting a range of yoga classes that I might not have been able to find in person.   The online classes felt less personal because they’re geared towards everyone willing to click on the video. So the sense of community in that sense lacked. It would have been an entirely different experience in which we were not in a pandemic, but I think I was able to achieve what I intended.   In the sense that the community was lacking in a video it seemed as though a lo
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Sivananda Yoga: “Right” Practice November, 5

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     This practice was done with Jenn Kretzer. I enjoyed her way of teaching, though this practice is usually called out and the instructor does not join, she was helpful when showing new poses. I thought this was the most familiar yoga class to that I have taken outside of this class.       I thought that the breathing during the pranayama was helpful to me. I find myself having a hard time keeping my breath with the flow of yoga poses. This showed me that I could keep my breath and flow together, just takes time and practice. The meditation side of this practice was also interesting to me. I have been trying to find the right meditations for me and I think that having it a part of this practice allowed me to try another form of it.    
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Ashtanga Yoga - October 15, 2020

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     This Astanga Yoga class was taught by Andrew Eppler and demonstrated by his wife. Before class started he showed us a short video of  Krishnamacharya and an interesting picture of him standing on a boy during an asana. This class felt to be more of an intermediate class, if I was comparing it to Anita's class. The calling was fast paced and the poses were kind of short, a few breathes each. I don't know if I was the only one sweating but I definitely had to turn my fan on. I had a hard time remembering to breath because of the fast pace. By the end and durning the salutations, in between poses, I finally got the breathing down. This was an interesting set of pose sequence I had not done before. I only remember doing sun salutations in between each pose in past classes however never upward facing dog to downward. I enjoyed this class. It showed me how out of shape I truly am. 
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Iyengar Yoga October 13, 2020

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       This Iyengar Yoga class was taught by  Amita Bhagat. At the beginning of class Anita gave an overview of Iyengar Yoga and her personal yoga journey. This class was definitely for beginners as she made sure everyone was on the same page. As well as giving in depth instructions on how to safely get in and out of poses. I liked that she spoke about some of the postures in ways that it can help the body. As well as explaining how certain poses are good for women while menstruating or just good for reproductive health. Though this did not feel as though a fully flowing yoga class, I appreciated her explanations of the Iyengar practice and specifics of yoga poses.      Yoga as a medicine and healing practice is prominent as the weeks go on. Starting with the Bikram yoga class, that is specifically a healing yoga practice and you could see that in the poses taught. Similarly, I feel as though Iyengar has a healing property as well. This class was taught to show the poses and how they h
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Weekly Yoga Journal: Oct. 4-10

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This week I took a 45 minute Power Vinyasa Flow with Briohny Smyth. I wanted to try a YouTube version of a class I have done before and Vinyasa was what I found. This class was very different from the Vinyasa class I have taken in person.  Briohny had a lot of inversion opportunities and I would have taken them if I hadn’t decided to take this class outside and on concrete. I was afraid to attempt an inversion without supervision and without a better base. However it was more of a power practice. She had a lot of strength involved.  I feel like yoga is a ritual on its own. Choosing to practice yoga on a regular basis is a ritual. The ritual starts when get ready and go to the studio is apart of the ritual on its own. As well as the individual practice on its own. The definition of a ritual is ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to prescribed order. This is similar to any one type of yoga practice.    For example in the Ashtanga yoga we did last week. That was
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Bikram Yoga - October 1, 2020

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     Thursdays class was Bikram Yoga with Diane Polli. Taking this class was an interesting experience. I have not done any other yoga class like this one. Bikram is a scripted practice without a visual for poses. This forced you to listen to the instructions and words Diane was using to describe the poses and how to get into it them.       Though this was online and she could not see the whole class, but she was paying attention to how you (Prof. Greene) was going through the practice. She made sure you were to get the foundation down before going though the full pose. As she would most likely do during an in-person class. This felt like a more intense physical practice than what I have done in the past. Maybe not as intense as a strength yoga class because that is more a workout than a typical yoga practice. This feels like the bridge between traditional yoga and a strength yoga practice.      I am happy to have gotten the chance to do Bikram. It gives a different perspective on how
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Weekly Yoga Journal: Sept. 20-25

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 The Studio as Ritual Space       This week I decided to do a practice after work and before bed to allow myself to decide a perfect time to practice yoga. The last practice for class was done in the morning and that allowed me start my day. However, I have yet to try a yoga class right before bed. The opportunity has changed due to the pandemic, because we are kind of forced to go online/virtual. This was a shorter class because I did not get home till late so I squeezed it in. This practice was by MadFit on Youtube, her video was "20 min Full Body STRETCH/YOGA  for STRESS & ANXIETY Relief".     This practice felt way too short, 20 min. is not a long enough time for a yoga class. After doing this class, I prefer a longer session. This class felt more like stretching with a little yoga background. Though, Maddie had a studio set up so it felt a little more normal than just taking a class via Youtube. After work I was feeling tense and sore, so I am happy I decided to do t
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