My first yoga experience was a free yoga class offered by Stockton at
the lodge on Tuesday, January 23rd. Having attended this yoga class a
few times before, I knew what to expect when I attended. The instructor
of the class was the same women who I had taken classes with before,
Stevie. Upon walking into the lodge, I was not surprised that most of
the people there were female, with a few males scattered among them.
Most people were dressed in athletic clothing and had their hair pulled
up away from their faces. Most people had their own yoga mats, but had
to borrow yoga blocks from Stevie. People set up their mats in rows and
left a foot or two of space between one another. I notived that the
atmosphere didn't seem very suitable for a yoga class due to the
distracting noises coming from the kitchen in the lodge. While waiting
for the class to begin, most people were sitting cross legged on their
mats facing Stevie. Because it was the first class offered at Stockton
this semester, Stevie began by explaining that we would be doing Yin
yoga, and taught us how to do Ujjayi breathing. This breathing technique
instantly relaxed me and made me feel that I could easily fall asleep.
Focusing on tightening my throat as I breathed also cleared my head,
which is constantly swarmed with thoughts. The remainder of the class
consisted of a variety of postures on the floor, like the heart bench
and cat and cow postures. If I could use one word to describe what I was
doing when doing yoga, I would say relaxing. The reason for this is
probably because this class consisted solely of postures that were done
on the ground and that didn't require great strength or effort, and
because Stevie emphasized to focus on Ujjayi breathing. In addition to
relaxing, I would say that while doing yoga, I was also stretching. For
example, the heart bench felt like it was stretching my back and
shoulder muscles. After leaving class, I felt calmer than I had earlier.
However, it didn't take long for my mind to be filled with thoughts,
plans, and to-do lists once again. Overall, I enjoyed attending this
yoga class and the hour and a half of peace and quiet that it gave me.
If I had to sum up our in-class Ashtanga practice in one word, I would say challenging. The fact that it was challenging made it an enjoyable class, because I like exercise that challenges me and forces me to work hard. The most difficult aspect of the class was getting into some of the poses because they required so much flexibility, and I am only moderately flexible. The class stretched my entire body, especially my legs, which made me feel good afterwards. One aspect of the class that made a community atmosphere was how the entire class was arranged in a circle, with all of us facing towards each other. This brought a sense of togetherness to the class because everyone was facing each other instead of being in rows towards the front of the room. Another aspect of the class that made it feel like a community was how the class would look at each other for help for some of the moves. Because of this, we weren't doing yoga individually, but rather looking to our neighbors to see how
Comments
Post a Comment