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.
At my yoga classes, spirituality is a minor component that is expressed mostly by the instruction from the teacher. For example, she will talk about energy in the body, which could be referring to the soul. Additionally, pranayama is always practiced, which could be used to get in-touch with the soul. Besides the use of certain instructions and words from the teacher, spirituality does not appear to be expressed in other ways. Religion or things related to religion are never mentioned during the class. Based on other classes that I have attended, I think that spirituality is typically a larger aspect of yoga than it is at the class I attend. I think this has to do with my instructor, and how she talks about yoga in a scientific and logical manner rather than in a spiritual way. If the teacher is a religious or spiritual person, that will tend to come through in their class. However, the opposite is also true. Therefore, I think that the extent to which yoga is taught as a spiritua...
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