Yoga is defined in my practice space as much more than just the physical postures. My teacher said in class this week that there are several other ways of "doing yoga" besides attending a class. She mentioned that if you're walking in the park and feel one with your surroundings and feel at peace, that you are doing yoga. Based on my teacher's examples of what doing yoga really is, I would define yoga in the context of my practice space as: a state of connection and oneness with one's environment and concentration/awareness of one's body in relation to the environment. Based on that definition, yoga can be done anywhere, at anytime, and may not be a conscious act. Also, this definition of yoga does not require any physical postures to be done. My teacher's definition of yoga shows in how she teaches the class. For example, she often says that everything she tells us to do is only a suggestion, and that we should always be meeting our bodies wherever they are. This suggests that the physical aspect of yoga is not as important as being mindful of the body.
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
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