Skip to main content

Yoga Journal 4/12/18

In the yoga class that I regularly attend, the main role of the body appears to be a vehicle through which mental clarity and focus can be attained. I say this because the class typically emphasizes maintaining mental focus and focusing on the breath, as well as moving with the breath. This leads me to believe that the actual movements of the body are not the most important aspect of the class, but rather the mental clarity and focus are. Therefore, the role of the body is to assist with this focus by moving according to breath. This seems to deepen the focus and make it more challenging to focus solely on the breath. Certain postures make it easier to focus by not requiring strength, such as corpse pose. Others, particularly postures that have to be held for a long time and require strength, make focusing on breath more difficult. Combining easy and difficult postures into one class allows me to practice focusing (with easy postures), and to challenge myself to focus even when it is difficult (with harder postures). I don't know if this is an intention of the instructor, or if this is just how it seems to work for myself. Either way, based on instruction from the teacher to focus on breath, and the non-specific instruction given for physical postures, it seems that the main role of the body in my yoga class is to enhance mental focus and clarity.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yoga Journal 1/23/18

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 t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yoga Journal 4/26

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yoga Journal 3/8

After having practiced yoga for some time, it is very clear to me that yoga is part of pop culture. Most of the things that point to yoga as pop culture I have observed outside of my yoga classes, in stores, on TV and the internet, and in everyday life. The yoga classes I usually attend are the classes offered at Stockton on every Tuesday and Thursday. The fact that Stockton offers yoga twice per week demonstrates how yoga has become pop culture. This means that enough people attend the classes for them to be held on a regular basis, which shows the popularity of yoga. Additionally, the selling of yoga props and clothing shows how much yoga is a part of pop culture. In most department stores, like Target and Walmart, there is a yoga section with yoga mats, blocks, and other yoga accessories. The fact that these department stores sell yoga props must mean that a decent amount of people buy them. These same stores also sell yoga clothes, like yoga pants and other fitness clothing that is...
Post a Comment
Read more