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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.

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