Yoga with Gabriella

Before coming into this class, I never really knew the affect yoga could have on someone and the way it affects the body. After learning about the history of it and how each culture looks at yoga differently it has broadened my eyes that yoga actually has a positive affect on people. Some people have think let me just do it because I see famous people doing it. They try to jump on the bandwagon of the newest trend as we saw in certain movies that we watched in class over the semester.   Like many beginner yoga students, it took at least a couple weeks of classes before I stopped looking around to see if I looked like everyone else while doing the poses. I wondered how ridiculous I looked in various poses, thinking for sure that when the instructor suggested a modification, it was meant for me alone. Following the breathing cues felt like trying to write with my left hand, and after five minutes in “Savasana,” I was convinced we were left in the dark to fend for ourselves. it wasn...

 In think in the west when they say cultural appropriation  they show it is a cultural thing and each  culture sees it differently.  Yoga  stems from the Vedas - the Indian holy texts that were composed from around 1900 BC. Besides  yoga , three major  religions  came from those texts - Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. I think it is depending on different cultures it could be considered a religion.  As a spiritual and physical practice, yoga is a positive and comprehensive approach to holistic health through the integration of body, mind, and spirit; as such, it is a valuable instrument to promote one’s spiritual well-being. Yoga aids all who practice religion, regardless of their persuasion, by balancing the nervous system and stilling the mind through its various exercises . I think it is considered a religion in some cultures and they way they see yoga and how they complete it. 

I feel like breathing is the most important part of yoga. If you do not focus on breathing then there you will not be able to feel connected with the whole experience of doing yoga. Yoga is all about relaxing yourself and the body and that all starts with the breathing. The way you breath can help with the process and the way you feel the yoga working inside the body.  Breathing  deeply in  yoga  can actually  help  you avoid injury. Deep  breathing  can also allow us to experience our true essence. The flow that the steady in and out action of  breathing  creates stimulates a transformation in the body and mind, purifying and cleansing them so that our true mind and body. Yoga is all about breathing and how you should inhale and exhale at specific times when doing a pose in pranyama. It is taught by the instructor on when do take a deep breath in and when to really exhale and feel the air leave your body. Taking breathes while d...

In doing yoga throughout the semester, I was able to see that meditation is key when doing yoga. It is one of the key aspects in how we breathe and how it helps the body when we are in a relaxed state of mind. When we do yoga we usually begin when we work on breathing and becoming one with ourselves. It is an important aspect to think of when doing yoga. In yoga it presents a key important role when doing yoga. I find it to be one of the most important aspects in yoga because if you are not relaxed and in a meditative mindset you will not be able to fully do the yoga correctly. My impression of meditation is that it is important to see how it helps you and relaxes the mind and help it becomes a calming state of mind. I feel like keeping yourself calm during yoga is key and the way you feel after meditating and doing yoga is when you feel like your real self. 

I think that yoga has been defined as a word or action but in reality it has turned into so much more in the united states. Every culture has a different way of seeing yoga and what it accounts for and how it helps the body. Going to practices I am able to see in the united states that each instructor and teacher sees how yoga affects them and the way it has helped their life in some shape or form. American yoga I feel is more modernized then the yoga in India. It is interesting to see that going to yoga with different instructors and how each practice has a different way of looking at a culture. Going to practices have changed the way I see yoga and i’m seeing that each culture has a different definition of it. Everyone sees it differently but i think if you have the right head space when doing yoga it will give everyone hopefully the same results.

When I completed yoga with the video that was shown during class time, I felt like it was a good way for someone who does not do yoga often will help them learn the poses and the way someone should move while doing yoga. I felt like it was easy to understand to what the instructor wanted and the way he was speaking was calming and he did not rush anything or poses. He was able to explain why we do the poses and how it will help the body. He gave each pose a specific way it will help the body which was helpful to know how it affected each body part. It was easy to follow the video since he went slow, sometimes it was a little to slow since it was easy to predict what the next movement would have been. I felt like it was a chill vibe in the class since it was a video but still helpful to learn new poses about the hips and other body parts.

Yoga has become extremely  popular in the culture. First it started in traditional cultures to counter culture and now pop culture. We see so many celebrities doing yoga and trying to stay fit. It has turned into this phenom that everyone is seeing that yoga can help with the mind and body. Each culture sees yoga differently, the west could see it one way while we would see it a different way. In Sivananda yoga we see that everyone has their own way of teaching it and way they do yoga. I feel like pop culture has put a different view on yoga and the way it can affect the body. Celebrity's go to all these classes and have changed the way we see yoga. They have starred in movies trying to promote the way yoga feels. In today's society we have seen that yoga has changed. In this yoga there is more breaks after the poses which could get boring after a while. I like it when we move non stop and don't have so much of a rest time. Everyone sees yoga differently in today's soci...

After going to yoga every week this semester since starting class I have felt completely different about life and the way I see things. I would say that yoga is seen as a healing practice because of the way it makes you think about life. After walking out of class my body has felt completely different and I have felt healing in the body. I did not know that I would be able some of the certain stretches and poses and my body felt like it was healed after doing them. I did not know yoga could have such a big impact on someones body. I feel like the practice space as well brings a healing vibe, it is usually dark in the room and everyone is just worried about themselves and not worried about the people around them. I feel like the vibe that is in the room when I have gone to yoga has only helped me in the process of going to yoga and not worrying about outside matters when I am in class. It has changed my mindset as I have gone to more classes. Even after this semester I still ...

After attending Ashtanga yoga it was completely  different than what I expected, it was very fast pace and not like the other types of yoga I have done in the past. With it being so fast I found myself losing balance and not completing the pose fully but overall I felt like this was my favorite yoga I've done. The practice space promotes a sense of community, when I do it in a studio, TRLC, or class I feel like the people around make the class more engaging. If everyone is completing the poses the best they can while others are doing better in the class because they have done yoga before. The people that have completed the poses before look more comfortable doing the poses. I feel like if the instructor is helping and wants everyone to do the poses correct feels more like a community to me, as in everyone is willing to put the same amount of work into it. I feel like if you are serious and want to leave the session feeling a different way then when you walked in you gave the class...

This was my first time doing Iyengar yoga, it was different than what I expected we held the poses for a while compared to the other yoga classes I have gone to. A  ritual  is a process that has a positive side effect that does not involve the task being completed.  Yoga  teaches us to connect with ourselves and think about the purest intentions.it is always important to check with your body, mind, emotions and spirit. Once connecting with yourself you are able to set the mood for your body and mind. During Iyengar i was able to see that the way you think about the ritual could change the nature and intensity of the practice. When you stand in the poses for a while you are able to find yourself slowly balancing better and clearing your mind of things that you were worrying about. The ritual feel change the way of nature because you begin to relax and not feel like you are in the same place. You begin to feel better about yourself and stand a little taller a...

After attending a number of yoga classes I feel like I have been able to grow as a person and see who it does affect peoples lives in different ways. I exercise daily and enjoy doing it and feeling good about my body afterwards. Since doing yoga I feel like it is more framed and has more of a purpose to get across during the class. Going to the class this week the purpose the instructor was trying to get across was to go with the flow and not to worry about what other people say and do. I feel like because the instructor is trying to get a positive message across it is different than a normal exercise. One could be motivated to exercise but when you go to the yoga class the instructor is drilling into your head to stay positive. The space around could feel more empowering because the whole class is completing the same poses and stretches. When doing a normal exercise it is completely different because you could look around and compare yourself to everyone else. In yoga you feel like i...

My second yoga class I attended at Stockton University that an alumni was teaching. Overall the experience was amazing! We did focused on stretching, clearing our mind and being at peace with ourselves. Since it was run by Stockton and was not in a real yoga studio the vibe was not the same as it would have been. The instructor shut the blinds to get it more dark and make it feel more like a yoga class. The behavior of the people completing the yoga class seemed like they had done it before. Since this was my second yoga class I felt like my behavior changed and feel like I took this more serious since I knew what to expect. She had certain rituals that she followed during the class that made it flow nicely. She had music in the background so that it would flow and have a good experience while doing yoga. The rules were not that serious because if we couldn't complete the pose she would not force us to do it. I felt extremely relaxed and enjoyed the class. I will be going bac...

This was my first real experience doing yoga . The physical environment was the class setting since Diane came to teach the class. The environment felt welcoming, she made it fell like a real yoga class even though it was being held in the classroom. The community felt welcoming since it was everyone in the class. I also felt comfortable because I wasn't the only one who had been doing a yoga class for the first time. While doing yoga I realized it was extremely different than I thought, the breathing exercises and the 26 poses were different than I thought. There were 26 poses in Bikram yoga that we completed over the two hour class. Some poses were harder than others but after the first few poses i found out balance was key. As long as you focused on breathing and balancing during the poses you would succeed in completing some of the poses. The poses focused on major parts of the body such as the hips and the spine. While doing the poses the yoga instructor would make sure we wer...