Journal for Sep 24th 

Today I followed the video, Total Body Yoga - Deep Stretch, by Yoga with Adrienne. One thing that I noticed with Yoga by Adrienne, is that she doesn't have a set routine like some of the other Yoga practices I've seen like Ashtanaga, which is the same every time. However, that's to be expected out of a home Youtube yoga teacher. I find that classes are clearly more for beginners and people that are getting interested in yoga. 

Despite this, I really enjoyed the stretches that she moved us through throughout the lesson although she didn't always explain the poses she was moving us into. Many of them were basic like table top and downward dog, but those are the kind of stretched that I personally enjoy because it helps stretch out my bag. One thing I dislike about her practices are that they aren't really challenging enough, and its very clear like I stated earlier, that she is for casual yoga practitioners. 

Something that I feel as if I'm missing out on when it comes to yoga is the "ritual space" that is unattainable during times of covid. For me it's really difficult to truly focus my mind on yoga when there are so many aspects of my house that distract me. My cats biting my ankle, my roommate is walking through the apartment with his friends, cars are honking outside. If anything, the lack of a ritual space helps me understand why having a solid ritual space is important for yoga. Being surrounded by a teacher, a class, and an atmosphere that enhances focus and discipline is important for any yoga practitioner. I find it hard to even finish a practice without stopping without these aspects. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

 This week, I did Bikram yoga as assigned with the rest of the class. The first thing that I noticed with the beginning of the Yoga practice was that I personally was not in the mindset to start doing Yoga in my living room. Although Professor Laurie was a fantastic example for the poses, I found it hard to make myself motivated when not in the studio setting. The months of Covid-19 have made me lazy, and I think the biggest part of this class is trying to find my motivation to start doing yoga, and to push myself past my boundaries that I've become so comfortable with. One of the things that we talked about this Yoga practice is that Bikram yoga is a healing yoga, one that strengthens muscles and may help with certain physical aliments. I really like the concept of this, like I said in one of my past journals, I have back problems. This is one of the reasons I took this yoga class, rather than just running or going to the gym I find that yoga has a certain calming quality to it. I
Read more
 This week, I decided to do a Youtube yoga class as I figured out a schedule for other yoga classes near me. I decided to follow yoga with Adriene for this, because she has a popular following and also because she was recommended to me by a friend who practices frequently.  I practiced on her video: "Full Body Flow" and some of the more significant things I noticed is how much easier it must be to follow yoga at an actual studio where I feel more pressured to push myself, and also where the teacher would help me if my posture is wrong. However despite this, Adriene provides a calm voice throughout the video with notes of encouragement. I feel as if her form of yoga is much more physical and westernized compared to some of the more spiritual practices shown in "Enlighten Up" but I expected that from a Youtube yoga instructor.  During the practice, I had a hard time with balancing my breath with my movements. My balance, flexibility, and strength can all use some work
Read more
 week 11/24 This week I again used a youtube video on Iyengar yoga. However, as much as I like the actual exercise of going through the motions of Iyengar, I feel like I can’t get deeper now knowing how commodified it has become. It’s really lost is luster for me, it just seems so inauthentic that all of the spiritual bullshit they speak of feels so forced.  I guess you could say that yoga is similar to meditation. You need the dual focus of movement of the body and the breathing. So in that sense it’s comparable to meditation. However I feel as if meditation and yoga are two different things. Maybe it’s because I’m a novice, but when I’m sitting down and meditating it feels much different then doing yoga postures. I also feel as if the purpose of meditation is to be still, and to focus on creating oneness of mind rather than going through yoga postures. Yoga is also a group activity, and I feel like meditation at least for me is something that requires solitude. On top that, maybe my
Read more