Final Post

This is my final blog post reflecting back on my yoga journey.  Before starting this class I was always interested in the concept of yoga but never really had the chance to practice it.  I thought the theory of doing yoga and than your life being better was a little ridiculous.  However now I do understand it, it may not be an overnight thing but if its being consistently done I can see how it may improve someone's life.  Yoga for me put a kind of meaning into my workout.  Yes working out is always good for your body but yoga is also good for your mind and works your body in ways you didn't know.  Throughout my practice I started becoming a little bit more flexible and I think if I did it more than once or twice a week my body could have gotten a lot more flexible.  I think of my experience and it reminds me a little bit of Nick's experience in Enlighten Up.  I wanted to see if there would be this incredible thing that would happen from the practice and at times I was a little reluctant.  However I think the difference is I don't need that big experience to see how others could feel that about yoga.  Overall I think I had a very positive experience and I hope to continue practicing yoga because I do think it is a good work out for your mind, body, and spirit.

Yoga is now apart of pop culture.  Many celebrates now do yoga and endorse it.  It is very easy to see that yoga has become much more popular.  There are now clothing lines and brands that are formed around yoga.  

Yoga can be seen as a healing practice because it relaxes the mind and body.  Practicing yoga helps bring down high blood pressure and lessens anxiety.  This is communicated by focusing on your breathing instead of things going on in your life at the moment.  After doing yoga I feel much more relaxed and able to do things that need to get done without stressing about finishing them.

I think that yoga does create a sense of community because it allows people to relate to each other.  no matter what level the person may be on it is a supportive community and everyone is working to better themselves.  People don't tend to care to much about your reasoning for practicing everyone is there to do yoga and that's all that matters.

My yoga practice can be considered a ritual because of the way the yoga class is taught.  During the yoga class we do the traditional "ohm" and namaste at that end.  The location in which you practice can also add to the ritual experience.  When you start and you are able to block out everyone else in your surroundings it helps you clear your mind.

I would consider yoga to be more of an exercise.  I always leave with a nice sweat and I think it pushes you.  Yoga can be empowering because most of the time you are focused on your breath so your not thinking about all the things that may stress you out.  It allows you to clear your head and go back to reality with fresh thoughts.  Yoga is a different type of exercise than things like running or zumba because it opens up your body and can relax you.

When I go to yoga it is a "sacred place" because people are very respectful and and the atmosphere is relaxing.  The people that attend the yoga classes are very respectful of everyone else.  Everybody leaves their phones out of the room to keep the place quiet.  Also the room being quiet is nice because it helps you relax and clear out your thoughts.  I think the most important is how the instructor runs it because they are going to set the tone of the whole lesson.

As a new yoga student who hasn't had any experience doing yoga I had a very good first experience.  I went to Yoga Nine in Ventnor and the class was taught by Valerie and the class was gentle yoga.  There were four other people in the which was nice because there wasn't pressure to be good.  It was a very relaxing experience and we focused a lot on our breathing.