My Yoga Experience

My yoga journey this semester has been an interesting one. I started out not really knowing what to expect or what it would be like. Although I have practiced yoga casually before this semester, it was exciting to practice and have a bit (a lot!) more background and the grounds to analyze what I was doing and why. I do feel like I got a sort of altered yoga experience since I only attended yoga classes taught on the Stockton campus. Stockton is by no means a yoga studio, and I think it would have been a very different experience elsewhere. Our practices were a sort of hodgepodge so I can't decided if I have made any clear improvement in terms on my physical practice. I feel like I was always able to keep up and that it was enjoyable along they way.
Practicing yoga became very different when pairing it with our class discussions. I felt like I had so much more information and I was able to take so much more away from the physical practice each time because I knew what was behind it. The philosophy has been the most exciting to me, and I think some of the ideas we have discussed I will continue to grapple with. I love to learn things and them see them appear unrelated in my life in different contexts, and that has definitely happened with some of our readings and discussions.
I'm interested to continue practicing yoga on a casual basis. I don't think I would have ever wanted to if I only did the physical practice without all of the knowledge I've gained about it. I'm interested to continue reading and learning about yoga as I go, and I definitely feel infinitely more aware of the Easter and Western differences in yoga and beyond. This class has especially sparked my interest in Eastern thought and philosophy, and I'm happy to have some new information in my pocket from this.

Meditation

The meditation we did in class was not like anything I've done before. I thought I was actually pretty familiar with meditation, but I have only really practiced under a limited set of instructors. I have practiced guided meditation for years now. During these sessions an instructor speaks throughout the meditation suggesting images and guiding you through a sort or journey. I was, admittedly, pretty thrown off in class when we all closed our eyes and the instructor didn't speak! I think that this effected my ability to meditate at the time, since I thought I was going into something a bit different than it ended up being. I am very familiar with the ideas about meditation that our instructor suggested to us prior to the practice, so I was still able to relate. I think it is more difficult to practice quiet meditation rather that guided because it is easier to let your mind wander. In guided meditation you are almost given something to focus on. I am pretty interested to explore quiet meditation further in comparison to guided.

Continuing Practice

Stevee, I think, is pretty good about switching up what we do each time we meet for yoga. She effectively explains where the different things we do come from, which I appreciate since I am pairing this practice with the class as well. Since she tries to switch it up so much, I feel like I am getting a good taste of different styles even though I have only been practicing under one instructor. I like some classes and I don't like some others, and I think that is good. I am finally starting to develop preferences and recognize the things I like or dislike to do, and what I struggle with. The classes have gotten much smaller as the semester goes on, which I like. I prefer to be in a smaller group, and the people who aren't taking it very seriously have been weeded out by now. There are now less distractions throughout the class!

Yoga as Medicine

I think yoga as medicine is a prevalent idea in our country. I think yoga is discussed very often as a stress reliever or relaxation technique. Yoga is almost prescribed by people who think it that its purpose is to relieve anxiety. I definitely see how yoga can achieve those things. But if you do pretty much anything regularly, it will relieve stress and anxiety. Exercising, hobbies, reading, exploring. If you commit a practice to any healthy regiment, positive side effects will emerge. And I think that is what is wrong about describing yoga as a stress reliever, it is a side effect. Practicing yoga accomplishes a long list of things for the body, mind and spirit. They do not have to be goals, but simply things that happen along with practicing yoga. The ideas about yoga as medicine as we see them in the mainstream media here are skewed.

Yoga as a Lifestyle and Culture

I'm pretty certain that I hate "yoga culture" as we know it by the media here on the East coast. I think that it is mostly full of people who tell themselves lies about what is important and good. I simply cannot get grasp the mental capacity of someone who buys $100+ articles of clothing and spends their time posting on social media about their "simpler life." There are so many people out there that believe that their yoga practice somehow makes them a good person. Our culture decided that people who practice yoga should be praised for their nobility. The lifestyle of semi-regularly practicing yoga, spending ridiculous amounts of money on shakes and fancy water bottles, and receiving praise from the community for being such a generous and aware person is so incredible strange to me. I realize that is little sub-culture is just that, a single aspect of a larger community. But these are definitely that people that I think give yoga a bad name in our area, and are ultimately hurting those with more genuine practices and lives.

Yoga Community

Yoga definitely creates a community. Just in my time practicing yoga this semester at Stockton, I've come to recognize the regulars in the class, and I know that we are part of a community. In this case, it goes completely unspoken.  Smile are exchanged, class happens, and we move on. However, it is very comforting I think. Knowing that you are part of something that is consistent and somewhat dependable. Like anything, yoga definitely has sub-communities of people who share similar beliefs beyond what is done on the mat. Even different types of practices have their own communities since they hold a set of similar thoughts. I don't think that I'm in a yoga community that goes any further that the practice room at Stockton.

Practice as Ritual

I explore ideas about ritual very often in the theatre world. Theatre is extremely ritualistic, and it has always been exciting to me to examine what makes it so, and the different customs we have that support it or break it down. So, chatting about ritual in class has been super exciting for me! Everything about yoga screams ritual to me. Arriving to a certain place. An instructor guiding you. Making shapes and sounds with your body along with people doing the same thing. Making those shapes to possibly evoke something. The incorporation of instruments or props for specific purposes. I often think of church services which are extremely ritualistic. Sit there, stand up here, say this, sing that, hands here, sit, stand, move, chant. We recognize religion as ritual. Yoga possesses so many of the very same qualities.