Shoulders & hips.

Three weeks prior to this yoga technique class, we focused on shoulder rotation. This class had some similar asanas as the class previous. We stretched our fingers and toes to make a long stretch throughout our shoulders and upper thighs. When stretching my hands to my feet we had to try and flex our toes towards ourselves. While doing this, I could feel the overall burn in my upper thighs and hips. I feel as if my shoulders have gotten to be more flexible because of the precious yoga classes I have taken where we focused on the shoulders. Sometimes I surprise myself with how flexible I am, and other times I feel as if I am doing the pose correctly but then the instructor comes by and fixes my posture. Posture is key when it comes to successfully conquering certain poses. Some poses we needed to keep our hips parallel and we would stretch both areas at the same time. One of my favorite poses was done in this class, the peacock. I like this one because we stretch our inner thighs and back at the same time. I noticed one lady in the class had to go get a drink and take a break because some of the poses were a little difficult. When we did the ukatasana with our arms stretched out it was a little difficult for me to obtain my balance. I need to focus on my legs , and work them more so I can obtain better balance throughout class. I am giving my self a to-do list this summer and one of the things on my list is to keep up with the yoga practice because I enjoy it.

Focus : Backbends

Last monday I attended my every week class - Yoga Technique. The instructor is Ms.Laurie Greene and she always has a certain aura to her, which raises the overall positive energy in the studio. She always plans  what specific part of our body we will be focusing on minutes before the class starts. I race to get to my car after my 330 class so I get a good spot for my yoga mat. I feel as if I have gotten to know some of the other ladies in my class just from attending the same class on a regular basis. Laurie warned us that we were going to be working on backbend asana throughout the class. She mentioned that we would notice our hearts starting to race as we work the upper and lower back muscles. She had us start with 3 very difficult back bend asanas first and then we worked our way down to lower difficulty level poses. We did a pose similar to the downward dog but we lifted out heads forward in order to stretch our backs more. Even though this class is a mid-level yoga class I enjoy it a lot. Although I am just a beginner in the yoga practice, I like to strive myself to achieve more difficult asanas so i can prosper and move forward. I notice that if I do not practice for the whole rest of the week, this class is more difficult. If i do some poses throughout my week like a warm-up exercise I feel like I am more prepared for this class. The atmosphere in this class is a very positive one and I feel as if everyone whom is in the class is very serious about their yoga practice and each individual strives for their best. It makes me want to try more to increase my abilities.

Shoulder rotation

Last night I attende Yoga technique @ 545 with Ms.Greene as the instructor. I enjoy this class the most because the poses are not simple. They asana that we do throughout the class focuses on one specific muscle and at the same time incorporates the other muscles as well. Like yesterday, we focused on the shoulder muscles, and rotated them through different asana. We stretched our wrists and fingers throughout each stretch. We did the warrior one and warrior two, but it varied this time. This time we stretched out our shoulders while doing the warrior poses. It seemed like it was more difficult for the adults in the class to stretch their wrists back and bend their elbows, but for me it was kind of simple. I think this is because Im very flexible in my arms and hands. The overall atmosphere of the class was very relaxing. The Indian music in the background certainly makes the relaxation go into full effect. Everyone tries their best, and enjoys pushing themsleves to the LIMIT! Like me, I enjoy a challenge. I enjoy the more advanced poses and I try to do them on my own at home to practice. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. I plan to keep yoga in my life forever, & I will keep practicing throughout my life.

Yoga : Solo

Last night I did yoga alone in my living room, because I feel like if I don't keep up with my yoga my body remains tense. I like to stretch and do certain poses to make my body feel more rejuvenated. I decided to try and do a sequence on my own and I thought back to poses I enjoy like the laying down stretching poses, for example the pigeon pose. I like doing yoga by memory but I like when there is an instructor telling you each pose to do. I went on demand and ordered a twelve minute yoga for abs workout. I like working on my inner core and abdominal muscles so I ordered this one. The clip was similar to the poses I have done in a class but he had us do some things that seemed like more of a cardio workout. We did the yoga bicycle and like yoga crunches, these poses didn't seem yoga like, they seemed like more of a physical workout.

work them shoulders!

Last monday I went to the yoga technique class with instructor Greene, whom is also my professor at Stockton. Monday's class was all about the shoulder muscles. We did poses to warm up for the end result which was the shoulder stand. She had us each grab a block and a strap.We used the strap to help our shoulder muscles stretch by grabbing the strap and putting our hands behind us. We did this multiple times. She also had us stretching out our wrists by placing our hand facing in our direction facing us, it seemed rather difficult  for the older ladies and gentlemen. For me, turning my hand in the different direction didn't hurt and i was even able to bend my elbow during it. I think this is because i am rather flexible in my arms and hands and I have always done gymnastics. This class was my first class since our spring break and I was sweating hard core. My face was even turning red during some of the more difficult poses. I always feel refreshed after a yoga class, and I enjoy it !

Vata, Pitta or Kapha? Who Am I?

After listening to Laurie's lesson about the three types of beings I realized that I am totally one hundred percent a Kapha. I checked off 8 things under the Kapha section of the worksheet that Ms.Greene handed out. My eyes are definitely large and friendly and my hair is clearly thick, dark and wavy; although I do straighten it each day. One of the points I checked that is so me is that my health problems are centered around excessive mucus. This implies to me a lot because I constanly have allergy problems and I always have an over excess of mucus in my nose and sinuses. I have very good stamina but I tend toward laziness. This implies to me because I work all the time but I would generally prefer to just lounge out and be comfy! I think this whole concept of finding what kind of being you are is very cool.

Ashtanga practice

After the ashtanga practice with the instructor Sharon, I felt soooo sore. My abs felt like I just did like 100 crunches the day before. My thighs were super sore. The soreness stayed throughout my body until like 4 days later. I really enjoyed the ashtanga practice. The two stages up to the primary series included alot of repetition of poses. We did the same streching poses over and over and worked a different part of the body out in between. Cobra, Downward dog and lotus were the three poses we kept repeating. I tried to do every pose she should us in the primary series but some were just so difficult and my body would not open in the way the pose needed me to. I did rather good though when I looked around the room and saw that other girls weren't even trying to master the same exact asana. Many of them were trying to do it half-assed. I like to push myself to try and accomplish the poses she was teaching. I am a very strechy and flexible person so some of the poses I enjoyed a lot. She asked if any students wanted her to spot them for a headstand and only like 4 or 5 wanted to. She spotted me and I got my legs to go up, but they would not straighten up. I felt brave in comparsion to the other girls in my class who simply didnt try. I am embracing the yoga adventure currently in my life.  This was a style I truly loved and want to go to Cape may and practice with Sharon during the summer.