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.

Yoga technique

Headstands are a key asana in the yoga practice. Almost every style of yoga has emphasized the importance of the headstand. The technique we learned in class was all about the prepatory work for the headstand. Everyones mats were against the wall so when I first walked into class I thought we were going to be some work with the wall. Laurie was the yoga instructor and when she first mentioned that we were going to be doing asana that led up to the headstand. An older lady seemed rather worried about the headstand and talked to laurie about it one on one. The asana working up to the headstand were rather hard. It was alot of streching the upper back and neck. We all watched laurie as she showed us a technique with our hands to help us with the headstand pose. She did a headstand up against the wall because the class was so full she had no where else to do it. She did it perfectly but the door was messing it up because it kept moving. So i was all ready after seeing and preparing for the headstand to just DO IT! So i worked my legs closer to my body and had my elbows against the wall and laurie spotted me. Then I threw one leg up and touched the wall, and then came the other leg. My legs were bent but I hope to prosper and move on to the straight leg - no wall headstand. The headstand for yogi pros. After I accomplished this position I was so happy! I called my dad who was in Florida at the time and told him how I did a headstand. He did appreciate it to the full ecstacticness that I did but he thinks yoga is a good way of exercise. I told him earlier when I first started my yoga journey about how much I felt I was getting out of the class already. He said that one day he wants to take up a yoga class because he hears its very good for your physical being and relaxation skills.

Gentle yoga

I went to my first gentle yoga class this past wensday night. The yoga instructor was a school teacher named Rebecca. She was very young, pretty and she seemed very excited to start the class. I put my mat down in the left back corner and an older lady said to me that I shouldn't try and hide because the yoga teacher would find me. I wasn't afraid of her helping me throughout the class, I just simply put my mat there. The lady next to me was very nice and she told me that she just recently started getting back into the yoga practice. A couple other students from my class were at the gentle yoga class. One girl brought her two roommates. The instructor had a different style of teaching than what I am used to with all levels yoga. She told stories throughout each pose and she had us doing a lot of breathwork. It was more of a relaxing course, than a hardcore asana practice. I only felt little sensation during a couple poses, in comparsion to the other classes I have taken where it is more difficult. I hardly sweat at all during this class, it was very calming. I thought it was very rude that the girls from my class kept laughing and adding things to the instructor's stories. This made me semi-mad because the other yoga classes I have taken it was more of a silent course. When this was happening it kindof through off my calming feeling. I don't think they take the class that seriously. I like just listening to the teacher and taking everything in that she says.

Iyengar practice

I came into class on monday not expecting much out of this new yoga practice called Iyengar. The teacher was an older lady named Michele. She was wearing these black booty shorts, and later on during the class she told us why she was wearing her goofy looking shorts. Iyengar is mainly about one posture, and mastering that one posture. We did a lot of stretch work, and I could feel the sensations throughout my upper legs and thighs. I feel like I am pretty flexible so i got alot out of the Iyengar practice. The instructor told us that the reason she was wearing those shorts was so she could see each muscle in her legs so she knew it was going in the correct direction. I liked how during the class we stopped and examined each asana before we did it, this is a great way to learn and prosper in yoga.

All levels yoga 2nd class

This morning I attended my second yoga class with our instructor and Stockton professor, Laurie Greene. It was an all levels yoga course, but beginners are welcome as well. I enjoy the atmosphere of yoga nine's studio. Everyone in the class is very nice and friendly. We did a lot of split work today and stretches to prepare us for the final split. During the final split, I had to use the blocks to put under my leg. I could feel the burn through my upper leg and I could tell I was really working my muscle. I know my legs are going to be sore tomorrow. I still have yet to master the downward dog and I hope to by the end of the semester. I feel as if my back won't stretch as much as the other more advanced people in the class. I am going to practice my poses at home in my own time so when I attend another class I will improve. One of my favorite parts of going to the yoga courses is the Ohm at the end, it totally relaxes me.

Bikram yoga

I have heard a lot of good things about this HOT yoga class. My friend Corey told me about how that is the style of yoga that Madonna does. The class did this practice style last wed. with an instructor from margate named Chris. The stretches we did were a little hard, but the instructor said it was more of a beginner level course. After this class, my legs were sore about an hour later. I could feel the burn all throughout the class. I'm sure if i was in a yoga studio with the heat element I would have been dying. The poses weren't too advanced but I can imagine in a heated room it would be a lot harder to do. My favorite asana was the one where your legs are bent the opposite way, the teacher described this as looking like a little kid watching tv. This position was quite was easy for me because i always have been quite flexible, and I am used to sitting like this. I really want to go to an actual Bikram class and experience the heat with the asana.

My first day of learning the yogi ways.

So, I started off my morning by waking up to my best friend next to me on her birthday! Going to our first day of Yoga on her birthday was definitely a good way to start out her year as being 22. We drove to the studio ( Yoga Nine) in Smithville and to our surprise our teacher from our yoga class was going to be our yoga instructor. She was wearing the coolest yoga pants that had like leaves on them. We signed the waivers, and I was ready to start my path of learning the ways of being a YOGI. The class was very warm and I could feel the relaxing ambiance even before walking into the room. I've done some asanas(yoga poses) before on a workout dvd, and really enjoyed it. So, when i had the opportunity to take a class about yoga I was so excited to take it. I used to do gymnastics so I have always been pretty flexible. From the downward dog to the one man warrior pose i conquered them all. I had a little bit of issues with touching my toes and streching my legs completly and was forced to bend them a little. The instructor said it was okay if you have to bend your legs, some people are just more advanced yogis than other. I was a novice at yoga but I did get alot out of the class. It was an All levels yoga class & some of the poses were a little hard. The corpse pose was so relaxing that I could have probably fell asleep right on my yoga mat. She ended it with the best strech, a back bend. We used these blocks to help our backs stay up and two blocks for our feet. We all hummed "OM" , one lady gave a little extra to it like she was singing a song. I could certainly see yoga as being a workout i would do even after this class. I'm excited to learn more about the yogi way, and Im happy I picked this course for my senior year at Stockton.