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.