Final Journal Write - Up

I have Finally come to end of this Journey with Professor Laurie Greene, and in I have learnt an incalculable number of things I never knew before starting this class. This class Yoga: East meets West,  has explained and showed me a lot about Human spirituality and Human physiology, also a lot about me as a human being every single week we jumped through a new Hurdle or a new Yogi instructor, there was always something interesting or different to learn, and to be truthful, is one of the main reasons I shall be sticking with yoga as a practice and form of exercise, for a long time. In this blog, I shall be highlighting my journey from the beginning of this class to the end. 

My first foray into Yoga was while I was away at my former school, the University of Pittsburgh, I was going through a lot of stress being in a new  surrounding ( I had never been away from home before ), so I started watching Yoga videos as a sort of way to learn new stretches but also as a form of meditation, but I didn’t do it a lot until, I started at the Stockton University, On the First day, I started searching harder positions like “Hot Yoga Intermediate”, I did this a lot  m in the beginning to gain more flexibility because I wasn’t as malleable as I needed to be, I remember after my first week in the Yoga class with the professor and also my personal practicing, I honestly felt pain in every muscle and fiber of my being.

My, second week in Yoga class. We got to watch this movie called “ Enlighten Up” about a neutral Journalist who gets to delve into the world Yoga, and also see through the eyes of different Yogis, their definition of what it meant to be part of this world, and how did Yoga help them navigate the world in which they lived in, Many yogis used Yoga for different reasons, such as for physical attraction, for sexual reasons, others for enlightenment, and for others their reasons were just to exist in oneness with God. This related to me in many ways especially in the aspect that In the beginning I practiced Yoga for physical attraction, I wanted to look great naked ( Who doesn’t ), but I realized that as I went on this journey of discovery especially in the yoga realm, it became an instrument to help me push myself to the next level, Yoga has helped me truly know my physical limitations and what I need to do to push through it. Everyone has their own reasons for practicing Yoga, but in the end that’s ok because that’s the beauty of Yoga it’s not selfish it’s malleable, and quite useful for everyone’s purpose

I started doing some Yoga exercises, with a YouTube Yoga instructor I found online the name of his account was “ Strength Side”, I was having bad back pains reason unknown So I tried some of the exercises, and to my surprise my back felt way better than ever before, In had been grumpy that entire week because I kept rolling over due to lower back pains, but after doing his exercises my body felt loose and, of optimal functioning.

 Being able to be in your personal space is paramount in yoga (I use my room), My space defines me and gives me confidence I didn’t have before, I can practice without judgement. The freedom of having some calmness in your mind, and your environment works for you is lovely. The idea that making mistakes is completely alright is a fantastic feeling especially for me as a beginner.

Yoga is presented to the general public as a Healing and as a practice that heals both internally and externally, and I really believe this to be true, I have had many a time coming home from soccer, or a jog when I felt pain in different parts of my body , unnecessary niggles joints back, neck and so much more, without knowing the reason why, and after practicing Yoga for at least 30 minutes or even less my body just became lighter, I felt younger, and even trying to be a Ballerina. I love this aspect of Yoga whereas most active workout regiments my leave you are feeling in pain or worse off than when you came in, with Yoga its different, you feel alive when practicing, you seem to have been reborn in a new body, the joy of finally being able to achieve pose is unparalleled. It’s a lovely practice Yoga is, and though the semester is ended, I would love to keep practicing for the rest of my life