Yoga I Reflection Part 2

1.    Do you feel like your yoga asana and meditation practice has helped your level of well-being?  List three effects and which practice(s) helped you for each.

It has helped with my well-being a great deal. Three ways in which this class has helped me are as follows: 1. I can feel where my muscles are, even the smaller ones. This helps my form when weightlifting. 2. I know how to stretch parts of my body that I didn’t know I could stretch. The best example is my lower back, which I have had problems with for as long as I can remember. I am no able to alleviate some of the pressure there just by doing a simple stretch that I can do any where and at any time. 3. I sleep better. A lot better. Especially on a day when I do yoga. But I know how to calm my mind much better than I used to, and I know how to just shut it down and go to sleep.

2.    Have you noticed that your stress levels have been easier to control as a result of your practice?  Please explain specifically what you’ve done to control your stress, and how the practices have helped.

I suffer from some pretty severe anxiety resulting from some hard things that happened to me when I was a kid. Most of it is physiological and I can’t do much about it. But, breathing techniques definitely help. In yoga and meditation I have learned how to take a step back and reset. It doesn’t work every time, but I can do it often enough to be helpful. I’m very grateful for the ability.

3.    Has your physical health improved during this semester as a result of your practice? How and in what ways?  Be specific.

As I said above, yoga has made me a better weightlifter and it has made it easier for me to fall asleep and stay asleep. Sleep is the foundation of health. Without it, no amount of sunshine or exercise is going to make me feel healthy.

4.    Has your emotional health improved as a result of your practice?  How? Are you less reactive? What happened in those specific situations?

I am FAR less reactive than I was before I started taking meditation at the beginning of this year and yoga has only added to that. As I said above, I’m able to take a step back and breathe now. It’s much better. I used to get really stressed out or annoyed or even full-on angry at work when I felt overwhelmed. I don’t often feel overwhelmed anymore. Just a few nights ago, I was getting my butt kicked bartending and I just wanted to stop. So that’s what I did. I stopped for about 90 seconds, went into the freezer, focused on my breath, and when I came back I was completely ready to work again.

5.    What effects have the yoga practices you've learned and practiced had on your energy levels? List the three most important and state why you think they helped.

I wouldn’t say that yoga has done much for my energy levels, unfortunately. I’ve been under a lot of pressure the last few months. I lost my fiancée, my home, my bed, my dogs, everything I own. I’ve been without a home for months. I’m moving to Hawaii in four weeks and I’m completely unprepared. I’ve been able to keep my stress levels low and I’ve been able to sleep, thank God, but I can’t do much about my energy levels being as depressed as I have been lately. They just aren’t there.

6.    Have your relationships to family, co-workers, and others changed as a result of your practices? Explain how.  Please be specific.

Absolutely they have. Yoga and meditation have a wonderful way of peeling back layers of narcissism. What I mean by that is that if you walk around feeling disconnected from everyone, feeling as though their motives are always impure while yours always have some good reason, you will find yourself treating people very unfairly. I’ve done that for most of my life. Yoga and meditation have improved my spirituality, made me feel more connected and empathetic, and helped to relinquish the stranglehold of control that I’ve had over my life. I treat everyone so much better now. I listen. I don’t rage out. I’m calm. I care so much now. I want to know what’s wrong and why. I’m ready to apologize and seek a solution at a moment’s notice.

7.    Has learning about basic nutrition changed the way you select food, or changed the foods you eat? In what ways?

I’ve been big on proper nutrition for years. That old saying “You are what you eat” is literally true. You are made up of those things that you put into your body, both physical and emotional. If we consume garbage, then garbage we will be.

8.    Is taking better care of your physical body by consuming more nutritional foods contributing to your overall health and well-being? If not, why not? What specific things have you noticed that are improvements?

Of course it does. More energy, more confidence, and just an overall feeling of increased well-being.

9.    Do you feel like you think before you speak more often?  Has what you’ve learned about ahimsa (non-violence) helped you be a kinder person? Why or why not?

My answer above answers this. Words can be violent. I try very hard to be more selective in how I use them.

10. Do you look forward to your practice, or struggle finding time for it?  Why and how has it been a pleasure? Or what do you think are the real reasons behind your struggle?

I look forward to my practice and I struggle to find time for it. Depression, anxiety, and a lack of living space have made it hard for me to ahsana, but I do yoga nidra and a few simple stretches every single night. I still try to meditate as often as I can get myself to as well.

11. In what ways has learning about the Kundalini Yoga system and the energy body complemented your yoga practices or your understanding of yoga practice in general?

Again, I think it just helps me to be more aware of my physical body and helps to improve my spirituality.

12. How has learning about the energy/astral body and the chakras changed the way you think or feel about yoga?

I was surprised at how indepth it is. I thought yoga was just stretching, but there is much more to it.

13. Is yoga more than just a physical exercise for you? Explain why or why not.

I don’t believe that there is anything as just a physical exercise. I do a lot of different things and each one of them contributes to me emotionally and mentally as well as physically

14. Explain the most profound or important insights that you have realized from your meditation practice.

That there is more to life than meets the eye. I’m not kidding about spirituality. I had NONE before I started meditation and yoga. I thought that what I see is all there is. I was arrogant. I feel much smaller now, and in a funny way, much dumber.

15. Have you found yoga to be a deeper or more interesting study than you thought it was when you first started class? Why?

Absolutely. I thought I was just going to be stretching and maybe learning how to be a little more mindful. The energy body, Kundalini, chakras, all of this stuff is so interesting and I’m looking forward to exploring it further.

16. How will you integrate or use what you've learned about the yoga practices as you go forward on your life's path?

Like every other physed class I’ve taken, this is the root of something that will grow into a mighty oak as my life goes on. I will never stop doing yoga, just like I will never stop meditating, just like I will never stop biking or lifting weights. Without these things, I am nothing. I have nothing. I don’t function. They are the basis for everything else that I do.