Weekly Journal 5

 I think that with the given circumstances of the current pandemic, promoting a sense of community is slightly more difficult now. Although there are yoga classes in person, having the option of being virtual might lessen the amount of people going in person to these classes. In fact, there are probably a lot of yoga studios that are temporarily closed. Now, people practice yoga by watching virtual classes with yoga instructors or practice it by themselves in the comfort of their home. Further, I feel that having a sense of community with in person yoga classes is a lot more personal. You can make connections and create bonds with the people you see weekly. I have heard from my friends where they have gone to yoga classes in the past where everyone introduces themselves. I feel that getting to know the people around you creates a more personable environment and makes the class a little more enjoyable.  However, given the circumstances we are in, I feel that we have to make the most out of virtual yoga classes, since this is the new norm for the meantime. 

This week, we completed 2 Ashtanga yoga practices with the instructors Amita Bhagat and Andrew Eppler. Our first practice this past week was with Amita, who focused on Iyengar yoga. This class focused on stretching and aligning our bodies not only externally, but internally too. I found it really interesting when Amita talked about the different poses that help with cramping when women are menstruating, and how Iyengar yoga poses help with our digestive system. I really enjoyed how smooth the movements flowed and how she explained which muscles we were stretching and the benefits of the poses and stretches. I also really liked how she explained how our body represented directions (north, south, east, and west). This helped me understand how energy can flow into the directions of our body, which also helped me better understand the ritual aspect that yoga can have.

This practice was slightly different compared to Andrew, since we did not have to focus on our breathing as much. I liked how Andrew narrated the yoga practice, while his wife completed the actual poses. Andrew focused a lot more on chants towards the end, whereas Amita did not. This practice was on a more difficult level than Iyengar yoga, because of the variety of new and different poses taught. In addition, the poses itself was a lot more complex than the usual poses I do, so this practice was a lot harder for me to follow. 

To continue with the topic of a sense of community, I feel that I am becoming part of the yoga community as a whole. I am slowly but surely understanding and appreciating yoga more with the different kinds of yoga practices I am completing.