Yoga Essay

Name: Morgan Kubisch

Describe two or more physical, mental and/or emotional insights, openings, or improvements you have cultivated from your IN CLASS practice of poses and breathing techniques SINCE the midterm. Did you have any experiences where you were familiar enough with a pose or poses that you began to focus less on the pose and more on you? If so, describe. Min 100 words, max 175 words.

Since the midterm, I have noticed myself easily finding my balance between effort and ease. Upon quickly finding that balance, I am able to truly enjoy the relaxation or challenge in every pose. I continue to feel improvements in my posture and flexibility. An emotional improvement I have noticed is simply my attitude in class. I would always come into class being stressed or having something on my mind and it was hard to let go of that. Now, I am able to completely separate myself from my day to enjoy yoga and all that it has to offer me. I also have become very comfortable with doing Sun Salutation A. I do this every morning and I feel comfortable enough to focus on my thoughts and my breathing, rather than mastering the poses themselves.

What two tasks or experiments from your Journaling Packet were most successful or interesting for you SINCE the midterm (Pebble 8+)? a) Pebble name and experiment or task; b) How did you go about the task, what results or benefits did it provide; c) How might the task or exercise relate back to your physical yoga practice? Min 75 words, max 150 words

a) Pebble 10: Acceptance… Is there an aspect of yourself or your life that is hard to accept because you/it is not living up to your expectations or ideals? (ETC)

b) I finding myself really disliking the part of my life that I am in—I am often frustrated with college in general because I do not want to be here. I know though that I need a degree to earn a good income, so I have accepted that even though it is hard sometimes. If it were up to me, I’d start a family tomorrow but I cannot. Accepting my reality has allowed me to enjoy the present, because my future will come when it is time.

c) Sometimes, though, when I have a hard time accepting my reality, I can step back and enjoy warrior pose to remind me that I am in the present and I should enjoy it, while still working toward my future.

a) I found the Pebble 11: Compassion/Loving Kindness task particularly interesting. It was: Find one thing from your past that you might still be beating yourself up about. Breathe, and explore in your journal what you might have been learning.

b) While I am not comfortable elaborating on the particular subject that I was beating myself up about, I was able to use this pebble to turn the experience into a lesson, which I had never done before. I now am able to look upon the experience in a better light because it taught me about myself (even though I learned the hard way).

c) I think that if I hadn’t been practicing yoga, I would not have been able to look at that experience as positive, but I will now be able to look at many negative experiences differently because I know myself better.

Name two challenges you faced, or two intentions you had for yourself in yoga during this semester and describe how you applied your learning in this class to address the challenges and/or embody your intention. (You can do one of each if you wish.) Min 75 words, max 150 words

Two challenges I faces were: not setting goals, and not judging myself.