Kate's Yoga Blog

Prompt - Yoga has made a transition from "traditional culture" to "counter culture" to "pop culture" here in the West. What have you observed about yoga that firmly establishes it as "pop culture"? What has been the effect on yoga in the West? Response - Yoga has definitely been transformed into a significant part of American pop culture. It is often marketed as a "cure-all" for an unfit body, for stress, for an unhappy sex life, for an unhealthy lifestyle, etc. which is something Americans tend to seek out and buy into. Yoga is also part of a broader "self care" rooted healthy lifestyle that is becoming extremely popular and sought after nowadays. Instagram personalities with thousands to millions of followers post videos of their slender, scantily clad bodies in perfect handstands or flowing through sun salutations against some picturesque back drop in Bali or Costa Rica. In the same breath, they are endorsing essential oi...

Prompt - How is yoga seen as a healing practice at your practice space? How is this communicated to you? Is this part of the class practice? How do you feel after doing yoga? Response - Yoga is often spoken about as an emotionally and physically healing practice in the classes I have taken. Yoga is often seen as energetically restorative and relaxing, and in a recent class I have taken, the instructor spoke about emotional and physical trauma getting stored in different parts of the body. Through different opening and stretching positions in the yoga class, these stored traumas were supposed to be released and those practicing were supposed to be able to heal this way. On a less spiritual level, yoga is thought of as a stress reliever and as a reliever of muscle pain or fatigue. I have also heard these things said in yoga classes. When I do yoga, it forces me to control my breathing and focus on just that and the positioning of my body for a while. The stretching and movement physica...

Ashtanga yoga practice: Ashtanga yoga has been my favorite style of yoga we have practiced in class. I was familiar with many of the poses, as well as the sun salutations, and I liked feeling like I was challenging myself. It felt like as much of an exercise class designed to get one physically fit as it did a spiritual practice. It reminded me of the many Sundays I have spent doing sun salutations and inversions in a heated studio near my home town, and it made me feel sincerely good to do this practice. I enjoyed how Lauren guided the class as well, as her teaching methods and attitude were very familiar.

Prompt: Yoga Practice as Community -Looking at Smith and building on Nevrin, does your practice space promote a sense of community? DEFINE this community and discuss its PURPOSE for both the studio and you. How much do you feel part of this community? Response: The yoga studio promotes a sense of community in those that come to class routinely. It is a community defined by the particular style of yoga being practiced (in my case, it's power), and by the sincere belief in the benefits reaped by this yoga practice. There is a need for seeking happiness and spirituality outside of one's normal life in this culture, and for some, having a yoga community creates a sense of belonging and togetherness along with a sense of being a healthy, happy, and spiritual person. The power yoga community are often very passionate about health and other forms of self care and wellness. Daily power yoga practice may go hand in hand with a passion for essential oils and crystals, or with Hinduism,...

Prompt: Practice as Ritual-Based on the article by Nevrin, How might your practice be analyzed as a "ritual"? How does this ritual function to change the nature, impact or intensity of your practice experience? Response: Yoga practice is a ritual in its environment, the behavior of those who practice it, and the sequence practitioners of yoga go through in the duration of the class that both challenge our social norms and then reinforce them. The setting of a yoga studio is set up as a ritualistic space. There is usually an altar of sorts with crystals, incense, and hindu statues (usually Shiva or Ganesh) at the front of the studio. Everyone removes their shoes before entering the space, something typically not done outside the home. No one speaks, and all students move through a sequence of poses and postures in a particular order. In real life, it would be against the norm for a stranger to touch your body, and yet students not only allow but welcome the adjustments of th...

Iyengar yoga practice: My experience with Iyengar was definitely surprising. I am used to vinyasa yoga, where the class has a certain amount of flows and series of positions throughout parts of the class. Iyengar is more about doing lots of the same type of poses for a given series and holding them for extended periods of time. I had never been made to hold a certain pose for 30 seconds, nor was I ever given a wall to aid my practice. Iyengar is also very focused on alignment, and our instructor was constantly re positioning and adjusting us so that our pose was perfect. I also was surprised by the difficulty of the poses that the instructor expected us to do. I had experience with crow, sideways crow, and headstand poses, but many people in class did not and we were all expected to do the poses. This struck me as odd and slightly dangerous, but I was impressed with myself for still sort of being able to do some of the difficult poses after not practicing them for a while. The class le...

Prompt: Is yoga framed as more than exercise? In what ways is it suggested at your practice space that yoga can "empower" you? Why not run, or do zumba? Response: Yes. Many times during a yoga class an instructor will make claims about benefits that only yoga can bring. When taking a class held at Stockton by an instructor named Mary, she stated multiple times that yoga made you more successful people. She stated that yoga was all about going with the flow of life and taking care of yourself, almost like a spiritual daily practice rather than just an exercise. She spoke about how we would feel all of our stress melt away, and that we were making ourselves better people by choosing to practice yoga on that night. These claims are not out of the ordinary. Yoga is the only exercise class I have experienced that makes claims to benefits outside the realm of physical fitness. Zumba may boast results about dropping fat, but it never tells people doing it that they are bettering t...