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End of Semester Conclusion

            Over the past few months, I have participated in many different styles of yoga in several different settings via virtual classes. I have learned a lot more than I expected and my skills have progressed significantly from where I was in September. I never knew how many different aspects played a role in the yoga community and practice as a whole. The instructor, the setting of the studio, clearing for sacred space, mind/body spiritual concentration versus exercise concentration are all elements that could drastically change the atmosphere surrounding a yoga experience; and that is just to name a few. I practiced basic flexibility classes and classes focused on gaining physical strength.   I also took classes that followed a specific yoga philosophy such as Iyengar, Vipassana, Ashtanga, Meditation, and many more. It seemed to me that every new class I took had a slightly different focus and taught me something new that I previously was unaware of. Whether that be a new outloo
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 This week I participated in a yoga class with my mom while I was home for thanksgiving break. Im unsure the type ofpraytice this was, but it was 45 minutes long and consisted of basic poses and movements. there was emphasis on keeping a slow and controlled breathing, while focusing on a strong mind muscle connection. I found this practice to be very enjoyable and soothing and overall we both had a great time participating in this practice.     The woman who was leading the practice had a very calm and relaxed tone in her voice, she did a great job at keeping us engaged throughout the whole practice. She was also really good at maintaining a smooth pace transitioning from one pose to the next allowing for enough time to get a proper stretch without going too long or too short for each pose.      At the conclusion of the practice, I felt like I was extremely loose and stretched out, this class was very calming and also a great workout at the same time. It gave me everything I look for w
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       This week I participated in another online class instructed by Kassandra. This class had a duration of 45 minutes and consisted of basic poses that were intended to relive the muscles of stress and loosen everything up. I really enjoyed this class because it wasn't too fast paced and was very calming. The poses did a really good job at helping my muscles to relax and my body felt really good after the class concluded.      Kassandra once again was a great instructor. She was very calm and positive. Her voice was very soothing and allowed the experience to be that much more enjoyable. I feel that having a calm and relaxed instructor plays a major role In improving the vibes in which the class is taken in. With that being said this was my fourth class total with Kassandra and every time I remember why I keep coming back for more classes. I always feel great after wards and I am always glad that I chose the class that I did.     Now that I have taken several different styles of
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 For this weeks yoga class, I participated in a Vinyasa yoga instruction taught by Ally Maz. Right off the bat I was able to tell that this class was going to do a really good job at loosening my muscles up and would give me a really solid stretch; I was right. I was extremely pleased with the pace of this class, I was able to keep up with no problem. the instructor did a really good job at keeping the class engaged and maintained a positive calm tone throughout the class. Not all teachers are capable of teaching well while performing the posses at the same time, so this was greatly appreciated by me.     I thoroughly enjoyed how well Ally flowed through the positioned. I felt very fluent and natural progressing from one position to the next. The difficulty of the poses were very moderate in my opinion and I didn't have any trouble performing any of them. This was the first class I have taken where I was able to perform every single pose and actually feel like I did them correctly.
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 The second class that we took this week was led by Andrew Eppler and was Ashtanga yoga! This class was really enjoyable for me and by far my favorite I have taken so far. My first impression of this practice was that it was definitely more fast paced than Iyengar was which I enjoyed. The poses were quite dynamic and I felt it was a good challenge for the body.     I noticed that Andrew put a large emphasis on warming up before getting into the grunt of the class. I felt this was very beneficial and allowed my muscles to loosen up before getting into the more difficult poses that came later in the practice. I am not sure if this is just something that Andrew promotes or if all Ashtanga pracice's allow for a good solid warmup, but either way I found it very helpful. As the class progressed and eventually came to an end I noticed a lot of lower back relief and I felt very good and nimble. This feeling carried with me throughout the remainder of the day and I just felt good overall. I
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 This week during class, we all took an Iyengar instruction lead by Amita Bhagat. This was my first time participating in an Iyengar class. I personally enjoyed this class a lot more than previous classes that I have taken. Amita was very engaging and did a good job of not only showing but also explaining each movement. This allowed me to have a better understanding of what I was doing and also understand what part of my body would be benefitting from each movement.     With that being said there was one thing mentioned by Amita that I did not agree with. She stated at one point that one particular movement would trim fat off of the side of the waist. Me being an exercise science major and having a good understanding of the anatomy of the human body and the physiological functions that take place in order  to gain and lose fat, This caught my attention because it is physiologically impossible to target fat in one specific area of the body. Aerobic exercise is the best way to lose fat a
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 On Thursday this week in class we participated in a Bikram style yoga instruction. The class was led by Diane Polli and lasted around 90 minutes. This was my first time not only participating in a Bikram class but also hearing of it, this patented style of yoga was one I was unfamiliar with. from what I understand, the practice consists of the same 26 movements for each class and has very devoted followers who practice this type of yoga.      I personally felt the difficulty of the intended movements were above what I am currently  capable of. I quickly found myself getting sore and unable to properly perform the movements. the muscle stretch and constant tension was enjoyable and beneficial for my overall physical benefit but again felt myself unable to be able to keep up and properly perform the movements. I also found it to be quite difficult to understand exactly what it was we were supposed to be doing just by listening to Diane without her performing the movements herself as an
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