Journal Entry #12
Time Began: 7:08 pm
Personal Development
1. Physical aches from weekend partyingà move towards calmer, healthier, and more rewarding weekend adventures
2. Sinus congestionà yoga, especially breathing exercises, allowed me to help clear my sinuses, or in the least, forget about them.
3. Extreme worry about healthà I ended up seeing a doctor and found that I had terribly low levels of vitamin B12 and vitamin D. I now take multivitamins and B12 vitamins. Yoga made me more aware about the specific locations of aches and pains in my body as well. I am better able to identify what muscles in my back are hurting, and stretch accordingly today than I was a few months ago.
4. Increased energy- yoga definitely increased my energy. The various positions and movements get the blood flowing, released endorphins I imagine, and make me want to be wholly more active. I find myself doing a little yoga everyday just because it feels right. Now instead of aching in pain, I ache in desire to do certain yoga positions. Productive ache is definitely better than painful aches.
5. Increased lower back strength—my lower back is generally quite troublesome due to a pinched nerve in my lower back. However, the increase in my daily stretching due to yoga has definitely strengthened my lower back and assisting parts, making it stronger, less susceptible to injury, and definitely decreased pain.
6. Change in diet- because of my extreme vitamin deficiency, I also changed my diet to try and incorporate foods that would reflect my dietary needs. I started to drink more soy/almond milk, eat multigrain and vitamin enriched cereal, buy fresh rather than frozen vegetables. I also make sure to stay fed and energized all day. I do not eat heavy things before exercising, and I try to stay away from processed foods and drinks. I am also becoming more aware about what specific fruits and vegetables I should consume and why.
7. Better concentration—I can definitely focus better now that I practice yoga than I could before. I have learned to fully engulf myself in whatever I am doing, freeing my mind of any burdens and unrelated thoughts.
8. Improved balance—due to improved concentration, flexibility, and ability to sense energy flow in my body and mind.
Review and Reflect
Surprises
I am surprised by how relaxed I am able to become after doing yoga. I am usually very hyper, and my thoughts are all over the place, often causing anxiety. When I became very stressed out this semester, just doing a few yoga positions helped me regain concentration and cleanse my mind of troublesome thoughts. I am also surprised that I didn’t get bored at all. I am happy that our class routines varied each time, so there was no repetitive nature to grow tired of. I learned many more positions than I thought I would, which is also quite beneficial because I can stay occupied for longer periods of time. I am surprised with my increased flexibility and ability to balance as well. Even though I knew this would be part of the practice, I can get my body into positions I never thought to really be possible, let alone ever attempt to do. I am much more flexible, and my increased concentration has definitely helped me balance better. This balance, while outwardly physical, also resonates internally as well. Throughout the semester, writing in this journal really helped me. It was good for me to see where my downfalls were and what caused them, so I could adjust my lifestyle to a more health and rewarding one. I am definitely surprised about how much I can complain about little things, but how I generally remain unaffected. I think I will try to keep writing in a journal so I can master my thoughts in the most efficient way possible. It is nice to see a record of my own emotion.
Interest in furthering practice
I will definitely further my yoga practice after his semester. I am really happy I took this course, because it reminded me of how much I used to enjoy yoga, and how truly beneficial it is to my life. With a less buy schedule next semester, I hope to do yoga at least three times a week and also become an active member in the yoga club. Many of my roommates expressed interest in also joining the yoga club, so I look forward to continuing my studies, certainly.
I think I am most likely to follow the ethical practices of the Yama. I am working mostly on Aparigraha, or non possessiveness. I am trying to reduce my personal positions, so that I carry less baggage both physically and mentally. I am working on getting rid of some clothes through donations and planning of a garage sale. I do not want to have anything in excess; I just want to have what I need. No one needs a dozen pairs of jeans at one time. I can have a few pairs, and sew them if they tear instead of buying new ones, or I can buy new ones when it is absolutely necessary. By getting rid of some of my tangible possessions, I have declutterd my living space, and thus decluttered my mind. Without excess of things, everything I own has its own particular place, and I can value it there. I hope at some point to have close sentimental value to the few things I keep, and let go of everything that does not resonate with my soul.
Yama & Niyama
Stated just before, Aparigraha definitely became more evident and useful in my life as my yoga practices continued. Staya, or truth, was a little puzzling at first, but its benefits are very clear to me now. At first, I did not think I would be able to see an inherent good in everyone as not everyone is a good person. However, I see that everyone is useful, even if their mindsets clash with mine, because I can learn from them and that is inherently good. Learning to be silent is also learning to listen better. Because I talk too much, and oftentimes talk over people without realizing, choosing to be silent made me aware of what I might be missing out on if I don’t pause and listen more frequently. It is very rewarding to me, and definitely to others, to actively listen and learn attentively.
The last niyama, Ishvara Pranidhan, is still somewhat mysterious to me. I tend to steer away from all master, all devotional practices, and anything that resembles a structural religious sort of content. While I do understand the heightened significance of allowing a higher force to take control and hold power, I have not yet reached that point nor found a symbolic figure to devote myself to. Right now, I find self reflection, self worship, and self help to be the most rewarding. Perhaps once I find myself at my highest stage of activity, awareness, and peacefulness, I will be able to devote myself to something else.
“What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter. Rather, like a good armchair that provides relaxation from physical fatigue”
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