Week 3 Post!

Reading Response:

I feel so much pity towards the dog everytime I read about what it is all enduring. I guess it's because I'm a dog lover but I feel like the author chose to put him in the book How Yoga Works for a reason. I think he's meant to show how yoga not only encompasses the girls' life but it also affects the dog and her patience is rubbed off on him. It also shows his loyalty and friendship with the girls to be living outside of the jail day in and day out. Something that does puzzle me is how she didn't really fight the captain on her sentence. She was very submissive when he told her that she would be staying in the jail. I think if I were in her situation I would have thrown everything in his room around and created a scene. Also, when she saves a little bit of water everyday to wash her clothes and her body I felt as if she could have gotten her way easier or bargained some necessities in life like clean clothes and a proper toliet by blackmailing the captain that she wouldn't help him. She has more chips in her bag then she thinks, she just doesnt use them. I guess its because she's practiced the Yoga Sutra, 1.15 (Renunciation is the practice of detachment from desires.) But I wouldn't consider these desire so much as basic necessities in life for her to live. How does the captain or guards expect her to do her work if she isn't even fed? It just makes no sense! I get a little frustrated with how passive she is in the book. She only has guts to stand up to the Captain when it has to do with his Yoga practice but she can't stand up to him and say, "Hey I need a toliet and 3 square meal?" She's beyond me. My favorite character by far is the dog. :)

Practice Response:

I really think I'm getting the hang of the downward dog. I can feel  my hamstrings getting more and more of a stetch everyday. I really found the should stand in class to be uncomfortable. I was able to get into the pose I think once at home by myslef but it was only in a turning motion. I had to pretend like I was doing a backward summersalt and then still my body and straighten out my legs. It was pretty frustrating. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to slowly stretch my legs up. Maybe I'm just not remembering it right. I think a lot of the stretching poses that we do in class are similar to the stretches we do in ROTC before we workout. Fierce pose as simple as it looks is actually pretty challenging for me to do. I feel a deep strain on my calves whenever I do it. I love doing all of the warrior poses though. They feel so comfortable to me and I like how it feels like it affects my whole body.  Also I think after doing warrior 3 pose I've gotten a lot better at tree pose. Does anyone else find eagle pose to be extremely awkward looking? I feel like if someone was to walk into our class while we were doing it, they would give us the wierdest look. I only say that because I was practicing my yoga in the mirror today and my son came into my room and looked at me and started laughing.  I felt pretty embarrassed so I save that pose for when he's asleep now. Hope everyone is enjoying their yoga practices, I know I'm not the best but I really think I'm improving! :)