Week 9 Post!

Reading Response:

I completely agreed with Krishna's response to Arjuna's question.  Even though I would say I'm a hypocrite when it comes to it. Krishna states that action is the best way to nirvana of renunciation because in renunciation one just gains knowledge but not understanding that knowledge and action are the same.  The wording threw me off at first but I understand it better now.  When I used to explain to my friends that I don't eat anything that's not halal (zabiha=sacrificed in the name of god ritually=muslim version of kosher) or drink alcohol, they would state that that's a stupid reason to restrain myself of food and drinks.  One of my friends explained it to me like this: Nabi, if you don't want to drink alcohol or eat non-halal meat thats fine, but do it on your own will not another's.  Base it off of your own ideology, not another's.  He said if anything, try it and find out that it actually is pleasing to consume, because then restraining from it will be even more of a feat than having never tried it and staying away from it.  It made sense to me at the time but i've never consumed any of it anyways.  I guess its a little hypocritical but what can I say? I'm stuck in my ways and habits. Well the advice that Krishna gave Arjun made me think of my experience with food and alcohol.  

One passage that I think was really aligned with the Yoga sutras was when Krishna describes divinity by stating "These people are neither "elated by good fortune, nor depressed by bad," and live in constant joy. They do not look for peace in the sensual pleasures of the world, but rather in the "joy, rest, and light" that comes within themselves. These people see self-realization as their only goal, and make this quest the foundation for daily living".  This reminded me of sutra 1.24 "God is the supreme being, totally free from conflicts, unaffected by actions and untouched by cause and effect".   

Practice Response:

I really enjoyed our yoga practice last week.  It was extremely relaxing and time seemed to go by so fast.  I don't know if Dr. Schultz meant to make it relaxing for us since we were going on Fall Break but it helped me relax a lot and get more focussed on my weekend of studying. I also enjoyed the breathing exercises toward the end of class.  It seemed like a majority of the class we were doing chest opening exercises.  I liked it, but this week I would like to focus more on legs, specifically quads.

Week 8 Post!

Reading Response: 

Arjuna's experience or dilemma while fighting in the war is a noble one.  I feel like it resembles some of the thoughts that people in the U.S. civil war would have felt, fighting their kin in battle.  It was really important what Krishna said however, that Arjuna should " follow his dharma, or duty, where nothing is higher than the war against evil". I feel a similar struggle with my decision to join the Air Force.  When I was much younger, I wanted to join the Air Force because I wanted to fly, I didn't care about killing people or even helping anyone for that matter. I wanted wings. (And at that time, red bull had not been invented). Anyways, it was only as I got older that I realized that my dream job was in fact a profession of arms and required a great deal of discipline in war.  During bootcamp we weren't brainwashed like many people think, but instead we were told that in our profession, when we take that oath, we are sworn to fight all enemies foreign and domestic.  We picked apart every part of the oath of office and the airmen's creed which basically tells you what you are supposed to do if you become a POW/MIA.  Nevertheless, it was good exposure for me to understand that my future career will not be any kind of child's play. Lives are at stake.  Well that sort of reminded me of Arjuna's experience on the battle field.  I hope I never have to choke like that though. 
I really liked the portrayal of Krishna.  He seemed so selfless, almost to the point that it wasn't attainable as a mortal for Arjuna.  He explains pretty simply though how to serve others and put aside selfish desires for the true gift which keeps giving. It seemed kind of daunting however about how to achieve the state of Brahman.  I guess its not supposed to be simple but it requires a lot of selfless action, almost like an ascetic. 

Practice Response: 

I really enjoyed our practice of yoga this week.  I don't know how but I think I am getting more flexible slowly but surely.  I felt really proud of myself when I could do the arm twists with such ease.  I guess Dr. Schultz was right, those are the poses god blessed me with. Now if only I could become more flexible in my legs.  I still dislike doing head stand more than shoulder stand. But I guess that's understandable considering its more pressure on your head.  I just have a hard time swinging my legs up over my head to get into the pose.  If someone helps me get into the stance I have absolutely no problem from there on, but its very difficult to get in the right position.  I wonder if it has something to do with my placement in regards to the wall?

Yoga from the Inside Out

Foreward, Introduction and Chapter One War and Peace

I was taken back when I learned so much about the author so fast.  The foreward was a sweet narrative of the author's personality and when I began reading I could see what John Friend meant about her "grace"through her autobiography in the first chapter.  I was surprised to find that Dr. Schultz was put on a diet in the early years of her life by her parents.  Being a mother myself I felt so moved by that one statement in the beginning of the book because I look at food when it comes to my son as necessity and couldn't imagine denying him of anything to eat.  It's hard enough denying him sweets and candy but I just couldn't understand how her parents could expect so much of her body image at such a small age.  I guess it was also pretty shocking to me because she's my teacher and a sort of mentor and I felt like that was a pretty vulnerable side of her that I was exposed to so early on in the book.  Moving on to a majority of the first chapter I was also terrified when I heard that the author was violated at such a young age.  Whenever I hear stories like that I second guess where I leave my son whenever I need a babysitter.  It was so traumatizing for the author that I feel like it stemmed a lot of the struggles with her weight that she had over the years.  When she talked about her extreme training at such a young age I thought of a movie we saw over the summer about olympic gymnasts and how they are pushed to their absolute limits end to try to compete with the other girls and it seemed ironic to me that they are pushed on a olympic level even after they know they are past the age to compete.  The first chapter was a lot to take in at once.  It was a crash course on the author's life and I feel like all her pain, struggles and frustrations were thrown at the read so fast that we didn't have time to process it.  I felt relieved when I began reading about how the anusara yoga intensive had such a big impact on the author.  I didn't quite understand the whole idea of a peace offering though.  I felt like it wasn't explained enough, it might be because it wasn't meant to be explained or it was too hard to explain.  It was like the author got an epiphany but the rest of us didn't know what about. 

Chapter Two Awakening From the Dream

In chapter two the author talks about the sleeping world that most people live in today.  To understand it better I related it to the Matrix and how we live in a sheltered nature which is void of real pain but is also void of true love and pleasure.  She talks about her struggle with her weight being an obstacle for her to obtain an understanding of her true meaning and purpose or her true reality.  This made sense to me.  When all your thoughts are occupied by insecure thoughts about something that doesn't even matter or isn't even real how are you supposed to think about more meaningful things like your own psychology or your soul for that matter.  I liked how she compared the reality of our soul and being to our superficial selves which put so much emphasis on our weight.  She gave statistics which were pretty astonishing about how much Americans spend on weight loss and diet.  I guess it makes sense when we think about such young children today being self conscious about how they look.  They can only look up to their parents and that's a majority of what most adults fixate on. 

Chapter Three Kaya Sadhana 

I think this chapter was really difficult for me to understand because the author talked about the self, being the universal spirit, as a singular presence.  I think it contradicted a lot of what I believe in spiritually and in terms of my religion.  When we were studying yoga in class and were talking about the compatibility of Christianity and Yoga beliefs I could understand that comparison but I feel like that statement in the very beginning of the chapter made it difficult for me to make the same comparison to Islam.  I think it is fundamentally different than our belief that God is a supreme being and resides over us rather than within us.  We also believe that we have our own individual souls and so we are responsible for our actions because they affect the state that our soul will be in for eternity.  I also enjoyed reading Cheryl's story because it was so relatable to so many people I know.  There are many women out there that avoid going to the gym in the fear that people will see their bodies in a not so beautiful light.  That's why whenever I go to the gym and see someone working extremely hard that is a little bigger than the average person I do my best to share a smile with them to acknowledge the big step they have already taken.  The one statement that I enjoyed the most in this chapter was: " But we cannot jump from a war with the body to a perspective that simply claims the body is our temple. We must begin with the practice of making peace, over time aligning our behavior with our intention to offer peace" (Sell 43).  Often times we want to jump into a regiment or a routine immediately and overlook the real process of the goal which in a sense is the important part.  An easy way to think of it is like a new years resolution.  You could make a resolution to lose 100 pounds by the end of the year but if you get liposuction and skip the struggle and physical work it takes to lose the weight you'll be in the same boat soon enough.  I know that was a bad example considering this chapter was about forgetting the image of our temporary body and focusing on our spirit/soul but I couldn't think of a better example. 

Chapter 4 Paying Attention

I loved the way Sell starts off the chapter, with a scenario of a women rushing to yoga and missing the true meaning of it.  I can't even remember how many times I've done this exact same thing when I practice yoga at home.  I think of it as a chore and skip the insignificant parts and move on to the poses that I think will help me become more flexible or better at my nemesis (downward facing dog).   However over the weeks that we have been practicing yoga and after concluding How Yoga Works, I have really learned to appreciate the value of each pose, even the ones I don't particularly like.  I also think that after just that one class of Pranayama (breathing exercise) I have begun to concentrate on something more than just going through the motions of the poses, but the meanings behind the poses and what my body, mind and soul feel when I do a particular pose.  Of course, so far, my mind, body and soul only feel pain when I do downward facing dog, but I know that it has intrinsic value in my life and in due time, I'll learn to appreciate it more.  I felt really moved when Sell talked about the student with cancer that she taught.  I felt a little bit uplifted however to read that instead of looking at her weaknesses within yoga and what she couldn't do, the student looked for ways to improve and grieved for her strength loss like a really person. 

Chapter 5 Opening the Heart: Uncovering and Expressing Our True Nature

In this chapter, Sell focuses again on the idea that we are not separate from our own God and the only way we can be happy is to acknowledge that our original state is not evil but good.  I agree with the latter part of this statement but for some reason it is very difficult for me to grasp the first part.  I thought that the author's comparison to Buddha's philosophy that all life is suffering is very interesting as well.  She went on to state that we must face suffering with an open heart and that yoga helps to open the heart but the true breaking of the heart can only be done by the divine or by God.  I have heard this time and time again from both Christians and Muslims, I guess it's a universal belief that God has to break your heart or allow one to be broken to enter their heart, mind, body or soul.  I just never understood why our bodies had to be broken in the first place.  Couldn't God have made us broken so we wouldn't have to go through the trouble of breaking ourselves.  I guess that's a pretty pathetic excuse but it make perfect logical sense in my own mind. 

Chapter 6 Accepting What Is

I loved the author's truth and sincerity in this chapter.  She talked about her struggles with what to wear to Yoga practice and how she opted to wearing black tights all the time.  She talked about her struggle with the baggy, elastic shorts that yoga teachers wear and for some reason I saw myself in her.  Whenever I wake up on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I have a war with my closet.  I never seem to find the right thing to wear that will be comfortable to do Yoga and and look semi decent for my other classes.  Its funny but I find that I lean toward wearing darker colors and almost always black for the very same reason.  I could wear white or cream tights but I dread what my classmates will say about me since I am usually in the front of the class.  It was a relief to see that even yoga teachers who are exceptional at the practice second guess what to wear tho their classes as well.  That made me feel a lot better.  

Chapter 7 Hatha Yoga as  a Spiritual Art

In this chapter the author talks about how Hatha Yoga is perceived in the sleeping world and how it should be understood according to the real world.  I'm not going to lie but some of the reasons people do Hatha yoga according to the sleeping world were my reasons for starting yoga as well.  Its only natural to buy into the advertisements of better butt, cut abs and a fabulous figure.  But I agree with the author, even though sometimes people's motivation to start or pursue yoga are superficial but it should also be appreciated for its easy accessibility.  I would have never thought that I would be doing yoga at Baylor university yet here I am.  I think it makes for a watered down yoga but I can't complain because I wouldn't have ever signed up for yoga class either because I thought it took just too much time.  Well the point of the chapter really helped me to understand the true meaning without any fluff.  

Chapter 8 Community: Good Company and the Family of the Heart

This last chapter was really full circle for me.  I completely understood what she meant about belonging in a group and I feel the same way Sell feels about her students when she enters her Yoga class.  Everyone meets her with a warm smile and a good heart and she feels astonished but I feel like the rest of the class agree with this statement as well.  I had gone to school with most of the people that I knew vaguely from World Cultures I and just regular BIC classes over the years but I never really knew them on a personal basis.  I feel like yoga and practicing poses together has really allowed us to bond and see sides of each other that we normal would never have.   

 

Final Words 

Overall, I thought that this book was absolutely amazing.  My favorite parts were by far the narratives between the chapters.  It was comforting to see some many different perspectives from so many different girls being the same.  Most every girl has some issue with her body but it takes true strength to admit them in a published book for the whole world to read along, and for that I applaud the ladies that helped Ms. Sell devise this ingenious book.  I hope to apply all the practices and methods that I learned in this book very soon.