Tag Archives: Yoga @ Rose

Self Awareness

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I was very psyched for the opportunity to attend such a conveniently scheduled yoga class with a very qualified instructor, hosted by Rose House. With the constant stress we have trying to manage our course load, I think it is fair to say that we have a tendency to disregard our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Attending this class, and hopefully those hosted in the future, is what I consider a step in the right direction in addressing this issue.

In my sporadic and irregular yoga practices, I have still found that the sometimes physically challenging poses we try to maintain during yoga practice can lure my mind away from other stressors in my day-to-day life. It’s really difficult to stress about the next assignment deadline when you are simply trying not to fall in front of everyone, or maintain composure if you just so happen to do so. Being able to detach from school for that short period of time allowed me to go about my day with a more positive attitude and definitely a better mood.

Rather than focusing on the next exam or next project deadline, I was able to focus on the benefits of taking care of myself.

Couldn’t relax

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Last Saturday, I attended the first Yoga at Rose event and to be honest, I was disappointed. This was my first actual yoga class. I think the only other time I sort of did yoga was a ten minute mindfulness session in my high school gym where we were stretching and breathing along with random teachers. I thought that was more relaxing.

Perhaps I was too in my head for a lot of it, but I didn’t feel the relaxing benefits people usually think about when it comes to yoga. It wasn’t that I was distracted by my typical worries about school and life. My thoughts were just not as free as I thought they would be.

I wanted to relax, but something about the class and atmosphere was somehow unsettling to me. Perhaps it was the speed of some of the motions. I didn’t feel like I was extending or stretching some parts of my body fully when doing them and it felt rushed, which definitely didn’t help my mind relax. I wasn’t feeling the warrior poses, which seem kind of quintessential yoga, and I don’t think technically my alignment was off, but the instep of one of my feet got progressively sorer throughout the motions.

Perhaps the most distracting thing was what the instructor kept saying during the whole session. At one point, she said something about astrology – I can’t even remember what she said about it – the mention of the word astrology was shocking itself. Eagle pose supposedly helps clear out the lymph nodes. Every single thing we did was qualified as good stress relief. The music sounded kind of campy. The constant sounds from the dining hall and people looking in and making comments was also distracting.

I don’t know what exactly it was, but I didn’t leave feeling any more relaxed. At the beginning, I truly had the best intentions of spending part of my Saturday settling into my body and centering myself, but I just couldn’t relax in that space. I wish I had a better experience with the yoga class. In terms of relaxation, this is something I probably won’t be doing again soon.

Rest and Relaxation in a High Stress Environment

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This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a yoga class brought to Rose House for the day. Throughout the class, the instructor repeatedly reminded us, “don’t forget to breathe!” It struck me how apt that statement was, not just in the context of yoga, but in my daily life at Cornell. Often it is so easy to begin drowning in work that we forget to take time for ourselves, come to the surface, and breathe. In doing so, we “hold our breaths” in a way that simply makes our responsibilities more asphyxiating. However, being given the opportunity to step away from my responsibilities for about an hour and relax, listening to my body instead of my mind (and my planner) was incredibly valuable. Afterward, I felt energized and much less stressed out than usual. It was as if I could feel the stress physically leaving my body throughout the session (which is aim of mindfulness and yoga, I suppose), leaving me at a much more healthy stress level when the session concluded.