1. What is your essential question?
-What is the best way in practicing Vinyasa Yoga to reduce stress levels?
2. What is your third answer to your essential question (write your third answer in a complete sentence)?
-Balance the meditation and physical aspect of the practice.
3. What are three details to support or justify your third answer (details are examples or facts)?
1) When I practice yoga at the gym, I notice that you can't just focus on meditation or physical solely. When you practice one over the other, you don't really get the full effect of the restorative process yoga is trying to instill. When I would focus on meditation, my mind would feel stress free, but at the end of the class my body would still feel heavy. When I would focus on the physical, my body would feel light, but my mind would still be burdened with whatever was on my mind.
2) In my third interview with Karen, she mentioned how important it is to maintain a balance in meditation and the poses when trying to reduce stress. She talked about how stress is both mental and physical, therefore if you don't focus on meditation which handles the mental, and the poses which handles the physical, then at the end you'll feel off balanced. She stressed how people that can't find this balance generally don't see the benefits of yoga to its full potential because they are not experiencing it. This can cause people to get turned off by yoga and stop practicing it.
3) In an article entitled "Mind Body Integration", it mentions how the mind and meditation is the act of restful awareness. It talks about how being aware is key to dealing with stress. It mentions how when the mind is more aware, it tends to react less, and with the structure of society today where the mind is always reacting, it decreases stress and calms the mind down to be more aware and react less.
4. What source helped you prove this answer is justified for your essential question?
Krishnamurthy, Raji. "Mind Body Integration." Proquest.com. India Currents, Sept. 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.
5. What do you plan to study next and why?
I plan to try to find that perfect balance in practicing Vinyasa yoga. I want to know how much effort one should put in each to maximize the stress that is lost during the practice.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Fourth Interview Questions
1) What is the best way in practicing Vinyasa yoga to reduce stress levels?
2) I have been told before the corpse pose (savasana) is one of the best poses for stress reduction, but how does it help with stress if all you do is lay down on your back and do nothing?
3) Twists were mentioned in the past to help as well, but how necessarily does it help?
4) Open heart poses had been stated to also help reduce stress, but how does it do just that on a physiological level ?
5) Shoulder stands were mentioned by another yoga teacher to reduce stress on a physiological basis, would you agree with that? If so, can you explain how they help?
6) How can one focus on reducing stress and focus on themselves rather than get too caught up in maintaining a pose during a practice?
7) Do balancing poses have any merit to reducing stress? If so how?
8) Based off of your description to the previous answer, which balancing poses are best in context to the last question?
9) What are the best poses to help improve alignment?
10) Throughout viewings of yoga testimonials, it seems like the effects of differ from person to person in regards to how much stress they feel they lost, is this the problem of the student or an inconsistency in results? Explain.
11) I have read in articles that deepening a pose can help reduce stress, but how does one necessarily deepen a pose?
12) Based off of your previous answer to how to deepen a pose, which poses are best to deepen in order to reduce muscle tension since muscle tension is a sign of stress?
13) What is the most effective way to breathe throughout a yoga practice?
14) How does this different method of breathing help the body?
15) Are there different types of breathing styles in yoga? If so what are they called and what are the effects of each on the body?
16) What is the purpose of child's pose because to my understanding, it is simply a pose for taking a break,, but I want to know if it has any beneficial factor to reducing stress?
17) How often would you say it be recommended for a person to go to a yoga class in order to best reduce their stress? Why?
18) In terms of the environment in which stress is lost, what is the difference between classes at the gym versus classes in a studio?
19) Meditation has been mentioned in several articles to help with stress loss, would you agree with that statement? If so, why do you think meditation helps with stress loss?
20) What are the best poses for a person to meditate?
2) I have been told before the corpse pose (savasana) is one of the best poses for stress reduction, but how does it help with stress if all you do is lay down on your back and do nothing?
3) Twists were mentioned in the past to help as well, but how necessarily does it help?
4) Open heart poses had been stated to also help reduce stress, but how does it do just that on a physiological level ?
5) Shoulder stands were mentioned by another yoga teacher to reduce stress on a physiological basis, would you agree with that? If so, can you explain how they help?
6) How can one focus on reducing stress and focus on themselves rather than get too caught up in maintaining a pose during a practice?
7) Do balancing poses have any merit to reducing stress? If so how?
8) Based off of your description to the previous answer, which balancing poses are best in context to the last question?
9) What are the best poses to help improve alignment?
10) Throughout viewings of yoga testimonials, it seems like the effects of differ from person to person in regards to how much stress they feel they lost, is this the problem of the student or an inconsistency in results? Explain.
11) I have read in articles that deepening a pose can help reduce stress, but how does one necessarily deepen a pose?
12) Based off of your previous answer to how to deepen a pose, which poses are best to deepen in order to reduce muscle tension since muscle tension is a sign of stress?
13) What is the most effective way to breathe throughout a yoga practice?
14) How does this different method of breathing help the body?
15) Are there different types of breathing styles in yoga? If so what are they called and what are the effects of each on the body?
16) What is the purpose of child's pose because to my understanding, it is simply a pose for taking a break,, but I want to know if it has any beneficial factor to reducing stress?
17) How often would you say it be recommended for a person to go to a yoga class in order to best reduce their stress? Why?
18) In terms of the environment in which stress is lost, what is the difference between classes at the gym versus classes in a studio?
19) Meditation has been mentioned in several articles to help with stress loss, would you agree with that statement? If so, why do you think meditation helps with stress loss?
20) What are the best poses for a person to meditate?
Thursday, February 7, 2013
2 hour meeting answer #2
1) What is the best way in practicing Vinyasa yoga to reduce stress levels?
2) My second answer is the following: To refine and deepen the pose technique when practicing yoga.
3) a) When I practice yoga personally, I notice a significant difference when practicing my poses. For example when doing warrior 1 before, I never really felt that great doing it, but once my instructor corrected me by adjusting my footing by making me take a wider stance and by squaring my hips...I felt the difference almost immediately. The stretch burned in the thighs, but by trying to improve to become more flexible by trying to go deeper, I noticed the aftermath effect was a decrease in muscle tension in my legs, which is a decrease of physical stress.
b) Rizopoulos, Natasha. "Open Your Heart." Upward Facing Dog. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. <http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/2317>. This article talks about how deepening your pose can make a difference. The article uses the example of downward dog and how deepening the pose really opens up the heart and is beneficial to the body and health of the person practicing.
c) Another example would be just from testimonials from other yoga students. When I talk to them and ask how to reduce stress, they mention how the poses really work for them. They tell me how focusing on the stretch and constantly trying to do it better is like a metaphor for them in the real world to focus on doing things right and to constantly try to get better. This in effect helps them get whatever is stressing them to currently diminish significantly in the weight of which it was weighing them down.
4) The main source that helped me prove this answer is justified is from an article entitled "3 ways to deepen your yoga practice." This source stressed the point of how in yoga, one might focus too much on doing the pose right, but deepening a pose may not always mean exerting more effort. The source stresses the point on how sometimes deepening a pose may mean trying to use the least amount of muscles possible to hold the pose and talks about how this in turn provides the person with more awareness and a sense of relaxation. The awareness and relaxation are opposite of feeling stressed, so by improving technique and deepening a pose, a person can feel less stressed.
5) I plan to continue my study of answer 2 by researching which poses when best reduce tension in the body and which ones are more effective in reducing stress. Some poses are meant for strength, some for the mind, and some for relaxation. I want to look specifically into the relaxation and strength and find out which poses are the best.
2) My second answer is the following: To refine and deepen the pose technique when practicing yoga.
3) a) When I practice yoga personally, I notice a significant difference when practicing my poses. For example when doing warrior 1 before, I never really felt that great doing it, but once my instructor corrected me by adjusting my footing by making me take a wider stance and by squaring my hips...I felt the difference almost immediately. The stretch burned in the thighs, but by trying to improve to become more flexible by trying to go deeper, I noticed the aftermath effect was a decrease in muscle tension in my legs, which is a decrease of physical stress.
b) Rizopoulos, Natasha. "Open Your Heart." Upward Facing Dog. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. <http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/2317>. This article talks about how deepening your pose can make a difference. The article uses the example of downward dog and how deepening the pose really opens up the heart and is beneficial to the body and health of the person practicing.
c) Another example would be just from testimonials from other yoga students. When I talk to them and ask how to reduce stress, they mention how the poses really work for them. They tell me how focusing on the stretch and constantly trying to do it better is like a metaphor for them in the real world to focus on doing things right and to constantly try to get better. This in effect helps them get whatever is stressing them to currently diminish significantly in the weight of which it was weighing them down.
4) The main source that helped me prove this answer is justified is from an article entitled "3 ways to deepen your yoga practice." This source stressed the point of how in yoga, one might focus too much on doing the pose right, but deepening a pose may not always mean exerting more effort. The source stresses the point on how sometimes deepening a pose may mean trying to use the least amount of muscles possible to hold the pose and talks about how this in turn provides the person with more awareness and a sense of relaxation. The awareness and relaxation are opposite of feeling stressed, so by improving technique and deepening a pose, a person can feel less stressed.
5) I plan to continue my study of answer 2 by researching which poses when best reduce tension in the body and which ones are more effective in reducing stress. Some poses are meant for strength, some for the mind, and some for relaxation. I want to look specifically into the relaxation and strength and find out which poses are the best.
Independent Component 2 Plan Approval
1) I plan on creating my own personalized Vinyasa yoga routine designed specifically to best reduce stress.
2) I think my plan will meet 30 hours because a lot of research will go into it as I look into what poses best handle stress. I will have to spend hours doing the routines to get a hands on experience as to how it works. I will also have to find other people to test my routine to see how they feel. I will also need to compare and contrast different routines to see which one I come up with is best so that I have the perfect sequential order of poses for my routine. I think that taking all of this into account I will be able to reach the 30 hour requirement for this component.
3) This relates to my EQ since in my EQ I'm looking for the best way in Vinyasa yoga to reduce stress levels, and this independent component will help me research and find the best vinyasa poses suited towards reducing stress.
2) I think my plan will meet 30 hours because a lot of research will go into it as I look into what poses best handle stress. I will have to spend hours doing the routines to get a hands on experience as to how it works. I will also have to find other people to test my routine to see how they feel. I will also need to compare and contrast different routines to see which one I come up with is best so that I have the perfect sequential order of poses for my routine. I think that taking all of this into account I will be able to reach the 30 hour requirement for this component.
3) This relates to my EQ since in my EQ I'm looking for the best way in Vinyasa yoga to reduce stress levels, and this independent component will help me research and find the best vinyasa poses suited towards reducing stress.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Blog 14: Independent Component 1
L:
1. I, Jordan Lim, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
2. I used a dvd called "Kabbalah yoga, Ambitious Beginners" to practice at home and I did the rest of my hours at local 24 hour fitness yoga classes.
3. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuuWFXRsQf2ndHBTQmlRVFoxVUZ5c09YbW54ZUcxNGc#gid=0
4. What I completed was 30 hours of taking yoga classes. I was able to improve my balance on both legs when executing poses like "tree" and "eagle". Before the 30 hours I would barely be able to maintain the stance for 2 seconds, but now I can maintain both sides a minimum of 10 seconds each. I feel as if my lung capacity has increased over the course of the 30 hours. I completed 30 hours of classes which means my form and technique have been refined as well. I can enter into a deeper stretch with "Downward pull" and the "warrior"poses. My body feels more flexible as well.
I:
Balance takes time, so I would like to say that my balance on both of my legs is an indicator of inserted time and practice into my posture. When taking classes, instructors help teach you breathing techniques and those helped throughout the classes. I was taught diaphragmatic rib cage breathing which is difficult, but now it is relatively easy for me and quite relaxing. My flexibility is increased. I can do 3/4 of a full split now, whereas prior to the 30 hours I could only do about 1/2. In regards to showing "pictures", I will be unable to show them since when my phone was lost 2 weeks ago and returned to the lost and found, the person that returned it kept my sd card as well. The sd card contained all my pictures. If this impacts my grade drastically, then I totally understand.
A:
This component helped me understand my topic better by helping me get deeper into my practice. I found times where my practice was really personal and intimate, whereas others were just going through the motions. I developed a deeper understanding as to what yoga is and what it teaches. For example, a simple balancing pose...the poses are designed for people to be off balanced for a reason. The ideology is that if you can accept imbalance and imperfection on the mat, then you can do it in the real world. It is such a simple concept, but it truly has a deep meaning.
1. I, Jordan Lim, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
2. I used a dvd called "Kabbalah yoga, Ambitious Beginners" to practice at home and I did the rest of my hours at local 24 hour fitness yoga classes.
3. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuuWFXRsQf2ndHBTQmlRVFoxVUZ5c09YbW54ZUcxNGc#gid=0
4. What I completed was 30 hours of taking yoga classes. I was able to improve my balance on both legs when executing poses like "tree" and "eagle". Before the 30 hours I would barely be able to maintain the stance for 2 seconds, but now I can maintain both sides a minimum of 10 seconds each. I feel as if my lung capacity has increased over the course of the 30 hours. I completed 30 hours of classes which means my form and technique have been refined as well. I can enter into a deeper stretch with "Downward pull" and the "warrior"poses. My body feels more flexible as well.
I:
Balance takes time, so I would like to say that my balance on both of my legs is an indicator of inserted time and practice into my posture. When taking classes, instructors help teach you breathing techniques and those helped throughout the classes. I was taught diaphragmatic rib cage breathing which is difficult, but now it is relatively easy for me and quite relaxing. My flexibility is increased. I can do 3/4 of a full split now, whereas prior to the 30 hours I could only do about 1/2. In regards to showing "pictures", I will be unable to show them since when my phone was lost 2 weeks ago and returned to the lost and found, the person that returned it kept my sd card as well. The sd card contained all my pictures. If this impacts my grade drastically, then I totally understand.
A:
This component helped me understand my topic better by helping me get deeper into my practice. I found times where my practice was really personal and intimate, whereas others were just going through the motions. I developed a deeper understanding as to what yoga is and what it teaches. For example, a simple balancing pose...the poses are designed for people to be off balanced for a reason. The ideology is that if you can accept imbalance and imperfection on the mat, then you can do it in the real world. It is such a simple concept, but it truly has a deep meaning.
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