2014 Interview

1.  Who did you interview and what house are they in?
Victor Diaz
West House

2.  What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

"I'm not really sure."

-So you don't have any clue as to what you want to do for your project?
"Not really."

-Ok, so that's ok cause when I was in your shoes last year, I had no clue either. So don't feel stressed, but let's start with interests, do you have anything you really enjoy doing?
"I enjoy writing stories and playing video games I guess."

-What kind of stories do you like writing?
"Fiction mostly. I just like to write sometimes."

-Ok that's cool. So now you know some things you enjoy. It's always a good thing to pick a senior project that you would enjoy cause remember you would be spending the entire year on it.

"Ok."

3.  What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?
"I have no clue."

-Once again, try to find something you like. The purpose of the summer is for you to try new things, so try different topics. You like writing and video games, so maybe try to get into a writing group or meet a game designer to see which one you like more. Those are definitely ways you can go about it. Would that be something you're interested in?
"Yeah, I guess."

4.  What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?

"No idea really, I'm just expecting it to be like a normal presentation."

5.  What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?

"What would you consider the most hectic part of senior year?"

The most hectic part is probably the deadlines. Senior year could be a breeze if you follow deadlines, but if you fall behind and procrastinate to catch up, then before you know it you could be in a deep hole. I suppose the answer to your question is really dependent on the person and their senior project topic. For some it may be hard to find mentorship, so their hectic part would be that, for others it could be research, and for some it just could be deadlines. If I could give you advice, I would just say try to stay on top of things. Meet your deadlines. The deadlines are not spread so thin that it is unrealistic for you to meet them, it is just people procrastinate and complain to much. The deadlines are totally reasonable, so follow them and you should be on a good path. Do you have any other questions for me?

"Not really."

Ok well thank you Victor for your time. I just want to put out there that the purpose of this was for me to help you. If you ever need advice on your senior project now or even next year, then feel free to shoot me a text or call me. Here's my number...and once again, I'm here to help you be it now in high school or even if I'm in college.

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?

Blog 12 Interview 3 Questions

1. What are the main reasons that draw people to practicing yoga?
2. How prominent was the stress in the lives of those that practiced yoga when they first started out? Could you provide an example?
3. Yoga has been known to result in a reduction in stress, but on a physiological level, could you explain how yoga results in this stress level decrease?
4. What is the leading/most important benefit in practicing yoga? Why is it the leading/most important?
5. Which poses are best suited to reducing stress?
6. Stress is divided into a physical and mental aspect, so how does yoga take care of the mental aspect?
7. Which poses or techniques are used to take care of the mental aspect of stress?
8. Stress levels are always mentioned to decrease in articles concerning yoga, but how can one measure stress levels?
9. Does the surrounding students practicing yoga have any effect on the stress reducing aspect of the practice? If so how?
10. What are other techniques to reduce stress levels in yoga?

Second Interview Questions

Content:

1. What drew you to become a yoga instructor?
2. Where did you take classes to get your credentials?
3. How long did it take for you to get yoga certified?
4. How long have you been teaching?
5. What's your favorite style of yoga? Why?
6. Has yoga been life-changing in any way for you?

Blog 3: Interview Preparation

Content:

1) Who do you plan to interview? Why?

I plan to interview the owner of Yoganette studios Antoinette Contrera because since she runs the studio, I figure she knows a lot about yoga and can elaborate on what it takes to run a yoga studio. She's normally always in the studio so I also figured that it would simply be convenient for her to be the first person I interview.

2) You have to ask 5 questions. What additional questions do you plan to ask?
Below is a list of the questions I would like to ask (not including the 5 mandatory questions) :

1. What does a typical day running a yoga studio look like?
2. How has yoga made an impact on your health since you started practicing the art?
3. What's the most effective yoga style in terms of creating muscle tone?
4. What is yoga?
5. How extensive can injuries get when someone practices yoga?