Daniela Velasco
Professor Douglas
Yoga: Theory, Culture & Practice
October 12, 2014
Charlestown Yoga
I decided to
go to a Beginners class at Charlestown Yoga which is located at 191 Main Street
in Charlestown. I had been going to this location once a week in the beginning
of fall last year but unfortunately stopped going this spring. I returned
October 6th to the Beginners class, which is open for all
individuals with little to no experience in yoga. I thought this class was
amazing and since I had put a pause to my practice for quite some time, it was
the perfect class for me to ease back into it. In addition, I am familiar with
the instructor and her way of teaching yoga. I really enjoy how it is paced
because it maintains that relaxation feeling throughout the various asanas.
Something else I really enjoy about this class and it also influenced my
decision in going back is that it always changes the routine of the asanas and
focuses on a different area of the body.
Unfortunately, I did not find much
information on the history or mission of Charlestown Yoga but I did find that
the owner, Kristin, was easily accessible if there are any questions or
concerns. It is open to the public regardless the level of experience in yoga. Charlestown
Yoga offers a wide variety of yoga classes from heated vinyasa to mama and me classes
at a fair price. As described on the Charlestown Yoga website, the Beginners
class is an hour long and welcomes all individuals with little to no experience
and for those who would like to get back to the basics. It touches base on the
fundamentals of yoga which is how the mind, body and spirit are integrated. The
practice of asanas or postures unites the breath and movement to create
strength, flexibility, discipline and focus while cultivating calmness in the
body and in the mind. The different components of the Beginners class include
breathing techniques, standing, seating, balance, twisting and inverted
postures. It also demonstrates several techniques to modify postures needed to
meet the individual’s skeletal structure, muscle tensions and injuries if any.
If needed, they provide blocks, straps and blankets during class and the
instructor will inform you what props you will need at the very beginning of
class.
All of the instructors at Charlestown
Yoga have 200 or more hours in training making them certified in teaching yoga.
Each instructor specializes in a different form of yoga. Christina, the beginners
class instructor, began yoga at a gym in 2006. She noticed the positive effects
yoga had on her physical well-being and mood so she decided to deepen her
practice. Christina explained that yoga makes her feel strong, relaxed, and
deeply connected with herself. Yoga was a physical challenge in relieving
stress but it evolved into a combination of movements, breathing and
mindfulness. What inspired Christina are the endless possibilities for learning
and growing through her practice. In her class, she strongly encourages her
students to listen to their bodies and to approach each pose with curiosity and
compassion. Her personal mission as a yoga instructor is to teach her students
balance between physical fitness and emotional connection to enhance a greater
peace of mind.
The class begins at 7:30 p.m. every
Monday night and ends at 8:30 p.m. with an asana that promotes rest and
relaxation known as shavasana. At the beginning of the class, we sat in a
comfortable seating position and practiced breathing techniques or pranayamas.
During this moment in practice the instructor, Christina, explained the
importance of awareness of the breath and just noticing it without trying to
change it or judge it. She also explained that this is the time to set an
intention for our practice and to think about why we were there, whether it is
a way of self-care or wanting to become flexible. We slowly began to deepen
each breath and naturally our exhalation was longer. After a few rounds of
pranayama practice, we began a series of asanas. The focus of the class that
night was on our legs which means that most of the asanas practiced were going
to engage the legs in effort to stretch them out and strengthen them. That
night we did warrior II or virabhadrasana, crescent lunge or anjaneyasana with
the blocks if needed, and chair pose or utkatasana. In between the various
asanas, we did a mixture of routines which incorporates more postures as we go.
For example, we would do a downward facing dog then ease into a high push up,
drop the knees and slowly go down into baby cobra. Then we worked our way to a
standing position, taking a deep breath as we raised our arms up and met at the
heart with our hands together. The second time we would go down into a forward
fold as we exhale and inhale back into a half standing fold. At the end of
class, right before we go into shavasana, we did one balancing pose which was
the natarajasana or dancer pose.
There are
many different areas of the class and I fully enjoyed all of them completely. I
liked how the class challenged my ability to stay focused in the present moment
by being aware of my breath during the various asanas and also the fact that I
stretched out areas and muscles of my body that I neglect. Additionally, Christina
provided the sankrit names of the asanas and then in English which I found to
be helpful in remembering them. Soft music was played in the background
throughout the class except at the very end when we got into our deep
relaxation pose. I found the music to be very relaxing along with the lighting
in the room. It is a very clean but small studio and there were about 15
students that night. The students varied in age, body type, experience and
ethnicity. I really liked how Kristina kept the lights on during the practice
and then dimmed them as we got into the end of our practice. Before she
officially dismissed the class, we met at a seating position with our hands at
our hearts and she shared a quote from a yogi for us to leave the practice with
which said, “In stages, the impossible becomes possible”. I thought that was a
really neat way to end a great class.
In western culture, yoga is strongly
viewed as a way to get fit through a series of poses that require strength,
balance and focus. This idea was clearly demonstrated in the film called Yoga
Inc., directed by John Philp, which discussed the trade marketing of yoga inspired
by East Indian, Bikram. Yoga was sold to the western culture as another way to
get fit rather than a way to connect the mind, body, and spirit. An interesting
fact that I learned in this film was that money spent on yoga mats, yoga gear,
and even chakrah panties was more than Coca Cola and Gillette in a year. That
statistic alone shows how yoga is viewed in the U.S. today, by emphasizing the
physical body capabilities rather than the connection between the mind, body,
and spirit. This also supports the belief of Eastern culture, that the "teaching
of hatha yoga… is impractical and, indeed impossible to the Western"
because the true essence of yoga is being taught (Singleton, 156). In order to
fully experience yoga, it is fundamental to understand what exactly it is
trying to do within the individual. In essence, “yoga is a comprehensive physical system of
self-culture…which through interchangeable harmonious development of one’s
body, mind and psychic potencies ultimately leads to physical well-being,
mental harmony, moral elevation and habitual consciousness” (Singleton, 119).
At Charlestown Yoga, I noticed that
this western view of yoga was displayed through the descriptions of the
different classes offered. Many of them included words such as strength,
flexibility, workout, exercise and phrases such as challenge your body,
strengthen your core, long, lean body and flexible body. I believe this is
another perfect example of the way that yoga is sold to society today as it
appears appealing to individuals who seek physical well-being. On the other
hand, while I was in the class I did not feel that there was a huge emphasis on
the body but rather the breath and keeping it as normal as possible while the
body is being challenged in the different asanas. In addition, Christina made
comforting comments including “if it becomes painful, just stop right there and
notice what you feel and send the breath to that area of the body” or
“sometimes this is as far as you can go and that’s okay”. She made sure to keep
focus on the breath and awareness of the mind. Furthermore, Charlestown Yoga
does not offer much material to buy besides water for one dollar and rental of
yoga mats for one dollar as well. Overall, the ambiance was very nice and it
was a great experience but based on my observations, I would argue that
Charlestown Yoga does offer a very western view of yoga because it does not
strongly emphasize the importance of the mind, body, and spirit and how they
integrate. In yoga, it is fundamental to understand how these aspects of an
individual connect to better one’s self and experience.
References
Charlestown Yoga Studio.
(2014). Retrieved October 15, 2014, from http://www.charlestownyoga.com/
Philp, J. (Director). (May 2007). Yoga Inc. [Motion picture]. Canada: Bad Dog Tales.
Singleton, M. (2010). Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture
Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment