GIS-4636-091

Kaitlyn Gonzalez  Weekly Journal 8 GIS-4636-091 October 30, 2020      I think that there are many contributing factors to the fact that yoga has become pop-culture here in America. One thing that I have noticed is that in more recent years, there has been a push for more health-related products. Products that promise you to get in shape, get fit, and finally get the body you dream of. I think that in some ways, yoga is marketed in this way as well. It promises so much for the person, and then they get drawn into the world and community of yoga, when the main goal of yoga is not to have the body you dream of. I think that over the course of the years of yoga coming to the united states, the main goal of yoga has been skewed. It has been changed so that it fits the narrative of being fit, spiritually aligned, and having the best body. Moreover, I think that America has a different view when it comes to looks. In the west, there is an underlying obsession with having to look the best and

  Kaitlyn Gonzalez  Weekly Journal 7 GIS-4636-091 October 21, 2020     Yoga is seen as a healing practice in my practice space because I make it that way, I believe. As said in previous journal entries, I make sure that my space is ready when I go to do my practice. I make sure that I am in a place that doesn't have a lot of noise, and a place where I am able to practice without sound. Sometimes I will open up a window to make sure that there is some fresh air that is coming into my room. Another thing that is important to me when it comes to my practice space is a scent as well. Often I will have incense or a candle burning, to add to the environment of my practice space. To me, that is seen as healing. The things that I put in the room make it a healing practice space for me. When I see those things in my room when I am about to practice, it reminds me of what I am here to practice for. I practice in order to ground myself and connect with my body more. Lastly, I think that the m

Kaitlyn Gonzalez  Weekly Journal 6 GIS-4636-091 October 14, 2020     I think that this a difficult question to aks when it comes to a sense of community. I have talked about this before in previous journal articles that the sense of community is lost because many things have turned virtual now. Most times, people are now doing classes in the comfort of their own home and maybe by themselves virtually. In the past though, the sense of community with a yoga studio and its members is so important to building a bond with the people you take a class with. When you go to a yoga class consistently, you begin a sort of bond with the people you see every week. You may not talk to them, or even know their names, but in a way, you are all connected somehow. You feel a sense of community within the yoga studio when you continuously go to classes. I've had teachers in the past who go around the room and have everyone say their names and something good that happened that week, all while we were

Kaitlyn Gonzalez  Weekly Journal 5 GIS-4636-091 October 6, 2020 Based on this week's Nevrin article, I think that yoga can be viewed/analyzed as a ritual because of the focus that you are putting into your practice. When you are practicing, for a beginner you might focus on "breathing, postures, and where to fix one's gaze" (Nervin 2020). This enables the person to be more focused and attentive to the practice, and therefore connecting with oneself. Moreover, Nevrin talks about feeling the body move as you go through these poses. This is something I had never really thought about. Simply focusing on the way your body feels, checking in with yourself, and feeling the slow-paced movement of your body and the way it stretches. Taking that with me into my practice this week, it helped me feel more in tune with my body and truly put my focus in one place. This technique of focusing on my body movement also helped if there were other distractions going on around me. For exa

    Kaitlyn Gonzalez  Weekly Journal 4 GIS-4636-091 October 6, 2020 When it came to Bikram yoga, I think that it has changed my perspective on the question if yoga is more framed as an exercise. For Bikram yoga, it seemed to move a little fast and was hard to keep up with catching up with the poses. What made Bikram yoga different from other yoga classes I have taken in the past is the fact that the teacher didn't show what she was doing throughout. She spoke to us directly and named out the poses, and then we were to follow the poses that she called out. For someone who is new to practicing yoga, this can be difficult if you don't know some of the names of the poses.       Nevertheless, I was able to look at other people practicing on Zoom and was able to follow some of the poses that I didn't know. We did a lot of back and neck stretches, which was really helpful considering most of us are sitting at a computer every day. On the flip side though, Diane Polli, our instruct