12/4 Yoga Blog

     This week I didn't have much time to do a yoga practice so I did a 30 minute yoga flow for achieving front splits. This class was taught by Cat Meffan and I took it through Youtube. The front splits has been a pose I've been trying to master for some time now. Back when I used to due gymnastics it came easy to me but now that I've been out of practice for some time, it is a pose that I really want to work toward achieving. Most of the time my hamstrings and hips are where all of my tension is stored so this flow was perfect for that. 

    In this class, I liked how the teacher catered the flow to preparing for front splits. We did pigeon pose, low lunge, and flowed through other hip and hamstring openers. While I didn't achieve the full pose this time, I got pretty close. I used my blocks to prop my hands up and the pose felt a lot better and less intense that way. Normally when I do this pose without the blocks, I tend to hunch my back or go into the pose too far and it begins to hurt, but with the blocks I was able to achieve better form and the pose felt more bearable. 

    The role of the body in yoga is the vehicle for finding a meditative state through every type of movement. While the body is moving, the breath and mind are trying to achieve stillness. I think that the body is important to yoga because it translates into everyday life. If you can control your breath and your mind while your body is going through something else, whether that is pain, discomfort, or other movement, then you can overcome all other challenges within the body. I think that the body is a vehicle to the divine because the body is one of the most difficult things to conquer so if you can conquer your body and continue to focus on your breath, you are bound to feel enlightenment and able to overcome all things. 

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