my yoga experience

Heather Nehl

My Yoga Experience

I began my yoga experience through this class in a very similar way to Nick from Enlighten Up; I was reluctant and critical and did not want to fall into a spiritual practice so I spent the entirety of my practice thinking it through and analyzing critically. I was open to yoga being a new work out, but less open about the other aspects of yoga. While I did grow more comfortable with and knowledgeable about yoga, I certainly looked at my experience with a critical eye. There are things I would do differently with my practice, but I did learn from it and have grown in my yoga practice.

As an American, raised in a non-religious home, I have a tendency to retract away from religious and spiritual experiences. While I respect those who have their gods and practices, I don't want any of it myself. I was interested in this experience as a regular physical practice, a way to get fit and more in tune with my body and nothing else. I used yoga at Stockton in the past as a way to calm down, but I didn't look at my practice this semester in this way. I think I had a goal oriented view of yoga, which certainly doesn't apply to spiritual experiences.  In my first blog post I even talked about how I liked Steevee not being a very spiritual instructor (a view point that eventually does change after experiencing more physical). I think I kept this mentality throughout my practice, and analyzed my practice more than I typically would have if I had just joined a studio. Even in my later posts I was looking at yoga through a physical practice lens, not really taking into account the other aspects of yoga. Not one of my posts discusses my ideas on community engagement, higher enlightened thinking, perfection-related goals, etc. In this sense, my overall yoga practice was probably a bit lacking, but I definitely came to a better understanding of the differences of the physical practices. When I first started this class I had only a DVD and Steevee as a regular practice, which were both Flow practices. I never did extensive research into yoga and into the various styles. I enjoyed learning about the practices and then doing them in class. Learning about the practices in this way allowed for a deeper, more practical understanding of the differences within yoga and how styles and purposes can vary so widely in a practice I tend to think of as a singular practice. I learned how much a private or a group class could make a difference in experience – reflecting that I surprisingly like group classes better than solo classes. I learned that I like yoga to be a blend of work out and self-reflection – as seen in my post about Sivananda practice. I think this is a practice I would like to pursue because I felt in tune with my body in this practice, like I was stopping and making healthy oberservations throughout. This practice was also easiest for me to translate to day-to-day life. Overall this experience has helped me feel more knowledgable and also more assured in what I want from my practice.

          If I could do anything differently with this class and experience, I’d want to have invested more of myself into the experiences of this class. When I first signed up, I wanted to go to yoga multiple times a week and practice on my own as well. The idea of wasting a free semester of classes was a motivator in that thought process but I also really wanted to have a meaningful experience from frequent practice. I think I would be able to monitor my progress more had I gone to yoga more often, experimented with a wider array of classes and studios, and took the time to really practice hard. I also think I could have invested myself in the alternative aspects of yoga – not just the physical practice. Some of the dietary and life style practices, such as the Ayurvedic Gunas really were interesting to me but I didn’t experiment much with applying those practices. A large part of my yogic experience came from my lack of investment in the karma project as well. The purpose of the project was to really examine selflessness and to try it for ourselves, but I kind of skirted around the project because it was inconvenient for me. The karma project could have been a meaningful experience for me, had I made it one. I think in this sense it was an unfortunate lack of time and ordering of priorities that lead to this experience being less than it potentially could have been. I may take this lesson in applying myself and do my own yoga experience on my own time.  

date: 10/8

time: 4:30

instructor: Ash Brooke

style: Glow Yoga

This was one of the most fun yoga experiences I've ever had. For finals week Stockton does a bunch of de-stress activities and one of them was glow in the dark yoga. So I gathered up a whole group of friends and we dove in, not too sure what we'd find. We wound up in a dark room, covered in glow-in-the-dark body paint, doing yoga to up-beat dance music. The class itself was good - the instructor went with a pretty classic sequence - some sun salutations and bridges and shoudler stands - but the atmosphere really made this class. Everyone was there just to have fun  - not to find their zen or improve their inversions or whatever. We danced at some points, sang, sighed out loud and proud Oms. I think what I liked most about this class was that I didn't take it so seriously. I didn't worry about pushing myself and my form and improving my practice, I just let loose. I never realized that I took my practice so seriously until I totally didn't. If I could go to a glow yoga once a month, I think it would honestly be perfect to loosen me up and chill me out. Also, side note, it is very hard to balance when its so dark you can hardly see anything. This was really a great practice to end my journals with.

date: 11/29
time: 6:30
instructor: Steevee
style: Yin

I brought a friend to this class tonight and he absolutely loved it. Steevee made it a bit more physical than usual, which I liked, but she also incorporated some techniques to reduce stress. It felt like a well rounded practice.

Yoga as a religion is an interesting prompt. In our culture, I'd say it's rare for yoga to be considered a religion. It is a workout that can potentially get spiritual if you make it such, but I don't think it is inherently religious here.

date: 11/23/16
time: 7:00 am
instructor: Laurie
style: Flow Plus

I got up at 6 am today for Lauries Flow Plus class. The breath actually played an interesting role in this class today. I have a tendency to look at physical activities, including yoga, as a challenge. I push myself into the harder positions and out of my comfort zone a lot, so in yoga I often find myself losing my breath and sacrificing it for the sake of a move. I caught myself doing this a few times during this class which was actually pretty nice because it made me more aware of my physical limits. I think it'll be good to carry over this awareness into later practices because that's kind of an essential point of yoga, awareness that is. It felt good going with my breath and within my limits when I caught myself doing the opposite.

date: 11/15
time: 9:00 & 6:30
instructor: Annie & Steevee
style: Flow & Yin

I went to two classes today! On the down side, neither of them were the style I was really hoping for - I wanted a work out and I got a lot of relaxation and breathing. On the up side I got to experience a one-on-one class by pure circumstance, which really highlighted the impact of a classroom setting for yoga. While it was nice having an attentive teacher and doing a one-on-one practice, I think I prefer a group class which really surprised me because I really thought myself to be impartial to the community aspect of yoga. The meditative aspects of yoga were also highlighted in both of my practices, bringing to light different things in each. My morning class ended with a really nice savasana, where I very clearly felt the meditation and the calming. Contrarily at night Steevee led us through a loving kindness meditation that I simply could not focus on. In neither physical practice was I particularly focused either. I think yoga is an excellent way to get tune into ones body in a meditative way, but I think the practitioner has to actively make it a meditation. Because I was looking for a work out, not a meditation, I got less out of my practices than I could have.

date: 11/10
time: 2:30
instructor: Laurie
style: Shivananda

I really liked this practice. When the idea of doing Savasana between each small sequence was first mentioned I thought I would hate it, but I thought that was actually the best part of the practice. While I like using yoga as a work out I really felt in tune with my body and what this practice did for me when we took that time to check in with ourselves. I think this type of self reflection can be applied very easily outside of the yoga context. It felt really good in practice to step back and take notice of the minute sensations each pose sequence brought on; outside of the physical practice, it'd really beneficial to take mental steps back and evaluate why you're feeling a certain way or doing what you're doing etc. Giving yourself those mental savastanas can really help put life into a healthy perspective and keep a person from being overwhelmed. I think this is really where the application of yoga practice beyond physical practice comes in. I mentioned the 12-step ideology before, but it really is about taking what works from your practice and applying it how it can be applied. This is how the practice of yoga becomes the lifestyle of yoga, and i think that within reason its not a bad thing to apply yoga ideology to other aspects of ones life.

date: 11/4/2016
time: 3:30
style: viniyoga
instructor: Gary Kraftsow


This was certainly an interesting class. For most of the class I felt like I was in physical therapy - a lot of the moves that we did were actually very similar to moves I was prescribed for my physical therapy. The interesting part about that was that I went to physical therapy for my knees and hips - not my lower back at all. The jargon used by Gary was very interesting because it was absolutely being used to assert some sort of knowledgeable authority - that Gary was a leading doctor in this field. Right from the start, however, I had to doubt Gary. In his initial power point presentation in which he explains how yoga can improve a lifestyle he describes types of pain - chronic versus acute. From this slide on I was distrustful of Gary as a medical professional because he described chronic pain as pain measured by duration and acute pain as pain measured in intensity: chronic and acute are both terms that describe the duration of pain, chronic being long term and acute being short term. There was also the discussion of yoga as an "ancient medicine" from Gary, who described yoga as an ancient physical practice that worked in a similar way to todays prescription/diagnosis style of treatment. Gary also made the bold statement that "proprioceptive neuromuscular fascillitation" was a style of healing known to yoga practitioners for centuries, when PNF was first clinically designed, presented, and implemented around the 1950's. The use of Sanskrit terms to support his yogic knowledge was also weakly-based.So in my book Gary was neither a reliable health professional nor a reliable yogi - simple another person hopping on the yoga trend. The practice itself was awkward and choppy - hopping from one pose sequence to another with poor transitions and guidance that was lacking in clarity. The videos were accessible for all ages and skills, but there were a few moves that I immediately thought "why is he having us do this?" for. The lower back focus also didn't seem all that relevant when looking at what some of these moves worked. Overall it came together as a poor clash of yoga and western medicine.

date: 11/1/2016
time:6:30
instructor: Steevee
style: Gentle Yin Yoga

tonights practice was pretty decent. My back hurt and unfortunately Steevee focused on forward bends a lot more than backward bends, so that didn't help very much. In a way, the fact that Stockton has these free yoga classes is a testament to the pop-cultural aspect of yoga here in the states. Stockton saw how popular yoga was and added it to their recreation department. The pop culture rage of yoga is definitely apparent in this area - because we live around so many cities. Yoga studios are constantly popping up everywhere, gyms are offering yoga classes, popular bloggers and celebrities are posting their yoga practices all over social media. Yoga has definitely grown popular in america over the last few years, from books to blogs to public events like the Times Square yoga. I think that the pop yoga movement is a good thing - people are getting fit and becoming more mindful and making a living off of instruction and various products. While there has been some pretentiousness in the yoga community  - people who feel they're better than others because they practice this ancient and wise activity - i think for the most part yoga has had a good influence as a pop movement.

date: 10/29
time: 10:00 am
instructor: Nadira
style: Yoga Techniques

This was definitely an interesting class for me. It was much more of a work out class than a flow yoga class. We did our practice to pop music, that was new to me. We did 5 minute abs that the instructor specifically said could be a cardio work out if we wanted. It was focused separate bits instead of one overall flow. I think it was a very focused practice in that each part was focused on improving one physical aspect of our bodies. In this sense the healing of this class was purely physical, focusing on improving our strength. I think most of the classes I have taken are focused on the physical improvements seen in yoga more than any other type of healing. Most instructors I've experienced focus on the body parts being effected by each move - like the one instructor who came to class and talked about certain poses massaging our kidneys and working inter-hemispheric brain connectivity. The only instructor I've had that really continuously goes into healing beyond the physical level is Steevee, who often talks about mental health healing. Steevee often emphasizes the calming effects of yoga and how yoga practice can be applied to ones mentality with acceptance and such. I think ultimately the healing experience one has with yoga comes from how they chose to apply their yoga practice. Like the man in the documentary who uses the focused nasal breathing throughout his day when he loses control of this thoughts. I personally look at yoga as a light mix of both physical and mental healing - I improve my strength and balance and flexibility with yoga, which helps me improve my confidence and assurance in myself. I also use yoga to both energize me and calm me down - I use yoga as a stress reduction and a way to feel more energetically present. Similar to what the documentary subjects saying about group therapy - I take what I want, take what I can apply to my life, and leave the rest. When an instructor gets into things I don't need or use ( usually when things get a little to spiritual) I tune it out and accept that that is what other people use in their practice, but when the instructor gives something I can use I take it with me.

date: 10/13/16
time: 6:30
instructor: Jason Cooper
style: "energetic yoga"

I did not like this yoga class. So Steevee sent out an email saying she'd be doing Yin yoga on Tuesdays and this guy Jason would be doing energetic yoga on Thursdays. I am not exagerating when I say I felt like I was in a geriatrics yoga class. With this class my practice has been developing into a more physical focused practice no doubt, but this class went by slower than even last weeks in-class instruction. Not only did the class go much slower and much less difficult, there were absolutely positions that the guy had modified in ways I guess he liked that were definitely not very good for the body. Without this class I probably wouldn't have questioned this guys teaching, but after having Laurie as an instructor in yoga and learning about different established forms and how people go off and make their own stuff up that gets a little wonky, I felt comfortable in identifying risky made-up positions. I definitely am not going back to this class. While most of it was calming, I did not feel comfortable in this instructors hands.

Day 7

date: 10/13/16
time: 2:30
instructor: Joann McGarrity
style: Ashtanga

I think I like Ashtanga practice we did with Joann. I think the fact that it can build on itself, as a beginner through to advanced levels (Like Joann and Laurie who still didn't have certain positions) makes it a very focused physical practice. I like the focus on improvement and the repetition that, like Joan says, can still vary day to day ( "some days I have it, some I don't"). I don't know it Joann's instruction was the typical Ashtanga style, if so I definitely do not like that style. Joann was a nice instructor, but not detailed and that led to some confusion throughout the class and sometimes it led to some positions not quite feeling right. She recommended some Ashtanga practice videos and I'm definitely going to look into them. Something I did notice was an improvement in my ability to square my hips in most of my positions and pay attention to how I rotated and opened my hips - I attribute this to the very informative harness class from last week. This improvement definitely made this practice feel better than most of my practices have before.

I think our class in particular generates a unique sense of community in that we are all fairly new to these varying practices and that we are all pretty open to the different styles and instructions. The community built in our class, however, I think is only the hint of a community respective to actual yoga studios. The sense of community in our class is very minute, only really noticeable when we are doing the physical practice. In typical classes, all there is is the practice so the sense of community is easier to build. I think a community feeling is important to a practice because it generates a comfortable environment in the studio and allows people to feel safe as they push whatever boundaries they're pushing in the practice. I don't yet have a solid sense of community from my practice. I noticed at Yoga 9 that there is a very good sense of community, all the people there seemed very friendly and to know each other fairly well. I definitely think finding a community like that would definitely help me maintain my practice - even just going with Melissa and Gabby the last few weeks has helped me stay consistent with my practice.

Day 6 Part 2

date: 10/6/2016
time: 6:30 pm
Instructor: Laurie Green
style: straps ??

I loved this practice tonight. Gabby Melissa and I were the only ones to show up to Lauries class in ventnor so we got to play around with the suspension ropes and harnesses. Laurie showed us the form she usually practices in the harness and told us she uses them every morning. Besides the pinching the ropes caused in my hips, I loved the harness work. Using the harness I got a very localized experience of the moves we see in regular practice. I was able to focus on my front leg in one position or my spine in another, without worry about supporting myself or how the rest of my body needed to be really. I also LOVED the back bends and inversions. We went from an inverted butterfly position, extended our legs, and went into one of the best handstands I've ever been in. As someone raised doing gymnastics I am used to a very different type of handstand with a different center of gravity and a different positional goal. Yoga handstands, and head stands, are very new to me. Using the harness, I really got to understand how a yoga handstand should be and what I should feel like in one. I definitely want to do more work with the harnesses.

Day 6

Date: 10/6/2016
time: 2:30
instructor: Annie Stiver
style: Iyengar

To start, I did not really like Iyengar style. Historically I've practice flow sequences and Iyengar was a completely different situation. I didn't like the pace, it was much too slow for me, and the instruction style was also not ideal. The steuctur of instruction almost made the class feel teAcher oriented, as if we were supposed to sit and admiringly watch Annie do the moves and really let her skill sink in before attempting to do the same move ourselves. Annie seemed nice but I can see how, in a different class with a more traditional instructor, a reverence can form for the "all knowing" wiser-than-you instructor can form. I am also inclined to think that it takes away some of the purpose of yoga. Yoga is meant to be introspective, but the structure of Iyengar makes it feel a little egotistical in that you're trying to reach the instructors superior level. As a side note I did also very much dislke Annie's attempts at explaining the internal physiological outcomes of each move, particularly every time she said a move was enhancing our nervous system or increasing connections between our hemispheres (meanwhile that particular move was almost completely lateralized and certainly doing nothing for inter hemispheric coherence). While I'm sure Annie was simply following her Iyengar script, it was unproven assumptions probably made by Iyengar himself and it does nothing but 1. Spread misinformation about our bodies and how we can affect them, and 2.  Perpetuate the stereotype of pseudoscientific yogis who think their practice works on such wildly specific levels and changes the body in ways that have never been observed in science.
In terms of ritual practice, I wouldn't say my personal practice is ritualistic. I practice yoga very sporadically, oftentimes (before this class) once a week at most. I typically look to yoga for stress reduction, so I use it as needed. I will say that my practice was more ritualistic in high school. During the summer before my senior I started practicing yoga daily. I would wake up early in the morning and start my day with the same beginners level yoga flow video tape. While the practice didn't change very often, it did feel special. I started my mornings with what felt like a cleansing practice to wake me up and get me prepped for the day. I fell out of this pattern come the winter track season, but I do often think back to my more ritualistic practice as a time of overall health and well being. Ideally I'd like my practice to become regular, although perhaps not ritualistic. I, like Nick from Enlightwn Up, am apt to look at yoga as much more than an enriching physical practice. I do not expect or want to find God in my practice. I do not want to form a dependency to my practice. I do yoga because I enjoy the practices, I enjoy the people, and I enjoy how it makes me feel. I don't want to adhere to a strict schedule or depend on yoga as anything more than something I do to enjoy it, which I think ritualizing it might just do (ritual being more significant than simply repeated pattern).

Day 5

date: 9/29/2016
time: 2:30
instructor: Chris Waldron
style: Bikram

I really enjoyed this class with Chris. Thus far, without even realizing it, the majority of my practice has been flow yoga. I really enjoyed the concentration involved in holding our poses and the sensation of building my strength within that holding. I also liked how each pose really built upon the last, which added to that strength building feeling. My typical class is also very calming and very focused on improving the mental state, whereas Chris's class was entirely physical; Chris named the muscles we were working and pretty much let us breathe how we wanted to (which wound up making me a bit dizzy at times).

As far as last weeks prompt (which I mixed up for this weeks), I think the "sacred space" is both something expected and created by the students. American students expect to enter a studio and get what they expect out of the class. If the students expect the typical calming, zen type of experience they usually stay respectfully quiet and calm and hold conversation until after. If the students expect a work out I think there's a bit more energy in the room. Part of it too is how the room is set up, calming classes are usually dim where as high energy work out classes are usually well lit. And of course the instructor really makes a difference too. Steevee opens her class with a very soft-toned calm and quiet instruction, even when shes making jokes. Chris's class felt like I was at a gym working with a personal trainer, learning how to move my body to gain strength. It's a variety of aspects that build together to give a class the feeling it has, and to make it whatever kind of space it is for the students.

Day 4

date: 9/22/2016
time: 6:30
instructor: Laurie Green
style: Flow Plus

I don't feel, at least in this class, like yoga is framed as more than just exercise. In this class, specifically, it feels like a workout. I am pushing my body to the brink of its limits to fit into postures and positions that are beneficial to my strength. In fact, I think Laurie specifically talked about gaining strength from this class. In Steevee's class she'll go on small spiels about how this position can be calming or how that position opens chakras but Laurie doesn't insert moral-of-the-stories into her practice like that, which in a way may be better in that it allows the practitioners to come to their views about their practice and positions on their own, if at all. In general too, I think Americans look at yoga as almost strictly physical. Almost every time I talk to someone about yoga they respond with something along the lines of "I'd like to do yoga but I'm not flexible enough" (a sentiment expressed by my brother not even 15 minutes before I started writing this post, as a result of me telling him I was about to write this post). Nobody, in the handful of years I've been casually practicing, has ever said that they're not spiritual enough or open-minded enough or mindful enough or disciplined enough to practice yoga. The focus is physical. "I can't do a handstand" "I can't do splits" "I can't put my foot behind my head" "I can hardly touch my toes". I, of course, tell every negative nelly that "hey, that's just what yoga is for, becoming flexible!" which of course perpetuates the idea that yoga is a purely physical experience, but it also leaves people feeling more capable of partaking in yoga practice. I think the American approach is just the same as Nick Rosens approach. Very few Americans turn to yoga to work on their spirituality or their mental health or any of the various "other" aspects of yoga, but a majority of those who turn to yoga for a good weekly (and maybe even daily eventually) workout wind up stumbling into the other benefits of yoga, pleasantly surprised more often than not.

side note: I just saw the prompts in the syllabus, so I'll start using them now!

Day 4

date: 9/22/2016
time: 6:30
instructor: Laurie Green
style: Flow Plus

I don't feel, at least in this class, like yoga is framed as more than just exercise. In this class, specifically, it feels like a workout. I am pushing my body to the brink of its limits to fit into postures and positions that are beneficial to my strength. In fact, I think Laurie specifically talked about gaining strength from this class. In Steevee's class she'll go on small spiels about how this position can be calming or how that position opens chakras but Laurie doesn't insert moral-of-the-stories into her practice like that, which in a way may be better in that it allows the practitioners to come to their views about their practice and positions on their own, if at all. In general too, I think Americans look at yoga as almost strictly physical. Almost every time I talk to someone about yoga they respond with something along the lines of "I'd like to do yoga but I'm not flexible enough" (a sentiment expressed by my brother not even 15 minutes before I started writing this post, as a result of me telling him I was about to write this post). Nobody, in the handful of years I've been casually practicing, has ever said that they're not spiritual enough or open-minded enough or mindful enough or disciplined enough to practice yoga. The focus is physical. "I can't do a handstand" "I can't do splits" "I can't put my foot behind my head" "I can hardly touch my toes". I, of course, tell every negative nelly that "hey, that's just what yoga is for, becoming flexible!" which of course perpetuates the idea that yoga is a purely physical experience, but it also leaves people feeling more capable of partaking in yoga practice. I think the American approach is just the same as Nick Rosens approach. Very few Americans turn to yoga to work on their spirituality or their mental health or any of the various "other" aspects of yoga, but a majority of those who turn to yoga for a good weekly (and maybe even daily eventually) workout wind up stumbling into the other benefits of yoga, pleasantly surprised more often than not.

side note: I just saw the prompts in the syllabus, so I'll start using them now!

Day 3

date: 9/20/2016
time: 6:30 pm
instructor: Steevee
style: Yin Yoga

I wasn't a big fan of tonight's practice. After experiencing a difficult physical practice last week, Steevees class fell a little short as far as challenging me physically. While Yin yoga may be good for mindfulness practice and stress relief, it's definitely lacking when it comes to physical challenge. I also found myself to be a lot more easily distracted than usual; my mind kept wandering off and thinking all kinds of irrelevant things where my mind usually gets in the zone pretty easily in yoga classes. At one point Steevee said certain positions we were putting ourselves into might draw up old memories for some reason and as she said it I realized I was thinking about old memories at that moment, so I thought that was pretty cool whether it was coincidental or not. I think I'd like more physically challenging classes for now, until I need the stress relief of softer calming classes.

Day 2

date: 9/15/2016
time: 6:30
instructor: Laurie
style: Flow (Plus)

I realized tonight, as I sweat my a*s off in an "intermediate" level class, that I have been doing some pretty weak yoga thus far. I've always used yoga more for relaxation purposes than for a physical workout, and in regards to physical benefits I've always looked at it as a flexibility thing more than a workout. Tonight that was challenged. The flow form Laurie taught tonight was engaging and challenging in a way that I haven't really experienced in yoga before. Tonight's class was definitely more physically focused than spiritually. It was definitely a different experience than my usual yoga practice, but I liked the challenge and it made me realize that I want to learn how to do headstands.

Day 1 (ish)

date: 9/13/2016
time: 6:30 pm
instructor: Steevee
style: Yin Yoga

I decided to start off my yoga assignment for this class with a class and an instructor I've been going to for a while now. I've attended many of Steevees on campus yoga classes, and have enjoyed all of them. The reason I've stuck with Steevee is not just because I like the moves and forms she teaches but because I like her personality and the approach she has to yoga. As I've said to others as I recommend her class, she isn't the spacey-hippie type of yoga teacher we, as Americans I suppose, have come to expect in yoga teachers. Steevee is certainly a calmer person than some, but she has a sassy personality and makes jokes and comments throughout the class that make her students feel comfortable. Although she didn't get into history in this most recent class, I believe she is aware of the newness of the physical practice of yoga. Thinking about some of the discussions in class, I think Steevee is one of the individuals who look at yoga as an all-around life changing practice. She recommends poses to do when stressed or needing something in our lives. She recommends quick little forms to do every day to boost our physical alignments and thus our chis/energies and thus our overall health. I think Steevee herself allows yoga to be a spiritual practice for herself, but she does not preach or talk about spirituality much in the class. Last nights class was a very good class for me personally. Physically I wanted to stretch out some sore muscles and I definitely did. I brought two of my friends to the class who have never tried yoga which made me happy. I did wind up falling asleep a little bit as we held one posture, which has never happened to me before. I don't really use yoga as a spiritual practice for myself. Without getting too far into it, I'm not one to be very religious (hell, religious at all) and I don't like to force deities and related beliefs into things like my yoga practice. I personally practice yoga because it is good for me physically and because I do believe it has an effect on my energies and thus various aspects of my life (reduces stress, makes me feel more in tune with my body and mind, makes me feel simply good). I like Steevees approach as a non-spiritual but effective-to-energies practice.

side note: I should probably get a new mat, my crappy $5 one probably won't survive the semester