Cameron Johannesen The Art of Yoga

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Waiting outside of the gym doors, I was feeling anxious and hot from the dozens of people who were also waiting with me. As the time ticked past our start time, the line kept getting longer and longer, while the hallway continued to be filled with heat. I had always loved yoga since I was little, and was fascinated by how much it seemed to help people. When I saw that it was offered my the school, I had to try it out. So, there I was, trying yoga for the first time in our university gym with a dozen other people. Of course, the instructor was late. As she neared the door, what used to be a line of people formed into a crowd which all followed the instructor into the room. It was a small room, with hardwood floors. The ceilings were high which enabled a few fans to hang and somewhat cool down the room, but with the large amount of people, it was sort of impossible. We all ran to the closet to grab matts of either purple or black, and a block to do some poses with. The mats were not cleaned and smelled like dirty feet and had me holding back my gag reflect. Aside from the negative images I had floating around in my head, it was finally time to start as we all chose a spot on the floor to work with. The music began and we all began deep breathing, although the music was shortly overshadowed by the loud, obnoxious music playing from the gym. As my first experience of yoga was beginning with a not so ideal start, I pondered the question of how does yoga relieve stress, and does it actually work the way people say it does? To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to ones family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control ones own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him. -Buddha who is the person most people associate with the early teachings of Yoga and meditation. The purpose

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of yoga is to gain complete control of your own mind, which in the end will lead you to happiness and wisdom, as said by Buddha. Yoga evolved many years ago in the B.C era in India during the Golden age. During this time, Buddha and Buddhism came to place to help people all over the world with its calming, meditation (History of Yoga). Yoga has often been sought to heal mental disorders and different types of anxiety. Today, people of all ages across the world participate in yoga on a daily basis for many different reasons. A large amount of people tend to use yoga as a stress reliever, especially with stressful careers and college atmospheres. College atmospheres was exactly what I was aiming for. College is not easy, so by having the university offer Yoga so frequently is phenomenal, however, my first experience at trying it was giving me more stress than I had before I came to the class. After the deep breathing exercises, we began the simplest of poses, called the childs pose. It was simple, and it stretched out my back, by keeping my knees bent underneath me and stretching my arms over my neck and head. The instructor kept telling us to focus on our breathing and think about nothing, but all I could think about was the obnoxious music coming from the gym. Although everyones mats were so close together from the room being so packed, for a slight second, I felt relaxed and as if I had no worries for that split second. Baker writes, walking or practicing yoga, mindfulness meditation has been long recognized as a stress reliever. In the article Baker writes, she explains an interesting experiment seeing if yoga is actually a stress reliever, and who it effects. The test was based around this, they used a tool called the Trier Social Stress Test to induce psychological stress and a capsaicin cream to produce inflammation on the skin of the research volunteers. Immune and endocrine measures were collected before and after the research subjects went through training in meditation or in the other health enhancing activities. The experiment ended by

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having both groups inflammations reduced, along with the stress relieved meditation (Meditate Chronic). The importance of this information is not only that stress is relieved by meditation and yoga, but also adolescents and adults who dont cope well with taking medications for certain illnesses are able to use meditation to an extent, instead. There are many different methods of yoga that help heal disorders along with stress. It all starts with controlling your breathing, as Foster says, everything begins with a breath. Taking time out of every day to focus on your breath can turn stress and anxiety into ease and relaxation. People everyday concentrate on their breathing, maybe without even knowing it. This can be a simple way of relieving stress and even a small meditation. Yoga is not only a way of meditation, its a way of exercising and staying healthy, as well. Foster also writes, moving through the poses increases your heart rate and gets your circulatory system moving, helping to clear out toxins. Yoga poses will also help you to relax the tension in your muscles. Because your mind and body are connected, your mind will subsequently relax(How Yoga Can Eliminate). Even yoga can be a difficult exercise, so it is important to be prepared for that. Along with relieving stress, yoga in a way forces you to be healthy. Some of the poses can be very intense, which unknowingly will give someone a great workout. The good feelings that yoga gives to people keeps them coming back and makes them not only feel better, but look better as well. After we did a few easy poses in the class, the instructor decided to kick it up a notch and have us do intense yoga sets. We had to do different poses that I couldn't even imagine my body doing. I kept thinking to myself I thought this was beginners yoga!. As we began doing the more intense poses, I could feel the sweat dripping from my forehead; who knew it was such a workout.

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The book, Stress and its Management by Yoga, emphasizes how yoga has been used to therapeutically heal people for thousands of years, and its benefits of using it for stress management. Our studies have enabled us to demonstrate that these yogic measures produce their expected beneficial results by directly acting on the production of neurohumors. Hence, it seems that it is one of the most efficient and scientific methods for the management of stress disease, says K N Udupa (Stress and its Management). The book continues to go into great detail with many psychological terms and ideas about the benefits of yoga to the mind and body. So, its obvious that yoga relieves stress in adolescents and adults who use it, but who else benefits from the use of yoga? At Montessori schools, the teachers began using restorative yoga to help young children focus on school and better ease their learning. Restorative yoga is an authentic path to peace that may be open even to some of those difficult children who are not yet ready for the kind of extended work with peers which Goertz recommends. Restorative yoga may help prepare children for the ther- apeutic path which Goertz describes (Restorative). Many of these children are not ready to interact with others in a partner way, they work best by themselves. However, these yoga techniques are making children more susceptible to working with others and helping them therapeutically with themselves. It is allowing them to be less distracted and to interact with others for assistance. The yoga overall is helping children learn and become better versions of themselves by interacting with each other. Without these young children even knowing it, they too are benefitting from yogas marvelous impact on life, and it will hopefully benefit them throughout their years of growing up. When you hear that football players do yoga, it changes the image, helps make it more accessible. Yoga isnt just for girls, or for the thin and flexible. In fact, its just the opposite. It

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helps people who arent thin or flexible Wrote Carson, a yoga instructor. Apparently, football players are doing yoga as well, and its benefitting them in the game. After winning the super bowl, the Seattle Seahawks were praised for their yoga and meditation after practice. "Meditation is as important as lifting weights and being out here on the field for practice," Okung says. "It's about quieting your mind and getting into certain states where everything outside of you doesn't matter in that moment. There are so many things telling you that you can't do something, but you take those thoughts captive, take power over them and change them (Lotus Pose on Two). Yoga is a powerful tactic that is not only used for relieving stress, but used for getting your mind right in order to calm yourself and focus on what is important. In the picture, Russell Wilson is pictured participating in a simple yoga pose. He looks very calm and collected, he seems quite postured with his hands and his upper body in a stiff position, not slumped. The scene is helping to create this sense of calmness with the different colors of the grass, sky and trees. Ten seconds after this picture was taken, Wilson probably closed his eyes and began to meditate with the rest of his teammates. They were all probably very calm and were thinking about everything they were doing and had been doing in their practices and games. After, they all were probably very relieved and stress free.

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The pose that Wilson is performing is although the most commonly known yoga pose, it is not the most beneficial for relieving stress. There are hundreds of different poses in yoga that people do for many different types of reasons; some to be calm, some to get a workout, and some to concentrate on focusing. For starters, the childs pose is one of the more simpler poses that is a resting pose which quiets the mind and eases it from stress and anxiety. It also stretches the back and gives a small amount of a workout. Another great pose for relieving stress and anxiety is the Standing Forward Bend pose, also know as the Uttanasana pose. This pose stretches hamstrings, thighs, and hips. This pose is done by standing straight with your feet together, then proceeding to put your hands next to your feet on the ground, with a flat back (Ten Best Yoga Poses). After I felt like my legs and arms were spaghetti and my face was dark red, our instructor told us that it was time for the calming period, which was the last stage in our yoga class. We all got into the tree pose which is where one foot is on the floor, and the other foot is forming a triangle on the leg that is straight while your arms are extended over your head, touching. We were told to concentrate on nothing but our breathing and balance. After I found my balance, along with the rest of the yoga class, I was able to close my eyes and really focus on myself. The humidity from the large amount of people in the room seemed to disappear, as well as the obnoxious music from the gym, and the smell of dirty feet. The only thing I could see was focus on was myself and what I was doing in that exact moment: breathing. It took a little bit to get it, but when I did, I felt like a whole new person. I felt in control of my body and mind, sort of like I could conquer the world. Sadly, what seemed like an hour, was really only a matter of seconds, when our instructor began to bring our class to a close. I may have came into the yoga class with a negative mindset, but at the end I could easily tell that it is possible to have that control of your body and mind without focusing on other people or your surroundings. I was free of stress for

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that short period of time, and Im sure if I were to continue to practice the art of yoga on my own time, I would surely get the hang of it. Whether you're doing yoga to get exercise, or to relieve stress, theres always a positive use for it and you will be benefitting from it. I had finally decided that it was time to try and do yoga again, but in a different atmosphere. So, I brought my best friend to a local yoga class in my neighborhood over one weekend with me. Surprisingly, the experience went a lot better. Unlike the first time, the music was uninterrupted, the instructor was knowledgeable and calm, and the people were very mature. It was a great experience and I was finally able to understand the true art of yoga and its power in healing the mind and body. Its very interesting to think about having your whole body go into a relaxed state and everything seems so put together in your life, even when it might not be. Yoga is an art and it is a gift; people who are able to use it and use it beneficially is a wonderful thing.

Works Cited Page

Baker, Sherry. "Meditate Chronic Inflammation Symtoms Away." Natural News. NaturalNews, 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Bance, Shayne. "History Of Yoga." ABC of Yoga. ABC Of Yoga, 3 Mar. 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. Foster, Sam. "How Yoga Can Eliminate Stress and Anxiety." Boomerinas. Boomerinas, 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

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Gregoire, Carolyn. "Ten Best Yoga Poses For Stress Relief." Lifestyle. Lifestyle The Huff Post, 6 Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. Roegnik, Alyssa. "Lotus Pose On Two." ESPN. ESPN, 21 Aug. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Rosanova, M J. ""restorative" Yoga and Silence Games for Children and Adolescents: a Way of Knowing the World More Clearly." Montessori Life : a Publication of the American Montessori Society. 16.4 (2004): 40-45. Print. Udupa, K N, and R C. Prasad. Stress and Its Management by Yoga. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1985. Print.