1/30/24 Live Session Recording

First, I hope I am responding in the correct place. Also, I would like to share that I was really moved by your openness to how you were first introduced to race and gender roles. It was striking to me to see how you moved such negativity from your stepdad into a positive space with openness and kindness for others. 

8 limbs of yoga: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyhara, Dharana, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi.

I really enjoyed listening and learning about this. I feel that we are all on a constant path for greater self exploration and trying to live a more fulfilled life absent of material things to give us joy. Living our truth and freedom from illusion as well as all of the other limbs to try and find integrity. Through the use of meditation (Dhyana) and yoga (Asana's) with the hopes to make positive decisions and reduce further harm. Letting go of past family dynamics and belief systems to heal and live your true authentic self is something that I hope to move towards. The Yama of truth and non-stealing. I think that being honest with ones truth and seeing what we try to avoid or don't want to see or acknowledge can be very scary. It is hard to recognize the painful truth in an effort to move forward. Not stealing others joy despite envy or jealousy can be powerful. Letting others experience joy and happiness in their own way. I feel that so many times people will disregard or take from someone's else experience in order to build themselves up. I feel these things happen due to a place of feeling insecure or a place of vulnerability. 

The movement section felt really good. I sit all day and find myself leaving work with back pain, neck, and shoulder pain. I really could feel a release in my back when we did the flexion and the extension of the spine. Afterwards my back felt looser and more flexible. I can see how range of motion can vary for each individual, but these movements can help open up and loosen the spine. I practice rotations a lot after I work out as I feel this is a great way to loosen up my lower back and chest area as well. A simple mountain pose with chin tucked is a great way to start and help others who are not as mobile feel a release in the neck. The movement piece is really a great way to end these meetings.

Thank you,

Heather Stroud

For years, I've been curious about the philosophy of yoga, but every time I started to read, I got lost in the sanskrit.  So I appreciated this overview of the 8 limbs that was framed in easily relatable terms. 

First limb -  Yamas are described as "collective support," and include:  ahimsa (non-harm / love), satya (truth & equality, which includes honoring what is true for others), aparigraha (non-attachment / being connected to the present moment), asteya (non-stealing, which includes not taking away the opportunities of others) and  bramacharya (non-excess / moderation.)

Second limb - Niyamas are described as "self-support," and include: svedyaya (self-study / reevaluate needs & wants), saucha (purity of mind / clarity), ishauarapranidhana (surrender to a deity or higher purpose), santosha (contentment/ being gentle with oneself) and tapas (self-disciple / choosing to do what's best for oneself).

Third limb - Asana,  the union of breath and movement 

Fourth limb - Pranayama, mindful breathing

Limbs 5-7 are steps in meditation...

Fifth limb - Pratychara is sense withdrawal

Sixth limb  - Dharma is having a single point of concentration so that one becomes so immersed it feels like time has disappeared

Seventh limb - Dhyana is wholeness, peace within oneself.

Eight limb - Samadhi, the healed union of self, or "state of bliss," even when the world around may me hectic.

I look forward to learning about the eight limbs in-depth over the next few weeks & discussing how they can apply to our modern circumstances.

I have suffered from lower back pain since childhood (scoliosis, stress fracture, cracked coccyx, bulging discs, and currently an entrapped nerve @ L5/S1).  Throughout my years of yoga practice, I've worried that I've exacerbated my lower back issues, particularly when arching.  So I very much appreciated the lesson on spinal movement, starting with the principle that there is no "straight" spine; neutral spine means positioning within the natural curve of the spine, which differs for each person. The different types of spinal movement we will integrate into our sessions include:  1.) lengthening 2.) lateral movement 3.) flexion / extension on the sagital plane and 4.) gentle twisting on the transverse plane. I took special note of the point that lengthening is not straightening.  Lengthening is the engagement of supportive muscles.  That framing is totally new for me and I will try to keep this in mind during my next asana practice.  And the takeaway for the range of motion lesson is that offering these small movements that focus on each area of the body offers insight into how to adapt the practice to be specific for the people who are in the room.  Therefore, these types of movements should be offered early in the practice to give the facilitator information about their participants' needs and levels of accessibility.

Hello,

I hope I am responding to the recording correctly here. These past few weeks have been rough for my family. I recently lost my Uncle, and family dynamics are really coming to a head at the moment. Thank you for providing the recording Jen!

I'd like to be vulnerable and say that I appreciate the environment and I do my absolute best to care for the environment. However, I wouldn't say that I worship it as described in the recording. I have no judgement towards those that do, and I feel as people we ALL should at the very least respect nature and how it provides for us.

That aside, my brain has been full with a whole bunch of ideas and thoughts that can cause stress. So this weekend I took time to connect with God and just sit in peace. I welcomed space for my ego and ignorance to just erupt until there was not much left of it. I journaled all the thoughts messily and after it felt like I finally swept my mind clear of them, and they all boiled down to one thing... hate. I had so much hate and negativity for things it was ridiculous! I can't believe I ever expected positive change the way I was so negative.

I have now set out to clean up my mind and space of things no longer serving me, and I have a LONGGGG way to go but I'm excited! I think this would be in a sense "Saucha = truth" because I'm digging deep to find out the truth of who I am. Please correct me if I am wrong though, and thank you again for the wonderful insight! 🙂 

Sorry I missed the last session.  I really wanted to respond to the questions.  Mainly  first time aware of race and inclusion or exclusion.  I became aware of race when I was about 4 years old.  We had moved from Germany back to Durham NC.  I had very little English and everything was different and new.  Grandaddy Al took us kids out for ice cream.  The lady was making our cones and handing them to us.  She dropped a cone and asked my grandfather if he wanted her to crush it up and put it on our ice cream since she was going to throw it away anyway.  Grandaddy was  was clearly upset and I knew something had happened that wasn't good but unsure what it was.  Two years later we moved to Salem Massachusetts, My dad was in the army and were were in an apartment while we were waiting for housing.  We moved into a three family house and their was a little girl on the second floor and we became friends.  One day we were on the stairs and got into an argument about something and she slapped me, so I slapped her back.  She screamed for her 13 year old brother and  said no Nigger is going to get away with slapping me!  Her brother came and punched me in the stomach.  I was six years old.  

I was 10 years old and we were living in Reading Ma, a suburban town 14 miles north of Boston.  There were lots of kids my age in the neighborhood.  We ran around and played in all the yards.  We  had lots of fun together.  And one day out of the blue my friends were going to Anthony's birthday party.  I was told I couldn't go because Anthony's dad didn't allow Niggers in his house.  None of the other kids in the neighborhood spoke to me again.. I became other in an instance.

As I think back about how race has played out in my life.  There is an expectation that I understand peoples racism or hatred of me, and that they should make sense to me. And that I should  treat it like a fact.   

Very few people spoke up about the questions, I'd like to know your experiences, its the only way we can learn from each other.  And if you want to work with folks who are incarcerated then its very important to look at bias,  perceptions and what we think is truth and where it comes from.

Hiya! I missed the last part of class.

A few thoughts: