Words & Photos from Ava M. & Charlize K.
Day 1:
To start our journey of yoga, we began with learning about what yoga is and the key terms used in yoga. For example, we learned about the meaning of namaste and many other yoga terms. After we became familiar with the history of yoga and the key terms we started our first practice. This was a great experience for everyone as it allowed us to come out of our comfort zones and learn new yoga poses and for the students that have experience with yoga it was a good chance for us to explore what they know. We then had lunch and a few breaks in between.
After lunch, we came back and we went out around campus to do mindfulness exercises with ourselves. These were inspiring and good for ourselves as it allowed us to spend time with ourselves and escape from the reality of our world. Finally, to end the day off, we came back and made journals. We got to customize them and decorate them to our desire. Then we got prompts from our instructor Michelle and we had the option to either write about the prompts or we could do our journal. This exercise allows us to evoke mindfulness and it presents an opportunity for emotional catharsis and can help the brain regulate emotions. Using these skills we were very prepared for day 2 and we can not wait for our future sessions of yoga!!
By: Charlize Keens
Day 2:
On the second day, we started off by practicing yoga using the skills and poses that we had learned on the first day. Then, our instructor taught us about the yoga code of conduct, specifically, the yamas and the niyamas of yoga, which are essentially concepts that traditionally, yogis and followers of the practice would have to master before learning actual yoga poses. Some examples of yamas and niyamas include, non-violence, cleanliness, moderation, self-study, non-stealing, among others. We then created a journal entry where we had to reflect on one yama and one niyama and how we hope to use them in our lives.
Since we learned the Sanskrit names for yoga poses on day 1, we then played a game where we had to match the English word for the pose to the Sanskrit word. It was very difficult! After lunch, we headed to Mount Tolmie to practice some mindfulness, taking in the amazing view of the city and the surrounding nature. Finally, we ended off the day by practicing some restorative yoga, which is basically slow yoga that focuses on stretching and holding poses for long periods of time, followed by a full body scan, where an audio recording guided us through mindfulness in terms of our spatial and personal awareness. Our next session of the program will happen in March, where we will be going to a local yoga studio in Victoria!
By Ava McConechy