Words & Photos from Ava M. & Charlize K.
Day 1:
On the last final days of Yoga, we were very excited to hear that we would go to Mount Doug and come back to do more yoga practices. To start our day, we went on the bus to Mount Doug, where we met up with an instructor who helped us develop our mindfulness skills and allowed us to play fun games along the way of hiking a portion of Mount Doug. The ocean was beautiful and the forest was a surreal experience to be one with nature. Mount Doug was a great experience for us to get to know our peers better and spend time outside in the sun. We also ended up eating lunch at Mount Doug, this was nice as we got to eat outside on the picnic benches in Mount Doug. While we were there, we learned a lot of new activities and practices that we can use when we are feeling nervous or when we want to de-stress. After Mount Doug, we took the bus back to SMU and started to plan for our group session of yoga, taught by us for the class on day 2! After the planning, we did a yoga practice lead by Michelle, which was nice as it was after lunch and a good way to end the day off. At the end of the yoga practice we did Savasana, this is by far everyone’s favorite part of Yoga as it is very relaxing and you lie there in complete silence. Yoga day 1 was an amazing experience, that taught us new techniques to relieve stress and focus more on ourselves and self-care.
Day 2:
On the second day of our 3rd expedition and final day of the entire Experiential Program, we started off by participating in our group-led class, where each of our peers led us through a series of poses according to their assigned body part/section. It was super fun and gave us insight into what it might be like to be an actual yoga teacher; you have to be able to cue breaths, cue movements, and remember all of the specific details of the poses. After taking a quick break, we began our Ultimate Yoga Championship, where we were split into 2 teams of 4. We had to create a team name, a team cheer, create a sequence of standing yoga poses and teach it to the other team, and had to name as many yoga poses as we could collectively, summarizing the vast array of knowledge we obtained from the span of the Experiential Program. After eating our lunch, we went out onto the field, where our guest instructor (and SMUS alumna), Talina, led us through an anatomy class, explaining how each of our joints and body parts works together and why certain things aren’t possible for certain people. After, she led us through a yoga class, which was very tiring, especially since we were outside in the hot sun. Finally, we reflected in our yoga journals about the program; we went around in a circle describing 1 thing we learned, 1 thing we will take away, and our favorite thing from the program.
Overall, I think I can speak for the whole group by saying that the Yoga and Mindfulness Experiential Program was refreshing, relaxing, and perfectly timed amongst the stressful events of grade 10. For current grade 9’s who will be a part of the Experiential Program next year, I would highly recommend choosing the Yoga and Mindfulness group if you are looking for a way to destress and find a sense of balance between each of the terms.