For my extra credit, I attended a yoga class at the Cary Street Gym. I had never before experienced a yoga class before this. Going into it, I thought that it would be exactly what the articles had said that it wasn't: stretching and being in flexible poses. I think that the Western culture has influenced many people to think the same way.
"What is Yoga?" by Georg Feuerstein states that "Underlying all forms of yoga is the understanding that the human being is more than the physical body and that, through a course of discipline, it is possible to discover what this "more" is." Reading the articles beforehand and keeping in my mind that yoga is not just stretching, I tried to understand what the underlying meaning of yoga and these exercises were about. However, I felt that because this was my first time and I was so concentrated on doing these poses as correctly as possible, while being surrounded by people who seemed like experts, I wasn't able to really understand what these articles were saying. I acknowledge the fact that there is something "more" to yoga than what everyone believes, but I just wasn't able to catch on to what this "more" was.
However, I am glad that I went to the yoga class and found it beneficial in terms of relaxing myself. Though the poses were intense and difficult for me to hold, I liked that I was trying something new. It was also enjoyable to work out the different parts of my body than how I usually do (using the machines, crunches, weights, etc). I also appreciated the calm environment: no loud noises, soft music, and even when the instructor gave instructions, he did so in a soothing way. I left the class feeling that I hadn't worked my body and muscles too hard, but it definitely hit me the next day when I started to become sore.
