Yoga Class Reflection

Below is a reflection paper I wrote for my yoga class. Overall it was a great class and helped me in many ways. I challenged the professor on several ideas he taught. For example, he argues that we should drink bottled water because tap water has fluoride in it. Also, he takes a individualistic approach to solving the problems in the world. While him and I may agree on the "ends," I believe his solution is not enough for achieving these goals. 

The yoga class helped strengthen different parts of me mentally, spiritually, and physically. Before taking the class, I had experience doing yoga in other places; however, I was never able to move past my desire to compete with myself and others to be the “strongest.” I think this was because the classes were not paired with instruction about the spirituality behind yoga.

            I thought it was useful how each week focused on a different chakra. It is interesting how I gained something from each class; it seemed like each lesson applied directly to something that was happening in my life. For example, with the first chakra, I was having trouble paying for food and did not have a good living situation; but was prioritizing other “needs” above this such as worrying about grad school applications. I was getting sick way more often than I used to. After the class, I realized that I was not taking care of myself and it was affecting my ability to focus and relax. The music helped with this as well. The second chakra taught me to reflect on my current and past relationships and come to peace with the engagement that I broke off several months ago. Also at the time of this class, I was dealing with some conflicts with “toxic” people and the class taught me to let go of them. The list goes on. Now, I have a new interest in studying the different chakras and using them to improve my health and interactions with others.

            I appreciated how the actual yoga we did was not very advanced compared to the other classes I took. This showed me that yoga is not about pushing myself to do advanced moves, but I should instead work on a gradual progress. Although the moves were not “advanced,” I found my muscles feeling sore after almost every class. This shows that the basic moves and poses are important if done properly.

            The lesson about food was interesting. I have a holistic healer in my hometown who has done similar things with my arm for the vitamins and medicine I was taking. He took me off all of these supplements and gave me herbal supplements and suggestions for diet. So coming into the lesson, I was already familiar with the process, but did not realize it could be applied to people and drinks. I went home and tried it with some friends. I have some disagreements with the argument about tap water. Water should be free for everyone and should not be a commodity. Additionally, private companies have less regulation for the chemicals and processes used in the water. Some bottled water is actually tap water too. Leaving tap water in an open container for several hours allows the most of the chlorine to evaporate. I am not sure if this includes the fluoride. I heard that the government puts fluoride in the water because lower income people do not have as much access to it. I do not necessarily agree with this argument, but prefer fluoride water to supporting companies that have tricked the population into buying a basic life necessity and creating tons of plastic waste from the bottles. Bottled water should not be thought of as a solution to having fluoride in tap water.

            As far as the philosophy presented in the class—I agree with most of it, but I think more is necessary. The world cannot wait for every individual to “convert” to be a better person. We are all shaped by our culture and are given prejudices that can be harmful. I think we need to change the institutions that shape our culture such as the education system, legal system, “democratic” process, economic system, etc. We need to redistribute the wealth and get rid of the idea that the US should control all other countries for economic profit.