Blog Entry 3: Outside the Studio Stretching / Sharing a Former Student's Feedback
Activities for Today
This section, as stressed before, is for you to continue stretching on your own. The stretching session has three parts: warm up, alignment and stretching yoga style.
As stated before, it is an honor system, so I trust you will stretch in order to improve your mind-body connection, relax and experience peaceful and quiet happiness in the midst of the challenges we are all facing.
This section, as stressed before, is for you to continue stretching on your own. The stretching session has three parts: warm up, alignment and stretching yoga style.
As stated before, it is an honor system, so I trust you will stretch in order to improve your mind-body connection, relax and experience peaceful and quiet happiness in the midst of the challenges we are all facing.
You will continue watching a series of videos that will guide you through the stretching session today.
A former student's letter will illustrate how stretching will help you when you graduate and join the labor market.
A former student's letter will illustrate how stretching will help you when you graduate and join the labor market.
Finally, you will explain the benefits of stretching for the muscle groups mentioned below.
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I - Warm Up
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I - Warm Up
Body Warm Up (6:19 min)
Let us do our isolation warm-up routine as we have done in class:
neck
shoulders
arms
torso
hips
legs
ankles
Question 1
Write a reflection about the warm up.
Question 1
Write a reflection about the warm up.
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II - Alignment
II - Alignment
Body Alignment (2:00 min)
Close your eyes
Imagine a string pulling you from the top of your head up towards infinite
Elongate of your neck
relax your shoulders
Imagine gravity is pulling you towards the ground, from the bottom of your feet downward
Inhale and on the exhale press your abdomen against your spine
Flatten your back
Tuck in your rib cage
Rotate your shoulder so that the align with your hips
Bring your tailbone slightly forward
Soften your kneesQuestion 2
Write a response to the alignment exercise.
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III - Stretching
(20:18 min)
Standing Yoga Poses
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a) Follow the Routine.
Try to memorize this routine since you will be recording it as you do it and posting it at the end of the semester.
Question 3
Try to memorize this routine since you will be recording it as you do it and posting it at the end of the semester.
Question 3
a) Describe briefly, in writing, how you feel when you are done.
b) How many poses are you able to memorize at this point?
b) How many poses are you able to memorize at this point?
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IV - Letter (10 min)
Tue 1/28/2020 4:56 PM
Dear Professor,
Happy Tuesday! I hope your year and Spring semester has been off to a great start.
Primarily, I wanted to reach out and thank you for sharing your knowledge of stretching, mindfulness, self-reflection and positivity in your classes. While other courses have surely helped me in my post-grad endeavors, your classes have made a meaningful mark on my well-being and outlook of life. I am realizing this more and more.
Shortly after my graduation in May, I began a corporate office job which has been going well, but leads a quite sedentary lifestyle. Additionally, with the stress of constant emails and busy days, it is easy to get into bad habits -- sitting for hours at a time, working while eating lunch, checking emails at home, etc. Despite going to the gym often, such habits have lasting effects and it is easy to get stuck in a rather toxic routine which spirals into other areas of life beyond just work.
But, I always think back to your classes and the emphasis on being present in the moment, treating your body like a temple and radiating optimism. I take a step back to reflect and remind myself of these principles. It has helped a lot in my happiness, health, attitude and overall way of life.
I hope other students gained as much as I did from your classes. Such knowledge and awareness is invaluable (and very underrated).
Keep doing what you're doing!
All the best,
E.
Question 4
Based on the above letter, what does "being present in the moment, treating your body like a temple and radiating optimism" mean?
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Question 5
Question 5
V - Summarize
the benefits of stretching on the following muscle groups (10 min)
LOWER BODY
Lying Hamstring Stretch
ReplyDeleteWrite a reflection about the warm up.
The warm-up always gets me relaxed and focused. I personally suffer from back and neck pain, so every time I warm-up I feel a little more flexible. I have also been trying to do yoga more often to relieve a lot of stress and anxiety related to the pandemic and graduating next month. I am not very flexible, but I appreciate the way the yoga challenges but also relaxes is me. I definitely have a hard time with some poses, but I hope with practice and routine I'll get better.
Write a response to the alignment exercise.
Body alignment is something I think takes a lot of discipline and conscious effort to upkeep until a stable habit is built. This exercise makes me pay attention to my posture in my breathing. I do have a hard time knowing for sure or not if I am standing straight up or with a little arch, but practicing this exercise helps me reduce the amount that I slouch when I sit and stand.
a) Describe briefly, in writing, how you feel when you are done.
b) How many poses are you able to memorize at this point?
After completing this exercise, I Immediately realized I am still very inflexible. I feel like I did a workout, but I also feel relaxed somehow. I’ve noticed that the first half of the routine I am getting better at, but the second half I always have difficulty that I think can be attributed to back and hamstring inflexibility. My favorite and most comfortable pose is the child’s pose, I think it is a great way to end the routine. I noticed that my balance is getting a little better but I still have quite a ways to go. When I first started doing yoga in this class, I was not able to keep my foot balanced on my inner thigh at all now I'm able to keep it up longer and longer the more I practice. Right now, I can memorize four different poses downward dog, child’s pose, warrior pose, and tadasana or Mountain Pose.
Based on the above letter, what does "being present in the moment, treating your body like a temple and radiating optimism" mean?
Personally, I took the statement as trying to focus on taking care of yourself every day instead of putting it off and hoping for the best. I think the radiating optimism part is focusing on maintaining a positive and optimistic attitude/outlook daily. I think both of these ideas are hard to upkeep in a typical Corporate work environment. The employees are usually extremely busy but also have very sedentary workdays. Lack of movement and poor attitude definitely lead to poor posture, poor quality in work life and eventually poor health.
V - Summarize the benefits of stretching on the following muscle groups (10 min)
LOWER BODY
Lying Hamstring Stretch Benefits are increase in pelvic mobility. Preventing hamstring tightness can provide extra support for the back and pelvis.
Seated Hamstring Stretch Also increases pelvic mobility and helps prevent hamstring tightness which can provide support for back and pelvis.
Seated Adductor Stretch Benefits include an Is in muscle tension in legs and groin, improvement in flexibility, increase in your leg muscles’ range of motion, prevents possible muscle strains, tears, and other injuries.
Gluteal Stretch can help relieve tightness and tension and can really reduce discomfort in lower back and for tight hips. The stretch can also increase flexibility range of motion and reduce risk for injury.
Gluteal and Lumbar Rotation Stretch Helps with back elongation and stretching.
Lying Quadriceps Stretch Can help sooth stiffness in the spine and legs and improve flexibility.
Standing Quadriceps Improves flexibility in the quadriceps and hip flexors to help release tension in the lower back and hips and also improving posture.
Gastrocnemius Stretch Can help maintain/improve flexibility in your calf and Achilles tendon.