Gettin' Bendy...Sort of...

Reading Reflection

I've been enjoying the Gita so far, especially since it's not nearly as hard to understand as I was a little worried it might be. I'm not sure if I agree more with the idea that the story is supposed to be taken pretty literally or the idea that the story is actually a big metaphor for the internal battle. I just think it's cool that the story is able to be taken both ways, depending on what you want to get from it.

The whole idea of reincarnation has always been fascinating to me, and the idea of what you do in your current life affecting your reincarnation into the next life. Vishnu, unlike everyone else, is able to remember every form he has ever taken in his mission to help rid the world of evil. I have to wonder what we would be like if we really did go through reincarnation and then remembered every past life. How would it affect us? Would it make us wiser, more bitter about some things, or maybe make us want to try more things? Would you be excited or disappointed thinking about the beings you used to be and the things your past lives have done?

It is interesting thinking of the parallels between Vishnu and other religious, political, etc. figures that appeared or grew up in a time of conflict and helped to bring good, happiness, and/or equality to the world however they could. I remember Jesus being brought up during class as a religious parallel to Krishna saying he's a human form of God sent down to bring peace and order back to the world. Despite the differences, most major religions I've seen all have similar stories like this that happen at least once or twice.

Class Reflection

Class was pretty nice and interesting this week. We were able to learn some new restorative poses, one or two of which I'm probably going to try out again later. It's actually been a pretty good yoga week for me in general, for both of my yoga classes. Thursday's headstand yoga class was a little challenging, especially since I don't know if I'm capable of doing a good one yet. I keep getting worried I'll fall over or hurt myself (I have a problem with heights and the fear of falling that I guess reaches into going upside down...) Also, for some reason, the top of my head feels like it's being crushed and really hurts anytime I try to do something on my head, even when I try to put weight off of it or push up with my arms and shoulders. It just doesn't feel good at all. Maybe I just have an overly sensitive head, or something. Or I could just be doing it completely wrong. Both sound equally likely. Weirdly enough, we worked a little on backward bending poses during my other class this week as well. I never thought headstands were anything more than just cool tricks some people like to do, though, so it's interesting to learn they actually have benefits, too. I've really enjoyed learning about all the different benefits that the different poses do, since it helps me to focus on a select few if there's something on my body that I feel needs to be stretched on a particular day.

It's cool how we can sometimes get pretty into our discussions, since I've always liked discussing and listening to other people's ideas, even if it's sometimes a struggle to put myself out there and contribute.

Outside of Class

Nothing much has been going on outside of class. I've tossed in a few of the poses we've learned in class just to try them out by myself. I've tried some of the relaxation poses and techniques we've been learning about, and I did a little bit of yin yoga again the other day. It's not that bad, though there are a couple of poses that are kind of hard to hold for several minutes. Plus, at the end of a yin yoga session, we're supposed to roll over to your left "yin" side after corpse pose, something I'm not used to.

Two of my roommates enjoy yoga and used to do it, so they like when I talk about it. One of them even joined me when I was doing a few relaxation poses a few days ago, even though her dog kept getting in the way. As cute as she is, she doesn't understand personal space at all.

I also feel like I've been getting a little hungrier since starting yoga, and it's hard to keep myself from just snacking away for the rest of the day after I get home, especially since lately I've been battling a big desire to go on an ice cream binge. Need to keep my desires under control though, as hard as it might be because ice cream is delicious! Especially the new blasts you can get at Sonic, like the Waffleberry brownie blast. Even just talking about it makes me want to go get one. Controlling your desires and letting go of your attachments is a lot easier said than done, especially when it's so simple to just enjoy the quick and easy satisfaction. It's easier to enjoy bad foods you like in the moment than to make yourself eat better foods that you don't like as much for the long-term results.

That's just what makes following the sutras a challenge, though, going against your material human desires that you've grown up with. It does feel worth it, admittedly, to conquer the pull of some of your day to day desires.