Reading Reflection
I haven't gotten around to reading the second memoir yet, but I'm hoping to start on it soon so I can get a head start and don't wait until the last minute.
Still enjoying the Gita, and I like the quick explanations before each chapter. I wasn't expecting a good few chapters to be solely dedicated to explaining Krishna (Vishnu) and his power. He is literally EVERYTHING. One of the chapters was even basically just a long list of al the great beings throughout life that he actually was. It's a cool idea, though. In the Gita, he is the one and only all-powerful God, the sole creator and the only form of God to be worshipped. He made the world and every creature on it because he "desired companions", and he was, funny enough, compared to a child in that respect. This prolonged, reverential depiction of Vishnu as an all-powerful, all-knowing God that is a part of everything is a big part of the explanation why giving complete devotion and faith to him is an essential path towards true insight and eternal bliss with him after death.
I found it a really interesting concept to think about when the Gita mentioned that the content of the mind at the hour of death directs the soul in its journey to rebirth, and that whatever a person thinks about in life (greatest motivations) is likely to be their last thoughts when death comes. Of course, that meant in the book that you need to be thinking of and giving your last devotion to Vishnu, and to start spending time now worshipping him and making Vishnu your greatest motivation. It just got me to wondering what it is that people think about when they're about to die, what I'll be thinking about. It made me wonder how true it is that the most important things in your life up until the moment of death are the things that fill your mind when your time comes.
Still enjoying the Gita, and I like the quick explanations before each chapter. I wasn't expecting a good few chapters to be solely dedicated to explaining Krishna (Vishnu) and his power. He is literally EVERYTHING. One of the chapters was even basically just a long list of al the great beings throughout life that he actually was. It's a cool idea, though. In the Gita, he is the one and only all-powerful God, the sole creator and the only form of God to be worshipped. He made the world and every creature on it because he "desired companions", and he was, funny enough, compared to a child in that respect. This prolonged, reverential depiction of Vishnu as an all-powerful, all-knowing God that is a part of everything is a big part of the explanation why giving complete devotion and faith to him is an essential path towards true insight and eternal bliss with him after death.
I found it a really interesting concept to think about when the Gita mentioned that the content of the mind at the hour of death directs the soul in its journey to rebirth, and that whatever a person thinks about in life (greatest motivations) is likely to be their last thoughts when death comes. Of course, that meant in the book that you need to be thinking of and giving your last devotion to Vishnu, and to start spending time now worshipping him and making Vishnu your greatest motivation. It just got me to wondering what it is that people think about when they're about to die, what I'll be thinking about. It made me wonder how true it is that the most important things in your life up until the moment of death are the things that fill your mind when your time comes.
Class Reflection
Class has been enjoyable, like usual. Not sure if I mentioned this before, but when we first started the ritual of constantly changing our locations on the floor depending on various topics (like out favorite class and movie), I wasn't sure what to make of it. I was so used to my other classes where we're either assigned spots in class or we pick our own spots and silently claim them for the rest of the semester (kind of interesting how people have such a big desire to claim seats for themselves in class without being told to...). But it's entertaining coming up with favorites and sharing them with the rest of the class as we shift around. Along with changing up the yoga poses we do every time, switching around kind of helps the class not feel too settled, boring, and always the same, like some classes I've had. It feels very informal and friendly, if that's the right way to put it.
I had no idea there were that many ways to stretch and work out your feet. Those kinds of poses, plus the poses that helped us stretch our leg muscles, were surprisingly challenging, but I didn't hate them. I'm also surprised with the progress I made towards doing the splits, even though I obviously still have a long ways to go. Propping my head on the folded blanket helped my head not to feel as crushed as it did before while prepping for the headstand, too.
Outside of Class
There hasn't been too much going on outside of class, especially these past few days. The rain had made me sleepy and lazy, though I still like doing some poses that stretch out my spine, since it's never long before my back feels like it needs to be popped or stretched again.
In my other yoga class we did a normal flow on the first day but then tried out some new twisting poses and worked them into a flow. That yoga session along with our longer than usual session on Thursday tired me out physically, but in a good way! It has felt pretty nice with how stressful this week has been and how the next couple of weeks are going to be. I've been practicing some simple poses with the time I've had this past week, and I'll try some more that I've learned from this class and my other yoga class this week since I won't have much time at all for the next couple of weeks. I've been trying to work on my balance since I seem to have some trouble with being able to balance on only a single foot. I've been working on my tree pose, and some of the other poses from my other class, like stork pose and some others (can't remember their names right now, unfortunately...) I don't have any of the normal yoga props with me, so sometimes if I need something like them I make do with what I have around me (yay for scarves and blankets).
I'm starting to take notice of all the ways yoga is talked about and shown in social media, too, like in commercials and random posts on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. It really shows how wide-spread yoga is becoming in America today, though, from the looks of it, it is still being portrayed as more of a women's thing in America. My other yoga class is completely made up of girls, too, so I'm glad there are at least a few guys in my BIC yoga class willing to give yoga a shot (Go BIC!)
I'm starting to take notice of all the ways yoga is talked about and shown in social media, too, like in commercials and random posts on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. It really shows how wide-spread yoga is becoming in America today, though, from the looks of it, it is still being portrayed as more of a women's thing in America. My other yoga class is completely made up of girls, too, so I'm glad there are at least a few guys in my BIC yoga class willing to give yoga a shot (Go BIC!)
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