Reflection

1. Please discuss at least one connection you've made between what you've studied in this LW course and what you’ve learned from other courses you have taken at SLCC (or other institution) or have learned before taking this class? Make specific references to your work in this class and in other courses. How did what you learned in other courses enhance what you learned here, and vice versa?

I decided to take the Yoga class during the Fall 2023 semester, a semester in which I also decided to take 3 more courses. This was my second semester, but it represented a greater concern for me since I was taking more courses and at the same time, I was still working full time.

Taking Yoga classes helped me get out of my comfort zone. I liked the idea of taking time to listen to my body and pause my mind, or at least try to. In the first Yoga classes, I sometimes stayed thinking about the things I had to do, the duties and situations that happened to me in my life, while I performed some of the positions. At the end of those first classes, I couldn't feel any change, and I thought it wasn't working, but I realized I wasn't doing my part. I learned in Yoga class that I should stay in the present, at the moment, focus on the position I am trying to do, and pay attention to my breathing and what my body is trying to tell me.

Likewise, when it happened that my mind was full of thoughts because of things that had happened to me, I couldn't concentrate completely on my other classes, I would keep my attention for a moment and then my mind would wander into thoughts. 

When I started to put into practice what I learned in Yoga class, that's when I managed to be in the moment, in the present. My mind paused the worries I had, and the different thoughts that surrounded it, so I could focus on what was being discussed in class. Thanks to that I was able to pay better attention to the things the teachers were talking about, I could take notes, and I could do my homework without taking too much time. 

In addition, I learned to calm the stress and anxiety that I felt at certain times of the day due to the tasks I had, practicing breathing exercises helped me greatly to stay calm in different situations.

Likewise, what I learned in another course helped me improve what I learned in the Yoga class. It was difficult for me to accommodate the words I had in my mind at the time of writing, it took me a long time to write a paragraph, and ideas came and went very easily from my mind. Thanks to my intermediate writing class I was able to better learn the different topics that we covered in Yoga class. The intermediate writing class gave me the necessary strategies to be able to express my thoughts in writing, and thanks to that I was able to complete the subjects of the Yoga class, including the weekly discussions: being able to develop the paragraphs and answer the questions in a clear and concise.

Yoga helped me be mentally present in classes, focus on the present, and be able to better manage stress and anxiety. My Intermediate Writing class helped me improve my writing and writing skills, it helped me to be able to capture my thoughts in written form, which allowed me to complete the subjects of the Yoga class, and to answer the questions clearly and concisely.

2. Reflect on what you thought about fitness and lifelong wellness before you took this course and how you think about it now that you have completed the course. Have any of your assumptions or understandings changed? Why? What assignments/activities/readings were influential in this process? How will you approach what influenced you differently in the future?

I used to think that fitness and lifelong wellness were difficult to do and achieve, I used to think that it took a lot of effort and work to succeed in both. After completing this course I realize that achieving both is not very difficult, but it is necessary to be constant if we want to see the benefits of both. Before I believed that practicing Yoga was the simplest thing in the world and that there were no benefits. 

The first class was difficult for me, but it helped me realize that my mind could not be still, that I was always thinking about the past and the future, about the things I had to do, about the things that had happened to me. and in the problems that I had had. The classes and assignments in general helped me change what I thought about fitness and lifelong wellness, but it was one class in particular that helped me click with what Yoga truly was.

While I was sitting, with my legs crossed and my hands on my knees, I was supposed to be calm in my mind, focused on my breathing, and with my eyes closed, but I couldn't do it, I couldn't feel that Yoga was helping me. At that moment the teacher said: Stay in the present, let your mind be in this moment. That phrase was what made me realize that I was so focused on my outside, instead of enjoying the moment of peace that was happening in front of me. Learning to pause the thoughts in my mind, the worries I had, the pending things, and even the things that had already happened, helped me not only to make better use of the course classes but also to take advantage of each day.

I will approach what influenced me differently in the future when someone asks me about fitness, lifelong wellness, and Yoga. I will tell from my experience what I learned in my yoga class, and how those experiences helped me little by little learn about fitness and lifelong wellness. I will tell how I realized what yoga truly was; which is much more than stretching, Yoga has a purpose, and it seeks to help people find peace, to bring peace to the present moment. Likewise, I will comment on how with perseverance and determination we can have lifelong wellness in our lives, setting specific goals and achieving them step by step.

Without a doubt, I plan to share with my acquaintances how Yoga helped me lead a calmer and better life.