Journal 9

    This week we did not practice yoga as a class. Instead I decided to get my session in before our class time. I turned to YouTube for a thorough, yet beginner friendly online session. The video I chose came from the channel Yoga with Adriene and is titled "Yoga to get the juices flowing- Morning Yoga". I have done yoga before bed on multiple occasions. I wanted to try yoga first thing in the morning to judge the potential difference in the quality of my day. 
    To begin, Adriene guides us through a stretch sequence. The sequence was so much more satisfying than the typical big stretch that I experienced when I first hop out of bed. From this point, I felt mentally grounded and bodily prepared. My body felt as though it was now awake and ready "to get the juices flowing". Her constant big breaths were followed by ones of my own, as hers were a reminder to me. Although I tend to be forgetful of my breaths, it is the most transformative part of the practice for me because of the release my mind and body feels when simply stretching or combined with asanas.
    I appreciate how Adriene told us to check in with particular points of the body after the deep stretch. She gives us a second or two to shake out the kinks and encourages us to add our own modifications as needed. As she transitioned to asanas, they did not include any that were too extensive. Positions like warrior two, deep lunges, and downward dog were practiced. All of which, in addition to others, continued to have the stretch effect on my body. This caused my breathing to become more heavy and frequent as I attempted to hold the asanas. Although the session included only the basics of yoga, I found that I got everything out of it that I expect to in any yoga session. I enjoyed the yogic high that it left me with early in the morning, which I can now say changed the quality of my day, overall. 

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