Yoga Friends

My Yoga Class is wonderful, not only because it has taught me so much about Yoga and Yoga Philosophy, but also because it has given me a chance to get to know some truly beautiful people. My first day in class I knew only two other students, and only on a first name basis. Now, although I haven't spent time with them outside class or even talked to them for longer than a standard "class conversation," I feel that I know my classmates fairly well and I'm thankful. 

Yoga is a small class, like most in the BIC. It's also a class where the students are truly engaged and interested, like all in the BIC. My class mates and I probably chose this course for various reasons, but now, we are united in our pursuit of yoga knowledge. The relationships I've made so far in Yoga are unlike those I've made in other classes for two main reasons.

First, Yoga is a physical exercise, and demands more intense interaction with "class material" than other classes. In my Comparative Government class, we take notes, take quizzes, and take tests at the same time and this builds a certain bond. However, in my Yoga class, we discuss morality and mortality together. Synchronously, we stretch our bodies into poses we never thought possible. As one, we focus and control our breath. Yoga is a intimate act between the body and the Soul, but also between the individual practitioners in a class. My class mates have seen me sweat and hurt from trying the splits, they've witnessed my bare, smelly feet, and pressed my thighs downward to aid my practice. I certainly can't say the same of my fellow political scientists.

Yoga also reminds us of the sanctity and beauty of the Soul. Yoga teaches us that the Soul is prefect, undying, magnificent, and that the Soul's of every living thing are connected in the Atman. In this class, I'm forced to see my classmates not as competitors, or as study aids, but as sacred and beautiful individuals. I've found that I truly cherish the personalities and individualizes of every class mate, and I look forward to the time we spend together each week. Although I can't necessarily tell you anything about their personal lives or actions outside of class, I can vouch for the positive energy and happiness that they bring to those around them.