Week 12

     This week I performed a 30-minute yoga class with Fightmaster Yoga on youtube again. The class was called Ashtanga Yoga Body Workout (30-minute flow) for inner peace. Over the course of attending a yoga class every week, I have noticed many changes in my body. I have become more flexible and am able to do more asanas for longer periods of time. This change came slowly throughout the weeks. I did not realize it until I looked back at how I was in the beginning. 

    The body is so interesting and amazing in the ways it can change over time. In yoga, the body is often viewed as a vessel to lead to a more enlightened life. Many yogis view the body as sacred regarding the flesh and bones. In other words, they treat the body as a temple to maintain a spiritual lifestyle. Through the body, one can perform asanas and pranayama. These aspects of yoga help the individual eventually experience the divine. 

    Asanas and pranayama eventually lead to the divine because they link the external to the internal. By practicing them, overtime one can master their body and energy. In Ashtanga yoga, even sweat is viewed as something sacred. The sweat produced when one is performing yoga is called tapas. It is seen to be a purification of the body. With many intertwining parts to yoga, the body plays a large role.