Assignment: Yoga Course Personal Reflection Essay

This paper is a reflection of your experiences throughout the course. Use your journal, online discussions, readings and yoga practices to write a reflection of your experiences. The paper (3-5 pages, APA format, 1st person exception) should include: a description of your experience, knowledge gained from participating in the course and practicing yoga, plans to continue to practice yoga (yes or no), health benefits, and any resources used.

Reflecting on yoga and how it has become my life leads me back to when I was 10 years old; following a sequence from a series of 1960’s black and white photos from a landscaped yoga book. I would question the universe in plough, thinking about the possibilities of my future; one of which came true! I only remembered this memory when I again came into plough at the

I remember the first time in the Shala, stepping into this vibrant yet tranquil space, feeling warm and welcomed. In my second downward dog (a strange new sensation in the wrists and I could barely hold it) realising something special was happening and this yoga was more than just exercising the body. I remember the first time I felt yogic breath in Gingi’s class, feeling the air all the way through my body and the whole of the next day felt like I was literally walking on air. Gingi and Kath, in fact all the teachers at the Shala helped to light something deep within me.

Learning to move with the breath as a beginner was such a wonderful revelation which enabled me to go deeper into a moving meditation. It created a sense of timelessness; both ancient and modern, such a gift and antidote to the business of London life. As a yoga teacher, helping students to connect to the breath as they are moving is an important focus. The classes at the Shala taught me to breath properly, such a simple, ordinary and yet extraordinary action with amazing benefits. Building my skills up to give classes with a focus on breath awareness is how I like to teach, bringing a flow to the practice, which feeds into concentration and the meditation. Before long, I noticed this moving meditation on the mat reaching out into my life as my days became filled with positivity, appreciation and a deeper awareness. When I teach yoga I sincerely hope the students can feel the benefits of this beautiful practice off the mat.

Three years ago, it was a challenge to hold a posture for too long so I remember feeling grateful when I could come out of it and move on to the next. It felt like it didn’t take long to improve and become stronger and more flexible and this was so life affirming. Building up body awareness and learning to listen to it seems such a simple idea yet incredible to actually do. I loved the non-competitiveness, the move away from ego and allowing your body and spirit to communicate and come through, beautifully guided by the teachers. This attitude and approach to helping students is one I want to uphold as a teacher.

I remember hurting my back lifting heavy objects in an awkward space and wondering whether I should go into yoga? I’d only been practicing a few months. Being guided to listen to my body and using the breath; being gentle and aware, revealed how yoga can accelerate the healing. It took me two days to recover.

I remember the warmth and kindness in all the teachers voices and how it encouraged you to move even if you felt stiff and heavy. I was astounded by the clarity and energy in those voices for a whole hour. As a teacher, I know how skillfull you have to be to do this. How did they do it? Breathing and tuning into students is a skill I want to keep developing.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource