In-Powered Guest Blog by Luis

Ms. Cash’s YES Prep Yoga Class

My experience with yoga all started with me not being able to find a class that would provide a gym credit and fit my schedule. So I looked at the possible class I could take during my 6^th period. And there it was...yoga. 

I thought about it for a while. What if I do take yoga? Would people laugh at me? Would they think I’m weird or something along the nature of that?  

I pondered it over for a day and decided to try it out. If I didn’t enjoy then I would just look for another class to be in. So I tried it for a few days and I enjoyed it. It was something I had never tried before nor did I ever think that I would try it. 

The whole philosophy of yoga just induced me more. It was an oasis of calmness from my everyday routine. It’s a good thing providing this class to kids in school. All day we carry baggage that burdens us. And in yoga we get to release it. We get the opportunity to find that equilibrium that we once lost. 

In yoga I can actually feel the limitations that my body puts on me. And I like that. I like being able to feel my boundaries, so then I can overcome it at some point. Mentally it has opened me up even more. Deeper thoughts flow, understanding and compassion compose more of my thoughts. 

I have even reached the point unconscious consciousness. The point of when one is aware that they are unconsciously awake, and it’s a profound state of being. 

I even enjoy the mats. They feel like small vessels of blissfulness. It’s like having your own space to be free. As a senior in high school I would have never fathomed the thought of joining yoga, but I’m glad that I did. Now I know that there is more to it than just stretching and meditating. It’s about change and transformation for the better of one’s self. It is something that should be shared with the world. And I do commit to be a part of this movement.    

YES Prep Guest Blog - Karina

Guest Blog by Karina 

Ms. Cash’s YES Prep Yoga Class

It was the beginning of the school year and all of our schedules were messed up. Every time the school “fixed” the schedules, I was placed in a different elective every time until they finally placed me in yoga. 

At first, I didn’t really want to take the class, I was iffy and closed-minded about it. I kept telling myself that I wouldn’t really like yoga, but at the end of the day I gave it a shot. 

At first it was somewhat difficult to get use to because it’s something that I’ve never tried before. Yoga came to be the best thing I ever experienced. I just fell in love with it. 

I found it amazing to find so much self confidence and happiness just by taking yoga. Ms. Cash told us that In-Powered by One Significant Act was a non-profit organization that reached out to places that didn’t have yoga such as school and prisons and I thought that this organization was great way of giving back to the community and giving a chance for people to practice yoga who weren’t really able to.

Yoga helped me found a way to free my mind instead of keeping it imprisoned. It has helped me find peace with myself and has helped me balance my life more. Before yoga, my life was unstable and just unorganized. Yoga has taught me to enjoy life more. It has also taught me how to breathe because breathing is the most important part of yoga. 

When practicing yoga at school with Ms. Cash, I feel very relaxed and calm. It sets my mind free, even for just a bit, from running on and on. It feels great when you don’t have to worry about anything while practicing yoga. 

All I really pay attention to is my breathing and where I’d like my breath to go in my body. Yoga helps me stabilize my body as well as my mind. When I am not practicing yoga, I think about the things that I learned in the course, such as breathing and meditating. I do these two things often when I am going under a lot of stress because of school and work. 

I just take a couple of minutes to breathe and meditate and then get back to what I was doing.

I believe that yoga is a great thing and that everyone who has a chance should practice it. It helps balance the heart, mind, and soul, and it is also a great workout.