Yoga

On Friday's session we took part in a two hour yoga session. This is the first time I had done yoga; I discovered that although I did not think I was particular 'good' at it, it did help to relax me and I thoroughly enjoyed the session. Before I had taken part in this yoga session, I had previously thought that yoga was mainly designed for stretching muscles and hence would be uncomfortable and not particularly enjoyable. However, the woman leading the session stated that there is no point pushing yourself into positions that are uncomfortable. This was well received! I believe this could help improve a persons health as it allowed time to relax whilst also using your body - a better option than sitting in front of the television. Stress is known to have a cumulative negative effect on a persons health, so taking time out to 'de-stress' should be an integral part of a healthy lifestyle.

Who do we admire?

During this weeks session we discussed admirable qualities we notice in others (particular in someone we admire). I decided that the virtues I most appreciate in others include such qualities as kindness, empathy, being non-judgmental, and being caring. I actually found that the qualities I look for in a person differed somewhat to what other people in the group looked for. Other qualities put forward included integrity, honesty, and being hardworking. Although I believe these to be important as well, I don't see them as to be attributes that I would first notice in an individual. Further to this discussion, we spoke about ourselves as individuals, and how we balance our time between our work, and our hobbies. The group was in a general agreement that we often feel as if our degree takes up too much of our lives, leaving us little time to be who we really are. It would be nice to be able to overcome this, however I do think time management can often be very difficult, especially with a degree that requires so much time and thought input.

Introduction

Today was our first session about holistic healing. We spent a lot of time discussing health, and what exactly it means to be healthy. This was an interesting topic, as I had previously thought myself to be quite unhealthy. However after listing ideas about what health was, I realise in retrospect that I fulfill many of the "specification" that one should meet to be considered health (such as physic, mental, and social well being). We had to place ourselves on a continuum of health, from 1 to 10 (10 being healthy, 1 being unhealthy) to demonstrate how we felt about ourselves. Had I have had to complete this task at the beginning of the session, I would have placed myself at the lower end of the scale. However, after discussion I decided that in the grand scheme of things, I was around a 7. This session made me realise that I may not be so unhealthy after all.