Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Winter Quarter 2014

Hi everyone,
While I was teaching yoga classes today I couldn't help but receive the blessings of the sun's warmth outside the windows of the gallery where I teach.  The Synchronicity of having the sunshine during this final week of yoga classes for my CWU students inspired me to think of and sing an Irish Blessing to my students inspired by the following you tube video.  Thank you internet for your 25 year birthday today, and giving me the ability to learn this song and sing it to my amazing students that I have this quarter.  Thanks everyone for practicing yoga with me this quarter.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8eoEv1tnTU

9 comments:

  1. Having the sun out the week before finals has uplifted my spirits greatly.
    I took this class last quarter and I had a great experience. Kristin believes in a very relaxing, stress-free yoga experience. Last quarter I was able to take time out of my week and de-stress, and I was able to achieve the same this time around. I also took the class because of a work out injury I had got right before the beginning of the school year. I didn't want to stop working out because of it, so yoga has really helped me stretch after the week's workouts. I have not had a problem with my injury since practicing yoga. In my every day life, I have been using the breath of joy when I am feeling tired and need to get a jump start on my day. I have also been using the 6 movements of the spine to help release tension from my lower back. Everything that I have learn over this quarter and last quarter will continue to be beneficial for my health for years to come.

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  2. This was the second yoga class I have taken from Kristin and I have absolutely fallen in love with it! Yoga has helped me learn to let go of stress and take some time for myself even during a stressful week. Without this class, I honestly don't know if I would have made it through the last 2 quarters. I also do many of the poses throughout the week if I am feeling pain or if I need to take a break from studying. Kristin is such a great instructor and really cares about her students! I am going to miss having class with her next quarter! But I plan to keep practicing yoga throughout my life and I am very excited to try different kinds of yoga in the future! Thanks for everything Kristin! :)

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  3. I have now taken two yoga classes from Kristin and they have been amazing. I have a hard time relaxing while I am in school and this class has given me some much needed me time, where I can focus on myself and let the stress flow out. I have been able to use the breathing exercises in my everyday life. When I feel a panic attack coming on or tightening in my chest I just do the breath several times in a row and it calms me down and lets me gather all my positive thoughts. In addition to reducing my stress, yoga has improved my flexibility and helped to strengthen my lower back, reducing a recurring pain I have. Kristin truly cares about her students and wants them to have a successful yoga journey. I hope to take some of your other classes in the community after I graduate!

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  4. This quarter was the first yoga class I have ever taken. Now that I have learned some basics of the practice, I don’t know how I ever lived without it. Being a student I constantly have stress in my life, this quarter practicing yoga released much of that stress. I have learned to use the breathing exercises Kristin taught in stressful situations, like during an exam, in order to calm myself and keep my focus. I have also benefited from many of the different poses we learned and do them daily to keep my body fresh and rejuvenated. I am so thankful I was able to take this class and I look forward to taking more classes from Kristin in the future. Kristin does a fantastic job teaching the practice, and also has a lovely personality that I look forward to every class. I always leave class with a smile on my face. Thanks for everything this quarter Kristin!

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  5. This was also the first time that I have ever taken yoga, and what an experience! I went into the quarter thinking that I would just be getting some time to relax and stretch, however, I came out with so much more. I have gained confidence in myself and have gained the knowledge of how to tackle stressful situations through stretching and breathing. I looked forward to each and every class and came back each day knowing more than I had previously. Each day I felt energized and relaxed, and couldn't wait to come back to class. Although some days I definitely felt more sore than others, I knew that all of it was extremely beneficial for my body. I couldn't have asked for a better instructor either. Thank you Kristin for such an awesome quarter and I hope I get the opportunity to take another class with you in the future!

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  6. Winter yoga was awesome. During this season I had been dealing with a lot of sports related injuries and yoga allowed me to continue to be active. Half way through the quarter I had injured my back and had trouble walking. While I was at home I would do some of the yoga stretches to regain motion in my back. Without yoga I wouldn’t have been able to continue playing rugby this quarter. During fall quarter I participated in the beginner yoga class, which was a great introduction and platform for intermediate yoga. Thank you Kristin Harper for expanding my knowledge of yoga and for everything you have taught me.

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  7. I have been doing Yoga off and on for about 7 years with many different instructors. I loved the calm and positive energy that Kristin Harper brought to the class. I love practicing yoga, when I do, it releases stress and makes me feel like a new person when I leave. Yoga is a nice break in the day to get my thoughts off of something that is worrying me and to bring my attention to my own body. I really love that after studying for a long day and my back or shoulders hurt, yoga will usually relieve this pain. I also usually feel a lot more energized when leave, which brightens my day. Thank you Kristen for teaching a wonderful class all quarter and helping relieve my stress all quarter.

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  8. This is my yoga post for the spring session of yoga (had to clarify as you did not create a spring post).

    Yoga has been one of the few things in my life in the last few years to bring peace to my life. I went through a very stressful time over the last year. Through yoga, I learned to find balance in my life. It gave me the skills to deal with life's stresses and the ability to clear my mind of doubt in myself. Yoga is incredible. It truly changed my life. On top of the internal peace it has brought me, yoga also dramatically increased my health, helping me to lose weight that I had been struggling to lose for years. Yoga is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Thank you so much Kristen for helping me to find peace and health in my life through your class.

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  9. (This is my post for spring quarter 2014 Thursday 7-8:50 session.)

    Lexi Perry
    6-1-14
    PEF 150
    Kristin Harper

    Personal Experience Essay

    Lights, camera, action. I used to be the assignment manager for the student-run news program on campus; this quarter I interned at iFIBER One News over in Ephrata. I recently got a job with them as the assistant news director. I love what I do but it’s a very stressful job. Every week, I am responsible for the content of the newscast and making sure all my reporters take care of their assigned stories and radio broadcasts. My schedule keeps me busy and I am constantly on the go. For me, the two hours we meet each week to do yoga is a way to escape the chaos of the newsroom and slow my mind.
    I believe that it is important for everyone to have some sort of release in his or her life; stress is unhealthy and finding a way to effectively cope with it can keep things better under control. For me, my de-stressor has always been exercise. Strapping on my running shoes and throwing in my headphones is typically the way I like to temporarily escape from reality.
    However, after taking yoga this quarter I have been opened up to another way I can free myself from the things in my life that cause me to over think, over work myself, and overdo it on the daily. The moment I step onto the mat, I put down worries, my camera and my reporter’s notebook. Yoga allows me to de-stress; I focus my mind on the postures and the proper execution of them. I allow the different sensations I feel from each of the movements to take over and I relax. The variations in the poses allow me to push myself physically and continue to increase my flexibility while relaxing.
    Yoga teaches me how to properly stretch myself without injuring my body or overworking it, two very important things to learn in order to stay healthy. I plan on continuing to take yoga classes when I have some free time in my hectic schedule.
    Aside from the physical aspect of yoga, there is also a great deal of benefits that come with the meditation aspect of the practice. Focusing on one spot in the room, an object, or continuing to count to ten allows my mind to slow from the seventy-five mile an hour mark to an easy twenty. When I am finally able to let go of the hundred and one things I am thinking about and get my mind to the meditation state, I am able to start thinking clearly and in a sense, start anew with a fresh perspective on things.
    After having learned several of the meditation practices in class, I was able to use them in moments of frustration when putting together the weekly newscast. It’s often difficult to find the right words for a story and so I go to the back of the newsroom, put in my headphones, and take a few minutes for myself to meditate. By doing so, I come back to the computer with a better mood, outlook on the task, and fresh eyes to offer a different perspective on what has been written.
    I love going to class because I know that I can only benefit from being there- both physically and mentally.

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