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Final Reflection

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In the past three weeks we have been a whirlwind of yoga, meditation, temple visits, and crazy good Indian food. We were taught a mindful  practice, t hrough which we learned that there are always ways to better improve our minds and bodies. In doing all of this I have become more aware of who I am, and want to try to continue to become a happier, more well-rounded person through what I have learned in this J-Term. Our second day was one of my favorites out of the entire J- Term. We visited the Hindu Temple in Stafford, Texas called BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. There we learned a lot about the history of Hinduism as we explored the grounds, where the temple, a museum, and a restaurant abided. We all wandered through the Hindu mesume, taking pictures of what we thought was interesting, and reading about the history of Hinduism. It made me realize how vital the religion of Hinduism has been to the world, especially when it comes to scientific discoveries. This day was especially i
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Mindfulness Through Eastern Practices: The Final "Stretch"

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This third and final week of J-term has us stepping back from visits to temples and yoga practices. We finished with our final active yoga practice ( hatha ), in which we simply asked for some clarification or practice on certain poses, such as headstands or handstands. We have yet to do our final restorative class due to the fact that our instructor Hope is sick. Despite this, she taught us Japa , or muttering, meditation. Arjhong in Flying Pigeon pose Eleanor shows off her skills! The group with Hope at Sama Studio! (top center) In Japa , you make small rosary-like objects known as malas . These have either 27 or 108 beads, and as you pass your finger over each bead, you say a small phrase, called a mantra . One mantra is "May I be filled with loving kindness" or "May I be free from suffering and from harm." Although these in particular are used in Metta meditation, they serve as mantras, and can be used in Japa if you cannot think of one. T
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Metta Meditation and Tai-Chi

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This week we have delved deep into the practice of Metta meditation. Metta meditation is a kind of meditation that helps us to show loving-kindness to ourselves, our immediate community (family, friends, co-workers, etc.) and all beings everywhere. Emily explained a lot about the meaning and practice of Metta in the last blog, but since then, all of us have delved deeper into our Metta practice and found out what works for us. Personally, the first day we did Metta my mind wandered a lot and I didn't focus on repeating the phrases, but as the week has gone on I have improved a lot on staying focused on being intentional with my practice. For example, the second round of Metta has us say, "May you be filled with loving kindness. May you be peaceful and at ease. May you be free from suffering and from harm." The first few days we did this I often thought of the "you" as my mom, my dog or my best friend, but throughout the week I tried to become more intentional an
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Metta Meditation and Zen Buddhism

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Yesterday our day began with an introduction to Metta meditation. It is a type of meditation that demonstrates loving-kindness. It is a very simple practice that allows us to direct well-wishes to another. At first I found the idea a little bit silly, but in the end, I found myself really enjoying it. Hope, our yoga instructor drew out a graph that showed the three parts of it: self, loved ones, and all beings everywhere. During the meditation, you are seated and reading out the three lines: 1. May __ be filled with loving kindness. 2. May __ be peaceful and at ease. 3. May __ be free from suffering and harm. To begin we set a timer for five minutes and Hope read out the three lines from above, using the filler “I.” She read each line over and over and until the timer went off. Once the timer ended she reset it and then replaced “I” with “you,” for loved ones. The third time we again rest the timer but this time we each took a turn reading the mantra as a whole, using the filler, “all
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Buddhism and Chung Mei Temple

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Yesterday we dove into researching Buddhist beliefs and practices in order to prepare for our visit to a Buddhist temple. We broke into small groups of one or two people and covered six different topics. The first was the Life of the Buddha. The Buddha was named Siddhartha and he was a prince that was prophesied to become a great King that would end suffering of his people and bring the kingdom to new heights. However, he had seen very little of his kingdom and did not know about any ailments in the community. When he was 29 years old he left the palace and saw suffering in the form of illness, old age and death for the first time. This lead him to want try and find the answer to end suffering. By suffering in various forms and meditating he was able to become enlightened. He then spread what he learned to everyone he could. He took on many disciples and then by the age of 80 reached nirvana. The philosophies that the Buddha passed on to his disciples were what he learned in the
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Mindfulness, Meditation, and BAPS Hindu Temple

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Mindfulness Through Eastern Practices: Day 1 and 2 by Arjhong Mardani Mindfulness Through Eastern Disciplines J-Term has jumped off to an amazing start! During our first day, we met with our yoga instructor, Hope Wills. Hope being a specialist in yoga, introduced us to the Patanjali’s 8 limbs of yoga (Displayed Below). ' We indulged into the history, the specifics of each limb, and most importantly what each limb meant to us. We learned that Patañjali is the name of one or more authors of a number of Sanskrit works, which was written over 3,500 years ago. Once we spent time researching, getting to know one another, and understanding everyone's experience levels in yoga, we began practicing Hatha - one of the branches of yoga. Led by Hope, we used breathing techniques and different stances. (Displayed Below) This to me was in order to relax, build strength, advance flexibility, be in the moment, and unwind. Others may have different reasons for why they do yoga, as it
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