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Overall, at the conclusion of this personal project I’m incredibly content with my choice to practice yoga. In my very first post I mentioned the two goals I aimed to achieve through yoga was to increase my physical and mental health. While I cannot fully say that I have achieved these goals due to the short time frame in which this personal project was set in, I do believe that yoga has had a very positive impact on my life.

Furthermore, I believe that the practice of yoga gave me more self confidence and allowed me to think of myself in a more positive mindset. This in turn allowed for me to make better decisions for myself in terms of eating and my daily regimen. I found myself taking better care of myself as a whole and I felt better about myself because of it.

Through this personal project I have learned the value of self care and how important it is to love yourself for who you are. Yoga helped me come to this realization by clearing my mind of negativity and by allowing me to have time that was strictly mine and no one else’s. It gave me a platform in which I could truly release my emotions and focus on what I need to do for myself for at least 15 minutes.

It is fair to say that yoga is an extremely beneficial and valuable practice and the output of practicing yoga is far greater than anything you’d expect.

In my last post I talked about the lack of inspiration I felt to practice yoga and how I didn’t make a considerable effort to set time aside and do  something for myself. This past week, and over Thanksgiving break I was happy to be able to overcome this lack of inspiration and really take time for me through the practice of yoga.

This being said, I noticed myself feeling a little happier with myself and more content with everything going on in my life as well. I have had a busy couple of weeks with school and soccer so it was nice to be able to spend a couple minutes away from it all and just enjoy the time I set aside to reflect and think about things going on in my life. I noticed that when I did this I became more productive and more efficient in my work. My motivation to get things done improved and I saw an increase in my awareness towards others and towards other things taking place around me. It made me feel a little more connected to my surroundings and to the people around me.

Reflecting on my decision to practice yoga as my personal project, I am extremely happy I made this choice. I think practicing yoga was very beneficial to me and I think it was a good challenge for me. I look forward to continuing my practice of yoga after the completion of this semester and look forward to see where it will take me.

So far my yoga journey has been progressing quite nicely. Due to the fact that the season is over, I have had a lot more time available to practice yoga and have found it to be a huge stress reliever. The app I have used to help me practice yoga, Yoga Studio, has been extremely helpful and convenient considering I can practice yoga right from my dorm.

One difficulty I have had practicing yoga is finding the inspiration to do so. I have really enjoyed yoga, but sometimes it becomes difficult to really set the needed time aside for myself to really immerse myself in it. Over break I think it will improve considering I’ll be in the comfort of my home, but as of now I struggle to really set the time aside and appreciate the art of yoga.

One thing I have really enjoyed about practicing yoga so far is that it has helped me feel more balanced. When I do practice it, I feel a lot more productive and complete. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and makes me feel good about myself because I am doing something for myself.

One of my goals that I wanted to achieve from practicing yoga was to relieve stress and so far, when I do practice yoga I feel much more relaxed. I’m looking forward to see where else this yoga journey will take me.

As stated in my first post, the idea of taking up yoga for my personal project derives from my goal of achieving greater mental and physical health. In that specific post, I examined the benefits of practicing yoga, which include, stress relief, increased body awareness and a calm, centered nervous system. My intention was to set aside time at least once a week to practice yoga.  Excitingly enough, I have been able to set aside time to practice yoga about three times since I originally began my journey.

Unfortunately, it does not work into my schedule to attend yoga classes offered at the school so I turned to the great and resourceful internet to help me find another way to practice yoga. With my research, I found an app titled “Yoga Studio”. This app allows me to chose my routines based on ability and physical need as well. With this app, I have been able to gain experience in the field of yoga with beginner classes and have been able to practice specific poses that aid in my physical recovery from soccer. So far, it has proved to be extremely helpful in helping me destress after a long day and has ultimately allowed me to go to bed calm and relaxed. Interestingly enough, the time I practiced yoga before bed, I woke up feeling more refreshed and awake than I normally do.

The experience that I have had with yoga this past week has been a very positive one and I am enthusiastic about the long term benefits I will receive from this practice.

During the past couple of weeks I have been communicating with people on the team on an individual level to learn more about those around me. Not only have I had conversations with teammates, but coaches as well. I expressed to them where I come from and continued to learn more about where they come from in the hopes that we can all build and grow from one another.  While I have not had a chance yet  to have conversations with every single last person on the team, I plan on doing so before the end of the season. I have realized that this project is going to be In the works for quite some time, and I am looking forward to people seeing the fruits of my labor in the coming months.  My original plan was to communicate with those on the team to spread a message that would in hopes change the culture and direction  of our program. After starting this project, we earned our first victory, but one is not enough for me, there is more work to be done.  In thought, I would lead by example, meaning actions on the football field that are conducive to a winning or failing season, but unfortunately tore my hamstring leaving me out for a couple of months. Instead of this stopping the project, I have adjusted my aim for the time being.

While I sit out watching, I will continue to get to know those on the team and gain their trust by creating something that is unique to each person. That might be a handshake, a saying, or something silly that only we do. These are only a few examples. For those who I have already come up and started this with, there has been a difference in our interactions on and off the field.  Regardless of how this season ends, the true test comes in the winter, when our workouts start and we begin to spend more time with one another with nothing on the line (a game).  By then, entire team conversations about the direction of the program will be addressed and implemented. For now, I will continue to impact one person at a time through communicating “non violently”.

For my personal project, I decided to act through Amnesty International. Amnesty International, since its founding in 1961, has transformed into a worldwide organization which works for the protection of human rights. The movement fights specifically for prisoners who have not used force or violence in their crimes, and in this way, this organization is the perfect connection between the real world and our class, because it shows that there are organizations in the world that are supporting the application of nonviolence.

In my opinion, this connects to Horgan’s and Nagler’s books, because one of the reasons that the world has trouble ‘disarming’ itself is the fear that other groups will still have weapons and the other groups will use their weapons against the civilizations that disarm themselves first. Thus, one can conclude that it is very difficult to change a culture which has plagued most of the world, and been normalized by society. Amnesty International shows support for the people that disarm themselves, and in this way, it takes a step closer to a nonviolent world.

Through Amnesty International, a number of social actions are possible. For example, I was able to read learn about and sign a petition in support of Azza Soliman, a woman of Egypt who speaks out for survivors of abuse. I ultimately decided to donate to this cause and sign the petition because her action is very similar to that of Tarana Burke with her #MeToo movement.

For my project, I will communicate to others about the significance of Amnesty International and their cause, and then I will attempt to form a net donation for the organization.   

Within a team, there can be unspoken conflicts. Problems that persist and never are addressed. Those can are detrimental to a team’s overall success and achieving their goal. As a first year member of the Lafayette Football team, Im ignorant to the previous seasons history and past relationship on the team. I cannot control what has happened in the past, but I can attempt to protect and create what happens in the future. With a championship, the end goal in mind, our journey is just now beginning.  

Our team is lacking in the relationships category. Whenever going into something large like war or sporting event like football, it is important to understand who you are going to battle with. Much like my beliefs for achieving non-violence worldwide, the focus of my personal project is to personally get to know more and more of my teammates on more than a name bases. This would hopefully encourage others to do the same thing, starting the bond needed for a championship winning season.  Past teams that I have been apart of had unbreakable bonds, so I know that this is possible. Winning championships are not easy and is not possible without a bond over the love of the sport or whatever is on the line. People naturally make friends over a common enemy, but as to what extent the “friendship” actually goes depends on the amount you know about a person.

My Personal Project will be to make a relationship with all of my by learning an interesting fact about them, or learning more about why they do what they do. And in exchange offering something important about me. The thing can be as simple as a song, or as complicated as a story from when they were younger. Without knowing teammates there is no feeling behind going out to play the sport together. Especially while playing a rather violent sport, teammates must trust that their teammate has their backs. Trust develops over  time spent getting to know someone. Understanding why someone does what they do It only takes time and an effort.

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