meditation

I have taken a meditation class before. I used to go to Coastal Carolina, and my roommate there was all about yoga. When we first moved in, I agreed to go with her. Just to get to know her a little bit more. I knew I did not enjoy yoga, but I was open to trying the class with her. Suffering from anxiety, I was secretly looking forward to going because I heard meditating helps with anxiety. We walked into the class and sat on the floor. We noticed everyone was laying down so I just did the same. (While laying down, i accidentally fell asleep…oops). The teacher began to talk about how important breathing is, which actually made it harder for me to concentrate on my breath. Eventually, i got the swing of things and started to relax. He told us to breathe through different nostrils. That was confusing. The entire class it was hard for me to concentrate, as my mind began to wander. After the class the teacher told me with practice, i would understand meditating better.

Week 8-9

Yoga is EVERYWHERE. Suddenly the new trend is to be into yoga. You see it everywhere. In fashion, brands that create casual yoga clothing are super popular. Brands such as Lulu Lemon who make workout and yoga clothes are so popular currently. Other brands (who are less expensive, such as forever21), copy Lulu Lemon because they see how many people are obsessed with their yoga gear. On shirts, you see people with buddhas, lotus, or hamsas. People are even getting tattoos of yoga related symbols. I don't even believe people know the true meaning, they just are keeping up with the trends.
People also, in my opinion, love to brag. They want to show that they are keeping up with the trends so they will check in on Facebook, "Just had an awesome yoga class!" and will post a picture of them doing a pose.
Yoga has a connotation with a person who is laid back, relaxed, stress-free, and peaceful. I think people just WANT to be a person like this, and they think yoga is the route to get there. Many people are just keeping up with the new trends, which is why i think yoga has grown in its popularity here in the west.