Weekly Practice Journals: Theme: Practice as Ritual-Based on the article by Nevrin, How might your practice be analyzed as a "ritual"? How does this ritual function to change the nature, impact or intensity of your practice experience? 

I genuinely had a difficult time understanding this question and how to answer it in an educated way.  I was confused on the word ritual, even after reading the article and Dr. Greene's notes on Nevrin.  I looked up the definition of ritual - a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order. This now made a little more sense to me, because when I think of the word ritual- as I would believe most would- I think of a religious act.  So when I was trying to relate this to the yoga practice that I partake in- I don't consider any part of it religious for me.  To be able to focus on this journal I had to erase the religious connotations from my mind.  Nevrin speaks of the way we are moving throughout yoga class, how it opens up different parts of our body and mind that usually are neglected.  It is an embodied experience, it is not solely thought of or performed- but both of those elements intertwined simultaneously.  Each of the postures are carried out with "a particular quality of attention and precision".  In the following sentence he goes further to say that it is "Meditation in action".  I personally really love this definition, this is what I feel I experience when I am practicing yoga.  The teacher will speak about emptying your mind and focus on the poses and breathing into the spaces of discomfort.  It's amazing that when you "try" to think of nothing, it's not easy at first.  As humans and particularly Americans we are always thinking of something.  This something is usually an event that hasn't happened yet and we are stressed about it.  This ritual of training your mind to think of nothing except breathing does intensify my practice.  This enables me to realize how I never think about breathing at all throughout my day.  How amazing, right?  The very thing that is keeping me alive and attached to this earth just happens without me ever noticing.  It even happens when I'm asleep, in control of no part of my body.  We are interconnected with the environment that we practice in, and the mindset we receive while we are there becomes accustomed.  In this way that we are to focus on our poses it "keep(s) the practitioner particularly focused and attentive".  So while we believe we are thinking about nothing, we are actually just not thinking about the things that don't matter.  We are focused on this pose in this moment because it's the present, and we can control it with our breath.  Another huge element Nevrin speaks on is the preconceived notions we have carried with us into the studio space.  Every piece of us defines our experience, yet the ritual is supposed to more or less strip those biases away to reveal the poses as they are meant to be experienced.