fandomhigh | Yoga; Thursday, Second Period [05/25].

"So," said Rosa, with a bit of a sigh that seemed almost like a preamble to the topic for this week's class, "one things about yoga that's really important that sounds a little ridiculous is breathing. Obviously, breathing in general is important to things like, you know, living." A...pause. "For most of us," she amended, and continued: "But it's not something we generally think about. With yoga, though, and the mindfulness that goes with it, paying attention to one's breathing while going through your asanas will improve your experience and give you much more out of it. In the Eight Limbs of Yoga, this one's called Pranayama, so there's your cool, hip vocabulary word for the week.

"That's what we'll focus on today. We'll do a few Sun Salutations to get us started and see how much of it you retained from last week, and then we'll go over some breathing techniques to help you do yoga better. Cool down with some more Salutations, and that's it. Pretty simple, right?"

She was absolutely ready to judge anyone who thought otherwise.

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With deep, calming breaths.

Gladiolus Amicitia

Nell Ingram

Do you remember the Sun Salutation sequence from last week? Great. Rosa doesn't think you're too much of an idiot.

Although, if you don't, she will guide you through the steps as she does them herself. Somewhat begrudgingly.

And if you want to do something completely different? That's up to you, too, just don't let it get in the way of other people's shit.

Gladio definitely remembered the sequence from last week, and, in fact, his balance one some of them seemed a little better, too. Almost like he'd been working on them, or something.

The warrior poses were still definitely his favorite.

Nell was all quiet smiles today - happy about the bees and good friendships and maybe even Cup Noodles. And if she spent a little too much time surreptitiously watching Gladio go through his form, it was almost entirely because he'd made such progress and barely at all because he looked goos doing it. Really.

If you were expecting a detailed dive into the reasons why breathing is important in yoga, you'll be terribly disappointed. Rosa touches on the basic principles, sure, but she's not about to tell people why breathing is good. She'll go over a few of the different techniques, and then lead through a few poses (as demonstrated on the handy website about it) with an emphasis on where to exhale and inhale when doing them for effectiveness, and then sets you all to practice and work on it until it's time to wrap up.

Not at all surprised that breathing techniques were just as important in yoga as they were in other kinds of physical activity, like weight-lifting and working on your core, Gladio did find it pretty interesting, too. Especially in how the slow, steady rhythms and the idea of focusing less on the movements themselves and more on just the breathing really felt more relaxed and chill than anything else.

Yeah, he was definitely enjoying this class and would be half-wondering if he should nudge Diaz into doing something like this at the gym on a regular basis, but he was too focused on his breathing like a good student for his mind to wander too far that way.

And just as they started class, they'll wrap it up with a cool down Sun Salutation Sequence.

Or whatever random made up sequence you wind up doing instead, even if you are trying to do the Sun Salutation and it's just not working out for you.

Or you're just That Person.

And you know what Gladio appreciated? Diaz's attention to the importance of a good cool down. He knew he was the student here, but, as he went into his forms again to wrap up the session, he was definitely giving her some top marks for that.

Because, apparently, you've decided this breathing thing really isn't for you, and you want to stop, actually.

Yoga; Thursday, Second Period [05/25].

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Re: Sign In - Yoga, 05/25.

Warm Up - Yoga, 05/25.

Re: Warm Up - Yoga, 05/25.

Re: Warm Up - Yoga, 05/25.

Class Activity: Pranayama and Breathing - Yoga, 05/25.

Re: Class Activity: Pranayama and Breathing - Yoga, 05/25.

Cool Down - Yoga, 05/25.

Re: Cool Down - Yoga, 05/25.

Talk to the Teacher - Yoga, 05/25.

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