One Sweaty And Relaxing Experience
First person accounts by members of Ms. Jackson's class: Raven Carter, Jerrell Samuel, Tyrell Cole, Aneara Burns, Antonyia Brewer, Jayland Fowlkes, Ronique West and Jordan Hunter. Drawing by Jailen Moore.
Edited by Raven Carter and Antonyia Brewer
On Tuesday, November 4th, my class and teachers went on a field trip to Bikram Yoga. We did most of the Bikram Yoga poses. Some were hard for me and some were easy. Bikram Yoga is one exercise that strengthens the mind and body. I will give you more information on my exciting, weird, interesting and sweaty experience!
When I first heard that we were going on a field trip to Bikram Yoga in a 105 degree room, I had a lot of questions like: What is Bikram Yoga? How does it help the body? Is Bikram Yoga for everyone? Soon as I stepped in the room, it felt like I was in a microwave! It was so hot! I also laughed a little as I saw the reactions of my classmates when they stepped in the room. It was most definitely what I was expecting but also what I was not expecting.
I learned that there was 26 poses. Those 26 poses strengthen every part of your body and can also help with the outside world. By doing this exercise you can test yourself on discipline. We learned that Bikram Yoga is great for injuries. After the whole session, my favorite pose was the standing deep-breathing pose. Our instructor Ms. Lashone was great at doing Bikram Yoga. One thing I learned is that while doing Bikram Yoga you have to move very slowly, which helps the mind because it slows everything down around you. Bikram Yoga also relieves stress. Some students from our class interviewed Ms. Lashone. Ms. Lashone told us about her experience while working as a Bikram Yoga teacher. Bikram Choudhury started yoga to heal his knee which inspired him to found Bikram Yoga and take it to communities around the world.
I would really recommend this to my friends and family. I would want other people around me to try this because I want them to find out how doing one hot, sweaty and relaxing thing could help you out in the world. This experience was something very new to try and I’m glad that I did. I had a fantastic time!
- Raven Carter, 7th grade, Friendship Blow Pierce Academy.
How Yoga Could Affect My Life
On Tuesday, November 4th, I attended the Bikram Yoga Studio. On that day I experienced one of the best ways to maintain discipline and a healthy mental state. The Bikram Yoga Studio was located at 410 H St NE, Washington DC. Our yoga teacher was Ms. Lashone Wilson and we had the privilege to interview her. My personal feelings toward yoga are that yoga has multiple benefits for me, because I am a boxer and I could use yoga to improve on a lot of things in my career/life. Do you think that yoga would affect you and your life?
The Bikram Yoga Studio has excruciating heat. It was minimum 105 degrees inside the yoga room. The yoga room also had 40 degrees humidity. The yoga room had mirrors in front of you because “it shows you how much discipline you have,” said Ms. Lashone Wilson. The yoga room had dim lights and candles. When I first came into the room I felt the heat hit me in the face. It was so unexpected. I know that most of my classmates walked in and reacted with comments like “Oh my God, it’s hot in here,” or laughed at the others’ reactions when they walked in the very hot room. It felt like I walked into an oven. YES IT WAS HOT ENOUGH!
I would definitely recommend Bikram Yoga to not just my friends, but everyone. Yoga helps the healing process and the body systems. Bikram Yoga was created by Bikram Choudhury because he had a knee injury and he did yoga to maintain the ability to use his legs. That is important to me because I am an amatuer boxer and if I were to get injured I would feel like my dream is ruined. But now I know how I can restore my health with yoga.
- Jerrell Samuel, 7th grade, Friendship Blow Pierce Academy.
New Things Can Be An Amazing Experience We did something awesome this November 4th, 2014. My class and some of Mr. Keely’s class went to the Bikram Yoga Studio on H Street. My friends Jordan, Ronique and Jerrell interviewed Lashone Wilson. Ms. Girelle recorded our private lesson and she is submitting it to the FPCS website. I would recommend this to people because this is a good thing for your body and it can relieve stress. Their website is http://www.bikramyogacapitolhill.com/.
In science class, we did a few poses like deep breathing, half moon, head to knee. So I already knew some of the poses. When we got there, we changed into our yoga clothes. Then the instructor Ms. Lashone Wilson told us to lay down and get used to the heat. While we were doing some of the poses, I learned that yoga isn’t as easy as people say it is and it is not as easy as the pictures. I also learned that you can do different things based on your body. This means if you are an adult you might not be as flexible as young people. But if you are a young person, you might be more flexible. People come to this studio from all around the world to practice these poses.
I liked this because it gave my class an opportunity to try something new and explore the amazing world of yoga. One day I was at home and my mother showed me a picture of me putting my foot over my head when I was about 3 or 4.
When I started to remember I tried to do it, but I couldn’t. I think yoga can actually help me do that again with no problem.
- Tyrell Cole, 7th grade, Friendship Blow Pierce Academy.
Living Life in Slow Movement
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, twenty-two students and four teachers went to Bikram Yoga Studio to focus on learning about “Healthy Bodies and Minds’’.
Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 poses and two breathing exercises performed in a 105 degree room. Bikram Yoga is made for all ages and levels of ability. Bikram Yoga postures allows you to release toxin from your body, get the blood flowing, flatten the core and release stress. But it can be dangerous if you go beyond your limit.
The materials I needed for the class were a 64oz. bottle of cold water, bath towel, yoga clothing, yoga mat, wash towel, soap and a change of clothes. You need bathing material because you're in a 105 degree room and you're going to sweat—so you will need to wash up. For yoga clothing bring something comfortable like shorts, sport bra, sweat pants and a breathable shirt because it’s very hot in the yoga room.
For me, the class was an amazing experience. Even though it was hard for me to keep my balance, I still had fun. The class taught me how to express my inner self in slow movement. Our instructor, Ms. Lashone Wilson, taught us various skills and lessons about yoga. I hope you consider yoga in the future.
- Aneara Burns, 6th grade, Friendship Blow Pierce Academy
Illustration: Jailen Moore, 7th grade.
A Stress Free Exercise
A question that I had for the yoga teacher was: what is your inspiration for yoga?
Ms. Lashone Wilson told us that it does good things to the entire body. Yoga works out the respiratory, excretory and the integumentary system. Yes I would share this field trip with my friends, because this is a stress free exercise.
They told us we had to take our socks and shoes off and at first I didn’t want to, because you know boys like to “Joan”. So I finally said, “Oh well, let me just take these socks off, so I can do yoga, which is what I came to do”. It was really hot. It was maybe 110 degrees. I felt like I had to pass out. But then she gave us breaks so we could drink water. But knowing me, I had to act all dramatic, so I did put water in my hand and then I put it all over my arms and legs.
I like it because it was not nerve racking, I could really focus and I would want to go back some day.
- Antonyia Brewer, 6th grade, Friendship Blow Pierce Academy.
The More Relaxed, The More Success Bikram Yoga is both a physical and mental exercise. It helps you stretch your muscles and deals with your body systems. It also helps you relax your mind. We were in a 105 degree room. The yoga room was extremely hot but the heat was to get all negative actions out of you.
I learned during my experience in Bikram Yoga that it helps you if you have problems with using the bathroom because when you’re doing yoga, you’re stretching out your stomach and hip area which deal with your digestive system. Ms. Lashone Wilson planned this activity to help us. She made us understand if we are in a bad situation, we should just walk away and calm down.
Yes I recommend that other students to try this if they are stressed out. I recommend this because in life there are challenges and you have to pass the challenges in order to succeed in life.
- Jayland Fowlkes, 6th grade, Blow Pierce Junior Academy.
Bad Things Out The 7th grade team interviewed the teacher of the yoga class, Ms.Lashone Wilson and she answered the many different questions that all the students had about the yoga session. Many of the students really enjoyed the yoga session. In the yoga session the 7th grade team learned about how yoga affects the body systems and how they work. One fact about yoga is that yoga can help your body to repair faster.
We all really enjoyed Bikram Yoga and we all said we would want to try again. Many of the students thought trying new things would be very hard, but at the end of the session we really loved it. Some of the poses practiced could really help with our everyday lives, like with stress. The poses take the stress away while you are relaxing.
Yes, I would recommend Bikram Yoga to not only my friends, but also family, because yoga helps with many different parts of your life. Another reason I would recommend it to my friends and family is because of the great teacher we had. Ms.Lashone walked us through all the poses and she told us and showed us what part of the body each would affect. I also liked Bikram Yoga because it shows me how to relax. Bikram Yoga also lets me sweat out all the bad things that are in my body. Those are reasons I like yoga and would tell my friends and family.
- Ronique West, 7th grade, Friendship Blow Pierce Academy.
My Trip To Bikram Yoga
To me, doing yoga in a room that seems like a giant oven with other students for the first time was actually pretty fun. The room was a little smaller than I thought. A nice yoga teacher, Lashone Wilson showed us how to work out in the healthiest and safest ways possible. AWSOME!!!
Ms. Wilson also told the class that doing yoga in the safest ways can heal wounds faster than usual. The reason for all the hot heat is to let all the bad fluids out of the body system. It was 105 degrees in that room. But all that matters to me is that I had a good time and enjoyed myself doing 13 of 26 positions. Sometimes she would let the class have a break to drink some water or if we are really tired she would let us just sit down for a couple of seconds. But I didn’t have any water at all. I KNOW CRAZY ISN’T IT!!! I lasted an hour without having a drink of water, soda, juice or anything. I went to the bathroom once. But other than that, it was fun.
- Jordan Hunter, 7th grade, Friendship Blow Pierce Academy.