Whitmore High School Review by a Year 11 Student…
“Friday Yoga Club is taught by a truly lovely lady, Sheena Shah. I adore her classes as she incorporates both the physical and spiritual / relaxation aspects of Chi Kri Yoga, invented by an ex-Whitmore student! Girls and boys attend and the ambiance of the room is very pleasant; everybody likes everybody. Everyone is at different levels but all are made welcome.
We commence the sessions with poses and routines such as the Sun Salutation. Sheena explains what the movements resemble and symbolise. In Yoga, each pose has positive morals / teachings such as “even when you’re in pain or a difficult time in your life, you can be strong”. This would link with a challenging physical position that we would hold for as long as possible.
Furthermore, we learn to keep our head held high – it is all about being proud of who you are but more importantly having the confidence in yourself to achieve whatever it is you desire. We learn very interesting concepts such as that the soul is the positive part of you whilst the ego is the part of you that enjoys it when you feel atrocious about yourself or want to give up. Also, Sheena collects plus writes her own inspirational teachings which she hand out every session to us before explaining what we should understand from them.
We practise breathing techniques (which involves breathing from the stomach as opposed to the chest). Yoga can often be about becoming a more relaxed and content person, however, in contrast it can just simply be about trying something new and discovering new intriguing ways of thinking about life.
Towards the end of the session we lie on the mats with the lights dimmed and go into relaxation mode. When we awake, we are ready to conquer the world!
A few words from other Whitmore High School students who attend the classes…
“Yoga helped me concentrate and stop stressing about my exams. It took all the stress out of my chest and gave me confidence.”
“Yoga really relaxed me, improved my state of mind and gave me the idea of listening to meditation music at home while doing homework.”
“The Yoga sessions made me feel very relaxed and not worried or stressed about what had previously happened that day. Thank you very much!”
“Yoga helped me focus and be calm when I had a stressful day and really helped me think about positive things.”