Jessica Ha

Quick introduction: Bikram yoga is a 90-minute class that takes place in a 100 degree room. Breathing exercises and 26 poses are incorporated into this series. Although the flow and movements are the same from class to class, the way one physically, mentally, and emotionally feels before and during class has a huge effect on how “well” one does.

At an early age, we take bits and pieces from movies, television, and our immediate surroundings to start forming our “ideal future world”. When we’re young, life’s not too complicated. We know what we like, we know what we don’t like and that’s that. We don’t factor in the “what if’s”, pay attention to any of those silly things called “details”, or assume major obstacles will block us from our success. Becoming a professional princess is still in the realm of possibilities.

Many of us define ourselves by our output. I use the word “output” to encompass a number of things: our ability to give and receive, our ability to hold up our end of the bargain, our ability to make some positive difference, our ability to do our work efficiently. I am in no way trying to dehumanize our efforts but I’d like to bring attention to the correlation between how we perceive the quality of our output and the use of our time.

One of the biggest growing pains in life is learning to take responsibility for both the good and the bad. Over the past year, I have been able to watch this struggle from the outside and gain a new perspective. We all know that traditional-aged, first year college students are known to REALLY enjoy their new freedoms. Some of these freshly turned 18 year olds exercise an impressive amount of caution while many, mindlessly plunge into all the glorious newness that college life offers. Regardless of which group the student belongs to, there is a lot to be said about how one reacts and processes the outcome of some negatively-perceived situation.

I want to celebrate. I want to celebrate curiosity because well… “why” not? I want to celebrate perspective because I can call it my own. I want to celebrate choice because the ability to accept the responsibility that comes with it is usually a challenge. I want to celebrate the nothings that turn into somethings because no thing is really a “nothing”. I want to celebrate education in all of its forms because ignorance is really quite a shame. I want to celebrate the moments that transform into teaching moments over time because they constantly guide me through my practice as a person and as a professional. I want to celebrate the people who create these teaching moments and remind me that we’re all lifelong learners. (Thanks Dean Diamond.) I want to celebrate difference because life would be boring if we were all the same.