Self-Awareness of Stress Reactions The formal practice that I chose is standing in Virabhadrasana I. It is actively reaching through my back foot and allowing my tailbone to descend away from my back as my arms reach up towards the ceiling. In the process of holding the pose, I start noticing my front thigh burning, my breath becoming labored, and my shoulders holding tension. I will feel when the pose is over when I get agitated in such position and start to anticipate the joy. When performing various poses in yoga including Virabhadrasana I, the breath of the participants becomes shallow while they are waiting for the instructor's directions to come out of the pose (Cook-Cottone, 2015). Some of the participants are disappointed when the instructor does not offer the directions and even decide not to come to Yoga next time.

As my thighs start to shake, I mentally check out. With the continued frustrations, I drop my arms and start looking around the room. While standing in the position of Virabhadrasana I, having the same feelings, thoughts, and sensations will make an individual react differently to the situation. Some of the sensations, thoughts, and feelings include tension, impatience, boredom,...

Instead of reacting, an individual will simply observe his/her thoughts. Every individual even me personally will remember this pose will end like everything else in life. This pose reminds me not to be caught up in my storyline. In the process of feeling irritated as my thighs burn, I enjoy and appreciate the sweetness of the moment (Hoveyda et al., 2015). When having the pose, it makes me have the privilege of doing other hatha yoga practice and a feeling to have a wash of gratitude. The hatha yoga practice will help because it enables me to bring back my awareness to breathing and witness the ongoing thoughts and sensations until the instructor guides me out of the pose.
Throughout the pose, I have experienced the benefits of mindfulness of noticing and accepting and bringing my awareness into the present moment of what is happening right now without reaction or judgment. Mindfulness is something that many instructors concentrate while training or instructing the participants in any practice. All the styles of hatha yoga teach and enhance mindfulness is with an emphasis on the breath awareness. Physically, the 'Warrior Pose I' is important to me as it helps in strengthening ankles, legs,…