Taylor Brooks Professor Agosta ENGL 1101-19 November 18, 2013 Yogi: A person Person who Who Iis

proficient Proficient in yYoga. Walking into a yoga class, the lights are out and music is playing softly, ; everyone sets up their yoga mats facing the teacher at the front of the room and spaced out so each person is able to see themselves in the mirror. One who regularly practices yoga is called a yogi, and the yogis I observed were the people who participate in the group fitness yoga classes at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte gym. Grace, a fellow yogi, when asked why she practices yoga, said Yoga is a great form of exercise, not only for your body, but also for your mind. Yoga is an excellent way to increase flexibility, to tone muscles, to relieve stress, and to set goals. Yoga is unlike any other work out class offered at the gym. Observing a yoga class is a hard way to understand what yoga is like; the only way to get an accurate yoga experience is for one to get their own mind and body into it. Since I am a yogi myself, the goal of this ethnography is to explain the aspect of the insiders to the outsiders and to convince the outsiders of the value of practicing yoga. Goals of the Discourse Community At the beginning of every class, one sits in a comfortable seated position, and sets an intention. The intention can be a goal you have for the class, or one for the whole week. The first defining characteristic required to identify a group as a discourse community, is the group having an agreed set of common goals(Swales 466). Anyones
Comment [t1]: Great purpose and set up for your paper. Clear and concise.

goal for going to the gym is going to be to exercise, but when it comes to yoga it is different,. yes Yes we all have the goal of improving our strength and flexibility, but after that everyone sets their own personal intention, which doesnt have to be one about strength or flexibility. Setting an intention is very important in a yoga class, or you wont be fully engaged in the class. Yoga is not about nailing all of the poses; one must put their mind into it just as much as they are putting their body into it. While all yogis may not have the same goal, goals are a very powerful aspect in the yoga discourse community. Communication Within the Discourse Community The gym classes at the UNCC gym are on a set schedule every week. There is also an announcement board on the wall outside of the group fitness room. On the announcement board, there are papers advertising personal trainers, classes on getting certified as a fitness instructor, and another copy of the gym class schedule. Any communication between the members is done at the end of each class, when the teacher also makes any announcements. Lexis in the Discourse Community An outsider of the yogi discourse community attending yoga for the first time is going to have a hard time knowing what pose to do next without looking at the teacher. There are many terms used in a yoga class, that outsiders would have no idea of their meaning. Grace said, The first time I was able to do an entire yoga class without having to watch the teacher demonstrate what to do next, was when I felt accepted in the community. There are many poses done in a yoga class that have different names elsewhere. For example, everyone has heard of a lunge, but in yoga there are many
Comment [t4]: Great pointmatches up with our understandings of literacy. Comment [t3]: Why is this? Probably because members go in and out so often Comment [t2]: Does the instructor ask you to set an intention or is this something tacitly known?

different types of lunges, and they all have different names, like the crescent lunge, and many different warrior poses. Other Lexuss Lexiss within the discourse community include the downward facing dog, childs pose, mountain pose, dolphin pose, eagle pose, and many more. At the end of class the teacher always closes saying Namaste, which means the light in me welcomes the light in you. Novice vs. Expert Within the Discourse Community Like Grace said about the first time she was able to complete a class without watching the teacher, in order to consider myself an expert my goal is to be able to complete an entire yoga class with my eyes shut. The only person recognized as an expert in the UNCC yoga classes is the teacher. Even though she may not be an expert herself, most of the class is comparing their abilities to the teachers abilities. At the beginning of the class, any novices are pointed out when the teacher asks if it is anyones first time attending a yoga class. However, even without the teacher asking who is there for the first time, like any other discourse community, it is pretty easy to tell who has spent how long on practicing yoga. Many of the more regular yoga class participants tend to sit in the front of the room, and the newer ones tend to go more towards the back. Activities Within the Discourse Community The UNCC group fitness schedule says simply yoga, wake up yoga, and power yoga on the schedule. However, there are many different styles of yoga classes. From what I have observed, at the UNCC gym; the type of yoga class you take depends on the teacher you get. All of the types of yoga are based on the type of breathing and the flow of poses. At the beginning of class I observed some teachers mention the way we should be breathing throughout the class and what style of yoga we were about to do. Some of
Comment [t7]: So novices often position themselves differentlygreat insights here Comment [t6]: Interesting Comment [t5]: Excellent section. You dont break down what the poses mean, but we understand they are all different and fluent members will learn these and new members will need to watch.

the different styles include: Anusara, Ashtanga, Bikram, Hatha, Hot Yoga, Iyengar, Restorative, and Vinyasa. Some styles focusing more on the mind others more on the body. Not only do the poses and breathing styles vary, but the music, lighting, and room temperature varies from class to class. At the UNCC gym, they do not offer hot yoga, but they do play different types of music depending on the class, and either leave the lights on or off depending on the class. The morning classes always had lights on, and the afternoon and night classes always had the lights turned off. Stereotypes of Discourse Community There are many stereotypes you will hear being tossed around about yogis. Yoga is not only for girls, there are many guys you practice and teach yoga, even at the UNCC gym. People always say that yogis are always so happy. While yoga is great for your health both physically and mentally, yogis have their days too where even meditating wont calm them down. Many people also say that they are always wearing black yoga pants, which is not true since almost every girl owns a pair of black yoga pants and wears them very often. Requirements of Discourse Community There are no requirements to be a part of this discourse community, not even a mat, they have them there, and anyone who shows up to the class can join. However, the time is different for everyone when they actually feel accepted in the community. Literacies and Genres Within Discourse Community In the yogi discourse community, there is not much communication that goes on outside of the class. The gym schedule is found on the UNCC gym website, and it is also posted in various locations around the gym. At the front entrance of the group fitness
Comment [t9]: Great point. I could come in and take a class and exist within the community, but feeling like a member is another thing. Comment [t8]: Nice, succinct section

room there is a sign in sheet for anyone participating in the group fitness classes. The sheet is used for liability purposes and also for the gym to see the participation in its classes. Methods Since I consider myself to be a part of the yogi discourse community, I decided the best way to get information is to participate like I normally do, but in a much closer way. For my observations, I attended a Tuesday morning yoga class and a Wednesday evening class. For both of the classes I sat in the back to get a better view of the entire class. Walking into the class, some people had their own mats and others used to ones provided by the gym. Everyone sets their mats up facing the front of the room, where the teacher has her mat set up facing the side of the room, so the class gets a side view of her showing the poses. Everyone comes into the room quietly and starts in a seated position with shoes off. Throughout the class, the teacher does many of the poses with the class, but at times stops to walk around and help anyone that seems to be struggling. For most of the poses there are always variations for anyone who struggles, making it accepting to both novices and experts. The class comes to an end in a very slow way, always ending lying down on your back on the mat. Once the class has ended, anyone who borrowed a mat from the school is required to clean the mat off with a wipe, and then roll the mat up and put it back to where it was found.
Comment [t10]: You mentioned in the beginning that you wanted to convince others that it was worthwhile. I wonder if that should come in at the ending and be the last message the reader sees.

Works Cited Satterfield, Grace. Personal Interview. 4 Nov. 2013.

Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman Formatted: Indent: Left: 0"