Traped with no way out

I had to be trapped in a large jack-o-lantern and I had no idea what to do. I invisioned that i was in one i just could not imagine it actually happening. I just pushed on the walls and tried to get out through the eyes and mouth. I had to do it a few times but each time i did not feel that i did anybetter. I do not know why I could not do good but i just could not imagine it happening. I know that if i was in a play the writer could write this happening but i would have more time to practice making it look real. I could also maybe learn more about the texture and the way it would feel to be inside a pumpkin. I thought that everyoen else did well and I did not even think that I would get something like that to do.

Relax

At first I thought today's exercise was not going to be that hard for me. I have insomnia, and I do progressive muscle relaxation almost every night. The first part of the class, the relaxation part, was not that difficult. But then we got to the visualization part and i began to have problems. It was not that I could not see the things I was suppossed to see. I did see them. But because I knew logically that they were not real, i sort of pulled away from it and pulled myself out of the exercise from time to time.
I was still fairly successful at visualizing things. When we were asked to open our eyes, it seemed weird that we were still in a classroom and there were other people around because in my mind I was not in a classroom and there were no other people around. For a few hours after class was over I still had this weird floating feeling. I know this is not normal because I do relaxation/meditation stuff fairly regularly. I would be interested to know what part of the exercise effected me this way.

I think that the reason we did the relaxation activity today in class was in order to get in-tune with our body and mind. I think that this activity opened our minds and enabled us to imagine so deeply that we actually put ourselves into different situations. Instead of pretending we were somewhere, our body and mind actually believed that we were there. For example, standing on the beach and walking through a thick substance.

Personally, this activity put me out of my comfort zone. I can think of a couple different reasons why. First, I think that I was uncomfortable because the actions I was doing were things that I do not normally do. Even something as simple as laying on my back on the floor was something that I felt uncomfortable with. Secondly, I am usually in charge of my own body. I am not used to not having complete control. When we were being told what to do it was a different experience for me. I actually did a shorter version of this activity in yogalates class once and also felt uncomfortable then. It is ironic how these activities are suppose to be relaxing because even though my muscles feel relaxed, there is still something inside of me that is tense due to me being uncomfortable.

Relaxation

I am not sure why we did the relaxation activity in class today. I was trying to figure out the purpose of the activity while we were doing it (I know I was not supposed to be thinking!), but I could not figure out the reason behind it. The one thing I did notice is that focus was very important for this exercise. When I was totally focused on the activity I could visualize the images Professor Polanco was saying. When my mind would drift off and I became unfocused, that is when I began to question why we were doing that activity. I have no idea what the point of the exercise was or what we will be doing on Thursday, but I am interested!

Relaxation and substances

Class today was very interesting to say the least. It took me a while to focus, to really concentrate on breathing and just being still. However, once I was able to focus, I was totally relaxed and was able to visualize what was going on. When I stood up and opened my eyes, it was much harder to still see the substance; but I think that was just because I hit the boundary of my comfort zone. I was surprised that I was able to relax so much, because I am the type of person that is always worried about stuff. I am very interested to see where this exercise goes on Thursday. I haven't yet figured out the reason for the exercise, but not knowing will drive me crazy.

Trapped Exercise

I really enjoyed this exercise. I was really able to think about this one because I can be a bit claustrophobic at times. I have a problem with small spaces and being stuck it one would make things ten times worse for me. This helped me react to the situation better because I just thought about how scary it is to be stuck in a small space.

Trapped

I thought that it was pretty weird doing the entrapment exercise. When I was doing the exercise I had to imagine actually being trapped and it was hard for me to do because being trapped in a coffin is a little bit random. I do believe that the entrapment exercise was a lot easier than the entanglement exercise just because everybody has been trapped at some point in there life. I think in order to be good at the entrapment exercise you have slow down and really think what you would do to get out and the more you think about what your doing and the more different things you do to get is what makes the audience believe you are actually trapped.

It snowed a little bit this morning, that's the first I've seen and I liked it. Also, I think that entrapment was easier than entanglement because it was easier to imagine a box around me for instance than things on my legs. Maybe props would help that, but that would probably defeat the purpose of doing it in class.