I didn't really like the exercise that we did on Tuesday. It just made me more tired than relaxed. The exercise made almost made me fall asleep. It made me so tired that by the time we had to stand up, I was about to sleep. Once we stood up I had a hard time standing because I was so tired. But I do think it's not a bad technique to relax. I think it only works when you are stress. Which is why I think it didn't work for me. When we started, I was pretty relaxed. I wasn't stressed at all. So I wonder how it works when I'm stressed.

the substance

I suppose I liked the progressive relaxation and visualization we did on Tuesday, I've done things like it before and it's very calming. I'm pretty interested to see what we do with this 'substance' thing, it seems kind of weird and abstract to me but that might mean it will end up being fun to do. I just don't know what to make of that yet, I have never heard of it before.

Meditation

I really enjoyed the meditation exercise we did in class. I have learned about this technique but i have never actually done it. I feel that the exercise worked for me but it could have been better if i was not sick, laying down flat like that i was having a hard time breathing. But besides that it relaxed me. At first i felt a little awkward doing the exercise but as time went on i got more comfortable with it. Now that I am aware of how well this technique works I'm going to use it in times of major stress, such as finals week, to take mind off everything and start fresh.

tuesday's floortime activities

The meditation exercise on Tuesday I think worked for me to a point, I felt the things I was supposed to I think. I did see and understand the weird spacey thing in front of me, but somewhere in the middle I got lost. I lost some of my focus when I was visualizing the place and person that was supposed to be with me. I think I lost focus because I over thought the situation. I think at the end I felt the pressure of the matter-substance-thing in front of me but told myself it was just because I was dizzy from being on the floor. I felt asleep even when I got up and couldn't get back into the normal pattern of things. I had a strange kinda feeling for a few hours afterward. I can't say whether or not I liked the meditation, I'm just not sure.

meditation

I loved the meditation/relaxation exercise we did on Tuesday!!! even tho i kinda fell asleep i was so relaxed and it took my mind off everything i was worried about that day.. which was a lot.  i feel like this is a great exercise not only for sport related activities but for acting purposes because it helps you to be completely one with your body and enables you to move your body in a way that is not forced.

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.

past couple of classes

when we were doin the entanglement and entrapment exercises ini class it was very esay to see who was tryin real hard to show us the entrapment /entanglement insted of actually being trapt. i also found that it was very easy to become entangled by not doing alot of other extra motion. i think everyone is becoming more comfertable in class and its becomeing easier to express the objective they are assinged.

Emotions

What I've found most interesting and challenging in the past two classes is the incorporation of emotions in our exercies. We have to be scared without acting like we're scared...which is really realy hard to make seem real. I think it's cool that we've past simply making movements and paying attention to detail and we;re now concentrating on how our faces look and what we are actually feeling. Also, I stil think it's crazy how true the statement less is more is in this class. Sometimes I feel like I'm not even doing much and it turns out that I'm doing really well or I'll be watching other people and it really is true that the less people do and the less they try to make me believe them, the more I actually do believe them.

Class on Thursday was interesting. Learning how to act entraped was different. It's hard to go through all the steps of fear. When someone is trapped, they don't actually realize at first. They think that something might be jammed or out of place. But once they realize that getting out of the situation is going to be tough, they begin to panic. It's hard to panic without over doing it. The key is to truly believe that you are in that situation.

Entrapment Vs. Entanglement

For me ,it is a little bit hard to distinguish between entrapment and entanglement. They feel like pretty much the same thing to me. Both are negative things. Both involve a similar reaction mentally and physically. I suppose entrapment is worse than entanglement, but it really just depends what you are entrapped/entangled in. Maybe I am analyzing this to much, but i feel like these exercises are some of the harder ones to just get up and do because I don't quite know how to react to them.

Entrapment

Well this exercise I thought was going to be harder than what it really was. When I first drew the piece of paper out of the pumpkin, I wasn't sure exactly what to do. So I sat there and thought to myself, what happens in all the movies when someone is being hunted down by some crazy animal. Outside of that, I was just hoping it would look alright and I guess it worked. I think the exercise would have been more fun if we had more variety of entrapment items rather than mostly boxes and coffins.

And I was happy to see Bill finally lose at Whizbang.

Class

I was not in class on Thursday so I did not get to do the entrapment exercise. So i thought i would just talk about the class. At first i really didn't know what to expect from this class but now i really enjoy it. I love the fact that everyone has warmed up and is not to shy anymore while doing the exercises. It makes for a comfortable and relaxing environment. Also i find it rather interesting see how people have improved by being more aware of their surroundings and small detail. Overall this class is exciting and fun and I would recommend this course to anyone looking for a fun or a different kind of class to take.

I really enjoyed class on Thursday. I liked pretending that I was trapped in something; it was much more interesting to do and to watch. I liked that there was more of a dramatic response with fear, pain, or uncomfortableness, it added an element of excitement to the exercise. I thought Aaron did an awesome job pretending that he was trapped by a dangerous animal. He really looked scared, and he moved very slowly and carefully. This was so fun to watch. Everything we do in class builds on each other, I can't wait to see what we will do tomorrow.