Yoga: Final Reflection

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LO4: Showing perseverance, resilience, and commitment to activities

I participated in yoga for two seasons and I can say with confidence that my fitness level improved. Since I am asthmatic, it was very important that I stayed committed to this activity. I was able to demonstrate this resilience and commitment by attending the weekly sessions, challenging myself with harder poses, and practicing yoga at home with my mom. Maintaining motivation for me was easy because of the wonderfully supportive community during the sessions. Additionally, I knew I was doing the activity to improve my health, which helped me to keep working hard. Although at times it was challenging, especially going on a Monday afternoon (during which I just wanted to go home and sleep), the positive outcomes from the activity outweighed any arguments I had. Every Monday, I saw myself going home relaxed and calm, ready to work.

Kahaani: Initial Rehearsals (Action)

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LO2- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

This year, we performed dances which symbolised the progression of a blind man’s life in order to raise awareness for Voice of the World (Kolkata GC). I was placed in the dance which represented the part of his life where he fell in love.

The initial rehearsals were probably the most challenging for me. There were probably two major hurdles that I worked to overcome.

Learning the dance: I hadn’t danced in probably a year, and getting back into intense Bollywood choreography was quite a challenge for me. It took a lot of practicing outside of our group sessions as well as attending extra practice for me to become comfortable with the dance.

Coordinating with the other members: The fact that I had my friends in my dance really helped motivate me and build resilience. They were an important support system for me. However, coordinating with them in the dance was a completely different story. Since this was a new environment in which we were collaborating, we had to develop different strategies to effectively communicate.

Naturally, our initial rehearsals were not perfect. Our group’s most significant weakness was that we kept forgetting choreography. We definitely had to make the most out of our allotted rehearsal times during this phase of the preparation of the show.

 

 

 

What have you learnt about the role of reasoning in ethics in this video? What have you learnt about your own ethical values?

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Across society, our morals and ethics vary greatly. We are constantly debating whether abortion is right or wrong, whether gene therapy is the right step forward in medicine, or even whether artificial intelligence is beneficial or dangerous. The root of these debates lies with both factual science and our ethical value systems. This video made me realise that as we engage in these debates, our morality is shaped by the science underlying it. I realised that these facts actually form the basis of the premises we use in reasoning. For instance, if someone believes that gene therapy is wrong it is because from the basis of science we know that interfering with our DNA has the potential to change our genetic makeup completely.

However our these debates are specific examples in where we have to apply our ethical value systems. Some people question whether these systems are just a set of absolute rules we have in our heads. For instance, the idea that stealing is wrong is something almost all of us believe. However, without placing them into a context, we cannot evaluate the real worth of these “rules”. Is stealing still so wrong if someone who was living in extreme poverty stole? Don’t our human rights state that we should all have access to resources? Isn’t it ironic that without context based off of scientific explanation and factual data, we cannot assess whether our morality is actually “good”.

The Siege

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Does familiarity with literature itself provide knowledge and, if so, of what kind – knowledge of facts, of the author, of the conventions of the form or tradition, of psychology or cultural history, of oneself? 

There is a fundamental difference from the knowledge literature can provide us and the knowledge science can. The understanding we gain from science explains how things happen in the physical world and how we can model that. Whereas, literature gives us insight into why things happen and what effects they have on the people around us and ourselves. Literature is the translation of human thought and emotion into a text. Familiarizing ourselves with it helps us understand core human beliefs and values while also pushing us to question our own nature as individuals. It also weaves together many different aspects of human life and society within it. “The Siege” by Helen Dunmore, a literary work of historical fiction, is a prime example of this. When I read it, I noticed that it gave me much insight into a few key areas of knowledge: cultural and political history, and human psychology.

Image result for the siege helen dunmore book cover

The Siege is set during the Nazi siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in the winter of 1941. The most factual knowledge the novel provides us with is through the context of the narrative. The book opens with a letter from the German Naval staff who write, “The Fuehrer has decided to have Leningrad wiped from the face of the earth.” from Berlin in 1941. This letter makes allusion to Hitler and his hostile political relationship with Soviet Russia. Throughout the book, although never explicitly mentioned, there are multiple references to Stalin and the Communist Party. Anna refers to him as “Koba” which was one of his many nicknames and resentfully talks about the many privileges his party members received such as more food, warmth, and better salaries. This political context is key in establishing the general social sentiment in Russia at the time. These interwoven details are also important to understand Anna’s actions and why they are emotionally compelling. They are also useful in giving us perspective of the societal and emotional impact of historical events that are normally studied analytically.

Another way this literary work provides us with knowledge is through the emotions of the main character and how she deals with the situations she is faced with. It gives us an understanding of human psychology, especially into the fight-or-flight response described by Walter Bradford Cannon. Although it was originally proposed as a physiological response, it is often used to describe emotional responses as well. Throughout the book, Anna is portrayed as facing the most dire, dismal, and hopeless of a situation. She tries to survive the Leningrad winter under German blockade with barely any money and food, an asthmatic brother, and a bedridden father. The burden of surviving falls almost entirely upon her. But even under this pressure, she consistently perseveres to make the most of the situation and somehow make do. Whether it is saving a “quarter slice of bread” every day for her brother, going to a black market to acquire a “burzuika”, or walking through unforgiving weather conditions just to find wood to burn for warmth, she never gives up. She tells herself that she will fight to survive and she does. This inspiring narrative of human determination helps us gain knowledge into the incredible resolve we are capable of. Since it is such an emotionally compelling piece of writing, The Siege makes us question ourselves regarding our own resolve and willpower, helping us discover more about ourselves too.

 

 

Yoga (Season 1)

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LO1: Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

I signed up for yoga primarily because I have asthma and I thought it would help me outgrow it through its focus on breathing exercises. I also thought it would be a good way to relax and manage the stress from the IB. Going into the activity, I had a bit of experience with doing sun salutations but that was it. The unfamiliarity of what we were going to be doing was definitely a bit daunting at first. However some of my strengths are to be able to adapt to new situations and to approach challenges with perseverance. This helped with my attitude towards the activity.

Something that was challenging for me was the physical aspect of the activity.  I’m not a very athletic person and some of the poses were quite hard to do. It made me realise that I need to do these exercises outside of the weekly sessions as well to improve my progress.

Another key component of yoga is the meditation we have to at the end of every session. It’s actually quite challenging to empty your mind of everything and just focus on your breathing. Trying to do this every week has made me so much more self aware about my most frequent thoughts and emotions. It helped me identify some of the stress factors in my life and has motivated me to try and get reduce them.

I think something that has improved for me during these past few sessions is my mental state. I’ve become so much calmer and relaxed when dealing with stressful situations. I hope this continues for the rest of the term.