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Open letter ranty time
Dear girl in front of me in yoga class,
I have to ask what the HELL you were doing walking into something that said "advanced vinyasa". Perhaps you thought "vinyasa" was Sanskrit for "beginner" but I regret to inform you that this was incorrect.
I noticed you when we went into Warrior 3 near the beginning of class. "That girl in front of me might kick my head", I thought, and moved a few inches to get out of your way. But when I checked, you seemed uncomfortable with standing on one foot, and you lifted the other one maybe twelve inches. After that, it was hard not to watch you. I seriously never realized what good courtesy it is to maintain proper form and alignment, especially in an advanced class where super-detailed cues are not given... doing this enables the people behind one to be sure that one is NOT ABOUT TO BLOW OUT A JOINT RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. Seriously, you were scary. For future reference: please do not pronate your foot as much as possible in every single lunge. Do not relax your spine in a weird swaybacked way in every vinyasa.
Do not, and I may be beating a broken record here, do NOT come to advanced class at a studio if you don't have some reason to believe that will be appropriate. I was trying out a new yoga top that, as it turns out, is quite questionable and kept wanting to put my breasts on display. But even the rosy glow of my right areola saying hello for the fifth time was not enough to tear my eyes away from the trainwreck of your supposed dancer's pose. You remember that one, right, it's the one where the teacher was practically building scaffolding around you in order to steady you. (Again with the standing on one foot thing. Yes! You have to be able to do that!)
I'm not a yoga snob, and in fact I'm constantly looking foolish myself for trying things that are half a step beyond what I can do. I recognize that inspiration can be a catalyst for growth. Also, I've been to classes that are too hard for me, and I know some of what you must have felt as the rest of us did ridiculously difficult things around you. Probably you won't be back to the same class. In addition, I realize that both morally and according to the waiver you had to sign, your safety is ultimately your own responsibility.
All the same, if it were my studio I would have asked you to leave and given you credit for another class of your choosing.
*shivers*
I have to ask what the HELL you were doing walking into something that said "advanced vinyasa". Perhaps you thought "vinyasa" was Sanskrit for "beginner" but I regret to inform you that this was incorrect.
I noticed you when we went into Warrior 3 near the beginning of class. "That girl in front of me might kick my head", I thought, and moved a few inches to get out of your way. But when I checked, you seemed uncomfortable with standing on one foot, and you lifted the other one maybe twelve inches. After that, it was hard not to watch you. I seriously never realized what good courtesy it is to maintain proper form and alignment, especially in an advanced class where super-detailed cues are not given... doing this enables the people behind one to be sure that one is NOT ABOUT TO BLOW OUT A JOINT RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. Seriously, you were scary. For future reference: please do not pronate your foot as much as possible in every single lunge. Do not relax your spine in a weird swaybacked way in every vinyasa.
Do not, and I may be beating a broken record here, do NOT come to advanced class at a studio if you don't have some reason to believe that will be appropriate. I was trying out a new yoga top that, as it turns out, is quite questionable and kept wanting to put my breasts on display. But even the rosy glow of my right areola saying hello for the fifth time was not enough to tear my eyes away from the trainwreck of your supposed dancer's pose. You remember that one, right, it's the one where the teacher was practically building scaffolding around you in order to steady you. (Again with the standing on one foot thing. Yes! You have to be able to do that!)
I'm not a yoga snob, and in fact I'm constantly looking foolish myself for trying things that are half a step beyond what I can do. I recognize that inspiration can be a catalyst for growth. Also, I've been to classes that are too hard for me, and I know some of what you must have felt as the rest of us did ridiculously difficult things around you. Probably you won't be back to the same class. In addition, I realize that both morally and according to the waiver you had to sign, your safety is ultimately your own responsibility.
All the same, if it were my studio I would have asked you to leave and given you credit for another class of your choosing.
*shivers*
no subject
Poor girl. I hope she finds her level faster than I did!
no subject
Yeah, I can sympathize. After several months of attending beginner and intermediate vinyasa classes, I finally tried an ashtanga class with great trepidation, only to find myself in a second series class instead of primary series. I know now that second series isn't harder, just different, but at the time I would have bolted for the door had I not been in the far corner.
I just hope this girl tries a beginner class rather than running far, far from the studio, because that would be sad.
no subject