Position on etiquette

There is one consistent in the yoga world. There will almost always be more women than men in class. And what happens when you put a room full of women together? Yes, they compare and become competitive. This is fine if taken in moderation. Pushing yourself to be better is a great thing, and if measuring yourself against others to see where you are in terms of skill level is helpful, I say go for it. Over time you forget others in the room and flow through the experience as if no one else is around anyway. But from time to time, I do find myself admiring another's effortless looking crow pose while I cursing my lack of balance and grace....but I'll get there. Just gotta have faith.

There are however a small group who use class time as an opportunity to show their stuff...whether they have any or not. Either they attend a class far below their skill level to give themselves a shot of self love or they have a bizarre sense of rebellion and spend the hour competing with the actual instructor. The latter really messes with my chi and makes me yearn for a Krav Maga class.

Elizabeth Post may have known her stuff at a proper English tea party, but she never included a chapter that broke down the proper etiquette of maneuvering within the yoga community. This fact was never more apparent than my recent trip to a hot yoga class.


Perhaps I'm alone in my thinking but I believe there is a code of conduct to follow. You should always be aware of your space. Are you too close to your neighbor? Are there other areas than might allow you (and others) more room to move? Depending on the room, usually people are aligned in rows or a certain pattern. Most people understand this and abide so as to make room for others. I had the misfortune of being next to a woman who had something to prove - seemingly not to anyone in particular, just in general. We'll call her Menace.

So Menace begins by coming into class and dropping her mat 2.5 inches from mine - with plenty of room available elsewhere. In retrospect I should have picked up everything and moved but I didn't. The room filled up as she was stacking her blocks, belt, etc around her with some of them laying on my mat. Um, yeah. I moved them onto hers and just laid down to collect my zen and try not to kill thy neighbor. As the class began it became apparent that 'grace' and 'fluid flow' were of no concern to her. Menace stomped into poses like Wayne Gretzky attacking a hockey puck. Breathing loudly - even by yoga standards - she raced from one pose to the next before the instructor even suggested the next pose. And she would hold the last pose in the series and look at others as if we were somehow slow. The cherry on top to the entire experience was that when the instructor would specify a side - such as raise the left leg or the right leg - she would do exactly the opposite. This would leave me facing her, inches apart on poses we were holding for at times a minute or two. Long enough if your looking towards someone's back, an ETERNITY if they're in your face. And what an angry face it was. One hopes when you reach your mid-late thirties you have a respect for others and a self awareness keeping you from being 'that' person.

Fuel Upgrade

In a week or so I will begin a 21 purification (dietary detox) program suggested by my acupuncturist. Thankfully my husband is coming along for the ride as well to make it easier. He already eats really well, so he isn't as intimidated about it as I am. In addition, I'm going to attempt another 21 day yoga challenge while I'm doing this purification so I can get the most out of the experience. My hope is that I can learn to better moderate my eating and consistently stick to a balanced diet.

Since Thanksgiving, I have made tiny improvements to my diet. To start, I quit drinking soda and Vitamin water to lessen our grocery bill. I know most would be motivated by the simple effort of eating better. But to be honest, it was all about saving money in the beginning. Now, I can honestly say I don't really think about it or miss it. I grew up drinking a up to a liter a day. Now, it's decaf iced tea and sugar free Crystal Light. As small as it is, it does feel like an achievement. The first of many towards adopting an overall healthier diet.

I owe a lot to my practice in helping me stay grounded. It's given me a body that's stronger and the desire and awareness to improve what I use to feed and nourish it. Even though I know this is the a healthy next step, I must admit it is going to be VERY challenging to give up some of my simple creature comforts for three weeks, especially my morning coffee and yogurt. But every journey begins with the first step...and I'm sure caffeine and sugar withdrawals aren't fatal.....right????

Getting a Grip

As I've become more of a fan of the warm/hot yoga classes, I've had some lessons to learn about best practices. It feels like I have made every mistake one can make along the way in terms of making the journey a smooth one. Case in point: HYDRATION. But there is always OH-so-much-more to learn.

As we all prepare for class, I watch the various rituals of each yogi to help them make the most of their practice. I had noticed spray bottles around the periphery of the room but never thought much of it. But as fate would have it this tool would prove very helpful. For Christmas, my mom and dad gave me some yoga gear that would help inspire me to continue building on my practice. One of them being the yoga towel. This towel is roughly the size of the yoga mat and is meant to lay on top of your mat. Or for some folks it acts as their actual yoga mat.

I got it home and tried a few poses. The purpose of the towel is that I REALLY sweat it out in class. So much so that my yoga mat (aka slip-n-slide) becomes difficult to use for the last 20 minutes or so in class. So I thought this would be a great tool for traction - and perhaps keeping my mat a little cleaner. But when I tried it out at home my hands would slide on the towel during downward dogs and side poses, so I didn't take it with me to class. But during the week I hit a hot yoga class first thing in the morning and was one of the first to arrive. One by one people trickled in and started arranging their equipment. As a woman spread out her towel I saw her reach for the water bottle and start misting the towel before we began. At that moment the light bulb went off and I made certain to bring my towel next time.

All I can say is GENIUS! I am by no means a connoisseur of yoga towels but, I am SO happy with my Gaiam towel. I'm no longer sliding all over the place while trying to hold and transition poses. Like I said, I'm a work in progress, but I'm always inspired by these little a-ha moments along the way.

Lucky 23!!!

Woohoo!!! I made it! It is my first yogi accomplishment! It feels amazing. I not only made it to 21, but added 2 more days, for a grand total of 23 days immersed in yoga. My only regret is not taking my measurements before I cannon-balled back into the yoga world. Not that I have noticed any significant weight loss, but there are a couple of muscle lines that weren't there a month ago. Now there will be a few days of the monthly cramps accompanied with ridiculous amounts of Advil to enable me to move. I will be sitting on the couch drinking coffee and catching up on Lost. Sounds a little relaxing (and painful) but I will miss my routine for the few days I'm not practicing.

So one of the sacrifices of my yoga focus has been guitar practice. I have the most amazing instructor yet I'm struggling to sit down and apply myself. During this time off, I'm finding it's hard to rebuild yourself when you've spent your entire adult life defined by your profession. Where do I even begin? I guess I answered this question when I started the challenge. Yoga. The practice of meditative breathing and moving throughout the vinyasas.

Of all the nerve

So close to the finish line and wouldn't you know it - a pinched nerve in the ball of my right foot. Seriously, the TIMING????? It felt similar to the sharp pain you experience when you pull a groin muscle. How can such a teeny tiny part cause such an emense amount of pain??? I woke up in the morning and got up to take my first step out of bed and *pow* I realized putting even a little weight on it created a sharp pain that shot up from my foot to the tips of ears. Crap.

But I forced myself to go to class anyway, telling the instructor what my issue was before we got started. She told me to do what I could and offered up some modifications that would take some of the weight off of my foot. It definately helped, but it was still really difficult. I think I discounted the impact yoga has on your feet alone.

After two days the issue subsided and I was back to being fancy free in the feet. But I do have a gripe with the yoga instructors I've encountered over the years. This might simply be my lack of professional training, but I don't understand why all the balancing poses have to be grouped together during class. Without fail I end up having to take a small break in the midst of class and rub out charlie horses because my arches have reached their limit. Is there a reason these postures can't be peppered throughout the class? Is there a health benefit I'm missing??

Throughout yoga practice, we ask A LOT of our little toes. Bending them this way and that, asking each foot to independently support our entire body weight in various positions. My sweet husband will rub my feet on the couch while we're watching movies, and that makes SUCH a difference! In fact, I try to make certain I give my little paws the pampering they deserve. Once a month a get a french pedicure with a girlfriend (complete with exfoliation and calf rub) and recently purchased a pair of YogaToes that I wear for a hour or so each day to stretch and relax my feet. They are awesome by the way, take a look if you're interested: http://www.yogapro.com/ts/toestretcher.html?&gclid=CI2T5IGjjqACFSAkagodmQ6jdQ

Lesson learned. Respect your feet and they will do you right.

We've got Male

As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy trying out different classes and different instructors. Each instructor can bring something completely unique to the same style of class. So on day 17 I was excited to try an afternoon intermediate class. I unrolled my mat, pulled my hair in a ponytail and started some basic stretches. A guy walked in wearing a bandana wrapped around his head and some incredible tattoo artwork on his arms and chest. At first glance he seemed like the type of guy I typically see in yoga classes - albeit in very small numbers. In my experience, yoga has been a very female dominated arena.

As Bandana reached the front of class he turned around to face the class and introduce himself. We quickly learned he was filling in for Jenny (the regular instructor), that he too taught some classes we 'might want to check out', and that he made his living as a professional comic book artist. So if the single ladies weren't paying attention at first, he certainly had their attention once we got started.

Although it seemed 'awkward' to me to have a man teaching me yoga, he proved to be pretty good. He walked though each pose and then circled the room, giving verbal instruction on how some could improve their alignment. Obviously making hands-on adjustments like the female instructors wouldn't fly well with some. Even though the class wasn't heated I found myself breaking a sweat half-way through. He didn't push us too hard, I was just experiencing the class differently today.

I'm learning through my practice that some days are harder than others - for no apparent reason. Some days I feel strong and find myself going further and feeling stronger. Then other days I can't seem to handle the simplest of poses. I don't know if there's a pattern or if it's as simple as some days ya got it, some days ya don't. I suppose only time will tell.