Things that baffle me about yoga.
Things that baffle me about yoga. On the one hand, many of the people involved are there for a positive, generally accepting, focused experience. On the other hand, some people are all about themselves, and everyone else is imposing on them by being there. The two ways this manifests that really bug me are the space hogs and the chip implants.
The slightly lesser of the two evils are the people who CANNOT TURN THEIR DAMN PHONES OFF. No, seriously. It's dead quiet, and we're all levitating/meditating, and your bleepity bleep bleeping electronic bleeping bleeper buzzes, tweets, pings, and sometimes outright rings. TURN IT OFF. Silencing is obviously not actually silencing it, airplane mode is either not working or unfamiliar to you, or there are alerts that's you have no concept of whizz-banging away. You are not going to answer it during class, so actually, completely, totally turn it off. You won't break it, it won't stop working, the world won't end, and that personal message from your personal god will probably still reach you without assistance from a physical device. If it's really that critical, get the chip implant so you are the only one who has to listen to it. Please and thank you.
The one that really ticks me off is the space hogging. People who come in and take up as much space as humanly possible because they are totally entitled to it and then refusing to move, even for the instructor, because that's where they want to be and the amount of space they want. And nobody is willing to confront them and say, look, we are all sharing the space today, blah blah blah, move your asana. It doesn't have to be a big confrontation, but people are either totally passive or totally aggressive, and it makes it really obnoxious, frankly.
We had a mom come in with her daughters, new, and one of the daughters has a seizure disorder and is wearing a helmet and they are trying all 3 to be near each other. Half of us are trying to rearrange to accommodate this, and this one other person, who is also new (but eventually turns out to be a friend of a semi-regular) is all I can't move, I'm not moving, I need all this space, no I have to be right here in this particular spot. The instructor is a little passive and tries the asking once nicely and then hoping the rest of us will move, and I'm like, really? This room can hold well over 20 people (cozily, but it can be done without pain, and I've seen it hold over 30), and we can't get room for 13? Ugh.
The slightly lesser of the two evils are the people who CANNOT TURN THEIR DAMN PHONES OFF. No, seriously. It's dead quiet, and we're all levitating/meditating, and your bleepity bleep bleeping electronic bleeping bleeper buzzes, tweets, pings, and sometimes outright rings. TURN IT OFF. Silencing is obviously not actually silencing it, airplane mode is either not working or unfamiliar to you, or there are alerts that's you have no concept of whizz-banging away. You are not going to answer it during class, so actually, completely, totally turn it off. You won't break it, it won't stop working, the world won't end, and that personal message from your personal god will probably still reach you without assistance from a physical device. If it's really that critical, get the chip implant so you are the only one who has to listen to it. Please and thank you.
The one that really ticks me off is the space hogging. People who come in and take up as much space as humanly possible because they are totally entitled to it and then refusing to move, even for the instructor, because that's where they want to be and the amount of space they want. And nobody is willing to confront them and say, look, we are all sharing the space today, blah blah blah, move your asana. It doesn't have to be a big confrontation, but people are either totally passive or totally aggressive, and it makes it really obnoxious, frankly.
We had a mom come in with her daughters, new, and one of the daughters has a seizure disorder and is wearing a helmet and they are trying all 3 to be near each other. Half of us are trying to rearrange to accommodate this, and this one other person, who is also new (but eventually turns out to be a friend of a semi-regular) is all I can't move, I'm not moving, I need all this space, no I have to be right here in this particular spot. The instructor is a little passive and tries the asking once nicely and then hoping the rest of us will move, and I'm like, really? This room can hold well over 20 people (cozily, but it can be done without pain, and I've seen it hold over 30), and we can't get room for 13? Ugh.
Jesus, what ass holes. I've never encountered that at any yoga class I've been to. I'm very sorry.
ReplyDeleteI just don't get it, that's all. I mean, it obviously pisses me off personally, but my expectations are rooted in the more general atmosphere of we're all here to be chill and supportive and mellow. Or not, I guess, for some people. Plus, then I start getting, yeah, so there's mellow and there's doormat and I'm not a doormat, so go walk all over somebody else. Following which I feel guilty for standing up for myself because now somebody else gets pushed around. Like that's my responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to go to classes where the instructors are all hardcore, though. I mean, they are far more prone to be all hey, whoever that is get up and turn your phone off, and move your mat over, NAO, but the classes themselves then become intense and some sort of competitive sport, which is neither meditative nor relaxing for me. Basically, I'm just a really whiny, demanding person and everyone should accommodate me. I mean, obviously.