The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Hot Yoga *faq* › Yoga Etiquette Question
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Hot Yoga *faq* › Yoga Etiquette Question
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Today was my fourth Bikram class. It started out fine during the standing poses, but once we got on the ground I noticed that I was hitting the feet of the woman in front of me when reaching back to do the sit-up out of savasana. I shifted several inches down my mat to avoid this, but she appeared to follow me. I kept hitting her feet, shifting further down, to the side, putting my water bottle in the way, making a thousand adjustments to create appropriate space, but she was completely unaware and apparently unconcerned that I was hitting her feet (which she was plopping down loudly) with my hands each time I moved out of savasana. It got to the point where I was dreading going into savasana because the thought of getting out was too disconcerting. What does one do in this situation? I finally moved my mat to another portion of the room, but the instructor was not at all pleased with this and her irritation created a disturbance. But I was at a loss as to how to achieve any peace of mind, and I didn’t want to end the class in a fit of discomfort. Advice?
Sometimes touching someone else happens ;-P . It occasionally will happen to me in Full Locust when I first stretch out my arms. Usually a quick “oops, sorry” and a slight shift will take care of it and it doesn’t happen the 2nd set.
I feel your discomfort, but I don’t know if I would have moved to another spot. I definitely would have said something to her after the 3rd collision. If your instructor was that upset with your move, it would have been good to explain to her after class what was happening. Maybe this person has a history of being a mat hog 🙄 .
I would suggest trying to stay away from her the next class. Sometimes that’s hard to do, but you can try. If it happens again, absolutely say something.
By the way, Congratulations on your 4th class 🙂
Barb
Thanks, Barb. I went again today and got there early so that I could position my mat more carefully. The class was not nearly as crowded so we all had plenty of room and it was a great session. I am still a little mystified that this woman made no effort to adjust to avoid colliding. That seems like the natural thing to do and in my experience it always works fine. In any event, I’m steering clear of this person.
-FH
Hello Firehorse and Barb
What you both say rings true. It can take up some of your headspace and distract you somewhat when you get an unscheduled touch. :bug:
Robert and I had a great discussion prompted by this thread. :cheese: Definitely when we start our yoga practice we are far more sensitive to our ‘space’ and location in the room. In fact new students often try to grow their personal space as much as possible. And everything is a distraction: movement, touch, the mention of their name, the instructions…
As you get more in tune with your practice and your required space it becomes easier to disregard those little distractions to your absolute benefit.
Still what you report has happened to us, and it IS annoying. There was definitely a culprit like that where we first practiced. It sure seemed disrespectful and almost defiantly claiming their space. This woman would squeeze into spaces that clearly encroached on the surrounding 3 or 4 people. What seems worse is the seeming movement toward the touch rather than making space.
For your own peace of mind I would nip it in the bud and signal or say something after the second or third touch suggesting they stay on this side, and you on that. The first course of action is to deal with the distraction and NOT move if you can help it. If it does come down to moving, remember it is YOUR practice. Do what you need to do. Don’t care one second what anyone else thinks – even the teacher. Don’t apologize. And at the same time don’t make moving a habit. 😆
In other words, be mindful, respectful of yourself and others and your own process.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂I know this is an old post, but I’m reading through the older stuff for fun. 🙂
My studio is *very* popular and the yoga room can get quite crowded! Accidental touching is pretty much a given once you get more than 50 people in the yoga room. And I have seen as many as 80 people crammed into the yoga room! :bug:
The instructors deal with this by telling everyone that it’s “good luck” if you happen to touch your neighbor. I have even had a few students that were there for their 1st class reach over and tap the back of my hand during Full Locust for their luck. I also sometimes exchange “Locust Taps” with some of the friends that I’ve made at the studio if they happen to end up next to me in class.
The instructors also do a very good job of managing the space in the room before class begins.
Just thought I’d share a slightly different perspective on the subject. 🙂
Our yoga room is not generally that crowded, but there have been times when it is. One time the lady next to me and I bumped hands when moving into Locust. Instead of startling away, she gave my hand a nice friendly squeeze and smiled at me. That made me feel really good. I suppose that there is some risk of offending using that approach as some people do not want there hand to be squeezed and don’t want to be distracted from the yoga.
Hi Robert and Cindy
If you are going to be accidentally touched at the studio during your practice then it is nice to be touched with love! 😆
It can be unavoidable and in those times I find it far nicer to experience a light and gentle loving touch that may occur only for an instant, without apology or a stress- or judgment-driven recoil. The more experience you have in the studio the more relaxed you can be and just recognize that it is ‘just one of those things!’
The original situation in this post, in my mind could have been about many things. We will never know. Maybe it was about one or even two people wanting to own their own space. Or maybe it was one person affected by and reading too much into the touch, and the other one ambivalent to it. Maybe one was mindful and the other not noticing. Maybe one or both were making assumptions about what the touch meant! And so on.
The only thing to do is to acknowledge your own feelings about it and do what you need to do in that moment. Hopefully it will be a moment in time that in the context of your practice and life is well received and stays right there in the moment. Carrying a negative charge about after the fact that doesn’t serve anybody. It’s just yoga. :cheese:
And for the record, even though it has sometimes momentarily taken me away from my focus, those Full Locust touches have been very pleasant moments of connection with my fellow yogis – and always with a smile and often with a sense of a mutual acknowledgment of what this yoga brings.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Of course, whenever I was next to my wife in Full Locust, I would *have* to give her a helping hand up when my arms went up … poor thing … ;-P
So was that how you met or was it after you were married? I think that it is wonderful that the two of you work together like you do.
I was thinking about this post yesterday during an all day seminar given by Rajashree. The room was much more crowded than I was used to. When we went into Full Locust, I ended up not only bumping hands with the people on either side, but we pretty much bumped arms and hands through the whole pose. Everyone seemed ok with it, though. I would have thought that would bother me, but it really didn’t. It kind of added a sense of friendliness–like we’re in this together.
As they say in my studio: It’s ok to touch someone… it’s just not ok to “feel” someone… 😉
So was that how you met or was it after you were married? I think that it is wonderful that the two of you work together like you do.
Hi Cindy – sorry for delay in replying!
No that was after we married – though I like the romantic idea of briefly touching someone in a hot yoga class & ending up marrying them! Cute!!
We actually met 9 years before we started yoga while attending some intense personal development courses – not so different from hot yoga I guess. 😉
@ bravenewyoga
As they say in my studio: It’s ok to touch someone… it’s just not ok to “feel” someone
LOL – that’s well said!
Robert
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