I have been teaching yoga for a long time now. I have been teaching yoga in Washington DC for an awful long time. I started before yoga hit it big here in our nation’s capital, before men and women carried yoga mats to work with them along with their briefcases and palm pilots. Being from San Francisco it always boggles my mind that there are humans that have never done yoga. Yet every January, I am reminded that here in Washington DC, that is, in fact, the case.
Taking up yoga sounds like a really tremendous resolution to have as the old year melts into the new. New yogis may have thought of it a while back, announcing the splendid idea to friends and family. Perhaps a spouse dutifully wrapped up a brand new yoga mat and put it under the tree next to other fine gifts. And as 2007 approaches, the eager yogic beavers are doing the research. “What kind of class should I take? Where should I look?”
We’ve all seen the yoga classes at the gym. As we finish up our mindless spurts of cardio, one can see the people through the steamy glass on their sweaty mats. They are glistening and breathing hard, but also doing some lying around, which is appealing. It doesn’t look that hard. Hell, Madonna does it and she’s almost 50.
And so, the first or second week of January, they wander as if accidentally into my yoga class. They are nervous but confident. They know themselves to be athletic people, they work out. They are eager and scared. And so it begins.
I get some kooky looks from folks as the class progresses. Most everyone knows that yoga has some spiritual or religious aspects, and the newbies are generally uncomfortable as I speak of such nonsense as “prana” and these “chakras” that I insist everyone has. The eyes of the new kids tell me in no uncertain terms that they are here for the work out and not a sermon. Fine, I’m used to that by now. But they try and sweat and try and do their absolute best to twist and stretch. In fact, they try way, WAY too hard. As fresh students, they are unconscious of the fact that yoga is not a challenge in contorting one’s body to look like the teacher’s. It is a tool to give up the need to compete and compare and judge oneself. It is in fact an excursion for each person to discover what one’s body desires, what each body can do that was never imaginable, what happens when we gently suggest, when we lovingly move through fear. Yoga is a means to acceptance, without striving and pushing and harming. When everywhere else we are taught to accomplish and press on and grind and adjust and “suck it up”, in yoga we are willing to learn the training that manifests when we simply, allow.
If these new students stick with me, they will discover all of this. But alas, I must admit that by the last week of January, early February, those gleaming new yoga mats are put away and I never see some of these fine folk again. I go back to teach my classes to my regular persons, whom I love very much. Don’t get me wrong; newbies wander in all year long, (we cannot forget about the late spring “I heard yoga can make me look like Carmen Electra in my bathing suit” students). But the fresh young faces that the New Year drags in, they hold a special place in my heart.
Perhaps these fine citizens of DC are not yet ready to just let themselves take the journey into the unknown. To many of us, the idea of giving up our addiction to bettering ourselves is a petrifying one. What would happen if we for just a while stopped trying to be better than the next guy, what if we accepted ourselves as we are in this moment? A scary thought, indeed.
So, you have your shiny new yoga mat and you are fearlessly going to that yoga class, come hell or high water. Here’s a list of what you can expect, and what I pray you will never ever do:
1. No shoes, no socks. No one cares that you have ugly feet. Honestly. You’ll be OK.
2. You must tell the teacher you’ve never done yoga before and you absolutely must tell the teacher if you are pregnant, have back/knee/shoulder issues, if you’ve had any car accidents or surgeries…. Basically it is a grand idea to tell him/her more that you think you should.
3. You’re going to be watching and listening to your breath a whole lot. You may have never done this before. Start now, practice. What parts of your body are affected as you breathe? You’ll get used to it.
4. Wear something that you can move in. And do not wear a huge t-shirt. You’ll be going upside-down and the shirt will fall in your face. If you happen to be male, realize that you may be opening your legs wide. Something tight and concealing under the workout shorts is a fantastic addition to your yoga attire.
5. Make it work for you!! I cannot stress this enough. Yoga class is not supposed to be for a room full of cookie cutters. If you cannot do something, then modify it for yourself. The teacher may or may not give you alternatives. Listen to your body.
6. Try not to come to class with lots of smelly stuff on your skin.
7. Some teachers will speak in Sanskrit and you may have no idea what he/she is talking about. That’s fine; you are not expected to know Sanskrit. Just follow as best you can.
8. Please do not come into class late. Most teachers use the first few minutes of class to set the mood and calm the minds of the students. If you enter right in the midst of that, you’ll feel like an idiot.
9. ENJOY SAVASANA. What? The last pose in class is called savasana. In Sanskrit this means “corpse pose”. I cannot tell you how awful it is to watch people fidget and keep stretching and deny themselves the awesome pleasure of being totally still and doing absolutely nothing for 5 minutes. Enjoy it. If it’s uncomfortable to be still with your own sweet self, keep coming back.
That's my sweet ass y'all.
Recent Comments