Why inner peace is losing to yoga rage
February 10th, 2008 10:20 amThe Sunday Telegraph of 10-2-08 contained an article with the above heading. The subheading reads: “inconsiderate beginners are spoiling classes”.
It claims that “yoga rage is on the rise as beginners squeeze into overcrowded classes”. Newcomers are “ignorant of etiquette” and upset the “veteran students”.
After I read the whole article, I realised that it was talking mainly about classes held at gyms and one particular private yoga studio.
One yoga student who has been practising yoga for 7 years gets quoted extensively in this article. I have no idea which studio or class she attends and why the journalist chose her. The final paragraph is quoting her and it certainly is completely lacking in yoga spirit. I don’t want to quote it, it is not the sort of language I would want to put on my blog.
This only goes to show that yoga has become a very physical pursuit and that the attainment of perfect yoga poses has become the be all and end all. Never mind about the philosophy or the deeper elements - no time - yoga in a hurry! Even so “meditation” is mentioned, at a gym it usually consists of 3-5 minutes lying down and closing your eyes with not much instruction.
Having said all this, I have to say that I never have encountered any of the problems mentioned in the article in my classes - be it at the gym or a private studio. I think it is really important to convey to students right at the beginning of each class what the expectations are and what yoga is all about. The teacher needs to show respect for the practice and lead by example. Participants who don’t like what is being said or who feel that it is just not their cup of tea will not come back.
The other problem that I can see that gyms are allowing far too many participants per class. It is all about money and profitability. This is simply not safe. It is up to the teachers to speak up about these issues and either request an assistant teacher or ask for the class to be downsized.
A separate “Mat Manners” write up accompanied the article. I will share this with you in my next post.
