Hot Yoga

[Crankin]

Went to class today, after 5 days of serious working out, for both fun and to ward off the holiday pounds. I woke up really stiff and sore from tabata I did yesterday. The class was great, but I felt it today. So, yoga was really the best choice for me. It was a different teacher. She was good, but I found myself looking at the clock. She repeated a lot of stuff, which got me antsy. As usual, it was packed. At one point she came over and corrected my plank, I was like huh?, as I was taught you always ask before touching someone for a correction. And, not sure what was wrong. Another time she came over and asked me if I wanted a block. I hate using blocks, can't for the life of me, get used to sitting on a hard thing, and I don't need them for the flexibility part. I am not against them, as they're a great tool for those who need them to extend their stretches. We were in some triangle pose when she asked, and I was clearly fully extended, with my palm on the ground, not doing any modifications. Guess I was feeling picked on. I wouldn't think twice if someone tried to give me help with balance poses, but this felt weird. None the less, I came home feeling great and my back feels better.

[emily_in_nc]

My instructor never asks before he touches us to correct, but his corrections, when given, are always appropriate and helpful. I do get a little embarrassed when he corrects me as I am sensitive to criticism, but I know he is trying to help. Normally he corrects the newer people to his practice more than I am corrected, but he also does more of that when the class is very small. For example, today there were only four of us, and he corrected me several times, but he also praised me at least as many times. I try not to take the corrections personally, though sometimes it is hard not to!

[rocknrollgirl]

Our instructors never ask before they correct or add to a pose, and I am always welcome to them doing it. To me it is not "being corrected", it is enhancing and furthering the pose.

Emily don't look at it as a negative thing. When you were a teacher, did you help your students? Of course you did.

[Crankin]

I was the teacher...
I just wish she told me why she was correcting me. How can I change something if I don't know what to change. She sort of put her hands on me and flattened my back, but in actuality, I was giving myself a momentary stretch up. I can hold a plank for a minute, bt I was so sore from other stuff, I may have been taking a little teeny break. I think it comes down to the fact that I don't like being touched by strangers, and a verbal cue would probably work much better. Or, a verbal warning, followed by the hands on correction. Obviously, I am not looking around during class, and when she touched me, it scared the sh!t out of me, as I didn't even know she was near me! Perhaps there is a difference in the way yoga instrucors are taught, compared to group exercise instructors. When you think about it, touching someone in this situation could be very upsetting to some. I just don't like it. This doesn't mean I won't go back or anything, and I generally am a stickler for form in anything I do, but it felt off-putting. She also had that "yoga voice." It kind of bugs me, which I know is immature, but really, why do all instructors have to sound the same? That's the kind of stuff that keeps people away. I use several pre-recorded meditations or visualizations with my clients, and I always joke about the therapist voice. It's about the same as the yoga voice. When I guide them through these things, I am speaking more quietly than usual, but I work hard to still sound like myself.
This might seem silly, but stuff like this really seems to affect me.

[ny biker]

I've been working out with my personal trainer for 18 years, we've gone to happy hours and concerts together and the first long bike ride I did was with him, and he still doesn't touch me to correct something without saying something first.

[emily_in_nc]

Our instructors never ask before they correct or add to a pose, and I am always welcome to them doing it. To me it is not "being corrected", it is enhancing and furthering the pose.

Emily don't look at it as a negative thing. When you were a teacher, did you help your students? Of course you did.

I've never been a teacher (well, maybe a couple of lunch-n-learns at work, and some mentoring and training, and the principle is the same), but I totally agree...I should not even think of my yoga instructor's hands-on as being correction but an enhancement. I do try to think that way, but this is something we perfectionists struggle with...we think we should be perfect. LOL!

[rocknrollgirl]

I've never been a teacher (well, maybe a couple of lunch-n-learns at work, and some mentoring and training, and the principle is the same), but I totally agree...I should not even think of my yoga instructor's hands-on as being correction but an enhancement. I do try to think that way, but this is something we perfectionists struggle with...we think we should be perfect. LOL!

Now why did I think you were a teacher? hmmm...

I get why people would be uncomfortable with it. I HATE strangers touching me. I guess my teachers do not fall into that category. Normally if there is someone new in class our instructors have a private chat with them before we start, so maybe they get it sorted out then? Sometimes we partner up and spot each other in class too, so I guess most of us are ok with it?

[Crankin]

I am not sure why some of these things bother me. I love the physical and emotional parts of yoga and the way I feel after class, but some of the yoga vibe, i.e. the voice, the affectations about calling the floor the "earth," just seem annoying. For some reason, I am very highly attuned to stuff like this. I try to shut it out, and mostly I do. This was the first teacher that made me feel this way, since I rejoined the club. Overall, the classes are much better than they were 6 years ago, and there is a noticeable emphasis on yoga at the club. And the touching part, well, I am also highly attuned to teaching practices, something that is kind of ingrained after 30+ years as an educator and 10 years teaching fitness classes. The private chat before, for a new person, really should happen all of the time.

[Crankin]

Went to class today, with the instructor who did the yoga and weights class I went to. I like her. I started sweating in the middle of class... it regularly happens at the same time point each class, even with different instructors. I really made an effort to focus only on the poses. In fact, I ditched a rescheduled group ride to go and was happy I did.
When I got home, I still wanted to be outside, so I suited up and went for a nice 11 mile ride, just to be in nature.