I apologise for the lack of pictures for my posts over the last few days. My damn cat has chewed through the charger of my laptop and I’m waiting for a new one to be delivered (a new charger, not a new non-chewing cat, sadly). This means I haven’t had access to my Filezilla or my photo editing tools etc etc. So text only for now. Hoping to get some pictures up over the weekend (UK postal service permitting)!
Today I want to talk about yoga class etiquette. Over the years I have spent teaching yoga I have come across people from all walks of life. 99% of my students have been polite, sweet, kind and very, very open minded (which is really just as well). I have had students who have come once, contributed fully to the class and never come again; I presume because they found yoga wasn’t for them, or my way of teaching wasn’t for them, or that life just got in the way. You learn not to take it personally.
But then there are that tiny handful of students who can be downright rude. Now maybe I rule my yoga classes with an iron thumb, maybe I’m too strict but I feel I have to look after the good of the whole class and not just the individual. My students come for a variety of reasons, some of which I will never know, some of which they probably don’t know and I want their experiences to be as safe and as comfortable as possible. This means that arriving anymore than five minutes late is not an option. Neither is leaving during or before final relaxation unless you have told me you might have to beforehand and I have put you near the door. If your mobile phone rings I will let it go once. If it happens every week I will pull you up on it. And may the gods help you if you actually have a conversation on it during my class! 
But by far the worst thing that has happened to me though was once when I was covering a friend’s class at a gym. Suddenly, about five minutes into the class one particular student began to do her own personal practice in the middle of the room. I quietly asked if everything was OK. She told me she didn’t like “this kind of yoga”. Now, everyone teaches differently and not everyone welcomes the cover teacher with open arms but I do believe if you teach from the heart most people will enjoy it. Clearly not all though.
I said I was sorry to hear she was unahppy and quietly asked her if they would maybe like to leave and come back the next week when the regular teacher returned.
She just carried on.
And I just carried on teaching.
She continued to practice throughout the class and throughout my relaxation session.
She was still going when I left.
I honestly didn’t know what else to do.
Even now, with many more years teaching experience behind me I’m still not sure I would know what to do.
Yoga teachers – what would you have done in this situation? How would you have felt? And what etiquette do you expect from your students?
Non-yoga teachers – what behaviour drives you wild when you go to yoga class? Or just behaviour in general?
Of course, we should all be practicing mindful detatchment and letting these situations go. What can I say? We’re only human!
“Though the unwise cling to their actions, watching for results, the wise are free from attachments, and act for the well-being of the whole world.”
–Bhagavad Gita, 3.25 (as stolen from Brenda P’s blog post yesterday)
