“I can handle B.O.,” the Dork said, “but there is nothing worse than stinky feet…”
Yes that’s YogaDork in the NYTimes! Being classy as ever and making mama YD proud! We were asked to comment for the latest article on yoga class no no’s and what not to do’s, and we came out with that gem (and a few others about people peacing out early and groaning orgasmically – not necessarily at the same time).
We invite you to check out the rest of the article, Stretch Etiquette For Yogis, you might get a kick out of it.
And since we’re on the subject, we gotta ask, what’s your yoga class pet peeve? Sure we’re all supposed to be focused inward, but we are still humans! Stinky, sweaty, emotion-filled humans!
Earlier…Ask The Yogacist: What to Do About the Obscene Class Grunter?
wrote about it last night:
http://lindasyoga.blogspot.com/2010/06/things-that-make-you-want-to-say.html
but Blogger has been down now for over 12 hours and I can’t moderate any comments…
A great article!
Please enter my giveaway 🙂
http://callahyoga.blogspot.com/2010/06/chicobag-giveaway.html
You MUST know that I have wayyyyyy too many for this page… which is why I teach WORKSHOPS on them. 😉
Long list:
Workshops billed as “intensive” that turn out to be anything but. Went to one that promised “diving into handstand” but built up to crawling into crow after two hours.
Crowded yoga classes where every one follows some bizarre etiquette of putting their mats as far apart as possible and then reluctantly edging together as the room fills up. It’s going to be crowded. You’re going to be near people. Live with it.
Teachers who heat the studio to gull inexperienced students into thinking they got “a real workout” because they sweated, then whine about the fact some men take their shirts off rather than struggle on uncomfortably in sweat soaked cotton (or that nylon workout gear that smells like old socks the minute it discovers sweat). It’s a torso, if the sight of it is such a shock I frankly don’t believe any of your tedious “India” stories for a second.
Half baked philosophising and preaching. If you want to claim “science has proved” I’m up for hearing you out but you’d better give me sources I can check with – you know, scientific method, you have heard of it? If your asana class is any good then it will affect the student in ways beyond the physical… otherwise we’re wasting our time. If you need to preach at your students I’m guessing the asana aren’t doing their job.
Whining about phones. We aren’t all desperate housewives in class for a catch up with our friends and a chance to save time pretending to work out while also pretending to improve our moral worth. Some of us have jobs which involve on call. Our phones/pagers are silent but if we don’t keep them with us then we lose our jobs and bad things happen in the world outside the studio – in my case, over the years, the little aeroplanes fall out of the sky and people die horribly, or, more recently, your investments plumet in value…. guess which gets more sympathy for having to bring a phone to class – it’s not the people dying.
Seeing any one who adapts the practice as an ego driven maniac. Funny how it only applies to those students looking to challenge their ability to maintain their breathing and attention in a more difficult variation. No one complains about modifications to make a posture easier – then it’s all about being ok with the fact we learn different asana at different speeds and the important thing is to spend time at our own edge. The second any one who’s edge is a little further out follows that advice they have to deal with a whole bunch of inadequacy and envy.
“Core” exercises.
In addition to all of the points listed by our YD in the NY Times i find the following very irritating:
Dirty yoga mats.
People who practice with a cold and sneeze all over you.
Women who cant control their g-strings.
Farting – I know its yogic to let it all out but please, its one thing we dont need to share.
Teacher’s pets who hog all the attention
Very expensive yoga wear
Great bodies
Anyone who can do anything better than me…
…I think I might have to work on my Yamas and Niyamas…OM…
I can’t stand Yoga teacher who describe a pose or a stretch as “delicious”.
Makes me want to leave the class.
In class my main pet peeve is that whole orgasmic groaning thing. When I’m teaching I get more peeved by the old guy that always comes to class in tiny shorts which gives us a view we really didn’t pay for.
Another thing that bothers me… when girls wear shorts and guys are trying to look up their shorts during class. Makes me wanna smack students in the back of the head – focus on your own bits that might be hanging out – ahem, old tiny shorts guy.
I found your blog through this article. And I have to say – the article was spot on!!
As an instructor:
Students talking during class
Cell phone ringing during class, esp. if it happens more than once. Though around here I don’t see this much, most people are pretty respectful and leave cell phones outside of the room.
People who use thick stretchy pilates/fitness mats and then slip, slide and wobble during class (even after I advise them to switch to a yoga mat).
As a student there were people in class who annoyed me and I gave them nick names: Cell Phone Lady and Horse Lady, Cell Phone Lady always had her phone and it always rang during class, and wore panty hose under her yoga pants and they always stuck out the top of the waist and came to class in 5 inch platform heels! Horse Lady had the ugliest feet and wore very loose tank tops with no bra and was generally unatractive and all these factors made for a unpleasant yoga class if she put her mat in front of mine, which seemed to happen alot!!! I had to try not to look at her feet, they didn’t look like human feet.
Wouldn’t it be nice to write lists of what we love about yoga instead of our peeves….Shine on the good yoga vibes!
My pet peeve is people who forget that the Practice of Yoga exists for the benefit of all mankind. We get peeved when we forget that there is no such thing as ‘self’ and ‘other’.
Our peeves are our practice.
@john,
How about yoga teachers who push too hard and stress me out … ?
(No, I didn’t take a wrong turn on my way to Gentle Yoga Class, but I HAD been around taking a hatha yoga course before 1994, and DO know the difference …!)
Yoga teachers who sneak up on you silently and without warning, pull you up into full expression of wheel or headstand when you are at prep pose, let go for some few seconds and leave you there—all this while you’re being NOT so FLEXIBLE, STRONG or YOUNG (and unable to get into the pose yourself by VERY long shot! I hadn’t intended to crawl into child’s pose and remain under my blanket just to send you my “I’M good” message!)
Teachers who give a deceptively mild “Free Introductory Class” … with a same-day signup discount … I’d stayed in the Beginner’s level class almost overly long (due to chronic sleep deprivation) and noticed my same class being dumbed down and boring periodically every couple weeks … class didn’t even ruin my hair … even tho’ I woke up tired … !
Oh yeah, the same Beginner’s class when they think they have a quorum of young Turks is actually close to an All Level class …
When, despite all the premature pushing, you’ve actually started to “advance” (partially through those DVDs at home, since you can’t afford many classes) … teachers who pander to the advanced practitioners or their own private students in the room, and don’t try to teach you anything new …
These same teachers try and make you feel like you’re taking up space in their All Level class because they have to slow their regular students down and conspire to have to take a private to “catch up” … that gets your now skinny wallet to do a headstand and not you ….
I better stop …
well, people are still writing about their pet peeves on my post:
http://lindasyoga.blogspot.com/2010/06/things-that-make-you-want-to-say.html
the last one was a DOOZY! yikes!
last one for me: yoga teachers who sneak up and try to “adjust” me without asking permission….I hip-checked the wife of a well-known yoga teacher in a workshop once because she wasn’t getting my cues to leave me alone….and no, it wasn’t Coleen what’s her name….
After reading the above, it seems that my yoga peers are very well-behaved and polite. But I do have a pet peeve I didn’t see listed (my apologies if I missed it). It’s something I’ve termed “prop creep”. It’s when my yoga neighbor takes up an entire yoga mat’s worth of space next to (not in front or behind) his/her mat for props. And then by the end of class, the props have been moved around and are practically on my mat and in my face. It’s especially obnoxious in a crowded class. Thanks for letting me air that gripe! (Commence to Om’ing.)
People who talk.
People who don’t put their props away.
People who don’t notice that space has run out and maybe they should make some room for someone else.
People who do their own thing instead of following the teacher (not talking about resting in child’s pose. I mean doing their own thing like a teacher isn’t even there.)
People who criticize the teacher/other students after class.