If you want to be on the good side of your yoga teacher and score points with other students in your yoga class also, keep in mind the following "do's" and "don'ts."
First, do get to class on time or, if possible, even a little before. Don't come in the door just as the teacher is announcing the starting pose or beginning the class meditation. It disrupts the process and breaks everyone's concentration. Plus, if everyone has already spread out their mats before you arrive and then they have to move to make room for you, the entire class is set back by at least five minutes while everyone regroups to accommodate you.
If others are quietly stretched out in child's pose when you walk in the door, don't start talking loudly about the things that are stressing you out and making you want to come to yoga to begin with. Some of your class members may want to know where you are going to dinner, what your daughter did in school, or why you're angry at your boss or spouse, but many might just be trying to relax, distress, and get ready for class. Talk to your friends outside the yoga shala before or after class and leave the studio in peace and quiet. If the class is disturbed, they may blame the instructor, who in turn will blame you if students stop coming. For the same reason, don't get to class too early and enter into the earlier class during its savasana.
Do turn your cell phone off during class. That loud ringer or incessant buzzing may interrupt the flow of the teacher's cueing and distract the students from their poses. Plus, it's hard to imagine that you can concentrate on your marichyasana and type a text message at the same time. You, the teacher, and everyone in the class deserves some quiet time. Your email messages, voicemail messages, and texts can wait until after class.
Don't whine about how you can't do this or that pose. You can do every pose. It may not start out looking like everyone else's pose, but you have to be true to yourself and build your own practice. It will get better with time. Just have faith and a little patience.
Do put away your borrowed accessories. If you borrowed a mat, roll it up and put it back (you may even want to clean it off if it was a power or ashtanga class and it's sweaty). If you borrowed a blanket, re-fold it neatly and put it on the shelf. Your teacher will be grateful; if you don't do it, the teacher will have to.
If you follow these simple "do's" and "don'ts," you'll be the yoga teacher's pet and will be popular with the other students as well. You may even get some extra adjustments to help you perfect your bhujangasana.
Ms. Holm, with her husband Steve, is the owner of Seahorse Ranch and Vineyard, a premium boarding facility and retreat in Florahome, Florida adjacent to the Etoniah Creek State Forest and George's Lake. She is enrolled in yoga teacher training at Sara Torbett's Yoga Life Studio, Deerwood, Jacksonville, Florida and host of the East Meets West Neighmaste Yoga Retreat at Seahorse Ranch and Vineyard Oct. 22, 23, 24 2010. For more information see [http://www.seahorseranchevents.com/Neighmaste-Yoga-Retreat.html]
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