Last Saturday, I attended the first Yoga at Rose event and to be honest, I was disappointed. This was my first actual yoga class. I think the only other time I sort of did yoga was a ten minute mindfulness session in my high school gym where we were stretching and breathing along with random teachers. I thought that was more relaxing.
Perhaps I was too in my head for a lot of it, but I didn’t feel the relaxing benefits people usually think about when it comes to yoga. It wasn’t that I was distracted by my typical worries about school and life. My thoughts were just not as free as I thought they would be.
I wanted to relax, but something about the class and atmosphere was somehow unsettling to me. Perhaps it was the speed of some of the motions. I didn’t feel like I was extending or stretching some parts of my body fully when doing them and it felt rushed, which definitely didn’t help my mind relax. I wasn’t feeling the warrior poses, which seem kind of quintessential yoga, and I don’t think technically my alignment was off, but the instep of one of my feet got progressively sorer throughout the motions.
Perhaps the most distracting thing was what the instructor kept saying during the whole session. At one point, she said something about astrology – I can’t even remember what she said about it – the mention of the word astrology was shocking itself. Eagle pose supposedly helps clear out the lymph nodes. Every single thing we did was qualified as good stress relief. The music sounded kind of campy. The constant sounds from the dining hall and people looking in and making comments was also distracting.
I don’t know what exactly it was, but I didn’t leave feeling any more relaxed. At the beginning, I truly had the best intentions of spending part of my Saturday settling into my body and centering myself, but I just couldn’t relax in that space. I wish I had a better experience with the yoga class. In terms of relaxation, this is something I probably won’t be doing again soon.
I love yoga! I think is a very soothing and relaxing experience. But, I think that maybe the awareness of where you were might have hindered your experience. I hope you try again! Yoga is great!
I love yoga! I think is a very soothing and relaxing experience. Maybe it was the the awareness of where you were might have hindered your experience? Since you say you kept hearing the dining hall noises. I hope you try again! Yoga is great!
I’m really sorry you felt this way about the class. I attended as well, and while I agree that the environment was very distracting from the practice itself, I found the changes very interesting. I’ve only ever done yoga in dimly lit rooms, isolated from other sounds outside of the room. However, I’ve seen videos of people who go to beach for yoga as well and I imagine it is a lot more like what we experienced at this class.
I would urge you not to close yourself off to trying this experience at least once or twice more before you close off to it, however. If it was your first class lasting longer than 10 minutes, it might suggest that your expectations may not have been aligned with what a typical yoga class looks and feels like. I’ve frequently been told that you should try things at least three times before deciding if you like them or not. The first time you try something you get over the fear or the expectation of whatever you are trying. The second time allows you to actually adjust and experience things as they should be. The third time allows you to form a well-informed opinion on whatever you are trying out. I hope that if you do try another yoga class that you find your experience is better. WSH hosts yoga classes on Monday and Thursday evenings if you want to try a different environment for a class.
As an occasional doer of yoga, in classes and alone, I completely hear what you’re saying. Some classes or instructors are really just not suited for your particular likes or goals. Your post made me laugh out loud actually, because I too hate instructors who talk about the stars or aligning my body with the earth or something else like that that sounds completely ridiculous. I’ve even just left classes before when the instructor starts going on rants about the weird and unsubstantiated health benefits of certain poses or the position of the planets effecting my mood. That being said, I’ve never been a person who comes out of yoga in a kind of peaceful trance, and I honestly don’t understand how people do. Yoga is just stretching really, it’s a nice way to make your body feel less tight, so I suppose it could relieve stress that way. However, if you’re looking to yoga to put you into some calm, peaceful state of mind and take all your worries away, look somewhere else because it really doesn’t work that way.