There’s a bit of an age gap between me and most of the women in the hot yoga studio. That’s usually okay. I like young people. But the instructors are also pretty young and sometimes it can be grating.
I’d had a really tough week. My father died last month, I’ve got teenagers coming and going and struggling to plan their lives, I’ve got a partner about to have major surgery (not life threatening but still) that involves possibly two weeks in hospital and a couple of months off work recovering, and things in general aren’t ticking along the way they usually do. I’m not my usual resilient cheerful self.
After a super tough weekend that followed the tough week–exercise was all that was helping and I’d already been for a run, done a two hour bike trainer class and thrown people around and been thrown around at Aikido–I decided to end the weekend on Sunday with an 8 pm Power Flow class at the hot yoga studio. Stretch and bend!
I nearly laughed out loud though when the 20-something yoga instructor began her speech about intention setting for the class. “You’ve been putting on a good face on a horrible week and now is time to put that mask away and be honest and open with your feelings. You can bring all your emotions to the mat and really get in touch with the true you. You don’t need to pretend anymore. Be honest with yourself and feel those emotions.”
No, actually, just no.
You have no idea who is in your class and what they’re going through. I did a quick headcount. 32 people. And I thought, you really don’t want 32 people getting in touch with their true feelings in this very small, very hot room.
And then she continued telling us that when we got home we don’t have to do the dishes, we don’t have to pack that lunch, and we don’t have to do our homework. It’s okay just to focus on you, she said.
At that point I wanted to raise my hand and say that actually I did have to do the dishes and pack lunch. And homework? How old are these people? Probably they did really have to do that homework.
I think I’m ready for masters yoga. Middle age lady yoga. Or even silent yoga. I’d do naked yoga if it was quiet. Music would be fine. BUT NO TALKING! Yoga with no sermons and intention setting. I like my yoga light on metaphysics, I knew that, but it also turns out that I like it without life advice!
How about you? Are you inspired or annoyed by yoga sermons?
I might be grumpy enough these days for Angry Yoga.
