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a post in which i truly find my atman
By heather | January 7, 2010
I hate January. There are lots of reasons to hate January – the weather, the lack of vacation time left after holiday excess, the gloomy dark days, the weather. But the biggest reason to hate January is all the newly-resolved-out-of-shape people clogging up my gym. There was a line for the treadmills in a gym that has approximately FIFTY of them (this is according to my friend Stacey, as I refuse to go near the hamster wheels this time of year). In fact, everyone I know who works out regularly despises the crowds and confusion that the new year brings.
If you are one of them, I truly commend you. Go you! Get fit 2010! However.
Might I suggest that you’d be more successful if you put it off for another month or so?
I taught a yoga class on Tuesday night that was THREE TIMES the size of my normal class. I was tripping over people in every direction, and we ran out of mats. I barely had room to walk between the rows of people the floor was so crowded. While I’m happy there is so much interest in yoga, this is the one time of year when I wish I taught somewhere that required people to sign up for sessions that separate the beginners from the regulars, only because there are SO. MANY. BEGINNERS.
When approximately half the class has never done a down dog, my challenge is to guide a practice that still works for students that have been with me for years. I noticed that newbies have a hard time sitting quietly and centering themselves, as the room was positively vibrating with anxiety to start the asana practice already! Let’s do poses! No one really gets what they came for – the beginners need more instruction than I can successfully give them, the regulars feel crowded and irritated that they won’t get as much hands on instruction.
Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching beginners, and usually I like teaching at a gym. Being someone’s first yoga instructor is a huge honor – you have the chance to shape that person’s practice for the rest of their lives. What you teach them in the first few yoga classes determines how they’ll practice, and more importantly how they’ll FEEL when they practice.
Maybe it isn’t January I hate, maybe it’s feeling like I can’t give all those beginners the best possible first exposure to a yoga class. The classes I teach during January, no matter how hard I try, are never my best classes.
So to those who have resolved to get in shape and be less stressed, give it another month before you start. There will be less people and more personalized attention, whether you’re doing cardio or yoga. You won’t have to deal with lines and crowds and personal space anxiety, and you might actually stick to it.
P.S. When I started this post it was going to be all about how I hate the crowds and get out of my way already, and look how sunshine and roses it turned out! Once again I am at peace with my world.
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January 7th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Maybe you could recommend to your gym that next year they add several January-March only classes that are different levels. By then the beginners who really want to stick with it would be ready to move into your level (maybe?) and the dropouts will have dropped out. Nice sunshine
Vicki’s last blog post..14 years = underwear