MOORE YOGA POSES
yoga classes ✤ tips ✤ workshops ✤ 1 on 1
yoga classes ✤ tips ✤ workshops ✤ 1 on 1
YOGA ETIQUETTE
YOGA ETIQUETTE
Over the years, I've often joked with my students that one of these days I was going to teach a whole class on just yoga etiquette! I playfully threaten this normally after a minor social lapse by one or two of my students. Good manners makes the world a better place and I think that it is especially true in a yoga class. Yoga etiquette can be tricky at times for the new student mainly because it isn't talked about that much, but have no fear, Moore Yoga Poses is here to help! If you follow these small suggestions and you are mindful of others, you'll start out on the right foot with your fellow yogis and maybe earn some good karma too.
1. Timing is everything
A good start, starts from the very beginning I say, so be on time. Yoga classes tend to start on time, so do your best to arrive before the start of the class. This will give you the opportunity to get settled, relax and to speak quietly with the teacher before the class begins if the need arises. It will also keep the whole class from being disrupted too much. Of course life is unpredictable and you may be late on a rare occasion. Luckily, yoga folks are usually a friendly bunch and they will forgive you (if you follow etiquette tip number 2).
2. Enter like a ninja
Well maybe not exactly like a ninja, you should use the door and not the widow. Try to enter the room in a way that won't interrupt the flow of the yoga class. If you are less than 10 minutes late, please enter the room quietly. Some classes may begin with meditating, relaxing breathing, quiet time or even chanting. The start of a yoga class is designed to help the student center their mind and warm up their body. It is a chance to forget about the activity of the outside world and to focus your attention within. It's a chance to be in the present moment.
If you are going to be more than 15 minutes late to a 1 hour class, you may not be allowed to take the class at some yoga studios or health clubs. If this happens to you, please don't take it personally. In these instances, the teacher is only thinking about your safety. A good yoga class usually progresses from milder poses to more challenging ones. Without the proper warming up of the body and the calming down of the mental chatter, a minor injury could occur during the more advanced poses. Your teacher wants you to be healthy, happy, and most of all safe. Yoga can be a practice for a lifetime.
3. Om my goodness
While we are on the topic of sound. Om is such a beautiful sound and it is very common for a hatha yoga class to begin with 3 repetitions of this holy vibration. Although it only takes a few moments to create this special sound, I am sometimes amazed by how much other sound can be generated when good yoga etiquette isn't practice. Avoid these next few faux pas and you're well on your way to being loved by your new classmates.
When the class is tuning in with Om, please refrain from creating some other vibration like talking to your neighbor about the elusive art of perfect yoga mat placement, kicking off your shoes across the room, checking your cell phone one last time, doing your own personal " last minute pre-yoga class stretching" , asking the teacher a question, loud yawns and so on. Chanting Om can help your practice but if you don't want to chant, no worries. No one will try to make you recite anything . Even by just hearing the sound, you will obtain some benefit. Yoga practitioners only ask that you are quiet when they are chanting.
4. Can you here me now?
Yes we can! Cellphones can be very useful in your everyday life but not so useful in a yoga class. Please turn off your cell phones before entering a yoga class. It is a way to be considerate to everyone in the class and to yourself. Give yourself every opportunity to leave the commotion of the day behind for an hour or two. You deserve it and so do we. If by some chance you forget to turn off the phone and it rings, don't panic! We are yoga practitioners after all, so calmly, quietly and quickly turn off the phone. Sooner or later everyone in the class will make this innocent mistake (teachers too) and they will forgive you, if you turn it off. Do not let the phone ring and ring and ring thinking that you will only get 1 phone call during the class, you won't. Everyone and their mother will call your phone, just turn it off with a smile and everything will be alright.
5. The smell of victory
If cleanliness is next to Godliness, then you are going to want a Godly person next to you in class. Popular yoga teachers can have very crowded classes at certain times of the day and there is plenty of deep breathing in the practice, you get the idea. Make sure that you are clean. A nice shower can have a revitalizing influence on the body and mind. Also avoid wearing any type of strong fragrance, other yogis could be sensitive to it.
6. The agony of de-feet
Walking across other students yoga mats is not a good thing and walking across their mats with your shoes on is really discourteous. No friends will be made.Yoga is practiced with bare feet, so if you plan to take class at a yoga studio or ashram, always remove your shoes before entering the class. This is seen as being respectful to the teacher and your place of practice. Yogis feel that their mats are a part of their personal space and with good reason. In class there are many times when you will either lie down or rest your face on the mat and you want it to be clean.
7. We're on a roll!
It is always better to buy your own mat, it’s more hygienic but if you don't have one, you can usually borrow or rent a mat from the place that you practice in. When using a yoga mat that belongs to a yoga studio or health club, please return it to it's proper place. I teach at many different locations and every place seems to have their on system for storing mats. If they like them folded, then fold. If they love them laid out flat, then flat it is and if they prefer them rolled then roll' em.
What ever they like, do it, but do it neatly. This will show that you are a mindful yogi not only during class but after class as well and the yoga students in the following class will be thankful for your thoughtfulness.
8. The dead are restless
Savasana is called corpse pose in english. As the name implies, you are trying to rest very deeply. It is an important poses that comes at the very end of class. Don't skip it! Savasana is your gift to yourself for all of the hard work that you've done during class. It allows the body and mind to process the experience of the class. It is a calming time (the time before the class starts is a time for quiet as well)
It's definitely not the time to chat with the person next to you, rustle through your handbag, ask a question about an asana (pose) that you did 20 minutes ago, make a cell phone call or drag your unrolled mat across the feet and heads of the resting students as you leave 5 minutes early ( yes, sadly these are real examples).
Many people love Savasana because it helps to ground them in a peaceful way before they leave. Being quiet during corpse pose is a way to be considerate to the group and the class won't feel haunted by the restless "dead" among them, If you feel that you can't stay for Savasana, we ask that you exit before so that others can enjoy this time peacefully.
9. Pay it forward
The most important rule of yoga etiquette is to be kind, patient and forgiving to those who break the unspoken rules. Yogis should be flexible not only on the mat, but off the mat as well. You never know when you might be the one who is late, loud or forgetful. No one is perfect, that's why we call it a practice. So the next time that you're in a class and 1 or more of the rules seem to be forgotten, try not to be disturbed.
