Letters to the Editor
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Good lord
If you don't like something, don't do it. You don't have to write a long boring article (which I couldn't even get halfway through) about it. We know you're too cool to be into the newest cool thing.
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What you don't get, Clear Blue Sea
The point of my post was that if she didn't like what was being taught, she should find a class that will teach her what she wants to learn, the way she wants to learn it.
Stepping off to the side and doing her own thing while a teacher is trying to teach a class is offensive to the teacher and distracting to those students who want to learn what is being taught.
I have no idea whether partner yoga is a part of traditional yoga or not. I stated quite clearly that I have limited knowledge or experience in yoga.
My contention is that if you don't like what is being taught, if you don't agree with the teacher, that is your right. Take a walk through the door and don't come back.
But don't ruin things for everyone else.
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umm
Trust me no one wants to see a sweaty camel toe.
umm, speak for yourself.
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The last word
Yick!
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Yoga is funny--funny wierd, and funny haha!
I love this article because it is written by a yoga practitioner who is willing to poke a little fun at yoga subculture. I laughed aloud when reading it, just as I occasionally laugh aloud in yoga class.
American yoga is in a wild, roiling, expansive phase. All kinds of experimentation is going on. Sometimes the result of this exploration is something goofy--like partner yoga. But then sometimes experimentation makes yoga more accessible, understandable, and enjoyable for students--like adaptive yoga.
As serious and/or spiritual as yoga can be, let's not forget that it is also hilarious! Let the American yoga experimental free-for-all continue, and let's not forget to laugh a little along the way!
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Thank you!
I felt totally antisocial when my yoga instructor began asking class members to team up, and all I wanted to do was throw myself from the second floor window. The two or three experiences were excruciating and embarrassing. Who wants to look into a strangers' eyes anyway? I was too much of a coward to decline to participate because then everyone would know how weird and snobby I was. I guess I wasn't the only person who felt this way, because--thank God or Vishna or the Dali Lama--we haven't had to partner again for months. And, this dislike of forced intimacy has nothing to do with being from New York! I'm California through and through.
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Yo Hell's Liberal
Just FYI, "stepping aside" (which in yoga would be more "staying on your mat and doing something different," a lot less disruptive than what you seem to be describing) is actually encouraged in yoga classes. I can't imagine a single yoga teacher I've encountered, even the weirdest or least favorite ones I've had, who would be offended in any way by what Catherine describes. I don't think ClearBlueSea was trying to offend you, just give you more information.
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Hell's Liberal, got a question for you (OT)
I see that you teach T'ai Chi with an emphasis on self-defense. I have been taking Yang style T'ai Chi for about half a year now; before that, I studied Krav Maga for about 5 years before concluding that my body could not longer take the punishment of broken bones, being slammed to the mat, etc.
My T'ai Chi instructor de-emphasizes the self-defense aspects of T'ai Chi in favor of the health aspects. I'm fine with that, especially because he does teach Push Hands and some kind of sword style to advanced students (which I'm working on). However, I'm curious as to how effective T'ai Chi is for self-defense in a practical sense. Courses like Krav Maga teach you how to fight in as short a time as possible. In your opinion, is T'ai Chi effective as self-defense in the short run, or does it take years of practice before you can use it in a practical manner? Also, in your class do students get their bones broken? I'm tired of that, but I might be inclined to switch to a more self-defense oriented T'ai Chi class.
Thanks for any feedback.
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Let go of hate.
Dearest Catherine and dear readers ---
The essence of all Yoga is Union. It is a variety of practices that aim to foster internal union, social union, and union with universal forces (or divine forces). The practices have always evolved as humans have experimented with ways to make union real.
I suspect, contrary to your words, that "solitude" is not why you do Yoga. I mean, who goes to a room filled with 20 or so other people seeking solitude? You would be better off on a mat in your home... or walking in silence on a trail in nature.
I suspect that you seek peace, harmony, joy.... union. This has much less to do with where we place our hands than it has to do with our internal state as we go about placing our hands.
One point of clarification... Yoga is not an exclusively Hindu practice.
Also, there is interesting discussion of Acro-Yoga on the YogaJournal.com blog...http://blogs.yogajournal.com/yogabuzz/2007/08/acro_yoga.html
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partner work in anusara yoga...also injury possible
Looking for the roots of partner yoga should have taken the author to John Friend and Anusara yoga. Does he ever give a class without substantial time in partner with your "friends" in class? His teachers, of course, follow suit. Time is alloted in every anusara class i've ever taken to partner 'work', which often means a 10-15-20 min break from the personally intensity and introspection that yoga asana practice offers.
Besides being with smelly sweating students there is also risk of injury, especially when a smaller person is paired with a larger, stronger and not very informed partner. I've often felt manhandled by other students and injury is possible. As a teacher i also know some students don't want their boundaries invaded, especially with a 3 some, which again is not uncommon, two students adjusting one.
There are many choices in yoga classes, many styles and many teachers. Partner yoga is a choice and I agree with the writer that it's not mine, UNLESS the class or workshop has been specifically advertised as a partner yoga event. then i may choose do that that and bring my own partner. Otherwise you can be sure you'll get partner work in an anusara class at a minimum.