Locker Room Talk
No, I will not be discussing the political satire surrounding the title of this blog post. Although, I may bring it up in the future. In the meantime, I just wanted to get your attention...
You know when you walk into the yoga studio and the person at the front desk, fellow yogi coming or going, or even the teacher says some shit like "have great class!"??? I have some seriously strong feelings about this. Like - no fucking shit it's gonna be a great class! I showed up for self, bitch! Don't put your shit on me just cause you come to your physical yoga practice letting your ego get in the way of your true self. You probably behave this way in everything you do! Bringing that duality to the conversation of what my particular class is going to be like, already sets me up for failure, because the opposite of great is poor, bad, unenthusiastic, shitty, I could go on.
This conversation is really about a students' thought process before, during and after class. As a teacher in mostly heated studios, I find it beyond annoying when students feel the need to share their heat experiences. "That class was soooo hot" or "there was a cool draft by me the entire time, it wasn't as hot as I wanted", or even their version of what is happening in class, like: "her mat is to close to mine" or "are we still in this pose?" or "does this teacher EVER stop talking?"
This is the locker room talk I am currently perturbed by. Why do students (human beings) find the need to harp on and over analyze experiences with a negative connotation? Every time you do this, you muck the waters. You minimize your growth and frankly, you miss the fucking point. Those sensations and things you noticed were there to teach you something you needed at exactly that moment. That's why I LOVE YOGA SO FREAKING MUCH. Physical yoga is designed to give you access to your ways of being. It's simply a portal to your mental capacity. Everything you do on your mat is a mirror, a clear version of who you are with everything you do off of your mat. How you do one thing, is how you do everything! So, begin to create awareness in how you respond to other things that are not physical yoga asana. You will start to see some serious parallels in your life practice and your yoga practice. This is the magic! This is where a REAL yoga practice begins.
Going forward, start to be incredibly mindful of how you categorize your personal experience when you share. No two bodies or understandings will ever look the same. No one can feel what you feel.
So, how about this next time someone asks you how your class was?
IT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED.
“How you do your yoga is how you do your life”
— Kari Jaffe
