Studio Etiquette
Payment:
Yoga is based on honesty,
so simply be honest. Do not try to get free classes just because your
friend is the teacher, or because you are a teacher. Teachers usually
get free yoga where they teach, but this does not mean you should get
free everywhere. Do not try to change your name in order to take
advantage of new student packages most studios have to offer. You only
get to be a new student once. Simply abide by the rules for each studio
you enjoy practicing at. Remember that the type of energy you project,
you also attract. As an instructor, it is a rare occasion that you will
find yourself behind the desk, but the same rules apply, just be honest
and have integrity in all your transactions and dealings.
Teachers:
Many
of us have preferences for which teacher we most enjoy practicing with,
and this is normal and perfectly acceptable. What is unacceptable is
voicing your opinions on which teachers are awesome and which are not at
the studio, especially within earshot of any owner, secretary or, god
forbid, teachers. This classifying forgets that we are all entitled to
our own experience and opinions, not to mention it is incredibly rude,
and if your words happen to fall on the wrong ears, say your least
favorite teacher's ears, they can be extremely, and unnecessarily
hurtful. This also means that if you show up to take your favorite
teachers class and there is you may not know, or don't prefer, take
class anyways. Everything happens for a reason and you are meant to show
up that day for yoga with that specific teacher, like it or not.
Leaving would be missing out on an opportunity to learn. If that means
that you end up judging and comparing the teacher the whole time, then
shame on you, but watch your judging and comparing, naturally detaching
from it and learn more about it, maybe you'll even get to transform it
into love and light, which is the purpose of living. It is also highly
inappropriate if you are a teacher comparing other teachers as well.
keep your opinions to yourself, practice with your preferred teachers,
and learn to let go if you show up and your favorite teacher has a sub.
Chatting in the Lobby:
Depending
on the studio, the lobby may be located within ear shot of the class
room. If this is the case, keep your volume to a dull roar. Typically,
if you arrive 15 minutes early or right before, you are also arriving
when previous classes are winding down, or already in savasana
meditation. Respect the savasana by not chatting away loudly in the
lobby, disrespecting the peace and quite of the students still in class.
Keep this in mind if you are the instructor checking your students in
as well.
Class Etiquette
Scents:
No matter how
pleasant you think your favorite oils, perfumes, sprays, lotions, etc.
are keep in mind that in a room full of perspiring yoga students your
strong scents may in fact insult the nostrils of a fellow student - this
goes for teachers too.
Alcohol or drug Use:
This kind of
goes without saying, and mostly for the reason that you should always
come to the mat with the intention of letting whatever is meant to
happen happen, but preparing yourself beforehand with the utmost
integrity. Showing up drunk or high does not set you up to be clear to
experience the process that occurs or not. It is also dangerous for you
and for your fellow students and teacher, as you never know what can
happen when mixing drugs or alcohol with an intense physical, emotional,
mental, and spiritual experience.
Arrive early for class:
Not
only is it extremely distracting to have students come to class late
for the students, but also for the teacher. Once class begins, a
beautiful orchestration of energy begins to flow involving the teacher
and students together as one moving, breathing, flowing energy. A trust
and safeness is felt as the energy of the individual merges with the
group as a whole. If a student walks in late, it interrupts this
mutually felt trust and safety that is felt. Eventually, the energies
will merge again, but if this can be avoided. Arriving not just on time,
but early to allow for ample time to pay, go to the bathroom, set your
things in a safe spot, create your sacred space, and drop in is the way
to not only avoid interrupting the sacred flow of experience that occurs
in each class, but it also sets you up for success. It is acting with
compassion for you, for your class mates and for your teacher. Teachers
should arrive early, how early depends on the protocol of the studio
where you teach. Typically, you want to arrive with enough time to get
settled, and prepared for teaching. Make sure you give yourself enough
time to set up music, set up your mat, and water, clear the room of any
negative energy, and set your intention for teaching, usually about 15
minutes is ample time for this.
Remove your shoes:
In the
class room, treat the space with respect. Your mat is placed on the
floor, where your sacred experience takes place. Respect not only your
mat, but the floor beneath it by removing your shoes. This will also
prevent tracking dirt all over the studio floor where often times your
feet, hands, and who knows what other body parts may touch.
Electronic devices:
Yoga
is meant to calm the fluctuations of the mind and so a peaceful, and
relaxing environment is key. It is also meant to bring you into the
present moment. a phone call can not only disturb the ears of everyone
in the class room, but it can also set everyone's mind off on wondering
who the phone belongs to, who just irritated and distracted them, who is
calling, and what did they want, thereby bringing everybody into the
past and future and away from the present moment. Do not bring your
phone, or beeper into class under any circumstances. In some special
cases, the teacher may allow you to bring in your phone, but this must
be communicated to the teacher ahead of time. Also, you must ask the
teacher if it is OK rather than tell them, and be respectful of whatever
their choice is. Remember that the teacher has a whole class to
consider, not just you.
Mat placement:
Some classrooms will
have mirrors and some will not. If mirrors are present, this is an
opportunity for you to visually check your own alignment by placing your
mat so that you have a clear visual line to the mirror. This is not
always possible, but do your best. Give others the same opportunity to
check out and refine their own alignment by placing your mat in a way so
that the students behind you can also see. Often times staggering mats
works best for this. Also, many students come to class and bring all
their old habits in with them, such as continually placing their mat in
the same spot. Yoga is about breaking patterns, so do not feed into your
old, rigid patterns by continually "getting your spot" in class. When
you walk into the room, see if you can tap into your intuition to tell
you where you should place your mat for this particular class. This will
keep your perspective fresh from the moment you set your mat down.
Respect other space:
Whether
you are slightly new to yoga, or a seasoned practitioner you probably
can remember some amazing breakthroughs you had had on your mat,
physically, mentally and emotionally. So, in a way you have gone through
some processes, or journeys on your mat. Now think about your practice
as a whole and the accumulation of journeys you have gone through, which
is your journey through yoga. think about how special that is to you
and think about how that journey takes place on your mat. Your mat hold
the collective vibration of the accumulation of all the experiences that
have taken place on it, and so is very sacred. Respect your mat by
keeping it clean, physically, and energetically. Respect others mats too
by consciously walking around, thereby respecting their sacred space.
Let the teacher be the teacher:
Not
only from a student's perspective, but also from a teacher's, it is
extremely rude when a student takes liberty to instruct another student,
get up to adjust the heat, lights, music, doors, windows, etc. Hold
space for the teacher to hold the energy of the room in a safe and
nurturing environment. Additionally, if a student takes liberty to help
out the teacher in the way they see fit, it subconsciously causes the
class to lose trust in the teacher's ability to lead. An exception to
this rule is if the teacher asks for your help. As a teacher, if a
student challenges your authority, and begins to help you out, ask them
kindly to stop and return to their mat. After class, it is up to you if
you want to ask them not to do that again and offer an explanation why.
Often times, asking them to stop and return to their mat is enough. If
it becomes a problem, it is up to you to talk with the necessary people
so as to create a safe space for your students while you are teaching.
Let the class be the class:
Sometimes
we show up to a class and it is not what we expected or wanted to get
from that hour or hour and a half of our precious time. However
expecting and getting are two things that yoga invites us to overcome.
Yoga does not just take place on the mat, it takes place in your life as
well. So coming to class with expectations, and wanting to get
something particular out of the class demonstrates a weak yoga practice.
If you happen to show up and are not in love with the flow, your
dissatisfaction with class becomes your practice and you can learn to
detach from and watch it. If you can manage to shift your perspective in
this way, you can open yourself up to experience one of the most
powerful, and important yoga classes you have ever taken. This is a far
better demonstration of integrity than leaving, or doing your own thing.
Talking during class:
In
the few lingering moments before class begins you should give yourself
some time to shift gears from your busy life to your yoga practice. It
is impossible to shift into an inward focused practice when you spend
these moments talking with your neighbor. In addition, talking before
class disturbs those around who who are trying to make that inward
shift. During the entire duration of class, remaining silent is
essential. Only the teachers voice and any music played during class
should be heard.
Leaving early:
There will be times when a
student needs to leave early. In this case, it is up to the teacher to
allow this or not. If you chose to let them take class, you can place
them in the back of the room, so that when they leave early it is of the
least disturbance to the rest of the class. Some yoga is better than no
yoga.
Special cases:
This includes temporary or permanent
injuries, disfigurements, and illnesses. This is a very personal
subject. First of all it is up to the student to decide whether they
want to practice or not. If you feel up to coming to class with an
injury or disfigurement, great! Everybody who wants to show up to their
mat should be honored and recognized for that. It takes a lot of courage
to show up. As far as illness goes, practice ahimsa (compassion) both
for yourself and for others. If you are contagious, do not bring your
illness into the room and share it with your fellow students and
teacher, and potentially the whole studio. If your are ill, but not
contagious, its really up to you to decide. If you want to practice, by
all means practice.
Savasana:
Savasana is the part of class
where the benefits are realized. If you need to skip out on savasana
once in a great while, its OK, just tell your teacher ahead of time. If
this becomes a regular occurrence or preference, take a look at that. If
you can't come to the whole class, then you can't show up to receive
the full benefits. If this is the case, then why come to class?
Keep track of your things:
It
can be pretty frustrating to leave the studio and realize you left your
favorite mat, mat towel, wallet, etc. at the studio. "Yoga Brain" is
that the totally present, and a little too connected to the intense
experience we just had, so not connected to things like belongings state
of mind we tend to get when leaving the studio. Yoga Brain can be
blamed for many things, including forget our belonging at the studio.
Try to make it a habit of making one last final check list of your
belongings before you leave the studio. in addition, you wouldn't
believe the hot, sweaty, smelly pile of belongings that tend to
accumulate from the many washings of yoga brain a studio experience on a
daily basis.
Serra Lynn Smick is a healer of sorts living in Big Sur, CA. She
is a Yoga Instructor, a Yoga Instructor Trainer, Yoga Workshop &
Retreat Leader, as well as a Meditation Guide, Reiki Master, Nutritional
Advisor and writer of many holistic and spiritual topics. Contact Serra
at
serra@serralynnsmick.com.
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