online yoga forum

I went with a friend to check out the local yoga offering at one of the gyms in her suburb. I have been doing yoga for a while and she wanted me along for support I think. Anyway we start the practice, the class was massive by the way about 40 people or so, and the yoga was supposed to be hatha flow, but honestly it felt like we were rushing through the poses, there was no balance between one side of the body or the other.

The vibe in the room was really weird, it felt like there was this competitive element which I've never felt before in yoga . There was certainly no connection with the breath, there was no sense of calm. I actually left feeling stressed and my body felt tense! Not exactly what you want from a yoga practice .

In the nicest possible way I told my friend what I felt and to be honest it gave me a real appreciation of the place where I practice, that respects each individual and provides a non competitive space to come together and the small classes where I feel safe.

I wonder if classes like that re still benifitial though...I mean, those students aren't really getting the proper yoga experience... but, if they weren't doing yoga they would probably just be doing exercize ball or step aerobics or something.

and I bet they get a little something just by going through the motions... maybe a seed will be planted that sprouts later on, at a real yoga studio.

or, maybe they were curios about yoga, and after doing one of those classes they say "wow, that sure isn't what I thought it would be! forget yoga!"