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YOGA
CLASS ETIQUETTE
These
basic guidelines are to help enhance your yoga practice and aid in the
collective experience of the sacred. Please
help keep our space a sanctuary for all by observing the following:
- Absolutely
never bring a cell phone or pager into the wellness room. This doesn't
mean turn off the ringer because sooner or later you will forget.
Leave it in your car. If you can't be out of touch for an hour and a
half, this is indicative of an imbalance in your life. Remember, 90%
of stress is self-induced.
- If
possible, bathe prior to your practice. Please do not wear perfume or
any scent. You may love your perfume or oil, but there will be people
who don't and they may be doing deep breathing two feet away. Twelve
or more people sweating in a closed space is odorous than twelve or more
people all wearing different brands of perfume. Also, people with
allergies can be very sensitive to them.
- No
shoes in the wellness room, please. In yoga, people put their hands,
and sometimes their face, on the floor. You're going to take your
shoes off anyway, so please remove them at the door.
- Arrive
a few minutes early. Entering
class constantly late is very disruptive and disrespectful to others, and
also to your nervous system. If
you do arrive a few minutes late, take a breath, unravel your mat outside,
and then enter as slowly and quietly as you can.
Consider being prompt as a part of your yoga practice.
- Acquire
and use your own yoga mat. Using the public mats is not as hygienic.
- Please
never enter or leave the room when the class is in meditation, prayer, or
savasana [(deep relaxation) (final relaxation)].
- Enter
the wellness room in silence. Please
do not enter and start visiting. Go
right into meditation or stretching. Yoga
practice starts when you walk in.
- Keep
your eyes on your own practice. We
practice inwardly (inside to outside).
When you can finish your practice without knowing what the person
next to you was wearing or even whom else was in the room, then you’ll
know you were truly focused.
- Abandon
the competitive mind set. Yoga is absolutely non-competitive. It
is not just a "work out." It is not just
"cross-training." It is a spiritual practice, which makes
the body stronger, more flexible, and generally much healthier. But
the aim is to calm the mind, open the heart, and accelerate our spiritual
evolution.
- Practice
on an empty stomach. It is
recommended that you do not eat at least three hours before practice.
If a serious condition prevents this, eat easily digested foods,
i.e., fruit or yogurt, one hour before.
- No
food or beverages in the wellness room. If necessary, bottled water is
okay, but it is recommended to avoid constant sipping. We aim to
generate internal heat; constant sipping cools the body. After
practice, drink plenty of pure water.
- Be
kind and loving to yourself by accepting where you are.
Rest sometimes. "Do
what you can, with what you have, with where you are." Remember,
"Wherever, whenever in our life we begin, yoga is perfect.
No experience or flexibility is required."
If any medical condition has changed since you completed the Health
History Form, please mention any pre-existing or special condition to the
teacher at the beginning of the class so that you can be helped.
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