Sweating to the Yogis

After about a month hiatus from yoga, I jumped back in this morning.  There is a Bikram studio less than three miles from our apartment.  For those of you unaware, I've been practicing Bikram yoga for five years.  A month is definitely the longest I'd like to go without practicing because I could definitely feel the difference.  

Having only practiced yoga in Florida and with two primary teachers over the last five years, I was a little apprehensive.  The postures and the order are the same regardless of the Bikram studio you attend, so that made it less daunting.

This studio had the squishy gym-type floor which was pretty cool.  It had that familiar warmth, but there were definite differences in how the people picked a position and set up their mats.  People were bringing in their bags, phones, and keys.  That was a definite no-no in Orlando, and I liked it that way.  And yes, someone's phone did go off during class.  Annoying.   


There was a sign on the door to the yoga room about no talking in the room.  This was the only rule that people seemed to follow.  There were two women in the back row who were obviously deaf (signing to one another, hearing aids).  I guess one of them was vocalizing during signing to the other.  Someone who hadn't been paying attention did that loud shushing thing to them.  When the deaf woman didn't immediately pipe down, the shusher began talking to the back of the deaf woman's head.  It was uncomfortable and strange.  But I'm there to get my yoga on, so I tuned all that out.


Class starts in the same familiar way.  A late comer arrives and puts her mat directly in front of me.  This is not a huge deal.  I just move my mat a couple inches to one side, and I can see myself again.  The annoying part about that is the person who is now in front of me has a horrible practice.  She doesn't listen to the instructor.  She's doing her own thing.  Distracting.  But again, I'm there for me, so I ignore her.


For the most part, the students are slacky in their practice like the late comer in front of me.  They go into the posture before the instructor tells them to.  They stand and do nothing while others are in the posture.  They sit on their mats while others are in the posture.  One women even left class before it ended.  


Another odd thing was that the instructor gave very few corrections to the students.  I think there was one instance where the instructor said a student's name and gave a correction.  It was not a room full of perfect  practitioners.


It definitely does not seem to be the most disciplined group.  That could be due to the teacher, but I kinda doubt it.  I'm hoping some of other instructors set the bar a bit higher.  I miss Skip and Julie already.