Drop and give me 20, and also namaste

A couple of months ago I was at an exercise class that I do with people that I work with. It's called "bootcamp" and the basic idea is that we always do part if not all of the exercise outdoors. The instructor leads us through some cardio and calisthenics, plus a little bit of weight training. The things I like about it are the peer pressure (something about running around our building with colleagues makes me push myself more than being alone or with strangers at the gym), the fresh air (some days I feel like I don't have any idea what the weather is outside, as I am in all day at work) and the variety of exercises that we do.

At this particular class, the instructor had us working on balance in tree pose. She asked if anyone did yoga, which most of the people had tried but not practiced regularly. I was the exception. People shared their experiences (I also like this class because we all chat) and the instructor made a careful but still somewhat negative comment, which was that she had experienced yoga fans to be what she called "snobs." It wasn't a global denouncement. I think it somehow came out as "yoga snobs" or "exercise snobs," but the tone was that people who were really into yoga were elitists when it came to exercise.

I wasn't sure how to react to this comment, and I didn't really at the time. But it kept coming back to me, perhaps because I was trying to determine what she meant, and how I felt about it. I could have been offended, I suppose, because I absolutely love yoga and it is very important to me. I could have been defensive, feeling like she was slighting instructors that I care very much for and who provide me with much more than an exercise routine. I could have been surprised, since so much of yoga is about self acceptance and being okay with how things are. But I think I didn't have those reactions because I practice yoga when I am on my yoga mat, and I practice yoga in my daily life. So when she made the comment, I observed it, and let it pass. When the comment returned to me a few times, I considered it, and let it pass. When I thought about what I wanted to write today, I thought about some of my experiences with yoga of late, and I thought about her comment.

I can't say for certain what experiences led her to the feeling that "yoga people" are snobs. I've certainly seen opinionated instructors be somewhat rigid about the asanas, the body alignment, the value of yoga above and beyond the physical practice. I have observed certain personality types that are a little on the OCD side, like the instructor who wanted all the mats lined up exactly so he could check alignment. (Or maybe so he could relax because if the mats had been random, his head would have exploded, since he couldn't make it so everyone's body was exactly the same). Maybe someone else who did her bootcamp had a criticism of a stretch or a yoga pose that she was using and she took it personally. I can think of a number of reasons she could have come to this conclusion.

The conclusion I reached of late is quite different. I have been going to the same yoga studio for seven years now, and taking yoga with a variety of instructors. I have gone through various stages of flexibility and inflexiblity, both in the physcial sense and in my ability to cope with changes in instructors and styles. Last week I went to a yoga class at my gym. I must admit, I had certain expectations about what the class would be like. I guess I had fairly low expectations since I had been to yoga at various gyms and had found it to be more of a "yoga-like" exercise class. (This is my inner yoga snob speaking.) But I was excited to have another opportunity to get on my mat, regardless of what the class or the instructor was like. As it turned out, I loved the class. It was not particularly creative, and the bright florescent lights and floor to ceiling mirrors did not encourage the meditative mind, but it was yoga for me, very much so. While we were going through the asanas I felt very much at peace being surrounded by all of the other people. Because even though I wasn't in a studio with an altar and mood lighting, there was a real sense of union for me in that space. Everyone was trying to be in the moment, working at whatever level they could, and being respectful of the space and the others around them. Everyone came in for their own reasons, worked with their own intensity, and contributed to an effort that was more than just an after dinner workout.

I am thankful to the many wonderful teachers and friends who have helped me get to this point in my practice. I hope that I can continue to grow and get further and further from snobdom when it comes to yoga and other things. And I hope that my bootcamp instructor can find balance when it comes to "yoga people" because she is such a positive and kind person who gives so much to her students.