YOGA CLASS ETIQUETTE
DO arrive early. Getting to class about 10
minutes early can help you settle in and align your attitude with the purpose
of the class. While you're waiting you can practice a pose, do a few stretches,
or just sit or lie quietly, breathe, and get centered. Please keep talking to a
minimum and in hushed tones as we are all seeking a gentle escape from reality:)
DO place shoes on the shoe shelves so that we
can keep our tag line: A barefoot kind of place! Thank you!! Please hang coats
and bags in the 'closet' before entering the studio.
DON'T eat for two or three hours before
class. If you practice yoga on a full stomach, you might experience cramps,
nausea, or vomiting, especially in twists, deep forward bends, and inversions.
Digesting food also takes energy that can make you lethargic. No gum in class.
Eat a light snack 30 minutes prior to class.
DO let your teacher know about injuries or
conditions that might affect your practice. If you are injured or tired, skip
poses you can't or shouldn't do, or try a modified version.
DO create an intention. To help you focus, you
might find it helpful to dedicate your practice to a certain intention. This
might be to become more aware and understanding, more loving and compassionate,
or healthier, stronger, and more skillful. Or it might be for the benefit of a
friend, a cause—or even yourself.
DON'T bring pagers or cell phones to class.
Leave socializing and business outside the studio, so the peace of the practice
is not disturbed.
DO be quiet. It's great to share a class with
people you know, but it can be distracting to yourself and others to have an
extended or loud conversation, especially in our amazing high ceiling/hardwood
floored studio!
DO arrive clean and free of scents that might distract
or offend others.
DO place your mats where you like them, but
please leave the back of the room by the entrance available for those who may
arrive after you.
DON'T push it. Instead of trying to go as
deeply or completely into a pose as others might be able to do, do what you can
without straining or injuring yourself. You'll go farther faster if you take a
loving attitude toward yourself and work from where you are, not from where you
think you should be.
DO pick up and neatly put away any props you
use.
DON'T enter class late or leave early; it's
disruptive to others. Classes begin and end on time and in a prompt manner. If
you are running behind, please enter the closet area quietly and listen to see
if we are moving through asanas. If we are still centering, then hold off on
entering until you hear movement. Please do not enter if you are more than 10
minutes late--instead go treat yourself to a trip to the bookstore or a cup of
hot tea--take in some breaths and remember to just BE. You allowed yourself
this time to BE so you should still honor that even if you are not within the
studio  .
DO take time afterwards to think about what you
did in class, so you can retain what you learned. Review the poses you
practiced, and note any instructions that particularly made sense. Even if you
remember just one thing from each class, you'll soon have a lot of information
that can deepen your own personal practice.
Don't lose the joy in life and celebrate it
every chance you get!
Cheers,
Trish
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