Yoga “Stuff Happens”
For Halloween this season, a yoga teacher I know decided to offer a class where everyone wore costumes and did their yoga poses with their eyes closed. My friend shuddered at the thought. “Tree Pose with my eyes closed? I can’t even think about it without getting dizzy!” But I said, bring it on! Why?
I do most of my yoga with my eyes closed anyway. I once took a class at a studio with a yoga client of mine. She seemed nervous with the close proximity of out mats being side by side. “I bet you’re going to be looking at me the whole time.” I reassured her that I do most of my yoga with my eyes closed so that I can concentrate and get into my Yoga Zone. I think she may have assumed I was being nice to help her relax. I suppose that somewhere along my yoga path, I must have felt the benefit of blocking out the world and focusing inward. This has been a beneficial experience for me because I am a screaming “E” (which in the Myer’s Brigg’s world translates as “Extrovert!”) I have to make an extra effort to dwell in a state of quietness and to not get distracted at the cute yoga pants someone is wearing across the studio. (OK, so I am an “ADHD-E.”)
The eye closing is not always a good thing, however. After a yoga class I had taught, I decided to do collarbone manipulations on everyone during Savasana. The soft music was playing, the lavender wafting in the air, as I quietly knelt behind each client, closed my eyes, and breathed out; gently pressing each person’s collarbones and shoulders onto the mat. Sounds heavenly, right?
What transpired was the “Manipulation from Hell.” I thought my hands were reaching down to press on the collarbones of one woman. When she let out an irritated audible, “EXCUSE ME!” I opened my eyes in horror as I realized my hands were pressing on her, shall we say, “padded bra area.”
This leads us to our “Yoga Stuff Happens” question of the week which is two fold:
1. Do you like to do and/or encourage people to do yoga with the eyes closed?
2. And the second question: What are some of your worst Yoga Manipulation Nightmare stories?
Please share this blog with those you love to laugh with, who love yoga as much as you do. It’s a safe place to share your insights. Let me know if there are any pending questions you want me to offer up.
Namaste,
Jill
Photo courtesy of arianne
