Old Moon Yoga

“You have nice butt” no it was not comment directed at me, but at one of the other students in class. As we sat there, if pigeon Eka Pada Rajakapotasana counts as sitting, in an interesting silence, they all look at me to comment. Usually quick with the mickey take or leg pull my reply is really PC. “No I am not going there” I said. Then one of my regular Yogi says “This sounds like a topic for your next blog.” It certainly could be but what direction should I take.

• A commentary on the things people say whilst in pigeon. You would be surprised. It’s a pose people like to vocalize in, for some reason.
• An exploration of appropriateness of comments, between Yogis and how much a teacher should get involved.

Like Neo in the Matrix, I am faced with a decision this morning. The blue pill says play it safe, stay in my current blog world, talk about the comments, and even cheers people express in pigeon. The red pill means potentially opening up Pandora’s box.

Of course there is yet another option. “Old Moon’s Guide to pigeon” but then that would ruin my Matrix analogy that I clearly worked so hard to seamlessly slide into this opening section. There was no yellow pill in The Matrix.

So rather than be pigeon holed (ouch sorry, I am on vacation its tiring), it’s down the rabbit hole we go, because well, “one pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small.”

In the office situation comments about one another’s body parts forbidden by law. “You have a nice butt” directed at a young intern from the boss would cause the skies tn implode I am sure. What about the Yoga studio though? I don’t go around telling people they have a nice butt, but I tell people they look beautiful, in poses, all the time. Some how that is ok.

So a little quiz, What kind of Yogi are you?

Q1 Your in a Yoga class, really enjoying the class. Kim a young attractive yogi behind remarks so the whole class can hear. “You have a nice butt”. Do you

1. Try to look embarrassed, but quietly enjoy the complement
2. Complement back
3. Check your alignment in the mirror

Q2. Your in a Yoga class, really enjoying the class. Jamie, the middle aged but pretty flexible yogi, behind remarks so the whole class can hear. “You have a nice butt”. Do you

1. Try to look embarrassed, whist checking their alignment in the mirror
2. Turn the other cheek (Still tired )
3. Desperately try to think of that witty thing that will only come to you minutes after class

Q3. Your in a Yoga class, really enjoying the class. Lesley, a little out of shape and pretty new to yoga gasps between breaths “You have a nice butt”. Do you

1. Turn red look embarrassed and try to shrink from view
2. Return the complement.
3. Reach for your cell phone and a lawyer’s number

Now imagine you are a member of the opposite sex and take the test again.

Now imagine they are the opposite gender to whatever you assumed they were.

The scenarios are endless. What if the comment was expressed with sarcasm. What if the comment was about other body parts? What if there is ulterior motive, beyond a simple complement? What if this happens repeatedly the “advances”, appreciated or not, don’t really need to be shared with the whole class.

Now imagine you are the teacher.

Is there one rule for the teacher and another for the class too? Clearly. Students come and go as they please. The teacher is the leader of the class and the person the class looks to to set the tone and atmosphere.

I encourage my classes to talk, to interact, I like the feedback. The teacher cannot get involved though, even if it appears light hearted and said in fun. “I’m not going there” Was my only comment as the rest of the class starts to join in the fun. Harder still, how does one control such a situation if it starts to get out of hand. I have no idea, butt (very tired) will be sure to let you know if it happens.

Why did this come up at all? I was teaching pigeon and, as usual trying to make sure everyone had something under their floating hip. Something to release into. So maybe this blog should have been “old moon’s guide to pigeon.” There is always next week.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. With the exception of Neo of course.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 10:32 am and is filed under Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.