The "Regulars"

I need to take more yoga classes.   In fact, I need to attend 60 classes over the course of my training program (8 classes to observe, 52 to actually practice).  Prior to joining this teacher training program, I did not often practice at the studio where the training takes place.  I did most of my classes at the gym.  At a gym, you have a few "loyal" yogis, but nothing like the regulars you find in a studio class:  yogis who are there week in, week out, who know one another's names, the teacher knows their quirks and preferences, they have their "spots" in the room, their rapport with one another.  When you're not a regular and you "pop in" to the class,  you're not really an interloper (yoga is very embracing), but you might as well be, because you aren't sure where to put your mat, you don't know the next person's name, and you certainly don't get the inside jokes from last week.

I would venture to say that the majority of women in our training cohort are accustomed to taking higher-level yoga classes.  We may frequent a level 1 class, but most of us are probably at home in a level 2...a disciplined few in a level 3.  But when you start out teaching yoga, you don't  launch as a level 2 teacher.  You have to begin with the basics and work your way up, therefore, we are required to take at least half of our 60 classes in a level 1 setting.  We are supposed to pay attention to the language, the postures, the pacing, the modifications.  Yoga is such a discipline that this act of taking level 1 classes is not a "step backwards"...it's not "too easy"  or "too simple". There is always something to learn and observe, and sometimes we do our best observing when we slow things down.

Today, I had to leave work early for an appointment, and I ended up (fortuitously!) with just enough time to squeeze in a Level 1 practice today.  It was listed on the studio schedule as "Extra Gentle".  In the car on the way over to the studio, I wondered who would be taking a yoga class in the middle of the day and I wondered what the pacing for an Extra Gentle class would be like.  I have found that timing is everything when considering who will be in on the mat next to you.  Super-early morning classes (6 am) tend to have mostly women students who are getting a jump start on their day before work.  9/9:30 classes tend to be mostly stay-at-home or work-from-home parents who have time for a yoga class after nursery school drop off or morning carpool routes are finished (again, mostly women).  Afternoon classes have a good mix of college students who are done with classes for the day,  and working people who take a class on their way home from work.  Evening and weekend classes are where you have your best chances of finding men, although still not many, and the classes can range from deep stretching postures to something more athletic that works up the desired sweat.  But who is taking a yoga class right in the middle of the day?  In NYC, probably young professionals on their lunch break.  In the suburbs? It's older ladies - ah ha - the "extra gentle" is starting to make sense.

Since we need to attend so many Level 1 classes, there just so happened to be 4 of our cohort in today's "extra gentle" class...and the rest of the class (the Regulars) had us beat by at least 20 years.  They all knew one another's names, knew one another's "drams", were comfortable offering up advice, lively chatting away in the hallway before class started.  They clearly had their "spots" in class, and some were even a tiny bit fa-tootsed (sp?) by the extra 4 people taking up precious floor space.  They knew whose mat went where, and at one point, there was an unclaimed mat, and it took several minutes of banter to figure out that someone had left the mat from the class before, and it actually belonged to no one (the nerve of someone to take up floor space like that!)

Let's be clear:  I'm not relaying this story out of judgement or condemnation, but more out of mild amusement.  I can clearly see some of their habits becoming annoying over time (yelling out in the middle of the class: "I have no idea what we are doing right now!" and the teacher patiently, gently responding, "We're just lifting our shoulders.  I know you can do that.").  Nevertheless, these were the Regulars of the Thursday midday class, and maybe their instructor sees these quirks as endearing, maybe she embraces the dynamic of the group, which clearly is comforting enough to say what you feel whenever you need to say it.  

It definitely made me wonder what the Regulars of my eventual yoga class will be like.  I'll need to make a lot of professional decisions:  Will I like my class to be more stretching, or more athletic?  What will I do if my regulars start talking to one another in the middle of my instruction?  Will I teach in the mornings, afternoons, or evenings?  How will I begin to captivate a class so that they actually WANT to become my regulars?  I'm going to need to be engaging from the start to build a group as loyal as the one I was part of today.

I am a LONG way from establishing a regular class...but ever the planner, it is something for me to keep stewing on the back burner while I continue my journey.  Every so often, I'll lift the lid of the pot and take a peek, even stir a little, but for now, I think I'd better take a lot more level 1 classes and worry about refining my practice before I start worrying about who I'm going to teach.

Relish the quiet bliss that comes with aging gracefully (and getting on the mat can help with that!)  Yoga is for everyBODY.