I don't like mirrors in yoga studios !

What do you want from your yoga classes ?

I joined a couple of yoga classes while I was in London in May. One in a scout hut, very low tech, but with an excellent British Wheel of Yoga qualified teacher. The teacher clearly knew her stuff, and it was a great class. There was plenty of interaction between the teacher and the students, laughter, encouragement and mutual support, with contraindications and alternatives offered as appropriate. It reminded me of why I love yoga.

The other was in a studio at a leisure centre, the facing wall lined with mirrors, and music from the gym on one side and noise from the badminton courts on the other side - the teacher bustled in just as the class was due to start, and was teaching while she still removed her coat, mumbling into her faulty headset and speeding through multiple sun salutations. There was no thought of offering alternative poses or taking medical factors into consideration. The class included some nice sequences, but there was little time for rest or reflection.

No prizes for guessing which class I enjoyed the most !

Yoga means union, a holistic sense of that connection between body, mind and spirit. It means a sense of drawing inwards, away from the external things which distract us. I personally find seeing a reflection of myself (and other people) extremely distracting in class. Whats important in a yoga pose is how it makes you feel - not what it looks like.

The thing that got me thinking was that the class in the gym was full with 20 people, with a waiting list. The scout hut class was attended by 8 people - a lovely number, but certainly not stacked out. This made me reflect on how yoga in the west really seems to have become an exercise cult, rather than a means to explore our inner world and that which connects us all, and as such is losing what makes it so special. And what saddened me is that some people will experience a class in a gym like that and decide that yoga is not for them, just based on that one experience. So if that rings bells for you, or someone you know, please try again ! Find an experienced, qualified teacher who offers classes that go beyond the physical asana.

For me personally I had a few days of crisis, imposter syndrome type thinking “maybe I should offer classes with lots of strong sun salutations and challenging movements”, but then common sense kicked in ! I teach the kind of classes that I would like to attend, with a focus on health, wellbeing and rest. The kind of classes that your older self will be grateful you attended. So a huge thankyou to everyone who attends classes, and reminds me every week of the wonder of yoga !

And please let me know what it is that you like / don’t like about yoga classes in the comments !

"Yoga is not about touching your toes, it’s about what you learn on the way down." — Jigar Gor

With love

Kate xx