I have finished my beginner course and have now joined a general (all comers) class on Wednesday evenings.
\nRather surprised to find number of my colleagues attend this class, usually followed by dinner and drinkies. Very civilized.
\nThey were pleased to welcome me to their group, but admitted there was some anxiety I might mention our goings on in the departmental newsletter. I reassured them, however, that that won\u2019t happen. What happens in the studio, stays in the studio. In fact so far I am by far the weakest link, being called out by the teacher several times each class for faulty technique, as well as quite regularly wobbling over during particularly difficult poses. Gravity is not my friend. (The teacher: \u201cStop grimacing!\u201d)
\nHaving said that, one of my colleagues complained loudly of cramp in his foot last night in class, and was immediately offered a magnesium salve by the very enthusiastic instructor. He refused initially, while the rest of us doctors just sniggered quietly (don\u2019t get me started on pharmacokinetics), but eventually he relented and got an oily spray on his foot, which then got smeared all over his other leg (we were doing \u201cthe tree\u201d) and then all over his yoga mat.
\nOne of the others, the youngest and keenest, got a smack on the foot for having it in the wrong position, which the instructor immediately apologized for (\u201cshouldn\u2019t have done that!\u201d She muttered to herself under her breath, which reminded me of Hagrid). Only a few minutes later, though, she was back physically assaulting the same student- all I heard was a strangled groan from him, as she said \u201cyes, you\u2019re a bit tight there\u201d to nervous laughter from the rest of the participants. He said later over dinner that she\u2019d just pushed his spine down on the cork brick and winded him slightly – the groan was involuntary and mostly just surprise. Anyway Bronwyn was a very nice and chirpy lady and an excellent teacher, and was acting as cover for our regular teacher Tessa who was home with a sick daughter.
\nSwapping yoga anecdotes over dinner and a glass of sav (beer for the boys), the story that most surprised me was a male teacher they had had once who asked at the beginning of the class if any of the female participants were having their period. That appalled me. I have no idea what his reasoning was but I\u2019d be willing to bet there\u2019s no scientific evidence behind it. It was amusing having my four male colleagues trying to explain to me – the only female present – what possible justification the instructor may have had, though.
\nStill, that\u2019s the worst I\u2019ve heard of Iyengar yoga, and there\u2019s otherwise no other semi spiritual mumbo jumbo that goes on (apart from a brief \u201cnamaste!\u201d With a nod over your hands in prayer at the end), so I\u2019m planning on sticking with it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have finished my beginner course and have now joined a general (all comers) class on Wednesday evenings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-1Dz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7651,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/20\/yoga-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":6297,"position":0},"title":"Yoga challenge","author":"Interloper11","date":"March 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"During the current Omicron outbreak, our yoga classes are currently only available online, via zoom. I\u2019m not sure how I feel about this, so I\u2019ve decided to write down my thoughts. It\u2019s nice not having to wear a mask during a class. This obviously isn\u2019t a dealbreaker, as I wear\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DC650056-7B6E-46C4-ACE6-D44941384E1E-300x221.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6373,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/07\/no-use-crying\/","url_meta":{"origin":6297,"position":1},"title":"No use crying","author":"Interloper11","date":"April 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s been a day. My surgeon is away so I got the day off (unpaid of course). It\u2019s very useful to get the occasional day off during the week to get various chores done: laundry, dishes, mow the lawn, hide from the cleaner. 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