Yoga Stranger Danger

My Yoga practice is time for meeeee...

Just left a Yoga studio. 

And had an interesting experience.

Made me feel some sort of way.

I set up my Matt & props. And the girl next to me was super chatty which was great. 

The teacher came in and moved me to a better spot so she could see me easily Bc I was new. 

Class began. 

There were about 25 people in the class. 

We started in downward dog. 

The teacher came over and adjusted my back to get more of an arch. (Which any teacher I have ever tried will do. Damn, one day I will master you old dog :) 

Then a helper comes over and tells me to move my hand out. 

5 min later same helper comes back and tells me to square my hips. 

All good adjustments. All while we are going through the poses.

Then a random class mate comes behind me and grabs my hips and pulls them into his pelvis. It wasn't creepy. Just unwelcome. 

Then 15 minutes later the classmate next to me tells me to move my feet closer in. And shift my hips. 

She went behind me to adjust my hips and I spun around and said, "I don't want to be adjusted thanks though." Nicely. 

5 minutes later while I'm standing on my right leg with my left leg back, the girl who first chatted me up, walks over and grabs my hips. Then the original helper grabbed my knee. I spun around and said, "Please, no adjustments thank you though."

Later on, the teacher came over and adjusted me and had her helpers push my form in place.  

But...

It was fine. She was there to guide them. To make sure they weren't f*cking up my knee. 

I did NOT sign up for a Yoga class with random Yoga practitioner #2. 

I signed up for a Yoga class with a master Yoga teacher. 

During, the rest of my practice it struck a nerve. I was going through the posses thinking and analyzing. I kept digging deeper to ask myself, Why it bothered me so much?

The answer was simple: 

I know my body. 

YES, I know I am not perfect at Yoga. 

I absolutely need to be adjusted...

When the time comes, I want the pro doing it. Not the newbie next to me.*

Period. 

This was an Oprah "Ah Ha moment" for me. 

Bc...

It is very very very hard for me to say NO to people. 

Often, I think about something I once heard...

A victim will go against the fear they feel when they meet a stranger in a pursuit to be polite. So we don't trust our gutt. And do the "nice" thing. 

The image that sticks out in my mind, is from the movie, Silence of the Lambs.
In a dark parking lot, the creepy guy asks the victim to help with a chair. She says okay to be "nice" knows somethings up and does it anyway. Only to be pushed back into the van. Ultimately, ending up at the bottom of a well putting lotion in baskets. 

Don't be the girl that "puts the lotion in the basket."

Period. 

In the moment, when you feel that urge inside to yell STOP touching me, or this is wrong, trust your friggn gutt. 

Today, don't be "nice", be honest. 

I didn't make friends today. 

I'm not part of their click. 

I probably never will be. 

Bc...

I won't let them touch me without the pro present. 

But...

What's the alternative?!

They turn me the wrong way and I tear my knee. 

Apply to much pressure to my wrists and I hurt myself. 

A creepy one comes up and thinks it's okay to touch me. 

Ew!!!

No. 

Period. 

This is VERY hard for me to say NO. 

But...

I did it. 

And so can you. 

Together, we will take the power back! It's our bodies. Our safety. Our lives. 

Period. 

Xoxo

Ps: *the classmates were stopping their Yoga practice to come adjust me and their form wasn't even correct! That part killed me. Worry about what you can control not what I am doing. There is a paid pro that is running this class! But...clearly that is the norm for this studio. Kinda funny too bc people were commenting on each other. Like imagine if the tv show Cheers was in a Yoga studio. I'm not kidding. That much side chatter and joking. Pps: the Yoga teacher was good. The culture of the studio sucked! IMHO ;) 

Ppps: I totally would have helped Buffalo Bill carry his chair into his van. My need to be polite trumps my self-safety. Working on that! & my downward dog ;) 

Pppps: here is a screenshot of a Yelp Review of the Yoga studio: