I Need to Talk About this Yoga Class

I've taken a few yoga classes before, most of them at my alma mater, and really like them for the same reasons I like guided meditations--it's much, much easier when someone is talking you through it, and, honestly, I'm a thousand percent more likely to actually do it this way.

I've never been able to do yoga alone. Sometimes I watch youtube videos of instructors, but I usually need to go to a physical class if I'm actually going to practice.

I had a bizarre experience in a yoga class this week.

The instructor was moving much faster than any other whose class I've attended. He was narrating the poses he wanted us to do next, but he usually forgot to narrate the breathing...

(You can see where this is going.)

I forgot to breathe.

I went to a class with an actual instructor. And I forgot to breathe.

90% of yoga is breathing. Vinyasa literally means controlled breathing.

And I didn't do it.

It didn't hit me until after the class that if my instructor was moving at a faster pace than I felt comfortable, I should have just slowed down. I wasn't breathing deeply or regularly because I was so focused on haphazardly trying to keep up with the power-yoga routine happening in front of me. I could have gotten an injury.

So, please, if you're in a yoga class and you feel like you're not breathing deeply, slow down. If you ever feel uncomfortable, tense, sore, or just need a break, go into childs pose for as long as you need:

(img via pain free living)

He did spray us all with lavender oil afterwards, which was a nice touch.