Question and rant: why is it so hard to find out about smoke-free yoga classes?

[Lookingforthis]

I've had it up to here with yoga studios and certain teachers. Why are they so insistent about being "authentic" about burning incense when it affects so many people, e.g. asthma, people who get migraines, and people who just straightforward hate the smell? The same goes for "smudging" products (for "cleansing the space" ), palo santo, and scented oil burners etc. Just stop burning stuff FFS! I can't breathe properly, and now my hair stinks and I need to wash it again. Why are people in so much denial about how harmful it is?

I've been trying to find out about the type of local yoga classes that take place at local community centres, dance studios and hired halls etc, even the teacher's house like I used to do until my teacher had a career change. I wish their smoke policy could be listed online so I didn't have to keep emailing people. Recently I received yet another reply from a teacher saying she does burn incense, but she could stop if it really affected me, and that she was grateful for my communication.

Except that this has happened several times before, and every single time without fail they have stopped for a couple of weeks and then started again as if I wouldn't notice. Because however grateful they claim to be, really they're secretly annoyed that someone has asked them to change something about their class. That's why I'm looking for a class where they don't burn anything in the first place, so that I don't have to keep making special requests.

I've also tried various other spiritual things like 5 Rhythms (silly I know) and the organisers are just as bad and I often end up feeling stressed and annoyed.

I also used to go to a music rehearsal in a multi-purpose building where the timetable got changed and the booking before us was given to a yoga class, so even after they'd left, the room still stank. We made complaints to the manager of the building and all they could do was tell us to open the windows, even in the middle of winter.

It's just not good enough.

I agree that it's ridiculous and selfish to fill the air with scented shite. So many people have allergies, asthma, migraines and these things are highly irritant.

I've noticed that more and more public places are using overpowering smells now. I don't know what you can do really as it's reliant on the goodwill of the person running the class.

It's awful and especially ridiculous coming from people who claim to care about hajj and happiness.

Health and happiness. Silly autocorrect.

I was coming on to express surprise that people were allowed to smoke during yoga classes. I was picturing people with their legs in the air and a fag dangling from their mouths.

You could have left hajj I would have been none the wiser, it sounds quite yoga esque.
I too thought the same as screaming.

Could you contact the individual teachers? I suspect that the classes in public buildings are most likely to be smoke-free.

No smoke in mine- possibly because it is a bog standard sports centre studio. I’d been thinking about up grading to classes at a “proper” yoga venue. I’m glad I haven’t bothered now.

The only yoga classes I've ever been to were in a hospital (ante natal yoga), a children's centre (post natal yoga) and a local authority run leisure centre (just normal yoga yoga).
None of them burned incence. I have asthma so couldn't have gone if they did.

As other PPs have suggested, try looking for one in a public building.

I've already done that and it's always the same. They say they do burn stuff but they might stop if I ask beforehand, but then two weeks later they start again. Same old story. The most recent one was indeed in a public building so it didn't make any difference.

I’ve been doing yoga for ages and never had anyone burn anything during lessons. I currertly go to classes at my local leisure centre. Is this an option for you? They’ll definitely have a no smoke/burning things policy.

Pilates, not ever been to a smokey session

yanbu
unfortunately yoga attracts all kinds of quackery.

Have a look at dance schools that offer Piyo. It’s apparently a mixture of Pilates and yoga and because they often run in the same building as their kids classes I doubt there would be smoke.

Dd does yoga and Pilates at school and it wouldn’t be allowed in their studios.

I agree OP> Promised a friend I;d join her at local yoga class but left after one session. The incense made me feel really nauseous. When I very tactfully mentioned this, I was told I could have a mat at the back near the door.
Now I go to a class where they burn a scented candle but the smell isn;t overpowering and it's not smoky.

I was told I could have a mat at the back near the door.

Yeah because that's really going to help A lot of these yoga people don't seem to have a clue about how air mixes around. I'm so tired of having the arguments all the time.

I go to my council gym / leisure centre. No burning of anything there - numerous yoga, Pilates teachers take lots of different classes and no-one burns anything. Good luck!

Try ones that are more marketed as exercise classes rather than spiritual bollocks e.g. local leisure centre/ gyms. Often gyms will have classes that aren’t called yoga e.g. stretch and tone or similar but are basically the same exercises without the spiritual bollocks aspect.

Or try Pilates classes.

I know you're more likely to have luck at gyms but the atmosphere is never really the same. I used to go to the same class for years at another location and I got to know everyone and felt like part of a community. That class has sadly been discontinued.

In all the years I went to regular yoga classes, I think only once was any incense burned and that was when someone was covering a class. I've been to local leisure centres and chain gyms like David Lloyd and Virgin Active but never a fancy yoga studio type place.

I'm surprised it's as widespread as it seems to be - I can imagine that lots of people would have a problem with it. Maybe worth checking out local leisure centre type classes as places like that sometimes have a no candles policy that might stretch to incense?

My personal yoga bugbear is partner poses. I love a savasana assist but never ever want to touch another participant or have them touch me. Please don't ask me to partner up.

I've never encountered this but I'd be annoyed too, many strong fragrances give me headaches. At one class I used to go to the village hall installed an industrial size electronic air freshener spray thing, which made me feel sick, I complained and luckily they agreed to switch it off.

Eww to partner poses too, I went to one class where we had to push the soles of our feet against a partner's feet, it was awful and I never went back

Oh god. I would have point blank refused to do that.

Yuck! No to partner poses from me too.

Pure gym yoga classes are smoke free, if that helps?

I've only recently taken up yoga but definitely no smoke at my class which is held in the Town Hall. The same teacher runs a number of classes in the area in village halls and a secondary school and I can''t imagine that she burns anything at those either. I never realsied it was a thing and in line with other posters I had visions of a huddle of people hanging around outside the front door having a last fag before going in to their yoga class