To be annoyed with these yoga people

[ApocalypseNowt]

Ok, so the other day I went to a beginner's yoga class.

It was at this lovely yoga centre in a converted church....beautiful place and I'd heard lots of good things about it.

Anyway the yoga man teaching the class is up on the stage bit doing his thing and we all start copying him. Well, at a conservative estimate I'd say that more than three quarters of the class were sodding yoga gurus! They were flawless, bendy, did all the 'hard' versions of the poses without breaking a sweat!

These people could have folded themselves into an overhead locker had they a mind to.

The class had a couple of helpers that kept coming over to people me to help adjust poses, etc. Majority of people needed no help whatsoever. They could have run the class to be honest.

AIBU to expect there to be mainly beginners at a BEGINNERS yoga class?

I appreciate there will be some variance between people who have never done it before and people who are progressing but really, most of the ones here could and should feck off to intermediate or advanced hero superstar level.

It just doesn't seem very yoga-minded to keep to a beginners class when you're clearly way past that level.

Rant over...!

" almost everyone else there knew a fair bit already. It bothered me a bit but then figured it was probably because they had low self esteem and had to be better than everyone else!!!!"

More likely there wasn't a class at their level, the next one up might have been too advanced for them. Really you should have 'beginner' and 'false beginner', a false beginner being someone who's learnt the language somewhere else before, at school 30 years ago, or while in the country, but still has to start from scratch with the basics to learn properly.

But, yes, I had to leave a language class for the same reason. After four terms I realised there was no way I was ever going to catch up and the teacher was teaching at their level, not mine.

As others have said it is probably because people are comfortable with the teacher. Next time get there early and position yourself near the front, first because then the teacher will be able to see you and help and second you won't see all the bendy people in front of you. A good yoga teacher is worth sticking in the class for.

"Oh no honestly you'd be really surprised how much progress you'll make with a few months of regular practise."

I did yoga for years and never became flexible enough to even do downward dog. I really believe it has to do with how flexible you were as a child. Some of us will never get there if we weren't flexible as children. It doesn't mean that yoga isn't beneficial for us.

One of the principles of yoga is that it's not supposed to be competitive!

YABU.

Why are you looking around at other people? You really should be focusing on yourself - that's the point of yoga: stay in the present & breathe.

Also think of it this way: it's inspiring to see ordinary people doing something difficult. And there are people to follow.

It could be the only class time they can make, or they like the teacher, or they're good at the beginners' stuff but are daunted by going up a level.

Basically, just stop worrying about others and comparing yourself - that's totally pointless, and contrary to the point of yoga.

Yoga is really progressive, so focus on you, and the changes in what you can do. It doesn't matter about the rest of the class.

It's really not about being seen to be better. I expect people think what I do looks fine but I know it's not as I'm not feeling the stretch where I should be. Or my alignment is off. Or my breathing has gone to shit. Or WTF is warrior 1244666 again???
I never notice the others once the class is underway, they could be doing anything.

ApocalypseNowt, surely if you're a bit shit complete beginner, whilst the others are all yoga experts, it means that the instructor has more time to help you?

Yoga is about learning to focus and keep your attention inward and is more about achieving a balanced and flexible attitude/mind than a contorted body - you use the body to balance the mind. I think this class might be perfect for you because it sounds like your attention is going outward to the others in the class so will help you to practice bring your attention in. Yoga isn't competitive at all. See the bendy people as a sign of a good teacher who those people stick with and that you will most likely improve with the teacher. Or find another class. I've had yoga teachers who were not the most bendy in the class but were definitely yogis.

You might be unreasonable but it's a very normal kind of unreasonable

I know what you mean. I have done yoga classes a couple of times over the years. Thankfully though, there were no gurus in the class . There were always people who were better than me others, but honestly, I didn't care.

Don't let it put you off, seriously.

That video is fantastic. And a free ear worm too!

I get what you are saying.
The reality is that some people are just bendy so even if they have done little yoga before, they will do lost of the poses wo an issue.
And others are very stiff and are struggling a lot.

What you also need to remember is that, even after years of yoga, you might still not be able to do some of the poses. I know that I don't after about 10 years of regular practice. It's an issue with my own bend Ines, body proportion etc...

Also, the teacher should have told you again and again, it's not what you do and how hard the Position is that is important. It's that yThe u are gaining some benefits from it and this will come at different levels from different people.

Apocalypse - it really won't take years to get to their level. I started yoga just before Christmas. I can already do things I couldn't do at all when I started. Some long term, deep aches in my hip have vanished. It's amazing how quickly stiff, chubby old grouches can make progress.

I'm very bendy in some ways (I can still do the splits at my advanced age) but really shite at other things, and not bendy at all - I hate sitting cross-legged for example, and can never get my bum on my heels in child's pose. It's not about bendiness. It's about breath and release and ease in your body.

Have a look at Yoga with Adriene - she is big on "ease" and feeling good.

I don't know what the solution is....perhaps the instructors should be a bit more proactive in guiding people to the right level?

The solution is owning it and learning to concentrate on yourself and not worry about what the others are doing. It's not the instructor' s job to chuck people out because you're jealous of them.

the beginner or advanced levels are not about the participants' skills really, but the level of difficulty of the exercises and the help and assistance the instructor needs to provide.
For example if the class is advertised as Beginners' Step, this would mean slower tempo, easier combinations, slower demos from the instructor, so they would not simply yell 'AAand now everybody grapewine - over the top- pivot GO!' If someone is very advanced but feels they want to go to an easier class that day, I woudn't have any issues with this, as it does not affect everybody else's performance.

It's of course different in some other activities and indeed would not work if you sign up for total beginners running, and everybody else just disappears 13km/h. But Yoga? As long as the instructor is giving appropriate instructions and plenty of help to people who need it, just do your own thing and ignore the rest.

Here's a yoga lesson for a beginner - if you are looking at what everyone else in the class is doing then you are NOT doing yoga. I bet if you really observed all the bendy people you would notice they are not giving you a second glance.

So don't worry one bit about being chubby and sweaty. (I say this as a chubby sweaty person myself)

Find your own zone, focus on your breath, work with your body. Do YOUR yoga, to your capabilities, don't look at others. Yoga is so much more than the moves - the focus, gaze, and breath and moving meditation elements of yoga are really important and you can't do all of this if you are looking at other people.

So stop looking around, and start practising yoga. That is what all the old timers are doing.

it you want to do competitive yoga (yoga is not competitive - it's very personal) then it might not be the thing for you - try gymnastics instead.

chuck what happens in my class (I have issues with one of my arm too) is that the teacher ALWAYS states if you can't do this, you can Adapt it that way and if it's doesn't work for you, just do something else!
No way that anyone would be singled out because they have troubles with xxx.
Mind you a lot of the people there are over 60yo so telling them off for not being able to do xx wouldnt work! lets forget that a lot of them can do more than I can

Erm.... YABU! Yoga isn't supposed to be competitive.

I'm hyper mobile so I may look like I've got the moves in a class, but it's often deceiving. It wasn't until I found a teacher who spotted that i was overly flexible and corrected me continuously that yoga got WAY more challenging and actually more enjoyable

No ones downward dog is the same, focus on how it feels rather than looks

FWIW after years of doing yoga on off I still have no idea what the positions are called

Oh come one, it's normal to look at what other people are doing when you are starting.
For once, you want to check you are doing the right thing and it gives you and idea if you are doing well or not.
I know that there isn't such a thing as 'doing it well' but I don't know of anyone who started yoga who hasn't done that!
Learning to work at your level and not care a jot about what others are doing is part of what you are learning. You can't be expecting people to know how to do that as a beginner.

Trills 😂 Love it. Thank you for sharing.

Apocalypse I totally get you! You go to a beginners class of anything because you want others to be equally shit in need of a beginners class - not advanced. It's very off putting.

All of the 'own journey', 'concentrate on yourself' stuff... that requires a degree of comfort which is almost impossible to achieve if you feel embarrassed & uncomfortable.

However, some people have given 'good reasons' for them still being in a beginners class, so you could think about those reasons, or maybe just try assuming that although they all seem to have their Yoga Shit together, they're all too insecure to move up a class 😂

Sympathies OP. Just remember, it's a beginners class and you have every right to be there. I did yoga years ago for a bit, and have just come back to it. Well have been to one class so far this year. I could not do it without looking round at the rest of the class, to see what they are doing.

Bit of an aside, I booked online for yoga this morning (So would have been second class of the year...), got there and it was cancelled.

Agree 100% with Red . I think YANBU because whilst it's easy for people who are more experienced/better at something to tell you "just focus on your own journey" and all that, it is hard to do that at the beginning when you are shy/anxious/unfit and really pushing yourself to even attend in the first place, and yes it can be seriously demoralising to constantly feel you are the "bottom" of the class with nobody to share^ your journey with. I know how that feels because I have coordination difficulties due to Asperger's Syndrome so even if the class really was all beginners I am always left behind as my progress is stunted because of this.

However; please stick at it. I know how you feel and I do get demoralised sometimes but I try to concentrate on why it is I'm doing x activity. And the reasons are for my own benefit - increase my own strength, my own flexibility, my own mental wellbeing etc. It's not got anything to do with other people after all. Also people generally just feel sorry for me rather than be smug/mean lol which I don't really mind and also being the worst means I get a lot more support from the teacher which at first was embarrassing but when I learnt to accept myself and my limitations as part of me then I just valued it and value her support. So it's not a competition and you need to learn to focus on yourself and not other people. Good luck and I hope you stick with it!