Yoga Wars
"I moved a mat—just a tad—to make room and I got, "Did you touch my mat?” from its angry owner. I rolled up my mat, walked through the sea of rubber and left...in tears."
People are getting hotter in hot yoga...and not in a good way
"I attended a packed hot yoga class with a mob of sweaty strangers staring me down. I left more tense than I came in."
"Hot yoga classes are dominated by bee-yotches. I will pay $500 to do a one-on-one with an instructor before I set foot in another a crowded yoga environment."
Doesn't sound like the yoga I started practicing 43 years ago. Yet I hear these stories regularly from students who come to our small community studio, from what I call BIG BOX YOGA STUDIOS: rooms that hold 70+ people and feel more like a circus, only no one is amused.
No doubt about it, hot yoga can be a crowded, sweaty, stinking experience. But does it have to be?
"Fit in? I tried to squeeze in. I felt unwelcome, even by the instructor. I never returned."
It's partly because the number of people trying to find inner peace—or hot bodies—through yoga climbed to 24.3 million in 2013, a 37% rise in six years. It's partly because of the increased competition that makes many hot studios do churn-and-burn yoga: pack 'em in, burn 'em up, send 'em off. For instance, Yoga to the People in New York offers up to eight classes a day with 150 bodies filling three floors.
Instructors are told to constantly experiment with how many angels they can fit on the head of a pin - in fact, most instructors are paid by the head. It's not uncommon to position students 3 inches apart. As one man described it, "my head was so far up this woman's ass, I feel like I owe her dinner."
"Hot yoga is all about, "I can do the moves better than anyone else while also looking good.'
“I have seen actual violence,” said one New York yoga teacher. She was about to start class one day when a towel flew through the air: one hapless yogi had put down her mat in another’s usual territory.
Yoga studio owners are also pretty harried. Yoga has become a particularly competitive field. Rents are high and class fees are low. Customers are fickle. Teachers cancel; heaters break down. There are a hundred ways to go broke.
And just as many ways to experience abundance.
All you need to fill your coffers is one student who finds her spirit in your class.
One student who tells you that her kids can hug her again because her fibryomyalgia seems to have eased up now that she's practicing hot yoga regularly.
One person on a 30 day challenge who pushed it to 60....then 90...then 108.. as the community cheered her on daily like it was their personal win.
One person who came back to give hot yoga one more try in a small studio after having had a Big Box experience and slamming the door shut.
That one person: priceless.
No doubt my landlord will keep wanting the rent. My teachers will continue to be the highest paid in a low-paying profession (they deserve it.) My heating company will keep advising me that if only I would turn down the heat to a reasonable 72 degrees, I could dramatically lower my bills.
For me, the heat stays on. As long as students continue to appreciate smaller hot yoga classes and the big heart of the yoga community.
No mat wars. No flying towels. No preening or competing. It takes a village to do hot yoga, a place where there's room for everyone in the room.
At a yoga class at a hotel gym in Texas, I noticed a woman asking a group to make room for her mat in a particularly crowded corner furthest from the heater. “UGH,” was the collective answer.
So I did what any self respecting yogi would do. I invited her out for coffee and we took the Tai Chi class next door.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Reader Comments (8)
Interestingly, the biggest BIG BOX Hot yoga class I ever attended was in Times Square NYC, where literally hundreds were gathered...and it was a genial, exciting and heartwarming experience. Yes we were mat to mat; yes passersby stopped and stared at us; yes we knocked into each other - and yes we all had a yoga experience that was fun and challenging at the same time. It's not necessarily the size of the box; its the size of your heart that counts most in hot yoga
I've only experienced BIG BOX hot yoga classes a handful of times. They did not impress me. They were not warm, welcoming and i did not find a big smile to greet me by my name when i walked through the door. I didn't get a sense of genuine warm hearts from anyone there, including the instructors.
I have no room in my life for yogis who are rude enough to throw a towel or make a snide remark or comment. I have learned how you do anything is how they do everything and I would choose not to be associated with these types of people or the studio.
It was a different experience that made me appreciate the smaller community that Riverflow offers. I agree with you Rhonda when you say It's not the size of the box, but the size of your heart that counts most in hot yoga.
I would love to experience the BIG BOX hot yoga in time square. Lets get a bunch of Riverflow Hotties together and take a road trip!
I agree with you Tina. Thankfully, it does not happen to Riverflow except for one time when I was in a back row and asked the tall guy in front of me his name was Peter to move a bit to the side to share the mirror he rudly responded that he needs the mirror to himself I quietly retreated and thought I can do it anyway. At the end of the class, the teacher announced that I just finished my 30 day practice and congratulated me. In the lobby, he did not feel himself very comfortable when he saw me but I did not care because I DID it anyway! It did not stop me and made me a better person :)
Hey, I love the idea Tina Let's go to Time Squire for Summer Soltice!!! To Greet the SUN and SUMMER!!
i think your response of "let it go, and do it anyway" is how i would have acted in your situation, alfia. there have been times when i have almost left class bc i felt too crowded,but i got over it. i have been in classes where latecomers put their mat right in front of you... i stopped going to that studio. i love that river flow has structure and is a much more intimate experience compared to bigger classes. im sure that guy felt like a jerk afterwards, but who cares! you did it anyway!
It does get tricky for the taller people like myself. I'm always afraid I'm going to kick someone, smack someone, or fling my sweat all over them if I'm too close. But that just means I have to get there earlier than most, camp out near a corner, and give the "sorrrrrrry" look in full locust when my arm is over someone's head.
It's always resulted in a chuckle and shuffle. We're all there for the same reason, and moving around a bit to help someone out isn't going to hinder that. If it does you were lost to begin with.
I hate the big box style class. When I was living in San Diego i attended the 5:30 am class, I always arrived early so i could get a spot. The teacher/owner of this class was particularly harsh but thats neither here or there. Anyways, all the studios that I had attended before it was house rule that you showed up to class on time if you were late, you had missed the boat. But at this particular studio it seemed that it was okay for this one student to arrive in the middle of or after the breathing exercise had finished. I know its my practice and to avoid distractions but REALLY he would literally stand directly in front of me. I let this go on for about a month, finally said something to the person running the front desk and then chose to never go back. I actually ended up driving farther to see some friendly smiling facing in class.
"If it does (piss you off), you were lost to begin with. " Love this Ian!
Who wouldn't drive a bit farther to find a place to practice hot yoga that felt warm and welcoming? For me yoga is a community. I never could get into practicing from a DVD all by my lonesome; the energy of the community is key for me... And if that community is harsh and cold, it's just not a good fit for hot yoga.