OVERCROWDED YOGA CLASSES, BEGGING TEACHERS, LATE STUDENTS
and PLEDGE DRIVES TO FINANCE IT ALL !
East Valley YMCA
by Christine Trzyna
My yoga class has become so popular it is desperately overcrowded and I've lost my sense of humor about this. No one can console me. Certainly not the woman who keeps coming in late, making me and some others move their mats and then strikes advanced poses - her foot fanned out at the end of her long leg, just about at my nose. Show off!
The noise of the mat movement breaks my concentration, my will to make the exercise class that is rooted in Hindu belief systems a spiritual one. No, I don't want to get chatty. I don't even want to talk to anyone before, during, or after class. I want to close my eyes, hear my own breathing, stretch my limbs and gain strength. Not compete. Not feel self-conscious. This hour and a half is supposed to be me stealing some time just for me to connect with my inner being and get away from what is pretty much constant bombardments of noise for the rest of the day and half of the night. Today we even skipped the "Final Relaxation" part, the reward.
Today we moved mats a couple times to accommodate late comers. The teacher, who I generally think very well of, was also late. Parking, traffic; how come I can get up early, take a bus, and walk fifteen minutes and be there before the class starts? A couple times despite all this I got to the studio late and saw that the class had begun. I wouldn't think to feel entitled to take it. I put near an hour to get to my class. Hey, I don't want to put anyone else out ! I guess you could say my manners are archaic. But do any of you manage to likewise keep your jobs and your friends by showing up whenever? One time a woman said "I have two kids." I thought "Too damn bad." Some of these people are driving expensive vehicles and expect a parking spot to open up for them at the last moment. They aren't on the bus or foot. Having children is a privledge these days, so don't expect me to feel sorry for your plight as a mommy! Sorry but chronic late comers are people who want ATTENTION even if they have to get it in a negative way !
As for my teacher, I hate to think it, but he seems to have bought into this idea that rudeness should be accommodated in some silly notion of "tolerance." How come we're all tolerating all the time? This wouldn't have something to do with the latest trends in psychology would it?
Today I realized that I'm pretty much getting what I can afford. Yes, a discount rate. But then photos of crowded classrooms in advertisements for other yoga studios that charge a lot more came into my mind's eye. Wow! How ridiculous that students, wanting to be seen at the most chi-chi studios are willing to pay a hell of a lot more to jam together. I wouldn't. I've never been one to cow-tow to living idols.
What does it mean to jam together? It means that there are a lot of movements that you don't dare reach to the fullest even when you can because you may hit into someone else's body with your body. It means that the teacher chooses postures that can be done in a small area, many repetitions of certain ones, to curb the possibility of body collisions. It means that when you bend over, your ass may be in someone else's face and visa versa. (Hope you showered.) It means that when I cannot hold my balance falling may mean falling on someone. It means I feel crumpled and cramped. It also means that the classroom gets over-hot from body heat for which there seems to be no solution for, no matter how many years this North Hollywood YMCA has been in existence, it seems absolutely no one on staff knows how to work the temperature thermostat and going from freezing to overheat quickly is usual, without the overcrowding making it faint provoking.
After the class is over, our teacher who attracts this kind of crowd, must beg for money. You might say "Just like in India," but that's an excuse too. By now, I've read, there are more people taking yoga in California than all of India. How can the YMCA get away with attracting talented teachers who persevere with cranky students like me in their classes, AND NOT PAY THEM THE GOING RATE? Apparently, because they can. The YMCA thus becomes the training ground for teachers working through certification to be instructors who will move on once they are officially worth more money. I feel embarrassed that I can't afford to also tip the teacher but I think this is some kind of racket.
Why? Because of the pledge drives. It's nice that the YMCA can afford to send so many impoverished children to camps but apparently only by cutting the budget for adult classes. This means that the YMCA, which operates somewhere between a non-profit and a capital enterprise, is not succeeding as a business, at least not at this branch.
Yes, I have a decision to make. Stay and put up, shut up, or Go...
C 2009 Christine Trzyna
