This has been a post in the making for sometime now. Every time I harp on something that annoys people in the yoga world; cell phone use, chewing gym, running late or skipping savasana, I always get a comment from someone that says, “you should do a blog about people doing their own thing in class,” and until now, I’ve kind of refrained. But with the holidays upon us and people traveling, there have been a plethora of new faces in my classes, and in tow, their home practice or the type of practice they do at their home studio. Now don’t get me wrong, I love it when yogis try out the studios in the town they are visiting; it’s a great way to try new traditions of yoga and get fresh ideas while meeting new people. This is the spirit of yoga and I encourage traveling yogis to immerse themselves in new communities!!!… I just wish they would leave their home practices at HOME! 

I’ve been teaching yoga for over a decade now and I have seen my fair share of “rebel” yogis, as I like to call them. You know… the ones who can hold handstand for a wicked long time and who have to throw one in every minute or so just in case you forgot how strong he or she is. Or the ones who come to my Ashtanga class and throw in all these extra transitions, whoopee do, good for you, because they are too good for tradition. Oh! And my favorites, other yoga teachers who come to class just to pull out their own home practice without realizing that other students are now copying what he/she is doing instead of what me, the paid teacher who is holding the energy of the space, is actually asking of them. It makes class very challenging to teach when you have one of these “rebels” in class, not to mention all three.

Just this past weekend I literally had to yell out, “please leave your home practices at home” because some hot shot starting doing their own thing and fell out of alignment and onto the person next to them who then rolled onto the person’s mat next to them. Dominoes anyone? It’s not SAFE to do your own thing and it’s super DISRESPECTFUL if we’re being honest with each other. I take time to create and prepare the sequences I teach (when I’m not in Ashtanga mode) and I think it’s rude that people just decide to ignore me and break into their own flow. Why pay a drop-in rate of $13-15 if you’re not going to “follow the leader?” You’re wasting your money and your/my time!

 

Teaching yoga is a lot like playing Simon Says. I say, “Inhale, reach your arms up,” and you do. But no, not those “rebels.” Instead they have to reach their arms up over their head, adding in an unnecessary backbend that they decide to hold for three seconds and then they forward fold and break into some arm balance while the rest of the class is in Downward Facing Dog. We’re not really playing Simon Says anymore since Simon did not Say to arm balance!. I’ve also been thrown off track and forgotten poses in class while teaching a sequence because I’m trying to watch someone who is all over the place instead of the 30 or so students who I should actually be paying attention to. It’s distracting for the teacher and for the students and I know this first hand because people complain after class all the time when some wacko “rebel” sets up next to them!

I’m just confused why the “rebels” choose to attend class instead of staying home and setting up their mat and doing their own thing. Is it ego? Probably, but that word gets misused a lot and instead I think it’s a desire to show-off and impress other yogis. When in fact competition is exactly what the spirit of yoga frowns upon. Twelve years ago I was ecstatic the first time I kicked up into a headstand after four months of trying, but I didn’t feel the need to advertise the fact in every class I attended thereafter. I did my headstands at home and held them for minutes at a time because in class we usually only held it for a few breaths and I desired to hold for longer so I would… at HOME! No one likes a show-off!

 

So imagine my surprise when one of my friends and fellow yoga teachers posted on Facebook last month that she was planning on taking a yoga class at a studio she had been to once before and didn’t really like. I thought it was nice she was giving them a second chance because who knows, the teacher could have been having a bad day, he/she could have been a brand new teacher and nervous, or maybe she picked the wrong style of class to begin with. The very next day she followed up her post by saying that she had attended her second and final class at said studio, and that the class was so bad, she “had” to start doing her own thing. What???!!! If it was that bad, LEAVE! Why be disrespectful to everyone else, especially when I bet she knows what’s it’s like to have “rebels” in her classes too. I would much rather have someone leave quietly if they didn’t like my teaching, rather than being disruptive by pulling out their home practices. I have very thick skin. I do not get offended easily. I would rather have you go spend your hour on something more worthwhile to you. Life is short, eh?!

Just one quick story to leave you and this post with before we talk food. During my first trip to India in 2005 I was studying at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore where there is NO variation on the method of practice. It is only Ashtanga, whether you’re in the Primary Series or beyond, you only do the poses that have been given to you by your teacher. In Mysore, it’s the Guru Pattabhi Jois’ grandson, Sharath, who is in charge and I used to get a kick out of watching him yell at people for adding poses, or worse, doing poses not even in the Ashtanga series. He would yell across the room, “You! Stop there!” like they had just robbed a grocery store or something. He has eyes in the back of his head that man! I want to hear your thoughts on this… especially you yoga teachers out there. How do you deal with the “rebels”?

Okay, let’s move onto food for a moment shall we? I know you’re probably Christmas cookied-out but I have one little treat that’s worth making and bringing to your New Year’s Eve party. It’s called Carmel Crack (yes, it’s that addicting) and is made with a combination of butter, brown sugar, nuts, chocolate chips and the secret ingredient, Saltines. All super healthy right?! Trust me, if you’re drinking champagne over the New Year, you’ll want to pair these two together. Sugar overload… but for one day! A wise woman once told me, “Worry about what you eat from New Year’s Eve to Christmas, not what you eat from Christmas to New Year’s Eve.” She couldn’t have said it better!

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Carmel Crack- makes one baking sheet worth 

Ingredients:

-1 stick of butter

-1 cup brown sugar

-2 cups chocolate chips

-1 cup pecans

-2 sleeves of Saltines

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Place parchment paper over a baking sheet and layer with Saltines.

2. Boil the sugar and butter together and wait until it gets gooey and has a carmel color to it.

 

3. Pour the carmel mixture over the Saltines. I used a spatula to help smooth it out.

4. Then place in the oven for 5-8  minutes or until the mixture begins to bubble.

5. Take the Saltines out and throw the chocolate chips and nuts on top.

6. Refrigerate for a minium of 2-3 hours and then break into small pieces! Your friends will love you for bringing this!

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I hope you all have a lovely New Year… can you believe it’s 2015? Sounds so futuristic! I’ll be working on my vision board this week with goals and dreams for the new year while finishing my 66th and final book of the year. I can’t believe I read 66 books in one year! I plan on treating myself to a little used bookstore shopping on Friday… I’d love to hear what you read this year and if you have suggestions for me. Here is my top 11 because 10 is never enough!

1. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

2. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

3. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

4. Me Before You By JoJo Moyes

5. The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

7. What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriaty

8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

9. Anne Perry and the Murder of a Century by Peter Graham

10. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

11. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo