Often, we yogis have to laugh at ourselves. In my opinion, yoga (and life) is not to be taken *too* seriously, or you miss out on a lot of the fun and magic of it. Yes, yoga can be crazy! The poses can look insane, be uncomfortable, and seem impossible! People often fall over, fall asleep, feel stupid, feel exhausted, feel emotional, feel silly, and feel powerful all at the same time - and then, if we're lucky, we can laugh at ourselves - or at least smile in a difficult pose, as we struggle to do what others may find to be easy.
I have been practicing yoga for over 10 years and teaching for eight years!
I enjoy the quiet, serene class where the spa music is flowing, and the wise words are spouting from the teacher a.k.a. Moi !!! But the best classes for me are ones that make me laugh. As a teacher, my style is laid back, which results in a very relaxed atmosphere. Over the years, both as a student and as a teacher, I have heard some very amusing comments.
So without further adieu, here they are—my top 10 funniest scenarios from my yoga experience:
1. “I am only used to doing these moves with a man under me.” This came from a student who was taking her very first yoga class with me. She would constantly say, “Whaaa?” in an exasperated voice after my instructions and demonstrations. It was quite the ice breaker!
2. “When you come up and breathe behind me, it’s creepy.” Of course, yoga is all about the breath—when I am walking around to assist students, I breathe to let them know I am behind them (so as not to startle them before an adjustment) and also to remind them to breathe. This was shared with me after class and it gave me a good laugh.
3. A student rummaging through her purse during savasana. Truthfully, I am not sure if her getting up during the corpse pose and checking her purse was funnier or my response. I just sat there with my mouth open—probably not the best response, but I did come to learn that I needed to explain to brand new students about savasana and its purpose, along with, perhaps, a little yoga etiquette ;-)
4. “I want to be a yogi. I just don’t want to do the yoga.” This comment was from one of my students who looked so cute in her yoga outfit & matching earings and with her tiny nose stud! Funny!
5. “When is this class over?” It may be that you had to be there to appreciate it, but this was in one of my Beginners yoga class and I was walking around the room—students were seated with their body folded over their legs and the woman who said it to me looked up from her fold as I came by and she sounded really grumpy.
6. Every time I make students do a shoulder stand pose in my class, I always mention that this ‘asana’ is great for when you are bloated or need to pass gas…..this statement always get them in a fit of laughter…but I kid you not, IT IS SO TRUE!!!
7. When I taught one of my first CHAIR yoga classes at a corporate gig (when I lived in Dubai), the group came to class in their work clothes. Several people were in pants, but I had probably 3 young ladies who were in shorter skirts. This made it a little tough to do some of the moves! I had planned to do a move called Star Pose where you sit back on the chair and lift both the legs and the arms out—that didn’t go well, or as planned ☺
8. After I had been practicing for a few months, I went home and demonstrated crow pose to my family. My kids were probably three & five at the time. I was very excited: “Look what mom can do!” I had really been working on it. Both kids went right into it and told me it was easy. Ah, youth! The moral of the story there is that kids have no fear. As adults, we have developed fears—a humorous, humbling lesson for me.
9. “I can’t do yoga; I’m not flexible.” I hear this comment from so many people when they learn I am a yoga teacher. Really? Obviously, one reason to go to yoga is to gain flexibility. It’s like saying, “I can’t take a shower because I’m too dirty.”
10. And, last, bodily noises. It will always be funny. If you have done it in class, you might as well laugh. This stuff happens ☺
Namaste!
x
