Yoga Etiquette

Whether you are unrolling our yoga mat for the first time or the hundredth. Yoga is, after all, a practice of awareness and being mindful and this includes being sensitive to and having consideration for others.

Footwear

We love your footwear! However, as part of our community, we’d really appreciate you leaving them neatly stored away in our designated shoe spots. Shoes and boots are not appreciated in the change rooms as our lovely rugs don’t like them, and who wants to step on a wet spot with your bare feet in the change room? Allow yourself to embrace the freedom of walking around our studio barefoot.

Don’t be on time…be early!

Rushing into the room at the last possible moment is not only disruptive to others, it may be a pattern of self-sabotage. Make the most of your practice by arriving to class with enough time to get changed, fill your water bottle and settle in and get centered before the first OM. This goes for teachers, too~ Respect your students’ schedules and the next incoming class by beginning and ending on time.

Know your schedule!

If you must leave early, set up your mat by the door. If you must miss savasana (ah sadness) and leave early, let your teacher know beforehand. Place your mat by the door and quietly leave before savasana – the final resting pose.

Modesty

Dress comfortably, simply, and yes, modestly. No one wants to see your underwear! A few moves to try at home pre class in your yoga attire may help you to feel comfortable during class… How do you feel when you are upside down? bent over? twisted? Nobody likes to be constantly fidgeting with their clothing throughout a class!

Avoid Scents

In a practice where deep breathing is a requirement, it’s best to refrain from using scents. In a crowded studio your fellow students don’t want to take a breath of perfumes or scented products. Does your beloved mat need washing? Buy yourself a mat cleaner and use it after each practice. Usually washing once a season is a good time line to follow, depending on how often you practice~

Techno Free Zone

Let yourself have a technology free class, free yourself from the bondage of your phone, leave it in your purse or bag, save your battery and turn it off! Chatting on phones can be really disruptive to your fellow students. Allow yourself to turn off and tune in

Keep your yoga space neat.

Tidy up blankets, bottles and props. And please walk around everyone else’s yoga mats on your way back and forth to the props closet.

Practice contentment.

Practice being… Be in the moment, Focus your mind inward and be your breath, Be the pose. You can’t always get what you want, or get to the depth of the pose that you are in. Being content, doesn’t mean settling for what you don’t want. Practicing contentment means a balance of learning to recognize and realize how to balance your desires with the reality of the present moment. Learn to laugh at yourself (who could guess that you would ever have the goal of doing a handstand or a headstand?!).

Be present.

When you feel resistance coming up, don’t retreat, breathe into it. Practice self observation. Rise to the occasion, give that asana/pose—or a modified version of it, your full attention and awareness, learn from your inner teacher—what is the resistance trying to tell you about yourself? Feel free to make the physical modifications that help you to take a deeper breath and gain length in your spine. Be at peace with the present, even if it is difficult to be with the emotions or sensations that may arise. Continue to breathe and give space to what you are feeling and don’t hold your breath and “stuff” your feelings down, in yoga we breathe into and breathe through our emotions and let them flow through us as we heal.

Practice Gratitude.

Every class—even the one that makes us want to laugh or run away, or scream or weep—is an opportunity for you to learn and to grow. We are opening our inner door for encompassing more compassion and kindness. Thank you for helping everyone in our Yoga Sanctuary Community to have an excellent experience!

For those students who are new to yoga or have limited experience, we would like to emphasize the potency of its methods. Rapid changes in your body and mind are soon experienced and benefits appreciated, when all of the yoga techniques are harmoniously combined. This is not so apparent when the various practical techniques of yoga are practices in isolation from each other.

If you are used to more superficial techniques of physical exercise, you may find the power of these changes initially more than you expect. It is NOT unusual for a beginner to experience at different times, any or all of the following: headaches, aching muscles, nausea, anger, grief, breathlessness, confusion or tiredness. These are symptoms of physiological and emotional discharge or detoxification, which also include mental shifts. Some kind of discomfort is unavoidable once we start to purify our systems through yoga and we should be encouraged rather than discouraged when this occurs. It is simply a question of toxins (including emotions), being released. In the case of tiredness, it is due to the releasing of muscular and nervous tensions, which habitually mask feelings of chronic tiredness.

Equally you can expect to GAIN rapidly from the following physical and psychological benefits: flexibility, strength, stamina, respiration, digestion, elimination, vitality, alertness, concentration, tranquility, self-confidence, and self-esteem. If your muscles ache the following day after class, the fastest way to relieve this is by doing whatever postures you can remember from your last practice. Try to do this everyday!

At The Yoga Sanctuary, we feel that we are part of your growth and transformation. Please do not hesitate to speak with any of our staff, teachers, or our Yoga Advisor whenever you are experiencing the effects of yoga in your life.

Thank you for allowing The Yoga Sanctuary to be your safe haven for inward journeys.