Active Living: Yoga - No Smiling Allowed?

I love yoga. I have tried Hatha yoga, vinyasa yoga, yoga flow, hot yoga and power yoga. Depending on the instructor, the setting, and what I was looking to get out of the class, I have enjoyed the majority of these styles. I find yoga helps me focus on stretching, breathing, and pushing my muscles to do things they don't normally do.
The thing about yoga is, I find that this active living practice comes with attitude and intimidation. Before you take offense fellow HEALers and Yoga lovers, just hear me out... 

I recently took a yoga class up here at SFU. The demographic was similar to most Yoga classes I've attended; 90% lululemon wearing 20 year olds or older folk with harder bodies than I'll ever hope to achieve. The studio consisted of 3/4 windows. Not exactly an ideal location for any beginner Yogi who may feel intimidated by the huge potential for curious passerbys. The last thing a self concious Yoga participant needs is to have someone stare at them while they are posed in the not-so-flattering down dog position.

Those intimidation factors aside, I was excited to be taking a Yoga class after not having done so in a few months. It was a Power Yoga class, my favourite. I consider myself in relatively okay shape, and I've taught basic Yoga before, so I wasn't worried about not being able to keep up with the class. It turns out my confidence was premature.

Within 20 minutes of the class, we were already practicing handstands. I'm not sure it you've ever tried these in your adult years, but it is a very different experience than when we were kids doing this in gym class. I've tried doing handstands in Yoga a couple of times, so thought I would just go for it even though it's probably been over a year since my last attempt. I soon found myself toppling over and whacking the 20 yr old perfect bodied girl beside me in the head. 'Sorry!' I whispered as I tried to untangle myself from the pretzled mass I had become on the floor. Unlike another fitness setting where someone might have laughed and said 'It's okay, don't worry about it,' I instead got a cool stare that basically said 'You made me lose my zen place...amateur.' Hmm, the last I checked, Yoga was supposed to be an active living practice that develops the mind, body & spirit and will lead you to a sense of peace and well being. If this is the case, why does it always seem that smiling in a Yoga class is a faux pas? Is the serious attitude in Yoga classes really that necessary?

I am not trying to take away from this important mental, spiritual and physical discipline. It just seems to me that this practice has strayed so far from it's original intention; what used to be a personal practice where the goal was attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility has turned into groups of 30 plus people who care more about telling their friends that they 'do yoga' than actually doing Yoga.

There are more than a few downsides to this shift in attitude. Not only does this practice become more of a yoga attire fashion show and parade of hard bodies, but the safety of the participants is also compromised. How can one instructor safely teach a class to 45 participants with a variety of experience, injuries and limitations? What are the risks when people follow fads like 'Bikram's Yoga' without having ever exercised? And how is a beginner to fitness supposed to feel comfortable and safe in this environment?


Saying all of this, I thoroughly enjoyed my power Yoga class last week and will be returning tomorrow - I'm just going to ensure I have my lululemon pants and that I won't be attempting any more handstands :)