Holier Than Thou

I was spoiled early on in my Yoga career. I spent almost ten years studying Yogic Scripts before I even stepped onto the mat. I've been competitive my entire life and would be damned if I was going to step into a class before I'd reached Enlightenment. In fact, I only went to a few classes before I enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training. These classes were taught by Amanda McMaine. Now - Amanda McMaine...she's a superstar. She came into class flowing in a white yoga suit, warming everybody's faces with a glowing smile. Ok....I was smitten. Amanda has studied with the likes of Judith Lasater and Leslie Kaminoff, teaching in a smooth, slow style with an intense focus on anatomy and the movement of the subtle body. I enrolled into her Yoga Teacher Training course after three classes with her.

I thought this would be a journey of sisterhood the first day as I looked around as my classmates. The kind where they all would come over after class and have slumber parties like we were in 8th grade again. I was utterly wrong. To say I felt isolated is an understatement. First, my classmates found out that I smoke cigarettes. After a heat filled lecture on letting go of my world attachments for the sake of my future students, I promised I would quit and we moved on. After a few hours of meditation, we went to lunch. Some of the girls invited me to a vegan spot just down the road, to which I replied, "Maybe another time, but my husband is going to meet me at Arby's." That was the last time the girl's invited me anywhere. I was shunned. A cigarette-smoking, Arby's eating heathen.

The worst part was that we also had to take classes from someone other than Amanda. So I scheduled time for them, thinking "At least I can pick my own classes." One class I confidently decided on was a Vinyasa class at a hip place downtown. About 30 minutes into it, the teacher came by and ripped my leg forward in Virabhadrasana I, spouting at me "More flow, come on!" Another class, the teacher walked into the room in a flair of arrogance, shushing the students as if we were in grade school. I was pissed.

I've seen it more and more in the Yoga world. The holier-than-thou teacher. That teacher that causes you to leave the class feeling drained, defeated and somehow used. Instagram Gods and Twitter pages with 25K followers. But this isn't Yoga. Yoga is a path, that we are all on together. Teachers particularly should be setting an example of non-perfection; putting our students and the journey first and foremost. We should know the difference between the driving effect of a gentle direction rather than the demolishing effects of a hard shove. Our Yoga mats are sacred ground, a place that we are all greatly equalized, and should be treated as so.