We try not to get too caught up in rules and requirements for practicing yoga at Yoga West. However, there are some simple courtesies to follow concerning studio etiquette that will allow us all to practice yoga peacefully together.
Arrive On Time – Early if you can!
Give yourself time to sit quietly in the yoga room before class begins. Speeding down the freeway and busting into class at the last minute sort of defeats the purpose of your yoga practice. And, we lock the doors once class begins, so if you are late, you will have to do yoga in the courtyard.
Stuff to Leave in the Cubbies
Phones (most important, and turn them off!)
Shoes
As noted above, the doors are locked once class starts, so your stuff is safe in the cubbies. Better yet, don’t bring valuables in at all. Yoga West cannot be responsible for missing or misplaced items.
Drama from work, home or school. Please don’t take this onto your mat with you.
Whatever you come with, take back out with you. We find quite often that folks get so “yoga blissed” that they leave all sorts of stuff behind.
Light snack, lots of water.
Yoga is best practiced two or three hours after eating. If you’re hungry, eat a small piece of fruit 30 minutes or so before class. Drink plenty of water before and after class. You can bring a bottle of water into the yoga room with you if you would like for during class, though it is best to avoid water during class if you can.
Injuries
Tell the instructor about any injuries or special health conditions before class begins. This will help the instructor make suggestions to make your practice safer and more enjoyable.
Stuff to Take into the Room
Bring your own yoga mat to class for hygienic reasons. You can use one of our loaner mats the first few times you come, but if you stick around, you will need your own. You can buy one from us, or elsewhere, just bring your own.
We have all of the other props that you might need during class.
Strong smells….
Surprisingly to many folks new to yoga, this practice really heats up the body and can cause quite of bit of heat and resulting sweat. Bring a hand towel if you need. (We have these for sale, too!)
No strong perfumes or lotions either. This can be disturbing to your fellow yogis, especially as you start to sweat!
Keep your yoga mat clean. Use a mat spray or wipes often. And if you borrow one of ours, spray and wipe it off for sure before you put it back.
Stay in the Room and Respect the Instructor
When you step into the yoga room, you agree to respect the teacher for the next hour and 15 minutes. You may find out that this instructor/style/hour of the day wasn’t your best choice, but please stay in the room. Come to Child’s Pose or Savasana if you need to, but stay on your mat. If you must leave the room for personal reasons, exit very quietly. Please do not come back in during final relaxation.
No Gold Stars for Working Too Hard
If you are feeling too challenged, or warm, or just plain tired, it is perfectly all right to take a more basic variation of the poses being taught, or Child’s Pose. As noted above, stay in the room. If you are not feeling 100% that day, or have an injury, you don’t get a prize for suffering through a hard class. Take it down a notch.
Conversely, if you know the hardest, most intense variation of a pose and you are in an Essentials class, keep it to yourself. No gold stars for intimidating beginners, either.
No Whining
Yoga is for everybody, and everybody can find classes at Yoga West that suit them. That does not mean that all of our class will suit all of our students. If you find that a particular class is too warm, too slow, too chanty, too whatever, try one of the other 50+ classes that we have on the schedule. But don’t whine out loud in the yoga room. It is disrespectful to the instructor, and unsettling to the other students, who may very well have come to the class for the reason that you don’t like.
Please don’t ask the instructor to turn up or down the air, or the music, or slow down or speed up. We spend a lot of time designing our classes to be delivered in a certain way and have a certain effect on the body, and assuming the instructor will change something just to accommodate your personal preference is not fair to the other students. We offer private sessions just for that!
