Yoga Ettiquette

Thanks to Maya I discovered a new obsession. No, not Facebook, Bikram Yoga. It's a 90 minute, moving meditation in a 105 degree room. Some people find it the closest thing to hell. Here in cold, damp London, it's a little slice of heaven. I like it because: 1. My anemia keeps me feeling cold most of the time and this balances that out. 2. There are more hot guys there than in your average yoga class because guys think sweating is an extra hard core workout. 3. Topless men in booty shorts are good eye candy and extra motivation. 4. It keeps me healthy and fit. 5. I'm good at it.
Enough about the benefits of Bikram and more to the point of this post. I belong to a studio a couple of miles from my house and I tend to work out there 3-4 times a week. It's helping me maintain the 20 pound weight loss I achieved over the summer by working out with my trainer in addition to practicing this yoga. I tend to go to the 8pm class and most of the regulars arrive around 7:45pm. We all change and wait in the locker room for the 6:15 people to clear out of the studio. Sometimes we bust in there at 7:50 to give them the bum's rush and stake out a good spot (it's a bit cooler over by the windows and there's a great view of the park across the street). However, there are some rules once you get into the studio. For instance: 1. Be silent so as not to interrupt others in their meditation. 2. Only drink water between postures so as not to interrupt others in their meditation, concentration or balance. 3. Focus on your own eyes in the mirror. 4. During savasana (dead body pose/rest time) turn your head in the same direction as the rest of the class to give your neighbors some privacy.
This is my issue. A woman in my class has decided that she is a yoga master so she practices in the front row. I being pretty good, but only having begun in July, practice in the second row. We are usually 3-4 rows deep in class as Bikram is very popular here. The idea in a room so crowded is to stagger ourselves so that everyone can see her/himself in the mirror. You need the mirror to help you focus your meditation, maintain balance, and make adjustments to your form during the practice. This woman does not respect the notion of staggering.
She usually comes into class after me then proceeds to lay her mat and towel down directly in front of mine- end to end, corner to corner. It drives me insane and puts me in a foul mood. When she does this I try to drag my mat and towel over an few inches to the left or right so that I can get a space to see myself in the mirror. She typically pretends not to notice me moving and shifting behind her.
At first I thought it was because she couldn't tell where my space was since the room is dark as we wait for class to begin and I was lying down on my mat. To solve the problem, I started sitting up while waiting for class to start so she could instantly see that she was blocking me in the mirror. Nada.
On both Monday and Tuesday of this week she plopped her happy ass down right in front of me. Tuesday night was bad because the front row was virtually empty and she had about 3 feet of space to her left. We were thick in the second and third rows with only about 6-10 inches between our mats. When yoga mistress came in both me and the woman behind me had to shift our mats to be able to see ourselves in the mirror. The woman in the third row shot me a knowing glance as we hurriedly readjusted before starting the first breathing exercise while everyone else in the room was practicing being still and calm.
To add insult to injury, yoga mistress isn't that good. During the balancing postures she frequently loses her balance and falls out of the posture. Our teachers always tell us to jump right back in as the energy in the room is contagious and if one person falters or quits it poisons the well for the rest of us.
I inadvertently did it myself the other day. I came to class tired from a long day at work and was in the center of a bunch of newbies who were in their first few classes. When you first start out with this practice it's hard to maintain focus, balance, or concentration because all you think about is the heat. I spent many of my first few classes convincing myself that I was not going to die. In such cases your are encouraged to sit down and rest and watch everyone else. On the evening in question, I had the life sucked out of me by all of the newbies who were sitting and watching. My low level of energy made balancing WAY more difficult for me. Consequently, I fell out of my postures over and over again causing those around me to do the same. It makes for a very frustrating class when that happens.
Yoga mistress is like that everyday. She regularly falls out of postures and instead of jumping right back in, she stands (usually directly in front of me) and wipes the sweat from her brow or readjusts her clothes. It drives me insane because not only does it wreck my energy flow, but it also saps my concentration as I can no longer see myself in the mirror. As a result, I tend to lose my balance and fall out of my posture. It's at that point where I feel the urge to scream and curse at her, but class is silent, so I can't. I just roll my eyes and try to jump back into my posture, but usually cannot because she's still standing there in my way, blocking the mirror. If I move so that I can see, she jumps back into the posture aligning her body with mine so that I am once again invisible in the mirror. Invisibility causes me to fall out of my posture again.
She drives me crazy! I debated having a word with her in the locker room after class. Then she crossed the line again by crowding me in the locker room. She put her stuff right next to mine and stood close to the bench so that I had to reach around her sweaty body to get to my clothes. Gross! I actually stopped going to the yoga studio closest to my house because other people sweat on me too frequently there. I find other people's sweat so revolting.
I'm at my wit's end. I might try talking to her again. I might also pull my teacher aside and ask her to speak to the class in general about hogging the mirror. I have a plan of action, but I'm also taking suggestions if you have any to offer.

OCD and me

Recently, I've been accused of having an obsessive compulsive disorder. I never thought I had OCD, but after two people in one week suggesting it, I'm rethinking the possibility.
I do like having things tidy. I also do not enjoy living in, or cleaning up other people's messes. However, I do not shower several times a day, wash and rewash my hands, or any other repetitive behavior. I have, as does everyone, certain pet peeves. If you live, or ever have lived with other people, they've done something at one point to annoy you. I have issues with my kitchen being dirty. I don't like dishes left in the sink unless I leave them there (which my mother will tell you that I do all the time). If dishes must be left in the sink, I need them to be rinsed out, or at least having water left in them so that the old food doesn't crust over. I like the counters and stove wiped down and free of grease and crumbs. I like the floor swept and also free of crumbs and visible stains. Is that OCD? Or is it just clean? Would you eat in a restaurant with crumbs and crusty food on the tables and cooking surfaces? How would the health department rate a commercial kitchen that looked like that?
In my bathroom, I like my surfaces wiped down. I like them free or hair, dust, toothpaste, soap scum, and other substances. Surely that's not too much to ask. After all, how is one expected to bathe in dirt? Roger says that my need to have separate cleaning cloths for the tub and sink in OCD. I say no since you put your booty, feet, and other body parts in the tub. The sink occasionally touches my toothbrush if I happen to drop it (Which Roger says he's never done. Am I alone in having dropped my toothbrush in the sink?). Thus I'd rather not clean the sink that touches my toothbrush with the same cloth I use to clean the tub which touches my feet and booty. I just think that's gross.
Perhaps my issue is simply with things that go in my mouth- food, my toothbrush, dishes, etc. I don't like having dirty things in or near my mouth. Does that qualify as OCD? I think it's just quirkiness. It's just the joy of me.
My boss said that's why I'm sick now (I have a cold). Apparently I'm not dirty enough to build up antibodies. I didn't put enough things in my mouth growing up.
My parents kept me too clean and now I keep myself this way.
I can take junk- piles of papers, objects, stuff all over. I cannot take gooey, sticky, crusty, smelly dirt. There is a difference. Mess is not necessarily dirt, but dirt is certainly a mess. Where is the line drawn between OCD and cleanliness? I think I err on the side of clean, not compulsive.

It's been a long time coming

Hooray for change! It's been a long time coming and I'm happy it's here! American politics have dominated my life (and everyone else's it seems) for the last week. Prior to that it's been work.
In the interim, I've been slacking off on my blogging. Sorry! By the same token, I have to say that there's not much to report on this end.
After my tryst with the hot biker boy, the dry spell began. I'm still on Match and got a few winks, but nothing has come of them. I've had no luck in real life either. Only two guys have even looked my way. One was some less than attractive, 45 year old Jamaican guy on the tube the other day. He looked as if he'd just come from a construction job somewhere and spent most of the ride staring at me as I graded papers. Creepy! He did break the silence as he saw me putting my things away and asked for my number or for a date at KFC. (You know how I feel about fried chicken.) Since when is that a good first date location?
Yesterday, I ran into my former tango partner in a restaurant. He sent a dessert to my table. Poor thing, he still keeps hope alive that one day something will happen between us. No dice. I appreciate the generosity, but we are friends and nothing more.
I continue my dating slump...
If you know any hot, single guys in the London area (or ones that are willing to travel here) please send them my way!