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.