What did you expect? I told you I’m a whiner. And even though yoga is my love, there are things about the practice that drive me nuts (kind of like when my husband gets crumbs in the margarine tub).
1. It’s not all butterflies and rainbows. Yoga is hard work, both physically and emotionally. There are times when a teacher asks you to hold a pose so long you want to either cry or scream, but you can’t because it wouldn’t be polite.
2. You’re stronger than you think you are. Part of the practice is learning when you push your boundaries and when to back off. When you get to your edge, you might think that’s all you can handle and you need to stop and rest, but there’s almost always more room.
3. It makes you realize you than although you’re wise, you don’t know anything. Sometimes, that’s a hard pill to swallow.
4. Just when you think you’ve mastered the hardest pose you could ever want to achieve, you see that there’s a cooler one that will take you 15 more years to learn.
5. There are yoga teachers everywhere–often your best teachers aren’t the ones who have studied yoga all their lives, but the ones who reveal something about your path. You have to just sit and wait for those teachers to show up. They don’t post a class schedule on the Internet.
6. Yoga pants are usually made for tall people, and I hate getting pants hemmed.
7. I know I’ll never understand everything about the practice, no matter how hard I try. There’s too much to learn. Many of its secrets are too rich, too deep, and too rooted in another culture for me to fully grasp it. But it’s so wonderful and magical than I can’t stop trying.
8. I hate extended chanting sessions, kirtan, and yoga dance parties. I like to leave music to the experts.
9. I don’t belong in any of the yoga “schools,” so in that sense I’m a yoga orphan. And it drives me crazy how divided the yoga world can be sometimes. I hate how people are so attached to their own way of doing things, and that they don’t seem to see that there are many paths to the same place.
10. No matter how long you’ve practiced, in many ways you start over at the beginning every time you get on your mat.
What do you hate?
I hate when class ends 🙁
But at least I kno at the after every ending there's a new beginning and another class to come.
Oooh! That's a good one! More specifically, I hate when Savasana ends! 🙂
I hate that there isn't always a yoga class when I can go, that no yoga studios around here have child care (unlike the gyms) and that it is so expensive to do trainings/workshops.
I hate that the poses I love are the advanced ones so I don't get to practice them often (most classes have all levels) and that some of the "easiest" poses are the hardest for me.
I hate that I don't feel like I've really gotten Savasana yet. I can rock handstand and Bakasana on a dime.. but not Savas. Hardest pose ever.
I stumbled upon your blog and LOVED IT. As a yoga teacher this was very entertaining for me and enlightening. I'm going to figure out how to keep my eye on your blog!
I also wanted to comment on how you hate the different "styles" of yoga. ME TOO. I am a teacher and HATE that there are all of these different "schools" of yoga and different techniques. I have taken Bikram's, Iyengar, Power, Ashtanga, Hatha… not sure if I've missed any, and you know, except for a few minor changes the postures ARE THE SAME. It's still YOGA. But these labels–they drive me crazy. When someone meets me they ask, "What style do you teach?" How do I answer that without listing off 26 different teachers that I've trained with? So I answer, "I teach yoga".
Thank you for this.
Joanne
Nancy, Yes! I agree with all of those (well except for Savasasna… I totally get Savasana!). I have to practice my beloved arm balances at home most of the time. 🙂
And Joanne, Yay! I'm so happy you found my blog. I can see the benefit of studying a particular style and even in having the labels so people know what they're getting into. I DON'T get the snobbish-ness about one vs. the other, though I'm sure I've been guilty of it, too.
Thanks so much for commenting, you two!
"10. No matter how long you've practiced, in many ways you start over at the beginning every time you get on your mat."
It's not something I hate about yoga, I see it as part of the challenge that gets me on the mat.
About the only thing I'd add would be the cost of yoga apparel and accessories (props, etc.).