Attendance at YM classes can be high and with a lot of bodies comes a lot of energy and activity.
YM does value and appreciate serenity, calm, quiet and peace but we do encourage conversation before class. YM is a dynamic and stimulating place to be and I LOVE it when I enter the yoga room to find it buzzing with voices and anticipation. It is what makes the studio feel like a community rather than simply a place for strangers to practice yoga together. We wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere in which people can provide support and encouragement, respect and consideration to each other and perhaps foster new acquaintances.
Post class we encourage an atmosphere in the Yoga room of TOTAL calm and peacefulness. We ask everyone to be quiet immediately following a class whilst in Savasana and for those leaving to depart the room like they would that of a sleeping child 🙂 . If there is even one person left in Savasana we honour their needs above all others. But complete silence doesn’t exist in our yoga school or indeed in many a Yoga room. Even in the quietest moments, during Savasana, when I stop speaking you might still hear a variety of noises the hum of the fans or dehumidifiers, clicking of cooling heaters, distant traffic, rain, wind, seagull walking on the roof… please know that part of your meditation process will be learning how to tune out distractions…
A LITTLE STORY: One day in my training in 2001 Bikram led us into Dandayana Dhanurasana {Standing Bow Pulling Pose} and THEN proceeded to relate a loooonnng, meandering tale that had absolutely nothing to do with Yoga (something from his childhood). We were all struggling to hold the pose with composure and a few people kept kept falling out and getting back in. After several falls Bikram asked one faller why he kept falling. The student replied that he was distracted by Bikram’s non-stop chatter about something that had nothing to do with the task at hand (I remember thinking “your brave!” 🙂 ). Bikram didn’t sack him but responded that his Yoga method was designed with the goal of helping us learn to focus and concentrate DESPITE whatever distraction could be thrown at us. He said our concentration such be such that we could do Standing Bow Pulling in the middle of an intersection during rush hour. I think his point was that we shouldn’t let anything external steal our peace or prevent us from connecting with the quiet inside.
The natural state of the world IS chaotic, restless, noisy; the only true peace and quiet exists WITHIN; sometimes you have to dig deep to find it.
Namaste ~ Trisha