Yoga Shame

May 31, 14 Yoga Shame

Posted by in Fitness, Leisure

I have been meaning to share this for a while now, but as with all things shame related, it’s hard. It happened a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t anything horrific or bad but it has gotten in the way of my practice for a while now, so the shame is clearly lingering. I was super tired one day lying on my mat doing a full class shavasana. I thought it was going well. I had that crazy sense of time where I felt like I was in deep relaxation but every time I had awareness, another 15 minutes had gone by. Then the teacher touched my wrist. “You are snoring,” she mouthed. Then I felt the shame. Oh no! I was really embarrassed. I stopped doing shavasana and started doing some poses. I couldn’t trust myself not to go back to sleep. I felt a sense of panic. Had I embarrassed myself? How loud was I snoring. Did I disrupt people? I felt the need to apologize after class to the instructor. She said all the right things–“It happens to all of us, it’s no big deal, don’t worry about it.” I thought it was over. I let it go. I went about my yoga practice for the next week. It was the most tiring week yet. I was getting more and more exhausted. And then I realized what was happening. I was worried about doing long shavasanas because I was worried I would snore. I was exhausting myself because of shame. I confessed my transgression to a couple of women in the locker room. “I snored last week in class,” I shared. “Just lie on your side,” one friend suggested. I am still struggling with this in my head although I have been conscious of how this continues to affect my yoga practice. Before, I felt more free and able to rest when I needed it. Now I am conscious of trying to do long shavasanas when I am not so sleepy....

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Moksha Yoga: Falling for a Brand

Dec 02, 13 Moksha Yoga: Falling for a Brand

Posted by in Branding, Business, Fitness

I just completed a 30 day challenge at the Moksha Yoga Hamilton studio.  I don’t know if I have ever fallen so hard for a brand before.  This brand has stolen my heart. It all started when I found myself suddenly at loose ends with my exercise program, as I had stopped one thing and was looking for something else.  I decided to sign up for 21 days of yoga at Moksha Yoga for $30. (I think the price may be even better now)  I didn’t really plan to join, but it seemed to be a great thing to do and then I would have 21 more days to figure out what I wanted to do next. That was all well and good, but then they gave me a little card with prizes to be won and I figured out that if I attended 21 times in 21 days, my first month was free.  Hmmm!  That would be awesome!  And I like a challenge.   Jordan, the woman who led my first class, gave me great information about lying down on the mat when I was too hot.  She helped me to feel safe and welcome and like I belonged there. I won’t talk about my yoga journey here.  You can read that here if you want to.  Right now, I want to talk about my experience with the Moksha Brand.  After the first day, I felt like coming back the next day.  I also learned that I never wanted to leave hot yoga again without showering first… UGHH!  I came back again and again.  Each teacher was welcoming, kind, loving, and seemed genuinely excited by my journey.  This summer we went to a French Immersion Family Language School in Sancerre, France.  While we were there, my family talked about the skill the teachers had of acting genuinely impressed by our French, which drove us forward and helped us try things that felt new or foreign without feeling self-conscious.  The teachers at Moksha have this...

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