Bikram teachers put up with the silliest moments!Photo Via DaveAustria on Flickr.
Not that you'd expect it, but hot yoga can be a pretty funny experience sometimes. You get silly sounds coming from super-sweaty yogis, odd characters running in and out of the room, and general chaos and mayhem on those crowded days.
Here are a few of my favorite moments from the Hot Box that I'd like to share. What memories do you cherish from Bikram's Torture Chamber?
- “Wow, whose red panties are these?” (*Teacher holds up pair of red hot, lacy underwear in front of class with wide-eyed look on his face.) “Alright, well I guess I’ll keep them up here on the podium. I feel like they’re a little Christmas present that someone’s left for me. I guess it’s Christmas in July!”
- “You’re not babies; you’re warriors. So don’t act like a baby in here. Next set!”
- “Hey, Steve! I have an idea…how about you wait ‘til after class to take a shower? Yeah, I saw that, the water bottle action. You thought you could sneak it by me, but you forget: I see all in here…”
- “Have you noticed you’re twitching your fingers during triangle pose? I mean, it’s kind of cute, but it has to stop. We can’t have that in here.”
- “Is that a purse? Is that your purse, miss? Is there a cell phone in that purse?” *Yogi nods her head, blushing a bit. “OK, well no worries, but just remember next time to leave it outside the room. Alright, let’s start pranayama…” *Pause. “You know what? As it turns out, I can’t have a phone in here. It’s just wrong. Here, I’m just going to set it outside at the front desk…” *Teacher starts dialogue as he walks out the door...
- "Face to the legs, upper body to the thighs, like a grilled cheese sandwich..." (Why would you want to eat a Japanese ham sandwich anyway?! Grilled cheese all the way. :)
- "Close your mouth. Close your mouth. Close your mouth." *Yogi still exhales loudly through an open mouth. "Man, people need to work on their manners in this class!"
Yogis is crazy, man.Photo Via NerdVin on Flickr.
You have such a fantastic memory! Funny stuff. It is amazing how our instructors can repeat themselves 3X as in 'close your mouth' and you still don't realize they are talking to you!!
ReplyDeleteThe hot box definitely brings out the craziness. Today my instructor externalized an internal dialogue.. contemplating out loud whether or not a new student would return to the room after leaving. She genuinely cared.
I love the dialog. My favorite is when they say "Freeze..don't move, don't even breathe...now pull harder" or how they are always telling you something is supposed to hurt and we are supposed to do it with our smiling happy face. One of my favorite teachers once noted while telling us "we have one cobra leg don't move it."...."How many legs does a cobra have anyway?" Fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I feel like there are a lot of other silly moments that I don't quite remember, just because I'm usually so focused on the practice. (Which I guess is a good thing ha!) These were all SO funny in person, though, let me tell ya :)
ReplyDeleteI agree though -- those moments when teachers really show their softer sides can be really awesome, too. Or, you know, when they just beat us up ha...I remember there was this one chick who left the room super early without trying to sit down or relax or anything..and my instructor sort of went off on her! She was completely legit in saying so, though...the student was a bit crazy. Anyway! :) Good times.
To GrumpyZen:
ReplyDeleteExactly! The dialogue is hilariously contradiction-ridden, but in a really comical way :) I LOVE when teachers say "smiling happy faces" or "Don't look so sad!" because it's TRUE -- if you glance around the room, there are some pretty awful expressions going on. I know I do that sometimes, unintentionally ha. Can't help it! Thanks for posting, and feel free to continue sharing the silly moments!