Hi,
So the other day this girl plops her mat down next to me. First of all she is almost exactly parallel to me. So I know when we do some arms swings to high prayer we will collide. I move my mat back about 10 inches.
Then she proceeds to put her cell phone,a towel,a t shirt she pulls off and a crackly plastic water bottle she’s drinking from all around her on the floor. The water bottle is constantly falling over as she either drinks from it(crackle,crunch,gurgle), or bangs it when she does a pose. Her other accessories begin to come closer and closer to my mat. Then her cell phone begins to buzz.
Gahhhh!!! Are there some Yoga class etiquette rulers here that could be brought up?
I would just suggest to observe your own sensation when this things happen (just witnessing yourself), I’s easy to be irritated when we expect silence around and we hear noises instead, the yoga practice can be more challenging if there are this obstacles .
What i usually do is to use the noises as object of concentration/awareness ( just being aware of the sound around you), doing in this way what was before annoying became included in the practice, after a while the mind lose interest in the noises because we don’t give them importance and the simple noise that before was bothering you doesn’t affect you anymore.
Just try, otherwise the best thing to do is to tell her that she is annoying you with all that noise ( nothing wrong with that).
The Universe has kindly sent you a test to see how you’ve progressed in your practice. You’re so fortunate to have this test over some of the other, more jarring ones.
Are you aggravated, annoyed, perturbed, and otherwise PO’d? Excellent! If you had said this noise truck of a person had parked next to you and you were completely unfettered I’d have either been concerned about you or wondered about your honesty.
Of course there’s etiquette. And of course not everyone knows it. These lessons are a) posted in the studio and b) teaching opportunities for the instructor, not to mention a great barometer for the high and mighty to check in with themselves:-)
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Yoga teacher should play role here to make such people aware of it. This is very common behavior in few students throughout the world. And I have seen even in my studio few people behave this way. Such people can’t even complete one month of classes.
High competition, desires and ego have made people become like this. Being aware of your action is what we need to learn more than asana itself in Yoga.
I could imagine that someone would only bring their cell phone to the mat if they were expecting an emergency call. Otherwise those types of distractions should be left in the car.
Also, some people are just not aware of their impact on the world around them. I don’t know if that’s because they are perpetually in their own little world or what but it irritates me too.
Stuff like that can be so annoying.
I attend a Yoga class where one of the participants brings her 3 yr old daughter - something I am totally fine with, as I have 3 kids, and know that if I’d been able to do Yoga when they were that age I’d have been a better person - but of course at times she does make noise. I think the first few times it was a bit jarring, but it is amazing what we can get used to if we must, and we have the motivation to do so.
Kind of like moving to a house where a 3am train comes shooting past, in time you sleep right through it, what else can you do? 
[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;85630]The Universe has kindly sent you a test to see how you’ve progressed in your practice. You’re so fortunate to have this test over some of the other, more jarring ones. [/QUOTE]
This is exactly what I was going to post!
Your inner peace was given a test!