Overcoming a bad yoga experience

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi,

I began studying yoga in January and have taken about a dozen 75 minute classes. I’ve loved every part of my journey thus far but today I had my first yoga experience that I would classify as not great.

I attended a new class this morning taught by my favorite teacher. It was slightly faster than my usual classes but not close to being overwhelming.

Most of the class I felt excellent - I even was able to complete a pose I hadn’t done before without assistance (full wheel) - but near the end of class the teacher allowed us to perform any inversions we wished to before savasana or to just enter savasana. Half of the class participants moved into some inversion and the other half prepared for savasana; I unsuccessfully attempted crow pose and began savasana somewhat frustrated.

I wasn’t in the right frame of mind at all for savasana: my mind wasn’t calm, I was comparing myself to others in the class, and I was just generally anxious. I recognized this and tried to correct it but was unable before the end of savasana. Bottom line: I failed to take advantage of the most important part of the class.

Normally I feel exceptionally great after yoga; it gives me a natural high with a half life of about 8 hours. Today after class I felt sad.

[U]For those of you who have had a bad yoga experience-- how did you get over it? [/U] I don’t want my bad savasana to carry over into my week, to carry over into my next class, or to taint my overall opinion of yoga, which previously was categorically positive.

I appreciate any advice you can offer an enthusiastic novice.
Thank you,
John

#2

Hi John,

First off, welcome to the forums :slight_smile:

Second, considering you’ve taken 12 or so classes, I am going to assume this is a level 1 or beginner class. I personally wouldn’t let my beginner students loose to do inversions, and certainly not right before savasana. Accomplishing fancy inversions is NOT the point of the form of yoga you’re practicing and it sets students up for emotional and physical injury, two things they likely already have plenty of which is why they’re probably in yoga class in the first place. You experienced an emotional injury that no doubt stirred some older emotional wounds and I’m so sorry to hear that. hugs to you, brother.

With all that said, let’s look on the bright side, shall we? Patanjali tells us in the yoga sutras to “cultivate the opposite” so let’s see if we can do so.

  1. You were able to observe that you were anxious, frustrated and comparing yourself to others. That’s fantastic! So many of us aren’t able to take that step back and observe how we feel and what it is we’re doing. That you’re able to only 12 classes in is amazing! Continue to cultivate that ability and practice ahimsa (non violence) towards yourself and practice satya (truthfulness) as you observe all aspects of your life. Sometimes it’s hard to be honest with ourselves, I sure like to lie to myself about who and how I am :smiley: Seriously though John, you’re practicing some serious yoga my friend. That you were able to do all of this in savasana tells me you most definitely took advantage of it. Just not how you were expecting to :wink:

  2. You felt sad after class? Awesome! What an amazing, beautiful feeling to experience. It’s ok to feel sad. It’s ok to feel angry. It’s ok to feel frustrated. It’s ok to feel happy. It’s ok to feel. All of it is within us but somewhere along the lines we were taught that some of those feelings are bad to feel or express. The problem is, when we repress those feelings instead of feeling them, THAT is when the real problems start. So that you were able to feel sad is fantastic in my opinion. Keep on feeling brother. Open that heart and make yourself as vulnerable to the world as you can :slight_smile:

#3

Hello John,

I find David’s reply to be very sound here. What he has aggregated conveys more than appetizer for the beginning student. I’ll offer my own veiwpoint and try not to regurgitate David’s points but add others.

First, what expectation should we have for ourselves with 15 hours of asana practice under our belts? I say this merely to lend some perspective to the process of absorbing the practice. What you are able to master in transition from one pose to the next - be they well linked or carelessly belched into a sequence - will likely change dramatically within the first year of study. So don’t get too wrapped up in being too wrapped up.

Second, yoga directs us in such a way that we (eventually) are accepting complete responsibility for our choices (not blaming others, conditions, the breeze, fortune, our parents, et al). This is not so that we may punish ourselves but rather so that we may be fully empowered. It is only when we take full responsibility for where we are that we can also take ourselves to someplace else. I believe you have already moved into this based on your text.

Third, Bakasana is not an inversion and due to the nature of the pose I would not place it immediately before savasana with a beginner group. That which precedes savasana should facilitate savasana and to me arm balances should fall earlier in the sequence.

Four, yoga practice SHOULD churn up your gook. It is not designed to bliss out the practitioner, give them a high, or have them floating around after in a state of euphoria. And frankly one could achieve that sense by breathing in a paper bag for four minutes or hyperventilating and calling it pranayama. So David is spot on that one may have a myriad of feelings as a residue from their practice. It is “nice” when it is pleasant. But it is not devoid of yoga when it is not.

How to get over it, you ask?
It is just AN experience, of which you’ll have many more. Some will be this way and others that way. We work to not attach ourselves to the pleasant while also not being averse to the unpleasant. Take them each for what they are and grow from them. They are neither good not bad till you label them as such.

#4

I’ve cried during and after yoga classes. I have left yoga classes feeling angry and frustrated. I’ve been on a week long yoga retreat and could not let go of jealousy and insecurity.

So to sum it up, yoga is not always bliss, who ever said it would be?

It is from my dark moments I have learnt the most.

#5

@lynchjg
Thinking about this from a different perspective; sometimes the sequencing of the asana can help bring you to a better mind set for savasana. Yoga is more about who feels the best afterwards not who does the most amazing asana.

@omamana
Lately in my one class savasana has been evoking uncontainable laughter as well as uncontrollable sobbing. The laughter seems to come from exuberant feelings (giddy for no reason) and the crying from unresolved issues of sadness (like the loss of a loved one). I often start the practice by planting the seed; lets? wring the stress to the surface and let it go, I guess we don?t only stir stress but emotions also.

#6

Thank you for the warm responses. I am glad I found this resource.

David:
Even though I am a beginner this particular class was geared toward intermediates. I knew this going in and discussed it with my teacher who told me I’d be fine and that I could take things at my own pace. No one in the class was compelled by the teacher to perform inversions before savasana. I’m clarifying because I don’t want to give the impression that the teacher was being careless-- she was not, and I have developed a great admiration for her wisdom and guidance in just two short months; nor do I want to it to appear as though I blame my teacher for my unexpectedly anxious mind during savasana.

I think I’ll try to enter savasana henceforth without expectation.

Best,
John

#7

John,

What a teacher should do is guide you through your practice. Sequencing is important and as Gordon mentioned, poses at the end of class are designed to aid in shavasana. Curious as to her reasoning for allowing some to attempt inversions immediately before shavasana and others right into it. How can a student melt into relaxation while others around them are attempting a difficult pose? Shavasana is a time for healing and reaping the benefits of the practice. And yes, emotions can and often do bubble to the surface. It’s our bodies innate wisdom assisting in healing. These emotions can be good, bad and/or ugly. But they surface for a reason. Emotions that are repressed will manifest within the body in some way, shape or form. So whether you feel awesome or frustrated after shavasana know it is OK. Each experience in shavasana will differ. Don’t expect. Just be in the moment and learn what that moment is sharing with you.

#8

[QUOTE=lynchjg;53336]a natural high with a half life of about 8 hours. Today after class I felt sad.

[U]For those of you who have had a bad yoga experience-- how did you get over it? [/U] I don’t want my bad savasana to carry over into my week, to carry over into my next class, or to taint my overall opinion of yoga, which previously was categorically positive.

I appreciate any advice you can offer an enthusiastic novice.
Thank you,
John[/QUOTE]

just like with everything:
-knowledge
-forgive yourself or others

  • try not to do the same in the future
#9

I had my first “I looked like a…” experience during a yoga class yesterday. I frequent small studios with perhaps a max of a dozen students, and most having half that. I had been to this studio about 4x before, the instructor being male and leading a practice where he focuses on core poses and is very proactive about helping his students achieve proper posture, etc. (Too bad he’s an hour away or I’d go more often.) I always feel like I have achieved something physically or mentally when I go to his class.

Anyhow, about 45 minutes into class, he led us through a series of sun salutations, and had thrown in a variation of side plank, having us open our hips with our upper leg bent and opened backwards, with our foot as close to the buttocks as we could get it. After performing this on each side, we then went back to plank, then to forward fold and to mountain pose. Boom, it hit… extreme dizziness. I flushed with sweat and couldn’t stand. My 15 year old daughter was practicing beside me, and saw me staggering. The instructor came over, asking if I was ok. I had to sit down… and when I felt able to stand, I got up to get water.

While the class of about 11 students continued on, I wondered what people were thinking. I know, you should be concerned about your own practice and not your ego, but this was unavoidable.

I was wearing a old, comfy-but-ugly bra, a tank top, and a long sleeved shirt over it. (I like to wear two layers of shirts to keep one down during poses where shirts tend to fall “up”.) I had to lose the one layer to let my body cool down. (Note to self, wear a more attractive undergarment next time.)

I think there is more to be said for someone who “gets back on the horse” after having a bad experience. The lessons I learned were: dress appropriately for the practice, be hydrated, and don’t be afraid to go to resting pose if you feel you can’t do something.

#10

bah-LAHS-anna (Child?s pose) is a wonderful place to go to when it calls you, be mindful and listen to your body, if that happens again be safe seek professional help, have it checked out.

#11

Hi John! I am new to yoga as well. I started in December of 2010 and have been practicing a minimum of 3-5 days a week since then. My teacher has a strong emphasis on yoga being a very personal experience and ecourages us to let go of our ego and worrying about what anyone else is doing. He repeats through out the class that there is no yoga medal to be won and tells us to make our practice a personal and private one. Maybe because I’m new to yoga and was trained to practice yoga with this mind set I go into every class thinking that way. I used to look around the room alot when I first started to make sure I was doing the right pose, but now that I’m more familiar with everything I barely pay attention to what anyone around me is doing and find myself closing my eyes a lot. Im sure that there will be times when I have a hard time with a similar situation. I believe it’s huma nature!

#12

Thank you all for the replies.

As sad as I felt after Sunday’s class I am now able to recognize this experience wasn’t bad and in fact it did have instrumental value. Moreover, I think I should stay away from making normative judgments about how I feel after yoga-- merely recognizing the resultant emotions means the practice was effective.

In the two classes I’ve had since then I’ve had great calming savasanas. Tuesday night I went to a different studio with a different instructor teaching a different style (Iyengar). After savasana my mind was completely still. The instructor asked me what I thought of my first Iyengar experience and it took a couple of beats to repopulate my mind and answer her question.

Another fantastic savasana tonight, back with my favorite teacher. After class I told her about the feelings I had on Sunday and she comforted me with advice similar to what you all have said.

I no longer have worries that the unexpected sadness after Sunday’s class will be a detriment to my progress in yoga. Thanks again.

#13

Hi

One of my teachers recently wrote an article exactly on this topic. In it she describes how yoga is a transformative process. While many can finish an asana practise feeling great, sometimes it isn’t the case. Feelings of anger, sadness, paranoia etc… can also rise to the surface. She explains why this is from a yogic theory perspective and offers tips on how to deal with such obstacles.

Anyway, I thought you might find it interesting since it addresses exactly the question raised in your post. It’s called “When yoga makes you angry”. Unfortunately I cannot post the link as I am a newbie without such privileges. But if you google world yoga network, article, “When yoga makes you angry” you should find it.

But your awareness of your feelings tells me more about the level of your yoga practise than your ability to achieve the external form of bakasana.

#14

It’s an interesting article and I’ll post the link here for others…

#15

Love, Love that article! Sometimes I come out of my yoga practice P. O’d and now I know it’s o.k. Just be with it.