Weekend Warrior (I and II)

My yoga teacher training group had its second (in a row) intensive weekend session.  I felt a bit like I was going to work again, because I had to drive into town on Thursday and Fridays--the sessions went from 9-4:30 (with a 1 1/2 hour break for lunch).  The sessions were quite rigorous, and made me realize I'm not as in good a shape as I thought.  The instructors at our studio are all very careful to remind people to know their limits and to what's comfortable.  But while this out-of-town instructor said we should do that as instructors, I didn't feel that the workshop was run in quite as tolerant a fashion.  So I pushed myself harder than I should have, and had a very sore left quad the next day.  Very sore.  Probably compensated in some fashion for the fact that my right quad is weak from injury.  And I was just generally sore and worn out.  I made it through the Friday session; I think he may have backed off a bit based on how many of us looked on Thursday.  At one point on Thurs, he said he was modifying his plan because we didn't look so hot (he didn't say it that way, but that's how I took it).  He had someone come around and "adjust" what we were doing--which can be fine, but often what he was pushing for was a more intense version of specific poses.  So the less intense approaches aren't wrong (they won't cause injury).  But if we tried to back off a bit, he or his helper would try to get us to readjust to be more intense.

So I learned first-hand what it's like when one is in an environment where she feels pressure to keep up, even when it may not be good for them.  Yes, it was how I interpreted what was going on, but I think as instructor one has to be especially careful not to do anything that would prompt people to push it too much.  I read an article on the growing numbers of yoga injuries (from the on-line version of Yoga Journal), and it seems like the biggest cause is overzealous teachers (combined with inexperience).  So the "go at your own pace" message can't just be words spoken at the beginning of a session--the sentiment needs to permeate the practice.  It's so easy for many, including me, to start making comparisons with others; to want to feel like we can do everything at the maximum level.  The full yoga practice--including breathing and meditation--should help calm the yogini and ennable her to focus on deepening her practice in ways that are consistent with her physical (and mental) condition.