I went to the WRONG yoga class!

[lola]

holy crap, you guys. so hard.  i may never recover. it did NOT say, "Not for beginners!" in the description. lol.

the teacher told me which class to go to next time. ugh. i'm not giving up on yoga yet, but damn. i may not be able to walk or wash my hair tomorrow.

[bronxgirl]

The one time I took yoga it was HARD and not relaxing at all.

[lola]

Ok. I was actually really upset. The description online didn't say anything about not being for beginners. The website says, "All courses can be modified for any fitness level." So I really thought I would be ok.

Then, the whole class is really advance. But ok, I'm thinking I can just do what I know how - I haven't been to yoga in a while but I'll do what I can. Right?

THEN, the teacher says something like, (during a really hard part where I am clearly struggling) "There's a reason why they call this POWER HOUR! I love when people just show up because this time frame worked. Makes me laugh! This is REAL YOGA."

Well then I was just in tears. And mortified for being in tears. And just wanting to leave. But, small studio, door is locked during class, if I left the door would have been ulocked so I didn't feel like I could. UGH. So I just sat in the back crying for the last like, 15 minutes.



The teacher just emailed me to apologize if she made me feel "anything less than awesome at tonight's class." I bought a $40 Groupon for 5 classes, so I feel they'd be wasted if I don't go back, and also like I can't show my face there again!

ETA - when I was leaving, she did try to get me to stay for the 5:30 class, which is the beginner class. And she tried to be really nice to me and make sure I would come back. And explain it all. But all that just made me cry again. I felt like I should tell her that I've just got a lot going on right now, but also I felt like she should have been more nice about me being in the wrong class.

She said, "I tend to teach up, not down." I was thinking "No shit, Sherlock. I get that now."

Ugh.

[G22]

I dislike yoga. Maybe because my only experience with is the P90X yoga which made me want to die halfway through.

Soak in a warm bath. That does wonders for me when I hurt! Or ice body parts, which may not work if its your whole body.

edited: I took out my "lol". That sounds like terrifying experience! Not funny at all. 

[degal99]

Ugh, that sucks!

I took 1 yoga class at the Y (and it does say it's good for beginners) and never again! Even when I was in awesome shape I was not flexible. I don't think yoga will ever be for me. But definitely try the beginners class now that you know when it is! Soon you'll be able to do the power hour!

[KaraOrNot]

How awful. And I hate that instructor for knowing that it wasn't a good fit and not giving you an out.

[mae141]

That sounds awful. I'd be temped to leave a review on yelp to warn others.

[ilovecandy]

That sounds awful.  I have a dvd of yoga that i just do at home.  I use to take classes on base but they stopped them.  

[changedname]

OMG, that instructor is a fucking bitch. What the hell? Yeah so maybe you were at the wrong class but why call you out to everybody? How unprofessional. Sure that makes newbies very comfortable in her class. Sounds like a clique.

And when you were crying at the back she should have come and said something to you. And I bet she only wrote you that email because she got home and started worrying that you were going to complain about her or something.
And I hate that "anything less than awesome". wtf Hello? the poor girl was crying, what do you think? How passive aggressive.

What happened to everyone was a beginner once?

TEAM lola.

ETA - I just read everyone else's responses and I am clearly the only one riled up!! I'm cd 34... af 4 days late and hopefully just round the corner plus 2 weeks of ivf meds. This is not the time for yoga teachers to mess with me, obviously! : ))

[lola]

LOL! Thanks @icedgems! I thought she was a bitch too, which is why I don't really want to go back. I think I'm going to though, even just for my five classes.

I also think she was really worried about a bad review though. It should have been obvious to her that I was new, didn't really know what was up, and she could have been nicer about the whole thing.

[discogranny]

Oh honey, I just want to hug you right now. What an awful experience.

I think @icedgems is right, she is a crap instructor. A fitness instructor's job is not only to give the old hands a kick ass workout, but to be able to do so while helping beginners get into the swing of things. An instructor should not stop the class if you are struggling but she should however walk over to you and offer you help modifying. I kind of want to smack her with a rolled up yoga mat and push her into some downward dog poop. Ugh.

[mae141]

Is she the only instructor? Maybe you could go back when someone else is there to finish your classes. Or throw a real stink and demand the money back for your groupon!

[lola]

Mar 25, 2013 13:10:20 GMT -5 mae141 said:

Is she the only instructor? Maybe you could go back when someone else is there to finish your classes. Or throw a real stink and demand the money back for your groupon!

She IS. I think she is the "owner and instructor" from what I can tell on her website and on her Facebook.

Ugh.

I feel pretty good today, considering I almost died in yoga (both of exhaustion and embarrassment) last night! lol.

[psyck]

Honestly, I wouldn't go back. And I would probably write a yelp review of your experience. If she didn't want a bad review, she shouldn't have acted that way! I don't know if you'd be able to get your money refunded, though. To me, after going though the humiliation, I'd seriously consider just eating the $40.

My first yoga class was a power yoga class and I didn't know that until I was there. Luckily the instructor was wonderful and told us modifications that could be done for each pose. She even came up to me afterwards and told me I did a good job. I was definitely obviously new, but she was very welcoming.