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Let’s face it: Despite our affinity for yoga, many of us are pretty good at focusing on the negative.
Complaining can sometimes bring people together for a greater good. Like when that one brave soul in class says what everyone else is thinking about the music being a little too loud. You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief as the issue is addressed.
But when we give our grievances too much attention, they can make everything seem, well, terrible. So we gave teachers, students, and our Instagram community a chance to cathartically air their annoyances about certain things that happen during yoga class. Because sometimes even acknowledging the fact that our complaints can seem like such a HUGE deal in the moment, can, in retrospect, help them become kinda hilarious.
37 Things That Yoga Students Find Annoying
Here’s what you shared when asked to name the things that vex you most during your yoga practice.
- When students loudly slap their mats on the floor before class.
- When you wear the “wrong” pair of leggings that ride up or roll down or seriously slouch or otherwise distract you.
- People who aren’t willing to move their mats to make space for others even when class is crowded.
- Apple watches.
- Hearing the endless clanking of a fallen Hydro Flask.
- When a yoga instructor for a beginner class contorts herself into the advanced shape. (We get it. You’re flexible!)
- Accidentally attending class hungry and not caring about yoga because you need a burrito.
- People filming themselves on their phones.
- The sound of a blaring car horn outside during meditation.
- When people moan.
- When someone decides not to do a single thing the teacher is teaching. (Super distracting!)
- Late arrivals and early departures.
- Music that is wayyyy too loud.
- People stepping on your mat.
- Gum-chewing.
- Cues beginning with “maybe.” Give a clear cue, not options to consider!
- When you realize you wore your thin pair of leggings and are revealing WAY too much in Down Dog.
- When the teacher says “Let’s hold this for 5 breaths” but makes you hold it for 20…
- Teachers yelling. This is yoga…not bootcamp.
- Your busy little human brain.
- Body odor.
- LIKE WHY ARE YOU IN A HANDSTAND RN?
- When class goes runs than two to three minutes late and you have to be somewhere.
- Teachers who ask if anyone is new to yoga and then don’t offer alternatives for harder poses.
- The sound of really loud exhalations throughout the entire class.
- Most music.
- No music.
- People’s cell phones going off.
- When students don’t wipe down the props they’ve used before putting them back.
- People talking too loudly before class. This is yoga, not a coffee shop!
- People checking their phones.
- Teachers talking too much.
- Blocks haphazardly stacked way too high on the prop shelf forcing others to play Jenga.
- Perfume wearers.
- Forced interaction with other students, whether through touch or eye contact.
- When people come in 10 minutes late and are loud about it.
- When Savasana is an afterthought so it’s less than a minute long.
By the end of class, hopefully none of these things will matter to you. But at the end of the day, we’d rather be a little annoyed than not practice yoga at all.
