7 unexpected ways your body betrays you in yoga class

There are Seven ways your body betrays you in yoga class.

We are not talking about the usual ways that your body betrays you in yoga class. Your lack of flexibility, strength or stamina are not the issues here.

The 7 unexpected ways that you get betrayed by your body are:

3 from your skin:

body odour
wearing scents
body lotion

And 4 from escaping fluids:

sweating
peeing
runny nose
farting

Perhaps the two most embarrassing to a yoga newbie are body odour and farting. Knowing how to deal with each of these problems before you get into the situation will save you a lot of embarrassment.

We will start with body odour and wrap up our tour of the unexpected 7 with farting.

1 – Body Odour

“What is that stink!” says Alice. “It smells like a skunk and it is getting stronger.”

Alice hears a scratching and whining at the kitchen door. She opens the door and finds her dog Rex. He had a run in with a skunk. He smells terrible. It is going to take a while to get that stink out of his fur.

Rex’s strong ordour reminds Alice of a person in her yoga class that has a strong odour, luckily it is not as bad as Rex but it is pretty strong.

Showering before class and watching what you eat are two quick ways to deal with this problem.

To learn more about how to deal with body odour in your yoga class read the article How to avoid being the skunk in yoga class.

Another form of body odour is artificial scents. Adding a nice perfume or scent to your skin will make you feel nice but it can divesting affects to the people around you.

2 – Wearing Scents

Betty is so pleased with her new perfume. Her friends at work agree with her that the scent suits her. Betty is wearing the scent to yoga class so she can share it with her class mates. They will be so impressed with how nice it smells.

Shortly after the class starts Betty notices that something seems to be wrong. One person is having trouble breathing. Another person is getting weaker and weaker and a third person looks disgusted by a bad smell.

Betty does not realize that you should not wear scented products in yoga class. Even a light scent becomes overpowering to the people around you when your skin heats up during yoga practice. In a yoga class “No scents makes Good sense” is the best approach.

The article Why no scents makes good sense in yoga class explains the problems that Betty causes by wearing scents in yoga class.

Body lotion like perfume presents a problem during yoga class.

3 – Body lotion

You put on some body lotion before you come to class. It smells nice and makes your skin feel silky smooth and so soft, but there is a problem.

Today you are like that greased pig. You can not hold on to your hands behind your back and your teacher’s hands keep sliding when she tries to adjust you in a pose.

Read Why the greased pig effect is bad for your yoga to learn more about the problems caused my body lotion and what you can do about it.

That is the end of the problems that your skin can cause you in yoga class. Next up is sweating, the first of the escaping fluids and gases section.

4 – Sweating

Alice is enjoying her yoga practice until it started to rain sweat on her mat. The sweat is coming from the guy practising next to her. Not only is it raining sweat, but it is pretty smelly as well. There are puddles on his mat and on the floor around him.

Alice hopes the teacher talks to him after class about how to manage his sweat for his own safety and the comfort of the people around him.

Sweating can be a safety problem for you and your neighbours. Learn more about sweating and what to do about it in What to do when you are sweating enough to float a boat.

Sweat is not the only fluid that escapes from your body. Unlike sweating, you do not want to pee on your mat.

5 – Peeing

Alice can’t focus on her yoga practice. Her brow is sweating and it is not because of the yoga poses that she has been doing. The next pose is Marichyasana C.

Alice loves twisting poses like Marichyasana C but tonight is different. Tonight Alice has a major problem with this pose.

Her bladder is screaming at her and the twist in Marichyasana C is going to kill her. She is going to pee her pants as soon as she enters the pose unless she takes care of her bladder problem first.

Lear how to manage your bladder during yoga class by reading What to do when you need to pee during yoga class.

There is still more ways for fluids to leave your body. A runny nose can sneak up on you at the most unexpected times.

6 – Runny Nose

“Oh shoot!” thinks Alice “I was hoping to avoid this problem.”

Alice’s nose is starting to drip. She has sniffed it a couple of times.

Alice has a slight allergy problem today. It happens a lot this time of year. Her nose was stuffy and running earlier today.

Alice knows that a yoga practice helps her deal with her allergy problem. After her yoga practice her sinuses are much clearer and she can breathe easier.

To avoid a runny nose Alice blew her nose several times before class. But it was not enough. Her nose has started to run once more.

To learn more about controlling your runny nose read What to do with a runny nose in yoga class.

Finally the last of the 7 unexpected ways that your body betrays you in yoga class. Farting in class can be quite embarrassing.

7 – Farting

Bob is so embarrassed. It finally happened. He could control it no longer. Bob was working on Marichyasana C pose when he farted. Unfortunately it was not one of those silent ones. Everyone in the room heard it.

Bob can go to the bathroom and remove all the gas he can before yoga class. Avoiding eating foods that make him gassy just before class will help as well. Trying to keep the gas from escaping will distract Bob from focusing on his yoga practice.

Farting in yoga class happens quite often and it should not be embarrassing. The article What to do when you fart in yoga class helps Bob to deal with his problem.

Summary

None of these problems have anything to do with how flexible you are. It does not matter if you are strong or weak, one day you are going to fart in yoga class.

Your skin and escaping fluids and gases from your body can cause you some embarrassment during yoga class.

Check out the articles mentioned above to learn how to avoid or deal with the embarrassments that your body can present you with.