There is no drive for territorial expansion in the yoga practice room, like there is in the game of RISK.
The Green Army has already occupied all of Europe, North America and Africa, now they are advancing on South America. The Red Army in South America is marshaling its defenses at its borders in an attempt to keep the Green army from invading and establishing a beachhead in its territory.
Does this sound like a night at the yoga studio? Is one of your neighbours slowly expanding their territory? Are they spreading their props, water bottles, mat bags and other paraphernalia over more and more space in the room. Do you feel like the Red Army, constantly in retreat?
The Game of RISK is about territorial expansion, but in the yoga room there should be peaceful coexistence.
My experience at the Pattbhi Jois World tour in Montreal is an example of peaceful coexistence and not of world domination.
Pattbhi Jois World Tour
I was able to attend the world tour of Pattabhi Jois, the guru of Ashtanga Yoga, when he came to Montreal in October 2002. 500 people squeezed into a basketball court at the University of Montreal. As you could image space was very limited. The mats were only inches apart from each other.
Each of us had to respect the space of our neighbours. There was no room for anything other than our mats. If you had any props you had to keep them on your mat.
We had to be careful when we did our yoga poses that we stayed within the boundaries of our mats. We were turning to the side when a pose required us to extend into our neighbour’s space. We were staggering where we stood on our mats so that we would not hit each other when we did Sun Salutes.
We were doing everything we could to peacefully coexist within the limited space we had available to each of us. No one attempted to expand their territory and take up more space.
How to coexist in a crowded practice room
When more and more people crowd into the room, space is going to become very limited. There a few things that you can do that will keep the peace and respect your neighbour’s space needs.
Respect your territorial limits
When space becomes limited it is time to move all your non yoga stuff out of the room. Purses, sweaters, cell phones, and other things that are not required during the yoga practice should be left in the changing rooms or arrival areas.
If you have a lot of props, it may be time to consider foregoing some of them when space is very limited. Perhaps in today’s practice you can compromise and use a foam block rather than that large bolster.
Make treaties with your neighbours
Some poses will take you outside the boundaries of your mat and into the area that your neighbour is occupying. You and your neighbour will need to co-ordinate your movements so that you do not collide.
For example in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, Standing Hand to Big Toe pose, when you move your leg out to the side you may hit the person next to you. However if you and your neighbour stagger where you stand on the mat, one of you steps backward and the other steps forward, you can avoid the collision.
Practice within your own territory
In some cases you will need to modify the poses that you do.
For example when you do Sun Salutes you normally swing your arms out to the side. You may actually hit your neighbours on either side of you if you do that in a crowded yoga room. Rather than swing your arms out to the side as you normally do, bring your arms forward and up and you will avoid colliding with your neighbours.
Summary
Sometimes the practice space can become very crowded. You may have neighbours within inches of your own mat. You and your neighbours need to respect each other’s territory and not try and expand beyond the limits of your own territory.
You do not want to become the Green Army and slowly push everyone else out of the room.
