Sometimes you need to pee at the worst of times.
Alice is distracted and unable to focus on her yoga practice. Her brow is sweating and it is not because of the yoga poses that she has been doing. She is distracted and sweating because the next yoga pose is Marichyasana C.
Normally 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.
When do you leave the room
The best time to leave the room is during a rest pose or another pause during the class. Child’s pose, Down Dog and Savasana are all good poses during which you can make an exit from the yoga room.
Why do you leave during rest periods
Leaving during a rest pose or another pause in the class causes the least amount of disturbance.
Finding the right time to leave is only part of your exit strategy. The other part is how you leave.
How do you leave the room
There is no need for you to ask permission of the teacher to leave the room to go pee. This is not school and you are free to leave at any time. Nor do you announce that you are leaving the room to go pee.
Both of these actions will cause even more disruption than quietly leaving your mat and heading out the door.
Silently get up and walk to the door and out of the room. Be sure to close the door the practice space gently. Leaving the door open will cause a draft and let noise in from outside which will disturb the people still in the class.
Once Alice has taken care of her full bladder she needs to get back in the room. She needs a re-entry strategy.
How do you get back in the room
Avoid the need to pee
– go just before class
– Avoid drinking water before class
– Avoid drinking water druing class
Alice left during a rest pose. Her best plan is to re-enter the yoga room at the end of a rest pose, meditation period or other pause in the program.
Your teacher may signal to you, if they notice you waiting outside, when it is okay for you to re-enter the room.
Now that Alice has returned to her mat, she is much relieved and more focused on her yoga practice. She could have avoided the need to pee by taking a few steps before class.
How do you guard against needing to pee
There are few things Alice can do to reduce the likelihood that she will need to pee during yoga class.
- Go just before class. It is always a good plan to empty your bladder just before class. Even if you do not feel the need to pee go to the toilet any way. Emptying your bladder is good, but you should also avoid filling it up.
- Avoid drinking water just before class. Drinking water just before class could lead to a problem later in class as your bladder begins to fill up.
- Avoid drinking during class. Neither is it a good plan to drink a lot of water during class. A stomach full of water will make a lot of poses difficult to do and some yoga poses are dangerous to do when you have a stomach full of water. Over time this water moves to your bladder and you are going to have to get rid of it by leaving the room.
Always leaving during the same pose attracts attention
Your teacher will get suspicious if you always leave the room just before the same pose every class.
You may be avoiding a pose more than your need to pee.
Summary
Alice has returned to her mat and she is relieved now that her bladder is empty.
She is going to be more careful in the future about the amount of water she drinks before class. For added peace of mind she is going to the toilet just before class.
Now Alice is able to focus completely on her yoga class.
Next Step
Before your next yoga class make sure that your bladder is empty.
Additional Reading
There are other reasons that you may need to leave the yoga room unexpectedly. Read How to be on call and go to yoga class: Follow the Good Vibrations process to learn more.
A different situation is when you know you will need to leave class early. The article How the Silent Night protocol helps you to leave yoga class early shows you how to do that.
