Wearing scented products during class can be harmful to your class mates.
Betty is so pleased with the new perfume that she found at the store. All of her friends at work agree with her that the scent really suits her. Betty has decided to wear the scent to yoga class so that she can share it with her class mates. They will be so impressed with how nice it smells.
Shortly after the class started Betty noticed that something seemed to be wrong. One person was having trouble breathing. Another person seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. A third person seemed to be bothered by a bad smell.
Betty did not realize that you should not wear scented products in yoga class.
What scents are we talking about
There are all kinds of scented products that can cause a problem. Some products are obvious and others can be quite surprising. Typical scented products that can cause a problem in a yoga class include: perfume, hair spray, shampoo, deodorant, antiperspirant, and body wash.
Pretty much any product that you put on your body that has a smell could be a problem during a yoga class.
Some scented products will bother a certain group of individuals while the same product does not bother other people at all.
Who could be bothered by scents
There are a couple of groups of people that can be affected by scented products. Each of these groups can be affected by scented products, and they can be affected in a wide variety of ways. Some will react severely and others will have a milder reaction. Some of the people that have a problem with scents are:
— Asthmatics
Depending on the degree of sensitivity to a particular product an asthmatic person could have a mild or severe reaction. Asthmatics usually will become short of breath as their lungs passageways become congested.
—The Environmentally sensitive
These folks have a wide range of chemicals sensitivities, including scents that are added to many personal hygiene products. They react in a variety of ways including lung congestion, lose of energy, brain fog and dizziness.
— Regular People
People with no particular sensitivities can be affected by scents as well. This group of people may just find the scent objectionable and overpowering.
Wearing scented products during a yoga class is even worse to your class mates than wearing them outside of the class.
Why wearing scents to class is a bad idea
While you are in a yoga class you are in a confined space. Everyone is fairly close together and breathing deeply, which brings in lots of air and as a result they are bring in lots of the airborne scent.
Not only are you in a confined space, you are there for an extended period of time. A typical yoga class can be as long as 90 minutes. Being in the same space breathing in the scents for the whole time will increase the impact on the sensitive people.
During a vigorous yoga practise you are heating the body up. As the body gets hotter the scents become more volatile and more and more of it will become airborne and spread all over the room. More and more people will notice the scent and more and more people could be affected.
But my sweat smells, what am I going to do
Everyone goes through this problem when they first start a yoga practise.
You can look for unscented deodorant products to use. However even the unscented products can cause problems with some people.
The best approach is to wash your sweaty areas thoroughly with unscented soap just before you come to class.
The longer you practise yoga the cleaner smelling your sweat will become. After a while you will find that you do not need deodorant at all.
Summary
Scents can cause people a lot of problems.
Some people are extremely sensitive to scented products and they could have severe reactions to the scents you are wearing.
Other people may find the particular scent objectionable and disturbing.
There are two ways to handle this situation:
- Find and use unscented products
- Wash or Shower before you come to class.
Next steps
The next time you find that exquisite and irresistible perfume, share it with your friends after yoga class.
Bring a clean and scent free body to your next yoga class and everyone around you will be glad that you did.
