New webinar link is HERE.
I’ve only been fired twice.
The first time––as a temp working at Warner Brothers––I definitely deserved it.
(I’m saving that story for later).
The second time….well, maybe not so much.
As Sophia on The Golden Girls would say:
“Picture it: NYC in the very early Aughts…it was a simpler time.”
I’d just finished my yoga teacher training and I was taking any and every job I could find.
One of my favorites was teaching on Saturday mornings at a glossy Wall Street gym.
The space was vast, part of a national fitness chain, although nearly deserted on the weekends.
Mirrors were everywhere, techno music loudly pulsing.
I soon developed a very small but very loyal following.
Everything was going swimmingly until one day when…
It was at the end of class, when everyone was successfully in Corpse Pose (or Savasana).
The lights were as dim as I could make them.
I had soothing, vibe-y music playing in the background.
I had already walked around to each of my dozen students, giving them an assist such as pressing on their shoulders, as well as a moment of aromatherapy.
I returned to the front of the room, sitting back on my mat, only half-meditating since I had to end the class punctually.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, into the room walked a very fit woman, probably in her 30s.
Oblivious to the fact that a dozen people were lying down in the darkness,she grabbed a mat, walked toward the back, and plopped herself down, only a few feet away from everyone else.
My first thought was “Are you really joining an hour and 45 minute class for its last 5 minutes?”
Instead, to my astonishment, she launched into her personal ab workout, feverishly doing situps and bicycles and crunches.
I was relatively new to teaching and this had definitely NOT been covered on the final exam.
Wanting to preserve the silence, I approached her and more or less pantomimed some version of:
“What the *&*$# are you doing?”
She kept going, switching to leg lifts.
I whispered, gesturing to my students in Corpse Pose:
“There’s a class going on here.”
She replied:
“I know. I’ll be quiet.”
I was increasingly taken aback.
“We’re out of this room in five minutes,” I countered. “You can come back then.”
“I’m not making any noise,” was her only response as she returned to crunches.
Mind you, the gym right outside the door was over 20,000 square feet and nearly empty on that Saturday morning.
Struggling to be as authoritative as I could while whispering (a weird combo), I realized that rather than arguing further I had to bottom line it:
“I’m sorry but you have to leave this room…RIGHT NOW.”
And somehow that worked.
She paused her manic bicycling, got up, returned her mat, and silently left.
My pulse still racing from the encounter, I tried to enjoy the remaining 3 minutes of silence and yoga music, confident that I’d done my job: I’d protected my student’s endangered serenity.
Unfortunately, as I was about to exit the gym, my Savasana Intruderwas already seated with the manager, complaining about how meanly I had treated her.
Rather than the fierce workout automaton of ten minutes ago,now she was suddenly vulnerable and wounded.
And astonishingly, rather than explaining you can’t just walk into a yoga studio were a class is going on and start your own fitness routine, particularly when the entire class is resting, the manager had adopted the attitude of “The Customer is Always Right.”
The facts that a) she had free reign of another 20,000 square feet to do whatever she wanted and b) the class was over in five minutes were lost of both of them.
On the most fundamental level,they didn’t really understand my objection.
I tried to explain the idea of creating a Sacred Space…of preserving and being sensitive to the energy in the room…and I might as well have been speaking Martian.
Leaving the gym, since I was friendly with the new national head of the yoga programs, I gave her a call.
She was, of course, totally on my side, agreeing random people can’t just come into the yoga studio during class times and express themselves through their ab routines.
The matter seemed closed.
Even so, on Monday morning, I was summarily fired.
As a young teacher I had no clout and apparently, if you complain loudly enough on Wall Street (and in life), you can sometimes get your way.
Almost two decades have passed.
I’ve enjoyed many truly supportive teaching environments, so I rarely think of this moment of Corporate Gym Injustice.
But I do often think about how there are so many people who, when it comes to the entire universe of wellness, just don’t get it.
Beyond lacking sensitivity to the idea of the energy in the room, they’re out of touch with their own energy.
Sadly, they’re disconnected, in other words, from themselves.
So many things we take for granted such as the power of breath work for centering oneself or the importance of releasing physical tension are often completely unknown to the most successful people.
That’s why on Wednesday April 28th, I’m offering a FREE webinar to share some of these “Wellness Secrets” HERE.
(Note: they are “Secrets” in the way that gravity is a secret––impacting us all the time, even if we’re not thinking about it.)
You can also ask me any questions live––or submit them to this email in advance.
And since I know my audience is mostly fully onboard this path, please feel free to recommend it to anyone out there who just “doesn’t get it” whenever you share what wellness and yoga and transformation mean to you.
I may have failed to communicate with my Ab Interruptor 19 years ago…but perhaps next week I’ll do a better job!
Namaste for Now,
P.S. The link again for the Best Kept WELLNESS SECRETS Webinar on April 28th is HERE.
And finally THANK YOU for all the loving comments re: my free 8 day Radical Abundance Series HERE.
Let’s keep exploring and sharing what we’re learning on this path together.
