Closing Class and "Namaste"

The floor at the studio I visited last night :)

Is there a "right way" to close a yoga class? Is there a particular way that you personally like your classes to end? What makes you feel complete, like the book has been closed and you can leave your mat and venture out into the world? For me, it's "namaste" and bowing forward. If I don't do this at the end of a practice, I don't feel that I've sealed it shut, or given the appropriate thanks for my practice. But, I'm sure that this is not the case for everyone...and I experienced a different sort of class closing at new studio last night.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm in Atlanta this week because I've come home to  help care for my stepmom who is recovering from surgery. In between my long hospital visits, I decided that I would have to squeeze in some yoga in order to survive a week full of sitting in a chair, so last night I scooted over to a nearby studio to try out their "Hot Core Power" class. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the class and it felt GREAT to sweat out all of the stress and tension from my last week or so of travel,  I was caught off guard when we came into savasana at the end of the class. The teacher took us into savasana, and then, after covering our eyes with lavender-oil-dipped wet cloths (AMAZING!), she said "thanks for coming, have a great Memorial Day, feel free to ask me if you have any questions after class, etc.," and then left the studio. As a yogi, I wasn't sure what to do! I heard movement around me, and didn't know if class was over, if the teacher would tell us when to come out of savasana, or if we should just leave whenever we were ready to! I was very confused and it ended up ruining savasana for me. I felt that even if I had known what to do, I would have had a hard time relaxing hearing everyone else packing up around me. It turns out that we were supposed to just get up and leave whenever we'd had enough savasana...but how was I supposed to know this?

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Hehe! Photo via http://www.regretsy.com

Yes, I know, this is my own issue and I should be able to stay in a state of relaxation no matter what's going on around me, but when you're taking a class and only have a specific amount of time in your day carved out for that class (for instance, last night I needed to be out at exactly 7:15 in order to meet my Mom for dinner), it's important that the teacher close class on time--and how can they do that if the students are just left in the room to enjoy savasana for as long as they'd like? I get the idea behind it, but for a Type-A yogini like me, it didn't work. I'm curious about what others feel about how a class "should" be closed. Do you need some sort of guided closure from the teacher, or do you enjoy a more open-ended finish? Feel free to post your thoughts to comments!

Personally, I will need to ponder why this type of closing felt so "off" to me. Have I become so stuck in my ways, or so close-minded in my feelings about how a yoga practice "should" be conducted that I can no longer appreciate differences between studios and teachers? This is something I need to explore. But, no matter what the experience, I encourage all my readers to visit new studios when traveling. It's a GREAT way to broaden your horizons, grow your practice, and challenge your own edge and comfort level....

Namaste (see--I need it to close!),
Mary Catherine

P.S. Isn't the "namaste bitches" design (pictured above) kinda ridiculous but also kind of great? I can't help but like it even though I'm not sure I should :) Feel free to post comments about this below, as well. You can check out their merchandise here.

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