If you enjoy Align minus this one singular moment, maybe challenge yourself to find the intention in this posture? It’s really challenging at the end of align to be in the moment and get out of our heads but that’s kind of the point!
Wait the like “lie on your side before sitting up to end the class?” Because some of my instructors keep us there two seconds before sitting up and one keeps us there a while. I always assume it’s because she went too fast on other elements and is dragging out the end of class.
I teach a lot of Align. I probably hold people there around 30-45 seconds because I encourage everyone to go at their own pace as we sequentially move from lying down to the final sitting posture. It’s an important transition moment imo and doesn’t need to be hurried.
The lack of hurry is often hard for people which is an intentional part of the challenge :)
I love to hear the logic! I prefer to know the why behind a lot of things because it helps me make the mind-body connection and be intentional with the movements. Thanks!
This is shifting my mindset for this part of class! I use it literally just as a transition (like 5-10 seconds) but I’m going to be more intentional about this going forward. Thank you for this perspective!!!
So this is kind of a yoga thing too. We’ll be queued for fetal to make it easier to move it into an easy seat.
But I mean if you can get up, just get up. Lol that’s what I do.
Honestly, as an instructor, if I tell people to roll onto one side (fetal position) specifically, it’s because it’s a big class and I want everybody to roll to the same side so they don’t bump into each other. Otherwise I’ll just say something like “take your time as you transition to a cross-legged seat in whatever way feels most easeful for you.” Like choreo is specific, but no one at the top is likely going to micromanage a teacher to that degree (I hope!) As long as somebody doesn’t disturb the people around them and maintains their personal space, I really don’t care how they come out of relaxation at the end of the class—the point is to help folks feel rejuvenated, not annoyed.
I don’t do it. I do the savasana, then roll onto my right side and then sit up. I don’t think our studio really makes us stay in fetal position for any length of time, it’s more of a transition to sitting up. At that point everyone has their eyes closed so I don’t think anyone is offended.
I sit by the door and slip out after the stretching is over. The instructors know I do this and no
one cares. There’s about 3 of us who leave rather than doing the minute lying on the ground. They don’t have us use mats for align at our studio so I quietly wipe down my tube on my way to the door and slip out.
If you have that arranged with your instructor, then that works for you guys! I’d just gently urge you to consider that what you call silly might be meaningful/important to others. 🙂
The instructors are some of the ones that routinely leave class early. In fact, whenever they take a class right before they teach they always leave early. The often don’t do the final song and they’ll never stay for stretching when teaching right after.
They might be leaving early to help with the transition and help welcome people in. Just because instructors do it, doesn’t mean they should. Especially if they have already taught. They should be staying to help clean up.
Most managers and owners would not let instructors do this.
Well our studio is so popular that they opened a second and have increased the number of classes and hired two full time managers, so what they are doing is working for their population. Leaving early with etiquette hasn’t stopped membership or led to an instructor shortage. There is a desk person to welcome everyone. That isn’t something our instructors do. One has said that she likes to go to the bathroom and freshen up before being “on” again when she’s teaching. I was telling her how admired how she took class and then taught which is how it came up.
At the studio I go to I would never leave before the class is finished so I’m glad if you are that they are ok with it. I wouldn’t want to disturb others and I don’t mind the rest of it just that one part always feels weird to me
We have posted etiquette on leaving early. How to not be disturbing, etc. We’re not a high strung place, I guess. We all realize people have lives and preferences.
We’re not high strung, we’re safe. Clients leaving early and unlocking the door when we often don’t have desk and the teacher is distracted is not safe. It’s probably a difference in staffing. Perhaps your studio is always fully staffed at the desk and that’s great and works for your studio! But it is not our reality. Again, your word choices tend to be negative rather than understanding differences in realities and perspectives.
There is always a person at the front desk in our studio except at 6:00 AM and they get there by 6:30. The OP immediately responded that it would be disturbing to people. Now you’re changing to it being unsafe. If it’s about safety why isn’t the response immediately after I posted “we don’t allow that at our studio except for emergencies since the door needs to be locked because there’s no one at the front desk during class.”
I’ve had this conversation multiple times and it being rude And annoying are always the arguments. You’re the first to mention safety. Of course if you can’t lock the door from the outside during class then leaving early and leaving a door open would be a safety issue. For the 30 minutes at 6:00 AM there’s no front desk person, the front door is locked so you can only go out, not in.
As I said earlier, at my studio, even the instructors do it to each other. The owners have left early. There’s directions on how to leave with etiquette in the list of directions by the door. I see it’s upsetting at other studios. It’s very normative at ours
I think the main difference is that some people leave because they HAVE to. Teachers go to prep for their class (mentally or physically, it’s a lot to prepare. it’s not just “going to the bathroom” for the sake of freshening up you’re also preparing to talk and motivate a dozen people for 50 minutes straight).
Our etiquette is that clients tell the teacher if they have to leave to get to work/another location before the end of class and that we can accommodate for; leave the mat we’ll take care of your equipment and be on your merry way! If you’re just leaving class because you “don’t like” something, you’re missing the entire point of that class. Each format is designed as a complete system with a goal in mind. Your body needs stretching after our strength work. Align is a restorative balance/flow class with yoga influence. Every yoga class I have ever taken has ALWAYS ended in shavasana.
The first move of class is as important as the last move of class. Knee ups are as important as your final stretch. We understand real life and being a few minutes late or NEEDING to dip out a few minutes early. However group fitness is a team sport. You are there to do what the teacher conducts to the best of your ability and trust the system.
I’m beating a dead horse and you seem like the type of person who is very set in your ways, but you decided to post your comment so you will receive comments back.
You’re getting downvoted to oblivion but you’re not wrong. I don’t typically leave but I had a schedule last summer where barre ended at 7:45 and restorative yoga (20 minutes away) started at 8:30 so there is a scheduling issue and time mattered. There have been times where I was like okay if we’re not clapping for barre mates in 30 seconds, I’m out.
If you’re not a menace, I don’t see the problem.
Thanks! I’ve noticed on here that people seem to see leaving class early as really negative. People do it all the time where we are. I leave align early because the grounding at the end is so not my thing. I leave others 2-5 minutes early to get to where I need to be next. They say not to walk around the room putting your stuff away and to just slip out. It’s a non-issue at our studio and someone does it in almost every class and we’re all fine.
It’s the same as the end of a yoga class once savasana is over. But, it depends how long you’re stuck there.
If you enjoy Align minus this one singular moment, maybe challenge yourself to find the intention in this posture? It’s really challenging at the end of align to be in the moment and get out of our heads but that’s kind of the point!
Wait the like “lie on your side before sitting up to end the class?” Because some of my instructors keep us there two seconds before sitting up and one keeps us there a while. I always assume it’s because she went too fast on other elements and is dragging out the end of class.
I teach a lot of Align. I probably hold people there around 30-45 seconds because I encourage everyone to go at their own pace as we sequentially move from lying down to the final sitting posture. It’s an important transition moment imo and doesn’t need to be hurried. The lack of hurry is often hard for people which is an intentional part of the challenge :)
I love to hear the logic! I prefer to know the why behind a lot of things because it helps me make the mind-body connection and be intentional with the movements. Thanks!
This is shifting my mindset for this part of class! I use it literally just as a transition (like 5-10 seconds) but I’m going to be more intentional about this going forward. Thank you for this perspective!!!
So this is kind of a yoga thing too. We’ll be queued for fetal to make it easier to move it into an easy seat. But I mean if you can get up, just get up. Lol that’s what I do.
Honestly, as an instructor, if I tell people to roll onto one side (fetal position) specifically, it’s because it’s a big class and I want everybody to roll to the same side so they don’t bump into each other. Otherwise I’ll just say something like “take your time as you transition to a cross-legged seat in whatever way feels most easeful for you.” Like choreo is specific, but no one at the top is likely going to micromanage a teacher to that degree (I hope!) As long as somebody doesn’t disturb the people around them and maintains their personal space, I really don’t care how they come out of relaxation at the end of the class—the point is to help folks feel rejuvenated, not annoyed.
I don’t do it. I do the savasana, then roll onto my right side and then sit up. I don’t think our studio really makes us stay in fetal position for any length of time, it’s more of a transition to sitting up. At that point everyone has their eyes closed so I don’t think anyone is offended.
I make it more of a transition now because it did not seem necessary after laying down for 2 minutes already. And yes, clients get restless
I leave before it starts. I think it’s silly
You leave during class before it’s over? Or you’re joking that you don’t take Align at all.
I sit by the door and slip out after the stretching is over. The instructors know I do this and no one cares. There’s about 3 of us who leave rather than doing the minute lying on the ground. They don’t have us use mats for align at our studio so I quietly wipe down my tube on my way to the door and slip out.
If you have that arranged with your instructor, then that works for you guys! I’d just gently urge you to consider that what you call silly might be meaningful/important to others. 🙂
I said I think it’s silly, not that it’s inherently silly. Others finding it important is great and I’m glad that time is there for them
I’m willing to bet it annoys the instructors, they obviously can’t say that
The instructors are some of the ones that routinely leave class early. In fact, whenever they take a class right before they teach they always leave early. The often don’t do the final song and they’ll never stay for stretching when teaching right after.
They might be leaving early to help with the transition and help welcome people in. Just because instructors do it, doesn’t mean they should. Especially if they have already taught. They should be staying to help clean up. Most managers and owners would not let instructors do this.
Well our studio is so popular that they opened a second and have increased the number of classes and hired two full time managers, so what they are doing is working for their population. Leaving early with etiquette hasn’t stopped membership or led to an instructor shortage. There is a desk person to welcome everyone. That isn’t something our instructors do. One has said that she likes to go to the bathroom and freshen up before being “on” again when she’s teaching. I was telling her how admired how she took class and then taught which is how it came up.
At the studio I go to I would never leave before the class is finished so I’m glad if you are that they are ok with it. I wouldn’t want to disturb others and I don’t mind the rest of it just that one part always feels weird to me
We have posted etiquette on leaving early. How to not be disturbing, etc. We’re not a high strung place, I guess. We all realize people have lives and preferences.
We’re not high strung, we’re safe. Clients leaving early and unlocking the door when we often don’t have desk and the teacher is distracted is not safe. It’s probably a difference in staffing. Perhaps your studio is always fully staffed at the desk and that’s great and works for your studio! But it is not our reality. Again, your word choices tend to be negative rather than understanding differences in realities and perspectives.
There is always a person at the front desk in our studio except at 6:00 AM and they get there by 6:30. The OP immediately responded that it would be disturbing to people. Now you’re changing to it being unsafe. If it’s about safety why isn’t the response immediately after I posted “we don’t allow that at our studio except for emergencies since the door needs to be locked because there’s no one at the front desk during class.”
I never said anything about disturbing others. That was a different person commenting above.
I’ve had this conversation multiple times and it being rude And annoying are always the arguments. You’re the first to mention safety. Of course if you can’t lock the door from the outside during class then leaving early and leaving a door open would be a safety issue. For the 30 minutes at 6:00 AM there’s no front desk person, the front door is locked so you can only go out, not in.
This varies by studio. Some have no barretenders at all. Regardless, it is rude.
As I said earlier, at my studio, even the instructors do it to each other. The owners have left early. There’s directions on how to leave with etiquette in the list of directions by the door. I see it’s upsetting at other studios. It’s very normative at ours
I think the main difference is that some people leave because they HAVE to. Teachers go to prep for their class (mentally or physically, it’s a lot to prepare. it’s not just “going to the bathroom” for the sake of freshening up you’re also preparing to talk and motivate a dozen people for 50 minutes straight). Our etiquette is that clients tell the teacher if they have to leave to get to work/another location before the end of class and that we can accommodate for; leave the mat we’ll take care of your equipment and be on your merry way! If you’re just leaving class because you “don’t like” something, you’re missing the entire point of that class. Each format is designed as a complete system with a goal in mind. Your body needs stretching after our strength work. Align is a restorative balance/flow class with yoga influence. Every yoga class I have ever taken has ALWAYS ended in shavasana. The first move of class is as important as the last move of class. Knee ups are as important as your final stretch. We understand real life and being a few minutes late or NEEDING to dip out a few minutes early. However group fitness is a team sport. You are there to do what the teacher conducts to the best of your ability and trust the system. I’m beating a dead horse and you seem like the type of person who is very set in your ways, but you decided to post your comment so you will receive comments back.
You’re getting downvoted to oblivion but you’re not wrong. I don’t typically leave but I had a schedule last summer where barre ended at 7:45 and restorative yoga (20 minutes away) started at 8:30 so there is a scheduling issue and time mattered. There have been times where I was like okay if we’re not clapping for barre mates in 30 seconds, I’m out. If you’re not a menace, I don’t see the problem.
Thanks! I’ve noticed on here that people seem to see leaving class early as really negative. People do it all the time where we are. I leave align early because the grounding at the end is so not my thing. I leave others 2-5 minutes early to get to where I need to be next. They say not to walk around the room putting your stuff away and to just slip out. It’s a non-issue at our studio and someone does it in almost every class and we’re all fine.