Breathe In One-Two, Breathe Out One-Two

There are many times when I just don't know what to do. There are times when I dip deep into my yogi mind and still, can't seem to find a "right answer". This occurred today, when, at the gym, in the room designated for yoga a dude came in with headphones on and a jump rope in tow. There was one other girl doing her yoga practice in the room aside from me, but our presence didn't seem to phase this guy. He came in and proceeded to jump & stop, jump & stop, over and over again. I was incredulous. I mean, what balls! Here's this silent room, without any lights, clearly labeled YOGA ROOM and he seems to think its okay to bring his cardio-jam into this space.

I was conflicted; I didn't know if I should SAY something or not. I mean, I am known to act as a general policewoman in a lot of situations, but I have been working on quelling that. I thought, "maybe this jerk will just jump for a little bit and leave"? I started to wonder if it was best to just practice with him there doing his thing, I wondered if that was I *should* do according to say, oh, Patanjali. Was I supposed to create my own yoga island on my mat and go so far deep inside my breath that I didn't even hear him? Is it up to me to make a situation that could be wrong, right? I was struggling to separate my personal offense from what was more "yoga-like". And because I didn't feel like sitting there all night comtemplating what I SHOULD do, because what I really wanted to do was get on with my practice (but one could argue that this inner dialog I was having IS part of my yoga practice, whoa) I just started at him from my side of the room. He didn't seem to take the hint. And THAT made me VERY ANNOYED. He didn't seem like he was going to keep it brief. So after sitting and staring with no effect. I couldn't hold my tongue. But I DID self-talk myself down from chewing him a new asshole. I felt it might be better if I was NICE to him. I know, gasp! Nice! And I was! I just asked if he could do that somewhere else as this was a space just for yoga and the gym has a lot of spot where he can jump rope. Did he like me saying this? No.
But I was NICE, HAHAHAHA! I smiled even! So what was he going to do? Well, he was going to leave. And he did. And I felt like a yoga superhero, saving the yoga room from Jumping Man-Beast.

And then, I was on with my yoga practice, which once again at the gym, was very good. Especially with someone else practicing in the room. Much like Mysore practice. There's a lot to be said for group practice that isn't lead, just a collective consciousness promoting more focus. I also am loving how my practice is very organic and fluid these days. I don't set a sequence in my mind, I don't set an expectation, I just basically start with Surya Namaskars A & B, and then let it flow, doing standing poses and then moving down to the floor. It's very vinyasa, which I feel is so natural and intuitive - counterposes and steady breath decide what poses follow which. I was easy on myself in the twists and back bending because my backs needs the rest. When I felt like going deeper I would call to mind the concept of ASTEYA, careful not to "steal" the health of my back, not to "take" more than I needed.