Narragansett, RI – Jim Blumenthal didn’t realize he was making a huge yogic faux pas when he expressed to his teacher that he’d like to get better at yoga. He had simply been enjoying the classes and wanted to be able to do the poses with better form.
“I already told him and everyone else in the class that it’s not about being better,” said Blumenthal’s teacher, Mary. “How many times do I have to repeat this? Just do what you can and listen to your own fucking body. Don’t fucking compare yourself to others. Yoga is about going at your own fucking pace, connecting with your fucking breath, it’s not a goddamn competition for fucking idiots.”
Blumenthal was taken aback by her scorn and fury. He realized afterwards he could have phrased his words differently. “Maybe instead of ‘get better’ I should have said ‘go deeper.’ I’m new at this and don’t have the lingo down yet. She is so supportive during class I was shocked when she got really furious with me.”
“You want to get better? Take some fucking Advil and go to a therapist for your social comparison insecurities and leave me the fuck out of it,” said Mary. “When you show up to my class be prepared to let your fucking fears go and just connect to your fucking breath. And don’t ask me how to get better.”
When Mary learned Blumenthal merely wanted to go deeper into his own practice, she said, “That’s an entirely different story. If he had said that to me he would have gotten a different response. But he didn’t say that to me. He said ‘get better’ and that’s all I can hear now and forever.”
