Female Warrior Types

A couple of days ago I went to my prenatal yoga class. I had been enjoying my classes quite a bit up to this point. I found them both challenging (it's difficult to hold some of the poses) and relaxing -- almost simultaneously. However, we had a new instructor that day, and it seemed clear to me that she was very invested in the idea of herself as some sort of fierce female warrior archetype. She very imperiously informed the class that she was a certified hypno birth therapist, a certified prenatal massage therapist, as well as a certified doula. She remarked very drily that she did not subscribe to the traditional medical model when it came to prenatal care and delivery. Although I'm sympathetic to the practices she teaches, something about her rubbed me the wrong way -- probably the chip on her shoulder.

Anyway, she led us through an hour of deep sighs and modified yoga poses. For the cool-down, she asked us to lie on our backs with our eyes closed. Suddenly, I smelled incense, and I could sense that she was standing over me. She pressed her thumb into the centre of my forehead, which was fine -- I guessed that she was marking me with incense. Then, with the weight of her whole body behind her, she drove my shoulders into the floor and snapped my head back. I remember this hurting a little at the time but I quickly dismissed it as the instructor just being unorthodox.

Fast-forward to today -- my third day in a row of shoulder, neck, arm, and back pain. After having it pointed out to me by a number of people who noticed my discomfort that a yoga instructor should not be touching unsuspecting students in the way my instructor did me, I worked up the courage to call the coordinator of the program and report the incident. Funny how I should feel sheepish and worry about being a bitch about making the call when, in actual fact, the instructor was in the wrong. Long story short, the program coordinator agreed that the instructor shouldn't have been touching the students in this way. The bummer is that I will be taking my classes at a location that is not as convenient for me. It's a compromise I can understand though. If a staff member at work did something wrong, he or she wouldn't automatically be dismissed. He or she would be subject to disciplinary measures, but a dismissal would really be out of line. And I can understand that the coordinator of the prenatal program wasn't going to instantly replace the instructor because a student had called to complain. I do, however, plan not to use this program for my post-partum exercise needs.

Got to go put an ice pack on the shoulder! Signing off.