Jeff Browning
December 17, 2019 03:05
This studio is one of the two places where I did my CPY teacher training. I have practiced at this studio more times than I can count.
I'll readily admit that if you like heated yoga, no one does it better. The classes are not bad most days.
The trouble with CPY is that they are aggressively oriented towards young, healthy people. That ends up being abusive if you are older and unhealthy, like me.
I'm 65 and I have a fairly severe form of arthritis. To say that I wasn't welcomed by CPY would be a huge understatement.
The anatomy class during my CPY teacher training is a great example of what I am talking about. I showed up to that class and infomed the instructor of my medical issues. I needed a slight accommodation in order to manage myself successfully during the 4 hour class.
Not only did the instructor refuse to accommodate me, he did so aggressively. He told me that I would have to adapt like any other student, or I wouldn't get credit for the class. Now, this was a requirement for the training: Unless I was able to complete this class, I couldn't graduate. Basically, I was forced to either try to make it through the class, or abandon my several thousand dollars of tuition. Obviously I tried.
In an obvious attempt to make me as uncomfortable as possible, the instructor opened the door. It was January in Colorado. Snow was on the ground. Within minutes the temperature plummeted to the low 40s. I showed up for a class indoors. I didn't have any kind of protection from the cold. Within the first hour, I was in severe hypothermia.
As anyone who is familiar with arthritis knows, the result of hypothermia for person with severe arthritis is pain. Copious, massive amounts of pain. Within the first hour, I went into level 9 pain. The most common symptom of level 9 pain is uncontrollable sobbing. Once I got to that point, you may be sure that heaven and Earth was moved to help me.
I find it completely ridiculous that it got to that point. Let's assume that instead of arthritis, I have, say, MS or Parkinson's. In that situation, the result would be a call to 911. You definitely would have ended up with that person in the hospital. Or possibly dead.
Now, my question is simple: Does my ability to teach yoga have anything to do with my ability to withstand cold? Or putting it differently, is it possible for a person with arthritis, MS or Parkinson's to teach yoga? I have personally fought back one of the most difficult and daunting health problems that you can possibly imagine. As I write this, I'm about 90% remitted off my peak. All of that progress is due to the practice, of course.
If I were CPY I would be looking for teachers just like me. Someone who has used yoga to dramatically improve their health. Instead, what you get from CPY is teachers who are young, fit and pretty.
Here's my bottom line: These folks are elitist jerks. They engage in rank aggressive discrimination against elderly and disabled people. If you are not young and fit at CPY, you're pondscum. That's just annoying, particularly when they maintain a hypocritical pretension of being enlightened. Avoid CPY if you care about the interests of the elderly and handicapped. They're bigots.