Would You Hold a Stranger’s Hand? [My Embarrassing Moment in Hot Yoga, Badly Illustrated]

I can be nose to tail with someone in Down Dog.

I can have someone’s bunion-ed foot right in my face during Warrior III.

I can do Bird of Paradise and “shine” my crotch at all the crotches “shining” back at me.

I can even handle it when someone else drips sweat on my mat because when the room is 100+ degrees there’s so much sweat flying that exchange of bodily fluids is pretty much inevitable.

So what threw me off the other day in my hot yoga class? The teacher asked us to reach out from a low Crescent Lunge and… hold our neighbors’ hands. See, unless they’re preschoolers and ashes are about to fall down (what does that even mean?!) I’m really not into holding strangers’ hands. For one thing, we’re all holding hands but nobody’s making eye contact. Is that weird or just me?

But I did it! I’m a team player! I’m zen! I’m totally fine with the guy next to me caressing my thumb! There’s like a chakra there or something, right?

The problem is that we were supposed to be holding each other up but my feet were so slippery that I was ever so slowly dragging the whole line down. Being yogis (and Minnesotans), of course they tried to be polite. My neighbors even tried to pull me back up. But like the slowest cheerleader ever I kept sliding towards the splits. So I dropped my back knee down. And then this happened:

Despite my sweaty palms, apparently I still had a decent grip since I brought my neighbors down to their knees as well. Who in turn pulled their neighbors down. Within about 4 seconds our whole row domino-ed from Happy Shiny Yogis to Jewish Bottle Dance from Fiddler on the Roof. Frankly I think that was a win. Also, we might be married now.

How do you feel about holding strangers’ hands? Have you ever had an embarrassing yoga moment? Ever taken down a whole row of people??


Start at minute 8:30 for the bottle dance. Start at the beginning if you want to be humming “Sunrise, Sunset” all day and tearing up at inappropriate moments. Boy howdy do I love this movie!!

22 Comments

  1. ok so I read and pondered and reread and pondered as initially I thought HELL NO.
    but I tend to do odd things in yoga (cry, laugh in appropriately etc) so I most likely would and not think twice about it—-till I exited the room.

  2. LOVE the drawings, Charlotte!

    As for the ashes, do you really need to know? Okay, here goes: it’s about the plague. The ashes are from the (ahem) residue from when they burned the bodies, trying to stop the spread. Think about it…

    Eew, huh? Ever gonna play London Bridge again? Me, either.

    • I’m pretty sure that’s a myth about the plague. A very popular myth, but I think one none the less.
      In the English version, we sing “atichoo atichoo” – which is also plague related since a sneeze was supposed to be one otf the signs of the plague.

      • Alyssa (azusmom)

        And wasn’t a rose-colored mark on the skin one of the signs of the Plague? (Hence “Ring around the roses.”) People wore fresh flowers in their pockets because they thought it would protect them from infection. (“A pocket full of posies.”)

        • Yeah – also true but in earlier versions of the rhyme it doesnt fit quite as well, and the “falling down” was referring to something more of a courtsey rather than a collapse. ………apparently :o)

  3. I love LOVE hot yoga but I’m so glad they never have made us hold hands or anything else because I’d take everyone down for sure. I have trouble on the triangle pose while sweaty. The instructor always tells me to put my feet further apart but there’s no way I can remain upright and not do the splits by accident. Ashes ashes, I’m the only one falling down! 😉

  4. If I were to be part of a routine like that you are performing in the picture I would surely had brought the whole group down as well. I am so poor when it comes to balancing, and I am not into holding strange people’s hands either.

  5. Oh my god. I love you more and more every day.

  6. Alyssa (azusmom)

    Whoo, Lordy! I am laughing so hard right now! Wasn’t expecting the “Fiddler” reference.
    We often do partner stuff in yoga. It’s not hot yoga, but we’re still pretty glisten-y. Luckily it usually involves grabbing ankles or supporting hips, so there’s less chance of slippage.
    My scariest Hot Yoga moment was a few years ago: We were in standing splits (holding one leg perpendicular to the body & stretching the torso over it.) I was right by the door. The studio is on a busy street, but somehow a duck had found its way to us and started quacking very loudly. All I could think of was “Downward Facing Duck” and I started to laugh. Everyone else was so quiet and focused, which only made me laugh more, of course. And I ALMOST knocked into the person next to me, which would have started a domino effect. Luckily I was able to come out of the pose before that happened.

  7. Love the illustrations! I’m not terribly germ-o-phobic but sweaty stranger hands sounds a little yucky to me.

  8. I love that movie! In our younger years, my sister and I probably burned a million calories dancing to its soundtrack.
    I’ve never had to hold hands during yoga but that’s probably because I’ve only attended maybe one class. However, I hate it when the song or prayer leader at church gets over-enthused and asks the congregation to “grab the hand next to you!!!” while we pray/sing. Everyone just sort of half-smiles through cringing and does it but I’m pretty sure they’re as uncomfortable as I am (maybe next time, I’ll try the kneeling…hmmm, it would be appropriate in that context). One morning, I missed church and a friend told me that one of the ministers upped the ante by having the entire congregation practice the “holy kiss.” I was so happy to have slept in.

  9. OMG – the pics!!! 😉 I don’t do yoga BUT I am a MAJOR sweater – major!! I try to steer clear of people in the gym cause I smell myself even though I have clinical strength deodorant on – I am not so sure about this.. sweaty palms – I guess I would have to be thrown into this & see what I would do…

  10. I CANNOT stand touching strangers, let alone sweaty strangers. In fact I refuse to take part in partner-assisted stretching after a CF workout – ick!

  11. Awesome spill! We have a class called “partner yoga” but it is actually acroyoga and you can come alone and get a random partner. Which is what I do because my husband does not do yoga. And this stuff happens ALL the time. The class is all hand-holding, sitting on each other’s butts, massaging people’s feet with our own feet, making downward facing dog “trains” with feet up on your hip bones, 4, 5, 6 people long! My favorite is embracing double tree! Can’t you tell I have no qualms about touching ANY place on ANY body?!

  12. The “ashes, ashes we all fall down” is about the plague. Hope that isn’t a part of hot yoga, cause now I have four more reasons not to try it.

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  15. Thanks for this drawing yoga exercise. I always do workout everyday and yoga is great. It can give wonderful stabilization of the breathing.

  16. Another post that makes me giggle! Also, YAY MINNESOTA! That’s where I am too! 😀

  17. Your article is really funny. It get my attention more because of your funny illustrations. I know where your coming from and sometimes there are really awkward things that a instructor ask to its student. There are also some drills that I hate when I’m in my Yoga class. Nice article!