The sixth thing yoga has taught me is that my body is entitled to take up space.
You can tell I have a mostly home practice by how I don’t keep my mat in its bag.
Certainly, in the context of a crowded class and/or a small studio — where multiple bodies are equally entitled to take up space — the fine arts of compromise and staggering should be employed. But in itself, there is nothing shameful nor arrogant in allowing your body to take up the space it needs.
Even if some bodies need more space than do others.
For example — At my studio, I’m taller than the average student, wider than the average student, and have hip ranges of motion that are greater than the average student’s. None of these things are good or bad in themselves, but what they amount to is that, in order to set myself comfortably and correctly in various asanas — straddle-anything, I am looking at you — I need more physical space than do most other people in my studio do.
And again, it is important for me to respect their needs and space as well, but practically speaking — most of the time this works out okay. They take the space they need, I take the space I need, and no one has to straddle forward fold into the next person’s ass.
