Mark Blanchard -touchy feely?

[LaughingWater]

Bryan rubs (ha ha) some people the wrong way, but I dig him. And Eoin's a sweetie!

The adjustment sometimes required in yoga lends itself to this kind of problem, especially if the teacher is a guy. I've heard complaints about Baron, Bryan, and Rodney. I myself don't mind being touched at all, and I've had everything from a light finger to a massage in poses. One teacher (female) even laid her upper body on my back while I was in a forward bend.

I can see how others would be weirded out by it though. Some teachers will ask for permission before making a physical adjustment. Others will ask before class if anyone prefers verbal vs. physical.

 

[diane57]

I like Bryan Kest and to me his adjustments seem legitimate - he has a gentle touch so the adjustments can look gentle and almost caressing, but he touches the men and women the same way and it does not seem invasive or too intimate to me, he really does seem to be supporting the back or enhancing the stretch or whatever.

But Mark Blanchard, OMG. YUCK. I had a 3-volume set lined up on Netflix and after getting the first one I cancelled the others. On the one I saw, he was all over his wife, ALL over her, in a sort of look-how-hot-my-wife-is way. At one point he slaps her in a proprietary way on the rump when she's in down-dog, and says proudly "she's my wife, she will certainly not modify this pose", right after he's told everyone it's just fine to modify the pose. AND at another point in the video, she's lying on her back and he actually sits straddled on her chest with his crotch jammed into her face, and they have about 10 seconds of private giggling and enjoyment in that position while the camera rests on them. And don't get me started on the way he touches the other women in the class. My reaction was of such intense dislike and repulsion that I googled him after I did the video to see if I was crazy or if other people had the same reaction, and many others do have that reaction. I saw a little snippet from a later series, filmed in some scenic mountainy spot, where his wife is in the back row, and in the front row with Mark is a hotter younger blonder girl that he pays total attention to, paws, praises, and drools over, while his wife goes quietly about her practice in the back row. Ewwww.

I only do yoga with videos, but in a class I think it would be a good idea if the instructor, at the beginning, had everyone close their eyes, and then said "please raise your hand if you would prefer that I not make any physical adjustments to you during class".