Day 5...lots of distractions

So it was a beautiful day in Seattle, sunny and in the 60's I think.  I was thinking class wouldn't be very full given the opportunities to exercise outside today.  I was wrong...very full and lots of new people for some reason.  I'm terrible at estimating the number of people in the room, but it was packed, not a lot of personal space and it seemed much, much warmer than usual.  Midway through class people began to have a tough time.  Lots of people leaving the room, dropping to their mats mid-posture, and just general lack of yoga etiquette.  I found myself having an OK class though, not stellar by any means, but solid, with some breaks in Savasana.   I noticed that as the class went on the anxiety level went up in the room.  You could feel it.  The energy in the studio was not positive.  What pleased me was my ability to remain in the moment.  I repeated to myself, "I have control over the present moment only."  Lately, I've been trying my best to practice mindfulness, a component of dialectical behavior therapy.  Staying in the present moment, without judgement is the basic principal.  In hot yoga this is so important.  If you focus on how you fucked up the last pose or you're counting in your head how many postures are left before the end of class, consider yourself gone.  You're on your way to psyching yourself out.  I've let this happen many times.  But today was a small victory. 
The teacher said something quite powerful during one of our rests.  "Leaving the room seems like a good idea.  It's relieving in the short term.  But it teaches us that running away is an acceptable way to deal with discomfort."  This is not only true for hot yoga, but also for life.