Dealing with disappointment and lessons to be learned

I'm just back from my yoga/pilates holiday in Spain, which all in all was a great affair and for the most part has left me energised and excited about life, yoga and other people. There was however one huge blot on the week! On Monday morning, I went to the early class in a fairly cramped studio, for the first time during the week, the focus was to be on sun salutations, and standing strength poses (something that I was desperately looking forward to and hoping to come away having strengthened and corrected my technique on several poses).

The class began and went well as the sequence of poses and philosophy was explained. There was a beautiful piece of music playing as we worked our way through a series of about 20 repetitions. I was hyper aware of my positioning in relation to those standing closest to me and congratulated myself that I was managing to adjust myself so not to interfere with their practice. About halfway through, when shifting from Down dog to lunge there was an ominous crack from my right big toe, accompanied by a rather nasty pain.

I (probably foolishly) completed the set and sat down to check my injury. Once the teacher had finished the next series of poses (which incidently did not put any pressure on my toes) it was apparent to me that I had actually done some damage! I did what I thought was the sensible thing and explained I had an injury and asked for some ice. I was asked if I wanted ice brought to me or could I make it to the bar. I said I would give it a go walking (there are another 10 people in the class who have paid an equally ridiculous amount of money and I don't want to inconvenience). Armed with the Spanish word for ice, I somehow made my way to the bar, got my ice and found myself a corner in which to nurse my wounds.

The class duly finished, and people went to breakfast. Having dried my tears, I made my way to some friends and told them what had happened. Several people were disappointed that the teacher had not bothered to come and find me or checked on my wellbeing and so things ensued. Little help was offered (particularly as I had reflexology booked hours later!), I was encouraged to attend further classes even though it was clear, walking was painful for me. It took another participant on the course to remind the teacher that I was injured. -Definitely not the kind of treatment I expected or was in order given the cost of the week.

All that whining aside, I was reminded of the level of care I feel is deserved by a participant in a class (of any sort). It was a tough lesson to be on the recieving end of, especially as I had the day previously been to the most amazing yoga class I have ever been to and seen someone with such passion and respect for their students push me beyond what I thought I was capable of. Two teachers, one I met briefly whose class will stay with me for years and hopefully give me the tools to improve myself and my interaction with other people, the other I spent 3 days with, paid a huge sum of money who had no interest in my wellbeing!

Any teachers reading, please don't follow this persons example, just one small gesture (or lack of) in such times, could profoundly change someones outlook on humanity