Hot Yoga Instructor Sacked For Not Allowing Student To Drink Water In Class

A hot yoga instructor in the US has been sacked after she scolded a student in her class for trying to take a sip of water too early during a session. Roma Abdesselam, a 29-year-old influencer, took to social media to inform about the incident, saying she was taking the class at Bode studio in New York City when she suddenly became thirsty.

As she dropped her yoga pose and leaned down to pick up the water bottle to take a sip, the instructor, only identified as Irena, stopped her. As per Ms Abdesselam, Irena bullied and called her out in front of everyone.

"Is this normal?" Ms Abdesselam asked in the video, adding: "I was in the class and I went to go get a sip of my water from my mat and the instructor bullies me, calls me out in front of everyone and is like, 'It's not time to drink water. I'll let you know when it's time to drink water. You drink water when I want you to drink water.'"

Lobo Plamondon noted that the instructor no longer works at the studio. And while Abdesselam didn't necessarily want the teacher to get fired, she isn't convinced by her explanation, either.

"Just because it's always how something's been done doesn't mean that it needs to continue being done," she said.

Reacting to the video, Bode NYC founder Jen Lobo Plamondon said the instructor no longer worked with them as their behavior did not align with the studio's standards..

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Instructor responds

Responding to the accusation, Irena said she didn't command Ms Abdesselam from drinking water, but instead asked her to 'please try to refrain' until the appointed time.

"I thought it was innocently said," she told the New York Times. "It was my invitation, not an order, not a royal command."

"You are seeing in this new era, young people are having a very hard time to be told what to do," she added.

Notably, in Bikram yoga, more commonly referred to as hot yoga, the instructors discourage the students from drinking water until they reach the eagle pose, about half an hour in. The purists claim that drinking water early disrupts internal heat and lowers the body temperature, which might result in less flexibility, discomfort, or nausea.

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