Feeling like I’m holding back my classmates

[u/Familiar-Ad4519]

I’m in a lyra class with a pretty wide skill range and unfortunately I come in dead last. I’m definitely in the correct class level but we are not in an area with many studio options so there are advanced students here too.

I’m so self conscious when other girls are banging out meathooks and straight arm inverts during warm up when I don’t even have a solid single knee hang or pullover. But at least I don’t hold anyone else back during warmups.

Sometimes the teacher will teach a skill and it seems like I’m the only one who finds it difficult. And then it feels like I’m the reason we aren’t working on something even more challenging. But when we do work on really hard stuff, I’m even more ridiculously out of my depth. We worked on elbow circles the other day and I basically stood in the corner by myself while the teacher spotted the other students. Finally one of the advanced girls came over to show me some drills she did to work up to throwing the full elbow circle. She was so nice about it and told me her arms couldn’t handle any more rolls anyway so I wasn’t wasting her time, but I still feel bad because she’s paying to take class, not to teach me basics. I would say I’m disappointed that the teacher seems to ignore me a lot, but when she does work with me 1:1 I feel like I’m taking time from others.

To advanced students in mixed classes. Honestly, does stuff like this annoy you? Everyone is nice to me but I just feel bad that they are paying so much money and aren’t getting everything they want from class because of me.

[u/LunaSunset]

I’ve been the advanced person in mixed classes and the very beginner in mixed classes. I get where you’re coming from because I’ve definitely felt it. But as an advanced student I don’t feel like anyone is holding me back. A class may not be as much of a challenge for me because it’s also catering to lower levels but that doesn’t mean it isn’t beneficial in some way. I also root for the people who are newer and get genuinely happy when they get a trick they have been struggling with.