The following question was asked on Reddit:
How would you handle this situation? I’ve been doing hot yoga for about a year now, and I’ve never had this happen. The guy next to me literally sweated puddles, and it wound up getting on my mat and into my space. I actually had to get up in the middle of the flow to wipe some of his sweat away, but he of course never stopped his flow to wipe the sweat, even when it was obvious that it was getting on me and my (open cell) mat. When he left he didn’t even wipe out all the puddle. He just said “sorry about the sweat” and left. I didn’t say anything at the time, but how would you have addressed this? It’s hot yoga. People sweat. But I’ve never had someone literally disrespect my personal space like this
Traveling, one breath at a time.
It is your objective to do your work on your mat, and it is the teachers objective to facilitate that. In reality, some of our drama always leaves our mat. Often, it is an art form for a teacher to assess how much is too much.
In the case your described: that is definitely too much. Personally, I am a male teacher, and I also sweat puddles, so I am very familiar with the scenario you describe. If the puddle is literally in your space, then that is a problem. One can make the case that it is the students responsibility, and that is not wrong. However, the student is a student, and maybe does not yet have one of 10 things that might avoid the situation. Ultimately, the buck stops with the teacher. Perhaps this one particular class was full and the teacher had a lot of things to deal with. Perhaps it is a new teacher. perhaps the teacher also does not yet have the one of 100 things that might handle the situation well.
In any case- a constructive thing to do from your side is to avoid taking the situation personally. Also, there might be things about his situation that you don't know. It might not be as clear-cut as "he knew he was going to sweat a lot and could have brought a towel". Beyond that - tell the teacher (or front desk), and maybe they can kindly (but firmly) suggest to bring another towel.
Traveling, one breath at a time.
