Okay—it doesn’t matter how you say it: fart, pass gas, or pet (as my Grandma calls it), it’s potentially going to happen in a pilates class. Sometimes on exercises like Rolling-Like-A-Ball it’s an inevitability eventually.

But not to fret. You are not the only one who has done it, and quite honestly, if you keep quiet, usually no else can pinpoint exactly who did it. So, while I know it can be embarrassing, try to cut yourself some slack if and when it ever happens to you. No one is going to remember in about ten minutes—pilates keeps you too busy.

It is something to stop and ponder for a minutes because while farting during a pilates class could mean that you had beans and rice before class (always a mistake, by the way), it could also mean that instead of gently pulling your belly button towards your spine and pulling up and in on your pelvic floor muscles, you could just be attempting to clench everything—attempting to get more control, but actually getting less as revealed by the escape of some unexpected wind. Next time it happens, after the wave of embarrassment happens, just try to relax and gently engage your muscles.

And as my step father always says, “Better out than in.”