yoga adjustments
Saturday, February 6, 2010 I have mentioned before that my teaching style doesn't include a lot of hands on adjustments. Since I teach in a gym, I usually just use verbal cues to get students to adjust themselves. The only time I physically adjust is when the student just doesn't get it at all and looks like they are going to hurt themselves.
Touching people just makes me uncomfortable. And, in the gym environment, it just isn't expected.
I recently watched the y yoga movie. The interviews with sean corne and kathryn budig really struck me.
Sean was talking about teaching yoga to young girls who were recovering from traumatic abuse. The directors of the program told her "no touching!" Sean assured them that she wouldn't touch the girls without asking first. And then she talked about how her touch (adjustments) was exactly what the girls needed. A loving, well intentioned connection. She then had to take ten minutes at the beginning and end of the class for the girls to hug her.
Kathryn spoke about the first adjustment done to her. She kinda freaked out about it! She thought it was totally inappropriate and uncomfortable. She then overcame that feeling. The movie showed her giving the most intimate looking adjustments using her ENTIRE body!
In my private sessions with my cousin, I am working on making physical adjustments. I know her. I am comfortable. She is comfortable. She is my personal yoga teaching experiment!
In my morning gym class, I only have a few students. I'm slowly starting to expand my teaching and making adjustments on them. ALWAYS asking first. Telling them EXACTLY what I am going to do. Simple things like pressing the hips to the heels in bhaktasana. Last week I made an adjustment to a student's thigh, rotating it down...which for me was a HUGE step.
I have been spending a lot of time studying anatomy. And, I have been working with my teacher to understand what is happening in each pose anatomically and in depth anatomically. So, the more I learn about anatomy and the way the muscles are supposed to engage, the planes of movement to make each pose the most efficient, the movement of the joints...the more comfortable I am making adjustments and touching my students. I have a better understanding of what is happening in their bodies and how to adjust to accommodate all of their quirkiness. Cause we are not all built the same.
As a student do you like adjustments in your yoga classes? Are you comfortable making adjustments on your students? Do you have any advice for me?











