Here's me. Smiling and present, but in the front of the room, on my mat, not walking around or adjusting anyone. I have those days. We all do. And learning to honor those days is a powerful step toward becoming an intuitive teacher who can also honor your own needs.
One of my teachers once said she has a rating system she keeps. It is based on a scale from 1-10 with 1 indicating she feels simply awful, negative, and icky and ten indicating she feels fabulous. She said she is careful who she "infects" whenever she is a 6 or below and sequesters herself whenever she is below a 4.
I use this rating for myself when I am teaching. When I am a 8+, I am all over the class, adjusting, assisting, being in my students space and guiding them. When I am a 6-7, I will walk around, but not adjust. When I am a 5, I keep my energy to myself on my mat so as not to "infect" the others. When I am a 4 or below, I send my husband to teach my class for me.
Now, understand, this is not a conscious rating. I don't think "Hmmm...where am I on the scale tonight? I think I will need to stay on my mat." It is all very unconscious, my intuition working to protect both my students and me. I will walk out of class realizing I didn't leave my mat and instantly know why.
So, why am I telling you? Well, first of all, in case you are like me and judge yourself when you have a class when you are not "perfect". In the past, I would have harangued myself for not adjusting students, feeling I had cheated them out of the assistance. Thankfully I don't dwell on that set of waste of time thoughts anymore. (After about 13,000 hours of teaching, one would hope not. BUT truth be told, those judgments lasted much longer than you would think.)
Second of all, if you have ever been told that a good yoga teacher has to walk around to adjust all the time OR a good teacher has to stay on your mat all the time demonstrating, I want you to know there is another view. If you feel you have to do one or the other all the time, at best you are doing a disservice to yourself and your students at worst you are violating our most sacred tenet: ahimsa (nonviolence). Somedays you won't feel up to walking around and to make yourself do so is to harm your students with your energy AND harm yourself! At the same time, if you never walk around when you are in a good space, you are cheating your students from sharing your lovely energy. (I am a firm believe in adjusting our students. You can read more here: Assisting Part I: What's the point?)
Honor where you are. Trust me, your students won't even notice!
We all have beliefs about our bodies. (And beliefs, by the way, are just an opinion, a thought, that we have held for a very long time. Read more about them here.) We may see ourselves as flexible, tight, injured, weak, strong, unable to go upside down, unable to balance, etc. My guess is if you sit for a moment you will come up with half a dozen beliefs you have about your own body. What is most interesting about our beliefs is others usually see through them before we do. And, as teachers, we often see that our students are capable of so much more than they think they are.
As teachers we need to honor other people’s realities and at the same time, hold the door open for something more. Beliefs create the reality in the body, not the other way around. If you think you are tight, you will be tight. If you think you can’t do a handstand, guess what? You’re right! We can best help our students by first helping the student feel safe by honoring what they think about their body. I think we have all experienced at one time or another a teacher who led us to feel less than or even stupid by not understanding what he/she was trying to teach us because we weren’t ready or were still too mired in our belief and so still afraid to try. We need to be there with the student in the place the student is, not where we want the student to be.
Then, at the same time, you can hold the door for the student for something more. You can gently guide them to use different language to describe their body, to see that anything can change, that they are capable of anything. Gently remind them they are strong enough, flexible enough, whatever. Then they will fly!
It's a new month so let's study a new pose! Check out my other blog, Musasana, to study one yoga pose a month.
Yoga pose of the month: Let's study Virasana (Hero's Pose) this month. Take this month to spend time in this pose, teach it to your students, bring it into your practice, and bring on a deeper sense of reflection this season.
Check out this video for ways to deepen this post.
If you are a teacher, challenge yourself to teach this pose in each class this month. Add this component: Can you find something new to teach (and learn)?
In Part I, I discussed the benefits of adjusting. In Part II, the disadvantages. So what is the balance? It is what I call the “Conscious Adjuster”. In conscious adjusting, we don’t just mindlessly walk around the class adjusting every student as we teach. We take a moment (and it only takes a moment the better you get at it) and assess whether the adjustment is necessary and whether it will truly help the student understand the point you are teaching. We don’t adjust for something we aren’t teaching, even if it might be useful. There is nothing more confusing for a student than adjusting the arms when you have been focusing on the feet all night.
The conscious adjuster also uses all three adjusting techniques (voice, light touch, and physical manipulation) with more emphasis on voice and light touch. Voice is telling the student what you want to see and is the best adjustment technique. It takes a great teacher to be able to use their voice that well. Voice is best because the adjustment is then entirely the student’s. She made the movement in her own body and has a better opportunity to be able to replicate it.
Light touch is another good adjustment technique. In light touch, you use one or two fingers, at most a flat palm. Light touch is good because it will bring attention for the student where you want her attention without adding too much of your own energy. A light touch often wakes up the brain to be able to identify the correct muscle to engage to create the movement so the action is almost entirely the student’s.
Last, but certainly not least, is physical manipulation, when you, the teacher, actually move your student into the position she needs. Although this technique may be all yours, it can get a student out of stuck consciousness place (See Part I) so it is definitely useful sometimes.
In my last post, I discussed the benefits of adjusting. So, here is the downside of adjusting: the change is yours and not your student’s. What I mean is, when you make an adjustment, it is something you have done to the student, the student has not done it for herself. Then often times the student cannot replicate what you did. The newer your student is to yoga, the truer this idea is. I once had a beginning student who, after straightening her arm, said she could not feel a difference in her pose! Many to most beginners just don’t have a strong enough connection to their bodies to feel the benefits of our changes. Even advanced students often struggle with replicating an adjustment once they are home on their own mats. It is often better for a student to figure it out, sometimes over years, by herself. (I have a few corrections that I still remember, for whatever reason, that I finally “get” years later!)
Assisting refers to whenever we suggest an adjustment, by words, touch or physical manipulation. Of course we tend to view an adjustment merely in terms of physical manipulation, but whenever we suggest to a student to change their position with words or a light touch, we are also adjusting them. Over the years I have heard many arguments for and against adjusting students (especially with physical manipulation) so over a few different posts, I am going to explore a few sides to assisting.
Remember that the point of yoga is to shift our consciousness; to evolve. In yoga we do it through our bodies. We take our bodies to new places that then takes our consciousness to new places. Who among us has never experienced being stuck? We all get stuck in our illusions and that stuck consciousness shows up in our body as doing the same thing with our body over and over. Often we are sure we are doing what our teacher is asking of us, only to be shocked when she comes over and manually adjusts us into the correct position. And surprised when we realize we can’t yet replicate the adjustment without outside assistance. (How many times have you adjusted student, again and again and again, for the same pose! My rule of thumb is three adjustments and then I let it go. I realize that they aren’t ready for what that position has to teach them and their body is resisting the change.)
My main support of adjusting is because it can get our students out of their ruts; to wake them up and take them where they haven’t been before.
Stay tuned to find out what my hesitations are for adjusting!
Yoga Bella, Chanhassen: Tuesday, August 7, 10:00am YogaSoul, Eagan: Wednesday, August 8, 7pm
Staff will talk you through what you need to know. Bring questions and curiosity!
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Have you thought about being a yoga teacher? Maybe you already are a yoga teacher and want more than just a basic understanding of the poses. Or it could be that you’ve just learned about yoga and want to learn as much about it as you can, without ever teaching. Well, if you live near Minneapolis or are willing to travel to get the most advanced yoga teacher training, get ready. Don't miss this opportunity to learn and grow with the oldest and most experienced Yoga training program in Minnesota.
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This unique program gives you:
Small groups are the best learning environments for your training. Just like this ancient practice used to be handed down from guru to student, so is this program done in small intimate groups. You won’t be lost in the crowd! You’ll connect personally with the staff and bond with the rest of your group. This is about community and connection.
Intimate group sizes (10-15 Trainees to 3-4 Trainers),
Personal interaction with interaction with lead trainers
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Deepen Your Yoga Practice Even if you don’t become a teacher, Yoga Teacher Training will deepen your personal yoga practice. Under the expert guidance of experienced Yoga Educator, Laura Erdman-Luntz and the Musélan team, you will find the unique meaning of yoga that lies within you. If your calling is teaching, you will find a fabulously supportive yoga community to help you grow and reach the heights you are capable of.
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Ready to Share Your Passion?
Yoga teacher training or advanced study can teach you more than group classes, DVD’s and books. It can teach you about the Eight Limbs (there’s more than just poses!), the philosophy, the rich history and the subtle art of this ancient practice. Learn how and why this practice transforms not only bodies but also people's lives. Maybe it has changed your life and you’ve become aware of the possibilities, or it’s changed your life and you want to help others know the wonderful feeling of changing theirs.
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What Type of Yoga is it?
The Musélan program is not specific to one style of yoga - we’ll teach you all we know about all the styles. Whether you enjoy yoga flow, fitness yoga, hatha yoga or restorative yoga (or something in between!) we give you the fundamentals to teach yoga. Learn about the poses, the body, the anatomy and physiology to keep students, and yourself, safe and healthy.
So...?
Our participants come from all walks of life. Full time moms, teachers, bankers, marketers, graduates from other yoga programs, fitness professionals, part-time office workers and more. What they all have in common is a desire for more... What is it YOU want more of? If yoga can help you find the more you are looking for, so can we. It’s a better, happier, healthier, more fulfilling life we all seek. Whether you want to be a teacher or just desire spending time deepening you knowledge of yoga, join them for a year that will change your life...
Intensive Study:
You have two choices for the 200-Hour Teacher Training and the 500-hour so you can choose what fits your learning style and your schedule. Whatever you choose, you will learn from the best and learn so much more about yoga. . .and yourself.
500-Hour Programs (+300 hours - actual training hours are approximately 400): (Please note: these programs are 300 more hours above a 200-hour program. They are intended for those who have already earned their 200-hour registry mark with a Yoga Alliance registered school.)
Eden Prairie, MN at Yoga Prairie: One intensive weekend a month from January 2013 to December 2013. More information.
International Retreat, Costa Rica and Mexico: Spend two glorious weeks at Haramara in Mexico in October and two more weeks in Costa Rica at Samasati Nature Center in May. (Retreats can be completed in any order.) OR just come for one or more of the weeks for a glorious continuing education experience! More information.
Please Note: This Statute does not apply to the Costa Rica/Mexico program: MN STATUTE141.28: Subdivision 1. Disclosure statement: "Yoga Prairie is licensed as a private career school with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, sections 141.21 to 141.32. Licensure is not an endorsement of the institution. Credits earned at the institution may not transfer to all other institutions."
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