The evolution of my thoughts and feelings on physical adjustments in yoga classes
When I completed my teacher training in 2011, a lot of emphasis was given to the importance of physical adjustments. In fact, part of my training was assisting my teacher in some of her classes by providing physical assists for her students. To be honest, it was not something that I enjoyed. First, I am not by nature a “touchy” person and I am one who expects others to respect my personal space, and in turn I respect theirs. Second, I found very quickly that the same adjustment varied in effectiveness from client to client i.e. some found the adjustment helpful, some found it neutral, and some found it unhelpful- or worse, objectionable. This added to my anxiety about approaching someone- how would they react? Would I hurt them? Anger them? Distract them? Feed infatuation? To my overworked brain, the possibilities were endless. For these reasons, giving physical adjustments did not feel natural to me, and unfortunately it was probably obvious to one too many yogi that I was sternly forcing myself to nervously and tentatively adjust them out of a sense of duty…no mixed messages at all!
I soldiered on in my first months as a struggling new yoga teacher. And I say “struggling” because I was just that- I struggled to achieve my class “objectives”, connect with my students, and fill classes. But since the great masters were well-known (and often notorious) for their intense physical adjustments, I thought this (as well as many other things that did not feel natural to me) a requirement to be a yoga teacher. I attended teacher workshops for adjusting students and diligently made myself practice. The sad irony is that I was so focused on becoming a good teacher that I forgot about what resonated with my students- in other words, I had lost the plot! Meanwhile, a yoga friend and wise veteran teacher took my class and observed that I have a great understanding of the body and postural actions and I am intuitive and articulate but that my class is disjointed and I’m a bit all over the place; I need to stop trying to please everyone and I need to find my voice as a teacher. I knew she was right, but it took time to build enough confidence in my abilities to be able to “do me”. Doing “me” entailed verbally rather than physically adjusting students- on the spot reminders as well as breaking down postures to their essential actions.
Over the next couple of years, I accumulated training and experience on both the pro and con sides for physical adjustments. I attended Yoga Warriors International training to support yogis with combat stress and PTSD. I learned and observed while working with such clients, that physical adjustments were generally unwelcome and possibly detrimental. Furthermore, one of the goals of yoga therapy for such individuals is to re-ground them in their bodies and to help them relearn how to orient their bodies in space. Heavy use of props was a much more useful and empowering tool to accomplish this.
On the flip side, I was talked into attending a multi-day bodywork training to include Cranial-Sacral therapy and Thai Massage. Afterword, I was so intrigued by Thai massage, that a few months later I completed Level 1 Thai Massage training, which means I am competent to perform the standard 90min routine, but am not qualified to perform specialized techniques. Through Thai massage I both experienced and witnessed how powerful skilled touch can be for healing the body.
SO once more things got a little disjointed in class- to the yogis that I knew welcomed physical adjustments I would give a whole lotta Thai yoga technique, and to new students or to those who I hadn’t sussed out a preference for yet, I followed my minimal physical contact protocol. Seemed like the perfect solution, until it dawned on me that I was promoting a classism of sorts in my class!
All this begs the question: WHY physical adjustments in a yoga class? There are numerous reasons normally provided in teacher trainings and clinics to include:
1.Bringing awareness to a part of the body or to the breath
2. Guiding the action(s) of a pose
3. Correcting unsafe alignment
4. Deepening a posture
5. Providing a sense of connection for a student craving contact
I have arranged them in order from what I personally believe to be most potentially beneficial (1.) to most potentially harmful (5.) For reason #1, oftentimes a simple touch- no pushing or tugging- on a part of the body can help a yogi focus their mind on it in a way that a verbal adjustment cannot; it makes the cue concrete and facilitates the yogi’s ability to self-correct…which is the ultimate goal! For reason #2, positioning my hand near a yogi and having them move toward me helps guide those who are either unfamiliar with a posture or who are not adept at managing their body directionally in space. Most of my physical adjustments in class are simple and are given for the first 2 reasons.
Short-term, and when speedy remedy is required (!), a physical adjustment may be useful to correct unsafe alignment (Reason #3) However, the ultimate goal of yoga training is for the student to have enough awareness of their body in a posture that a verbal reminder is enough, so I endeavor to guide them in that direction. Oftentimes, I find if a yogi is very misaligned that it is best to have them come out of the pose and to rebuild it- me simply yanking their body around is not enough to fix faulty grounding or energetics.
I tread with particular caution with reasons 4 and 5. From my perspective and experience, deepening a pose at best promotes student passivity and dependence upon the teacher (as I said, I believe the role of teacher is much like that of parent- to teach your charges to be independent i.e. NOT need you any more…although hopefully they still want to see you) and worst case scenario leads to injury. I have heard far too many stories from yogis about an adjustment which hurt them “days later” or from which they felt a painful pop- yikes! I am fortunate to have not been on the receiving end of such an adjustment, but then again I am pretty forthright about saying “STOP, that’s enough” or I sometimes opt out of adjustments if the option is given. But many yogis are either too polite or too willing to trust that the teacher knows best. Which leads me to my last point…
I had been reminded at many teacher workshop classes that the modern yoga student is STARVED for connection and physical contact, and that we must remedy this by touching them and touching them and TOUCHING them. While I do not doubt for a second that this craving for connection and contact is real, and while I feel genuinely sorry about this sad state of affairs in our current society, I question the wisdom of offering touch in my classes for that reason. For one, each person brings a lot of complex psychology and experiences (“baggage”) with them, which I may not have the opportunity to learn about from the brief times I see them in group classes. I always remember the saying “One person’s medicine may be another person’s poison”.
Furthermore, there is no getting around this uncomfortable truth: although many of the people who attend my classes are extremely successful in ways that I cannot fathom, in that studio room I am the one in charge. And in a group class, there is a tendency- which probably goes back to childhood- for each yogi to want to feel special and favored by the teacher. I have even been the object of a number of “crushes”. This definitely gives me pause about using physical contact in a way which might be misinterpreted and ultimately hurtful to someone I am trying to help. I think Jason Crandell says it best: “It’s natural to crave the affection of the person in charge, and that can lead to big problems. In my mind, that was a reason to be more reserved in how I interact with my students”
Of course like all things yoga, there is not one right answer which fits every person and situation. Many, many great yoga teachers make heavy use of physical adjustments- it is what works for them and the majority of their students. I have found that a good fit of teacher and student always happens over time; as long as the teacher is authentic, stays true to their values and vision, and always places the well-being and experience of their students as first priority, they will be matched with loyal regulars.
And of course private lessons allow for a lot easier accomodation to an individual yogi, as well as the opportunity for the teacher and student to get to know each other better and explore topics and techniques much more easily than in a group setting. This can really facilitate the working relationship IF and only IF firm, professional boundaries are kept in place.
What are your thoughts on physical adjustments in a group yoga class?
