The Art of Yoga Adjustments

From love to science, there’s always more to learn about.  As a yoga teacher, I was particularly interested to read someone else’s perspective on the technique of giving adjustments to students in yoga class.  I have often felt somewhat uncomfortable at times giving adjustments to every single student.  So, like any human might, I shy away from what I’m not comfortable with.  Which is of course, the best decision when it involves touching someone and putting yourself in their personal space.  I would definitely never want to make someone uncomfortable in a way that would make them not want to return to a yoga class.  That is the exact opposite of what we strive for as teachers.

What we DO strive for, is to help people feel well taken care of, and assist them in a process of exploration.  I personally love and crave adjustments in class…the more the better!  Yet I know this is not the case for many.  Things become extra touchy when a woman is adjusting a man, or vice versa.  And if a man is adjusting a man, there are probably few people (especially in America), who would be comfortable with this.  So when adjusting men, unless I am extremely comfortable with them and know their practice, I keep it on the extremely light side, or nothing at all.  There are those token male yoga practitioners who are so skilled in knowing their body and appreciate full on body weight assists, (and have been regulars in class), that I have been comfortable to give them intense adjustments.  This, is a rare yet wonderful occasion.

I’ve been present in numerous classes where the teacher is wonderful and very sensual…almost in a way that’s over the top.  It is when the teacher knows how to handle themselves in the way they interact with students that influences the class’ experience.  Of course I have no idea what the student is going through, but at times I have noticed teachers being too hands on in a way that is almost jarring to the student.  Part of this is simply because of the nature of yoga.  Yoga helps us get deeply in touch with how we feel and what’s happening for us.  This can be a scary and vulnerable time!  Sometimes it’s not always wonderful, and if someone is already uncomfortable, a yoga teacher being too hands on is the last thing they want. 

When someone is new to yoga, emotions fly and it’s hard to know how to process them.  As yoga teachers it is our job to leave them be and let them work it out.  If we can assist them in making them more comfortable physically with a light touch, or a verbal cue, that’s the way to go in my book.  It’s SO important for teachers to be mindful of everything that happens in their class…not only physically but emotionally and energetically.  Sometimes it’s easy to get super excited about yoga and helping people feel it.  We want them to get it right, we want to push them!  We know how amazing it can be, but we can sometimes forget that this amazing feeling is how we feel it.  Our students don’t need to be pushed; they need space to create it for themselves.  They need to open to it when they are ready.  I’ve learned the hard way you can’t make someone understand or feel something.  If we are mindful, we can usually tell who’s sending us the signal that they would like the adjustment because it’s helpful or simply because it feels great.