I just read an article by an experienced yoga teacher and therapist Beth Spindler and I wanted to share one of my thoughts when it comes to yoga as therapy. The title of the article was – ‘Why “Gentle” Doesn’t Always Mean Therapeutic in Yoga’.
Guruji teaching parsva sirsasana
As a teacher who runs a small business and would ultimately like to see more students through the door, I see how easy it would be to give people what they want! Unfortunately (or fortunately as I see it), my job as a yoga teacher is to give people what they need. It is therefore also my responsibility to know what they need. That knowledge is gained every day by giving quality attention to each student during class, observing and listening and then working with them to move into the asana safely (safe doesn’t mean soft) and to allow the posture and the sequence of postures to do their work. To know what people need requires knowledge of anatomy, physiology, psychology and common injuries, as well as a thorough knowledge of the asanas and their various effects – this part comes mostly from personal practice and experience. That knowledge then has to be conveyed in a way that students will understand so that they can make the adjustments within themselves and then reap the benefits. Read on…
When you come into my yoga class the first time, I will say hello, ask you to fill out a form and tick any health problems in the boxes and then comment below. I’ll ask a few questions about your symptoms – for example some people will tick the back condition box and describe a disc problem that is acute and painful, yet others when asked had the problem 8 years ago, but it is still on their mind. From that moment on, every class is the same when it comes to my responsibilities. I will ask you to let me know if you have acquired a new injury, have an old injury that is flaring up, are menstruating, unwell, dealing with something stressful in your life at the moment or are particularly tired. You as the student then have the opportunity before class to let me know whats going on for you. This will influence whether you do certain poses or not, what alternatives you may be given, whether you should hold poses for short or long periods, raise the arms, not raise the arms etc. The reasons for these decisions are varied but ultimately, the practice should promote your healing and wellbeing, not create problems or encourage patterns that will eventually lead to injury.
Mr Iyengar individually assisting a student in baddha konasana
After that I will watch you move. I will watch you walk, collect your props, set them up, sit down, lie down and get into the first pose. As you lay back in supta baddha konasana I can see how the hips are opening in the pose, I can see if the shoulders are lifting and the throat is tense and I may suggest support under the head and neck or a modification for the knees or hips. I will notice the general energy level of the room as you are getting up to start the class and I may alter my tone of voice or language to encourage energy if needed. I will look at your facial expressions as you move into the first pose, I will assess whether my words are falling on deaf ears(!) or whether there is attention in the room. If there is a lack of attention I will command more! I will ask you to straighten up, lift the sternum and lift the armpit chest to improve your mood and enthusiasm. I will ask you if you have straightened your arms properly in urdhva hastasana and I will watch as you observe your own actions and create your own adjustments. If the correct adjustments don’t come, I will assist you in creating that effect. I may turn your biceps or lift your elbows to help you straighten your arms. This is not about getting the pose to look better. This is to bring awareness where there was previously none before. As the arms straighten you should feel that the energy of the pose changes because the side chest lifts up and you in turn feel more up-lifted. There has to be work there to get that effect – it will not come from simply taking the arms overhead. As we move to the next pose I am watching intently for the grimace that may come, and then I will ask myself is that student grimacing because they are tired, not wanting to do much work today or is it because their knee hurts as they go to straighten their leg or their back feels a twinge in uttitha trikonasana. I will then offer what is needed there – perhaps a verbal cue so that the student knows how to change the pose to eliminate pain and experience more freedom, or a physical adjustment, a prop, or even a different pose to achieve a similar effect. Toward the end of the class I will ensure that the sequence of postures has been balanced, that any areas of the body that have been worked strongly are now allowed to release and that the energy of the class is turned inward again to bring a quietness before savasana. If it is early in the morning I may bring students out of savasana with a louder voice and encourage them again to lift up the chest and relax the face in preparation for the day. If the class is later in the evening I may let students exit savasana in their own time to maintain the quietness and introspection that has been cultivated during the practice. And finally I will assess the feeling in the room after class. Whether the uttering of namaste was a peaceful whisper or a drone of necessity, whether the faces and bodies in the room are light or heavy and I will welcome questions and quiet conversation about the practice.
Coming back to the article I read ‘Why “Gentle” Doesn’t Always Mean Therapeutic in Yoga’, it is because all of the above occurs during every class that I ask my students to give me a very precious thing when they come in to practice with me. I ask for their trust. And that trust gives me a huge responsibility. The trust doesn’t often happen straight away, not completely anyway, but the hope is that after a few classes, despite the student perhaps feeling singled out for having to use a different prop, or in the theme of the aforementioned article – having to work harder than they thought they would, the student begins to realise that it is not just them receiving this personal attention, and that whatever the teacher has been instructing… it actually seems to be working!
Uttitha trikonasana, with a different approach for each student
One of the aims of yoga is to learn to self-study. But at first most students don’t know their hamstrings from their quadriceps. They take their arms up in urdhva hastasana but have limp wrists and floppy fingers. And of course when a student is given headstand for the first time, and sometimes the five hundredth time, even up and down become hard to differentiate! By giving detailed instruction and by commanding attention – sometimes quite literally – the student’s mind is constantly drawn to the present moment. The awareness of their own body becomes more universal and they start to feel changes in themselves that come from their efforts and their consistent attention to alignment. There is a video of Dr Geeta Iyengar teaching parsva sirsasana (twist in headstand) to a student (who funnily enough is now doing the same teacher training in Balmain as I am!) and Geeta was explaining why she gave her a tap on the back, why she felt she had to hit that exact spot. She said that the student had so much fear that her instructions were doing nothing. She was unable to bring awareness to a part of the body that needed adjustment with just a verbal cue. She needed to physically draw attention to the area that was not responding, so that the student was able to snap out of this fear and start to make the adjustment. It was an adjustment that was necessary to prevent injury in the pose. Now this was a very experienced student and at the time Geeta judged exactly what the student needed. The student was then able to make the adjustment on her own, do the pose without injury and come down from headstand with a sense that she could in fact accomplish the pose despite her initial fear. Geeta judged the situation, the student and her needs and gave the student the experience that she needed – not necessarily wanted!
Some ailments of the body and mind certainly require a gentle approach and a more restorative practice. But there are plenty of problems that require a little bit of oomph to work through. It is the direction and application of said oomph that makes the difference!
“Penetration of our mind is our goal, but in the beginning to set things in motion, there is no substitute for sweat.”
BKS Iyengar, from his book Light on Life.
Watch the video of Geetaji teaching parsva sirsasana here.