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Yoga Adjustments or Yoga Assists?
Doug Swenson adjusting Virginia Beach based yoga teacher Jeremiah Sheffield
Picture yourself fully present in a pose during yoga class when suddenly, the teacher adjusts you in a way which throws you off balance (either physically or energetically). Perhaps he twisted you forcefully into your revolved triangle or she grabbed and adjusted your feet in headstand in a way which did not seem very supportive, but more corrective.
In another class, the teacher gently and quietly approaches you and provides a gentle hands-on assist which is supportive and allows you to more fully feel the energy of the pose (asana). And in most classes adjustments (if any), are given verbally and focus on foot and hip placements, etc. While such verbal adjustments (not to mention clear instructions) are necessary, they still seem incomplete.
I’ve come full circle on the entire question of hands-on adjustments in yoga after years of either not being adjusted while everyone else was (I’m a pretty tall guy so teachers didn’t always know what to do) or felt unsafe as a teacher forcefully tried to move my body in a way it wasn’t ready for.
After spending the last few months doing some intensive training with Doug Swenson in South Lake Tahoe (which included many days and hours of practicing gentle hands-on adjustments), I’ve come to embrace a new appreciation of them and now count myself as an enthusiastic supporter.
Doug Swenson’s four golden rules of yoga adjustments, as he taught them, were to:
- Enter and exit quietly
- Breathe with the student – on their inhale and exhale
- Be a guardian angel for your student – allow no harm to come to the student (or yourself)
- Be mindful of hand placements and avoid potentially inappropriate ones
What I find so refreshing about this approach, as we learned it from Doug, is that its not so much corrective as it supportive. In fact, calling them adjustments is something of a misnomer since his methods are more akin to an assist. Of course I really depends more on the teacher than on the student. And what I’m talking about here are not the potentially perilous issues of human touch, asking permission first, nor liability issues but rather a matter of intention.
So, in addition to Doug’s four golden rules of yoga adjustments/assists, I humbly add the following in my own approach:
- Its their asana, breath and intention, not yours.
- Be there to support and not to “fix”
If I give an adjustment which forcefully twists or lifts a student into a “fuller expression” of the pose, I could not only potentially hurt the student, but would be allowing my ego and energy to interfere with (rather than support) their experience. At the same time, if I provide a gentle hands-on assist which supports them in the energetics of the pose in a way which allows them more fully open into it themselves, then I am supporting their intention and practice.
Such corrections focus on the core of the body rather than on hand and foot placement or hip direction. That said, I’ve already found that most students will correct their own hands and feet once their core energy is gently assisted into moving in the right direction (and not just moved into the right direction).
And even while being gentle and supportive, it can be disruptive for a student when, instead of the teacher getting on the student’s inhale/exhale breathing pattern, they approach and tell them student to inhale when they are just starting their exhale. See Doug’s rule #2!
Of course its difficult to fully express this approach to yoga adjustments/assists without demonstrating them in person (or giving a workshop) but I hope that these thoughts can open up a broader discussion of them in general. Why don’t more yoga teachers do them? Why aren’t more yoga teachers trained in them? Why are we afraid to touch? And perhaps most importantly, what will benefit our students the most in their practice?
With deep gratitude to my teacher Doug Swenson
Learn more about the author by checking out his website at www.chriscourtneyyoga.com or follow him on Twitter at CK_Courtney
Thanks for this post, Chris. My teacher, in his Level 1, 200 hour training doesn't even teach assists. In fact, he asks that "Level 1" teachers, new teachers, do not assist students. It is a very sensitive area and assists must be executed with confidence and respect. Interesting, huh?
I personally believe that people appreciate the physical contact and connection that come from these classroom, in-the-moment assists.
Oh, and I prefer the the term "assists" to "adjustments" for sure. Adjustment infers that there is a right or a wrong way and it is my opinion that there is a unique and perfect position for everyone in most asanas.
can't wait to learn more assists with (from) you!
In Bikram training it would be impossible in 9 weeks with very little actual instruction on the structural mechanics of the yoga, to teach over 300 people how to do hands on adjustments, so the teaching is DON'T. As a former massage therapist I learned how to breathe with people when touching them, ask their permission. respect cultural and personal boundaries and make touch seem supportive as opposed to corrective, but I had not until reading this article seen people teaching yoga adjustments in this way, thank you.
Different schools, of course we all know this, teach different approaches to yoga. In my current incarnation as a teacher I use the art language as much as possible, being creative and personally involved with the student in front of me with my WORDS. So often a hands on adjustment, I think, is done from laziness, an inability to find a new way to say what you are inviting the student to do with your words. That said, touch is a powerful way of giving and receiving information and many of us, maybe all of us sometimes, can't feel certain things in our bodies and need the touch to perceive the new opening that is being offered. May we all remember to honor the student in his/her perspective and to meet them in a place of humanity…
As is often the case when I read articles like this, I realize how fortunate I've been in my teachers, since I don't think I've ever been given an adjustment that wasn't helpful and, despite my size (6'1, 220), I've never felt neglected. Actually, I know one advanced teacher who's somewhat "aggressive" in his assists, to the point that it could be a bit frightening, except for the fact that, consistently, he shows me that I'm capable of going further than I thought (meaning that, while my mind didn't feel ready for it, the body actually was).
Great article Chris. People don't assist because (1) they lack the training (2) they aren't comfortable touching their students (3) their students aren't comfortable being touched (4) liability / fear of injuring someone (5) they have been injured in the past. I personally go back and forth and am very discriminating in my assists. The more body awareness someone has, the more likely I am to manually adjust them. Complete beginners will get few tactile assists from me (in essence, you have to kind of have an idea of what triangle feels like, begin to develop listening skills, before you will get what the manual assist is intending. ) And I almost never try to get someone into a deeper level of the pose, but rather look at where they are tense or lacking awareness and go for creating space or encouraging integrity within the pose, or even encouraging more effort in a certain spot. And over time I've realized that sometimes less is more. You can nit pick every little thing, or you can give them one or two really helpful insights. I prefer the latter!
Terrific article Chris! I work at three different places and notice that the assisting varies greatly. There is big concern in some studios that any assisting can cause harm and so it's discouraged, while at others it is not a a "class" without some seriously deep assists. I guess the middle road is where I fall. I definitely believe an assist can help a student out of a harmful position or be supportive and comforting, but am not really into the "get you deeper" kind. I've been hurt from assists that are too strong and my asanas have blossomed from assists that were perfect. Know your students, ask their permission and approach with reverence are my key guides. Thanks for the forum.. love it!
Excellent summary Chris. Just consulted with a friend that tore his meniscus being "deeply" adjusted by a teacher. That attitude of consciousness meeting consciousness is key vs "fixing". The way you described Doug's approach embodies the former and is an ahimsic approach to teaching. The actual "manipulation" of a joint or joints for therapeutic benefit is called for in some instances, but the level anatomical and manual skills training is better left to the professions (DO, PT, DC, ND, etc) that have adequately trained to do that….and its a great way to send out as a referral and generate new clientele back to the studio!
Thanks for raising awareness around this important issue. http://www.drofyoga.com
thanks for posting this Chris. I think that the fear of assists also stems these days from a fear of intrusive touch in our society at large and some of that is seeping into the yoga community. I think there has to be a balance both of somatic insights and cuing that helps a student, especially new students in a class to feel their body at an intuitive level in a pose, but guide, assists can really really help a new student especially to feel how a simple, sometimes subtle and sometimes dramatic realignment in their body by a qualified, confident and compassionate teacher can open them up to a completely new realm / feeling in a yoga asana. Our YTT up here in Canada emphasizes not just philosophy and knowledge but an amazing hands-on practical approach to adjustments that attunes you to moving with your students. Also, like "Yoga for Cynics" above, I feel so grateful that my teachers have always been hands on with me. It has and continues to help me evolve my practice.
I'm a Karuna yoga teacher. We're taught to be very hands on…. senior trainees spend most of their time adjusting/correcting/guiding students and being assessed as they do so. My Guru Ruth White was a little worried about me at first as I'm built like a brick outhouse, She saw potential in my build for me to be too heavy handed but, the opposite was the case. It took a lot of practice (mainly on each other as trainees) to understand how peoples bodies work and what each person can take, but I found for myself anyway, that people always want a little more than I give…which I'm happy about… I'd rather be Mr softy than Mr achy breaky!
I do find also though, that I mainly am adjusting or correcting. Beginners often need correcting.. their egos push them further into the pose than they need to go, especially in asanas like janu sirsasana where they're trying to get their noses on their knees without pivotting at the hips and keeping a straight back! BUT….. experienced yogi/inis in janu sirsasana can be guided further into the stretch with a carefully placed hand on the lower back, that from experience just feels like pure bliss!
I have experienced teachers correcting for the sake of it when there was no need….. teachers pushing me over (a serious no-no in Karuna yoga… if you're adjusting and the student loses balance it's your fault!) and then scalding me for losing my balance! and I've also experienced frustration and anger at being adjusted out of a pose, but then learning a valuable lesson about myself in the process!
It's a joy to be corrected/adjusted/guided properly. Each touch has a different intention depending on the student. I'm aware (because they've told me) that my students feel safer in a class when I'm moving around paying attention to each one in turn….they don't feel safe if I just stay at the front.
The core of my love of teaching yoga is the hands on adjustments/ corrections that I help each student with. I prefer to call it guiding as depending on the student, it could be a correction, bringing them out of a pose if they've gone too far or an assist for experienced people, who with help can experience a far deeper stretch. Either way, it's about learning to be aware of where our bodies are right now and exactly what we're capable of!
Doug and his brother David are both masters at assisting, as are many other teachers who were trained in the Ashtanga method (or those similar) which emphasize the assists. The real key to good assisting is to develop your powers of awareness – in our own personal practices we work on developing awareness of our own energy and balance in each pose (and the flow between) but as teachers we must learn to sense that in others so we can be truly sensitive to their needs and limitations. We must also be alert to ego (ours and theirs). A student of mine once took a workshop from a teacher he was attracted to. He had a great desire to bind his hands in supta kurmasana. She didn't know his history and he did not volunteer it. He ended up with a separated shoulder (six months to heal). While this injury was mostly his own fault, it is ultimately the responsibility of the teacher to recognize through touch when a student has reached his limit….
In order for an adjustment to be non-invasive, the teacher needs to go into it from the perspective of joining in an inquiry with the student, rather than from the perspective of fulfilling his/her own alignment agenda. There are so many cues to look for besides how their alignment conforms to our concept of what it “should” be. How is the student breathing? What’s his/her facial expression? Sometimes a student whose pose does not conform to accepted alignment principles is actually feeling quite at ease. Every person you approach as a teacher is different in terms of alignment needs, psychological responses to adjustments and desire for them.
Doug Swenson’s adjustment guidelines make sense. Here’s another from Judith Hanson Lasater: Always ask permission before adjusting someone. Not everyone wants to be touched.
Chris, I totally agree with Doug's rules! I often get thrown off too when instructors try to position me. In addition to following Doug's rules, I think it of course helps when you are able to confidently master the pose on your own. Leeann Carey has some free yoga videos that do this, & I think you'd especially liker her one on triangle pose. http://planetyoga.com/yoga-blogs/index.php/leeann...