“ I hurt myself!” “I’ve gone too far!” “Whoops! I shouldn’t have done that!” “Omg! I’ve done it now!” “Arghhh, what have I done???!!!” “I am done!”
Sound familiar? We have all either heard these comments before and/or said them at one time or another in our teaching careers. I’m almost certain most of us have. At some point or other, all yoga teachers have also heard such complaints from students.
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As teachers, these words are all too common. We are simply powerless to stop our students from hurting themselves; it may be next to impossible to refrain them from going too far; outstretching, out-performing and pushing themselves to the degree that injury is imminent, either today or sometime in the future. Learning to teach safe yoga takes time. My number one rule - if we are patient, safety will prevail.
I remember as a young teacher (while in my 30’s) I had taken a group of my yoga teacher training students to a yoga class in a well-reputed Toronto yoga school (I won’t mention the name, however; that school happened to be one of the oldest and most famous in North America). My students had been studying with me for a few years and at that time I felt it time for them to experience another teacher.
As the class began with Sun Salutations, the teacher stood at the front of the class and began an emotionally cool and scripted dialogue. She threw in some Sanskrit now and then; however, for the most part it was very obvious that she had memorized every word. As we began the class, it was apparent that the teacher’s students were struggling TO KEEP UP with her instructions; yet she did not seem to care. In fact, she continued to sound out the rounds and remained aloof throughout all of it; it was as if we were of no import to her. We felt no compassion or care and for that matter, we didn’t feel like we were being taught anything… we were being commanded to perform.
Many of her intermediate students rested in Savasana during just the opening rounds. My students having been taught to breathe properly and move with the breath, maintained the Salutation flow (with grace not speed nor for performance sake) and finished on their feet with hands in prayer while waiting for the intermediate students to recover and regain composure.
During the rest of that session, we saw students struggling and straining in postures while the teacher did nothing to help them. She neither gave them choices, warnings or alternatives. By the end of that session, my students realized that they had learned something far greater than performance or attendance in a famous yoga center - they had practiced safe yoga and stayed true to what they had learned despite the pressure to conform with and in that intermediate group.
Human nature is volatile and sometimes we are powerless when our students do not LISTEN! And for some students, they may be powerless if an inexperienced teacher comes along who pushes them for performance.
One decade earlier, when I was a young teacher in my 20’s, the last thing I thought about was injury. It never once occurred to me that somebody might hurt himself or herself practicing yoga. Yoga is safe! Yoga is healthy! You would have to be an idiot to hurt yourself doing yoga! Well, as I matured, over time and as a seasoned yoga teacher, I began to see that students were coming to classes from all ages, body types and health conditions.
Some were children - bouncy and springy; some were teen-agers with boundless energy - strong & carefree; some in their 30’s, with beautifully sculpted bodies that reflected years of care & healthy living (or some not); 40 year olds, beginning to realize that youth is not eternal, 50’s, with less energy and flexibility and moving into the 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s still determined to keep up with the younger ones.
In some of these groups, there were pre-existing injuries or health concerns. I began to realize over the years that yoga wasn’t just about teaching a structured class or asana routine for the age group. Yoga is about observing your students and listening to them; structuring classes that ‘care about and for’ the demographic and designing classes that inspire, challenge, rejuvenate and most of all, educate.
As yoga teachers, not only are we teaching postures; as educators (TEACHERS), we inform our students about their anatomy as it pertains to the unique movements we engage in when practicing yoga. It is a given that we need to learn more about anatomy as it is in our bodies that we are doing asanas. Teachers as well as our students may enroll in anatomy classes, do specialized workshops and read as many books on yoga therapy and restorative yoga as we can. We do our research and share with our students what we have learned. We study. We never forget that we are students and that our study is never over as long as we are teaching. We cannot learn it in a few years, it takes decades and some seasoned teachers are still teaching new techniques that are re-forming older techniques once deemed safe. All of us together are a storehouse of valuable information; not one of us has all the answers either.
Summing up, great teachers are the masters of compassion. We must remain compassionate! They ask, they listen; they watch, they guide and they research. All teachers never stop learning about the possibilities (within all age groups of various conditions) and those groups that have so much potential to improve on all levels, not just on the physical level either. We are responsible for all paths as teachers - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual (karma, raja, jnana and bhakti). Performing yoga asanas is not good enough; we must educate our students on all paths for true health. No, you don’t have to be a scholar on each path, but through years of study and research, you learn small amounts over time and that knowledge sticks with us and, it is this knowledge that we are able to teach students.
It takes patience to learn how to teach. I’ve been practicing yoga for three decades and am more excited today then ever before about yoga.
Time is the key to safety. Compassion and time safely lead us into becoming great yoga educators. Keep up the good work and never let an injury get you down! It is bound to happen; either to ourselves or to our student. For the most part; however, we get back up and get them back up and try again. Study, practice and compassion is the key to your great success. And remember, share your wisdom with other teachers.
Love and gratitude to all yoga teachers, both young and old.
-Violet Pasztor
-Violet Pasztor
* As you practice, feel everything. This is how you learn. The more we remember the more we learn about ourselves. Do not ever forget.