Adjusting with Praise
One of the most difficult things about teaching beginning yoga students (especially if they're teenage beginning yoga students) is striking the right balance between offering adjustments and allowing them to experience the poses fully.
When I was a beginner, I abhorred being called out for an alignment mistake. It was embarrassing, and I felt like I had done something wrong. With that in mind, I've been really careful not to do too much of that to my students. I wait until a new student has taken at least a couple of classes with me before I offer adjustments (unless, of course, they're doing something that could potentially harm them). I also find myself preaching over and over again how my adjustments are meant to take them deeper or increase their awareness in the pose, not to fix them.
I'm happy to report that I've discovered a savvy (if I do say so myself!), beginner-friendly way of adjusting my students without making them feel like they've been naughty.
Let's say I want Student A to relax her shoulders, but Student A is new and I don't want to make her feel bad. Instead of saying, "Student A, relax your shoulders," I can scan the room to find someone who is nice and relaxed, we'll call her Student B. I say, "Student B, I love how your relaxing your shoulders away from your ears! Everybody, make sure your shoulders are soft and relaxed." It's a win-win because Student B gets praised for doing something she's doing well, and Student A gets a verbal adjustment without everyone in the class knowing she needs it.
I've been experimenting with this method in my classes, and it worked like a charm. I'm hoping that focusing on the positive, my students will quickly gain confidence and become more comfortable. This is why I love teaching. It's like a really big, on-going experiment. You try one thing for a while, then assess how it worked. Then you try something else.
Comments
While you are to be applauded for showing such sensitivity to your students feelings by trying new ways to inspire them to modify their asanas, praising individual students(versus the "group") might cause other unintended ills not fit for a yoga class...namely setting up a competition of who will be praised next? or perhaps students wondering why they never are praised but others are? All thoughts not meant to be intruding on a non-competitive, non-goal-oriented, ahimsa-based practice...gentle, specific cues and guided instructions verbally addressed to all students followed by individual physical adjustments as indicated seem to work well in classes I both attend and teach. Also, providing "adjustments" to as many students as possible throughout a class neutralizes the experience as well. Most students I know are begging for adjustments in the hopes of "deepening" their practice as you say! So tread with caution when singling out individuals with both praise and constructive criticism if you so choose to continue in that fashion.
Posted by: Kristine | August 22, 2007 03:31 AM
Be sure always to take the "I" out of any comments. Make your comments as general and inclusive as possible. Beware of singling anyone out, whether positive or negative. Stay with the idea of yoga sangha.
Posted by: Janna Sage Peterson | August 23, 2007 01:13 AM
I know you mean well by trying to inspire your yoga students to get the most out of their yoga experience. However, I believe your approach is setting up a competitive attitude rather than to encourage the beginning yoga students to be present in the moment, and enjoy each yoga experience simply for what it is.
Posted by: Jinger Stuckey | August 23, 2007 01:32 AM
I have been teaching yoga to adults and preschooleers in Tokyo and am about to start teaching teens. I just discovered your blog and wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading it. Both your text and the comments you receive give me a lot of insight and ideas for the classes I teach. Thank you and please keep it up!
Posted by: Hideyo | September 13, 2007 01:25 AM