I get to teach the beginner’s ashtanga class tonight. Really looking forward to it since I haven’t taught in a while. Now that I’m done with school (for good now…I have enough diplomas) and have more free time, I’ve been thinking more and more about teaching. There’s a possibility that I might be teaching quite a bit more in the near future…but I’m going to keep some of those details to myself until that project gets further along. Don’t want to jinx anything.

     I wanted to share a book suggestion to anyone that’s interested in learning more about yoga postures. Brian Cooper’s Yoga: The Art of Adjusting is something I’ve been flipping through lately.  My family got it for my mom’s birthday this year…and she’s let me borrow it for a bit (thanks mom!).  In the book, Cooper goes through most of the standing postures and seated postures of primary series.  He also has some chapters on backbends, partner yoga, and thai massage.  What I most like about the book is how he breaks down each posture…similar to what David Swenson has done in his book, but with a lot more details and photos.  While I’m familiar with most of the adjustments in the book, it’s nice to read Cooper’s logic behind each adjustment. 

    On another note, looking forward to another class with Louise Ellis tonight!  Tonight’s class is led primary…but she said she’d also do some yin postures at the beginning of class.  Really looking forward to it. 

    I still have lots to talk about after the David Williams workshop this past weekend.  But, I wanted to talk a little bit about what he said on the topic of adjustments.  It was the most tense moment during the workshop.  And it was obvious that many people in the room didn’t agree with his comments.  I don’t see anything particularly radical about them.  Basically, his philosophy is that he doesn’t agree with the use of adjustments in yoga except where needed for alignment and balancing postures. 

    This makes sense to me because if you can’t do the posture without someone cranking you into it, then you’re not really doing the posture.  Strong adjustments, as David noted, can often lead to injuries.  As a student, you know where that “sweet spot” is in a posture.  It’s the place where you feel a nice stretch but aren’t tearing tissue or doing harm to yourself.  How is the teacher supposed to know where this spot is?  If you’ve gone as far as you can in a posture and then the teacher cranks you further, doesn’t it do more harm than good? You were already at your limit, so why go further?

   This makes perfectly good sense to me.  But, my current teacher has never been big on strong adjustments…so I don’t come to expect them or look forward to them.  I can definitely understand the argument for these adjustments though.  One student in David’s class said, “There are times when an adjustment helps me “get” a pose or understand proper alignment.”  And then there’s the fact that people want to get their money’s worth out of the class.  Mysore classes aren’t cheap.  If you take away the fancy adjustments, then you’re left with a group practice, some light adjustment,s and verbal tips.  So….why not just practice at home for free?

    I don’t think David’s comments will stop teachers from giving these adjustments.  Many students want them.  And many teachers don’t think they’re teaching without doing them.  Personally, I’m fine without them.  I’ll take verbal instruction over being cranked into a posture any day.

Picture from www.ashtangayogi.com

 Note to self…need to take some updated yoga pics.  The ones from last year are getting kind of old.

    This week in class, we met in our new space.  Let me tell you, after being cramped into a teeny tiny room behind a restaurant and under an apartment, our  new space is heavenly! I didn’t realize how distracting it was to have people stomping around upstairs and flushing their toilets (you could seriously hear the water running through the pipes in the walls).  Oh, and do you know how hard it is to lay in savasana with the smell of freshly baked bread drifting through the cracks in the wall?  Ugh…such a challenge to not daydream about stuffing my face.

     Our new space is in a standalone building.  The floors aren’t hardwood — they’re covered in a low carpet (which makes the standing poses challenging), but they deaden almost all the sound.  It’s so quiet in there!  Anyhow, I could go on….but that’s not really what this post is about.

    While we were chatting prior to class, someone brought up the idea of offering more ashtanga classes during the week.  Since my teacher drives about an hour each way to teach class, he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of driving in to town more than once a week.  My teacher said that since he couldn’t make it to town that someone else would have to teach.  Then he looked right at me and said, “you’re up.”  Meaning, if another class is needed during the week, I’d be the one teaching it.  It feels really good to know that my teacher has confidence in my teaching abilities.  I’ve subbed a few classes for him in the past.  And I’ve taught classes sporadically around town.  But it’s never been anything permanent.  And I still feel strange about the thought of taking $$$ for teaching.  Like, I don’t feel worthy of demanding an actual fee yet.  

    But how do you know when you’re “ready” to teach?  Do you ever feel “ready”?  Do you ever feel “worthy” of having students look to you for guidance?  I don’t know the answers to any of those questions.  What I do know is that when my teacher looked in my direction and said, “you’re up”, that I did feel excited about the possibility…although unsure if I was ready yet.  Maybe I am ready. I don’t know.  We’ll see what happens….