By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed
The fall
season is often a time of year when people begin a new exercise regime or sign
up for new activities. This is also true of Yoga classes and workshops. At this
time of the year, you may find that you have a number of brand new students in
your classes. Guiding a group of mixed level students through an hour long Yoga
class is often challenging. When you have a number of brand new students in
your class, effectively teaching a mixed level class that meets the needs and
expectations of more advanced students, while honoring the needs of new
students, can entail quite a bit of teaching finesse.
As a
general rule of thumb, having an ample supply of appropriate Yoga props
available to your students is important. In this way, you will be able to
safely and effectively lead a group of mixed level ability students through a
balanced sequence of asanas. Most of the props used in Yoga classes help to
facilitate students in their practice of personally challenging postures,
without sacrificing practicing the poses in correct alignment. As a certified
Yoga instructor, you are well aware of the necessity and importance of
practicing the postures in correct alignment.
When you
are teaching Yoga to brand new students, the use of props can be intimidating,
to say the least! Just walking through the door of a Yoga studio may have
caused waves of anxiety and trepidation in the hearts of some of your new
students. Brand new students may feel intimidated by the
easy camaraderie of your regular students, as well as the foreign
sounding, Sanskrit names of the postures and the fashionable Yoga attire of
many of the class attendees! New students may also have concerns about their
physical limitations and about being able to practice the poses safely and
comfortably.
In order
to put your brand new Yoga students at ease, it is optimal to greet your new
students personally and introduce yourself. It is also important to have your
new students fill out a health questionnaire, so that you are aware of any
particular health problems with which they are contending. In addition, by
being available during class for any questions, as well as for ten minutes or
so after class to address personal concerns, your new students will feel more
at ease during the initial phases of establishing a Yoga practice.
Remember
that your brand new students will be unfamiliar with the Yoga poses, and most
will be completely unfamiliar with the Sanskrit names of the postures. In order
to make the practice a little more “user-friendly,” you may want to introduce
the postures with the English names, such as Eagle Pose, Tree Pose or Child’s
Pose. In this way, the names of the postures will correlate with the form of
the postures themselves. In addition, by having a set of Yoga props with you at
the front of the class and briefly reviewing how to use the props for a few
minutes at the beginning of your class, the brand new students in your class
will feel more comfortable identifying and using the props at the appropriate
time.
As your
new Yoga students begin to understand the flow of the practice, and the
modifications and props available to them to help make the practice more
accessible to them, they will begin to relax and be able to enter more deeply
into the postures and breathing exercises. In addition, by warmly inviting your
new students to approach you with any questions about their practice, they will
feel much more comfortable returning to your class again and again. Soon, your
brand new students will become dedicated practitioners, as the myriad benefits
of a regular Yoga practice becomes evident in their own lives.
Virginia Iversen, M.Ed, has been practicing and studying the art of Yoga for over twenty years. She lives in Woodstock, New York, where she works as a writer and an academic support specialist. She is currently accepting Yoga and health-related writing orders and may be contacted at: enchantress108@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2015 – Virginia Iversen / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division
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