Building Community as Yoga Instructors

By Kathryn Boland

Have you noticed the positive effects of students feeling a sense of community with those whom they practice? Have you thought about how you might be able to encourage that to emerge as a yoga instructor? I personally started to think about this topic more seriously as I joined a yoga studio, as a member. I had previously taken a few classes here, a few classes there - all enjoyable, but lacking in truly meaningful connections with my teachers and fellow students.

Socializing certainly isn't the primary goal of yoga practice - but feeling part of a welcoming, like minded community can be one of its many positive effects. It can enhance practice itself through encouraging consistency, as well as increased joyfulness through camaraderie. Our practice communities can be there to offer support in the hard times, and share in celebration in the good times - those both in practice and in our lives off our mats.

I first entered my present studio on a free trial week. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. All teachers introduced themselves at the beginning of their classes. They did so again at the end, and also offered to chat about any questions anyone might have. Many even said something to the effect of "Even if you don't have any questions, if we haven't met, I'd love to meet you - so please introduce yourself!"

I'm typically somewhat shy and reserved with those I’ve just met. These open invitations, however, led me to do just that – to walk right up, extend my hand for a shake, introduce myself, and sincerely thank them for class. On the several occasions that I did this, I also told each teacher that I myself am a teacher, and that a certain commendable aspect of their teaching was inspiring and informative for me. Only the truth! It seemed like all of these teachers really meant it when they said they would love to meet any new students (including me at that time). They were genuinely warm and kind, truly present and gracious as we spoke.

I proceeded to network with these teachers through social media. The ethical questions of student/teacher relationships and yoga moving with the shift to online life is a big topic, maybe in question here but which I'll get into in another article. More relevant to my topic now, I want to point out that these teachers were just as welcoming online. I stay connected with these teachers to this day, online and in the studio, and I take many of their classes frequently. 

On social media, they post reminders about their public classes as well as inspirational quotes/memes/photos/et cetera. Some students respond with things like "Thanks, I needed that reminder/inspiration/support". I personally have said "See you at that class later!", and some will respond "Great!", "Can't wait!" to a reminder about an upcoming class. In classes themselves, most of my favorite teachers remind us students that we've done a lot just showing up for class, and that being mindfully present is enough.

Their kind, welcoming online comments and actions reinforce that message. Thus, teachers can encourage students to practice more consistently - to just show up, and that already means a lot. More people present is the first step to building true community. Connecting with teachers then led me to more concretely connect with fellow students, both online and in-studio (the latter of which will always be more meaningful, of course!). 

As stated, the other students at the studio are just as warm and welcoming as the teachers. I've wondered how much it's the chicken, and how much the egg - how much the students are open and friendly because the teachers are, and how much the teachers are that way because of the positive  atmosphere that happy, friendly students naturally create. It seems like a great feedback loop, where everyone's positivity reinforces everyone else's.

The question of where it started aside, I know that I feel that positivity every time I come into the studio. It's one of the things that keeps me coming back. Us teachers can do a lot for creating and maintaining such positive atmospheres in yoga practice locations. That includes encouraging students to introduce themselves, as well expressing our appreciation for their presence and dedication. Everyone has bad days, and we're all human, including us yoga instructors. But we can do our best to leave our personal issues out of our teaching lives.

When we can bring positivity to our teaching in these ways, we can encourage students to come back to their practices more often - into studios/classes in other locations, or to their home practices (which might even bring warm feelings through associations with practicing in community). We can also lead all of our students to be more open and friendly with, and supportive of, one another. It takes a village to become our better selves through practice - supporting each other as we undergo challenges, and celebrating as we reach new milestones. That's part of the union of yoga. And it can start with us instructors!

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

Please feel free to share our posts with your friends, colleagues, and favorite social media networks.

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about teaching therapeutic yoga sessions and our selection of online yoga instructor training intensive courses.

Yoga Creates Well-Adjusted Children

By Kimaya Singh

Incorporating yoga into a child’s weekly routine taught at an age appropriate level will facilitate a happier, healthier, and well-adjusted child. When a child participates in yoga regularly they learn to focus on their body and gain control over their body movement. When taught at an age appropriate level, yoga helps to instill confidence in children because as they practice yoga more and more they will be able to accomplish more skilled yoga tasks and hold the positions for longer. Ultimately, the child who practices yoga routinely will benefit from being in control of their body and over time build self-confidence as they learn to concentrate and accomplish higher-level yoga tasks. Yoga can be extremely beneficial for children when they are taught as a group as well because the children are provided with an opportunity to flourish in a non-competitive group activity that is healthy for both their body and their mind.

Impulsivity, hyperactivity, throwing tantrums, and a short attention span are all normal characteristics of young children. By engaging in yoga, children and provided with control over their own body and required to focus and remain still for short spurts of time which increases body awareness, as well as decreases both impulsivity and hyperactivity. These effects generalize outside of the yoga instruction as well. Yoga helps children with attention problems and offers an alternative or complement method to medical and behavioral interventions commonly used with children who have problems with attention (Peck et al., 2005). By using yoga to help children reduce behaviors that adults disapprove of and gain control of themselves there may be less throwing of tantrums as well.

Yoga also qualifies as a physical activity as it takes physical energy to move the body in certain ways and hold positions even for children. Therefore, children may gain more muscle tone, which will allow them to control their body and remain sitting still for longer periods of time. Children will also be provided an opportunity to work out their body and have an increase in stamina and flexibility which may spill over into other areas of their life and allow them to remain calm and collected for longer periods of time in different real life situations.

Yoga when included in an intervention has also been found to benefit the well being of children with behavioral and emotional difficulties by improving self-confidence, social confidence, communication skills, and class participation (Powell, Gilchrist, & Stapley, 2010). Ultimately, yoga is a powerful tool that can be used with children to reduce their anxiety, promote self-control, and ultimately lead to healthy and well-adjusted children.

Citations:

Peck, H. L., Kehle, T. J., Bray, M.A., & Theodore, L. A. (2005). Yoga as an intervention for children with attention problems. School Psychology Review 34(3), 415-424.

Powell, L., Gilchrist, M., & Stapley, J. (2010). A journey of self‐discovery: an intervention involving massage, yoga and relaxation for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties attending primary schools. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 23(4), 403-412.

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

Please feel free to share our posts with your friends, colleagues, and favorite social media networks.

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about teaching therapeutic yoga sessions and our selection of online yoga instructor training intensive courses.

Asana in Social Media – What Would Patanjali Think?

By Kathryn Boland

Have you noticed how many yoga instructors and devoted practitioners proudly display their asana achievements all over social media? Do you question this, or even point out the potential harm - considering that this doesn't represent what yoga is really about? Can we find ways to use social media for connection and self-empowerment, while stopping short of compromising yoga's essence? 

There are several reasons why so much asana in social media would have Patanjali "rolling in his grave", so to speak. Firstly, yoga isn't about self-presentation. It's about each practitioner’s inner journey, through coming back to the practice that's best for each of us, over and over again. If non-practitioners or beginners constantly see images of yogis doing advanced inversions and twisting their bodies into pretzels, they might 1) get discouraged, thinking that if that's yoga, then they could never really "get there" (and then maybe stop practicing) or 2) attempt things that their bodies aren't ready for, and very possibly get injured as a result.

Asana images in social media also don't show the hours of physical and inner work that a practitioner has spent in order to come to the point in his/her practice where the depicted posture is accessible for him/her. Not every posture is right for everybody, when you factor in medical contraindications and unique anatomies. There is a practice for everybody, however, because there are always modifications. A knowledgeable instructor can guide anyone in these. But that's not there with social media. Also not included is the important truth that asana is but one of eight parts of classical Ashtanga yoga. A high volume of advanced asana images in social media could therefore reinforce the mistaken Western culture idea that yoga is asana - as we know, it's that and so much more! 

To play devil's advocate, is it really all so bad? People have a right to show their loved ones what they've achieved in their practices. Seeing images of devoted practitioners in advanced postures could also inspire others to keep at their practice, to someday maybe (if it's right for them) get there as well. It could also help bring people into the practice. Once in classes with experienced instructors, they can learn more about what yoga is really all about. Yoga instructors might also benefit from displaying peak poses or sequences in upcoming classes on social media, maybe then drawing more people into their classes. 

So, all of this considered, can we yoga instructors use social media mindfully, to help rather than harm the state of Western yoga and those who practice it, or someday might? I think it is possible, with a little discretion. First, apply balance - a fundamental concept of yoga itself. For instance, for every image of yourself in an advanced arm balance or inversion, offer one of you meditating or in a more restorative posture. In the text along with these photos, discuss pranayama or new philosophical outlooks you're also exploring. That can help avoid contributing to the idea that yoga and asana are one and the same. 

And limit these posts to no more than a few daily. Engage in conversation with friends and students about their practices, as much as respects personal boundaries. Those things can help avoid it seeming to be all about you, like social media is your stage. As we know, yoga isn't about performing. On the other hand, your practice is about you, as it is for each of us - our own individual journeys towards greater wholeness. Let others know that you understand this, and help them to as well (if they don't already), by writing in ways along with these posts that reinforces that. For instance, short of the cliché "don't try this at home" (if you’re posting a picture of you in an advanced asana), you could write things like "This is where I am in my practice journey today. It's somewhere different for you, and that's okay. It's awesome, actually." 

Anything like that, celebrating how we all have our own practices, could go a long way towards minimizing those described drawbacks of asana displayed in social media. It’s most likely here to stay. Yoga does have to mold and shift in order to continue fitting in with the rapidly changing Western world - but we don't have to compromise the practice’s essence along the way. We can use the tools of the modern world in ways that would make Patanjali proud! 

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

Please feel free to share our posts with your friends, colleagues, and favorite social media networks.

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about teaching therapeutic yoga sessions and our selection of online yoga instructor training intensive courses.

Spice Up Your Sequences II – Keeping It All Fresh From Week-to-Week, For Different Folks

By Kathryn Boland 

In a recent article, I shared ideas for keeping our sequences newer and more interesting for our students – such as playing with tempos and levels in space. You might be thinking it's difficult to remember complex sequences to teach. And/or you might think it's better to not have things set in stone, so that the diverse students you have in your classes can guide them. Both are certainly true, in their own right. 

The debate over the respective values of pre-planning classes and improvising is a large one, one that I won't get into in this article. I'll say just these two points. First, if you do plan on coming into your classes with sequences already set, take time each week to move through the sequence yourself, and then write it down. I've found that this helps me keep to that sequence when I teach - or to have a firm base from which to offer a sequence that might work better for a certain student or group of students. It’s in my body, and therefore more in my mind. 

It's also quite helpful, I've found, to regularly take classes from other well-qualified teachers. Try taking some that really mesh with how you practice, and maybe some that are a bit outside your comfort zone. Staying mainly with one teacher will allow him or her to really get to know you, and vice-versa. Taking many different teachers' classes, however, can offer a wide variety of perspectives - from which you can choose what you think best guides your own teaching. 

To help you to remember things you see fellow instructors doing that you’d like to use in your own teaching, try keeping a notebook in your bag and jotting ideas down after class. You could also write random inspirations that you get every so often (in dreams, in the shower, while washing dishes – you get the idea). Creativity often hits us at unexpected times! Balancing all of that well will offer you a continuous source of inspiration, some that feels familiar you and some that exposes you to different perspectives.

At the very least, you’ll come to see variations, flows, prop uses, physical cues that your students might benefit from. All of that will help to keep your sequences interesting, informed, and your students wanting more. That helps ensure that we offer something slightly new and different each week, often corresponding with a particular theme. On the other hand, students do appreciate having some consistent things week to week. That can feel very grounding and comforting, particularly when I other things you may have cued in any given class were difficult. 

To introduce another idea for consistently keeping your sequences “fresh” and interesting, I’ll share a piece of wisdom - something beautifully articulated - from another instructor whose class I recently enjoyed. She told us students that "Every posture has a close cousin. If a particular posture isn't working well for you, it has a close relative that might." If you've made a particular sequence and something in it just isn't working for your students, there's a "cousin" that might - a posture that most likely works towards the same goals. Or you've carefully prepared a sequence, and you "blank out" mid-class, maybe even mid-sequence. Perhaps you can remember another posture with similar benefits. 

That idea can also help you keep "mixing" things up each week; offer your students balanced practices, yet those that stay fresh and interesting to them over time, by switching up, week to week, postures with similar benefits and energies. That will keep them gaining everything that asana practice can offer, but the first things on their minds could actually be how much they enjoyed our classes and want to return. By getting creative with sequencing in the ways I've suggested (and in countless others I haven't), we instructors can encourage that kind of enjoyable growth. Class by class, asana by asana, through that we can make the world at least a bit more peaceful, a bit more joyful.  

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

Please feel free to share our posts with your friends, colleagues, and favorite social media networks.

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about teaching therapeutic yoga sessions and our selection of online yoga instructor training intensive courses.

Spice Up Your Yoga Sequences

By Kathryn Boland

When most people think of yoga practice (well, at least those without direct experience with it), they think of Warrior Postures and sustained stretches to “touch your toes”. To the contrary, we yoga instructors and enthusiasts know that asana practice can be quite dynamic and fluid. This is easy enough to understand with Vinyasa–style practice, which itself means “flow” in Sanskrit. Hatha-style practice can be dynamic as well, however. By adding this type of vibrant movement in your sequences, you can lead your students to develop more refined proprioception (the sense of body parts relating and working together in space), coordination, balance, and spacial awareness.

Seeing as we live in a largely sedentary culture, those developments can enhance our students’ long-term holistic wellness. Along the way, each practice can be more intriguing and enjoyable. If we can combine breath, movement, awareness of the body and its possibilities, and a bit of creativity, we can allow any type of asana practice to be a bit more interesting – and just plain fun! This will keep our students coming back to our classes and otherwise remaining committed to their practices. As a choreographer, dancer, Registered Dance/Movement Therapist and CYT 500, I’ll offer the following guidelines for adding some “spice” to your sequences. 

1) Play with levels in space. 
For instance, after cueing your students to reach upwards in Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute), instruct them to fold forward into Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold) or to step back into Anjaneyasana (Runner’s Lunge) from there. Just had your students experiencing upwards, expansive energy in a Warrior I Pose? Try taking that to a Humble Warrior variation, to bring that energy into something more rooted and grounded. Sun and Moon Salutations variations have these level changes, of course – but we instructors can use that wise approach when we create fresh, new variations on these sequences. Through that, we can help students move their bodies through space more efficiently and safely – as well as simply have a little more fun. We instructors should ensure students don’t move their heads to drastically different levels too quickly, however, which can create dizziness. 

2) Play with tempos. 

We can also make our sequences more interesting and enjoyable through combining slower and faster tempos, just like a composer creating a musical score. For example, after a flow such as Cat-Cow, or Runner’s Lunge-Pyramid Pose, cue a sustained stretch, core-supported pose, or restful posture. From Cat-Cow, that could be Spinal Balance (more active) or Thread-the-Needle (more restful). We can also offer guidance on pranayama with this approach; the type of breath that best supports Thread-the-Needle has a slower rhythm than the one that best supports Cat-Cow, of course. Additionally, this is a place when we can coordinate the music we play (if we do) in our classes with specific postures and flows. Creating playlists can be an art form, so be creative and have fun! Building their abilities to move and breathe at different tempos can enhance students’ enjoyment of living and moving in their bodies every day.  

3) Take joints through their full ranges of motion. 

For instance, in the twisted variation of Crescent Lunge, cue students to take “Rock Star” swings (like a guitar player making big arm circles) with the raised arm. That’ll bring the shoulder joint through its full range of motion. For the hip joint, try a sequence such as Standing Single Leg Balance to Airplane to Standing Split. Moving joints through their possible ranges in these ways can help students feel energetic and expansive - like dancers offering optimal energy in performance, in beautiful flow. A key goal of asana practice is to bring energy from one’s core to the body’s peripheries. Guiding our students to move their joints through full ranges of motion can help achieve that. It can also help make every-day functioning smoother and more efficient, as well as contribute to improved long-term joint health. Students most likely won’t be thinking about that, however, when they’re having a good time moving freely in our classes!

4) Move around the mat. 

In asana classes, the default is facing the same direction the entire class. Just like with inversions, sequencing so that students face different parts of the room can offer them fresh perspectives - literally and metaphorically. This could be through single postures, such as facing the sides of the room with Parighasana (Gate Posture), Warrior II, Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) and Extended Side-Angle Pose. You could create different facings (the directions they face) for your students in even more intriguing, flowing ways - you can (and maybe you have) created full sequences that do just that. For instance, this week I'm teaching a balance sequence of Dancer's Pose into Airplane, which then grounds into a Runners' Lunge, shifts to Goddess Pose, switches to Runner's Lunge on the other side and ends in Tree Pose at the other side (you might call it the "back") of the mat. The whole sequence goes back to the other side (the "front") of the mat on the other leg. There are even ways to switch facings mid-posture. When I'm a student, I really enjoy when my instructor cues switching sides in Gomukasana (Cowface Posture) or Half-Lord-of-the-Fishes Pose by spinning to face the other side of the mat and then back to the front with the other leg on top in the posture. It can be a fun little trick that adds further joy and a sense of personal empowerment to asana practice - certainly things we want to help guide out students towards!

Please stay tuned for a following article where I’ll offer further tips for creating these sequences in our busy teaching schedules, and then delivering them to different types of students. Om Shanti!  

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about our selection of online yoga teacher certification courses.

Please feel free to share our posts with your friends, colleagues, and favorite social media networks.

Prioritizing in Yoga Instruction

By Kathryn Boland 

Have you noticed that you have “priorities” when you teach – as in focusing on some aspects over others? Do you find this to be helpful? In a class that I recently took, the teacher would offer cues and then say "Priorities". I think that framing yoga instruction around the ideas of priorities, of certain things being more important than others, can be an effective teaching tool. When I was an Undergraduate and Graduate Writing Tutor, I was trained to see these things as "higher" and "lower" order concerns. 

In this view, writing higher order concerns are clarity of meaning, flow of ideas, and the strength of the writer's argument. Lower order concerns are grammar, syntax, and paragraph organization. In the same way, there are "higher" order concerns in yoga practice - safety and quality of experience, I’d say. Lower order concerns, in my view, include moving on to increasingly advanced postures and depth of expression in different postures. 

That's not to say that those things aren't meaningful - they are, just as good grammar means something when it comes to writing. It's just that strength of argument and content, and staying safe while having an enjoyable experience in asana practice, mean more. If students injure themselves attempting postures that they're not yet ready for, then it doesn't help them progress on their journeys towards achieving those postures. In fact, injuries can cause delays in asana practice because we need to give our bodies time to recover (or else they won't). And none of that is enjoyable, to say the least. 

As we all also know, asana practice isn't about twisting our bodies into pretzels or balancing all of our weight on our hands - it's about what we learn about ourselves, and how we grow as people, on the way towards those achievements. If we remind our students about "priorities" in their practices, we'll help them to stay connected with that very important truth. They might then come to practice more for their overall well-being than for getting into "Instagram"-worthy postures.

On another level, framing things in "priorities" can help them to practice their asanas in a way that most effectively targets the goals of a particular posture. For instance, a key "priority" in Plank Posture is engaging the low belly and energizing the whole body so that the heels travel away from the head. For Triangle Posture, it's keeping length through the spine by finding the appropriate depth of expression as well as establishing a firm base from the feet to the hips. There are countless other important aspects to these postures - but we'll only overwhelm our students by trying to deliver all of those to them. Key into what will help your students practice asanas in the safest and most effective possible ways, and guide them in those.

This approach can also make our hours teaching a bit more manageable. You may have taught classes wherein you felt like there was so much you wanted to adjust with each individual student that it began to stress you out! I suggest taking it back to priorities. Us writing tutors would try to focus the time in sessions on the "higher" order priorities - for instance, letting a grammar mistake go in favor of improving clarity of meaning. There's only so much time in each tutoring session, and only so much time in each yoga class. 

And any kind of student, be it a college student with a writing assignment or a yoga student, can feel discouraged if whomever is instructing them keeps telling them about things that they need to improve. As instructors, it can help us to notice things that could use work, and then - if safety isn't an issue - let it go. Prioritize. You'll likely have many other things to discuss and work out with your students. It can sometimes also be nice to just have silence, just the sound of breath. Students can savor that even if they're in a Triangle Pose that's not classically "perfect". Practice makes perfect, but - with the question of whether or not perfection even exists - practice makes better. Let that be enough. Prioritize. And then watch your students, and yourself as a teacher, blossom and flourish.

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about our selection of online yoga teacher certification courses.

Please feel free to share our posts with your friends, colleagues, and favorite social media networks.

Making Yoga Cueing More Accessible to English Language Learners - Part II

By Kathryn Boland

In a prior article, I discussed how we yoga instructors will likely find ourselves teaching English Language Learners at some point in our teaching careers (if we haven’t already) – and will therefore have to make certain adjustments in order for them to have the best possible practice experiences under our guidance. Here are some general guidelines for doing just that.

1) Minimize the use of images, analogies, and energetic cueing.

As a teacher, I love to use images and analogies. I think that they offer nearly all students an accessible way of understanding how they enhance their practices. They can be less accessible to ELLs, however, because they often involve idioms - those ways of saying things that are unique to a certain language or regional dialect. Or there are just simpler ways to say the same thing. Being slightly more complex or colorful in how we verbally cue is normally not a problem, and can enhance how students experience their practices.

For those who are learning the English language, it's usually more of a hindrance than a help. Keep it simple and straightforward. For instance, instead of cueing such students to put a "stamp on the wall behind you" when flexing the feet in poses like Three-Legged Downward Dog or Half-Moon Posture (a fine cue that I do use often), simply say "Flex your toes a lot". They won't have to take up mental space thinking about the object of an ink stamp and how one uses it.

And then there are energetic cues, such as "Feel your hands and feet hugging together" in Plank Posture and "Hug muscle to bone" to engage muscles generally. These types of cues can very effectively guide students to the next, more advanced level of asana practice. On the other hand, I know that I personally have at times struggled to understand and implement these types of cues.

For someone just learning the nuances - or even the basic vocabulary - of the English language, that's a far greater challenge. By all means, explore using all of these types of cues, but be prepared with alternatives. Again, in this globalizing world you'll more than likely teach folks who - because they're learning English - will need something more straight-forward.

2) Speak loudly, clearly, and at a moderate to slower pace.

Good diction, volume, and pacing of speech are important, in general, in yoga instruction. ELL students need those things even more from us, however, to make the most of their practices. Be prepared to repeat things if it seems like these students aren't understanding you, or if they directly ask you to (not always the case, so try to stay as perceptive as possible).

To assess the clarity and strength of your verbal instruction, a good technique is to listen to a video or tape-recording of yourself teaching. As with all aspects of our teaching, seeking feedback on the matter - from mentors, fellow teachers, and students - can be enlightening and helpful. If it's the content (rather than quality) of your speech that's contributing to the confusion, again, be prepared with alternate cueing

3) Help them help you teach them in a more accessible way.

If you can decipher what the language gaps might be in these cases, you can get closer to bridging them with a little patience and some mindful questioning. If everyone can be open about what is and isn't translating, then interesting and helpful cultural dialogue can occur. For instance, ELL students can tell you how they say certain things in their native languages. You and other students can then learn some interesting things, about ELLs and about their cultures. At the same time, such conversation can stamp that English language learning in ELL students' minds. Everyone is then practicing more fully, more to their potentials, while supporting one another.

That kind of openness, from all involved, most often takes active prompting from instructors. If there are language barriers, you can ask mindful, sensitive questions about what it is that they're not understanding, and if there are ways (that they might be able to describe) that you can be more understandable to them. All of that will help those students more easily follow, and then benefit from, your instruction in the future. Everyone is also more culturally aware and sensitive at the same time. If yoga is about union, then that's truly yoga!

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about our selection of online yoga teacher certification courses.

Please feel free to share our posts with your friends, colleagues, and favorite social media networks.

Making Yoga Cueing Accessible to English Language Learners

By Kathryn Boland

Do you teach English Language Learners (ELLs)? Do you find this challenging? Rewarding? Intriguing? All of those things at once?  In this article, I'll be using that title to refer to those individuals who reside in English-speaking nations, yet whose native language isn't English. In my opinion, that term is more respectful and accurate than the term English-as-a-Second-Language Learner (ESL) - given that many of those individuals speak not two, but multiple languages quite competently (if not fluently)!

I completely understand if you’re bristling at the idea of labeling living, breathing people with three-letter acronyms. Truth be told, I don’t actually enjoy doing so. On the other hand, such shorthand is standard in educational literature. It contributes to flow and ease of conversation, which can allow more productive conversation to happen. That’s certainly a plus in my book!  In any case, there has been much recent talk in the yoga world about increasing diversity amongst students, teachers, and supporters. Much of that focuses on race, gender, and socio-economic status. That’s a crucial focus, but ethnicity and cultural background are just as important when it comes to creating greater equality and inclusivity for all.

I'm remembering how a former roommate of mine - a Bulgarian who is fluent in both English and Bulgarian - shared on social media  a very funny, yet also smart internet meme. It said "You think my accent is funny? Well, I speak two languages!" Surely, English Language Learners (ELLs) have commendable skills, knowledge, and gifts in many, many areas. They face significant challenges in adjusting to a new culture. Like steel welded in fire, such challenges can make them stronger, smarter, and more resilient.

Even before facing those challenges, taking the leap to uproot one’s life and place it into a new culture takes incredible bravery, faith, and trust in life and people’s goodness. In addition, English is notoriously one of the hardest languages to learn (if not the hardest) – because there are many rules, with many exceptions to each of those, many of those without logical explanation. The only way to remember all of that is often practice, persistence, and patience. All of that considered (as I'm sure that it goes without saying, for you dear readers, but here goes), it is not right nor fair to discount ELLs (consciously or unconsciously) simply because of a foreign accent or occasional grammar mistake.

Nevertheless, given our task of offering a healing, life-enhancing practice to all who enter our classes, this is a truth that is certainly important for yoga instructors to embrace. And we will certainly teach ELL students at some point, given the rapid diversifying of our nation. For instance, some demographic analyses predict that Hispanic will cease to be a minority by mid-century. Any feelings about that aside, it will be the reality of our nation. It's a shift that we yoga instructors will have to adjust to - or see our student base, and our potentials to spur positive change, dwindle.

Even so, communication barriers are real. At the best efforts - and at no fault - of both ELL students and teachers, some things that we offer as teachers just don't translate. This can be frustrating for both students and teachers. Thankfully, there are mindful, accessible, and simple techniques for minimizing these communication blocks. It's possible to break down the barriers.

With that, we can enhance the practice of all people involved with yoga, learn more about other cultures and the world, and simply live fuller lives! In a following article, I’ll offer some recommendations for making our verbal cueing more accessible for ELLs. I hope that they can be useful for you! All the best to you readers in your work offering the benefits of yoga to all types of people, of all languages, ethnicities, cultures, et cetera!

© Copyright - Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about our selection of online teacher certification courses.

Please feel free to share our posts with your friends, colleagues, and favorite social media networks.

Teaching Yoga - Getting Injured and Making the Best of It

By Kathryn Boland 

Have you been injured in another activity, but still had to teach classes as a yoga instructor? Did this teach you something valuable in the long run? Getting injured can be irritating, frustrating, and even stressful - considering that we heavily rely upon full functioning of our bodies as yoga instructors. You may have to find alternate ways to teach beginners and more advanced postures (those ways apart from demonstrating). You might find you need to reduce your teaching schedule, to give your body time to heal. These, among others, can be challenging adjustments to make. On the other hand, getting injured can offer invaluable learning - if we can remain open to that.

New Ways of Understanding Asana

Except in severe cases of injury, it's usually fine to continue practicing - if done mindfully, slowly, and cautiously. It's best to consult your medical doctor to be sure, however. And if your body is telling you to take a break, please do so! If you do continue practicing, there will certainly be sensation arising when you begin to access the injured area. It's essential information to guide your practice, just like any other sensation. Of course, listen to the sensation and don't "push" further into any particular asana. Instead, stay at that edge, or back off a bit, and take a breath or two to observe where that sensation is really coming from. 

That could help you learn (or re-learn) what muscles are working or lengthening at any given point. For instance, with a tight hamstring I came to see that's it actually the bottom leg's hamstrings that’s more significantly stretching in a Standing Split - because, with the knowledge of which hamstring was recently torn, I compared the sensation of the two sides in that posture. Sensations from a tender area can offer a bodily-felt sense of what is happening in asana practice, and thus another powerful layer of learning about it.

Refreshing Other Skill Sets 

Demonstrating postures and moving sequences can certainly be an instrumental teaching tool. But so are verbal cueing, physical adjustments, and guidance in using props. If we as instructors have limited ability to demonstrate, we might just have to more significantly call upon those other skills. As they say, sink or swim! That could help us see that we over-rely on demonstrating, at the cost of our other teaching tools remaining undeveloped. Or it could help us see how those other tools work more effectively with certain students, in some practice situations. 

You might also use the experience to focus more closely on yoga practice apart from asana - teaching on the Sutras, meditative techniques, deeper pranayama exercises, et cetera. The options are infinite! Not being able to demonstrate as fully and often as you once did could lead you towards those explorations, or return to those non-asana aspects of practice that you haven't shared with your students in some time. Thus, your current injury could lead you to meaningfully explore other teaching territories! 

In Our Student's Shoes

Getting injured can sometimes lead us to take a step back in asana practice - to less advanced postures or less deep expressions of postures. That can bring us back to "beginner's mind", that enthusiastic mindset of being ready to learn and take on new challenges. Even short of such a shift in mindset, we might be able to relate more authentically to our students who can't quite "reach their toes" in Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Fold) or lift up a foot in Crow Pose preparation posture. 

While recovering from injury, we might experience their same occasional feelings of self-criticism and frustration. From there, we might be able to more effectively guide them in the yogic processes of releasing such negative, unhelpful energies - with non-attachment, satya, ahisma, and of course breath! From students' perspectives, it could be very validating and refreshing to see that even yoga instructors face those challenges! Getting injured is an initially unfortunate event that can reap such beneficial effects.

All in all, yes, injury can be frustrating and anxiety-provoking. But all is not lost. Remember your practice, and the Sutras’ values. Try to be patient, give your body the time it needs to heal, and see what lessons the experience can teach you. See how you might be able to make lemonade out of lemons. Your teaching and practice might never be the same

© Copyright - Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about our selection of online teacher certification courses.

Please feel free to share our posts with your friends, colleagues, and favorite social media networks.