Teaching Hatha Yoga – Safe Yoga Class Openings

By Sanjeev Patel, CYT 500

Sometimes the opening of a Yoga class is very much like a brief blip on a radar screen. Some Yoga teachers are in a big rush to get going with the class, but where are they going to? As a Yoga teacher, you must have an intention to make your class the best and safest experience your students ever encounter.

Based upon student feedback from over 650 classes, which I have already instructed, I have come to realize that it is the physical and relaxing aspects of Yoga that most appeal to westerners. With that in mind, among the many steps which I would suggest teachers incorporate into a Yoga class would include an initial period of relaxation.

Here you could introduce diaphragmatic breathing and invite students to continue, throughout the practice, inhabit their bodies, practice present moment breath awareness, and maintain a mind-body connection, while using their breath as the vehicle for this connection.

You would then lead them through a series of limbering and warming up postures, however I may not use all of the same warm ups suggested by a typical Hatha Yoga teacher training, since I have found that most students prefer more active postures even for limbering up and warm up.

I did find my foundational teacher training useful in regard to warm ups very effective for a beginner’s class as long as modifications are included for those students that are stiff, out of shape or older. Since the classes that I am instructing at the present moment are all levels classes at local health clubs and morning classes at the beach, I have found that modifications, which also make the postures more possible or more challenging, make the classes themselves more interesting, engaging and appealing to a wider range of students.

I have yet to introduce beginners to any of the muscle controls or bandhas into any of the classes. Although I do practice bandhas myself, I also teach advanced students the same techniques and find them complimentary to the postures. I also include a few basic balancing postures in all of the classes that I instruct.

In general we start with the centering, setting an intention, and relaxation (Yes, relaxation). After that we move on to warm ups, then sun salutations, and limber ups. This is followed by all body stretches, standing poses which would include forward bends and minor back bends and some minor twists, sitting poses which would also include forward bends, deeper back bends and deeper twists, kneeling poses, and basic inversions.

© Copyright – Sanjeev Patel / Aura Publications

Sanjeev Patel is a certified Yoga teacher and an exclusive author for Aura Wellness Center.

http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/

Teaching Hatha Yoga: Physical Limits of Yoga Students

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Have you ever seen a Yoga student who was so competitive that it caused an injury? How do you reason with a person who cannot put competitive feelings aside during a Yoga class?
Concerning students who push themselves too far - A Yoga student's number one teacher is his or her body. If the student does not listen to the body, the lowest form of awareness cannot be developed.

In this case, a student will not reach higher levels of consciousness (meditation or Samadhi) because awareness of the body is one of the fundamental steps in Yoga training. Physical awareness will eventually lead to mental and emotional awareness, at a later point, in a Yoga student’s training.

Finally, spiritual awareness will result in a “spiritual awakening.” This spiritual awakening will cause a Yoga student to connect physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, which will result in finding one’s true purpose in life.

When we find our purpose in life, we find self-worth. Now that you have seen the formula to self-worth, you must realize that none of this can happen if we are struggling back at “square one,” dealing with our ego.

Adults who cannot suppress their ego are often in touch with their inner child, but have taken a wrong turn, if they are on a path of self-improvement. It is good for adults to have some care free qualities, but we cannot afford to push our bodies like children often do.

Children commonly push their bodies too far, because they are not familiar with physical limits and their consciousness is limited, but children will usually listen to adult warnings.

When adult students physically push their bodies too far, it can cause permanent injury to a joint, and possibly, halt physical Yoga practice completely.

However, adult students do not always listen to their Yoga teacher. This is why it is important for Yoga instructors to repeatedly cue students in regard to basic contraindications for specific postures (asanas).

Sorry to say, the adult student who still continues to push the physical body too far, after repeated warnings, from his or her Yoga teacher, needs a "baby sitter." You may have to talk to a competitive student, in private, and express realistic concerns about potential injury, which can result from using force.

Unfortunately, if you have a student who does not listen to your repeated warnings, you may have to ask him or her to leave. This person should not be allowed to hurt him or herself in your Yoga class.

© Copyright Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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