Invite students to practice ahiṃsā during class
Ahiṃsā is the first social-discipline we talk about. It means non-violence and as teachers we should be asking, how can we create a space where students are thinking about ahiṃsā throughout their practice? Yes, definitely remind them to be aware not to kick anyone as they go back into halasana (and, lest we forget, don’t move your neck!). But also, remind students to not harm themselves - no pose is so important it’s worth injuring yourself to get into it. Invite students to think about any movement they are making during their practice - and outside it, of course - that, immediately or over time, may cause harm. For example, are they pulling on their toes to go further in upavistha konasana despite knowing the safest thing would be to slide a block under their hips?
Though it’s a social discipline, YOU are part of society so of course this includes not harming yourself! So let's not forget to be students of our experiences and listen to what our body and mind is telling us, especially when it's trying to tell us to back off or slow down. This doesn't mean we're practicing a less challenging yoga (which I've heard people say!), it means we're practicing yoga - specifically, ahiṃsā.
Incorporating ahiṃsā into teaching
For teachers, one of the most important ways we can practice ahiṃsā is respecting student’s safety and not putting them in harm’s way. And it happens to the most well-intentioned teachers. As anyone who has ever dared to venture outside with me can vouch for, I have the worst allergies. There isn’t a blueberry-apple pie-strawberry milkshake lotion I haven’t tried and then immediately broke out in hives. And yet teachers may spray me with essential oils or give me an essential oil head massage during savasana, and it takes all my might to hold in my sneezes and not scratch my neck right after. It’s causing harm to me, even though I know many students love it and teachers are offering it with the best intentions.
It’s of course also physical harm that we can also cause. Countless teachers have pushed and pulled into asanas I wasn’t ready for. This included a deepening the twist in baddha ardha matsyendrasana that triggered a previous injury and getting my hips pushed up further in halasana that left me struggling to breath, much less be able to ask the teacher to let go. I will be the first to admit that I crave the attention and affection that I feel hands-on adjustments give. As a student, I may even feel neglected (though that might be down to my neediness and middle-childness) if I don’t get at least one hands-on adjustment in a class. But just because we want these adjustments, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily great for us (which is definitely true for me).
After listening to a few podcasts (this one and this one too) and doing my own thinking and reading about it, I wonder if more often than not, hands-on adjustments are doing more harm than good. (Unless of course a student is in a compromising position and a hands-on adjustment is the quickest way to get them to safety). This isn’t just the physical harm we can do to someone’s body - it’s also the emotional and mental harm adjustments can do through triggering traumatic events.
We talk a lot about how the hips hold our emotions and going into deep external hip rotations (look no further than eka pada rajakapotasana) may cause students to have strong bouts of anger or emotion. Imagine a teacher coming to press against the student’s back to take him or her deeper into a pose, arguably before the student was ready to go their on their own. We may be providing adjustments in areas of the body where students have experienced any kind of assault, immediately triggering them. This of course also includes ways in which we can use our language to be less triggering (for which there are tons of useful resources here and here and here).
This is all to say that I think it’s very important for teachers to know how to give hands-on adjustments, especially if a student may be at risk of injuring. Teachers should also know how asanas can be adjusted using props. And it may really be appropriate, especially if students have given consent (using yes/no chips is my favourite method) or the teacher and student have a healthy relationship with good, on-going communication. But as teachers, we need to be alert and humble in understanding the unintended harm we can cause. And when we do so, we can take on ahiṃsā every day.
Comments