Old Moon Yoga

“You might have to call me ‘gimpy’”. The call from “Capt John” came just two days before the John and Clive show was scheduled. The charity project had been “planned” for a couple of months now. Well more accurately we had been tossing the idea around for a couple of months. The planning, by design, had been minimal so far but it had always been the plan that there would be two of us providing the instruction though.

There were few goals, make a contribution to a worthy charity, give everyone who came an interesting and different Yoga session, and have some fun in the process.  John and I always felt that the interplay between our two different styles and our similar love of combining Yoga with laughter would make this more of a Show than a Yoga class. So the stage had been set (ouch sorry about the rather obvious pun)

We planned the show the day before.  The whole idea was to allow this to be as spontaneous as possible. We would not entirely wing it; just have a broad framework within which we would see where the session took us.  Watching the Capt move, I was a little concerned, the good news was that I would have no problem finding someone to pick on: Gimpy.

So how different was this “Show” going to be?  Well let’s see it featured, amongst other things:

• Warrior wars
• Levitating dog
• Guest appearance and demonstration
• Tea with the Queen
• Jaws

Music can really enhance a Yoga class, but how do you plan a play list together for a session that has by design no plan? Over to the master for that one; I suggest a few of my favorites and John pulled together a great playlist literally overnight.

John and I meet 30 minutes before the show. There is no sign of Gimpy. It seems there is no way John would miss this show either. He even throws in a demo of Kapinjalasana (The bird that feeds on raindrops) during the show.

What if we threw a party and no one came? There has been no advertizing of the show, and the time Sunday 2:00pm was not ideal. We had no clue how many people might come.  “The bus must be stuck in traffic” we joke as the class is slowly filling. It really seems that way as there are 5 yoga mats laid out but unattended. It is past the hour, we decide to wait for them and so starts the impromptu session as we kick off with a foot massage.  No, I don’t rush around rubbing everyone’s feet, after all Dawn is in the room.    This is a self guided foot massage session.

The “bus” finally arrives and we get started for real. An intense warm up followed by Warrior wars. The Capt and I are trading off different Warrior poses of either increasing complexity or esotericism. Warrior IV and Twisted-Twisted Warrior are a couple that spring to mind.  Try looking these two up on google or yogajournal.com

Have you ever played the game musical chairs? When the music stops and you rush to find a chair to sit on. We had a variation in the John and Clive Show, when the theme from “Jaws” plays, everyone takes Shark pose until the normal music resumes and we continue with the class.

The final part of the show became more reflective, restorative poses followed by some Yoga Nidra bringing the session to a calming finish. The para-sympathetic nervous system received a double dose of everything that is good for it, Yoga and laughter: the ultimate combination.

Sharing a room with another teacher was an interesting experience too. Not so much the loss of control, but achieving the balance for the students. It could have gone so horribly wrong, but the Capt is such an excellent teacher, mentor and guide it all worked very naturally.

We decided we would let the audience decide how good the show was by accepting charitable donations only at the end.  We received $600 for St Jude’s Children’s hospital so I think we may have gotten something right!

There are no plans for another Show, but then again we did not plan this one. If and when we do, I hope you can join us. Maybe you will even learn what “tea with the queen” is.

“Oh there’s a sub tonight?” The disappointment is clear on the face and in the voice. “Yes it’s Clive……um…he is very good” the girl behind the desk suggests hopefully. Clive stands there inane grin plastered on face. Could this be anymore awkward? She wants to turn and walk out, save her $20 for another day. Social etiquette kicks in. She smiles politely and hands over the cash. I decide a better vantage point for this particular sub is inside the studio on the mat. Yes it’s time I warmed up anyway.

The social niceties that caused the woman at check in to stay are not shared by everyone in the class. One person packs up and leaves. Presumably demanding the return of cash gathered under false pretenses. At least I hope so or the message to this poor sub is “I would rather be any where else but in your class.” Ouch!

I totally understand the emotion of course. As teachers we don’t pick our students they pick us. Over time people gravitate to the teachers they resonate with. That does not mean I have a class full of short, bald, old age, dudes, who are past their sale by date. For each of us there is something about certain teachers that works for us. Everyone is different and we all look for something different in our instructors. So the disappointment hits you when your long sought teacher is not “performing” today. It’s not about the Asana, it’s about the experience.

Back in the studio I feel like I am at a party where everyone else knows everyone else. It’s my worse nightmare; ugh I hate these kinds of parties. Better face this problem head on; this is no time to hide on the corner of my mat with a beer and large plate of finger food. “Hi I am Clive, I am subbing tonight” I say, as I start to “work” the room shaking everyone’s hand. “Hi I am Samantha.”

And so it begins the desperate battle to try to remember some names. I have been teaching classes for nearly a year now and the names are just starting to kick in. Association that is the key to remembering, repeat the name and associate it with something. Samantha, “Bewitched” I the TV program I am sure her name was Sam. Got it, one down about 12 to go.

“hi I am Clive “ I announce again. Jane shakes my hand. Associate, associate, “You Jane me Tarzan” mmm nope I have to keep my shirt on (read previous blog). “Baby Jane” the movie yes perfect. She is young, well younger than me and has the light hair and dark eyes. Next….

“Hi I am Clive …..”., muttering “and I will be your waiter for this evening” to myself.. Hi my name is Ramanchandra Krishnaswami”. Ok this game is over. I can’t remember my own classes after a year, I have no chance here. So I “work” the rest of the room, wondering where they hid the beer, and promptly forget all the names, except Sam. Mmm or was that Samantha, this is shaping up to be very embarrassing.

I have no idea if there are any injuries. The ideal time to ask would have been when I was touring the room but I was too busy trying to associate names with black and white movies. So my class, like so many other sub classes is gentler and less challenging than the real thing. Adjustments? Well we have steer clear of those too. I console myself; No one wants their sub to be better than them anyway.

Music is the next challenge, where does the iPod plug in, how does the volume work? What kind of music do they expect or like. Some teacher don’t use music at all on the theory that it gets in the way of concentration. This is no time for that playlist with the punk rock track. Time to be conservative again, can’t gate crash a party and demand your own music.

As a new teacher, unless you are really lucky, subbing is your only way into teaching. You put yourself on a sub list and wait. It’s a baptism of fire, brand new to teaching, class full of students expecting, wanting, and anticipating someone else, the Yogic equivalent of the medical intern perhaps.

If you are a student, take a chance try the sub, you may like it. You may learn something new. When I make a commitment to go to a yoga class I always stay if there is a sub, it gives me so much more exposure to different styles and teaching.

It’s a little like visiting you favorite restaurant and resisting that dish on the menu you know you love, branching out and picking another dish, just as an experiment.

I have had find subs for a couple of my classes recently. I really appreciate their help, in what is possibly the worse teaching scenario in Yoga. The only advice I could think to give them was “have fun and teach your own class”.

Have to go now. I am subbing a class this morning.

The characters portrayed in this blog are, almost, purely fictional. Samantha was loosely based on a popular pin up in an English tabloid newspaper. Jane, a cartoon character from the same tabloid. Kris while he may exist and may have done Yoga, certainly never came to any of my classes. I would have remembered that name

I am teaching my beginner class, everyone is watching me closely. They watch every move as we take Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I Pose).  Once in the pose I straighten up to walk around the class. The class straightens up with me. I squat back down in the pose. Frozen unable to move,  every movement every motion I make is mimicked by my class. It’s at this point that the feeling starts.

My right ear is desperately needs a scratch. The more I think about it the itchier it becomes. I need to stick my finger my ear. How can I do that with a room full of students watching my every move? It will look like a group audition for an early Jim Carrie movie.

If only this was a level II-III class. Whole sequences of poses can be reduced to a single word. “Vinyasa”, I command and the whole class cycles through the well understood sequence. Some are even cycling through with their eyes shut.

How do we, as Yogis progress from watching every movement listen to every word to blind folded serenity?

Another class now, any class is does not matter, everyone is facing me, “raise your left leg” I say as I raise mine to demonstrate. “no other left” I joke as a couple of people raise their right.  Later in the class it’s time for Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) “The right arm goes up the left down”.  Confusion, why is this so hard. Is it my British accent again? There is always one who twists the wrong way, always. It’s great fun of course, gives me a chance to pick on someone and even threaten to sing the Sesame Street song. Everyone knows their left from their right, what is going on here?

People learn in three different ways.

• Verbal or instruction
• Visual or demonstration
• Tactile or touching and adjustment.

We all have different capacities to learn in each of these modes.  Some people, me included, and even some extremely bright people, cannot learn effectively through verbal instruction. “Rotate your left leg inwards.” the instructor might as well be speaking Martian to me.  I stare, eyes fixed on her trying to figure out, what “left leg inwards” means. I grab an appropriate leg, at least I think it is, it is one of mine, and manually try to twist it somehow.  “It’s more a feeling that a real movement” she continues. What! How am I supposed to see a feeling? She can see my feeling it is all over my face. “Now inner spiral the …..” ok that’s me done.

Clearly as teachers we have to cater to all kinds of learning traits. If someone in the class is not a verbal learner, standing up the front calling out instruction is not going to be terribly effective. So how should I teach Utthita Trikonasana (Extended Triangle Pose) to this mixed bag of learners?

Verbal.

I begin “Triangles have straight side”. What is this kindergarten? May be I should not be so condescending but clearly at least 3 people don’t get it. “legs spread wide pull up on the knee caps, to straighten the legs”  Reinforcement of the straight legs that ought to do it. Now the tricky part, “you need to stack you hips, one on top the other”.  I glance around things are not going well, may be a course in Klingon would help.  There are a lot more words to come of course but I have already lost half the class. It is time to move on and cater to the visual learners.

Visual

I am facing a room of Yogis, mostly women. I have to show them what I mean by stack you hips, it’s crucial to the pose. I turn and face away from the class, breaking the teacher training code right there, but it gets worse.  “Everyone look at my butt” I demand as I attempt to demonstrate a movement a little like “The bump” with wide legs. It’s at this point in the class that my wife arrives, late from work. “oh um err, just trying to help everyone with their visualization dear ”  Perhaps I need to walk among the group and do the pose between the mats, clearly some are just still not getting it. These must be the tactile learners. Time for stage 3

Tactile

“Yes your honor, I was just attempting to show these Yogis how the pose should feel, so it was a necessary part of my job to adjust every butt in the class”.  Adjustments, that delicate area with lawsuits pending, were discussed in my previous blog. Without adjustments how does this huge percentage of the class learn?

Personally, I am a tactile learner and I know this transfers into my teaching. I love adjustments and love to offer adjustments. It’s not about the precise pose; it’s about experiencing the right feeling. Knowing how the pose should feel. If you put weight in the outside edge of your back foot in Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose) you can use it to help tuck your butt under more.  What a lot of words, one quick demonstration and you will feel what I mean and, possibly, never forget.

An experienced class will be like a professional orchestra. The teacher calling out familiar poses and the class moving in unison, some even with eyes closed, feeling their way through. As soon as we get to an unfamiliar pose though it’s all eyes and ears on the instructor and here come those three modes of teaching.

She explains and demonstrates, we watch and listen. Some Yogis learn. Finally she visits us “attention seekers” to adjust us so we can feel what is expected.  This is true for all levels of class of course.

Teaching a true beginner class is like standing before a mirror. Unsure what is Yoga and what is teaching, the students copy every single movement of the instructor. All the rules of teaching apply to this class too, but remember there is one extra one

never pick your nose in a beginner class.

Maybe you already know what kind of learner you are? If not here are a couple of suggestions for finding out. You can read the following boring chart of words I shamelessly copied from another site or you can come to one of my classes and see what happens. Remember if I touch your butt, it’s purely in the interest of education

Check out the chart below, it’s ok to be a bit of all three.

When you..	Visual	Auditory	Kinesthetic & Tactile
Spell	Do you try to see the word?	Do you sound out the word or use a phonetic approach?	Do you write the word down to find if it feels right?
Talk	Do you dislike listening for too long? Do you favor words such as see, picture, and imagine?	Do you enjoy listening but are impatient to talk? Do you use words such as hear, tune, and think?	Do you gesture and use expressive movements? Do you use words such as feel, touch, and hold?
Concentrate	Do you become distracted by untidiness or movement?	Do you become distracted by sounds or noises?	Do you become distracted by activity around you?
Meet someone again	Do you forget names but remember faces or remember where you met?	Do you forget faces but remember names or remember what you talked about?	Do you remember best what you did together?
Contact people on business	Do you prefer direct, face-to-face, personal meetings?	Do you prefer the telephone?	Do you talk with them while walking or participating in an activity?
Read	Do you like descriptive scenes or pause to imagine the actions?	Do you enjoy dialog and conversation or hear the characters talk?	Do you prefer action stories or are not a keen reader?
Do something new at work	Do you like to see demonstrations, diagrams, slides, or posters?	Do you prefer verbal instructions or talking about it with someone else?	Do you prefer to jump right in and try it?
Put something together	Do you look at the directions and the picture?		Do you ignore the directions and figure it out as you go along?
Need help with a computer application	Do you seek out pictures or diagrams?	Do you call the help desk, ask a neighbor, or growl at the computer?	Do you keep trying to do it or try it on another computer?

It’s a large class, the teacher is wandering amongst us as we take Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose). She is looking for someone to adjust.  Just like the donkey in Shrek my mind screaming.  “Pick me, pick me.” Yes! I am Ecstatic, as I am eased deeper into the pose with each exhale.

With the news this week of the pending law suit against an  instructor, are these moments lost forever?

As a newbie to Yoga I always looked forward to and appreciated adjustments from the instructor. They had two main benefits for me. The subtle adjustments, a hand or arm position perhaps, helped me really understand the correct alignment for a pose.  The deeper adjustments were more about discovering a deeper stretch in a pose than I could achieve by myself.

Adjustments, yes please

Excuse me a moment while I reminisce about adjustments past. I am thinking back to a Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Forward Bend) adjustment I received once. The instructor was behind me, hands encouraging my back forward while her foot was on my bent leg easing it downwards. With each exhale I eased deeper into the pose, much deeper than I imagined possible.

It’s another class now. I am in Virasana (reclined Hero Pose). The instructor towers above me and gently steps one foot at a time on to my thighs.  It feels so good, strange because it seems the last thing the quads need in this position is the full weight of a Yoga instructor pressing down on them. Fortunately most Yoga instructors are not the heavy

Smaller adjustments are effective

There are less weighty adjustments of course and these can be really effective. Arms pulled forward in Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend) is delicious and very safe. I have Max Strom to thank for this adjustment.

Subtle Adjustments

Adjustments don’t need to be deep or “full bodied” to be effective though. A gentle pointer to the leg that can probably go a little deeper in Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II Pose).  Fine tuning of the upper hand or arm in Utthita Trikonasana (Extended Triangle Pose)

A guiding hand up the spine in a forward fold can be enough to remind the Yogi that we are looking for a straight back.

However even the subtlest of adjustments can backfire.  “If you are taking tripod headstand make sure your hands and head form an equilateral triangle for maximum balance”. Approaching a regular practitioner of the pose I point out where her hands should be. Confidently I turn my back. She has done headstand in the middle of the room a dozen times. I hear the little cry and as I glace around I see her tumbling, gracefully I have to say, into a forward roll. The cascading domino effect on the students in front of her eventually stopped by the presence of the wall. “Everyone take down dog!”

Mmm maybe I should keep my big mouth shut in future.  But don’t people come for the adjustments, the corrections, the pursuit of ansana perfection?

Keep me Balanced

I am deep in Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Forward Bend) adjustment. We come out and switch to the other side. “Wait a second, where are you going? I need this adjustment on the other side too. Don’t leave me! Does the super bendy contortionist across from me really need this deep adjustment?  “Look at me I am all lob sided. Don’t leave me!”

Now, as a teacher, I completely understand the desire to move around the room. Offer adjustments to everyone. But I think it’s a mistake to only adjust on one side.

Ahh don’t pick me

I’m deep in a twist, as deep as I want to or believe I can be. The instructor, one I have not been with before, is pacing the room offering quite deep adjustments to others, yikes very deep!  He marches towards me, but I am as deep as I can get. Surely he can see that?

We were taught never to adjust people in twists.  This can’t be good. “don’t pick me, don’t pick me”. Surely he is going to ask me first? No. he grabs me firmly by the shoulders and firmly twists them 4 inches deeper into the pose.  To my surprise, I go deeper, it feels good.  The Yogi is an expert, he must know what he is doing, I conclude. It is scary, but I still go to classes, I like the adjustments.

There are many stories of injuries received from unwanted adjustments. In my teacher training class there were 5 or 6 out of the 18 of us in the group that had has some experience of a bad adjustment causing them an injury.  It must be a very knowledgeable and confident Yogi who offers these deep adjustments without asking.

Studios that focus on adjustments

Some Yoga studios focus on providing adjustments. Nandi Yoga is one such studio. As teachers there we are trained in correct and safe adjustments of all kinds. When new students register at Nandi they are told about the adjustment policy and, again, as teachers we know when a student wants to be “left alone”.

A great and safe environment for teachers and students alike, to practice in.

Sex matters

As a male teacher one has to be especially careful. Most men I know would not object in any way to a female teacher offering them an adjustment. The same cannot be said for the reverse.

Surely there are very few places on the body that can be touch that are not open to mis-interpretation, even the feet and hands can be considered off limits.

Should we male teachers just not adjust at all?  A pointer here a suggestion there but never any contact?  It is certainly the safe way, but does the class loose something massive?

Transatlantic travel

Some years ago the airline discovered something about customer service for long haul flights across the Atlantic.  These 12 hours trips were long and tedious for the traveler. Customer service feedback was not good.  The solution, find a reason to “touch” each passenger once every hour. A beverage, a hot towel, lunch, ice cream, magazines, duty free ….

Now the traveler had a chance to interact with the hostesses on a regular basis. No need to press that over head buzzer and let everyone know you have a problem.  “They really looked after me on that flight. They provided a very personal touch”.

This, I believe is one of the huge benefits of adjustments in class. It says to each student, “I noticed you, I care about you, I care that you are doing the poses correctly, I want to see you to continue to improve”.   It also offers a quiet one on one moment between teacher and student where problems, injuries etc can be privately exchanged. No need to ring the overhead buzzer.

So despite lawsuits for unwanted adjustments, I will continue to offer adjustments in my classes. I believe they are a fundamental part of any class, one the reasons people come to class. Otherwise wouldn’t they just stay home and learn from one of those video filmed on location in Hawaii? If they can stay awake long enough of course.