CHAPTER 1
Methodology of Teaching Yoga
Teaching yoga is a wonderful and privileged profession.
Any person with faith, effort, and altruism can become a yoga instructor. Teaching yoga is about the desire to actively bring a few grains of sand to help stimulate the transformation of someone. It's about helping students reconnect with the divine or with that innate infinity that exists inside each of us.
Namaste, the Indian salutation, means "we all are one and take part in the same big universe together." Spiritually there are no boundaries between human beings. Being a yoga teacher goes beyond just being an instructor in a gymnasium. Becoming a good teacher of yoga requires knowledge of the fundamental aspects of yoga, philosophy, anatomy, and methodology.
The science of yoga focuses on the alignment of asana, biomechanics, and an understanding of movement. Teaching yoga involves modifications and variations of the asana to accommodate the body type and level of the student's conditioning, the respiration, the sequences of classes, as well as the basic organization of classes.
We all have a wonderful teacher inside us. We all have a past and history. We all have karma to clean. The only thing we must do is awaken the sense of desire through inspiration, admiration of beauty, and the innate need to grow spiritually. We must become a reflection for others — not only with words but also with vibrations of love, light, and truth.
We will learn that the easiest way to find ourselves is to get lost in the service of others.
Capture the Energy Level of the Student
An alert mind includes a clear and communicative voice. A teacher is creative and innovative, maintains a fresh and vibrant body, is charismatic, is positive, has a good sense of humor, and is inspiring.
Technique
When you become a yoga instructor, you become a guide to adventures in strength and energy. You need to lend a sense of security to help your students get to a magical place. The yoga teacher wants to use all his or her experiences and technical knowledge to guide the group in a positive manner toward a happy destiny. The success of this journey depends on your ability to connect energetically with the mind, body, and heart of the student. Each student is unique. The challenge for the teacher is simply that the same techniques will not work for everyone.
It is important to be alert, creative, and improvisational. You need to find new ways to motivate, inspire, and educate. Each individual has a certain level at which you can reach him or her to turn the practice into a success. There exists a relationship between the depth of the teachings, the number of students, the feeling in the room, and the level of the teacher's maturity and authority that can be maximized. Your students will sense these levels. They must be able to trust the teacher. When the teacher has experience and knows how to execute the lessons, the teacher can be the most effective. A teacher with experience knows how to cultivate a student's abilities and connect with the largest number of students.
Technical knowledge makes life easier. It also helps you get things done faster and more securely. Technical knowledge comes from training and experience; however, that isn't enough. The teacher must also cultivate his or her own creativity to come up with techniques so he or she can make a connection and develop students. Through this connection, the teacher can transport the student to a magical place where the heart extends with a natural form and where everyone is enriched. The service of teaching yoga truly is a divine privilege. Every student is a gift.
Be in Service
"A pioneer in the relationship of body, mind, and spirit" is a valid description of those who practice yoga in the twenty-first century. Science now tells us that what happens in one part of the body clearly affects all other parts; the corporeal systems are interrelated, and each influences the others.
Even when beginning from the deepest parts of human ignorance, we must learn that the work we do in life is part of the divine will. We should each strive to elevate the deep thoughts of consciousness and offer every one of our daily works to God.
Being a yoga teacher is an act of thankfulness for life and the opportunity we have to work for the prosperity of mankind.
Communication
Our basic communication abilities directly influence all aspects of life; therefore, communication has a direct impact on the process of student learning.
Communication consists of two parts: the transmission of a message and the receipt of the response. Communication may be verbal or nonverbal. Nonverbal communication is transmitted through body language, facial expressions, movements, gestures, and posture. Verbal communication is made through the use of voice, the articulation of words, and terms of expression. Always use plain language so students can understand what you are saying. The secret of successful communication is to ensure that the person you are speaking with understands what is being said.
The way you communicate will influence students' performance. Use descriptive words such as elongate, activate, open, flow, begin to, sink into, find, stay open, maintain, hold, gaze, lengthen, keep, drawn, remain centered, relax, maneuver, initiate, challenge, find opposition, and so forth.
Contact
Contact is an indispensable tool for communication. Physical contact lingers in the unconscious physical memory for thirty seconds beyond the moment of touch. Your skin is the largest and most sensitive organ of your body. Receptors in the skin transmit information to the brain via the nervous system. In teaching, we apply contact to muscles and articulating zones, shoulders, and hips. Each student has his or her own way of learning. Be aware of this and give your attention to your students; show them when they are doing the wrong thing and don't be afraid to correct errors.
However, at the same time, you want to promote independence in your students. Let them move! When it comes to asana, teach their bodies, not their minds. Use your sense of humor and transport your students into the present.
Look them in the eyes. Eye contact communicates volumes.
Voice
In yoga instruction, the voice is a key element of communication. Your voice reflects the attitude of your heart. The tone of your voice originates in the heart, not the mind.
Remember — the size of your class should determine the volume of your voice. Volume isn't power. What you have to say and how you choose to say it are the driving factors in your student experience.
The voice must come from the diaphragm, as in singing. If we use vocal cords incorrectly, we can injure ourselves. Relax the vocal cords; learn to speak from the diaphragm. Open your chest and use intonation to produce melody for your sound.
Speak in an adult tone. Unless you are actually teaching children, don't talk to your students as if they were children. Avoid singing. Be enthusiastic, inspiring, amiable, and communicative. Modulate your voice to promote alertness in your class. Synchronize your instruction with the asana you are teaching. Don't forget to breathe between sentences.
When teaching lower-energy classes, the voice must convey a more relaxed state. Try to end your statements using the same energy with which you began them. Speak clearly to create impact with what you say. Keep the class moving but don't forget to use pauses thoughtfully to allow students to truly absorb detailed instructions. When leading a seminar, create pauses so you can rest while demonstrating or explaining. Say something if you see a student making a mistake but be compassionate.
Adjustment
The main reason for adjusting and aligning your students is to help them express the intentions of their spirits and hearts in the best possible manner. This is the end goal and the most profound result of their practices.
A posture is never "good" or "bad." It is instead either in or out of correct alignment. We must always try to find a way to recognize something good in each pose and in each student. We try to find the most basic and obvious misalignments visible in the students' poses as we observe our classes.
The student is the owner of his or her own movements. Each person has his or her own state of physical ability, mental condition, and spiritual level. This is reflected in the learning curve. As professionals, we must respect everyone and fully recognize that each body is a materialization of the divine force. Make no judgments; we are here to help students find the new spaces in their bodies. We are there to help them feel better and become rejuvenated.
Adjustments can be made at all levels, but we should practice restraint when applying adjustments to experienced students of yoga. Beginners appreciate the touch of adjustment, but some experienced students have notions of personal alignment that should be respected.
Making Adjustments
First, it's important to always attempt a verbal correction before attempting physical contact. If you don't know the student, you should always ask for his or her permission before you adjust or touch the body. Once you know the student, adjustments can be made more freely. Ask your student for input on consent; this can change from class to class and from minute to minute.
It isn't necessary to be strict in conducting poses. Moving out and back into asana may help in achieving alignment. Normally you would apply adjustment at articulating areas (joints) such as the hips and shoulders. Also, you may touch the most prominent muscle area in use in the asana (quadriceps, triceps). It is a good idea to demonstrate the breathing that accompanies the asana and the adjustment. Try to show the correct place on the cycle of inhalation and exhalation where the adjustment can be made.
The benefits of yoga come with time and perseverance. Students must feel comfortable and be assured they are progressing in their practice of yoga. Students should never be made to feel they aren't flexible enough, that there is some missing talent required to succeed, that they are wasting their time, or that they have started too late in life.
The two areas of the body that are the most problematic in body alignment are the rib cage and the pelvic area. That is to say that most aches and pains in the musculature tend to occur in these regions. You will serve your clients well if you can help them to develop and maintain the muscles in these two vulnerable areas. Because they are reliant on proper muscular support to function optimally, these areas have considerable influence on posture. They need to be protected and strengthened when in proper alignment.
Alignment
The shoulders and hips support the trunk. The best possible alignment of these areas facilitates the best possible alignments in the asana and the advancement in the abilities of the student. The first asana for proper alignment, the principal aligned position, is the "mountain" pose, Samasthiti or Tadasana. Find this pose in every asana. The principal spinal alignment of this pose reoccurs in all the asana so we are searching for a return to this alignment in moving in and out of all the other asana. We are "pulling the body" into or through Tadasana.
In seated, twisting, and inverted positions, we try to arrive at a partial alignment of Tadasana as can be readily understood through our own practice.
When an asana is repeated, "muscle memory" allows the asana to be more easily reached. When the articulations of the body are in the right alignment, the muscles attached to them naturally establish themselves in the right place and bring success to your work.
To understand alignment, we need to understand the type of the body the pupil has and which form of the asana is performed. Proper alignment comes from the inside of the body and is related to internal energy, the prana, and the mind of the student. If the alignment is only superficial, it will show in a lack of integration of the position.
A dynamic symmetry is the base that connects the interior with the surface of the body.
If the alignment is composed and defined in each aspect, it forms what is called "a blueprint" (the architect's ideal design), and thus, the body learns how to move following the "design" of its own blueprint. It is important to establish the right blueprint to prevent bad habits or lead to injuries.
This blueprint has its very fine energy; it varies between people and during one's lifetime. As we age, the blueprint changes, and it changes as we practice as well. It changes with conscious effort, seeking transformation through exercise and nutrition. In the blueprint of the body, we can also recognize genetics, rhythms, past habits of exercise and rest, and other aspects of life.
When the human body is aligned with its optimal blueprint, the connective tissue (tendons and ligaments where emotional and thick toxins are stored) becomes stronger, more resistant, and flexible; and the internal circulation rises. The human body has an innate intelligence that looks for harmony and health. Normally the body isn't strong enough to align by itself, it needs training through exercise.
Basic points and zones of alignment are the following:
• Base of the pelvis — gluteus
• Abdominal muscles
• Base of the heart
• Shoulder blades to rib cage
• Heels to sitting bones
• Drishti: the focal point where you look
• Kneecaps; lift them up to align quads and hamstrings.
• The alignment of one part of the body has an effect on the others. All body parts are related, and alignment is the foundation of success in movement.
• Big toe: push the bone of the big toe down to awaken and engage the internal activity of the leg.
• Feel every pose from a grounding sensation in opposition.
• Rotation of the hips: internal (heel to heel) or external (heel to arch)
Some Other Tips
A class must hold a student's attention. Run a harmonious class; don't be boring. Don't let your students collapse from fatigue; pace the class so that all stay together. Go to Balasana (child's pose) whenever needed. End each class with a relaxation period and meditation.
Walk: circulate about the class while giving instructions. Watch your students and take the time to observe them. Make sure to assist the students with problems in achieving a pose. Try to connect alignment with breathing. Keep your heart open and smile.
As a teacher, when you demonstrate, make sure everybody can see you.
The process of learning takes three different aspects or phases. These are often called parts of the learning curve:
1. Cognitive to beginner (doesn't know much): complement the students' efforts.
2. Associative to intermediate (knows a little more): start the challenge and recognize improvements.
3. Automat (knows what to do): help to keep mastering the asana and breathing.
Distractions and Obstacles
Yoga, like any other spiritual pursuit, is full of pitfalls and impediments. It is a good idea to look at these so you will know how to overcome them. Above all, we must learn to listen to the voice within and recognize what obstacles are facing us.
1. Vyadhi (bad health). For a yogi, the body is the principal instrument. If the vehicle is broken down, it's impossible for the traveler to continue his or her journey. If the body isn't functioning properly, little active progress can be made. Health is very important because the mind functions in concert with the nervous system. When the body isn't working well, the practice of yoga is interrupted.
2. Styana (mental predisposition). Are you ready to work? When the mental faculties are rusty, progress is difficult. It's important to stay fluid. Don't sit like water in a drain. Keep mentally active.
3. Samsaya (mental paralysis, doubt, and indecision): ignorance and lack of faith, self-destructive tendencies. Joy and happiness cannot be found in these states of mind. You need faith in yourself and in your guru. Trust in the supreme energy to be found in your own interior. Faith strengthens the heart and destroys evil.
4. Pramada (indifference to others); to be totally immersed in your own self-importance, lacking in humility and the belief that you know it all. These characteristics lead to a never-ending, empty pursuit of satisfying base passions and egotistical dreams.
5. Alasaya (laziness): to triumph over laziness, one must apply will and enthusiasm, and find hope. The attitude of the student must be one of a person in love, full of hope and free of hate and pain. Faith and an enthusiasm for life conquer laziness.
6. Avirati (liberation from the pleasures that trap your mind): emancipate yourself from empty desires.
7. Bhranti-darsana (wrongful thought): wrongful thoughts empower wrongful wisdom.
8. Alabdha-bhumikatva (inability to concentrate): This named obstacle promotes an inability to find reality. If you can't see with clarity, you go around crashing into things and continue a train of thought that isn't real.
9. Anavasthitatva (instability to maintain what you have). Unhealthy pride in your own abilities leads to abandonment.
10. Find the way to be happy and overcome these obstacles — seek benevolence, unity, compassion, and charity.
