Helping you to move further into a pose is one reason why a teacher touches you.
“BOO!”
Alice almost jumped out of her shoes when Carol came up behind her, grabbed her around the waist and said “Boo!”
Alice was surprised by the touching.
This reminded Alice of a similar shock she had during her first yoga class. Her teacher put their hands on her back in Downward Facing dog. She did not know that there was touching involved in a yoga class.
There are three reasons why a yoga teacher will touch you:
- Helping you to get into the pose
- Avoid Injury
- Helping you to move deeper into the pose
The first one of these happens the most often.
1 – Helping you to get into the pose
During a yoga practice the teacher is at the front of the room. They are showing and telling everyone how to do the next yoga pose.
The teacher looks over the class and they can see that one or two people are completely puzzled about where their arms and legs go despite the demonstration. Sometimes the they can demonstrate the pose again at a slower pace and the puzzlement will vanish and at other times the puzzlement may deepen further.
When all else fails they will go and help each person to get into the pose.
The teacher will help Alice to get her arms, legs and body where they need to be to enter the pose. Usually with this hands on assistance the confusion will vanish.
This is not the only reason that a teacher would be touching Alice. Another common reason is to make sure that Alice does not injure herself.
2 – Avoid injury
The teacher is at the front of the room leading the class into the next pose. They look out over the class and they see that a few people did not get the alignment correct.
To prevent Alice from injuring herself the teacher helps her to correct her alignment. It is important that the joints stay in proper alignment otherwise the ligaments and tendons could get stretched and injured.
Sometimes you may move in the completely opposite direction than what the teacher intended and this could cause injury. The teacher will help you to get into the pose by moving your arms, legs and torso where they need to be.
Helping you to remove confusion and get into a pose or preventing you from injuring yourself are two reasons why a yoga teacher will touch you. Another reason is to help you get a little further into a pose.
3 – Move deeper
The teacher looks at Alice doing the pose. Alice is not confused about how to do the pose and she is doing it with good alignment.
The teacher sees that with a little help Alice can go a little further into the pose and she will be able to bind.
The teacher helps her to move that little bit further and connect her hands behind her back. Assisting Alice to get that little bit further into the pose serves two purposes.
- Completing the bind in a pose helps the energy flow in the pose
- Wakes up the muscles and teaches them what they need to do in order to complete the pose.
Sometimes Alice does not realize how close she is to completing the binding. The teacher is able to show her that she is ready to move to the next stage of a posture by helping her to move her arms and connect her hands together.
Some Common Examples
— Binding hands behind your back
Alice can not see what her hands are doing behind her back. The teacher can see what is going on. Alice’s hands may be passing by one another or they may be almost touching. The teacher can help Alice by moving her hands and helping them to hold on to each other and bind.
— Knee in the wrong place in Warrior
Alice may not be able to see that she has her knee out of alignment when she is doing Warrior. The teacher can clearly see that the knee is off to the side because the foot is out of alignment. They can help Alice to avoid injury by correcting the alignment of the foot and bringing the knee above the ankle.
— Stretching in Down Dog
To help Alice lengthen her hamstrings and develop more flexibility in her hips the teacher will apply some gentle pressure to the top of Alice’s hips and lower back. This gentle pressure will encourage the muscles to stretch a little bit further.
What if you do not want to be touched?
As you can see there is a lot of touching involved during a yoga class.
People that are new to yoga may not realize that there is touching involved. It is important that the teacher let the new person know that from time to time it may be necessary for the teacher to come over and help you get into a pose safely.
Sometimes this touching can get really close to some intimate areas. Talking about this before hand with a new student will help to ease any anxiety that they may have.
Sometimes a student may not want to be touched. In this case the student needs to let the teacher know before the start of class. This will avoid any confusion or embarrassment during class.
Summary
Yoga is a hands on profession. A lot of yoga is taught by the teacher moving the student’s body into the proper alignment.
Arranging Alice’s limbs in the correct configuration and helping her to bind properly will increase her enjoyment of the yoga class.
Now that Alice knows that touching is involved she is less likely to be surprised like she was when Carol grabbed her from behind.
Next Step
Now that you know that touching is involved in teaching yoga you will be better prepared for when the teacher comes by to help you get into a pose.
BOO!
Alice almost jumped out of her shoes when Carol came up behind her, grabbed her around the waist and said “Boo!” Alice was surprised by the touching.
This reminded Alice of a similar shock she had during her first yoga class. Her teacher put their hands on her back in Downward Facing dog. She did not know that there was touching involved in a yoga class.
There are three reasons why a yoga teacher will touch you:
1 – Helping you to get into the pose
2 – Avoid Injury
3 – Helping you to move deeper into the pose
The first one of these happens the most often.
1 – Helping you to get into the pose
During a yoga practice the teacher is a the front of the room. They are showing and telling everyone how to do the next yoga pose.
The teacher looks over the class and they can see that one or two people are completely puzzled about where their arms and legs go despite the demonstration. Sometimes the they can demonstrate the pose again at a slower pace and the puzzlement will vanish and at other times the puzzlement may deepen further.
When all else fails they will go and help each person to get into the pose.
The teacher will help Alice to get her arms, legs and body where they need to be to enter the pose. Usually with this hands on assistance the confusion will vanish.
This is not the only reason that a teacher would be touching the Alice. Another common reason is to make sure that Alice does not injure herself.
2 – Avoid injury
The teacher is at the front of the room leading the class into the next pose. They look out over the class and they see that a few people did not get the alignment correct.
To prevent Alice from injuring herself the teacher helps her to correct her alignment. It is important that the joints stay in proper alignment otherwise the ligaments and tendons could get stretched and injured.
Sometimes you may move in the completely opposite direction than what the teacher intended and this could cause injury. The teacher will help you to get into the pose by moving your arms, legs and torso where they need to be.
Helping you to remove confusion and get into a pose or preventing you from injuring yourself are two reasons why a yoga teacher will touch you. Another reason is to help you get a little further into a pose.
3 – Move deeper
The teacher looks at Alice doing the pose. Alice is not confused about how to do the pose and she is doing it with good alignment.
The teacher sees that with a little help Alice can go a little further into the pose and she will be able to bind.
The teacher helps her to move that little bit further and connect her hands behind her back. Assisting Alice to get that little bit further into the pose serves two purposes.
— Completing the bind in a pose helps the energy flow in the pose
— Wakes up the muscles and teaches them what they need to do in order to complete the pose.
Sometimes Alice does not realize how close she is to completing the binding. The teacher is able to show her that she is ready to move to the next stage of a posture by helping her to move her arms and connect her hands together.
Some Common Examples
— Binding hands behind your back
Alice can not see what her hands are doing behind her back. The teacher can see what is going on. Alice’s hands may be passing by one another or they may be almost touching. The teacher can help Alice by moving her hands and helping them to hold on to each other and bind.
— Knee in the wrong place in Warrior
Alice may not be able to see that she has her knee out of alignment when she is doing Warrior. The teacher can clearly see that the knee is off to the side because the foot is out of alignment. They can help Alice to avoid injury by correcting the alignment of the foot and bringing the knee above the ankle.
— Stretching in Down Dog
To help Alice lengthen her hamstrings and develop more flexibility in her hips the teacher will apply some gentle pressure to the top of Alice’s hips and lower back. This gentle pressure will encourage the muscles to stretch a little bit further.
What if you do not want to be touched?
As you can see there is a lot of touching involved during a yoga class.
People that are new to yoga may not realize that there is touching involved. It is important that the teacher let the new person know that from time to time it may be necessary for the teacher to come over and help you get into a pose safely.
Sometimes this touching can get really close to some intimate areas. Talking about this before hand with a new student will help to ease any anxiety that they may have.
Sometimes a student may not want to be touched. In this case the student needs to let the teacher know before the start of class. This will avoid any confusion or embarrassment during class.
Summary
Yoga is a hands on profession. A lot of yoga is taught by the teacher moving the student’s body into the proper alignment.
Arranging Alice’s limbs in the correct configuration and helping her to bind properly will increase her enjoyment of the yoga class.
Now that Alice knows that touching is involved she is less likely to be surprised like she was when Carol grabbed her from behind.
Next Step
Now that you know that touching is involved in teaching yoga you will be better prepared for when the teacher comes by to help you get into a pose.
