Ashtanga Yoga Groningen

Yoga teachers have several tools to convey their meaning to students.

The teacher might demonstrate a posture, explain anatomical details, or encourage you to contemplate the philosophical meaning of your practice.

Another instructional method is through Hands-On Assists (or “Adjustments” as we call them in Mysore).

Hands-On teaching can serve many useful purposes, including providing more stability, comfort, and precision in a pose. Sometimes the assists can make the pose easier, but other times the teacher knows how to make the pose harder…

When training teachers in Hands-On, I like to compare the “types” of assists to the well-known Three Gunas (modes of nature).

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐯𝐚 – is pure or subtle. Subtle adjustments are amazing. It’s the moment when you feel the warmth of the teacher’s hand and instantly breathe deeply into the contact.

𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐬 – is energetic or dynamic. Energetic adjustments are when the teacher leads you through a movement sequence much like you are guided with a partner in the waltz.

𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 – is heavy or deep. Deep adjustments are those moments when a steady hand keeps you “solid” in a position. Here, you seem to relax and melt.

Just like nature, our students’ bodies (and needs) are constantly changing; therefore, teachers should adapt their methods accordingly. At the heart of all this is communication. Regardless of the level of experience, I encourage teachers to maintain open lines of communication with the student. It can be as simple as, “how are you doing?” or “how does this feel?”

The purpose is to establish a foundation of communication that, much like the assists, deepens over time.