The fine art of adjusting

Recently, whenever I have been chatting to fellow yoga teachers/enthusiasts/students (which happens quite a bit) the subject of adjustments has reared its controversial head.

It's a subject about which every teacher - and probably every serious student too - rightly has an opinion: how often, with how much force, should practitioners be adjusted.

Much of the time, the teacher's view will depend on which teacher training course, and yoga path, he or she has taken; my Sivananda training, for example, took a softly softly approach to adjusting.

The view was that, if the teacher is adjusting, they should do so with a very light touch, in order for the student to depend on their own intuition rather than the opinon of the teacher. After all, which of the two knows the student's body best?

During a teacher training intensive I attended lead by Sarah Powers, the approach was almost reversed: we were encourage to adjust in a robust, though mindful, manner. In some standing poses, such as Virabhadrasana II, a slightly toe-curling level of intimacy was involved.

So which approach to take? Much depends on how comfortable the teacher feels adjusting students, and how well he or she knows the capabilities of the individuals involved.

There is no doubt that adjusting students in asanas can be incredibly helpful - allowing the student to find his or her correct alignment, and go deeper into poses.

However, the drawbacks are considerable - not least, in the ashtanga and dynamic tradition, the very real risk of injury.

We will be covering this crucial, rather fascinating, subject in more depth shortly. In the meantime, if you have any views at all on this subject, from either the teacher's or student's perspective, do log in and leave a comment here (or email me at: editor at yoga-abode.com, replacing 'at' with @).

You can also cast your vote in our adjustment poll on the left hand side of the home page. I can't wait to hear your views.

Lucia Cockcroft, editor