|
|
| I have a question for the Ashtangi's - I may have asked this here, but I can't seem to find it...anyway...
David Williams is coming to Ft. Lauderdale in Nov for a 4 day workshop. It's expensive, but it's 4 days and there are more than 4 lectures/ asana practices, etc. and it sounds really cool.
I absolutely hate to be touched and I'm afraid of working with someone who is going to try to force my body - or try to force me to force my body - into places it isn't/ I'm not ready to go.
So, If I were to go to this workshop, is he going to yell "bad lady" at me b/c I can't get my butt off the ground or b/c I am somewhat unfamiliar w/ the material, or would this be an enjoyable experience? In my life, I've had enough people tell me that I'm bad, I'm not going to pay someone to do it, I don't care how fab he's supposed to be!
Thanks for the input |
|
| |
|
| He did a workshop in our town last year, and I heard
very good things about it. But I didn't attend, so I can't
give you first-hand input.
|
|
| |
|
| David Williams was injured in India by his teacher when he started yoga. He adjusted the series to prevent injuries. He took out shoulder and head stand. He also doesn't do ajustments. My teacher went to his workshop and I'm signed up next month. |
|
| |
|
| In my life, I've had enough people tell me that I'm bad, I'm not going to pay someone to do it, I don't care how fab he's supposed to be!
Thanks for the input
Right on, sister!  |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
  
Location: A Blue State | The people I know who saw David Williams didn't describe a
"you're bad" kind of person. The impression that I got was
that he's very mellow and had interesting things to say.
There's a workshop of his coming up in my area (he must be
on tour), it's cheap, and I'll probably go.
"You're bad" is what I've heard that Bikram does at his
workshops....that and brag about his female conquests. |
|
| |
|
| Must be something to do with our childhood and schooling that causes us to let yoga teachers intimidate us...bottom line for me is I'm a paying customer--that teacher works for me and is supposed to be teaching me to be better yogi--they can't, won't, or attempt it with a snotty attitude and it's goodnight & goodluck--I be taking my $ elsewhere. |
|
| |
|
| http://www.ashtangayogi.com/HTML/article2.html |
|
| |
|
| that teacher works for me and is supposed to be teaching me to be better yogi<<
My sentiments exactly, Bruce! |
|
| |
|
| Designaire, thanks for the link. I went to DW's website (which has changed in the last few days, btw) sometime after I posted the original note to this thread. I know there are a lot of "stories" about people coming home from Mysore w/ lifelong injuries from being pushed further than their bodies were willing to go.
That's what I was afraid of = hopefully, there will be enough people at the workshop that I can hide in the middle, in the back!  |
|
| |
|
| Guruvemom,
I want to remind you of something: No one will touch you if you ask them not to. I suggest at any time, that you speak with a teacher in advance of the class, it will relieve the stress of worrying about it and you'll both start a workshop with a nice understanding. There's never any reason to go into detail, just say, "I wanted to let you know ahead of time that I'd appreciate it if you did not adjust me manually."
Another thing is that David Williams is an experienced teacher who has made a wonderful practice his own, while still following the tenants of the Primary Series. Don't be afraid to speak with him. I assure you you're not the only one who feels this way!
I have never been called "bad lady" but I have been called "laughing lady" and touched extremely inappropriately, repeatedly. I will never let that person get near me again in this lifetime. It made me, for awhile, touch-shy. Luckily, because of the pragmatism and generic touch of my own teachers, that invasion faded out of importance and I was able to focus on my practice again.
Touch is obviously personal. If you don't like it, you just don't like it. Any decent human being and/or yoga teacher will respect that.
Enjoy yourself. He's a fabulous teacher.
Christine |
|
| |
|
| Christine, thanks for your post. It's all important info to think about... I tell my "everyday" teachers about injuries/conditions prior to taking a class with them, and I notice that they are extra careful to adjust me very gently, to physically demonstrate or to instruct me verbally.(How come that didn't happen in 6th grade math, I ask you??) My current ashtanga teacher is GREAT about helping me with my broken/arthritic foot and finding ways to adjust/ compensate for it.
In a regular class of 3-10 people, it's easy for the teacher to remember - in a workshop of 60 or 100 or 300, however, I can see plenty of room for error. so knowing how DW worked before hand was important. I'm really excited now, though... I'm trying to increase my practice which will be easier in Mid Sept... hope its' enough to get me ready for the workshop! 
By the way, Christine, I had an instructor ignore my explicit directive to get off of my foot (the one I had told him was problematic prior to the class) and as a result it was re injured. Hence my "hands off" attitude.
Edited by Gruvemom 2004-07-26 9:43 PM
|
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
Okay, so I did the David Williams workshop recently. It was low key and I enjoyed it.
He focused on primary series, with some second series, and a lot of attention to
avoiding injuries. The first thing he said was "If it hurts, you're doing it wrong", and
that was really a theme for the whole event. The yoga is supposed to be enjoyable,
not something that you find unpleasant to do...that way you will keep up a daily practice.
So far as how to practice, he emphasized Mula Bandha, breathing, and pace rather than
spending time trying to achieve perfect postures. He said that postures would follow
with regular practice. But he also skipped any postures where misalignment is likely to
cause trouble...Setu Bandhasana, for example.
Earlier in this thread, there was a lot of discussion about adjustments. David was
adamantly against the idea of teachers doing any kind of forcible adjustment on students.
During the course of the workshop he never adjusted anyone. He said that you really can't
tell what's going on inside another person's body in terms of potential problems, so that
there's alway a chance that an adjustment is going to cause an injury. He also stressed
avoiding doing poses that might cause injuries, at least, if you are a teacher working with
students about whom you know little. He also said that if a student is injured in a class it
is 100% the teacher's fault. None of this "the student should have told me to back off" stuff.
More later... |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
I was just reading back through this thread and saw the post from Designaire about
David being injuried by his teacher. He never mentioned that during the workshop, but
if it's true it would explain a lot about his attitude toward adjustments and poses
that have injury potential. He's cautious in that regard (not like another yogi, who nearly
broke my back in his workshop by pulling on my toes while I was in Viparita Salabasana).
One part of David's workshop that was interesting were his talks about yoga. He had a lot
to say about the history of Ashtanga yoga as it came to America, he spoke
at length about teaching beginners Ashtanga, he talked about doing yoga when you are
sick (this from a man with ~36 years of continuous practice), and he described how he
decoded the advanced series from a list of names on the wall in Mysore...Jois had not
done them for 20 years when David started learning them.
|
|
| |
|
| Hey guys, the workshop is this weekend I can't wait! woo hoo! I'm still injured but confident that everything will be just fine (it's my mantra this week)... can't wait to tell you all about it! |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
Enjoy it! I liked the workshop I did with David. Unlike a lot of workshop
yogis, he had no dogma -- mostly just clear-eyed common sense.
Very refreshing.  |
|
| |
David Williams Workshop
