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| I started my class at a new studio last night.
Basically the studio offers gentle hatha yoga and my class is suppose to be the tough one.
I taught a modified primary to the group. I think it went over really well with one exception. There was one person in teacher training that took the class and did not put much into it. It is so frustrating as a teacher to watch a student (teacher in training) ignore verbal cues, ignore alignment issues, ignore breathing cues. And to top it off they were chewing gum!
The other students (not teachers) got so much more out of it. I helped a rather large woman (who was very good) bind in Marchi A for the first time. I helped a tattooed guy bind in Marchi C. and back bend. Everyone else was riding the breath and thanked me after class.
I found myself a little frustrated, because the class was rather small and I gave everyone a lot of attention, but it was like pulling teeth trying to get this teacher to listen.
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| Yes, the gum chewing is a definate 'no no'.
Jonathon
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| What would you do? |
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| TampaEric - 2007-08-11 8:17 PM
What would you do?
The gum I would address immediately and politely ask him to remove it.
Regarding his attitude. If I have learnt one thing in life, it's that how I perceive a situation is often completely different to how the other person perceives it.
So I would probably take him aside after the class and ask him how he found it and if he had a challenge following my cues or alignment instructions.
Depending on how he answered, the conversation could then go a number of ways...
Jonathon
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| Thanks.
Have you ever seen this acronym? WWJD? (usually it means, What would Jesus do). Today, it is What would Jonnie do?
Eric
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| Yes, Homer Simpson used to wear one 
Incidently, how many times would you adjust a student in a class?
Jonathon
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| Hmm.. In Ashtanga there are two rows. So I walk around to each one and adjust each person (both sides if appropriate) So i end up giving them 2-3 depending on the class size. Sometimes I do not give adjustment if I know they too injured or don't seem ready. Then I will wait for the next posture and adjust them on that one.
I have a handful of advanced ashtangis that I might find for certain postures. Like Garba Pindasana, or supta kurmasana. I have one student that needs me to help him pull his arms through. So, I'll go to him and then go back to the line for the next person.
Usually I touch each person several times a class. But I have neve counted. I guess my answer is as much as possible.
Why do you ask? |
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| I'm just curious really.
Personally, I don't like to adjust anyone more than a maximum of twice in a class.
It would be interesting to know how much other teachers here adjust.
Jonathon
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| Adjusting is an art form in itself.
I still have a lot to learn.
Perhaps a question to the Yoga Teachers forum. |
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Location: London, England | Hi Eric,
Chewing gum is one of the things I am passionate about-should be banned-in the human, the muscles of the jaw are partly used by the brain to arrange the style of our movementthe brain uses the information from the nerves that innervate these muscles to arrange the pattern of muscle activation around the rest of the body. The jaw muscles are loaded with sensory nerves for this purpose. So this is a definite no-no-all the time, not just when practicing yoga.
When I have students with neck problems, I'll take the time in savasana at the end of the class to check out their neck and jaw-in people with neck problems, you will usually find that the masseter or temporalis muscles, which clench the jaw, are often tight on one side. So a chiropractor working on a neck problem should also assess the jaw, for increased benefit of treatment-a yoga teacher should probably do the same. For this reason, amongst others, I instruct students to press the tongue to the roof of the mouth-it encourages correct muscle pattern activation throughout the neck. So your student chewing gum is really buggering things up in the cervical region. Treat with him with the scorn he deserves, from London, with love!
Take care
Nick |
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| It was pretty bad. Chewing gum, breathing through the mouth, bending knees instead of using a block, very disrespectful.
She/he had that kind of attitude that she/he couldn't understand what to do. Everything is just so difficult and they were confused. I just got the feeling that this person could not control their mind.
Also, the other classes talk all the time and play music. I don't do the "checking in" thing. Where they go around the room and ask how everyone is doing....
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
 
| Iyengar teachers have an ideal situation for this - they can stop the class and ask the particular individual to help demonstrate  Gum doesn't bother me - or at least I have never seen it in a way that would bother me. If you are not this student's direct mentor, you could possibly mention it to his/her mentor that student teachers need to present a professional attitude in ALL classes. For better or worse, other students look up to trainees. |
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| Wonderful suggestions.
Thanks for taking the time to write that..
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| If a student does not like manual adjustments I don't do them. Otherwise I see two types: corrections and enhancements. Gentle corrections are sometimes the easiest way to explain something and enhancements are great for everyone who understands that it is an enhancement to what they are doing and not a correction of something that they are doing wrong. I see three methods for corrections: verbal corrections, manual adjustments, and demonstration. They all work some of the time but none work all of the time. I try to give everyone 2 to 4 corrections or enhancements in each class (unless it is a really big class and I don't think that I can get to everyone). Sometimes I will give beginners slightly more if necessary, especially if I see that they are really getting it as a result. |
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| Maybe, just maybe, said student was just having an exceptionally bad day? I wouldn't take it personally yet. I know that I've had days when I couldn't pay complete attention to the instructor or the practice no matter how hard I tried. In retrospect, I wonder if I ever offended the instructors - it's possible, but it certainly wasn't my intention.
As for the gum - I love gum, but how can you breath properly while chewing? I've had to swallow my gum a couple of times because I forgot to spit it out before class. Incidentally, thanks for the information, Nick. Now that I've finally kicked my diet coke addiction, I have something else to work on. Yes, THANKS A LOT. 
Edited by tmarques 2007-08-11 9:44 PM
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| For me, I look for the student with the greatest mis alignment and give assists to them. I also help enhance and I try to keep it fair, depending on how many students there are but I certainly don't go counting. I had a student that got addicted to the assists and would want it all the time. I learned that you have to be careful with that because then they become dependant on you to make their practice awesome and when you stop assisting them they get upset.
If I have a large class.. I try to give one assist per person.
Cheers,
D |
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| Thank you very much for this valuable post.
dtpbach - 2007-12-04 11:07 PM
I had a student that got addicted to the assists and would want it all the time. I learned that you have to be careful with that because then they become dependant on you to make their practice awesome and when you stop assisting them they get upset.
D |
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| We have SO MANY teachers and crash courses in right living thrown at us, all the time.
Im sure this would frustrate me too, but it could also be seen as a welcome gift from the universe. It seems clear to me that this "problem student" was sent to teach you some very important lessons to add to your already widening space as a teacher.
Don't forget that the struggle doesnt stop when your one the mat. We're in Warrior 2 for an extra long time and every muscle is screaming at us, there's SO MUCH drama happening and we want to react and call it names. But we stay and breath and get over the drama, only to find the juice on the other side.
I LOVE all of the advice you've gotten so far, especially about taking them aside and asking them how they felt etc.
Maybe this student has an issue with new teachers....maybe they're used to the old teacher and their ego is starting to take over. "HUH!! A NEW teacher. I don't have to do what SHE says, because I KNOW the practice already."
There could be a thousand reason why this student chose defience and the half assed approach.
Just don't let it throw you out of your center, because then you are almost like that guy who's chewing gum and not putting his heart into the present.
Good luck. |
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| so, when i have a student chewing gum, i quietly remind them to remove it. if they don't, i call their name from the other side of the room and say "Sara, gum is a choking hazard and not appropriate to yoga. please remove it now. it's a matter of your safety."
that will usually get them to remove it before class every other class after that!
as for students who aren't listening, i basicly ignore them--or let them do their thing. it's fine. you don't want to listen, that's ok. you just do your thing over there. i may or may nto give assists, but i basicly pretend that that person is not there, because they are "not there."
and that's ok.
as for assisting, as this was something that developed, i give a lot of assists. it really depends upon the size of the class. i make sure that everyone gets multiple assists during class--but in a class of 35 or so, i would say that each person probably gets 4-6 or so, and that with a smaller number of people, they'll get many more.
i really love assisting. |
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| I agree with zoebird's approach of dealing with each student where they are. If they are paying attention to you, you pay attention to them and if they are not paying attention to you, you don't pay attention to them. I think that it is important to remember that it is the student's class, not the teacher's class. Each student needs to be teaching themself yoga, finding the "union" inside themself; we teachers are only the facilitators. We, as teachers, need to practice what we preach and accept our students where they are in the present moment, which is reality (although I agree that chewing gum is a safety problem and excessive talking disrupts the entire class).
As long as we have ideas about what our students "should be" like, we are not dealing with the actual students and how they actually are. Once you accept what is actually happening, what actually is, you can start to see what "could be" and can share it with the student. Since this can not be rehearsed or prepared, experience and awareness must be the teacher's teacher. This also requires that the teacher see each of the students as individuals and not as a "class". My classes usually have about twenty students so I am not sure at what point you can no longer take this approach. If you can no longer see your students as individuals, maybe your class is too big. |
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| That's a lot of assisting!
I'm surprising you can do that many, you must be in incredible shape.
I get exhausting speaking and assisting the whole time...
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| I'm learning to ignore certain things.
This person tends to have trouble with concentration.
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| yes its difficult but not imposible. after class talk to student , specially one or two person, discuss with them friendly , then sort out the problem. |
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| I'm going to change my schedule around next year. I'm starting at a new studio, a very popular one. I can't wait. I hope people like it.
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| Saturday I start at the new studio!
I'm teaching a flow class based on the 1st and 2nd series in ashtanga yoga.
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teaching in a new studio
