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| Speaking of shoulderstand:
I've taken yoga classes from four different teachers now. The first had her beginning students doing shoulderstand with no blankets or foam. The second and third teachers never taught shoulderstand but both commented several times that they felt it was dangerous to do it without being up on something. The fourth, a senior Iyengar teacher who studied with B.K.S., taught shoulderstand almost every class, with, of course, blankets. (She is only in my area during the summer and classes have just finished, much to my dismay.)
I haven't been to the first teacher in years and now that I have some more asana experience I was thinking of taking her classes again just to see what it's like from a new perspective. I am, however, a little leery of trying to do a shoulderstand with no support. I don't believe it hurt me the first time, but it really seems as though most of the yoga community is in favor of using blankets. Certainly it can't be more dangerous, correct?- so why not do it that way?
Anyway, that's my thinking and I'm wondering if and how I would approach this teacher. She is a respected yoga instructor who has been doing yoga for over 25 years and she and her husband are very involved in the spiritual and musical roots of yoga as well as the asana practice. I guess that's just to explain that she didn't just graduate from some questionable school of yoga with a 50 hour training certificate.
I certainly don't HAVE to take her classes; I just kind of thought it would be nice to go back to her with a fresh eye on things. When I first took her classes, I had no idea what any of it was about.
Please, any and all thoughts. |
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| Good point - if it can't be MORE dangerous on props then why not simply do it that way. And the short answer is "human beings".
Dogma and Ego.
Some yoga focus only on effect with no regard for safety what so ever. Other yoga is so focused on safety that there may be little or no effect. A good teacher (in my mind) walks this line with every class, every pose, every student. How do we bring effect to the student with absolutely as little risk as humanely possible.
This simply is not a philosophy of every discipline of yoga. And so...caveat emptor.
We must always remember that just becasue something is old doesn't mean it is good.
Edited by purnayoga 2007-09-20 8:14 PM
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| When it's time to practice sarvangasana in class, would it be so wrong just to take your blankets and do the pose as you would prefer it? Would the teacher tell you to put the props away? Having never taken an Iyengar class, I don't know if there is any strict protocol against taking props when you need them, even if they weren't specifically instructed in the class. As I know it, props are either optional or required, but never denied. Ahimsa, no?  |
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| I'd contact her first. Simply say that in the intervening period since you last took her class you've got used to using props for this pose and would she mind if you continued to do so, assuming she has a space in her class that you could fill. That way, there's no implied criticism. You never know, she may now teach it with props herself :-)
Fee |
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| karmann -- just reread your original post, and I see that I assumed that all your teachers have been Iyengar teachers, since that's what you mainly talk about here! That's why I figured there would always to be props available for the taking in all the classes you attend. Yes, contacting the teacher ahead of time, or even just a few minutes before the start of class, should definitely cover all the bases for you in terms of not inadvertently offending anyone. Good luck! |
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Unsure how to approach teacher
