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| Thanks for putting my mind at ease! We're likely moving to the US next year, and I was getting a bit nervous about what to expect from yoga classes there...though I am sure there is a high level of accomplishment among yoga practioners in the States.
Thanks too to the tip elsewhere about the hand on the heart gesture in order to indicate 'no'...  Would never have known.
And yes, I find massage therapy very positive too...but I don't combine it with yoga
purnayoga - 2007-10-16 9:43 PM
I agree with you, it's odd, to say the least.
It is not standard procedure. We may adjust a student in Savasana just as we may adjust a student in Virabhaadrasana but it is prefaced by verbal instruction before coming into the pose (savasana ) so that the student is not disturbed. Additionally, we typically only adjust those who need it and only in the first three minutes of savasana so that the student's nervous system is not disrupted.
I've had things rubbed on my neck and feet in class. While I enjoy such a thing when I am going for massage therapy I find such an application in a yoga class to be presumptuous. Some students are allergic. Some students are frightened or surprised. Some simply do not care for the teachers taste in aromas. I'm not really certain why it's done.
HydnYoga - 2007-10-14 12:36 AM
The really freaky part was at the end,...when the teacher came to each of us in turn and rubbed some sort of aromatic oil on the soles of our feet DURING Shavasana. I couldn't object because I had no idea it was coming, and it really grossed me out to be quite frank...for several reasons...hygiene, disturbance to my shavasana, and finally, being Indian, it was a bit odd culturally...
I was just wondering if all this is standard procedure for yoga classes in the US? Or was it just this one teacher and class...? I have so little to go by, I was hoping to get some info. |
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| actually, the gesture isn't universal.
each teacher will usually give the students a "way out" and inform them what they can do to refuse without standing out in class. for that teacher, it's hand over heart. for me, i ask about this before class starts, so when people are standing with eyes closed, i ask those who do not want X to raise their hands.
it just depends upon the teacher. also, you can always say 'no thank you' as it is starting to happen OR when you leave class.
but, classes here vary widely. some chant, some don't. some have discussions, some don't. some have adjustments to postures, some don't. . .all different. |
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| Purna, if you've heard David and Sharon speak, then I do think you are qualified to make an opinion. No, it's not all about asana. Like I said, in Jiva, the asana is almost an afterthought.
And, like you, I study other forms of yoga so that I can recommend styles to my students. I've taken Bikrim, Iyengar, Restorative, Jiva (obviously) Ashtanga...and I think that's it. It's late and I'm tired. WhenI talk to my students, I'm honest about what I've done and what I haven't. Someone asked me about Kundalini last Friday and I had to say, much to my chagrin, that I had not tried it. I've read about it, but not taken a class. When you said you'd never taken a Jiva class, I was suprised you'd give an opinion like you did, but now I can understand better.
I'm a bit of a word geek and I knew what you meant by militant, but I have never found my Jiva teacher to be aggressive. She's convicted, but not aggressive-not militant at all.
Edited by Kym 2007-10-16 11:54 PM
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| Understood Kym.
Likewise I've studied computers but have not, by choice, used the windows operating system for several years. It does not keep me from having feedback on it for clientss though.
When a student inquires about this modality or that modality it is not possible to share with them the elements of every teacher instructing that style. Therefore the feedback is about the system of practice, the results I've witnessed in practitioners, and the philosophy espoused or rooted within that particular practice. When I spek of Kundalini it is based on Yogi Bhajan. When I speak of Jivamukti it is based on Sharon and David. When I speak of Bikram it is...well you get the point.
It is not as perfect a system as having studied every modality from the inside out. But it it the best possible offering in light of that.
As for the concept of students having the chance to say "no thanks" my personal preference as a teacher is to encourage students to ask when they DO want something. Obviously this wouldn't apply to things like oinment or lavendar oil on their neck/feet. I do not often do anything in class that I think borders on a potential "no thanks". When students want a blanket or bolster in Savasana I will ask them to put a hand on their belly (to ask for rather than to reject). But I'd prefer not to have them placed in a "no thank you" position.
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| HydnYoga - 2007-10-16 1:48 PM Thanks too to the tip elsewhere about the hand on the heart gesture in order to indicate 'no'... Would never have known. Just to let you know, this was a protocol put into place by my particular teacher, and on a per-class basis. She'd mention it as we were settling into savasana so that we could set up this signal for that particular class. I have no idea if it's generally done elsewhere, but from a teacher's perspective, I would advise others to ask their students if they want to be touched/massaged/etc. during savasana in this manner. |
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| Purna-thanks for the thoughtful discussion.
OM-the only thing I have found with the hand on the heart symbol (and I"ve been asked to do it) is that I don't want my hand on my heart in savasana as a means of communication. I totally want to be in corpse pose and enjoy that. I feel out of wack with my hand on my heart, kwim?
I have done massages in savasana, and adjusted legs, and pressed lightly on the shoulders, but the energy I received back (for lack of a better way to describe it) was not right. I no longer touch people in savasana or do aromatherapy. Oddly enough, I don't mind being adjusted or having lavendar rubbed on me tho! As long as I don't have to signal for it. ;) |
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| I understand the nuances about the 'yes's and no's' better now....thanks to all for explaining so patiently! It is a really good idea to ask the teacher for a 'way out' before class begins, I guess, rather than standing dumbly during asanas that don't seem a good idea to do just yet...feeling conspicuous but not wanting to interrupt everyone else's flow...
Though like as not, I can see myself quite forgetting and patting my head and rubbing my tummy, and generally leading the teacher to think that she/he has a deranged student!!!
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| lol.
don't worry, the teacher will give you instructions.
and, in any class, if there's a pose that you don't want to do, then you simply don't do it or ask for a modification. |
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any thoughts on Jivamukti?
