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| Hello,
I've been teaching for about 15 years and although I've had a number of overweight students, I have never had a student that would be considered clinically obese.
There is a man that has approached me to join my class that is extremely large through his abdomen. I am not sure how to make adjustments in all the poses to fit his needs.
While I applaud his desire to join a class, I am not overly confident that I am the best teacher for him. Unfortunately, as we're in a somewhat rural area, there is no one that I could refer him to.
Are there any resources available that might help me in teaching him safely or would it be best to somehow just tell him no. And how to do that tactfully? |
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| It is possible that you cannot adjust all the poses in class for this student.
Some students should not be in the class environment but rather in private sessions. Those students who require so much attention in the classroom setting that others cannot be meaningfully or mindfully taught, well those folks are potential candidates for one-on-one. This student may fall into that category. He may need a customized practice until such a time as he can do a general classroom practice without dominating the teachers time.
However your general question may still hold if you are not comfortable with developing material for this student even in a one-on-one setting. At that point we would be at an "ask your teacher" or a "refer the student elsewhere" crossroad. Imparting such information through text and over the internet without actual contact hours would be problematic (for me).
If he is stiff and immobile, either inherently (genetically) or as a result of the girth of his abdomen then I would work individually with him using the Stiff Person's Series of Purna Yoga. If you have not been trained in such a thing, then again, it is best to ask your teacher (resource) or that person who trained you (resource) in order to determine how your particular lineage (resource) or style (resource) deals with such things.
Edited by purnayoga 2008-03-02 3:18 PM
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You're right, a private one on one class or a specialized class would be best for him and at this time, I am not able to offer that. Unfortunately, unless he was willing to travel, as I do, to work with my teacher, there is no one I can refer him to. So.... what best way to say that in a way that does not offend? |
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| My suggestion : If that student wants to pursue Yoga, and there is NO other teacher or class available, please do NOT discourage him from coming. May be that is his only ray of hope.
Ask him to email me. |
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| kulkarnn - 2008-03-02 12:40 PM
My suggestion : If that student wants to pursue Yoga, and there is NO other teacher or class available, please do NOT discourage him from coming. May be that is his only ray of hope.
Ask him to email me.
Neel, I don't want to discourage him, that is why I posted here. I just don't want to do more harm than good and give him that "I tried yoga and I hurt myself" experience.
Although I appreciate your offer to have him email you, I don't see that coming over very well either, I posed this question on a yoga board and now this guy Neel wants you to email him. |
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| i think that the first step would be to welcome him into the class and see what he can do. a lot of very large people are not also stiff. my father is a very large man (and at times has been obese) but he is actually very flexible and works well around his weight when he is heavy. he does a lot of modifications, and you might discover that this person will create his own modifications as time goes by.
i would suggest to him that perhaps some time he travel with you to your teacher, so that both of you could learn together, and take that back to your regular classes.
otherwise, there are some videos made by some very, very plus-sized women that might help. I believe the title is "plus sized yoga" but i'm not sure. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Her name is Mara Nesbitt, but I don't' think her videos are available anymore. Maybe ebay? I would alos encourage him to come to class and you can both see how he does. Do make sure he is ok with modifications, though. Many folk with various limitations do not like being singled out constantly in class. There are ways to work around that and modify him when others are already in the pose, for example. Do you have other students who need regular individual help? That would make it easier, perhaps. |
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| typically, in a situation where a student might feel singled out, i actually teach the whole class as if everyone was like that one person. i teach the modification first, and then move into a deeper version, but only so far as the single client can handle.
i had a very pregnant woman come to my yoga class for the first time (her first class ever--she was carrying twins and about 7 months along--so very large, very special case, etc), and i just taught the class as if everyone was her.
what was really cool is that my most experienced students said "that was the coolest class! we explored the same-old postures in totally new ways! that was awesome!"
little did they know that they were doing "very pregnant lady whom i don't know" yoga.  |
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| zoebird - 2008-03-02 4:20 PM
typically, in a situation where a student might feel singled out, i actually teach the whole class as if everyone was like that one person. i teach the modification first, and then move into a deeper version, but only so far as the single client can handle.
I totally agree that this is the best approach! My classes are VERY mixed sometimes and this approach always works. The more advanced students already know the more advanced or full versions of the poses and automatically do them on their own. When I first started teaching, I would teach the full pose and then teach the modifications. This just didn't work out very well because many of the people who needed the modifications never tried them and kept trying to be like the more advanced students. If you teach the modification first, they are so involved with it that they hardly notice that the "advanced" students are doing something different.
I once taught a class with a morbidly obese man who had no knee caps, a pregnant woman (6+ months), several people in their seventies one of whom had advanced arthritis, several very heavy out-of-shape middle aged women, a professional athlete, a regular mixture of typical yoga students, several giggling teenage girls, several dancers and about four advanced students who should be on the cover of Yoga Journal. It may not have been my best class ever, but no one was injured and the intermediate and advanced students got a class that fit their needs. The pregnant woman, the professional athlete, two of the people in their seventies, and two of the giggle girls (they still giggle) are all now regular students. (The typical yoga students and advanced students were already regulars.) I am always surprised by the new students, especially at this time of year because there are so many of them. Many who look like they won't be able to do anything do remarkably well and many of the new students who look very fit are extremely stiff and have no body awareness. Teaching newbies really helps you to be in the present moment and to let go of your preconcieved ideas.
Heavy students (not morbidly obese students) are generally not a problem and I am amazed at how strong and flexible many of them are. The biggest problem for me is when I get a student that can't get down to the mat and back up again in a reasonable amount of time because of weight, injury or age. Since I teach a Vinyasa Flow style, this is a challange that I have not yet found a solution for without disrupting the flow for the rest of the class.
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| I was 17 stone 4lbs when I first started practising and still carry too much junk around the middle. My main issues arise in seated forward bends and in seated twists where the legs are both bent and crossed as these positions leave nowhere for the flab to go. My janu sirsasana is to die for however
I don't know if your classes use props or not but a belt and a pair of blocks would probably be very useful to this man and a means of compensating when his arms aren't long enough.
You may be surprised by his strength as very heavy people are often also quite powerful.
Fee
Edited by Orbilia 2008-03-03 5:57 AM
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Very heavy student
