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| Hi there
I would appreciate some expert advice on how to deal with the following situation and person ~
Approx 1 month ago, completely out of thin air, my previous Ashtanga teacher sold his studio to a girl he had been teaching. He must have felt that she had reached a proficient enough level after having spent 6 weeks in Goa under Michael Gannon's tutelage. Also, my guess is that she convinced him with her practice which looks smooth. In any case, I really like this girl and I don't want to strain our "teacher / student relationship", particularly since this school is the only Ashtanga school in our city. However, during the past two or three Mysore classes I felt a bit challenged on how to react to her adjustments. I have studied with a few teachers in Ireland, New Zealand (John Scott among others) and the previous teacher in my school here in Germany and what I have learned from them seems to conflict with what she's trying to convey now. I don't want to ignore her but at the same time don't want to change the practice that I have developed either. How can I subtly do my thing and still not be obstructive to the class atmosphere? I don't want to upset her in any way but feel that continuing her way will be counterproductive to my practice. Shall I just wait and see how she comes along as her teaching abilities improve? Or should I address this now?
Thanks very much in advance for your help.
Cheers
Jessica
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Expert Yogi
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| So, in mysore classes there is no stopping to teach, right? Just doing the sequence and the teacher adjusting? In this case I would try to catch the teacher after the class, choose one pose that you are absolutely clear on and clear on your usual adjustments from other teachers. Ask her as nicely as possible if she could explain her adjustment on pose x by telling her something like "I'm just not sure I am understanding it very well," or "I don't think I quite caught what you were going of in that adjustment - can you show me again or tell me what I'm not feeling?" Do not say "The other teacher always said this..." or "When I studied under XYZ famous teacher, they said..." which will just make her feel defensive more than likely. If you can get a dialogue going, it should clear up in time.
So the other teacher who sold her the studio is your former teacher? My guess is that you are also missing him and what was familiar and comfortable. I am not suggesting in any way that you are incorrect in your assessment of the new person, just that you have to calculate in your feelings about losing someone you like to the equation.
Let us know how it goes! |
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| Hello Jessica.
The first step, as I see it (of course) is to engage your own process of Svadhyaya. Go inside and clarify why you are resisting. Would you be resisting if Pattabhi Jois were correcting you even though it conflicted with your previous teachings?
It may very well be that this teacher is not for you - in one way or another. Or it may be that you are simply resisting for another set of reasons. We do get very attached, stuck, rooted, in our practice no matter what style or flavor one is studying. Yoga does grow and change so that is to be accepted when stepping on the path. However it is the "how" of the growth, change, and transformation that is then germane.
So I'm suggesting you get very clear about the abilities of this teacher AND the resistance you are experiencing. If she is unqualified or less qualified or you are not moved toward your dharma by her teaching then it's best to seek out a teacher who can facilitate these things.
If, on the other hand, you are leaning toward a wall of dogma regarding your current practice and you are inflexible of mind, then the work would be yours. Of course a master teacher should help you there as well but let's not set the bar too high:-)
Edited by purnayoga 2008-10-04 8:50 PM
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| Dear Jessica: From what you wrote, you are happy with your older ways and practices. You are not comfortable with the new teacher, regardless of her own practices, learnings, or whatever. So, you have only two choices:
a) When you are learning from this teacher, you must completely and whole heartedly do the way she is telling you. And, forget the old ways for that time, at least.
b) Quit this teacher, regardless of whether there is ONLY one school in town, or no school in town.
Namaste.
Aotearoa - 2008-10-04 2:21 PM
Hi there
I would appreciate some expert advice on how to deal with the following situation and person ~
Approx 1 month ago, completely out of thin air, my previous Ashtanga teacher sold his studio to a girl he had been teaching. He must have felt that she had reached a proficient enough level after having spent 6 weeks in Goa under Michael Gannon's tutelage. Also, my guess is that she convinced him with her practice which looks smooth. In any case, I really like this girl and I don't want to strain our "teacher / student relationship", particularly since this school is the only Ashtanga school in our city. However, during the past two or three Mysore classes I felt a bit challenged on how to react to her adjustments. I have studied with a few teachers in Ireland, New Zealand (John Scott among others) and the previous teacher in my school here in Germany and what I have learned from them seems to conflict with what she's trying to convey now. I don't want to ignore her but at the same time don't want to change the practice that I have developed either. How can I subtly do my thing and still not be obstructive to the class atmosphere? I don't want to upset her in any way but feel that continuing her way will be counterproductive to my practice. Shall I just wait and see how she comes along as her teaching abilities improve? Or should I address this now?
Thanks very much in advance for your help.
Cheers
Jessica
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| Hi Jessica,
My first thought is really how experienced this new teacher is.
There are a lot of bad teachers in the Ashtanga world.
I feel someone needs 10 to 20 years experience to even start teaching.
If you feel this person doesn't know how to adjust you properly, don't let them.
When your doing a Mysore self practise your body is very open and can be vulnerable to wrong adjustments.
And this is more dangerous than if someone is just telling you what to do, then you applying it your self, as in a lead class.
It sounds like you have been with some very good teachers like John Scott and if what there teaching conflicts with him, not adding to the teaching, I would really question what there saying.
I've practice, and met, with lots of the top teachers in this Ashtanga world over the past 17 years and none of them conflicted with each other at all.
Don't get caught up in this idea that you have to take on whatever someone says just because they have decided to call themselves a teacher.
It's to dangerous to play this game that is just my ego stopping me, when it could be your intuition protecting you.
Edited by Phil 2008-10-05 7:33 AM
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| Many thanks to you all for your advice in this case.
Truth be told, I'm still struggling with the whole situation. After all, she's only been pracitising Ashtanga for one year (!) and after a mere six weeks' teacher training in India considers herself fit to teach beginners and more advanced students. Maybe I should give her some more time to settle into her new job a bit better. But could you imagine studying with a teacher who has only been teaching for a month in total with that little previous experience?... I guess the best thing to do is wait and see how things progress in the near future and then talk to her one on one.
Thanks again for your insights.
Jessica |
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| Hi Jessica,
After reading your last post I would stop going to her straight away.
There's no way anyone can teach yoga with so little experience.
Even if they can do the postures that does not mean they can teach.
In Fact the worst teachers are the ones who found it easy, when they first started, to do the postures. As they don't understand the pit falls and obstacles that are there for most students.
Edited by Phil 2008-10-05 3:21 PM
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| Hi Jessica,
I would like to suggest that you study a different style of yoga for a while. That would give this teacher a chance to find herself as a teacher and give you the opportunity to broaden your practice. I consider it best to find your own yoga as opposed to mindlessly following Astanga, Iyengar or whatever. (Iyengar and Jois's teacher Krishnamacharya taught that the yoga should fit the student, NOT the student fit the yoga. Unfortunately, neither of them learned this lesson.) By broadening your perspective, you can gain many new insights that will either apply to Astanga or to the "new" yoga that you find within yourself. Maybe it is time for you to stop relying so much on external teachers and start finding the teacher within. External feedback is very important, but the main focus should be on developing the internal feedback, not relying on classes or teachers.
Namaste,
Jim |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | I agree with NB, but after what I've dealt with in this "yoga realm", best to not doubt yourself if you have a good solid practice and its working for you. I have these same experiences every time I step foot in a new yoga studio. This is the reason I don't go back to most of them. What's really cool is when you step foot in a studio that is like 75% or more, in-line with your practice...you feel quite at home and its very refreshing. Meanwhile, practice what you know and learned, master it well. Afterall, isn't that what learning is all about??
If you're in the class, you can fake an adjustment easily. I simply re-adjust after the adjustment. Most teachers aren't paying that much attention, and the ones that do are usually the ones that are doing it either the correct way or the way you were taught,  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Yeah - she's really not ready to teach, no matter how adept she may be in her practice. But then there are those who have never studied yoga and start teaching after a weekend course!  |
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| I would try resisting the adjustment. You can communicate a lot with your body language.
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New teacher
