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| I'm new to this forum so I apologize if this question has been asked before. Is it standard practice in Bikram studios to ask a participant (I'm not a teacher) to demonstrate a posture for the rest of the class? |
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| It's not standard practice. I've seen students be asked to demonstrate less than a handful of times. But it does happen.
And that does not count asking newbies to take a spot in the back so they can observe students in the front row. That happens all the time. |
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| Not super common, but I don't think there's anything WRONG with it either. Bikram does it all the time. I've been asked to demonstrate maybe 4 or 5 different postures by different teachers at different times. I think sometimes it is nice for the students to get a clear visual example of the posture, especially if the teacher uses it as an opportunity to point out a specific technical points (so that it is a learning tool instead of "ooooooh lookit that girl....")
One of my teachers said that she liked having demos done by students instead of doing them herself, because 1) it can be nice for the demo student's confidence, and 2) it is more inspiring for students to see ANOTHER student doing well cause then they think, "oh, hey, I guess maybe I COULD do that too if I keep coming."
Why do you ask? Something bothering you, or just curiosity?  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| From another POV, in Iyengar classes we do this all the time, particularly with students who are somewhat beyond new beginners. It is useful for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is significantly easier to show something on another body sometimes than to show it on myself while I am in a pose. For example, I cannot be in headstand and also use my hands to point at my shoulder blades!  Next lifetime, maybe... |
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| i agree with dancing j on the subject, and will add a number 3 to her list, which is that "if you're not warmed up, showing a posture sucks big time and you might pull something." honestly, even though i don't teach bikram, i always point out the good alignment of another student. often, i'll have them demonstrate (that is, stop the flow of class, say "look at derek!" and then explain what is awesome about his pose or unique modification, and then er all try it, and then jump back into the flow of things.
so it is common in yoga in general, i think, or at least it's common to me! LOL |
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| In a class where folks know each other well, I too often have somebody demo a pose when they do it well and especially if they've struggled with it over a long period. Let's newbies see what's possible and the deomanstrator gets a boost from having worked hard and accomplishing something. |
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| right, and my students have gone completely AWOL and do their own thing now. it forms a community, and now i hardly teach anything.
i go "ok, crow pose" and the two next to the newbie go like this "ok, start like this, and then go like that." and then the other goes "good, yeah, and then, see, it took me 6 years to get it so if you don't get it today, that's ok. OMG! you got it!" and the other goes "yeah, see, it's easy!" and then they all do it and they laugh and the new student comes back.
crazy students, they just take over.
but i totally cultivated that. |
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Using student for demonstration??
