As part of my teacher training we spent a lot of time learning adjustments. I didn't think much of this at first, but as time went by I came to love it...
Our timetable at Brahmani worked as a rota; we'd be assistants to teachers in class as well as practice. As assistants, we'd correct postures and give adjustments. At first, I found it a little tricky. Yoga is all about a journey inside yourself; where emphasis is on FEELING or OBSERVING the body, not SEEING it. So LOOKING at other people's postures to SEE how to help them almost went against everything I had been training myself to do. But over time I became sensitive to all the different kinds of body types, where they held their tension and how I could help alleviate it.
I came to feel like an adjustment angel; floating discreetly around a class, placing my hand on people where they needed more strength or growth. I'd say "breathe into my hand" and like magic, their bodies would expand and their alignment corrected.
And then there were the more intense adjustments, to help guide people deeper into postures. At first this made me nervous. In order to give a really good adjustment, you almost have to become that person, working with the ryhthum of their breath to guide and sculpt their body a little further in than they could do themselves. The barrier between their body and my body needed to dissolve and that took a little getting used to. But now, what a gift - to use my body as a tool of support and guidanceto help a person breathe, grow, relax, expand and release.
Like I say, MAGIC.
Here's a few snaps of us Brahmani adjustment angels in training.
0 comments:
Post a Comment