A skilled hands-on assist from an experienced yoga teacher can be an excellent tool for learning. A well-intentioned but less skillful adjustment can do more harm than good. There are plenty of other scenarios that live in between those two extremes. My goal for exploring this subject is not to change your mind about adjustments/assists one way or the other, rather to expose you to considerations that might be new for you, and to inspire you do your own exploration about if and when hands-on assists and adjustments might be appropriate for you and your students.
I have had my share of heavy-handed and unnecessary adjustments from teachers, which thankfully produced no significant injury, but were not helpful in the least. I’ve enjoyed a great deal of really creative hands-on assists that sparked an awareness that was helpful to me in a certain pose. I’ve delighted in therapeutic assists that helped me to surrender into a resting pose. I’ve had adjustments that felt amazing in the moment but resulted in an injury flare up or soreness the next day. I personally tend to do minimal hands-on assists and adjustments, and try to use my language instead, and here are a few of the reasons why I’ve formed the mostly hands-off habit:
1) I hope to inspire students to create forms and shapes (poses) that are suitable and appropriate for their own bodies, on that particular day. I am an outside observer; therefore, I cannot see how my touch could affect their physical body or nervous system. I can offer them a general template for the pose, considering traditional alignment principles, but I feel it unnecessary to fuss over small “misalignments” unless the student appears to be uncomfortable (wiggling, fidgeting, frowning, etc.) Nitpicking over minor perceived misalignments might actually create a stress response in students, especially if we return to them multiple times during the practice to “fix” them. They aren’t broken, they don’t need to be fixed.
2) I want to set the stage for empowerment and allow my students to explore the vast range between “right” and “wrong.” Rather than using my hands to physically reposition them, I might extend the invitation to make small adjustments in their joint positions to decide if it’s better or worse, similar to how your optometrist prompts you during an eye exam. This method creates an opportunity for the student to learn their own bodies, and to create muscle memory, because their nervous system is engaged in the process versus being along for the ride. Are they in control of the pose, or is the pose (or the assist) controlling them?
3) In regard to therapeutic or “feel good” assists, in a larger class it can be nearly impossible to get around to everyone to offer a hands-on touch. Some students might feel left out if they don’t receive the hands-on touch they might be expecting. It can be quite disruptive to students to have me traipsing around the room while they are trying to keep their focus inward. I could be potentially creating a scenario where students come to regularly expect that hands-on touch, which might create an attachment for them that not only disrupts their experience but puts pressure on me to touch rather than to teach.
4) I don’t feel I’m sufficiently trained to manipulate the joints or spine of another person. I am not a licensed massage therapist and have no medical training. Even if a student gave their consent, I could unknowingly initiate an injury that may not be obvious until a later time.
5) I don’t place a high value on depth in yoga postures. In my personal practice, forcing myself deeper into shapes has resulted in frustration and discomfort, rather than confidence and relaxation.
Two teachers who I have great respect for have two completely different philosophies on hands-on assists:
The first says “A skilled teacher doesn’t need to use their bodies to teach, they are able to use their intellect, creativity and language to convey their instructions.”
The second says “A good yoga teacher always gives hands-on adjustments to their students.”
I agree with both! I think a teacher who can convey their teachings with their language is masterful. I think a teacher who gives skillful adjustments is also valuable. I feel that it’s important that we try to stay away from absolutes, and this is a practice that I am constantly engaged in as a human in evolution in many areas of my life including but not limited to teaching yoga.
I’ve listed some other considerations below to encourage exploration of your own beliefs about using hands on assists in your classes.
1) Intention. What is your intention for the assist or the adjustment? Correction or connection? If you’re offering an adjustment due to your concern for alignment or safety, can you grade the risk that the student is in, and consider if using verbal instructions could get the job done prior to physical intervention? If it’s a therapeutic adjustment, are you certain that your student will be positively served by it? Connection is one item in the “pro” list of hands-on assists, in my opinion. There may students who live alone, have very little contact with other humans, and your touch might be the only human touch they regularly receive. That could potentially be a true blessing for them. It could also become a troublesome expectation or issue of dependence in the longer term, and ultimately falls outside the scope of practice as a yoga educator.
2) Consent. In my experience, most students will consent to touch, especially if your habit is to say “If you don’t want a hands-on adjustment today, place your hand on your belly” or something similar prior to class. Students do not want to disappoint you as the teacher, and most students do not want any unnecessary attention brought to them before or during class, or to be singled out. Having consent is a small portion of the wider landscape, in my opinion. I have encountered a few students who came to me before class and ask that I not touch them due to a current injury. Mostly though, in my experience, people are open to hands on assists and adjustments in yoga. Do I believe that we should always ask for consent before touching? Yes. Does that normally happen in classes that I attend? No. Do I believe that having consent eliminates all other potential issues? No. It’s unlikely that having verbal or written consent would ever hold up in the case of liability, and if you’re a yoga teacher with liability insurance, it may not cover hands-on assists. Students are assuming that you are credentialed or “certified” to give these hands-on assists, so they are trusting that it’s safe. Consent may not protect you, and consent will not ease your guilt if you unintentionally hurt a student during a physical adjustment.
3) Scope of practice. A 200-hour yoga teacher training program offers roughly 20 hours of anatomy and physiology coursework, yet in my experience hands-on assists are also taught in these trainings. I personally feel that 20 hours of study of the human body is not nearly enough to prepare the teacher for the responsibilities that come with a regular practice of hands-on adjustments. For the sake of comparison, minimum requirements for massage therapists are upwards of 1000 hours of study on average. For chiropractic study, a minimum of about 4000 hours is required. Granted, an experienced yoga teacher may have thousands of hours of teaching experience and may have a close enough relationship with their students and knowledge of their bodies to feel confident in a hands-on approach, especially in a private yoga setting. But in some public yoga classes, there can be fair amount of student turnover and very little time for dialogue of the nuances of what might be happening in their bodies on given day.
4) Glamorization of depth (AKA the Instagramification of yoga asana.) In regard to asana itself, Is deeper better? If a teacher is using leverage to deepen the pose for the student, there must be a reason. If it’s your intent to guide a student deeper, would you be able to explain the benefit of the additional depth to them? Are we teaching students that they will be “better” at yoga if they go deeper into a particular shape? Are we potentially creating a scenario where students will crave or chase a deeper sensation in the poses if we use our own leverage to help them achieve depth? In regard to deepening or “opening” a student into a deeper expression of the pose, keep in mind that there is a reason why their range of motion is the way it is in any given shape. Additionally, our stretch tolerance is controlled by our nervous system, and their NS could be protecting them from a range of motion that it feels is unsafe or unnecessary. While a student might indeed achieve greater range of motion with leverage applied, if they cannot control that range on their own, is it wise to go there? One thing I find so interesting to observe in classes is that very mobile students are often the first students that teachers will adjust. The student is already quite adept at the shape, so perhaps the teacher feels confident that the student will receive the assist in a positive way. But maybe our less adept student could benefit more from our attention, either through words or touch? Not necessarily to deepen, but to bring awareness, or to show that student “I see you, I’m here for you.”
5) But it feels good! Yes, I totally hear that! But … dessert also tastes really good, but I know that I shouldn’t overindulge in it (for the record, I indulge far too often.) Just because something feels good doesn’t necessarily mean it IS inherently good for us.
6) Potential for Injury, even when it feels good! Ask anyone who’s ever had a herniated disc what caused their injury. The response will typically be “I just got out of bed one day and my back went out!” A reasonable person knows that it might take years of a particular movement pattern or disfunction to produce a situation such as a herniated or bulging spinal disc, rather than an isolated one-time movement that on the surface seems quite innocuous. So, while a student may appear to be fit, feel healthy and claim to be injury free, we never know if there may be a potential liability in their bodies lurking below the surface. A few degrees of movement in one direction or another, or a few ounces of additional torque or force could create a chain of events that could change that student’s life. You’ve probably heard the analogy, and I’m sorry I don’t have a better one, but your adjustment could be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Are you willing to take on that risk?
7) Trauma, and intention vs. impact. It’s estimated that 1 in 3 (35%!) of women globally have experienced physical or sexual violence. 70% of people in the U.S. have experienced at least one traumatic event, and 20% of those develop PTSD. 5% (13 million) in the U.S. population is estimated to have PTSD, and 38% of those have experienced 4 or more traumatic events. We might have the purest of intentions, yet we cannot predict how our actions will impact another. Does the intent of our action really matter if our actions have a negative impact?
I know what you may be thinking “I’ve adjusted thousands of students and they all love it! They all tell me how great I am at adjustments! I’ve never injured anyone.” That’s cool, for sure, and it’s nice to hear that feedback as a teacher. Realize that there may be students out there who have deep respect for you that might not have enjoyed those assists as much, but don’t have the courage to tell you to stop. You’ve never injured anyone that you know of, might be more accurate. I personally know of several teachers and students that felt their injuries were exacerbated by a hands-on adjustment from a teacher, yet they didn’t speak up for their own reasons. Some of these people had given consent, others weren’t given the option to consent to touch.
Thought provoker: Consider if there's a way you could incorporate consent-based touch that doesn't involve using your leverage to manipulate a student’s body, and puts the student in charge of the direction and depth of their pose. Example: Place a hand on their lifted heel/foot in Warrior 3 and ask them to press into your hand. Or, stabilize their stable parts so their mobile parts can move through the student’s own effort. Offer the use of props to provide tactile feedback that supports your verbal cues.
Final thoughts: As teachers, we try to help our students understand that the practice of yoga goes beyond the physical, so we can assume our touch goes beyond the physical as well. Your teaching prowess doesn't hinge on whether or not you give adjustments. You can be just as effective in your ability to teach if you are mostly hands-off. Students that enjoy and want hands-on assists will make their way to your classes if you regularly offer them. If you are more hands-off, your students will also find you. Whatever you decide, I hope that you find confidence in your ability to produce the desired result, and that you’re prepared for the potential consequences whether they are social, physical, mental, or emotional.
