Yoga Adjustments: Q&A with Nam Chanterrwyn
Yoga Adjustments: Q&A with Nam Chanterrwyn
Not too long ago, I shared an article online about a yoga practitioner who was seeking advice on Reddit about how to decline hands on adjustments from their ashtanga teacher. It sparked an interesting conversation with people sharing their own testimonials and questions about hands on adjustments/assists. It’s a topic of interest as more people come forward to discuss injuries and consent in yoga. Through the years I’ve held a healthy dose of skepticism about yoga adjustments, but it was when I met Nam Chanterrwyn in San Francisco a few years ago while in Jason Crandell’s advanced training that I came to see (and appreciate) the skill and experience it takes to approach hands on assists. Nam’s teaching experience and adeptness for hands on assists are remarkable. We share a curiosity and passion for teaching movement - I always learn something when we talk. I reached out to ask for his insight on yoga adjustments to see if he would help unpack the many layers of hands on adjustments/assists. He did not disappoint!
Updated 4/14/2021 for our emerging new normal.
What value do you see in or what is it you love/appreciate about hands-on adjustments in the yoga studio?
An adjustment, when skillfully used, can help students gain a deeper understanding of what is being taught in the asana. Often times, students have difficulty feeling or embodying verbal cues, so an effective adjustment can help them discover how to do certain actions. Adjustments can help students develop skills like proprioception, interoception, muscular engagement, balance, etc...
Where do hands-on adjustments go wrong? What is it that makes them a potentially injurious situation?
There are many ways where adjustments can go wrong. At best, when a teacher is unclear about the intention behind the adjustment or feel uncomfortable giving adjusmtents, their student will receive confusing messages through that touch. It comes down to Intention vs. Impact. We first have to be clear of our intentions before we even touch our students. We need to be clear for ourselves, what and how the adjustment is meant to teach or communicate to our students. Giving an adjustment simply because it is the thing to do in that particular pose or because we saw someone else do something similar is not an effective teaching strategy. If we are unclear of our intentions, the impact on the student will be unclear. They may perceive it in any number of ways, and may even feel that their personal space has been violated.
Hands-on Adjustments have the potential of really going wrong, when the intention is to either help students go deeper into a pose or to move them into a position that they are not capable of moving into their own. Physically moving, pushing, or pulling a student into positions merely teaches them to be dependent on outside forces to leverage their bodies into a shape. Instead we can use strategies to teach our students to use their internal forces to move themselves
Are there some misconceptions about adjustments you’d like to clear up?
I think the core of a bad adjustment is in the misunderstanding of its intent and/or purpose. But what leads to that misconception is how teachers are being taught to cue the poses in the first place. The language and cueing that is generally being taught in most 200hr YTTs is to fix or correct alignment once the student is in the pose. So the underlying message is that whatever the student is doing is not correct, and that there is a more correct way of doing the pose if they can only go deeper or do something different.
For example, some of the cues you may often hear may sound similar to:
In Warrior II
Place your front knee over your ankle
Lower your front thigh til it is parallel to the floor
Square your hips to the side of the mat
In a wide legged forward fold:
Turn your thigh out (externally rotate)
Fold deeper
Straighten your spine
So if a teacher were to adjust a body based on these cues, they would move or force their students into positions that may not be appropriate for their individual bodies. Cues that put value on more range of motion or that glorifies an ideal shape will end up supporting or reinforcing the idea that the adjustments should help students achieve that.
I prefer instead to offer cues that allow students to be ok with where they are in space, but to participate in the intention of the pose, not perfect it. So the accompanying adjustments more frequently involve giving students something to push back against to receive physical feedback to what they are doing. Or adjustments that support they shape, grounding them, so that they can do the work of moving and lengthening on their own.
Offer students a palm to press into so that they can engage in isometric contraction. If they choose to move further into the “stretch”, then they would have to keep that muscular engagement before going “deeper”
How do you (as a student) get out of a bad adjustment?
This is a tough one to answer. With the student/teacher relationship, most students would not feel comfortable saying anything in the moment for fear of creating conflict. It is LARGELY the teachers responsibility to not place their students in this position in the first place. But if a student is confident in themselves, then they can be clear and assertive about not wanting the adjustment. And teachers need to do whatever they can to create an environment where that is not just ok, but encouraged.
In the Acro Yoga world, there is an understanding that if anyone is at all uncomfortable or feels unsure at anytime, they can just clearly say “DOWN” and everyone comes out of the pose and resets. There is no debate or questioning whether that person really means it or trying to convince them that they’re safe. Everyone honors the signal. So if we can cultivate the same environment in a traditional yoga class where students can confidently tell their teachers “no”, without fear of embarrassment.
Consent. What is your approach to consent in group classes?
Ask. Ask as many ways as you can. Different students will respond to different methods. But I have two ways that I feel comfortable with.
The first is to check in with the student before class. Especially if they are new to your class. Ask them directly “How do you feel about physical adjustments?” This may put them on the spot, but I find that if you can connect with them first, then ask them without making a big deal of it, students are almost always comfortable with giving you an honest answer. If you feel uncomfortable with the question, or make it seem like a big deal, they will be uncomfortable.
The second method is to ask the class as a group. While they are all in child’s pose or an inward pose, I say this, “I do offer physical adjustments, if you are working with an injury or just prefer not to be touched today for any reason, that’s great, please raise one hand high now, so that I’ll know to protect your space.
Is there anything teachers can do right now to make hands-on adjustments a better more informed experience? 1-3 quick tips if any come to mind?
Never push or try to move a student into a pose. Give them support so that they can move on their own. Stabilize their balance so they can focus on other elements of the pose. For example: in a lunge twist, steady the legs or pelvis and let the student twist on their own. Avoid moving them further into the twist
Give students an out. Adjust them in a way that, if they reach their edge and need to back off, they can do so immediately. Teachers should not be hindering the egress from the pose. If you make an honest mistake and push them too far, they should not have to push back against you to get out of the adjustment.
If assisting in an inversion, never hold the students’ legs. If they have to come out of the pose, they have nowhere to go but down and onto their heads. Instead support the pelvis.
What’s the one thing you want yoga teachers to know about hands-on adjustments?
It is ok to offer them as long as you are being skillful about it. If you want to get better at this skill, practice with people who will give you honest feedback, and take that feedback openly. If someone tells you that something didn’t feel right, don’t make excuses about it. Thank them for making the effort to tell you so you can find out what you did that wasn’t ideal. My wife is so sensitive in her practice that if I ever do anything that isn’t skillful, she will feel it right away and tell me. It’s a huge slap to the ego sometimes, but I know that if I can learn from it, I’ll be a better teacher for it.
As yoga studios search for their new normal and in-person classes rebound it is more important than ever to ask for consent when doing hands-on adjustments. We are more aware of personal space than ever before and we are still practicing social, or rather, physical distancing. Aside from all the reasons listed above, a return to hands on assists will come with an additional layer of precaution around it that we must consider and be in-tune with. Some folks may be craving the connection of hands-on assists while others may not be ready for them to return.
Light, supportive assists that guide and inform will be even more appropriate than deep, intrusive ones. After the year we are all emerging from this is more important than ever and perhaps more obvious than ever. Let’s get clear on what we’re doing on the yoga mat and how we communicate it.
Nam Chanterrwyn, E-RYT 500, YACEP, FRCms