09/03/2021
NOT ONE SIZE ~ have you ever had one of these things happen:
Teacher 1: At some point she was taught to squeeze her bum and tuck her tailbone under. This is called posterior pelvic tilt (PPT). It is a good movement for your body to have, and it can be good for certain movements. For ex: It helps some people with inversions. There is nothing wrong with PPT as a movement. But this teacher learned this movement, and she directs her students to do it all the time. When standing. Doing uttkatasana. Doing warrior 1, and triangle pose. What was a cue for a specific movement has become something used all the time. Do you know why this might not be so good?
Teacher 2: is explaining a pose. She has knees that move a little towards each other, and was instructed to aim the middle of her knee more externally when she bends her knees. So when she teaches she explains that this is the way to do the pose.
But here’s the deal- both can be really good teachers. They can lead students through beautiful, transformational practices. But there will be someone in the class that has a different need. And neither will be able to help that person.
It happened to me the other day. I was teaching warrior 1, and I was sharing something that personally feels good to me. I asked the class whether it helped, and the answer was no. 2 people said it hurt MORE than before. So what to do??
1. Don’t freak out! You can still be an incredible guide. What you are guiding is THAT PERSON into a pose.
2. Ask them whether your intervention is helping, on not. Don’t be afraid of no.
3. Rewind and take them back to what they prefer.
4. Try a different intervention. Does it help? Might be time to clarify what the issue is for them (or is it you who has an issue with how their body is navigating the pose?)
5. Give less instruction and see what happens.
6. Be a detective and follow what works.
7. Don’t extrapolate what works now to be forever or for every pose.
That can be enough.
For me the next stage is to go back to what I know about our design and function. I helped people find what works before that (thanks to ) but now I have SO many more tools...
