Hands-on adjustment or assisting the student.

In a yoga class mainly of ashtanga or Mysore, hands-on adjustment plays an important role. The adjustments commonly differ postures by postures, student by student, and even teacher by teacher.

It is very evident different yoga teachers would adjust the same posture in many different ways. Also, it is seemingly possible that the same teacher would change two different students in the same pose in a very different way.

And many times, these soft, gentle, or harsh adjustments lead to yoga injuries. In this series of upcoming chapters, we would go in-depth on the science of adjustments.

Do hands-on adjustments are needed?

Yes, they are needed in the modern world where students don't have time to bring higher practice frequency in a week or daily practice. If students practice 3-5 days a week, even verbal adjustments would be effective as the body is adjusting itself towards perfection day by day.

Most students don't have time to do 4-5 times a week, in that scenario assisting the student comes in importance.

Hand adjustments don't guarantee faster improvement of a yoga posture, but it does help in someways -

1. Understanding the posture- Hands-on adjustment helps the student to understand the importance of the pose well. When they are adjusted in a posture, pose becomes more relevant, it plays on a more psychological level. This would help mainly to those students to slow down who do yoga like a fast race.

2. Learn the proper movement - It is easier to learn how to move the body and breathe within the posture. For example, in simple poses like, Triangle students don't feel they don't have a straight back, and the teacher's help can improve and make the posture effective. Marichyasana C, where students are commonly adjusted, needs guidance on rotating the shoulder and elbow within the pose.

3. Useful in advance postures sets- Advance postures such as arm balances, headstand variations, scorpion, or backbends; students prefer help from the teacher to ensure safety and learn how to balance.

4. Build confidence - Once adjusted well with the teacher's hands, postures have a different feel and build the student's confidence to learn more challenging poses.

The key to correct and effective adjustments -

1. Build student confidence, so they apply the least resistance during adjustments.

2. Teachers should control his or her force of hand and bring slow and consistent practice in students.

3. Teacher should be well educated with the anatomy of the body. Most teachers move the sharp-edged sword in the dark without knowing the muscles, bones, or joints.

4. Dosha type of students, an Ayurveda concept that would help to understand the student in terms of physical and their emotional self. For example, Vata type bodies would be adjusted in a different way than Kapha type.

"Whether young or old, very old, sick or feeble, one can attain perfection in all the yogas by practicing. Perfection results from practical application."- Hatha Yoga 1.64

Online classes only uses live verbal instructions and students can also improve quickly there. Orsi is doing the pose below.

This part is taken from 300 hours Vinyasa Krama text.

Joseph Varga is doing yoga since last 1.5 years with us including done an online TTC 200.