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How to be in your yoga student’s space
This is an excerpt from Hands-On Yoga Assists by Kiara Armstrong.
You want to add to the student’s experience, not detract from it. I think of being in someone’s space as an invitation to respect and honor. When I approach a student using this mindset, I naturally seem to take extra care, and I hope all teachers employing the RBM will be mindful to do the same.
There are many things to consider when you are stepping into a student’s space. In a way, the yoga mat acts as your student’s little island of autonomy within the classroom, so you must be considerate when entering that space. These considerations are discussed next, beginning with being fully in your student’s space.
Never Reach; Be Fully in Your Student’s Space
When first learning to offer assists, many yoga instructors are timid about being in the student’s space. Being timid or unsure results in the teacher avoiding getting too close to their student and having to reach to touch the student. If you are reaching, you are not fully in your student’s space. Furthermore, by reaching, the teacher is not well equipped to give a safe assist because the stance is inherently compromised. If you are going to offer assists, you must be confident enough to be in your student’s space.
You know you are fully in your student’s space when you can touch your student while maintaining a comfortable stance. When in a comfortable stance, you use the strength of the legs rather than the arms, you can maintain a straight spine throughout the assist, your shoulders are often stacked over or behind the wrists, your balance is steady, you feel comfortable, and the action of the assist requires marginal effort.
Helpful Touch From a Place of Stability
Touch needs to be helpful for all involved. Assisting from a stable stance ensures that we won’t misalign our student, knock them off their balance, or fall on top of them. What is of equal importance, is that we don’t sacrifice our bodies to do this. I created RBM after experiencing an injury when assisting a student who was considerably larger than me. A stable stance is like a stable base in yoga. When we build the alignment in our poses, we start from our base. The teacher, in effect, is the base of the assist. How the teacher is holding themselves creates either a steady or unsteady assist. If the teacher makes sure that they are steady before ever touching their student, the assist can be a helpful one.
Never Surprise a Student With Your Touch; Let Them Know You’re There by Rubbing Your Hands Together, If Needed
Usually, the student will know when you have stepped into their space to offer an assist, but not always. If you are offering assists in a restorative class or in corpse pose, the student might not know you are there, and touching them could be startling. If you have quietly entered your student’s space and they appear to be in a state of internalization or meditation, rub your hands together before you touch the student. The soft brushing of the hands will subtly alert the student that you are at their mat and about to touch them. It’s also a very gentle, inviting sound that is less invasive than an unanticipated assist.
When Working Close to the Student’s Face, Avoid Breathing Directly on Them
Be mindful not to breathe on the student’s face. Breathing on the student is especially easy to do when the student is in corpse pose or any other floor pose where the student is supine (facing up) and you are close to or above their face. Turn your head slightly to direct your breath away from them.
If You Have Cold Hands, Warm Them Before Touching Your Student
Some teachers often have cold hands. If this applies to you, rub your hands together and warm them up before touching your students; cold fingers on a warm neck or shoulder creates an uncomfortable sensation.
Be Mindful of the Transition
Accidentally touching sensitive areas is a bigger risk when coming into or out of a pose. For this reason, be mindful of how you are transitioning in and out of the student’s space. If you are pressing on the hips, be careful not to brush or touch the genitals or the groin region. If you are working around the shoulders, be careful not to brush or touch the breasts. If you take care to enter slowly and exit slowly to avoid the snapback, it will be easier to avoid grazing sensitive areas as you also slowly step out of a student’s space.
Sometimes, when we take care to avoid our students’ sensitive areas, we forget about our own. Be mindful not to put your pelvis or breasts in the student’s face or on any part of their body. This unfortunate occurrence can easily happen when giving assists on the floor, especially in supine twist. Try to keep some distance between your sensitive regions and the student’s face and body. Consider keeping a barrier between your sensitive areas and the student’s head too. For example, in supine twist, your anchor arm can act as a barrier, and in corpse-pose neck traction, your crossed legs act as a barrier.
Be Conscious of Odors and Aromas
Last but not least, be mindful of your hygiene. Because assists require that you be fully in your students’ space, ensure that you are free of any distracting body odors that may feel invasive to your students. Additionally, avoid any strong perfumes, oils, or fragrances that might also seem invasive to a sensitive person. If you use essential oils, request permission before bringing them into the student’s personal space.
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