Hands-On Yoga Assists

In Hands-On Yoga Assists: A Teacher’s Guide to the Rubber Band Method®, Kiara Armstrong—an ERYT-500 yoga teacher and certified massage therapist—presents her Rubber Band Method® and shares her expertise as on how to safely incorporate touch into the yoga classroom. You will learn how the body responds to assisted stretching and how to read tissues so you can offer your students a more beneficial yoga asana experience through hands-on assists.

Hands-On Yoga Assists covers the benefits of assists, safety, anatomy, stances to use, how to read tissues, and how to implement touch in a way that respects the needs of those who may have suffered trauma. You will learn how to perform assists in a way that keeps your own body safe and keeps your students emotionally and physically safe. Included are assists for 15 poses to use in group classes or one-on-one instruction. For each assist, you will find a color-coded anatomical diagram as well as easy-to-follow instructions that cover purpose, student alignment, stance, hand placement, general precautions, and common misalignments. You’ll also find valuable information on the following:

• The science-backed benefits of touch for enhancing health and the asana practice
• Techniques for listening with your hands and reading body tissues
• The 10 tenets of the Rubber Band Method®
• The importance of being respectful of boundaries when incorporating touch in any classroom
• How to integrate assists into a trauma-informed yoga class
• How the wisdom of the yoga sutras can be applied to incorporating touch in the classroom

When offering yoga assists, it’s important to understand that students with trauma are likely to be found in any classroom, and touch can have a significant impact on them. Armstrong shares some of her own experiences with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the benefit of consensual, purposeful touch in supporting students healing from trauma.

Ideal for 200- or 300-hour yoga teacher trainings or as a resource for teachers of any level, Hands-On Yoga Assists: A Teacher’s Guide to the Rubber Band Method® is a one-of-a-kind handbook with methods that have been tested and perfected with thousands of students over more than a decade. Complete with anatomical diagrams, photos, easy-to-follow instructions, and Try This activities, each chapter helps you become the hands-on yoga teacher you aspire to be.

Audience

Yoga instructors who teach students with varied backgrounds and abilities. Yoga instructors who teach group classes or provide private one-on-one instruction. Also for 200-hour and 300-hour yoga teacher training programs looking to offer hands-on assists with anatomical instruction.

Part I. Methodology
Chapter 1. The Science of Safe Touch
The Benefits of Safe Touch
Touch and the Nervous System

Chapter 2. Changing the Language: Adjustment Versus Assist
Touch and Proprioception
Yoga Adjustments
Yoga Assists

Chapter 3. Learn to Read the Tissues
Rubber Band Theory
Muscle Tissue and Fascia

Chapter 4. The Rubber Band Method® Tenets of Assisting
1. Always Ask Permission
2. Never Assist a Misaligned Pose
3. Your Body Comes First
4. Have a Clear Purpose
5. Enter and Exit Slowly
6. Use Firm, Directional Pressure
7. Follow the Lines of the Pose
8. Do Not Assist on Skin
9. Always Assist Both Sides
10. Be Mindful When Assisting Joints

Chapter 5. Respectful Assists
Helpful Versus Hurtful Touch
How to Be in a Student’s Space
Rubber Band Method® and Trauma

Chapter 6. Rubber Band Method® in Action
Step by Step: Bringing the Rubber Band Method® Into Class
Suggestions for Learning

Part II. Techniques
Chapter 7. Rubber Band Method® Stances
High-Squat Stance
Warrior I Stance
Low-Lunge Stance
Low-Squat Stance
Kneeling Stance
Easy-Seat Stance

Chapter 8. Feet
Corpse Pose: Arch Palpation
Corpse Pose: Leg Lift
Locust Pose: Foot Anchor

Chapter 9. Thigh and Hip
Child’s Pose: Hip Press
Child’s Pose: Sacral Press
Child’s Pose: Thigh Rotation
Wide-Leg Forward Fold: Thigh Rotation

Chapter 10. Spine
Child’s Pose: Spinal Lengthening
Downward Dog: Front Press
Easy-Seat Side Stretch: Hip Anchor
Supine Twist: Spinal Lengthening
Deer Pose: Spinal Lengthening

Chapter 11. Neck and Shoulders
Bound Angle or Corpse Pose: Chest Press
Corpse Pose: Neck Traction
Deer Pose: Reverse Shoulder Press

Kiara Armstrong, E-RYT 500, CMT, YACEP, has taught and provided hands-on assists in countless yoga settings, from auditorium-sized classes to one-on-one client sessions. In addition to teaching yoga since 2011, she’s a massage therapist and educator. She has been creating and leading 200- and 300-hour yoga teacher trainings since 2016 and offers online trainings on the Rubber Band Method®. She has also been the interim anatomy instructor at the massage institute in which she was trained. Armstrong was trained in trauma-informed yoga and taught it for several years. Having overcome complex posttraumatic stress disorder herself, she has utilized yoga for the reduction of stress for people suffering on the stress-to-trauma continuum. She is the creator of the Rubber Band Method®.

“Hands-On Yoga Assists is an invaluable tool. In this book, Kiara Armstrong transforms her intelligent, soothing assists into words, diagrams, and anecdotes that will resonate with newcomers and longtime practitioners alike.”
—Dina Ruiz Eastwood, RYT 200, Writer and Media Personality

“Kiara Armstrong’s Rubber Band Method is rooted in anatomy and trauma sensitivity, and it revolutionizes hands-on yoga assists with a focus on consent, purpose, and respect. Her book, Hands-On Yoga Assists, is perfect for yoga teachers who want to enhance their students’ asana experience.”
—Nicole C. Prehn, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, YACEP, Professional Figure Skater