To Teach or To Guide

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We've now been in Austin for almost 7 weeks.  CRAZY?!  How much do I miss Vancouver's sandy beaches meeting the rolling waves on one side while climbing into the peaceful mountains on the other.  But We're in Austin now.  Its a cool vibe, reminds me of the west coast, only housing prices aren't as expensive - getting there though.

So we took a class last night and have noticed a trend.  The teacher tends to teach a few steps and then opens it up to "go into an inversion of your choice, if not stay in child's pose"  Ok.  Hey that's cool.  I'm totally good with inversions.  They're our 'work in progress' (M seems to have a better hold on them than S).  We've been taught how to get into them, how to get up and how to align our bodies correctly.  But what about those who haven't been taught this.  Aren't we making a huge assumption that EVERYONE knows how to go into inversions.

This leads me to my question.  Are we yoga Teachers? Or are we yoga guiders?

Let's go way back to when we were kids.  We don't remember it, but at some point, our parents have told us that they had to hold us up and teach us how to stand up on our feet.  They helped us practice and then they helped us to walk and then run.

S remembers vividly being terrified to ride his bicycle, but he was taught how to do it, but by bit with steps and support until now he runs Triathlons.  M remembers all the time she had to practice on the piano, and how she was taught how to play it with a teacher (notice our use of words).

In neither or these scenarios were we guided into something.  Imagine someone saying 'S go ride your bike if you can,' or 'M start playing mozart on the piano, here it is, if not then just sit at it and I'm sure you'll pick it up by osmosis'.   Both of us spent time as school teachers (M is still working her but off as one) and never have we said 'ok kids, its time for a test, now I never taught you anything about science, but I'm sure you'll ace it!'

This gets me to my point.  If we were trained to be yoga teachers (I'm certain we all spent lots of money and time on our practice - S and M both spend more than they can count now) why would we not use the skills to help others move into positions.  But instead the common phrase of 'go into a pose if its in your practice' tends to dwell within our profession.  I think its time as Yoga Teachers we actually teach something, and if we want to have an inversion in our practice or an arm balance, we proved the steps for our students to move into one.

Now we understand that some might say, but what about the advanced practitioners in our class, they'll be board.
We'll there's always the option of:'if you already know how to do this then move into it on your own time.'
or to be safer so there are no injuries: 'I know you know how to do this, but just listen its a good refresher for the steps.'

Remember we as yoga teachers have the power to teach to all, and with that comes the responsibility of safety.  I say we teach and empower our students with knowledge to keep them safe rather than to have an injury!

Stay Grounded
S & M