As a rule, when when a teacher is needing to correct someone in a classroom setting, their name is not usually mentioned if they are being pointed out. Reason being is to not embarrass the student that they may not be doing something right or the proper way. Who would want to come back if they were being singled out? This being said, some of the reasons for correcting ones posture or pose is to make sure that they are safe and also as a reminder to everyone in the class to be aware of the issue in the pose. ie. making sure that your hands are supporting your properly in a shoulder stand.
Best way to do this is to talk sometimes, not directly, but in a general direction to adjust the movement and then to reply, when the movement is done properly, with an emphatic “BEAUTIFUL!” This allows the class room to be a place of learning and building your practice from these amazing teachers that guide us into stretching our capacities on physical, mental and emotional levels.
Well, today all of us student teachers were attending a Shakti class along with some of the public... more practice for us and also to see the interaction with beginners as well as advanced people in the community. As we were coming up into Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) I must have been having some challenges with my shoulders not being relaxed enough because soon I heard the lovely Shakti (with a dancing in her voice as she was calling out instructions to the group)... “and the person with the name that starts with a “T”, would please to lower... lower... relax... relax the shoulders... even more... PERFECT!”
I TOTALLY knew it was me... unless there was another “T” person in the room... I’m not sure. (side note: is it interesting too that my Karma Duty for the duration of the course is to also prepare the tea and hot water for the classes... Hmmm... coincidence?!) But all in all... I had to crack up a bit, and DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO LAUGH IN COBRA? Just look at that lovely little mutt at the top of this article... chest out, chin up, stomach in, boobs out, buttocks relaxed, shoulders down. Almost like a photo-shoot for a pin-up girl.
I digress... It was all in all a very cool experience because it brought me to understand more of the pose that I will be teaching this Thursday and Friday to our classroom classes. It is SO good to know and be corrected when we need correction and point us in the direction we need to go. I can now speak and feel what it feels like with more direction and empathy to those that I teach... and I hope that I can still maintain a level of brevity to it along the way. :)
...bottoms up!
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