Adjustment Workshop (on hold due to restrictions)

Skilful adjustments are a much-loved part of the methodology of Ashtanga yoga. Teaching through touch, going beyond the cerebral, beyond communicating with the mind and being in a class where silence prevails is something very special.

As Gregor Maehle says, “I think there is an absolute sacredness to a teaching setting that is touch-based. There is a magic to those classes where there is just movement, people are going through their sequences and I can teach them by assisting them through touch. As humans, we are wired to thrive on touch. When we see someone in distress, for example, our instinct is to hug them rather than try and talk them out of their pain.”

A common misunderstanding is that adjustments are about pushing a student closer to some idealised version of a pose. Instead, an adjustment should support the student, teaching them to find stability and ease within the version of the pose that works for their body so that their experience on the mat is deeper; their body awakened yet comfortable and their breath steady. An adjustment can also guide the student away from risk to the body, towards a place of safety.

When the skill and intent of the teacher are absolutely beyond doubt and the student has made it clear they are happy to be adjusted, a good adjustment will enhance the student’s experience of the pose and help to deepen their practice. Without the beautiful, supportive adjustments I have received in my 20-year yoga practice, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with yoga and developed the practice that has been of such extraordinary benefit to me over the last 20 years. That’s why I am enthusiastic about sharing what I have learned from my own teachers over the years with teachers and practitioners who want to know how to adjust safely, skilfully and with compassion.