Adjustments and guided class
One of the tools that the ashtanga yoga teacher can use while conducting the class is the use of the hands to adjust and correct the positions of each individual student.
This tool is usually referred to as an adjustment.
Let's see its meaning:
Adjustment: adjusting, adjusting; agreement, accommodation : come to an adjustment.
In making adjustments one should never get out of the understanding of the aforementioned meaning, especially of the word accommodation; in addition to this, one should not deviate from respect for what is one of the fundamental laws:
graduality: giving everyone time to learn without haste and effort.
Adjusting means that the teacher, by means of hands, levers or other techniques, helps the student to enter the position or to close / complete it so that there is a real benefit; without, however, in any way going to force or insist where there are structural and bodily resistances. Adjustment is an accommodating not a forcing to get the student into the position at all costs or to push him into the position by force.
The path that leads into a position and exits from it is always the responsibility of the person who is practicing, respecting the right gradualness.
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GUIDED CLASS
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Another tool used by the teacher to lead a lesson is the voice.
The timbre, the tone, the volume, the cadence, the type of terms used, the direction, are all characteristics of the voice that determine the result in its use. It is essential that the teacher uses clear and precise terms, that his voice is audible to everyone in the class and that the words used are consistent with the lesson.
In the specific case of a Guided Class of Ashtanga Yoga, the voice is used in a very precise way, to "guide" precisely the positions, the vinyasa, the indications on the respiratory phase, the gaze.
Contrary to popular belief, a well-done guided class, with a fluid pace, is not a practice only for beginners, but can become a very engaging experience for both practitioners and the teacher, especially if done with vinyasa counting. traditional in Sanskrit.
During the second year of the training we emphasize this aspect, learning the counting and the use of the voice.
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