“Listen to your body” - Should you??
Anyone who goes to yoga lessons has heard this at least once. A student asks the teacher how deep to stretch, how far to bend, how to align his knee, her hip, his pelvis or her neck. The teacher answers: “Don’t push too much. Listen to your body. Do what feels right for your body.”
The teacher means well, of course. She or he wants to prevent students from injuring themselves. Unfortunately, this instruction is far too abstract for many students. What should they “listen to”? What are the cues that signal that damage is being done? Pain has various forms and is not always a sufficient clue. What about wobbling? Shaking? Panting? How does a practitioner know what physical cues are the ones that yell out “STOP!”??
Encouraging the students to “do what feels right” might lead them to missing the point. “What feels right” is many times easing into a position which requires less effort, causing the weight of the body to shift mainly onto joints instead of muscles, or relying on muscles that are already stronger instead of using those that truly need strengthening.
So, if we want our students to be stable and comfortable in their postures while still gaining the benefits of the practice, we have to know how the body really works. We have to know which cues signal to stop and which tell us we can go further. We need to understand the connections between our muscles, ligaments, joints and fascia; so we can know how to align ourselves and our students in a way that is not only harmless but also highly beneficial for their unique needs.
Practicing and teaching yoga is amazing, but it requires to always keep on learning… especially if you want to practice AHIMSA (non-violence) in your classes!
