Teacher Training Sanskrit verse from Bhagavad Gita
Sundays are my favorite day of the week for our yoga teacher training group sessions. I’m usually the most rested for our Sunday group session because I don’t have to work on the weekends. I get to dedicate most of my weekend to yoga and yoga teacher training. Saturdays are for taking yoga classes in the morning and then catching up on all of my teacher training journaling for the week in the afternoon. I then reserve Sundays for relaxing, practicing what I’ve been learning in teacher training so far and getting ready for our group session.
Today in our teacher training group session, we had half lecture covering Sanskrit and half hands-on adjustment clinic. Ever taken yoga class before and wondered what those long, pretty sounding words were whenever the yoga teacher introduced a posture? Those words are the name of yoga postures in Sanskrit.
Sanskrit is the classical language of India and is one of the oldest languages in the world. Sanskrit is older than both Greek and Latin. We learned how Sanskrit is a vibrational language. You can feel Sanskrit words throughout the body whenever they’re spoken. Try saying Samasthiti (sah-mah-stee-tee-HEE) or Tadasana (tah-DAHS-ana) outloud. Or even Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimotthansana (don-day-yah-MAN-nah-bib-hock-tah-PAH-dah POSH-ee-moh-tan-AHS-ana) outloud. It’s heard to not feel the vibrations all over your mouth whenever you say something in Sanskrit. When said correctly, the Sanskrit names of yoga postures are really, quite beautiful. I’ve always been in awe of my yoga teachers who’ve been able to let the Sanskrit names roll off of their tongue so effortlessly and smoothly. During the Sanskrit lecture today, we learned a little bit about the history of Sanskrit, why Sanskrit is used in yoga classes and tips on how to pronounce some of the words. For example, “asana” is NOT “ah-saw-nah.” Instead, it’s pronounced correctly as “AHS-ana” with the emphasis going on the first “a” in asana, at the end of the posture name.
After learning about Sanskrit, we talked about hands-on assists. Hands-on assists are something that really stood out for me when I first started taking yoga classes at CorePower Yoga. I came from several Bikram Yoga studios where the teacher would lead the class from the front of the room on a podium where they’d guide the class verbally through the sequence’s dialogue. At CorePower Yoga, teachers lead classes through a descript dialogue. They also walk around the room during class, offering physical assists during postures whenever they’re needed. At the beginning of every CorePower Yoga class, a teacher will always give students the chance to opt out of hands-on assists. Sometimes people have injuries, may have had a bad previous experience with receiving a hands-on assist or just might not want to be touched by the teacher. During the hands-on assist lecture, it was stressed how important it is to always have consent from students before offering hands-on assists. This is why there’s always an option to opt-out at the beginning of every class.
Touch is one of our most sensitive senses. Touch is also how we transfer energy to one another. The sense of touch is incredibly powerful. It was no surprise to learn that there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way to offer hands-on assists to students during a class. For example, if you’re having a bad day and can’t leave it at the studio door, then it’s probably not a good idea to offer hands-on assists to students during your class. You don’t want to transfer negative energy to students. People can vibe bad energy. I know I can. Also, no creepy fingers during hands-on assists! I know it sounds funny, but it’s true. When physically touching someone in class, it’s best to keep all of the fingers together and make sure you have the right amount of pressure when doing the assist.
We learned a variety of hands-on assists that could be used during a number of different postures in a yoga class. We also had a chance to partner up and practice on one another. The first time touching someone you don’t know well or at all can be stressful. You don’t want to come off as being creepy. You don’t want to hurt them. You want to make sure they’re comfortable with the touch and that it feels good to them. This is why it was important to be able to practice on one another. In fact, the best way for yoga teachers to practice their hands-on assists are by practicing on another yoga teacher. Not only will you feel comfortable practicing on another yoga teacher, but also teachers can give you immediate and honest feedback.
The hands-on assists exercise gave me flashbacks to when I was in beauty school studying for my estheticians license. I remember learning the facial technique and having to touch someone’s face for the first time. I was crazy nervous to have to do it in my class on a fellow classmate. I was even more nervous when I had to touch the face of my first facial client on the salon floor. Honestly, as nerve wrecking as it was to begin with, the more I did it, the easier it got. I imagine it would be the same way with practicing hands-on assists.
Image Source: Sanskrit.org