A challenge
Last night's class at BD was good in that I felt clear, grounded and connected to my theme. Thank God for that. Thank God for that indeed, for there was a really intense moment in the middle of class. Very challenging moment. Here's the story from my perspective:
One of the students in last night's class was new to my class; he always comes to the class after mine. But tonight for some reason- maybe because of the holiday coming up- he came to my class. As class began I immediately noticed he had really poor alignment and his foundation wasn't there. I offered him some verbal adjustments and found him really resistant to verbal adjustments, which was unfortunate because- in my opinion- he needed the notes. So I gave him two verbal adjustments in the first half hour. When I felt his resistance to them, I made a mental note to leave him alone.
One of my assistants (a lovely recent graduate of BD TT program) noticed he needed better alignment so she also came over to him several times to offer verbal and physical adjustments. I made a mental note to talk to the assistants afterwards about not over-adjusting people, but didn't really worry about it.
But then halfway through the class, after my assistant gave him another verbal note, he suddenly turned to her and snapped, "Stop annoying me and leave me alone!" Now mind you I was teaching and speaking out loud but I caught the tail end of his comment which was, "...leave me alone." I didn't hear him say, "Stop annoying me," but I did hear him say "leave me alone." I was teaching Half Moon on the right side. I couldn't believe my ears and said out loud to him, "What did you say?" I saw my assistant blush furiously and graciously leave to the back. "What did you say?" I repeated, while- mind you- the whole class is in Half Moon. Then when I got silence I said out loud, "I don't like that- I don't like that at all,"and I mentioned his name. There was a pause. I literally froze and didn't know what to do:
Should I continue teaching?
Should I stop the class and address this?
I felt very protective towards my assistant and embarrassed that she had to experience that. I also have been on the other end of the spectrum in a class and been over adjusted by someone; but I have never reacted in a rude, cruel and mean way.
So, after 10 and half years of teaching- is this the first time I was going to kick someone out of class? And all the while the students were in Half Moon...
I took the class out of Half Moon and put everyone in Down Dog. When in doubt, go to Down Dog. I had everyone breathe out loud a few times and I used this moment to breathe and center myself. I decided to proceed teaching class and at some moment later, I whispered to my assistant to leave him alone. At the end of class, during the closing, I mentioned that my intention as a teacher- as well as all of my assistant's intention- is to be of service to the students. I mentioned that everything we say and do is to help enhance the student's pose. I thanked my assistants out loud for their help and ended class.
Afterwards the student left class quickly without saying a word. I didn't get a chance to talk to him. I did have a long talk with the assistants and felt my heart break as I saw how shaken up the one assistant was after this incident. I commended her on her integrity and resilience. I also hoped she could somehow learn from this. What that student in class did was inappropriate. However I did mention to my assistant that if they ever encounter resistance in students- after a few times of verbal and physical adjustments- then it's best to leave them alone. I also mentioned that we shouldn't over assist students, as it can end up ruining their yoga experience.
I drove home and kept reliving the incident in my mind. It amazes me how resistant some students are to adjustments. It amazes me when someone is rude to someone else in life and especially in a yoga class. But then again I know that to be a full-time yoga teacher means you are going to encounter many challenges ahead, especially from new students.
May I stay centered and in my heart so that when the next challenge comes I can respond instead of reacting.
May I remember that everything I do or say in a yoga class is an offering, and offer it without expectation.
May I lastly remember that once we are teaching yoga we have earned our right to take the seat of the teacher, and know that we do have so much knowledge and not be afraid to offer verbal and or physical adjustments if needed.
On to a new day!
Teaching this Thursday Thanksgiving at Still at 9.
Looking forward to it!
Eesh. There is no excuse for being cruel; it wasn't even touching him (physically entering his space) repeatedly without asking. This was just verbal, huh?
I try and remind myself that when folks are blatantly mean and snappy, they are usually the ones having the hardest time of it. Happy people tend to be nice even when in unhappy situations. I know that during the hardest times in myself, I have done things I am not proud of, but learned a lot from.
Reply to this