Question:
I am a RYT and teach at a couple of fitness centers in and around Lansdale,PA. Students of Yoga at a fitness center seek more of the physical aspects of Yoga; but they don't want to do the same asanas again and again and get bored after some time; I bring variety into the program by mixing postures, relaxation and breathing. I also focus on different aspects of the body in a class; in some classes I just stick to a category like standing, balancing; still the students tend to get bored. For them it is going through a series of motions.
Any ideas on how to rejuvenate the class? Pl. share you thoughts. Since I teach Hatha Yoga and not other forms of practice like Tai Chi, etc. your suggestions revolving classical/Hatha yoga would be very helpful.
Answer:
I have for years confronted the challenge of guiding the attention of the easily-bored. I hope my experiences may be of service.
One fact I have encountered time & again: some people are not in a place that allows them to manage their attention. I understand that attention is never truly beyond one's control; however, we live in a culture that depends on distraction - quick cuts, sound-bites, short takes, 'and now for something completely different'.... To develop the body-centered, slow-focus awareness that is central to 'somato-spiritual' disciplines like yoga, meditation, Ta'i Chi, massage, etc. requires first of all an understanding that such an awareness is essential to the process. The web of distraction our culture weaves about us merely complicates the matter - it doesn't generate it. While many of us who are drawn to these arts "fall into the body" quite naturally, not every nature is so attuned.
For those who are drawn to yoga (this can apply as well to bodywork, shamanic & meditative practice, or dance) but do not intuitively gravitate to the inner focus, boredom is inevitable - however, as a teacher, you may find that the boredom itself is the lever needed to shift the student's awareness.
I know how easy it is for me, after 35 years of bodywork, meditation & yoga, to 'fall into the body', and I know that I have developed a non-confrontational style as one result; in working w/ the easily-bored, however, I often find it useful to be pointed and direct in guiding them. For example, in working with new people, I find that some degree of 'head-ology' is essential - as a bodyworker, spending five minutes on 'how to receive a massage' can make an enormous difference in how the resulting session goes - for me AND my client.
In more structured, 'teaching/training' situations, I may ask someone who wants quicker results how long it took them to get through school. With someone who feels restricted & restless, I may draw an analogy to a cross-country drive, in which hours are spent in essentially one pose, with essentially one point of focus. With another, who just "doesn't get it" in terms of inner-direction, I may point out similarities to the adjustments and attentiveness involved in a new job, a new workplace, a new lover.
It also happens that some people, though attracted to body disciplines, simply "can't get there from here" - that is, they may be unable to make the necessary connections from where they are in life; or, they may be 'searching for an entry point' - and while that search may have led them to you, they may only be passing through, on their way to another style or even another discipline.
As a teacher, it is important to be flexible and available; it is also important to remember that the student bears an equal weight of responsibility in creating a functional teacher/student relationship. Ultimately, it will serve no-one for a teacher to attempt to be all things to all people - be true to yourself, and truth will suffuse everything you teach.
