Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Hi lilieu

Are you talking all poses or just selected poses?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi icart

Something one of the instructors said at my old studio really made me understand her take on issuing corrections. She couldn’t possibly correct every off-task behavior or tell you the right way to perform the posture while saying the dialog. She issued her corrections to those students who she thought were ready to hear them. Why waste her breath telling the same person the same thing day in and day out if he/she never applied the correction? …

Corrections are in the ear of the practitioner? 🙂

It’s interesting what you say about your teacher’s stance on the subject. The trick is in laying out the studio expectations to start with. There would be a lot less ‘off-task’ behaviour if the studio had implicit and even unspoken ideals about the way the yoga is practised. You yourself have been somewhere where bags and phones didn’t come into the room. I can guarantee you that you rarely if never heard those things being spoken about. But still nobody brings them in.

Some studios have loads of people who drink all the time and others that wipe sweat. I have theories, directions and explanations for how to gently and kindly (and even almost without mentioning the ‘transgressions’) have people create the right habits from their first classes. (It’s all learn-able, and we’re teaching it at my teacher training program.)

The same goes for corrections too! There is an art in delivering them in a way that that ‘slow learning student’ will respond. As a teacher I assume that people are there because they want to do it correctly. I would never assume that I couldn’t tell the class something because I deemed them ‘not ready’. Solid practice comes from solid instruction, every class and more importantly the ability of the teacher to notice and correct so that everyone stays safe.

Your quote about corrections is superb because it reflects what you and Robert suggest which is, you hear what you’re ready to hear and respond to. The teacher has to lay the groundwork so you CAN hear the right stuff. It’s complex. It’s not just in the hope that ‘one day they’ll get it’.

I hope your experience improves at your current studio. 🙂 Even though you’re experienced and you’re not fazed by the distractions of others, it really is lovely to have a disciplined practice and environment. Still, as I type that, I realise that you will gain so much from this new place too!!!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi James

I hope you don’t mind but I thought I would chime in on something I read that may need some clarification. You said:

In rabbit for example there is a good opportunity for back and arm strengthening. Of course if you’re very flexible that won’t work.

Yes there is a good opportunity to strengthen the back but I do not agree that rabbit actually strengthens your arms. Not in that classic biceps or triceps activation sense.

The mechanism of rabbit requires you to create traction in the arms. The hands grip the heels, but in effect you ‘hang’ off your feet and the so-called pull, is only powered by hands and not by the biceps or the shoulders.

So may I ask you if you do have straight or bent arms in rabbit? It is possible you are doing it correctly, but if your words reflect your activity then I would hate to think I didn’t take the step to help you make this pose safe for you!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Teresa

Everyone here is right. A stress fracture is there because there are undue forces being placed on it… Yoga and any other activity will inflame it even if that activity seems gentle. It’s a matter of direction of the force.

Err on the side of caution.

Ultimately you’ll enjoy your yoga for a whole lot longer and more fully if you can heal your body first.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello!

Firstly, I just sent a PM to Jane cos somehow I missed her post from exactly 6 months ago. Doh! I will wait to see if she is still needing help on her issue and if there’s been any improvement or indeed yoga is still on the menu! :cheese:

Angela, your turn!

Have you had repeated episodes of the numbness? Is it tingling or is it numbness? Is it loss of sensation on the skin or a sense of heaviness, or something else you can find some words for? Did adjusting your electrolytes come into the picture for you? And if it continued to bother you did you seek some medical advice?

Lots of questions!

How’s the cramping these days? My first instincts when I read your post was to focus on some stretching through your calf. Sometimes people try SO hard in floor bow that they are using their calves and feet TOO MUCH. (Reversing the cramping movement is often the way to help that situation, but of course we’re not even sure what the issue is just yet.)

You really ought to try relaxing your feet and calves in bow, but drive the pose with your upper legs. I remind my students to move their knees upward and their feet toward the back wall. There really shouldn’t be tension in the calves or feet to make that happen.

Let me know if that makes sense.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Angela

Have you tried just moving your arms to a point where they don’t hurt? You can experiment with the distance apart and move them (back) in as your arms open up (if indeed that is possible for you). You may never get them comfortable in so-called ideal position. But then you yourself consider your arms to be a little out of the ordinary.

Your arms are the way they are. You may see some changes over time in them, but I certainly encourage you to allow them to help you. Notice changes, don’t put yourself through pain, make changes where necessary… work with what you’ve got!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

You’re looking fabulous Dennis

Thanks for the inspiring photos.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello all

What a great thread. So enjoyable and thought provoking! It’s interesting the distinction between militaristic and warm and fuzzy. My feeling (and experience) is that there are people out there who believe that you simply can’t have a rocking hard working class without people shouting at you.

Warm and fuzzy can exist with firm, solid, knowledgeable instruction. My experience of many classes in my time is that (and this is not at all true in all cases but just an observation) the louder and militaristic, the more pushy and less technique driven, the less compassionate. As I say – not true in all cases.

I know I have said it before on this forum, but here goes again… Students will work harder and smarter and more happily do their utmost when they trust their teacher is giving them the best instruction and can offer distinctions that are right for them.

How do they build that trust? Because they feel the connection with their own practice. They know it because over repeated classes they have noticed that the corrections and instructions they get allow them to tangibly improve with each little modification or piece of information or something that helps them be present with their own practice.

That teacher doesn’t have to shout and doesn’t have to push or coerce.

Strictness (that you refer to Romy and Connie) is not about the words that are used (but that is what dialog recitalists believe). It’s about the ability to teach with precision. That’s my credo. That’s what I teach. That’s what I will teach those who want to be good teachers (in Costa Rica at Teacher Training).

Despite thinking it is just a knack, knowing how to influence people to work well is embodied in a set of skills that can be taught. It’s not about force. It’s so much more important than simply recognizing who can take the pressure today and who can’t. It’s got to be more respectful than that, because that in itself means making a judgment that I am not prepared to make (of most people at most times). One can’t decide for people. They have to decide for themselves. You as teacher have to be the facilitator.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Barb

How is your hubby going now? Can you tell us what, if anything did the trick for him?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Liliana

Try this: Bring your leg up and heel across so that it lies over your femur. Don’t worry if your foot drops down a little as long as it stays over or on the inside of the femur. Your flexibility may not be allowing you to bring up your leg as high as you like yet. So give it a little reprieve and let your foot move out and down a bit.

Then draw it in and up little by little over time.

Tell me if that makes sense and of course, if it works. 😉

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Liliana

I think I need to ask you some questions. But before I do, perhaps you can try your standing poses with an inch or 2 between your feet. Focus on solid footprint and active feet. See how that feels and how that frees up your spine.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Linda

Connie says a few things in there about relaxing etc (thanks!). I am sure you know those as you indicate.

I would be interested to know about your abilities in specific poses, any particular areas you feel stress in your body. Where is it that your heart rate raises to a level that you feel stress triggering.

It’s possibly physiological stress. It’s possible that you are introducing stress with pose technique that needs fixing.

Struggle, effort and challenge are all 3 different things but many hot yogis lump them together.

The poses are likely to be a challenge but there should NEVER be struggle.

I would be willing to explore that with you further but I would need your response to my post and more specific details just to see where we need to go with this.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂