There's a lot of talk about - hands on adjustments in class

Do you love a good hands on adjustment? Or, have you ever told a Yoga teacher you'de prefer it if they didn't touch you? 

Trust is something you earn over time and many of us are placed in quite a vulnerable situation when it comes to our health, fitness and wellbeing. 

Have you ever had a new instructor who you didn't know take you deeper into a pose with their 'not so gentle' and 'unfamiliar' hands and thought for a moment, "wait a minute, you don't know my body or my limitations"?

Do we trust in the universe that the teachers standing before us are qualified Yoga teachers who have studied the human body, the poses they are teaching and 'hands on' adjusting? 

Then there's the media! Sowing more seeds of distrust. All this talk about Yoga injuries and dodgy Yoga teachers! 

Personally, I offer hands on adjustments in my classes. I touch my students all the time. I also tell the student before I do it and I ask them if it's alright. But I know many instructors don't do this. 

If I go to a Yoga class (and I do regularly), I don't freely offer my body up to the instructor saying "take it, my body is in your hands". I still have ownership of my body and all of it's crazy physical and mental 'issues'. If I'm feeling vulnerable and don't want to be touched, then I'll say so. But i know it's not that easy for some. For some of us, we sit at the back, don't want to be watched, don't want to be singled out and certainly don't want to be the one that says to the instructor "please don't adjust me today". 

Well, we thought there was no easy answer but maybe there is. Introducing the 'Yoga Flip Chip'. This chip (made of organic bamboo I assume) is placed on your mat and on one side it says 'assist' and on the other it says 'yoga your way'. It even comes in a cute little pouch. 

http://yogaflipchip.com/

Are we taking things too far? Can't an instructor simply start the class with "raise you hand if there's anything you need me to know, for example pregnancy, injury or no hands on adjustments for you today and I'll come and chat to you about it"? 

Is this chip taking the responsibility away from our wonderful Yoga instructors or is it making life easier for us all? 

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