08/09/2025
Adjusting someone in yoga is a practice that requires consent, skill and awareness. By using your hands, body, or verbal cues which helps the practitioner find better alignment, deepen a posture and prevent injury.
🔑 1. Consent
-Ask verbally before class: “Are you okay with hands-on adjustments today?”
-Or use consent cards/tokens (e.g., green for yes, red for no).
-Respect changes – someone may say yes at first but feel uncomfortable later.
👁️ 2. Observe Before Touching
-Look at the student’s alignment: Are they off-balance, straining, or compensating?
-Understand their intention in the pose: Are they going for depth, stability, or rest?
-Consider their body type, injuries, and flexibility.
🗣️ 3. Use Verbal Cues First
Before using your hands, try:
-Directional cues: “Lengthen your spine upward,” “Draw your ribs in.”
-Sensory cues: “Imagine you’re pressing into a wall behind you.”
-Many times, verbal cues are enough — and more empowering.
✋ 4. Hands-On Adjustments: How to Do It
If you’ve observed well, have consent, and verbal cues haven’t worked:
✅ General Rules:
-Be grounded and confident – your touch should be clear and intentional.
-Use your whole hand (not fingertips) to avoid a poking sensation.
-Be mindful of pressure – avoid forcing or pushing.
-Adjust with the breath – ideally during an exhale.
-Support, don’t fix – help them feel into the pose, not force into it.
⚠️ • Never adjust inappropriately or force someone deeper.
-Don’t adjust someone you haven’t observed well.
-Avoid jerky or sudden movements.
-Don’t use the same adjustment on every body — people differ.
🙌 5. Practice Adjusting with Guidance
-Work under a qualified teacher in a hands-on assist workshop.
-Practice on willing peers and get feedback.
-Study of anatomy to understand how the body moves.
THE GOAL OF ADJUSTMENT IS NOT PERFECTION, but to support someone’s experience of their body and breath in the asana.
