The definitive guide to effective and appropriate communication
through words and touch between yoga teachers and their students.
Clear, effective verbal communication and judicious touch are two skills
that Judith Hanson Lasater feels are essential for every yoga teacher.
In Teaching Yoga with Intention, she gives pointed advice on how to
interact verbally with students in class and how to appropriately use
touch to make corrections. Drawing from her fifty years of yoga
experience and her training in Nonviolent Communication, Lasater trains
yoga teachers to effectively communicate not only technique, but also
the more subtle lessons of respect, empathy, and compassion. She also
shines an unflinching light on the use of touch in yoga. Teachers often
use touch to create understanding and awareness in the poses. But this
is a subtle art, and Lasater gives clear guidance on how, where, and
when the use of touch can be used appropriately to further a student's
development.
In this book, Lasater also empowers students by encouraging them to take
ownership of and responsibility for their practice. She covers myriad
topics that can be difficult for students at any level to navigate, such
as how and when to say no to an adjustment; keeping boundaries; when to
leave a class; helping your teacher understand your needs; how to
communicate your appreciation to your yoga teacher; and if and when to
report a teacher's behavior. The skills that Lasater offers help create
a safe environment for students to own their learning process, and to
progress technically at their own speed.
