Deepening Yoga Practice through Giving and Receiving Adjustments
with a Focus on the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga

There are several ways to learn yoga and to deepen practice: some students like to learn through words, some want to see a demonstration and others respond best to physical touch.

Even though words can explain a lot and looking at demonstrations can give you examples, every body is unique. How can you explain the way a posture should feel from the inside? Even if you say: "put your hand here and your foot there and now twist your body etc..." how can this compare with closing your eyes and surrendering to physical and energetic guidance of helping hands?

Adjustments are at the heart of traditional Ashtanga practice. As more and more students fill classes, there is less and less opportunity to experience this way of learning. Even in India, this tradition is being lost: in the original Mysore shala, there was space for only 8 students and there were two assistants, so everybody learned from receiving hands-on guidance.

In this workshop, students will take on the role of student and teacher switching back and forth repeatedly. In each session we will work with just a few postures that will be repeated over and over, so with 12 students in the workshop, you will adjust 11 different bodies and receive an adjustment in each pose 11 times. You will go deep, both in teaching practice and in posture practice. Instead of practicing 50+ asanas once, you will practice 5 asanas 11 times each. It goes deep.

The first principle of yoga is ahimsa - "do no harm" - it also means "be loving, compassionate, nurturing and kind" - these are the primary requisites for safety, trust, surrender and effectiveness.

Students will split into 4 groups of 3: one member will adjust, one will be adjusted and one will observe. Then the roles rotate. After you have adjusted each student in the group, the groups will change and the method is repeated until everyone has adjusted and been adjusted by each participant.

Only one posture is introduced at a time. Once everyone has adjusted/been adjusted, a new posture is introduced. Adjustments are introduced by demonstration: several variations will be offered. Different bodies have different needs and each posture can be adjusted in several ways depending on the student's body. There is plenty of time to ask questions in case of doubt. Guy will watch all four groups closely and give advice or help as it is required.

Day 2, 3 and 4 will start with repeating adjustments from previous days, so that the memory is not lost and the methodology goes deeper. Then new postures will be introduced. It is like Mysore style practice: repetition, memorisation and deepening over time. The system works very well. It has been tried and tested over decades. It is the way Guy has trained his assistants over the last 30 years.

Method

It is often difficult to understand how to apply the right effort or leverage to move into a posture and how to relax tension that limits the body's range of motion and flexibility. Adjustments are designed to educate the body to move intelligently, to selectively use the right muscles and to relax tension that restricts movement in the desired direction.

Adjustments can allow students to feel as though they are practicing an asana correctly where they would otherwise be struggling, and once a posture has been deepened through an adjustment it is more easily accessible through independent practice.

Adjustments should give the student a sense of release, freedom of movement and safety while at the same time leaving them grounded, stable and safe. Through feeling grounded and safe, the body can surrender to intelligent guidance and move into or towards a desired “perfect” asana.

Moving the body through its natural range of motion does not require force but understanding and guidance, sensitivity and correct perception - these are the qualities we will work to cultivate.

We will utilize natural forces that can assist us such as the force of gravity and the fluidity of the breath: we use our body weight instead of strength and instead of forcing the body we use the breath as the vehicle for movement.

We will work on all the important asanas which are normally adjusted in the Ashtanga Practice and will learn a number of ways to adjust each pose, taking into account common injuries, different body types and conditions and alignment problems.

Who is it For?

The workshop is suitable for students with a consistent and regular yoga practice. It is ideal for students to be in daily ashtanga practice for at least 6 months, or better still for a year. However, students who are flexible and come from other traditions are also welcome. If you are not in regular practice it can be tough on your body to do so much work.

The workshop is intelligently paced: you will adjust, then be adjusted, then observe. Between postures there will be demonstrations and time for Q&A, so these are other moments when the body rests. We start with some warm up practice to get the breathing, mind and body in the right condition and there will be a break in the middle of the workshop and shavasana at the end.

The workshop is useful both as a way of deepening one’s own practice and as a training to assist others and can be attended with either intention.

While the workshop focuses on how or why one adjusts a posture in a given situation - these reflections give participants a deeper understanding of their own individual practice. This is reinforced by receiving many adjustments in the postures during the training. The training supports teaching and practice and can be attended for either reason.

The workshop is designed for students with a daily practice of Primary Series but there is an option to do part of the workshop for students practicing up to navasana.

Feedback from Previous Adjustment Workshops:

"The traditional method of teaching Ashtanga yoga postures is by physically adjusting the student into correct alignment or simply deeper towards the postures' true expression. Guy Donahaye embodies a unique combination of gentleness and power. From the first moment as a student in Guy's hands the sensation was one of security and trust, allowing me to relax and breathe into the posture. It is inadequate to talk only about the physical nature of Guy's adjustments. He communicates a calming spirituality, rooted in tradition, which sets one free into the present moment. For a teacher, learning Guy's approach to adjustment would be priceless. My yoga journey has included many master teachers. Guy is among the very best." - Tom

"Some features of the organisation of the workshop were really outstanding: 1) rather than doing every asana of the primary series, you focused on the ones that most typically need adjusting; 2) we rotated partners each day for each asana. In other workshops, when stuck with the same partner all afternoon, it was a limiting factor. Before, when paired with someone who could not drop back, I failed to learn that adjustment. 3) always reviewing what we'd previously learned 4) later, rotating asana by asana - doing a different body and a different asana, a fairly good replication of an actual class." - Kathy

"Guy's approach to adjustments is therapeutic. He studies his students and knows their bodies so well, even the slightest touch from Guy can have a profound effect on the practitioner. Each adjustment Guy makes is purposeful and with intention. His careful eye goes hand in hand with his gentle (although sometimes firm) touch. In this respect, I often view guy as a doctor, or physical therapist, using asana and adjustments to cure his students of impurities and misalignments in the body and mind.

It is clearly Guy’s belief that we learn best through repetition, and this holds true when he teaches both asana and adjustments. Learning to give adjustments from Guy is similar to the way he teaches asana. One pose is taught at a time, and the student is expected to gain proficiency before receiving the next. Guy is acutely aware of the differences in body types and teaches not only the foundation to adjusting each pose, but also the ability to assess what kind of adjustment the student is actually in need of. It is clear he does not teach one-size-fits-all. After having studied adjusting with Guy, I have become so much more aware of the subtle aspects that can change adjustments from a purely physical action to something more energetic and tailored to the specific individual." - Alex

"I highly recommend GD's intensive adjustment clinic for all ashtanga students who are interested in deepening their practice and for teachers interested in exploring the intricacies of adjusting. Guy's years of experience as a teacher and teacher of teachers comes through as he adds his own philosophy and style of adjusting while grounding students in the traditional methodology of ashtanga as taught to him by Pattabhi Jois. Each day the clinic included instruction, practice and ongoing discussion and feedback. It was a great opportunity to practice adjustments directly on students and to learn a variety of adjustments for each pose of the primary series. Guy is a patient teacher who makes his students feel comfortable; the clinic is both rigorous and tons of fun." Aliza

"In addition to becoming comfortable with using my touch on others, and learning the actual adjustments, I think it also really strengthened my relationship to this practice. I suspect part of that may have come from spending so much time at the shala every day and from the intensity of the experience. Beyond this though, I think we all benefited from having an opportunity to understand many of the principles behind the way you teach and the reason things are done the way they are...

...This workshop has really deepened my respect for teaching. I kept thinking throughout the workshop about what a big responsibility you take on as a teacher. I am beginning to see that although I always thought of my practice as "mine", that the teacher really makes the practice in some sense. The teacher's relationship to the practice and interpretation of the practice is passed on to the student in so many ways." - Julia

"The repetition of adjustments rapidly deepened my own practice. I guestimate that we each received about 30-50 adjustments a day (about 720 adjustments during the workshop). That could be equal to or more than the number I’ve received the last 18 months. (!) This was the most valuable aspect of the workshop for me...

...It was very beneficial and generous of you to demonstrate adjustments again, and again and again if needed. There are many possible adjustments and you were emphasizing a certain style. It became apparent you see a hierarchy of asanas that are most important to adjust." - Katherine

"I would say that the workshop enhances one's ability to learn non-verbally through hands-on instruction. The strength of the workshop as I see it is the time and attention that you, Guy, give to each student as they learn the adjustments. It seemed as if you were always there when needed to guide and answer questions." - Maureen