Customer Reviews

Yoga Posture Adjustments and Assisting: An Insightful Guide for Yoga Teachers and Students

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The only people buying this book ought to be certified yoga teachers, so the question is: does this $30 book add anything significant beyond what was covered in your training and continuing education?

I bought the book because I was a new teacher and was dealing with all the attending insecurities, and so this book was basically an expensive confidence boost--I was amazed that I knew just about everything worth knowing for my teaching in here. There were new and different assists I had never seen, but I just don't see the point for many of these. Example: why squat behind someone and have them sit on your knees or thighs in utkatasana and eagle? Instead of the student supporting their own weight and strengthening their quadriceps, you are doing the work for them, with the result that you build strength rather than the student. What's the point when these poses have a built-in way to ease into them for less strong students, i.e., not squatting so deeply?

Are you ever going to pull someone's arm forward while pressing back on their hip crease with your foot to get them to lengthen before dropping their hand into triangle? Fancy crawling underneath a student in camel and pushing up on their shoulder blades with your foot? Creative, sure. Useful? No.

The first section, "Getting started," is good, but it's only 14 pages, in a huge font with lots of white space and photos. She tells you to approach students directly as if opening the refrigerator, not awkwardly from odd angles, and to correct the most unsafe misalignments first. Fine advice, but I sure hope you learned that in your training.

What this book fails to cover is the practical side of diagnosing problems in poses and how to correct them. The problem is that trainees and the people in this book (all teachers at her studio) mostly know what they're doing. When I started teaching, however, I'd have people that had never done yoga before, and they'd do crazy, crazy stuff and their asanas and vinyasas would be almost unrecognizable.

I'd find myself thinking, "What the hell do I do with a downward dog that looks like THAT?" No help in this book. She doesn't give you any indication of how to correct the most unsafe misalignments, what they might be, who might benefit from a certain assist, etc. It would be helpful just to add, this is good for people with tight shoulders, or, don't bother doing this for someone whose shoulders are really tight--instead, do this.... And it would be really great if she had a photo of a completely messed up revolved triangle and showed you how to go about getting the student into a decent, safe form. But there's none of that kind of real-life practical advice here. There are, however, pointless random quotations from unknown people. "'For me yoga is the most satisfying type of exercise imaginable.' -- Amy X, Yoga Student."

If your training was really poor in this department then you might find enough here to justify the cost. And, for the record, this is the cheapest, ugliest, and most poorly produced $30 book I have ever seen; I can only imagine that this is because it is "published on-demand," which "takes advantage of internet marketing." Hmmm, so the publisher refused to mass-produce the book in the normal way, which yields higher quality at a greatly-reduced cost, so that they could save money on warehousing and charge far more for the book? Fantastic. It would have been a good book for $12.

As a yoga instructor, I am always looking for good books to enhance my teaching. There are many fine books on asanas, but very few on how to teach yoga. With the current growth in the yoga teaching market, books that are useful to instructors are starting to pop up.

"Yoga Posture Adjustments and Assisting" by Stephanie Pappas is a relevant book whether you are a new yoga instructor or a seasoned one. It is common in yoga classes to get an adjustment by an instructor - however, for a teacher, especially a new one, it can be challenging to know how to adjust properly. Many injuries happen in yoga due to overzealous or uncautious adjustments.

Pappas has written a book that is a clear and intelligent manual - I love that the focus is solely on adjustments. Big, easy to view photos demonstrating the proper way to adjust accompany every pose along with text that clearly spells out what you need to be doing as you adjust your student. Props are suggested when appropriate as well. I really liked the guidelines on what to say when adjusting - these verbal cues are really helpful as it is sometimes easy to become tongue tied in a class! Using these verbal instructions, I've felt I have been conveying the pose more clearly to my students. This book has certainly helped me to be a more confident instructor! At the back of the book, Pappas has delivered two chapters on questions that instructors ask as well as common questions from students. Her intelligent responses really gave me food for thought.

Some of the adjustments pictured were a bit too 'intimate' for my tastes. But that is simply my preference - not a criticism on the overall greatness of this book. There are some teachers and students that may be more comfortable with that much body contact. Also, even with this book, it is probably a wise idea to get hands on practice with a qualified senior instructor before you practice these adjustments on a student - especially if you have never adjusted someone. Again, not a criticism of the book, just a little common sense.

I think all teachers should consider adding this book to their library. I would also recommend "Cool Yoga Tricks" by Miriam Austin in addition to this book.

"Just a note to let you know that I think your book is fabulous. I have
many yoga books, all of which are internationally recognized by some of the most famous yogis in the world; however, I have specifically been looking for quite some time for 'your' book....a simple, hands on, approachable means to assisting yoga students in postures. I found your book to be unpretentious, unintimidating and naturally friendly. This is quite a boon for yoga teachers as well as aspiring yoga teacher's in training. I especially liked the fact that your models were 'real' people, all with different body types and obvious levels of yoga experience. I would like to use your book in my own training program.
This book is an additional tool...an aid to understanding how simple adjustments & assisting can bring ease & confidence into the posture (and student). Any negative reviews about this book are ridiculous. All approaches have been well thought out & presented intelligently."

The key to this book is in the title"assist and adjust", not "correct".
This is the basis for the great response I have received from my students since receiving this book.
I have been teaching for four years, but I have been very cautious with hands-on adjustments, being a male with primarily female students.They have all expressed a noticeable difference, since I can make correct adjustments with confidence.
I use this book on a regular basis when planning class schedules. It has helped me to take my classes to the next level.

As a yoga instructor, I thought that this book would give good ideas for hands on adjustments. What I found is that the adjustments that were showed could put a client at risk of injury. She literally would pull a person or use her foot to get the client into a deeper stretch. Just looking at the pictures made me laugh as I would never do this to a client and risk injuring them. The only time I would offer any sort of adjustment like these is if I knew them really well. A few of the adjustments were good, but for the most part, the book was not worth it at all. I wouldn't recommend it.

...if you have any experience teaching. Some of the assists are outdated and no longer taught to teachers because of the strain they put on the back.

It's a nice idea but I shudder to think of anyone attempting some of these assists; it's a back accident waiting to happen.

I don't mean to be unkind but I was very disappointed.

A must read for any Yoga Teacher or Student! As a yoga teacher I find this book to be of great value due to its comprehensive style of writing, easy to execute adjustment/assisting techniques and clear, and precise illustrations. Not only is this book a resource for any yoga teacher but also for any yoga student. There are descriptions in the book that can lead a student into a more gratifying experience simply by applying some of the alignment cues, for instance, while standing in Mountain pose, Stephanie states "spread your toes", "firm the lower abs and bring your navel toward the spine", "drop your tailbone and let your shoulders relax." The author also provides suggestions on how to deepen the students experience and keep an eye out for misalignment by using props, blankets, straps and blocks. What I find extremely beneficial is the creative language and array of adjustment choices Stephanie provides for balancing and twist postures and forward folds. For example, the author uses the "standing squat" or "horse stance" when assisting a student in a standing posture such as half moon 2 or warrior 3 pose. I especially love the ever so clever "opening a jar" technique for twisting postures. Stephanie Pappas shows teachers how to apply your own body mechanics in a safe and informed way that feels good to the students. There are many more examples in the book, but those were a few of the many techniques I really enjoy doing on my students and my students enjoy receiving.

I have used this book for almost a year, and it has been a wonderful reference for planning classes, how to support my students and for my own studies - all the other yoga teachers I've shown it to, were very impressed with the quality of the publication.
Simple, effective adjustments - supporting and assisting the student to go deeper into a pose.
Excellent suggestions for verbal cues for each pose while at the same time addressing safety - for the student and the teacher.
A job well done!

Stephanie Pappas present a refreshing approach to teaching postural Yoga. Stephanie offers excellent verbal cues that are easy to understand and well thought out. Some of Stephanie's recommendations for adjustments may not be appropriate for all teachers and students but her suggestions certainly have a place in Yoga classes and should be considered by all postural Yoga teachers.

"Yoga Postures, Adjustments and Assisting" is a user-friendly book that covers many postural issues that I encountered during my years of teachings asana classes. It also includes an extensive section of commonly asked questions with intelligent and thoughtful responses that are sure to assist teachers of every level. I believe that postural Yoga teachers and students will find Stephanie's well-written and beautifully photographed book a welcome addition to their library.

Brenda Feuerstein
co-author of "Green Yoga" and "Green Dharma"

I had gotten this book after I finished my first yoga teacher training-it is written so well and is so helpful I find myself referring back to it again and again to fine tune my assisting techniques.

If you are a teacher or a student of yoga that wants to evolve in their postures, this book is fantastic!