25/08/2022
A few weeks back a student attended one of my yoga classes and afterwards wrote me a very critical review of my class and teaching style. I would like to share my response here (I can't share the original message without permission) since in responding I had the opportunity to clarify and share some of the thoughts behind my approach to teaching. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
"Hi ###XX.
Thanks for your honest and candid feedback. It's very useful and I can tell that it took you a lot of time and thought. The fact that it is so diametrically oppositional to the feedback that I usually get back from my students reminds me of the philosophical aphorism that suggests that "we don't see the world as it is but rather as we are". Nevertheless I welcome your perspective and have taken some time so that I could give sufficient reply to some of your observations.
Firstly with regards to the scientific approach to yoga: it has been my experience that yoga has only recently come under rigorous scientific scrutiny. Ironically, this is probably because of the greater exposure that yoga has now had in the West. This scrutiny has, unfortunately, revealed that many of the claims that have been made by yoga in large part are anecdotal and not readily verifiable. Yoga is often seen as a spiritual practice and as such affords itself a lot of freedom to make statements that are largely subjective or based on esoteric theories. Therefore to refer to the practice of yoga, Iyengar yoga included, as scientific is problematic. This doesn't take away from it's experienced benefits, which are the same benefits that come from many other forms of physical exercise.
My referral to asking permission to travel between bodies was a joke, albeit not a very good one. While I accept that my humour is not always very accessible, I would hope that the people attending my class would see that that statement was completely nonsensical, and therefore laughable.
This brings me to your point of me being an entertainer rather than a teacher. It has been my experience, in both the martial arts and yoga, that people generally take themselves too seriously. The result is not psychological flexibility, but rather rigidity. This in turn can lead to negative judgment of both the self and others.
The people who come to my class are not unique in the sense that they have difficult lives and often judge themselves harshly. If not addressed, this judgement can actually be stimulated by a traditionally rigid and disciplined practice like yoga. I try to provide them with some levity as I feel that what they need more than imposed discipline is to smile, take a deep breath and then explore their capacity on their own terms. Is it necessary to be serious in order to do something with care? Is it wrong to smile while in an asana? Does it take away from the practice?
Discipline that is imposed externally, rather than adopted and practiced willingly, is tyranny. The "guru" principle is no longer applicable in my opinion. Each person needs to accept personal responsibility for their own practice and not hand that responsibility or agency over to anyone. My class is about offering possibilities without judgement, neither external nor internal. So yes, laughing is allowed and encouraged, even if it is at my expense. That doesn't mean that there is not a correct way to execute each asana.
I don't really have anything to say about your inference to w**d or psychedelics other than that might be something for you to personally reflect on. I don't encourage the use of substances during or outside of class. I think you'd be surprised to learn that many of the people in the yoga community drink alcohol which is statistically much more problematic, but they are lay practitioners and not "yogis", so I suppose that sort of things is to be expected.
Lastly I'd like address your statement about mixing styles. BKS Iyengar was an innovator that developed and added to the yoga that he was taught. He drew from his own experience and constantly evolved the practice of yoga. Is he not a founder of a self-made style of yoga? As a teacher it is my duty to myself and my students to constantly be learning. Sometimes that includes accessing information outside of the "pure" Iyengar tradition. I want to honour the legacy of BKS Iyengar as an innovator as well as other great teachers, not by only repeating their teachings, but by trying my best to add to those teaching when new information becomes available.
While I can understand your experience of my class I hope that my responses here have offered you some other possible explanations for what you experienced. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to revisit some of the reasons that I have chosen this teaching style. I accept that it won't be for everyone and respect your decision to not attend any further classes with me.
I am glad that I was able to offer some alternative perspective on sirasana (headstand) so that you didn't leave the class without something useful. As a matter of interest, that information was obtained from various sources including anatomy lectures during my Jivamukti yoga teacher training, an online anatomy course and discussions with a qualified biokineticist. It's my hope that the information will help in minimising potential damage to your cervical spine in the future. In itself that should seem to "justify" your payment for class. My banking details are below.
Namaste and good luck.
James"
