To Adjust a Child in a Yoga Posture, or Not?

Aug 03, 2016

Yoga teachers often physically manipulate a student’s body into alignment so that the full effect of the pose may be realized.  It can increase body awareness, openness of both body and mind…and sometimes the chance of injury.

Whereas a typical adult body is layered with emotional and physical tension, in much need of a nudge, children are more pliable and great care needs to be taken when adjusting a child in a Yoga posture if it is to be done at all.

Less is more when it comes to what is known as “hands-on adjustments.”  In our teacher training program, our mantra is “hands off.”  Yes, a human touch is deeply healing and a skillful adjustment can prompt an insight and a revelation.  But is it worth the risk?

The risks of a teacher using the hands or, as you may have experienced in your Yoga class, another part of the body to manipulate a student into a pose are many.

At the physical level, an adjustment may cause an injury.  Children do tend to bend before they break and yet muscles and tendons are still developing and too much force could cause a tear.  If you’ve ever taught Yoga to children you’ve heard an exclamation of “owww” in a Yoga pose.  Oftentimes, this is a child expressing loudly their response to novel sensations in the body.  Upon further investigation, you discover nothing is injured, but you may think twice before being a part of that “ow” experience.

At the mental/emotional level, there are more reasons for not adjusting a child in a posture.  One is that to a child, an adjustment often feels like a “correction.”  They feel they are “not good at Yoga” and lose interest.  For a lifelong practice that needs to be self-initiated – this is a big loss.  In many cases, however, children relish the attention. I often hear kids call out, “Will you do that to me too?” after they’ve watched a fellow student receive an adjustment.  Which way it goes largely comes down to how the teacher presents the adjustment.  First, call it an “adjustment” and not a “correction” and let the child know the purpose for it – not that it’s a “bad” pose, but that when you gently guide a forearm back in Triangle pose, they may feel more open in the chest and experience more energy.

Also, children’s Yoga teachers must always err on the side of caution with any physical contact with students.  Some schools and institutions have rules about touch. This is often for the child’s safety and to avoid the chance that physical touch is misinterpreted as inappropriate.

There are many ways to support a child in a Yoga posture.  We can do this with our words, with our bodies mirroring the pose, with our facial expression and with our intention.  Our energetic presence is the most powerful tool we have when “adjusting” poses and facilitating an experience of Yoga for our young students.