I think consent is a practice just like asana or meditation: as you practice more, you become more attuned to situations where students might be giving consent even when they don’t want to, or a situation where a different approach to consent might be necessary (what if your student isn’t able to communicate verbally?).
It’s damaging and restricting to think that there’s only one way to attain consent. It needs to be a skill that’s developed as a teacher, practiced, refined and honed, so that you’re able to adapt to the situation and student at hand.
What techniques do you employ in class on the back of this?
If I seek consent at the beginning of a vinyasa class, I use opt-in consent in a low peer pressure moment like child’s pose, or seated with eyes closed. This means that I ask students to raise a hand of give me a wave if they are okay to be touched (most consent practice these days seems to be opt-out, i.e. wave if you don’t want to be touched).
This as the first level of consent, and I see it so much more as a primer: it’s letting my students know that there’s a possibility I’ll be moving around the room touching throughout the class. I always saying touching, because I feel that ‘adjustment’ is an abstraction, and it’s all too easy to misunderstand what that means.
Generally speaking, this level of consent I feel covers me for general adjustments like child’s pose, and non-sensitive areas like arms/feet. If during the class, I feel like I want to offer a deeper adjustment or touch a sensitive area like pelvis/waist, I’ll tell the student what I’m planning to do, and reaffirm their consent.
If I offer adjustment in savasana (forehead massage/shoulder press), then I always seek consent again, and make sure I say if I’m using an essential oil on my hands and what scent it is.
Primarily though, I’ve moved away from a teaching style that uses adjustment excessively, to one where instead I can be creative with my language, sequencing, posture understanding and communication.
How do you maintain boundaries with students while also building community?
This is such an important question. And you know, it’s hard. I definitely gave too much of myself when I was first teaching, and I think it’s a process of discovery and learning.
I think it’s really important that you know your values and know yourself. Be open and honest about what they are and who you are. I think it’s also important to know that your teaching practice and your personal practice don’t have to be the same thing, and often it can be really healthy to have separation between them.
Boundaries (like consent) are also something active: you get to decide what they are and put them in place. I think so many people are too passive with their boundaries, they don’t set them firmly, or proactively, and it’s only when they’re burnt out and exhausted and depleted that they think of them. You can be flexible with boundaries, and you can change them, but it’s so important that you take the time to intentionally think about them.
Another way I’ve found to actively build community is by being a champion and supporter of others. Who else is doing amazing work that you love? Make friends with them, share their work, comment, engage and discuss. I’m in the really fortunate position that I can bring people to our community, to teach, talk and share, so I try to do that with people whose work I respect and admire.
To bring it back to values, I think it’s also really important that you’re explicit about what they are. At Yoga Quota we have our teaching ethics guidelines on our website, open for everyone to see. We communicate who we are, and this makes us more accessible, approachable and inclusive.