I initially thought I was off to a bad start at class tonight.

After some warm-up stretches, Pio made us do Purvottanasana (Upward Plank Pose) .

From Day 1 of starting yoga, this was a regular pose. There were days when it came easy. Not tonight. For some reason, I had placed my hands behind me but not far enough. As I came up into the pose, I felt something was wrong. But instead of coming back down and correcting it, I tried to hold myself in that pose. Whew, DIFFICULT!

That was not the end of it. As I came out of the pose, Pio directly addressed me asking, “How did you feel, Jane? Mahirap ba? (Was it difficult?).” I nodded yes. You just can’t fake anything with a seasoned teacher. By just glancing at me, he knew my hands were not placed well and that I was having a hard time keeping myself up. Pio then went into a short talk about not trying to hold the pose but instead, when you feel it is wrong, it is all right to come out of it, adjust, then go back into the pose. Oh shucks, I thought to myself. What a way to start the class! Doing it all wrong!

But deliberately shoving that thought aside, I decided this would be a class where I would focus on my posture and alignment. And true enough, Pio once again came to the fore and for some freaky reason, read my mind, sensed my aura (or maybe I was really that transparent!!!). Because…..the whole class was all about….adjustments!

 

As we went from one asana to another, there was nothing new sequence-wise. We were just doing the regular routine. But with a twist. Pio kept going around the room twisting us into place, adjusting here and there, correcting hand and feet positions, and pushing us further down during forward bends to challenge our bodies to go beyond our “can” levels.

I have read articles citing cases where some students do not like being adjusted or corrected. There could be many reasons for these: a bruised ego (do not correct me in front of others!), the touch-me-not type (don’t you dare lay a hand on me!), or probably just fear of being pushed a bit more or adjusted a bit more beyond their comfort levels.

While I cannot speak for those who feel this way, I can only go by my own reactions to such adjustments. And the bottom line is — I WELCOME THEM.

I think the primary reason is TRUST.

I TRUST Pio and his sense of mission in teaching us not just about yoga but about life.

I TRUST in his sense of teacher-student relationship.

I TRUST in his instincts for knowing WHERE and HOW FAR to adjust.

I TRUST that all he does for me in terms of adjustments are meant to improve my yoga practice and make me slowly overcome my waterloo poses.

That said, I came out of tonight’s class with a sense of contentment. I learned not to be complacent in poses I encounter regularly as there is always an area that will need tweaking. Most of all, I am thankful for all his corrections because now, I have a better idea of how the poses are meant to be done and resolve to work on these areas more.