Can Yoga Cues Keep You Safe?

I wrote this draft almost 3 years to the day on April 19, 2017. I didn't publish this version because I chose to re-write it. And I'm publishing it now. Because the topic of the week is safety.

If you want to read the version published back in 2017, feel free to check it out as well. 

https://jeanmazzei.blogspot.com/2017/04/safety-in-numbers.html

In both, I'm talking about the word "safety." What is safety? Can anything really "keep us safe?" What does it mean to "stay safe" or "stay safe out there?" 

Here is the 2017 blog where I went off on a rant about yoga cues. Enjoy. 

I have a problem with yoga cues these days. As teachers, we bunker ourselves in with generic cues designed to "keep students safe," but if you've been paying attention, many of those cues are being de-bunked, investigated, or they are being called unsafe! Why? Because a cue is a moment in time and to use the same cues over and over is to feed your kids one food, every day, for the rest of their lives! Green beans are great, but not for every meal, every day. You need a balanced diet. As yoga teachers, we need to provide a balanced diet of cues that mean something to who is coming to class. We churn out yoga teachers in yoga factories. It's a great business model. It serves a purpose. I'm over it. It takes time to season yourself, so when I teach teachers, I am providing a lifelong structure that gets them asking questions early, to help them later so they can more easily grow into themselves.

My job as a yoga teacher is to provide a "safe" environment for the student to walk into unknown territory physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Often this unknown is perceived and/or interpreted as "unsafe." "I don't feel safe right now." Is it because it's unfamiliar and you don't know what to do? That would be an opportunity for growth. Who said you had to know everything about everything right this second! Or does it feel unsafe because there is fear or shame around you not knowing?

It's "stay safe" mania out there! What are we so scared of? Fear, shame, rejection, abandonment, pain, joy, success, failure, the stock market, the real estate market, the supermarket. And yet, there is a chain of supermarkets called "Safeway." Who feels safe in Safeway? The only safety there is is knowing ones Self. And yoga can help you with that. That is the job of yoga. There are lots of articles about "is yoga safe" or "how to stay safe in class." The more you know your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies, the "safer" you will be because you will know what to do for yourself. It is not the teacher's job to know you that well. It is the teacher's job to know herself so well that she can provide a structure based on study, practice, and experience and to present material systematically in an order that makes sense for the student. The teacher will know this because they have been there. Not all teachers will have been where you need to go. Safety is not guaranteed with a bunch of yoga cues. Student get "safer" in class when they are present with tools and techniques, teachings that help bring them to the center of themselves, so they can get to know themselves better. So they know what they need. So they feel safe in saying yes or no or even "i don't know" and sitting in the not knowing. Anything can be dangerous.

In Ayurveda, they say all food is medicine or poison. It just depends on how it's used, how much, when, and on whom. Same with yoga cues. If I'm allergic to green beans, and the only option is green beans, I'm screwed. And what a gift it would be if my yoga teacher let me know there were other food choices out there.

Just sayin....