Want to take your teaching skills to the next level?
Differentiate yourself as a teacher with this hands-on assisting immersion!
Join Cassandra and Sacred Yoga for a Two Weekend Format, led by Cassandra Ferland, that offers a deep dive into the world of hands-on adjustments, so you gain the confidence and tools to help your students evolve their practice.
Hands-on assists can be a profound way to communicate with your students on the mat.
Skillful adjustments keep students safe and productive in their practice, offer them insights into their physical and energetic alignment, and go a long way in building the relationships that you have with your students. When trust is there, a teacher’s touch can be powerful. It can give students the boost needed to play towards challenging poses like inversions and arm balances, or support them to fully surrender in poses like savasana.
Giving hands-on assists is both an art and a science.
We delve into the science by reviewing body mechanics in all the foundational poses in the yoga practice, and zoning in on important indicators for which adjustments make sense in a variety of bodies. Differences in height, flexibility, strength, and level of practice all play a part in determining what particular hands-on adjustments are appropriate for any given student, so we practice defining those differences and observing them in students in the moment. The “art” component is the ability to observe the energetics of your students, while being mindful of your own energy so you communicate through your hands with clarity and confidence.
Schedule
Teaching requires so much energy and time so our program is built to be as accessible as possible. We'll meet on Saturday afternoons each month for five months. Each module will focus on a specific piece of a standard class.
Want to take your teaching skills to the next level? Differentiate yourself as a teacher with our upcoming hands-on assisting workshops! Just need to brush up on your skills? Join us for the workshop that interests you in particular. Or, take all 5 to deep dive into the world of hands-on adjustments, so you gain the confidence and tools to help your students evolve their practice.
Join us February 10th to kick off the series with Standing Poses and Sun Salutations. Learn and practice hands-on assists for a variety of all the most common standing poses, as well as the postures within the sun salutation series. We will end each workshop with various hands-on assists for savasana.
You can register for one session or all five.
Dates of our Series for 2024 are:
Saturday, February 10th | 1-4pm | Standing Poses + Sun Salutations
Saturday, March 9th | 1-4pm | Twists: Standing, Seated, Reclined
Saturday, April 13th | 1-4pm | Backbends
Saturday, May 11th | 1-4pm | Inversions + Arm Balances
Saturday, June 8th | 1-4pm | Forward Folds + Seated Hip Opening
introducing
The Art of Assisting
JOIN US FOR A
5-Month Saturday Immersion Weekend Program on Hands On Adjustments
-
Further develop your observation skills, so you can feel confident in making informed decisions about appropriate adjustments in the moment.
-
Review variations and modifications of key foundational poses in the yoga practice, and who they’re appropriate for.
-
Learn adjustments for foundational poses of all types, that can be applied to all styles of yoga asana practice, from restorative to vinyasa flow.
-
Enhance alignment and energy flow for your students.
-
Get plenty of practice giving and receiving safe asana adjustments: first, in focused moments with a break down of each pose, and also within a flow.
-
Practice protecting your own alignment and safety while giving adjustments.
-
Fine tune the energetics of your adjustments - the way you approach, are present to, and retreat from a student’s personal space
-
Discuss boundaries and ethics in yoga: consent in this context, as well as our duties, role and impact as teachers
-
Develop awareness of the different emotions and energy that can be observed in the classroom, and how adjustments can have an affect.
INVESTMENT
ABOUT YOUR GUIDE CASSANDRA
As a long time student, skilled touch provided by trusted teachers had a profound effect on my practice, and sparked my passion and love of hands-on assists. An integral part of my own training was assisting a mentor for over a year, giving hands-on adjustments to students in her class. I saw firsthand the power of touch to add depth to the yoga experience. But I also recognized the challenges. Biomechanics, the nervous system, consent, power dynamics between teacher and student, the energy behind touch - a nuanced understanding of all of these is vital to providing a safe container for our students. This is why I felt called to create this program.
As a 500-hr Yoga Alliance certified Senior teacher, I have been a lead teacher in 200 and 300-hr Teacher Trainings since 2013. In 2018, The Art of Assisting was born, to give teachers the opportunity and time to work with all these aspects of touch, and I’ve been leading it ever since. Working deeply with other teachers to expand their skillset is my happy place!
Training: Ishta Yoga NYC, 500HR
Specialty training: Anatomy, Injury Management, Restorative Yoga, Meditation, Prenatal, Trauma-Informed Teaching, and Hands-on Adjustments