Amrita 6: Asana through the ages - Magazine - Page 44
Interview
AM How has your degree and
experience in the medical field
informed your teaching?
AM My medical background has
encouraged me to take a more
evidence-based approach to my
teaching. Science cannot currently give us all the answers to the
questions that we have, but if I am
going to make a concrete statement about a benefit that can
be gained from yoga, I will have
definitely thoroughly researched
the topic first. I’m a great believer
in being completely clear about
why we say what we say and
why we do what we do as yoga
teachers. So, my background has
hopefully allowed me to become
a thoughtful and considered
teacher. What I make an effort not
to do is use anatomical language
or medical jargon in my teaching.
I think that it is unnecessary and
often doesn’t make much sense
to the students!
AM Do you think yoga teachers
should have a higher knowledge
of anatomy & physiology?
AM I think a strong foundation in
anatomy and physiology is important but really understanding
and being able to integrate some
key principles about the body is
more important than knowing
the name of every muscle. What
is wonderful for me to see is that
many trainees and teachers are
genuinely fascinated about the
human body and want to study
more because it is a subject that
they become so passionate about.
I have also noticed that the more
a teacher increases their knowledge of anatomy and physiology
the more confident they become
and the more joy they have to
gain from teaching.
42 AMRITA Issue 6 / Spring 2021
AM You run your own online course on anatomy and
physiology – do you think anatomy is covered enough on
foundation TTCs?
AM I think in general anatomy and physiology is covered to
a reasonable degree on most foundation TTCs. Anatomy and
physiology are complicated subjects for many yoga teachers
and my courses offer them a chance to not only recap what
they may have previously covered but expand upon it and
really relate it back to practicing and teaching yoga. My focus is all about making anatomy and physiology practical, accessible, inclusive, evidence-based and fun. I really try to get
students excited about the topic and the more fun we have
the better the chance that the information will get absorbed.
