A student says “my back hurts”: what does a yoga teacher ask before teaching?

08’Someone exhausted can’t take in a lecture

Before the rules, I told the class about a private session.

A woman had just been through something very big. No strength left. Her breath felt stuck, like someone was squeezing her throat.

The whole session, she only lay down.

Blankets. Pillows under the head, the arms, the legs, the heels. A blanket over the body. Sandbags around her. Supported all over, so she feels held and safe.

I didn’t teach one breathing technique. Not one name. At that moment her head couldn’t take anything in. Talk a lot, advise a lot, and people shut down.

I only asked about what she felt, one question at a time, over many sessions:

1. NoseDoes the air go through your nose?
2. ChestDoes it reach your chest?
3. BellyDoes your belly rise and fall?

If you did a 200-hour training, you know those three: chest breathing, belly breathing. But I don’t say the names. Someone who can’t breathe doesn’t need another lesson.

In class, one student found the right words for a person like that. The first try missed. The second was spot on: you only need to lie here.

“Do nothing, say nothing. Just quietly wrap them up in blankets and pillows.”

Say less. Support more.

Not only people who are ill need this. Office workers aren’t seriously ill, but they are tired too. Bring them into a safe, quiet place and they feel very different from their usual class.

Someone who has trouble breathing needs to see a doctor first. This lying-down session doesn’t replace that, and I’m not telling one person’s story to promise anything to anyone else.

20’A pre-class form: don’t give it a hospital name

After the poses, I moved the class on to the rules for teaching. Rule one: always ask first.

A form helps you ask the same things every time. Just don’t call it a “clinical examination form”, it sounds like you’re going to hospital. Keep it gentle: a pre-class questionnaire.

I took these six items from the class slide. You don’t ask to guess an illness. You ask to know how high to set the props, and how far to open before you stop.

Ask first. Then you know how much to prop.

Use it right away in class: for poses with the legs propped up, set the prop higher or lower. For shoulder and chest openers, open more or less. If you don’t ask first, all you can do is guess.

22’A little pain is enough reason to stop

Someone feels just a little pain, just a little off. I told the class:

“Don’t try to talk them into it.”

If they already feel uncomfortable, the body is no longer accepting that pose. The more I persuade, the more they tense up.

“If you just feel uncomfortable, you have the right to stop right away.”

Their feelings deserve respect.

Not only in restorative classes.

“Even in the 200-hour, even in a normal class.”

In a 200-hour training, a student said they felt dizzy and couldn’t keep up. I said straight away: stop in this pose, rest a little, then carry on.

And the student who keeps complaining, asking, groaning? That isn’t an annoying person. The more someone complains, the more attention they need from me. Hard to please, yes. So be skilful.

26’Two things to be strong in, one thing not to want

I was honest with the class: people who really need restorative work are not easy to please.

Young teachers often get intimidated. They meet an older, tougher woman and they freeze.

“First, be strong in your knowledge. Second, be strong in your mind.”

You don’t get that strength from one class. You need lots of bumps. Me too. Nobody gets wise in one go.

And the thing not to want: don’t try to look smarter than the doctor. It climbs like this:

1. “Doctors can’t do anything for you. Come to me, I’ll fix it all.”
2. People admire you. You earn a bit more.
3. You have put yourself up very high.
4. Something goes wrong: all the responsibility lands on you.

Doctors study for years, and when they get it wrong, they still have to answer for it. Who am I to take all that on?

“I always, always choose the safest option.”

Always take the safe road.

Work inside your scope. If someone is in pain, send them to a doctor, then support them here the way the doctor said. Give the diagnosis back to the doctor, then follow it.

28’“Have you seen a doctor?”

Lower back pain has many causes. I’m not a doctor. I told the class: don’t make wild guesses.

“Have you seen a doctor?”

“Never take the doctor’s job.”

Doctors have machines. Six, eight years of study. They have examined more people than I can count. I have a mat.

After the doctor, ask two more questions:

1. 1Have you seen a doctor?
2. 2What did the doctor find, and what did they say about exercise?
3. 3Did the doctor say yoga is OK?

“So did the doctor say you can do yoga?”

“If they say yes, then we teach.”

Diagnosis goes back to the doctor.

Some doctors will say not yet, because of twisting, because of load. Then don’t teach. Don’t say “that doctor is wrong, yoga is good for you”. If the problem gets worse on its own and they go back to the doctor, they might say “maybe it’s because I went to yoga”. And that’s the end of you.

I grouped this into three questions so it’s easy to remember. In class I said it all in one flow, not as a checklist.

34’With the doctor’s advice: let props take the load

This part comes only after the student has seen a doctor, knows the cause, and has been told they can practise. Then I follow that advice and use props to take some of the load.

“Use a thigh squeeze and a hip cushion to reduce the twisting pressure on the sacroiliac joint.”

Props follow the doctor’s advice.

This is a principle for teaching a class, not an exercise for every kind of back pain. Each person practises within their own doctor’s advice.

36’Where is the SI joint? The whole class went quiet

When I got to the words “sacroiliac joint”, I stopped and quizzed the class. Silence.

Not surprising. In a 200-hour training, we talk a lot about the five lumbar vertebrae, the sacrum, the tailbone. Few teachers go deep into this joint. In restorative work, you meet it all the time.

A joint is where bone meets bone. Pressed for a long time, or twisted too much, any joint gets tired and sore. You can test this yourself:

• Stand for a long timetired ankles, knees
• Hold plank for a long timetired wrists
• Sit for a long timesore bottom

The SI joint is the same. Pregnant women and new mothers often complain of pain around the buttocks. Office workers who sit all day complain too. A student tells you “both sides of my bottom hurt”? Ask them to get up and walk around. If it really hurts, see a doctor and let the doctor say.

The iliac crests are handles. Don’t say “tuck your tailbone”

On the same drawing, the two iliac crests sit at the top. On a slim person you can feel them right away.

“There has to be a measure. There has to be a standard.”

What is neutral? Mountain pose seen from the side: the bones stack on one line. A standard to compare with, a place to stop. On a fuller body the bones are harder to feel, so the teacher needs X-ray eyes: work out where the pelvis is first, then place the hands.

That standard works for poses that aren’t standing, too. Here is how I put it to the class:

I also warned the class: I’m explaining this carefully today, and next time I ask, you’ll probably go quiet again. So take notes, take photos, mark it in red.

47’Four signs: stop first, ask later

“Stop the practice right away, and then what? See a doctor.”

At this point it is no longer about adding a cushion or going gently. You don’t need to know the name of the problem. You see it, you stop.

Stop first, ask later.

These four lines come from the class slide. It is not a complete list. The NHS (UK) public guidance lists these as emergencies: difficulty peeing, losing control of the bladder or bowels; pain, numbness or weakness in both legs; numbness around the bottom or genitals; pain after a serious accident. Those signs need emergency care, not a normal appointment. Not sure? Advise seeing a doctor anyway.

56’A block to open the chest: what are you lifting?

After the theory, the class took out their props. Supported fish pose on a block. I asked: is the block across or along, and where?

One student placed it and said: like this. I gave up. Like what? Across or along the spine? Lifting what?

Across or along, both work. As long as it lifts the twelve thoracic vertebrae. It will always bring a little of the lower neck and the top of the lower back with it. But it doesn’t go under the lower back.

This is still 200-hour anatomy. Nothing hard. The hard part is being willing to say it exactly.

“You have to say it exactly, not vaguely.”

What does exact sound like? Near the end of class, I corrected one student’s Chaturanga over the camera. No “come on”, no “engage”. Just where, and what to do:

A bit later, I said take the strap off, put your back foot against the wall, and do it again. An online class, and the whole class still laughed:

Name it, then the prop goes in the right place.

With back pain, this matters even more. If the doctor says to avoid a certain area, I need to know exactly where my block is sitting.