In Bikram Yoga, getting “stuck” seems to be a common phenomenon for some longtime practitioners. Despite saying things like “every day is different because you are different” (different rest, nutrition, etc) I often see the same students practice the same postures the same way day after day. Perhaps this is because the sequence is the same and the postures are the same. Or maybe some students are just tuning out or missing the point and are not present.
I am keeping in mind, to get a student “unstuck” does not necessarily mean deeper into a posture (often times it can mean going less far into a posture) or not even have anything to do with an asana at all.
For me, to help get a student unstuck, i try to get to know the student and build trust. I recognize some student may have pain or injuries going back years, so I am can see how – after knowing me for just a few days — why they would not yet be willing to trust my observations and suggestions.
After I’ve built a foundation of trust, I subtly start making one or two suggestions (aka corrections) per class. If the student responds, I’ll add some more suggestions in the ensuing classes. If not, I’ll leave them alone for awhile and keep working to build trust outside of the yoga room. Occasionally I make corrections very directly — in a non confrontational way. Or I’ll ask outside the yoga room if they would like some suggestions that would help their back/shoulder/knee/etc.
How do you reach a student who is “stuck”?