The Art of Assisting & Adjustment with Laurie Howe
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In-Person and/or Online Training
Learn to assist safely, skilfully, and confidently
As a yoga teacher, you’ve learned verbal cues and have developed your own phrasing to guide students safely through a practice. Verbal cueing and verbal assisting are mainstays of the yoga teaching experience; however, it is sometimes helpful to physically show yogis how to be more stable and easeful in their asanas. Confident touch will communicate to your students that you see them and that you are there to support them. It will also help them enrich their practice.
In this course, you will learn to augment your verbal cues with physical adjustments and assists intended to stabilize the yogi’s stance and possibly introduce ease and openness in their asanas. With a deepened understanding of anatomy and alignment, you will learn how to “read” bodies to provide relevant guidance, given a yogi’s physicality and their level of experience and understand your biomechanics to safely assist students.
After a few years of virtual/no-contact teaching, the time has come to re-learn how to adjust and assist our yoga students. Your confident, purposeful touch will help your students open to their unique potential.
Learning Objectives:
~ Keeping yourself safe, and understanding the biomechanics of the teacher’s body and the student’s
~ The difference between an adjustment and an assist
~ Types of yoga assists: Directional - Stabilizing - Deepening - Energetic
~ Ethical touch: how to use your hands - how to be professional, neutral and intentional
~ Alignment vs respecting each student’s unique physiology: it is very important to be able to recognize whether offering an adjustment to one of your students is absolutely necessary
~ Using your breath in and as an assist
~ Asking for feedback, and being okay if it doesn’t work
~ Recognizing resistance in your students
Hands-on assists, when done with care and consent, can be a valuable tool for yoga teachers. By respecting boundaries, using appropriate techniques, and prioritizing student comfort, you can create a safe and supportive class environment for both student and teacher.
Dates and Times:
Saturday, October 31, 2026, and Sunday, November 1, 2026:
Saturday: 10 am ET – 4 pm ET
Sunday: 10 am ET – 4 pm ET
Breaks will be provided.
Cost: SAVE $30.00 by registering on or before September 15, 2026, for $295.00 per person. $325.00 per person thereafter.
Fee includes the training, manual and certificate.
If you live away from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and would like printed training materials to be sent to you, please ensure you sign up at least 10 days before the course start date in order for us to ship the materials to you. Otherwise e-documents will be provided, where possible.
Notes:
This course is open to 200-hour trained yoga teachers of all disciplines.
For 200 hour certified Yoga Teachers this course provides CEUs with Yoga Alliance.
This course is also part of our Yoga Alliance 300 Hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training.
300 Hour Program Elective Module: 10 Hours
Location: PranaShanti Education Centre, 950 Gladstone Ave., 2nd Floor, Ottawa, Ontario.
Our 3,000 square foot Education Centre offers a large open concept training area with high ceilings and an abundance of natural light and excellent ventilation. There is a kitchen with fridge, microwave, kettle and dishware. We have a dining area with tables and chairs, 2 gender neutral bathrooms, our Lending Library and Administration Offices.
Learn to assist safely, skilfully, and confidently
As a yoga teacher, you’ve learned verbal cues and have developed your own phrasing to guide students safely through a practice. Verbal cueing and verbal assisting are mainstays of the yoga teaching experience; however, it is sometimes helpful to physically show yogis how to be more stable and easeful in their asanas. Confident touch will communicate to your students that you see them and that you are there to support them. It will also help them enrich their practice.
In this course, you will learn to augment your verbal cues with physical adjustments and assists intended to stabilize the yogi’s stance and possibly introduce ease and openness in their asanas. With a deepened understanding of anatomy and alignment, you will learn how to “read” bodies to provide relevant guidance, given a yogi’s physicality and their level of experience and understand your biomechanics to safely assist students.
After a few years of virtual/no-contact teaching, the time has come to re-learn how to adjust and assist our yoga students. Your confident, purposeful touch will help your students open to their unique potential.
Learning Objectives:
~ Keeping yourself safe, and understanding the biomechanics of the teacher’s body and the student’s
~ The difference between an adjustment and an assist
~ Types of yoga assists: Directional - Stabilizing - Deepening - Energetic
~ Ethical touch: how to use your hands - how to be professional, neutral and intentional
~ Alignment vs respecting each student’s unique physiology: it is very important to be able to recognize whether offering an adjustment to one of your students is absolutely necessary
~ Using your breath in and as an assist
~ Asking for feedback, and being okay if it doesn’t work
~ Recognizing resistance in your students
Hands-on assists, when done with care and consent, can be a valuable tool for yoga teachers. By respecting boundaries, using appropriate techniques, and prioritizing student comfort, you can create a safe and supportive class environment for both student and teacher.
Dates and Times:
Saturday, October 31, 2026, and Sunday, November 1, 2026:
Saturday: 10 am ET – 4 pm ET
Sunday: 10 am ET – 4 pm ET
Breaks will be provided.
Cost: SAVE $30.00 by registering on or before September 15, 2026, for $295.00 per person. $325.00 per person thereafter.
Fee includes the training, manual and certificate.
If you live away from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and would like printed training materials to be sent to you, please ensure you sign up at least 10 days before the course start date in order for us to ship the materials to you. Otherwise e-documents will be provided, where possible.
Notes:
This course is open to 200-hour trained yoga teachers of all disciplines.
For 200 hour certified Yoga Teachers this course provides CEUs with Yoga Alliance.
This course is also part of our Yoga Alliance 300 Hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training.
300 Hour Program Elective Module: 10 Hours
Location: PranaShanti Education Centre, 950 Gladstone Ave., 2nd Floor, Ottawa, Ontario.
Our 3,000 square foot Education Centre offers a large open concept training area with high ceilings and an abundance of natural light and excellent ventilation. There is a kitchen with fridge, microwave, kettle and dishware. We have a dining area with tables and chairs, 2 gender neutral bathrooms, our Lending Library and Administration Offices.
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Where is it happening?
950 Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Ontario K1Y 3E6
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherPranaShanti Yoga Centre
