Recently, yoga classes have started in our local club. The teacher there presses various points throughout the body after doing the regular Asanas and the corpse pose. He calls this yoga massage. Anybody knows more about it?
Without a bit more information I wouldn’t want to say too much on this topic. I am not aware of yoga massage based on classical yoga texts. There may of course be such a thing but I am not aware of it.
My concern would be the ethical and training issues with such a thing. If the instructor is trained in such a thing (yoga “massage”) and has the credentials for it AND the class is advertised as such so that student is “agreeing” to being touched in such ways (which are not the same as being touched for asana adjustment) then it is fine.
If however somone merely fancies themselves as a massage therapist and chose to incoporate this into their yoga teaching and touches students in these ways without any actual or implied consent, then to me it would be questionable on an ethical and integrity front.
Of course if you don’t mind it and it serves you, then continue going.
Thanks, Inner Athelete. Sorry for the spelling mistake in the head title.
In more than twenty years of doing Yoga, this is the first time I had seen any Yoga teacher do something like this. He presses various parts of the body after doing the corpse pose and calls it a massage and says that it is a must in every Yoga session. I have never even read anything like this and that is why wanted to confirm. Thanks.
Namaste Hiren,
I am not aware of anything called Yoga massage based on classical Yoga either.
Has he also mentioned marma points or called it marma point massage? This is an Ayurvedic technique to work with the nadis, prana and of course, the marma points through acupressure and massage. A complete marma massage would work with all 107 points not just a few. Does he do this much work with each student after his class?
Kind wishes,
I understand.
To me it sounds questionable.
That is not a judgement but merely a sense based on what you’ve shared.
How to proceed? It is okay to ask an instructor about their credentials. Let me rephrase that. It is okay to ask qualified instructors about their credentials. Unqualified instructors would likely get defensive or deflect the question.
I welcome students asking me about my training, my teacher, my education, my yoga. I welcome all inquiries into Purna Yoga.
[QUOTE=Hiren;6943]Thanks, Inner Athelete. Sorry for the spelling mistake in the head title.
In more than twenty years of doing Yoga, this is the first time I had seen any Yoga teacher do something like this. He presses various parts of the body after doing the corpse pose and calls it a massage and says that it is a must in every Yoga session. I have never even read anything like this and that is why wanted to confirm. Thanks.[/QUOTE]