Hands on or Hands off: physical assists in yoga

An essay by Angela Delfino (GLYS graduate, 2020)

This essay argues that physical assists are an important element in learning or teaching yoga but that prior consent is required when performing assists.  Consent has a legal and moral dimension.  After a brief introduction, the first part of the essay discusses the key legal considerations surrounding physical assists and why employers, employees and practitioners should be familiar with the concepts of ‘consent,’ ‘contract,’ and ‘liability’.  The second part proposes that whilst law is a useful guide in physical assists, the issue may ultimately be a moral one: how we must treat other people. 

0. 

An assist is a physical intervention by the teacher intended to fine tune, adjust or refine a student’s experience in a pose and to deepen the expression of the asana.

For the purposes of this essay, physical assists are understood as both passive assists, e.g., when a teacher provides physical support for a movement, or active, e.g., when the teacher physically adjusts the body alignment of a student. Physical assists include a spectrum of gentle and light touch alignments to more hands-on and forceful manoeuvring.

Assists are useful when a verbal instruction, a cue, or a demonstration is insufficient.  It can be revealing because students may not be fully aware of their posture and/or cannot see themselves in certain poses.  It may be a form of encouragement to demonstrate to a student that he/she could do something different or to take them to a place they have not been before.  The body has a “memory” that only a hands-on assist can offer. 

1. Inhale

There are three important concepts in law that should be considered when carrying out physical assists: ‘contract’, ‘consent’, and ‘liability’.  Notwithstanding, differences between Anglo-Saxon common law and continental civil law systems, the bare minimum elements of a contract are an offer and an acceptance.  Contracts may be written or oral.  Acceptance and, in the absence of a contract, consent require freedom and the capacity to make a choice at a particular point in time.  In the scope of professional services, this may require competency and duty of care by the party offering a service.

In most cases when practitioners register to use a studio they will be asked to sign a waiver or a disclaimer.  The purpose of this is, in general, to protect the studio if someone is injured at their premises.  This type of agreement or contract, however, may not necessarily exclude studios and teachers from being liable for an injury or malpractice.  Such agreements may not always be binding or enforceable, e.g., in instances of negligence, or where the words used are too general (or exclusions too broad or ambiguous) or do not clearly and unequivocally cover what they are intended to cover.  General words such as "any loss" or a reference to loss "howsoever caused" may not be enforceable in a court of law. 

Certain specific laws, such as the United Kingdom Consumer Rights Act, would also regulate the exclusion and restriction of liability for breach of express and implied contractual obligations.  Yoga studios or practitioners may also operate under an assumption of ‘implied consent’ regarding assists, which may not be acceptable in a court of law.

Ultimately, a court would generally analyse the facts at stake, construe any ambiguities among the parties and rely on the concept of ‘reasonableness’, based, e.g., on the relative strengths of the parties' bargaining positions and on a party’s knowledge of a particular condition such as an assist.

2. Exhale

How many pages a suitable contract would have in order to provide for all the rights and expectations of a general number of teachers and students, all the types and gradation of assists, foreseeing every possible issues concerning liability, insurance, and dispute resolution just to mention a few?  I have drafted many complex contracts of hundreds of pages but would it be worth it for studios and teachers? 

Perhaps the key word to retain from the previous section is ‘reasonableness’ and how to interpret it on the basis of morality (independently of an adjudicative institution such as a court of law).  Law should be complemented with morality (and morality has a role in legal reasoning).

This is too short an essay to discuss the theory of objective morality but I do believe that there are objective truths about value.  Some acts are wrong no matter how many people believe they are not.  Torturing babies for fun is wrong in itself not because some people just think this is wrong. Certain acts would still be wrong even if, incredibly, no one thought so.

We must find our conceptions of truth and falsity, responsibility and irresponsibility,  there must be a right answer about the best thing to do.

Physical touch is extremely important in general and in a yoga class but, outside the absolute ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ and when in doubt, why not form a connection and simply ask a student creating a line of communication?  Not everybody likes to be touched and one size does not fit all.  Touch can feel invasive to some, so it is crucial to do so meaningfully and to gain consent before approaching hands-on in a class, especially when the student is unknown to the teacher or when a student is vulnerable and may not be comfortable to actively decline an assist. 

Options may be to ask students at the start of a class for a signal if anyone would prefer to practice without hands-on assists.  Alternatively, consent cards may be a good form of nonverbal communication for those who are uncomfortable with or unable to express their needs verbally as a sign to retain a personal space. Otherwise, why not ask when approaching a student, it may take no more than a few seconds to ask and to receive an “yes” or a “no”.  

A teacher should always look for signs of discomfort.  In the case of more “eager” students, teachers should look for visual cues such as face grimacing, tension, shaking, and loss of breath.  They should not act like Procrustes and know where to go with a student’s body, be confident about what they are doing, consider a posture’s intention, and always be conscious of how to approach and depart from any physical contact.

In short, when considering assists there are legal considerations to take into account, but these are not paramount.  More important is the moral: communicating with students, establishing in advance, and respecting, their boundaries. 

Someone lives well when one examines life, senses and pursues a good life for oneself in accordance with one’s moral responsibility, and with the respect for other people’s lives.  There is nothing more rewarding than, on one of your first assists, hear a simple “good”, “you can go deeper” and receive a big smile after a friend has succeeded in her first eka pada rajakapotasana.  

London, 27 October 2020

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Note: The views and opinions expressed in this essay reflect the personal opinions of the author.  The author is not suggesting or rendering legal or other professional services and this essay should be used only as a source of information. No representation, warranty or undertaking expressed or implied is made in respect of any information contained herein.