Yoga Teaching and Learning
​at www.yogauk.com

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Hello Reader

Welcome to the October newsletter.

The title of this month's article is:
​The use of touch in yoga teaching

On the 18th October I'm leading a practical in-person workshop on this topic (details below) which you are very welcome to join.

Do come along and chat on Zoom about your experiences of the use of touch in yoga teaching, and other yoga topics, at our next Q&A meeting for yoga teachers.

Love and light,

Keep scrolling for:

🤷🏻 Article: The use of touch in teaching yoga

👉 News and resources, Q&A meeting dates and how to join

🙏 Touch workshop information
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Article:

The use of touch in yoga teaching

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When I first started teaching yoga in the 1990s, I felt quite nervous about touching students. I remember being taught a few suitable interventions to use, which I did now and again. But it wasn’t until I trained as a Rolfer, where touch is a large part of the training, that I felt confident to use touch more in my yoga teaching.

So I understand when yoga teachers tell me that they feel uncertain about touching their students. They feel unsure about what is appropriate or inappropriate, or knowing how or when to use touch to best support students in their practice.

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Some teachers have experienced being touched by yoga teachers in ways that felt at worst intrusive or damaging, or at best distracting and unnecessary, while others remember moments when a skilful adjustment using touch helped them experience something valuable in their practice that couldn’t be described in words.

There are yoga traditions where touch is always part of the teaching, and others where it’s never used at all. Some teachers, having experienced inappropriate or careless touch themselves in a yoga class, or due to minimal training in touch, avoid touching anyone at all.
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In recent times, heightened awareness of abuse of power, trauma, and respect for personal space, has made the question of touch even more complex.

Explicit consent is always important, but there are different ways to go about this. Some teachers now ask students at the start of class whether they wish to receive touch, using a simple question and answer, or a signal card. Alternatively, it only takes a second to get a nod from each student at the time, which also offers a moment of connection and reassurance before touching.

Although it’s absolutely fine to choose not to touch, it’s worth exploring the topic in more depth so that your choice to touch or not to touch is made advisedly.
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Touch as communication

Human beings, like all primates, are tactile creatures. Touch is essential to us. Right from birth, touch is how we comfort, bond, reassure, and communicate safety.

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Our skin is an organ of perception, constantly sending signals of contact and relationship to the brain. In yoga teaching, when used wisely, touch can communicate grounding, direction, and poise more directly than words can.

Touch is very powerful. But there’s a delicate art to it.

Positive touch is never about doing something to a student, eg. pushing, pulling, or correcting. It’s a way of communicating. It’s a dialogue rather than an intervention.

Sometimes that dialogue includes offering a sense of weight, or drawing attention to a part of the body. For example, the weight of a hand on the shoulder that says “you can rest here”.

Touch can help a student feel what grounding or lifting or softening means, not as an instruction but as a physical experience.

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​Tip: Touch works best when we invite, offer or suggest, rather than trying to correct, push or pull.
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Transmission and self-awareness

If our intention is unclear when we touch, if we are hesitant, or lacking sensitivity or anatomical knowledge, this can lead to destabilising or invasive touch – and the student will sense that.

The nervous system is highly sensitive to touch, so people will pick up uncertainty immediately. This can lead students to tense up, wobble, or withdraw. Conversely, a confident touch with clear intention and responsiveness can help students to relax, find stability and expand.

Every touch you give indicates your own state of being and intention. So before you reach out, always ask yourself:
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• Why am I touching this person?
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• What do I want to communicate?
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• Am I fully present, poised and grounded?

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If the answer isn’t clear, then pause. Ground yourself, take a deep breath, and be fully present in your own space, and with the student. Be clear about what you wish to convey before touching and observe and respond to the response.

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Tip: Be sensitive, present and poised. How you are when you connect with touch, matters more than technique.

Sensitivity and boundaries

Boundaries aren’t just about avoiding inappropriate touch, they’re about ensuring that when touch does happen, it’s received without confusion or stress.

As we get to know our students, we work out who prefers not to be touched during their practice, and those who are grateful for the unspoken human connection.
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Touch begins before contact. Students can sense whether we are calm, grounded, and present, or distracted and rushed. The energy of the teacher comes through long before the hand makes contact. How you are in yourself and your body as you teach sets the scene.

When the teacher has strong, clear boundaries that are well communicated, the students relax. Then trust can build over time, and then real teaching and meaningful learning can happen.
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​Tip: Avoid approaching students when they can’t see or hear you coming! Always be visible or heard – connect before you touch.
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Types of touch

Different kinds of touch have different meanings and can offer new experiences in poses:

• Directional touch - like a light touch on the crown of the head - can communicate direction or flow.
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• Supportive touch - like a firm hand on the upper back - can offer reassurance or bring a sense of steadiness.
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• Invitational touch - like a gentle pressure on the tops of the feet to find more ground in standing - can awaken awareness or bring release in the whole body.

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For most adult students, any type of touch can be useful if it elicits a positive response. Simply moving students into the position you are looking for may implicitly suggest to some students that they are 'doing something wrong', rather than supporting exploration and autonomy.

Learning how to use different types of touch is nuanced. It involves subtle awareness, sensitivity to context, and the ability to read cues from different individuals, which may vary week to week. Knowing when and how to touch, takes observation, empathy and practice.
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​Tip: Touch that makes the student feel met rather than managed will be well-received.
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Conclusion

Ultimately, the use of touch in yoga teaching is not about right or wrong, but more about relationship and awareness.

When our presence is calm, focused and confident, and our intention is to teach and guide with compassion, then every form of communication — touch, voice, or demonstration — can become a way of guiding yoga students safely and lovingly towards deeper learning and healing.

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News and resources

Yoga Teacher Q&A get-togethers

These sessions are short, impactful meetings designed to connect and support us all in our yoga teaching. More info here Join the next session to share, listen, and get inspiration:

• Saturday 29th November 2025 at 10-11am
• Saturday 17th January 2026 at 10-11am

These friendly meetings are open to all yoga teachers and are free of charge. You'll receive an invitation by email the day before if you are subscribed to this newsletter. (New subscribers can sign up here.)

(Remember you can click 'Preferences' at the bottom of any email to turn off the mailings you prefer not to receive.)

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For yoga teachers:

👉 Use of touch in yoga teaching - BWY practical workshop for yoga teachers, led by Andrea. Venue: Enford Village Hall, Wiltshire, UK, on Saturday 18th October 2025, 10am-4pm. Book via BWY website, non-members reply to this email.

👉 Patterns of wellbeing (examining six qualities and habits that cultivate a sense of calm and feeling well) - course of 6 yoga practice classes online with Andrea from 4th Nov 6-7pm more here​

👉 Essential Anatomy and Physiology for Yoga Teaching online study - more information here​​
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For your students:​
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👉 NEW BWY Foundation Course - starting March 2026 (online)
​See information about the previous course here and interested students can email andrea@yogauk.com to be the first to receive the course information pack as soon as it's available (coming soon).

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Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to any yoga teacher friends or colleagues who might be interested in any of the content. They can sign up to receive newsletters to their own inbox at www.yogauk.com
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