 Over the many years of teaching, we have noticed four stages of learning that students go through when faced with new information. These stages are based solely on our observation and time spent in yoga rooms around the world. They are also based on how we have personally reacted when faced with a new approach.
In this blog series, we will outline what we have noticed both in our students and in our own experience learning new, and sometimes challenging, information. Here is the second blog in this series. The second stage of learning is what we call, "Wait, what?!" Now it's sinking in that what we heard does not match what we have learned previously. Something that is being taught is contradicting something that is already in our minds. This stage is when we start to break things down and piece them back together. How does what we heard conflict with what we think we know? Where are the roadblocks to understanding? Do I really understand what I am hearing? This stage is when we start to say (or at least think) things like, "But I've always understood it as...." or "I've always been taught that...." or "What I've heard is that...". This is an important stage of learning because it is when we really try to assimilate something new. This is the first actual stage of integrating new information. Stage one was simply the enthusiastic agreement stage. Now, in stage two, we really have to think. While this is where the true learning begins, it does not mean that this stage is easy. It is not easy to be faced with new information, nor is it easy to comb through our knowledge and find the flaws in our understanding. While that is exactly what learning entails, we can find ourselves resisting this process because it can be uncomfortable. What happens next? Next up is Stage Three: Bargaining.
0 Comments
 Over the many years of teaching, we have noticed four stages of learning that students go through when faced with new information. These stages are based solely on our observation and time spent in yoga rooms around the world. They are also based on how we have personally reacted when faced with a new approach.
In this blog series, we will outline what we have noticed both in our students and in our own experience learning new, and sometimes challenging, information. Here is the first blog in this series. FOUR STAGES OF LEARNING: AGREEMENT The first stage of learning is agreement. When we first hear something new, we tend to automatically agree. We are enthusiastic about a learning experience in general, and are likely feeling good about being in the yoga room with our community and peers. We hear something and automatically think, "Yes! Great!" This stage of learning is swept up by infatuation with the whole experience. It is exciting to be in a learning environment. We likely walked into the room because we enjoy what we do and want to learn and better our practice. Humans like to be in agreement, we like things to be simple and safe. So in this stage of learning, we jump on board with whatever we hear, and we agree. However, in our passionate state, we have not yet realized that what we have heard may conflict with what we already think we know. We haven't actually processed what we've heard, we have just jumped on board without thinking it through. This means that the second we really think about what is being taught, we might find ourselves in a very difficult situation: accept something new or stick with what we know? That's in next blog on stage two of learning: "Wait, what?!" |
AUTHORS
Scott & Ida are Yoga Acharyas (Masters of Yoga). They are scholars as well as practitioners of yogic postures, breath control and meditation. They are the head teachers of Ghosh Yoga.
POPULAR- The 113 Postures of Ghosh Yoga
- Make the Hamstrings Strong, Not Long - Understanding Chair Posture - Lock the Knee History - It Doesn't Matter If Your Head Is On Your Knee - Bow Pose (Dhanurasana) - 5 Reasons To Backbend - Origins of Standing Bow - The Traditional Yoga In Bikram's Class - What About the Women?! - Through Bishnu's Eyes - Why Teaching Is Not a Personal Practice Categories
All
Archives
October 2025
|
RSS Feed