Watching first can be part of joining a class
Tempe teacher Heidi Nechtman’s approach gives hesitant newcomers time to observe before taking part.
Some newcomers to Heidi Nechtman’s chair yoga classes ask to sit at the back and watch. In an October 9 Tempe Tribune profile, updated October 19, the teacher describes letting them do exactly that.
An invitation without a performance test
Nechtman runs Perfectly Imperfect Yoga in Tempe, Arizona. The profile describes her work with people who do not see themselves in conventional images of yoga, and her decision to keep online teaching when in-person classes returned.
Her current website confirms both live online and in-person classes, including chair yoga. It describes the chair-based option for people who prefer not to get up and down from the floor. That is a practical description of the format, rather than a promise that every class suits every person.
The profile also describes students changing how much support they use from one day to another. Its observations are the teacher’s experience, not a clinical study. The lasting teaching idea is straightforward: entering a room need not mean immediately joining every movement. Watching, pausing and choosing when to participate can be part of finding a workable practice.
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