015: Consent Cards and Hands-On Assists with Molly Kitchen

Shannon knew she wanted to have yoga teacher Molly Kitchen on her podcast after connecting with her about her well designed and helpful consent cards. On today's episode, Molly shares with us her thoughts on hands-on assists, her experience with consent cards, and their connection to trauma sensitivity. Molly Kitchen lives in western Massachusetts and has been teaching yoga since 2009, receiving her 500-hour certification in 2016. She describes her teaching style beautifully: "Molly's yoga teaching is infused with clarity, humor, and heart. Her classes combine physical rigor with attention to detail, balanced by humor, mythic stories, and a discerning spiritual philosophy. Using precise alignment instruction and inspiring philosophy, she creates an environment that invites her students to connect with the wisdom of their hearts." Molly is also the founder and director of Adhikara Yoga School which incorporates social justice values in its teachings. The school also focuses on a trauma-informed approach to teaching which acknowledges that there will always be at least one student in any style of class that has experienced complex trauma and credits her  40-hour Trauma Center Yoga Training with David Emerson & Jenn Turner, PhD, with guiding her in this awareness that she passes on to her students. Molly's passion for teaching yoga does allow her some time to play outside with her husband and nurture her interest in herbal medicine.   Today's Podcast 7:15 Molly talks about what has been keeping her busy 9:20 What inspired Molly to begin using Consent Cards 11:00 What differences Molly noticed after the Consent Cards were introduced 12:55 Building trust: how students are responding to Consent Cards 14:05 Explaining the Consent Cards to students 15:15 On using the word "assists" instead of "adjustments" 16:20 Does Molly always use hands-on assists? 17:45 In which classes are hands-on assists often used? 18:35 Does Molly ever run out of time to use Consent Cards? 20:20 When you might not want to do hands-on assists 21:05 Molly's favourite assists to receive 22:00 Which pose does Molly most assists students with? 22:55 Production of Consent Cards 25:10 Molly's path to reconnecting with her personal yoga practice 28:10 Making "free time" to scheduling in your practice and training 30:00 Shannon's thoughts on assists and consent cards   Links Consent Cards designed by Molly Molly Kitchen's Website Adhikara Yoga School - Train with Molly TCYT Episode 003: Trauma Training for Every Yoga Teacher with Margaret Howard TCYT Episode 004: Assisting Students Without Touch with Shannon Crow TCYT Live Show