Sock Police?

I often have students who are not willing to take their socks off in my class. They cite either sanitary reasons or complain that their feet get cold. How strict should I be about the socks-off requirement?—Mina

By Aadil Palkhivala

Read Aadil's reply:
Dear Mina,

It is not only difficult but unsafe to practice yoga without bare feet. Unsafe because socks slip, and traction is necessary to perform and derive benefit from most standing poses. Difficult because you do not have skin contact with the floor, and therefore you can lose control. Another important thing to remember is that students need to look at their feet and check to see if their toes are spreading, if their big toe mounds are pressing firmly into the floor, if the arches are lifting, etc. Such observations take students out of fantasy and into reality.

At our school in Bellevue, Washington, we do not hear people objecting because of sanitary reasons or because their feet get too cold. Why? Because we keep the studio immaculately clean and pleasantly warm.

I will not teach students who wear socks in class. Not because I have a passion for adhering to tradition, but simply because it is more safe and beneficial for the student. If I cannot get them to take their socks off, I try to teach them so cleverly that I blow their socks off!

Recognized as one of the world's top yoga teachers, Aadil Palkhivala began studying yoga at the age of seven with B.K.S. Iyengar and was introduced to Sri Aurobindo's yoga three years later. He received the Advanced Yoga Teacher's Certificate at the age of 22 and is the founder-director of internationally-renowned Yoga Centers™ in Bellevue, Washington. Aadil is also a federally certified naturopath, a certified Ayurvedic health science practitioner, a clinical hypnotherapist, a certified shiatsu and Swedish bodywork therapist, a lawyer, and an internationally sponsored public speaker on the mind-body-energy connection.

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