{"id":15518,"date":"2023-06-20T19:15:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T19:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yogajournal.com\/?p=112040"},"modified":"2023-06-20T19:15:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T19:15:12","slug":"the-one-cue-i-never-use-when-i-teach-yoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/20\/the-one-cue-i-never-use-when-i-teach-yoga\/","title":{"rendered":"The One Cue I Never Use When I Teach Yoga"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! <a href="https:\/\/outsideapp.onelink.me\/wOhi\/6wh1kbvw" class="o-content-cta-link" data-analytics-event="click" data-analytics-data="{"name":"Element Clicked","props":{"destination_url":"https:\/\/outsideapp.onelink.me\/wOhi\/6wh1kbvw","domain":"<>","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}”>Download the app<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Yoga cues<\/a> can be tricky.<\/p>\n

Communicating complex concepts to students quickly is as much art as science, especially in a class with an array of people who vary in how they interpret our words and navigate their bodies. And we teachers don\u2019t always get it right.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll try almost any verbal cue that effectively communicates what I mean, even when it\u2019s not technically accurate. I\u2019m an anatomy teacher yet I have no qualms telling students to \u201cbreathe into your belly<\/a>\u201d if I think it will help, even though I am quite aware that students breathe into their lungs.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s simply no such thing as a perfect way to verbally guide all students into a pose. But there\u2019s one verbal cue that I do not, have not, and will not ever use. And that\u2019s telling someone to take the \u201cfull expression\u201d of a pose. Not only is the language  imprecise and unhelpful, but it\u2019s potentially alienating to some students.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unusual for different teachers and schools of yoga to practice asanas in different ways. For example, Triangle Pose in Ashtanga requires grasping the big toe of your front foot whereas most styles rest the hand on the mat, your shin, or a block. So the actions represented by the phrase \u201cfull expression\u201d rely on the context of the class. A student educated in one method, cued to find \u201cfull expression\u201d by a teacher of another method, is likely to be working toward different alignment or actions.<\/p>\n

But more importantly, even when the same iteration of a pose is known, who defines its \u201cfull expression?\u201d We are each unique, not just in our fingerprints and our DNA but also in our bony proportions, our joint shapes, our movement patterns, and our life experiences. How can a teacher know a student\u2019s \u201cfull\u201d capacity?<\/p>\n

A student with longer arms is likely to find it easier to come into an arm bind than a student with shorter arms or a broader torso. A student with shallower and more outward-oriented hip sockets is likely to find Padmasana (Lotus Pose) than a student with deeper or more forward-facing hip sockets.<\/p>\n

In each example, one student\u2019s full capacity\u2014and potential \u201cfull expression\u201d\u2014differs markedly from the other through no lack of effort or experience, and in ways that are not always seen from the outside.<\/p>\n

We must also factor into that equation an understanding that each time a student comes to the yoga mat, their experience is influenced by their previous activity levels, hydration, nutrition, stress, fatigue, sleep, and countless other factors. What constitutes a person\u2019s fullest or 100 percent expression will differ from day to day and practice to practice.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most crucially, using the phrase \u201cfull expression\u201d is likely to be as demotivating to some students as it is inspiring to others. As social creatures, we are programmed to respond to expectation and subtext as much as spoken words. When a teacher implies that one\u2014and only one\u2014variation of a pose constitutes the \u201cfull\u201d expression, we might consider our ability to do anything else as less than or inferior.<\/p>\n

Telling students to find their \u201cfull expression\u201d is not only vague, it threatens to negate the benefits of a practice that is intended to liberate us and remind us of our inherent completeness. I would assert that saying those words to students is unkind and avoiding it to be an act of decency. And in the words of Aesop, \u201cNo act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: 7 Ways to Exponentially Improve Your Cues If You Teach Yoga<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

About Our Contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rachel Land<\/a> is a Yoga Medicine instructor<\/a> offering group and one-on-one yoga sessions in Queenstown New Zealand, as well as on-demand at practice.yogamedicine.com<\/a>. Passionate about the real-world application of her studies in anatomy and alignment, Rachel uses yoga to help her students create strength, stability, and clarity of mind. Rachel also co-hosts the new Yoga Medicine Podcast<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Why it’s not only unhelpful but unkind.<\/p>\n

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