Do Your Verbal Cues Make Sense as a Yoga Teacher?
Trish Corley 
When you teach yoga, do your verbal cues make sense to your students? There are 3 key aspects of verbal cues that make sense. Use 3-Part-Action Cues.
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Do Your Verbal Cues Make Sense as a Yoga Teacher?
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Hey there yoga teacher! Are you looking for your voice? Have you found it? Is it even possible to “find” your voice? Perhaps it’s not so much your voice you're looking for. It's actually confidence that you seek!
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There are a few things that consistently stand in the way of yoga teachers having confidence. One of those key blockers is confusion! When you are confused, you don't make sense.
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How can you expect to feel confident if you don't make sense? What if what you are saying is confusing? Have you had that experience of sensing your students are confused? And then you get even more doubtful and more confused? There is a way to consistently teach with cues that make sense. The way out of confusion is to use clear, simple, and impactful language. With the simple formula of 3 part action cues and some practice, you can teach with clarity and confidence!
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Have you noticed that the most effective yoga teachers often say the least?
Effective yoga teachers are clear and concise in their cues. They are focused and present. This is the result you get when you use action cues to teach yoga.
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What is an Action Cue?
Action cues are the most effective verbal cues for yoga teachers. An action cue is a command. Tell someone what to do and be specific. In fact, the more specific the better! If you teach a one hour yoga class, there is a lot of time for you to speak. That means there is also a lot of time for your students to listen and process the information that you deliver. Do them a favor, keep it simple!
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1. ACTION
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The first part of an effective action cue for yoga practice is the action. Use a verb in the imperative form. This creates a command. Examples are: “step”, “lift”, and “reach”.
Many yoga teachers use present participles. Think of these at verbs ending in "ing". Examples are: “stepping”, “lifting”, “reaching”. Without getting into the nitty gritty of English grammar, a present participle can be defined as " a word derived from a verb that can be used as an adjective and to form the continuous verb tenses." They lack the urgency and clarity of an imperative verb.
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There is a tendency for yoga teachers to want to be kind in their delivery. They worry they will come off as “too commanding”. As a result, they avoid using the imperative verbs. But hear me out. Using the present participle (the "ing" form of the verb) is not kind. It's confusing and hard to follow. You can use simple commands and be kind!
Humans are wired to respond to commands.
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If you want to get a 3 year old to clean up their toys, which do you think is more impactful?
Would you say sentence 1 or 2?
1. “Put the toy in the box.”
2. “Putting the toy in the box."
In the first example, the command is clear. Even a 3 year old would know what you want them to do. In the second example, there is an implication that it is just happening; like someone else or something else is making it happen. Ensure that your students know what to do. They came to you for commands!
When it comes to leading yoga asana and teaching to the physical body, commands work best.
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2. BODY PART:
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The second part of an effective action cue for yoga practice is the body part. The easiest and clearest way to incorporate anatomy into your teaching is to speak to the basic anatomy of your students and in terms they know. Examples are “your hands”, “your feet”, “your right knee”, “your shoulder blades”, and “the front of your pelvis.” You can get more specific (see below where I encourage you to), but avoid anatomy jargon that others don’t understand. Terms like deltoids, serratus anterior, or calcaneus are confusing. Most of your students don’t know where their serratus anterior is. They do, however, know where their shoulder blades are!
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3. DIRECTION:
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The third part of an effective action cue for yoga practice is the direction. Think about this as telling the toddler where to put the toy. For example you would say: “Put the toy in the box.” When guiding asana practice, you could say “to the top of the yoga mat”; “towards the ceiling”; “next to your right hand.” Consider using the physical space you are teaching in to guide the direction. For example, in a yoga studio you could say “towards the wall in front of you” or “towards your reflection in the mirror.” If you are teaching in someone’s living room, you might say “towards the couch”.
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Give your students a landmark so they know where to go.
*Have you ever used google maps for directions when it says “proceed north to the route.” If I have the app open, I probably don't know where north is! If the directions say “proceed north towards Grace’s Flower Shop”, I can orientate myself and clearly know where to go. The specific land mark is key in getting me orientated quickly and clearly.
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Let's Look At Some Examples
Here are some examples of clear and concise 3 Part Action Cues:
Step your right foot to the front of the mat.
Reach your left thumb up towards the ceiling.
Squeeze your shoulder blades towards each other.
In contrast, here are those same cues in the passive tense:
Stepping right foot forward.
Reaching thumb up.
Squeezing shoulder blades.
What Else To Avoid to Ensure Your Cues as a Yoga Teacher Are Clear.
Another common, and less effective way of cuing is to simply cue as if you are describing what has already happened. For example, instead of “step your right foot to the front of the mat”, the teacher says “right foot is forward.” That may be true, if the student has already taken the action. This type of cue is less commanding. In the case of the toddler and the toys, it simply wouldn’t work. Imagine this. Fifty blocks are scattered on the floor and you want the toddler to put them in the box. If you say "Toys are in the box", there is no direct command to follow. Alternatively, if you say “put the toys in the box", there is a clear and simple command that the child can easily follow.
One more thing about action cues. The more specific you are, the more you will speak to your students’ bodies. As mentioned above, a more specific example of the hand is “your right thumb.” You might say “the outside edge of your left foot.”
Specificity also helps with the direction. Rather than saying “up”, you could say “up towards the ceiling.” These specific directions create a stronger connection to the physical space. Connection of your physical body to a physical space creates presence. Presence creates safety and a variety of benefits. I’ll leave the benefits of presence for another article. I’d be skeptical though if I found a yoga teacher that doesn’t believe in the power of presence.
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Clarity in your cues creates presence for you and your students!
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Try on 3 Part Action Cues. And if you catch yourself using "ing" way to go! Acknowledge yourself for noticing and being present! Understanding, creating, and using 3 Part Action cues in relationship to yoga anatomy and alignment is a big part of what we do in Yoga Anatomy School.
I've even got a FREE MINI COURSE for YOU!
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Categories: : Cues, Effective Teaching Techniques
