Teach Yoga with Confidence: Essential Tools for Teachers

Trish Corley Author

Three essential tools for teachers who want to teach yoga with confidence and ease!

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Do you want to teach yoga with confidence and more impact?

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Teaching yoga is more than just guiding students through postures; it's about fostering an environment of growth and empowerment on the mat. If you find yourself struggling with structuring your sequences, delivering meaningful alignment cues, or grappling with anatomy knowledge, keep reading!

In this article, I share the three key strategies that shifted my experience of teaching. 

With these tools I went from overwhelm and too much preparation time to stepping into the studio ready to teach yoga with confidence.

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Structured Sequencing

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Do you find yourself spending hours agonizing over class preparation or getting lost in thought about what comes next during your classes? It's time to bring structure to your sequencing methodology. By establishing a structured sequence that you can rely on for any class, you'll alleviate the stress of planning and create a more cohesive flow for students.

When I first started teaching, I worried about my sequence so much. My worrying actually got in the way of delivering the sequence well….so it didn’t even matter if it was a good sequence or not.

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When I started teaching from a structured sequence, this all changed! For about ten years I have been teaching from the same sequence. And before you start thinking how boring that must be...hear me out. 

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I know the sequence I teach is impactful because I have felt it in my own body and had thousands of students come back to my class because they loved the sequence. And since there is so much structure to the sequence, I am free to be creative with it. In any class I can be present to who is in the class, see what they need in the moment, and use the cues that best support them. This is why they keep coming back!

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And I can also be creative with the sequence because I am so confident with it. For example, I can focus on a body part, a type of posture (i.e. twists or backbends), or a piece of yoga philosophy. Hence, it's never boring!!

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With a structured sequence in place, you'll feel more confident and grounded as you guide students through their practice, allowing you to connect more deeply with them and offer meaningful guidance along the way.

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Structured Alignment Cues

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Are you guilty of repeating cues without fully understanding their purpose or effectiveness? Do you hesitate to offer alignment assistance to your students because you lack confidence in your cues? It's time to develop a structured framework of alignment cues that will empower you to confidently support students in finding optimal alignment in their postures.

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Even though I had a strong understanding of human movement and alignment when I first started teaching yoga classes, I felt lost because I was not sure what cues to use. And I started to see that I was not alone. Many of my yoga teacher friends were worried about the same thing.

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When I discovered a clear framework for alignment, it was similar to my use of a structured sequence. Suddenly, I knew what cues to use. And I could see how the students responded to cues so I knew they were effective!

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Over the past ten years, I used my knowledge and experiences from teaching yoga, being a doctor of physical therapy (physiotherapy) and a functional anatomy professor and put together a proven  yoga anatomy alignment framework.

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Balanced Posture Alignment simplifies the integration of anatomy and alignment cues for yoga practitioner and teachers.

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There’s no need for yoga teachers to get overwhelmed with figuring out different cues for every posture.

Balanced Posture Alignment focuses on learning cues that are backed by science. Hundreds of yoga teachers use this framework of anatomy informed cues to teach with ease and confidence, and to grow their community of students!

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Understand Anatomy

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Ok, I think this one goes without saying. Most yoga teachers agree they need to know anatomy; but many are overwhelmed.

I get it. I am confident with my anatomy knowledge and can share it with students with ease. And it wasn’t always this way. 

Years ago when I was in physical therapy school, anatomy stressed me out. I didn’t have a lot of guidance on “how” to learn and what to focus on. This is why I teach simplified anatomy for yoga teachers now. I don’t want you to be stressed out!

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Are you tired of wasting time googling answers to your anatomy questions or feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of learning complex anatomical terms?

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It's time to embrace a structured approach to understanding and applying anatomy in your classes. By developing a foundational understanding of anatomy, you'll not only enhance your teaching effectiveness but also foster a deeper connection with your students as you guide them through their practice.

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Consider a new, structured approach. Instead of trying to learn all the anatomy and then apply it to yoga, what if you learned some cues and the anatomy that supports the effectiveness of the cues?

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That’s the approach at the Yoga Anatomy School. 

Start with anatomy informed cues and learn the anatomy behind the cues. 

By understanding the anatomy behind the cues, you'll feel more confident and equipped to use them effectively in your classes, enhancing the safety and effectiveness of your instruction.

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The courses and programs at Yoga Anatomy School are designed to set yoga teachers up for success in learning, understanding, and applying anatomy to their teaching. If you are still reading this, it is clear that you are a yoga teacher who wants to teach effective classes and truly serve your students 🤗!

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If you want to learn more about the structured methods of learning yoga anatomy and effective ways to teach yoga, you can get started by downloading the 16 Anatomy Informed Cues for Free.

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If you're eager to expand your toolkit of anatomy cues, grab the Free Yoga Teachers Cheat Sheet: 16 Anatomy Informed Cues to Use Right Now. It's packed with anatomy informed cues that I have refined using my twenty+ years experience as a doctor of physical therapy, an anatomy professor, and a yoga teacher.

These are the exact cues I use in my yoga anatomy courses and yoga teacher trainings to ensure teachers are confident with teaching anatomy informed yoga!

Go from “I can’t learn anatomy” to teaching anatomy informed yoga classes. Your students will not only feel safe, but excited to learn from you and keep coming back!

Categories: : Effective Teaching Techniques, Posture Alignment, Sequencing, Yoga Anatomy