I had a lightbulb moment today. In today’s Yoga Teacher Training at Practice Indie I learned how to properly cue. I already knew how to cue but now I really understand how to cue. Today’s lesson focused on teaching us all how to properly cue. Sure, we have demoed and role-played teaching each other but the purpose of the lesson today was to teach us to how effectively cue poses.
The Cueing Formula
Teaching yoga is a bit like a math problem or a flow chart. You have to follow certain steps to get to the result. Cueing is as easy as linking breath + verb + body part + direction. This is like saying, “Inhale, sweep your arms overhead”. This is the mind-blowing lightbulb moment I had today. I have taught a few classes so far and while I think of them as going well, this information opened my eyes to how much goes into teaching yoga. My determination to become the best teacher I can be has not diminished at all.
I have taught a few classes so far and while I think of them as going well, this information opened my eyes to how much goes into teaching yoga. My determination to become the best teacher I can be has not diminished at all. Instead, it has actually deepened. I have had the opportunity to learn from many teachers and I will honor them all by taking their lessons and doing them justice in my own teaching.
Yoga is a multi-sensory experience that a teacher offers to their students. The teaching of yoga is not just about moving the body into various shapes; yoga is a journey into the Self through a practice of physical meditation. A yoga teacher has the responsibility to safely guide students into their minds to through their bodies while keeping them safe throughout the journey.
The Senses
The yoga teacher sets up the environment to allow students to begin to look within as their bodies move from one pose to another. The sense of scent is a powerful driver of memories and the teacher will often set incense to burn or use essential oils in the room to ensure that everyone smells the same thing. This also helps to keep any surprise scents from appearing since yoga has a physical component that may get things moving within bodies. Sight is also something the teacher sets up, dimming or increasing lights as needed. Doing yoga in the dark is not exactly something people seek out to do and neither do people seek out a studio that is lit up like the surface of the sun. There needs to be a happy medium for all of the senses. This includes setting the stage for the auditory component of the class. The teacher not only needs to be heard from every corner of the
Sight is also something the teacher sets up, dimming or increasing lights as needed. Doing yoga in the dark is not exactly something people seek out to do and neither do people seek out a studio that is lit like the surface of the sun. There needs to be a happy-medium for all of the senses. This includes setting the stage for the auditory component of the class. The teacher not only needs to be heard from every corner of the
The teacher not only needs to be heard from every corner of the room but also whatever background music that has been selected for the class. Lastly, there is a tactile component to yoga. The teacher has to set the expectation that sometimes you have to get physical in class. Students need to be properly aligned to safely maintain their journey through the physical meditation that is yoga. This may be a small touch to a knee to bring it back over the ankle instead of leaning inwards or outwards or it may be the encouragement from the teacher to have the students feel a specific part their body to understand what it means to engage the quadriceps.
VARK
A yoga teacher does not only facilitate a class for the senses, but also for individual learning preferences. Some people learn by seeing, some by listening, some by reading/writing, and some by doing. VARK is a tool to identify learning preferences and better serve students through providing a variety of cues to ensure that students receive the maximum benefit from the instruction. Giving cues in a yoga class is not just an auditory process, it needs to be a mixture of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic output that students can absorb and use in their yoga practice. For example, a teacher may say “lift your arms to the sky”, while also demoing the motion so that people can see what is being said. This helps students to understand and follow the cues that the teacher uses.
Variables and components
Yoga teachers have a lot on their minds when teaching. Yoga teachers have to be expert multi-taskers. There is a lot of planning that goes into sequencing a class that may be thrown out the window once the class begins and the teacher sees what kind of students that he or she is working with during that class. A teacher may have a specific sequence or flow in mind that once the class begins needs to be thrown out due to the population of the class. If a teacher had in mind to feature a pose such as Urdhva Dhanurasana (Wheen Pose) and the class consists of people with back injuries or wrist issues, then the focus would not serve these students. A teacher has to be able to read the room to assess who can do what and how far can he or she can push the students in their practice.
Throughout the c, ass a teacher will be constantly assessing and reviewing the next posture or sequence. The teacher will be asking him or herself if the class is being safe in a pose and if not, then corrections will be made. Also, the teacher will question how effective is the cueing and how accessible are the poses to the class. There is a fine line to walk between challenging some students yet also making the practice accessible and open to all.
Additionally, a teacher has to realize that he/she is not the focus of the class. The students are the focus. The practice of yoga is not about the teacher, it is entirely about the student and their journey into their Self.
If you were wondering…
In case you thought teaching yoga was a breeze, it is not. There is a lot of preparation, knowledge, and expertise that is used in each class that is taught. There is a reason that teachers go through 200-hour, 300-hour, and even 500-hour training programs. There is a lot that goes into teaching yoga and it takes dedication, practice, and experience to become an exceptional teacher of yoga. For this reason, I have a deep sense of gratitude, appreciation, and admiration for yoga teachers.