Leslie Kaminoff was once asked if 200 hours was enough time to learn to teach yoga. “No. You can lead a yoga class after 200 hours,” he said, “but not teach.”
What did he mean?
Leading vs. teaching
Someone who “leads” a class is a guide.
Imagine that you are going on a trip through the jungle. A guide will give you a map and send you on your way. “Head towards that mountain, then turn right at the waterfall!” A teacher is more personalized and hands on. They will go through the jungle with you, tell you when you’re taking the wrong path, and give you bandaids for your blisters.
To think of it a different way, “leading” a class means that you are instructing your students in the “what” (poses, techniques, positions). “Teaching” a class means you instruct your students in the “how” (actions, techniques, tips).
Now, leading a class is no small accomplishment! You must put thoughtful sequence together, teach your students the general form of poses (what they look like), and move them through the practice safely. But if you want to take your teaching to the next level, you must begin to instruct your students how to do the poses. You must transition from being a guide – to being a jungle master.
One of the most effective ways to elevate your teaching? Teach actions.
Actions
I have been auditioning yoga teachers for years, and it’s surprising how many teachers (even those with several years of experience) do not instruct beyond the bare minimum of the general form. The teachers may be charismatic, have a stellar personal practice, and play a banging playlist, but if they cannot teach actions, I don’t think they’ve arrived yet at their potential.
Teaching actions means teaching the muscular engagements that are necessary in order to wring the full potential and intention from a yoga pose.
Consider:
- what is the intention and purpose of this pose?
- what are the muscular engagements that will bring this pose to life?
- what are the opposing muscular engagements that work against each other to deepen the pose?
- what is rooting and what is lifting (more on root-rebound here)?
If you want to teach a class, then you must consider the internalized actions that move the pose (and the student) from being partially present to fully engaged.
Which actions should I teach?
Every pose has almost unlimited actions that you could teach.
But if we taught all the actions within a pose, we’d be sitting in warrior two for an hour (which would make your students angry). To teach well, you want to prioritize cuing the actions that are specifically enlivening to the pose. For example, if you’re teaching warrior two, you are going to want to teach the heck out of the external rotation of the front thigh. After all, that is a unique action to that pose that brings warrior two to life.
You can also prioritize teaching the actions of the pose that will ultimately help your students embody the peak pose. For example, if my peak pose is wheel, it’s a good idea to teach the heck out of the shoulder stability throughout the class in order to help students cultivate the necessary awareness in the upper back.
How To Start
Taking your cuing to the next level takes some conscious planning. Before your next class, take some time to determine and write out the key, enlivening actions for several poses including the peak. To avoid defaulting to old cuing habits, slow down your teaching to incorporate teaching actions into the fabric of your teaching style.
Observe your students, and see how your words are landing. Begin to personalize your teaching of these actions so that you can offer your students the individualized feedback they need to embody the pose more deeply. In other words, you’re not just offering feedback to students based on the position and shape of the pose; but look more deeply at their bodies to see and feel how they are engaged. Not only will this deepen your students’ experience of their own bodies, looking more closely at individual bodies will help improve your ability to see action and alignment.
Once you start seeing and cuing actions, you’re no longer a yoga guide; you’re in the jungle, baby.
Happy teaching!
