After a recent yoga class, a student thanked me for my clear verbal cueing. She told me that my cues helped her find proper alignment.
That compliment meant a lot to me. Guiding students with clear verbal cues is harder than it seems it would be — and it’s a skill I’ve worked hard to cultivate.
My goal is that students should not have to look at me or each other to know what to do. They should be able to follow along without looking up or around the room, so they can focus on their own bodies and their own practice.
The body is a chain reaction. Where you set your vision determines the position of your head; the rest of the body follows from there. That means that the moment you turn your head to watch the teacher — or another student — you’re out of alignment.
When the body is not aligned properly, movement becomes more difficult; we get stuck. My role as a teacher is to help my students find their alignment so they can flow with more ease and grace.
The same principle applies off the mat.
When we see other people who seem to find ease with business or life tasks, it’s tempting to want to model their approaches — especially if we are unsure of how to proceed with our own goals. But just like everyone has different bodies, we also have different ways of working and different strengths.
Both on and off the yoga mat, to be in flow requires alignment. The moment you start looking to see what others are doing, you pull yourself out of alignment — and out of flow. When you’re constantly checking what path others are taking, what choices they’re making, what success looks like for them, you lose connection to what actually works for you.
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