Yoga teachers have many tools to help us present the practice. The cues we use are one of the best ways for us to communicate the actions we’d like our students to take. Sometimes we might assist a student in addition to using verbal instruction. There is much I could write about regarding assisting; it’s a whole topic unto itself. For purposes of this post, I’ll be focusing on one particular suggestion but let me start out by saying this: Each teacher should find an approach to assisting that is respectful and takes into consideration the preference of the student. If a student does not wish to be assisted, no assist should be provided. How the teachers obtain the student’s agreement to receive an assist can be done at the beginning of class, during class or in other ways.

So, having laid that down as the foundation, let’s proceed with the discussion. In many instances, assisting a student can be a technique to communicate “right action.” I use that term delicately because every student has their own expression of the pose and there is no “right way” to do each posture. But we can of course look at each pose from an alignment and anatomy perspective and share that information with each student, customizing the instructions for them. The point I’m suggesting here is that the standard approach to making a corrective assist is this:

• Notice a student with misalignment
• Approach student
• Provide corrective assist
• Perhaps add a bit of verbal instruction to reinforce the hands-on assist

What I’m suggesting is the following: 

• Notice a student with misalignment
• Approach student
• Ask student to stay “as is” and point out the challenge/misalignment of their current position
• Gently support the student into more of a “proper alignment/correct position”
• Ask them if they notice a difference

I did this with ALL my assists last night in class and I had 3 students tell me afterwards they had a deeper understanding of the pose as well as what was blocking them in it.

Let me give you an example: 

You see a student in Triangle. She’s got the block too low at the floor and the block is on the inside of her front leg, so she’s hunching over the block.

Approach the student. Say, in a low voice of course, “Stay as you are. Notice the hunching towards the floor?”

Gently move the block to the back of the front leg. Make it higher. Use verbal cues to encourage her to “lift up” and “press down into the block and legs.” Place your hand on her back and encourage her “press back into my hand.” Immediately, the student will come out of the hunched over shape and broaden the pose.

Ask the student, “Do you feel the difference? See how much more open this position is?”

You can see with this approach, you’re not immediately correcting; you’re using their self-selected position as a baseline BEFORE you correct them. Then, when you correct them, you’re able to make the comparison between the “right” way and the “not so right” way.

You can use this in just about any assist. The other one I used it with last night was Tree. The student had one hip much higher than the other. This is common. The lifted leg’s hip “hikes” up as leverage to help the student balance in the pose. I approached the student and said, “Notice how this hip is higher? She nodded. I simply said, “See if you can relax this hip. Think about making the hips level.” She slowly eased up on the grip of that hip and brought her whole body into greater alignment.

Both students commented after class how helpful these assisting techniques were. This kind of feedback can be helpful because as teachers we do not always have an idea of how our teaching techniques land on students. As you teach, look for opportunities to use this “comparison technique” and see if you can find ways to fit in a few quick words to make your point. These are not long conversations; you need to build your assisting skill so that you can make quick, short statements and allow the student to stay in the flow. The time for the longer conversation is after class and in this instance, I had time to do this with two of the students.

Looking for help with (verbal) yoga cues? Check out my free webinar here, which also includes a template on building sequences that you can download for free too! Get the webinar here. 

As always, I welcome your feedback and thoughts on this post. Feel free to comment below.

Thanks for reading!