How To Teach Yoga Students New Poses

Yoga instructors who are interested in learning and growing with respect to their teaching capacities should know that teaching yoga students new poses can help them accomplish this objective. Instructors who are interested in learning how to teach yoga students new poses should know that there are several simple strategies they can implement to do so. Here are four:1. Practice Them Yourself.In many cases, yoga instructors seek to teach yoga students new poses that have just become popular. When this happens, the yoga instructors themselves are not particularly familiar with the moves. For this reason, yoga instructors should practice new poses on their own before showing them to students. To make the most of this strategy, the instructor should practice the new yoga poses in front of a mirror. In so doing, he or she will be able to observe their own form and take any errors or structural deviations into account. Once instructors can execute a new pose without error, they will be ready to teach the move to students.2. Show And Tell.Typically, yoga instructors make one of two mistakes when they are attempting to teach yoga students new poses. They either "show" the students or "tell" the students. In the case of just showing, the yoga instructor does not give verbal instructions but simply executes the movement such that students learn by watching. Although this strategy can work for some students, it is not effective for every student. Why? Because many yoga students are auditory learners, meaning that their ability to grasp new material is highly contingent upon instructions and information being presented in a verbal format.In the cases when a yoga instructor opts to simply "tell" students how to do a new pose, the rate of error and confusion will likely be high. This is the case because many yoga students are not auditory learners. Rather, they are visual and/or kinesthetic learners, meaning they need to see the movement executed or mimic the movements they've seen in order to master the move. In recognizing this, yoga instructors who want to maximize the likelihood that their students will master new moves should both show and tell their students what to do. This means that they should do a combination of the aforementioned teaching styles. By offering verbal instructions and demonstrating the moves, people will be able to master the new poses irrespective of their learning style.


3. Watch, Watch, Watch.As many fitness professionals know, yoga instructors have a tendency to become so immersed in mastering new poses and showing them to students that they forget the importance of carefully monitoring the students as they execute the moves. Yet this is an immensely important component of the teaching process. Why? Because by carefully watching students as they execute the movements, yoga instructors can detect and subsequently correct any errors that they make.4. Offer Gentle Correction.Throughout the process of teaching yoga students new moves, instructors will note that some of the students are performing the poses incorrectly. When this happens, the correct mode of action will be to provide gentle correction. This means avoiding the use of potentially harsh-sounding words like "No" or "Don't." It also means to compliment the student regarding anything they're doing correctly so that they will not dwell on their shortcomings. When yoga instructors offer gentle correction in this way, students are likely to maintain their confidence and self-esteem as they strive for improvement.ConclusionLearning to teach yoga students new poses can be one of the most personally and professionally rewarding activities that an instructor engages in. Since this is the case, the yoga instructor should implement some or all of the strategies outlined above in order to master this important skill.