YOGA TEACHERS’ MASTER SUMMIT

CUE CLINIC
HOW TO UPDATE, CAPTIVATE, MOTIVATE,
AND MOVE BEYOND THE SCRIPT
Prepared by Jill Miller, Creator of Yoga Tune Up®
www.yogatuneup.com | jill@yogatuneup.com

It is hard to inspire others when your own inspiration has fizzled. Most yoga
teachers know that too much teaching and demonstrating can lead to
overuse syndromes and repetitive stress injuries, and in the same way the
overuse of the same cues day in and day out can lead to RCS: repetitive cue
syndrome. It’s a purgatory of dull, blah cues ricocheting around in empty
space and falling on deaf ears. Years of cueing in a classroom can often lead
to boredom, complacency, and a lack of teaching “pizzazz.” In this workshop,
learn to uncover your own verbal blind spots while transforming your
relationship to your students. Dig into a new toolkit of invaluable techniques
to help you relate to both your students and your subject in a deeper, more
meaningful way. Produce standout instruction every time you teach! You will
ultimately invigorate your own mind while helping your students to better
embody your lessons.

PROPS
Yoga Mat
Pen
Paper

© Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Inc. 2017

1
www.tuneupfitness.com
 INTRODUCTION
CRAFTING A TEACHING MINDSET
Resolve/Sankalpa Self-Survey

ANSWER THESE SEVEN QUESTIONS:

1. When you think about teaching a session to your students, what are the first
three emotions that occur to you? (aka, When I think about teaching, I feel _____). Be
honest!
1.
2.
3.

2. What are the top three things you want your students to experience when you
teach? (In other words, they just took your class, and the three things you want them to walk
away with are _____).

1.
2.
3.

3. If you surveyed your students, what would be the top three qualities that they
most admire about your teaching? What’s the “contact high” they get from being
around you?
1.
2.
3.

© Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Inc. 2017

2
www.tuneupfitness.com
 INTRODUCTION
CRAFTING A TEACHING MINDSET
Resolve/Sankalpa Self Survey

QUESTIONS CONTINUED:

4. How, specifically, would you like to improve your teaching?

5. Are you giving yourself permission to grow as a teacher?

6. Are you willing to let go of students in order to grow?

7. What would happen if you changed significantly as a teacher?

© Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Inc. 2017

3
www.tuneupfitness.com
 BUILD A BODY OF CONTEXT
1. C O N T E X T : What does context mean to you?
2. B U I L D I N G B L O C K S O F C O N T E X T :
WHY — are we doing this pose/variation?

HOW — is it affecting the body’s tissues?

WHICH — other poses will this relate to?

WHAT — actions in daily life will this improve?

3. W H A T A R E T H E L A Y E R S B E H I N D G R E A T C O N T E X T ?
Know the body anatomy/physiology.
Know your art form.
Know the mind — psychology, sociology, animal behavior.
Know yourself, have a point of view.
Thinking outside the boxana.
Know who you are talking to — your students!
— As individuals, as groups
— Type of student: Athlete? Healing from an injury? Exercise

novice or connoisseur? Chronic pain?

— Type of environment: Yoga studio? Fitness club? Corporate

setting? Private in someone’s home?

4. S E C R E T K E Y S O F B U I L D I N G C O N T E X T
DIRECTIONS OF BUILDING MOVEMENT

Pelvis
Spine
Hips
Shoulders

© Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Inc. 2017

4
www.tuneupfitness.com
 BUILD A BODY OF CONTEXT
CRAFTING YOUR UNIQUE VOICE
Great teachers are known for their ability to speak about the body and move-
ment in ways that capture the imaginations of their students. One of the ways
to stay fresh with your teaching is to reach for words and verbs that are active
and descriptive. It is easy to fall into the trap of teaching with a limited vocab-
ulary and repeating things by rote. Teaching on autopilot fails to articulate the
nuances of a moment, or the specific needs of individual students. Your job is
not to create packaged cue-sets for your students but rather to help them to
clue into their own embodiment. Teach with clues instead of cues.

A successful movement educator customizes the language of a pose as much

as the pose itself! If you find yourself falling into robotic teaching filled with
complacency and repetition of the exact same phrasing every time you teach,
it’s time to crack open the thesaurus!

Here are a few examples of words that are habitually overused in yoga and
fitness classes, and some other options that might work instead.

OVERUSED VERB NEW VERB

STRETCH ELONGATE, LENGTHEN, RELEASE,
EXTEND, GROW, BLOOM, AWAKEN

RESPIRATE, SATURATE YOUR LUNGS,

BREATHE
INDULGE YOUR LUNGS, BROADEN THE RIB
CAGE, SPREAD YOUR DIAPHRAGM

FEEL TUNE IN, BECOME AWARE, NOTICE,

FINESSE, GRAPPLE, PET

OPEN YOUR HEART

© Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Inc. 2017

5
www.tuneupfitness.com
BUILD A BODY OF CONTEXT
MY OWN WORDS

ACTIVITIES LIST ACTIVE VERBS

© Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Inc. 2017

6
www.tuneupfitness.com
 BUILD A BODY OF CONTEXT
BUILD OUT YOUR CONTEXT
Grid it—to know it—to teach it—to relate it—to be responsible
and to show that you have reasoned for your students
and that this is in their best interest. What’s in it for them?
It’s all in the GRID.
Always be a student of your own work. Be a student of your own teaching.

CONTEXT GRID
POSE NAME: YOGA TUNE UP© MOON RISES

Why are we doing How is it affecting Which poses will What actions in
daily life will this
this pose/variation? the body? this relate to?
improve?

To bring awareness The standing leg’s hip Half moon, twisted Walking, standing,
to the end range of socket is challenged to half moon, triangle, lateral movements,
motion of internal dynamically strengthen twisted triangle, samba and salsa moves
and external and stretch the inner warrior III on the dance floor.
and outer hip muscles. Strengthening the hip
rotation in the
Profound length and at its end range serves
standing leg’s hip
strength of all external as a bone builder for
socket. To build
and internal rotators and the femur and
proprioceptive
stabilizers, piriformis, acetabulum. Helpful for
awareness of the gluteus minimus, gluteus arthritis: helps lubricate
joint. To prepare the medius, gluteus the hip socket with
hip for half moon maximus, gemelli, synovium and
and twisted half obturators, IT band is stimulates synovial fluid
moon pose. stimulated, tensor fascia production on the often
latae, hamstring group, under-contacted joint
adductor group. Back spaces. Familiarizes you
muscles strengthened, with the reverse action
erectors, quadratus at the coxal joint,
lumborum, buttocks, and building awareness that
more the acetabulum can
move around the femur.

© Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Inc. 2017

7
www.tuneupfitness.com
 BUILD A BODY OF CONTEXT
CONTEXT GRID

POSE NAME:

Why are we doing How is it affecting Which poses will What actions in
daily life will this
this pose/variation? the body? this relate to?
improve?

© Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Inc. 2017

8
www.tuneupfitness.com