Yoga Teaching Cues: What to Stop Saying and What to Say Instead

If you’ve been teaching yoga for a while, there’s a good chance you have a few cues you say almost automatically.

Maybe they came from your first teacher training. Maybe they came from the style of yoga you practised most. Maybe you heard another teacher say them and they sounded clear enough, so they became part of your own teaching language.

That’s normal.

Most yoga teachers inherit cues before they learn how to question them.

But over time, some cues stop making sense. They might be too vague. Too prescriptive. Too focused on getting students into a shape instead of helping them understand the action. Or they might simply not land for the different bodies, histories, injuries, and nervous systems in the room.

This doesn’t mean you were a bad teacher for using them.

It means your teaching is allowed to evolve.

This post is a companion to the video below, where we talk about yoga cues we no longer use, what we say instead, and how teachers can update their language without becoming rigid, robotic, or overwhelmed.

In this post:

• Why some yoga teaching cues stop working
• Common yoga cues to avoid or rethink
• How to cue yoga poses with more clarity
• Why action cues are often more useful than shape cues
• What to say instead of “you should feel it here”
• How better yoga cues support agency and accessibility
• Why inclusive yoga cueing matters for hypermobility and different body histories
• How to build your own cue library over time

Why Some Yoga Teaching Cues Stop Working

A lot of traditional yoga cueing is built around getting students into a specific shape.

Put your foot here. Turn your hip this way. Stack this over that. Tuck this. Square that. Pull this in. Press that down.

Sometimes those instructions are useful. But when cueing becomes too detailed, it can start to feel like micromanaging.

Instead of helping students experience their own bodies, the teacher ends up trying to control every visible part of the pose.

That can create a few problems:

• students become focused on whether they are doing it “right”
• students may override what they actually feel
• the class can become crowded with too many words
• teachers may cue shapes that do not work for every body
• students with injuries, hypermobility, larger bodies, or different proportions may feel like the cue is not for them

Better cueing does not mean saying more.

Often, better cueing means saying less, but saying it more clearly.

Yoga Cues to Avoid: Micromanaging the Shape

One category of yoga cues worth rethinking is what we might call micromanaging cues.

These are cues that try to organize every part of the student’s body into a very specific external shape.

For example:

• “Square your hips.”
• “Tuck your tailbone.”
• “Knee directly over ankle.”
• “Shoulders away from ears.”
• “Pull your ribs in.”
• “Turn your back foot exactly 45 degrees.”
• “Make sure your body looks like this.”

None of these cues are automatically wrong in every context. That’s important.

The issue is not that a teacher should never mention a knee, shoulder, pelvis, or ribcage again.

The issue is when the cue becomes a rule instead of a useful tool.

When we teach as if there is one correct shape for every student, we miss the reality that bodies are different. Bone structure, mobility, strength, injury history, nervous system state, proprioception, pregnancy, pain, fatigue, and experience level all affect how a pose shows up.

A cue might make sense for one student and completely miss another.

So instead of asking, “Is this cue right or wrong?” a more useful question is:

What is this cue trying to create?

Action cues can be powerful because they are:

• clear
• active
• embodied
• easier to feel
• less focused on appearance
• more adaptable across different bodies

This does not mean every cue needs to be short and punchy. Sometimes students need more explanation. Sometimes a newer student needs more setup. Sometimes a class needs more detail.

But the guiding principle is useful:

Cue the action you want, not just the shape you want to see.

Better Yoga Cues: Shape Cues vs. Action Cues

Here are a few examples of how yoga teaching cues can shift from shape-focused to action-focused.

Instead of:

“Square your hips.”

Try:

“Let your pelvis face the general direction of the front of your mat, without forcing it.”

Or:

“Press both feet into the floor and notice how your pelvis responds.”

Instead of:

“Tuck your tailbone.”

Try:

“Let your tailbone lengthen toward the floor.”

Or:

“Notice if your low back is gripping, and soften the effort slightly.”

Instead of:

“Shoulders away from your ears.”

Try:

“Press the floor away with your hands.”

Or:

“Let your shoulder blades move with your arms.”

Instead of:

“Pull your belly in.”

Try:

“Exhale and notice your front ribs settling.”

Or:

“Let your breath help you find support through your centre.”

Instead of:

“Keep your knee over your ankle.”

Try:

“Press your foot into the floor and let your leg feel active.”

Or:

“Let your knee track in a way that feels steady and supported.”

These are not the only possible replacements. That’s the point.

The goal is not to memorize a new list of perfect cues.

The goal is to understand what you are trying to create in the body and find clear, adaptable ways to communicate it.

Bodies are not identical.

Instead of saying:

“You should feel this here.”

Try:

“You may notice sensation through the back of the leg.”

Or:

“Some people feel this around the outer hip, but your body may experience it differently.”

Or:

“Notice where this shows up for you.”

Or:

“You’re looking for a sense of activation, not strain.”

These small language shifts give students more room to have their own experience.

They also reduce the pressure to chase a specific sensation.

That matters because yoga is not only about whether students can reproduce a shape. It is also about awareness, curiosity, and learning how to listen to the body they actually have.

Inclusive Yoga Cues Support Different Bodies

Inclusive yoga cueing is not about making every class vague or overly gentle.

It is about recognizing that students do not arrive with the same bodies, histories, capacities, or needs.

A cue that works well for a student with a lot of strength and limited mobility may not work for a student with hypermobility. A cue that makes sense in one body may feel inaccessible, confusing, or even irritating in another.

For students with hypermobility, for example, flexibility is not usually the missing piece. Many hypermobile students can move into large ranges of motion easily, but may have less proprioceptive feedback around where their joints are in space.

That means a cue that says “go deeper” or “feel the stretch” may not be useful.

What may be more useful is cueing:

• strength
• stability
• joint awareness
• slower transitions
• active engagement
• clear boundaries
• less end-range hanging

This is where action cues can be especially helpful.

Instead of encouraging students to chase the deepest version of a shape, action cues invite them to participate in the pose with more awareness and support.

That might sound like:

“Try pressing your foot down and notice what changes.”

“Experiment with a smaller range of motion.”

“Notice if this feels supportive or if your body wants a different option.”

“You can stay here, add more effort, or back out slightly.”

“Let this be active, but not forced.”

This kind of language still gives direction. It is not passive. It is not vague.

But it leaves room for the student to be in relationship with their own body.

That is a very different teaching environment than one built around correction, perfection, or trying to make every body look the same.

What am I actually trying to help students do here?

Are you trying to create stability? Mobility? Strength? Grounding? Breath awareness? A clearer relationship between the pelvis and spine? More support through the shoulder joint? Less passive hanging in the hips?

Once you know the intention, you can create cues that serve that intention.

Then build a few different ways to say the same thing.

For example, if you want students to engage through the standing leg, you might try:

“Press your foot into the floor.”

“Push the floor away.”

“Let your leg feel active.”

“Root down through your foot and notice what wakes up.”

“Use the ground to help you feel supported.”

Not every cue will land for every student. That’s normal.

Good teaching is not about finding one perfect cue that works forever. It is about observing, adapting, experimenting, and continuing to learn.

What to Do When a Cue Doesn’t Land

Sometimes you will give a cue and nothing much will happen.

That does not automatically mean you failed.

Movement learning takes time. Students are building new patterns in the body and nervous system. A cue may not create a visible change immediately, but it may still be part of the learning process.

It can also simply mean that cue did not land for that group, in that moment, in that way.

That’s useful information.

Instead of panicking, try asking:

• Can I say this more simply?
• Can I make the action clearer?
• Can I offer a different image?
• Can I reduce the number of words?
• Can I demonstrate?
• Can I give students more time to feel it?
• Can I let this one go and move on?

You do not need to turn every cue into a teaching crisis.

Some cues land. Some do not. Some land three classes later. Some need to be retired. Some need a different doorway.

That is part of becoming a better teacher.

Your cues come from your understanding of movement.

When you understand what the joint needs, what the muscles are doing, and what kind of experience you are trying to support, your language becomes more flexible.

You can say it one way. Then another. Then another.

You can adapt to the students in the room instead of forcing everyone into the cue you planned.

That is where cueing becomes more skillful.

FAQ: Yoga Teaching Cues

What are yoga teaching cues?

Yoga teaching cues are the verbal instructions a teacher uses to guide students through poses, transitions, breath, awareness, and movement. Cues can help students understand where to move, how to engage, what to notice, and how to adapt a pose for their body.

How do you cue yoga poses clearly?

To cue yoga poses clearly, focus on simple language, direct action, and the purpose of the pose. Instead of describing every detail of the final shape, try cueing what you want students to do, such as pressing the floor away, bending the knees, reaching through the arms, or softening unnecessary effort.

What yoga cues should teachers avoid?

Yoga cues to avoid are usually cues that are overly prescriptive, fear-based, confusing, or too focused on making every student look the same. Cues like “you should feel it here,” “go deeper,” or rigid alignment instructions may need to be reworked depending on the pose, student, and context.

What are action cues in yoga?

Action cues are instructions that ask a body part to do something. For example, “press your foot into the floor” is an action cue. Action cues can help create strength, stability, mobility, or awareness without micromanaging every part of the student’s body.

Why are action cues helpful for yoga teachers?

Action cues are helpful because they are often clearer, more embodied, and more adaptable than shape-based cues. They give students something to do and feel, instead of only asking them to copy an external shape.

What can I say instead of “you should feel it here”?

Instead of saying “you should feel it here,” try saying “you may notice sensation here,” “some people feel this around the outer hip,” or “notice where this shows up in your body.” This gives students room to have their own experience without assuming every body will feel the pose in the same place.

How can yoga cues be more inclusive?

Yoga cues can be more inclusive by offering options, avoiding assumptions about what every body can do or feel, focusing on action over appearance, and giving students permission to adapt. Inclusive cueing recognizes that students have different bodies, histories, mobility, strength, injuries, and levels of experience.

How can new yoga teachers improve their cueing?

New yoga teachers can improve their cueing by practising simple action-based language, taking classes from teachers with clear cueing, learning more about anatomy and movement, observing how students respond, and building multiple ways to cue the same action. Cueing improves with time, practice, and curiosity.