Choosing Pose Versions to Teach
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Adaptation
Overview
In this lesson, we explore how to choose appropriate pose versions for beginners, developing your teaching toolbox and understanding what to model versus what to teach.
Objective
Become familiar with strategies for teaching variations and alternatives safely, and understand how to meet beginners where they are rather than where you wish they were.
What You'll Get
You'll learn that beginners lack key skills that experienced practitioners take for granted—they focus on external shape rather than internal experience and often have unrealistic expectations. You'll discover how to choose which version of a pose to demonstrate, why modeling an advanced variation can be problematic, and how to build your repertoire of accessible alternatives. This knowledge helps you create a safer, more inclusive learning environment while building students' foundation from the inside out.
Questions Answered Here
- Being comfortable teaching many variations and alternatives is a vital skill for teaching beginners. How can you continue to improve your ability in this area?
- What key practice skills do beginners naturally lack?
- How can you help to mitigate these weaknesses and tendencies?
- What is a caution when choosing words to describe variations?
Develop Your Toolbox
Student safety is obviously of utmost importance and therefore being comfortable teaching many variations and alternatives is a vital skill for teaching beginners.
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