This blog post was first sent to Jenni’s email list as an email newsletter. Sign up for the JRY email newsletter here!
Micromanage: To control every part, however small, of an enterprise or activity
Micromanaging is common in the yoga world.
Micromanaging entails guiding students to modify and control small details of their yoga poses so that they embody the “correct” or “optimal” alignment.
Let’s take a look at plank pose as an example…
Examples of Micromanaging in Plank Pose:
“Align your wrist creases so that they’re parallel with a horizontal line bisecting your mat.”
“Turn the eyes of your elbows to 45° angles.”
“Align the base knuckle of your middle finger directly under the center of the head of your humerus.”
“Protract your shoulder blades on your upper back.”
Granted, there’s the big picture shape of plank that students need to be guided into.
And there are cues that teach the general shape of the pose we’re looking for, like “place your hands shoulder-distance apart on the floor, push through your arms, and step your feet back.”
These cues are necessary and helpful!
Micromanaging, on the other hand, is when we over-specify the fine details of alignment in our poses.
The drive to micromanage in yoga often stems from the belief that the body doesn’t naturally do what it’s supposed to do when we move.
As a result, we must consciously check a long list of “alignment boxes,” in order to override our natural movement tendencies, so that we practice our poses correctly.
With that said, fine-tuning cues can certainly be helpful in some situations. For example…
-
When a student is modifying due to an acute injury
-
When a student is working around a painful issue experienced in a yoga pose
-
For safety reasons in movement contexts where loads are very high (e.g., heavy weightlifting)
Aside from those specific contexts ⬆️ , though, micromanaging is generally an unhelpful yoga teaching strategy because…
-
It overcomplicates movement.
-
It can overwhelm the learning process. (There are only so many thoughts one can hold in their mind at once!).
-
It can create co-dependency and a barrier to movement. (“I can’t practice unless I have a teacher’s eyes on me.”)
-
It can influence students to micromanage their daily movements off the mat (e.g., attempting to keep a neutral spine 24/7).
Important clarification about micromanaging in yoga…
There’s a difference between micromanaging, which entails consciously controlling the fine details of movement (a “top-down” strategy)…
…and simply bringing students’ awareness to the finer details of their movements in a more observational and exploratory manner (a “bottom-up” strategy).
The latter can be a great approach! The former? Probably not so much.
How can we cue yoga poses in a helpful manner and avoid micromanaging?
We can learn about the anatomy and biomechanics of our yoga poses!
By understanding the joint positions of our yoga poses and how force affects the body in each one, we can easily discern which movement cues are helpful and which ones are counterproductive.
Learn to see yoga poses more clearly with me in my brand-new 8-week course starting September 2, 2024, Yoga Asana Analysis!
New 8-Week Course Starts September 2, 2024:
Yoga Asana Analysis!