Yoga classes can be difficult to follow without arcane clues and unfamiliar Sanskrit words. Since yoga teachers’ daily classes are often repetitive, it’s no wonder they feel the need to get creative with verbal instruction. This abstract language works well for students to visualize what they want to achieve, but can sometimes lose meaning in the process. To make your mat time less confusing, we’ve put together a list of some of the weirdest things yoga teachers say and what they actually mean.
melt your body into the mat
melt your body into the mat
No one is asking you to turn into a watering hole to do yoga these days, but the visual idea of blending in with your surroundings can really help students relax. We’ve all heard the saying, “Carry the weight of the world on your shoulders,” and this tip is a way to reduce stress on your body. Most of the time, we don’t even realize how tense we are until someone guides us to let go and surrender. Next time you start practicing Savasana, spend a little less time imagining yourself as a puddle and a little more time exhaling every ounce of tension in your body.
open heart
Also known as “opening your collarbones,” this tip is designed to keep students from rounding their shoulders. Many people tend to overcorrect this cue, so finding a good balance is important. It can also be understood as being open to giving and receiving. Whether it’s love, acceptance, compassion or respect; yoga touches on our deep emotional vulnerability. Embracing an open heart is the key to finding peace with ourselves and those around us, both on and off the mat.
Send energy through your fingertips
Send energy through your fingertips
Depending on your teacher, you may hear “finger or toe sparkle.” It’s a whimsical take on the idea of energy flowing outward from our centers through our extremities. Yoga clears areas of stagnant energy—typically the hips, shoulders, and chest. However, these “sticky” or tense areas can be found all over the body and can lead to mental disturbance the longer they are left unattended. For example; we tend to store our emotional baggage in the hips, which is why poses with deeply open hips can lead to crying. You may find this outward and public display of vulnerability embarrassing or uncomfortable, but it is very therapeutic to release stagnant negative energy to allow good vibrations to occur. From a physical standpoint, the sensation often manifests as a tingling sensation in the fingertips and toes as the trapped energy finds its next outlet.
inhale elongate
inhale elongate
Inhale lengthened, exhale softened—sound familiar? This guide helps to dig deeper into poses through the ability to find space and surrender. For example, do a seated forward bend — as you inhale, remember to lengthen your back by drawing your chest toward your toes. As you exhale, relax where you are still tense to soften the torso in your legs. So, by focusing on our breath, each pose can really build continuously.
twisting the muscles around the bone
What should I do now? This sounds physically impossible at first, but it’s really a cue of physical movement that can be used to demonstrate poses. For the legs, this means rotating the femur outward to ground and stabilize the pelvis. In the desire pose, students are instructed to draw their inner thighs toward the ceiling and their outer thighs toward the floor. For the arm, this means external rotation of the arm bones, which is achieved by turning the pinkies towards each other. Suddenly, isometric muscle exercises don’t sound so scary anymore!
looking for energy lines
looking for energy lines
All this energy talk might sound far-fetched, but stick with me as it will help you get the most out of your yoga practice. In many poses, energy lines emanate from parts of the body that are rooted to the ground. In a downward-facing dog, energy travels from the soles of the feet to the spine and exits through the crown of the head. Understanding how all the parts of the body are truly connected can increase our self-awareness and allow us to be mindful in a range of poses. So it’s not really about drawing a line along the body, it’s more about getting a feel for how the connective tissues work together to create shape.
clarify your vertebrae
This keyword sounds more complicated than it really is; in fact, when all teachers say it’s “turning the spine,” they mean it. Despite their best intentions, some teachers confuse students by instructing them to “roll through every eddy.” This is misleading because we only have one spine containing a single vertebrae, get it? By uniquely connecting the vertebrae, we can slowly lengthen the body and connect to different parts of the spine.
throw up pose
throw up pose
It’s one thing to navigate to a different form, it’s another to make the most of it if you’re productive there. This clue includes both mental and physical impairments of the body. When you strike a pose but continue to hold on to yourself, your body is unable to relax and move deeper. Likewise, it is important to let go of any doubts, stress, tension, or insecurities that may hold you back from progress. You will feel emotional release and physical freedom during exercise.
wring out your organs
wring out your organs
Well known in yoga circles, twisting poses and