Asana Technique and Cueing
What this domain tests
Asana Technique and Cueing tests whether you can teach posture from the inside out: joint alignment, base of support, breath, gaze, prop use, and clear verbal cues. Expect questions on demonstration versus mirroring, concise cueing, progressions and regressions, Sanskrit and English names, and matching cue density to class level.
Core rules
- Build each pose from the base up: feet or hands, knees, pelvis, spine, shoulders, head, then breath and drishti.
- Cue one action at a time; use directional language tied to the student's body ("your right foot"), not the teacher's mirrored side.
- Demonstrate with your back to the class when teaching a flow, or mirror only if you deliberately reverse left and right.
- Offer a regression and progression for every major pose; props are teaching tools, not signs of failure.
- Breath leads: inhale to lengthen or lift, exhale to fold, ground, or stabilize; never instruct breath retention in a general class.
Worked example
Teaching Virabhadrasana II from mountain: "Step your left foot back, toes angled slightly in; bend your front knee toward your second toe, tracking it over the ankle; lift your torso over your pelvis; extend your arms parallel to the floor; gaze over your front hand." Reasoning: the sequence establishes base, knee tracking, pelvic position, then upper body, so students are not asked to correct five things at once. Regression: shorten the stance and bring hands to hips. Progression: lengthen the stance only if the front knee remains stable.
Traps
Cueing "knee never past the toes" as a universal rule; squaring the hips in Warrior II, where the pelvis naturally opens to the side; over-cueing ten alignment points while students hold a pose; mirroring without reversing left and right; forcing depth to match a demonstration.