176: Yoga Is Sold As Healing and Taught As Performance: What we need to move away from this paradigm
Have you ever been in a yoga class where the yoga teacher gives a long dharma talk about ahimsa, and then when the movement practice begins the teaching style feels very aggressive? Or maybe you have been that teacher yourself. I know I have!
I think there are really subtle and beautiful ways to teach the movement part of yoga in a way that has the deeper philosophical teachings embedded within it, but most of us were not taught to do that, and it is more challenging to do than you might think!
Also, many of us claim that yoga movement can be healing, but a performative style of teaching doesn’t allow for that. In this episode, I explore an idea that has become central to my work as a yoga teacher and educator: the disconnect between how yoga is often marketed as a healing practice and how it is frequently taught as a performative one.
I dive into the ways traditional teaching frameworks—especially the language of "regressions," "progressions," “safe,” “unsafe,” “full expression,” “modifcation”—can unintentionally reinforce hierarchy, competition, and performance-based thinking. If our goal is to help students feel better in their bodies, develop agency, and cultivate discernment, I believe we need a different approach.
Throughout the episode, I share practical tools for teaching movement in a way that aligns more closely with healing-centered values. We explore how to move beyond visual ideals, teach from intended benefit rather than aesthetic outcomes, and help students make informed choices based on their unique experiences rather than universal standards.
I also discuss the role of teacher authority, student agency, movement literacy, and why teaching in a more nuanced, non-hierarchical way is both more challenging and ultimately more effective.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
Why yoga cannot simultaneously be a healing practice and a performance-based achievement system
The hidden hierarchy embedded in common yoga teaching language
Why regressions and progressions are not universal
How movement experiences vary from body to body
The difference between teaching shapes and teaching movement experiences
Student agency, teacher authority, and finding the middle path between control and abdication
Why "harder" and "easier" are often misleading descriptors
Alternative frameworks for cueing movement, including active vs. passive, symmetrical vs. asymmetrical, and stability vs. mobility
How to identify the intended benefit of a pose or movement
The importance of sensation-based and function-based cueing
Common compensation patterns and how to work with them
Why nonlinear movement teaching requires more observation, education, and nuance
Helping students develop movement literacy and discernment
Practical examples from tabletop, lunges, Warrior III, Extended Side Angle, and more
Resources Mentioned:
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Have you ever been in a yoga class where the yoga teacher gives a long dharma talk about ahimsa, and then when the movement practice begins the teaching style feels very aggressive? Or maybe you have been that teacher yourself. I know I have!
I think there are really subtle and beautiful ways to teach the movement part of yoga in a way that has the deeper philosophical teachings embedded within it, but most of us were not taught to do that, and it is more challenging to do than you might think!