Introduction

Quickly assess your knowledge of Alignment, Adjustments & Transitions, and identify gaps in your education. See below for assessments on these subjects:

1. Defining & Teaching Alignment
2. General Alignment Principles
3. Choosing Alignment Cues
4. Problem Cues: Spine & Pelvis
5. Problem Cues: Standing Poses
6. Adjusting & Assisting Guidelines
7. Mindful Asana Transitions

Purpose

Offer a series of free quizzes for yoga teachers to:

1. Provide an effective way to assess knowledge of each of the Teaching Knowledge Standards.
2. Make it easy to self-assess privately, on your own time.
3. Help teachers who identify educational gaps to bolster their knowledge with accessible and practical lessons.

More Self-Assessments

For more self-assessments, see the Standards & Self-Assessment Hub.

Defining & Teaching Alignment

Teaching Standard

Have a solid understanding of why and how to teach people as opposed to poses, and be familiar with techniques that empower students to experience alignment from within.

Assessment

1. Define and discuss the term “alignment.”
2. What are the benefits of healthy alignment?
3. Discuss the limitations of common alignment metaphors related to building a structure.
4. No alignment teaching is optimal for all students. Why?
5. What five factors might be considered the foundations of teaching alignment?
6. According to Paul Grilley, what is the sign of a mature teacher?
7. What are some priorities to consider when giving cues?
8. Describe priorities in teaching alignment.
9. Discuss why teachers need to continuously grow in their ability to effectively cue for all students, and how this relates to empowering students to learn to feel healthy alignment for themselves.

General Alignment Principles

Teaching Standard

Prioritize key principles such as spinal positioning, breath awareness, a stable foundation, skeletal stacking, core-initiated movement, and the functional relationship of muscle pairs.

Assessment

1. What can be considered the priorities when considering alignment generally?
2. What is meant by the foundation of a pose?
3. Once a proper foundation is set, what is the next alignment consideration?
4. Describe the philosophy of beginning (or moving) from the core.
5. How can awareness of agonist-antagonist muscle pairs assist students in asana practice?

Choosing Alignment Cues

Teaching Standard

Understand that no single alignment approach works for every student and cultivate a range of cues that apply across diverse situations, noting those that may be ineffective or problematic.

Assessment

1. What is the primary point, or fundamental understanding, related to alignment, and how does this inform the effort to utilize generally useful cues?
2. Discuss the subject of clarity in cueing.
3. Describe an example of how a cue such as “draw your shoulder blades down your back” can be over-applied or mis-applied.
4. Discuss specific considerations for making informed teaching choices to guide a student who is experiencing some form of alignment issue in a particular pose.
5. Discuss the subject of cueing a precise action (vs. “engaging” something, for example).
6. Describe the consideration of embodying the same action in multiple poses.
7. Discuss other considerations when choosing different types of cues.

Problem Cues: Spine & Pelvis

Teaching Standard

Familiarize yourself with common alignment challenges, including rib flare and imbalances in the spine and pelvis, exercising particular care with the problem cues, “tuck (or scoop) your tailbone” and “use a flat back.”

Assessment

1. Describe the pelvis and sacrum in healthy posture.
2. What is the typical intention behind the cue “tuck (or scoop) your tailbone?” Describe the cue’s relationship to hyperlordosis and to temporary exaggeration of the low back curve.
3. Describe other potential problems with the cue to tuck or scoop the tailbone and to use a flat back.
4. Define and discuss rib flare.
5. Describe Jenni Rawling’s teaching on resolving rib flare.
6. Provide a list of potential cues for consideration when endeavoring to find neutrality in the spine and pelvis.

Problem Cues: Standing Poses

Teaching Standard

Study considerations related to cues such as “place feet parallel,” “square the hips” and “align your kneecap toward the second toe” plus ways to adapt language and use other cues to suit individual needs.

Assessment

1. ​What is a useful clarification when using the cue, “hip-width apart.”
2. Explain the cue, “spiral your inner thighs.”
3. Discuss potential problems with the cue, “place feet parallel.”
4. It’s unlikely that most teachers will be able to identify the skeletal orientation of a student’s hip socket or the potential twisting of her bones. Thus, “you must determine your best alignment indirectly.” How might this be done?
5. Explain the significant problem with the cue, “square your hips,” and discuss what you might teach instead.
6. Describe potential issues with the cue, “align knee over second toe” and alternatives for consideration.

Adjustment & Assisting Guidelines

Teaching Standard

Establish a strong foundation for decision-making and be proficient in techniques for assisting students with verbal, energetic, and hands-on guidance.

Assessment

1. How might we define the terms “assisting and/or adjusting”?
2. For what reasons might a teacher choose to assist or adjust a student?
3. What are some examples of inappropriate reasons to adjust a student?
4. Describe students for whom adjusting is unlikely to be safe or appropriate.
5. What knowledge and experience must a teacher have to be prepared to safely adjust a student?
6. What is a teacher generally observing in students when considering whether an assist is called for?
7. What considerations are made in the moment when choosing how to assist?
8. What are two general ways to give verbal assists?
9. Describe some considerations when giving one-on-one verbal instruction.
10. What is meant by the term “energy” in the context of practice and assisting?
11. How is Hatha Yoga said to affect the “energy body?” How might an adjustment affect a student’s energy?
12. Describe how to move into a student’s space.
13. Explain physical safety considerations when giving adjustments.
14. What should be the focus when adjusting a very flexible student?

Mindful Asana Transitions

Teaching Standard

Teach pose transitions with clarity, intention, and mindfulness.

Assessment

1. When practicing asana, what is meant by “transitioning”?
2. What specific techniques can help a student to practice mindful transitions in asana?
3. Give an example of how to teach mindful transitioning while entering or exiting a pose.
4. For what reasons is it important to teach mindful transitioning between poses in Vinyasa Flow?
5. What is a key transition teaching in flow sequences?

Next Steps

1. To view more self-assessments, go to the Standards & Self-Assessment Hub.
2. Members, view this clear and concise resource:  Themes & Topics Index, Yoga Vocabulary & Glossary of Terms
3. Members, view clear and concise lessons:

• • Defining & Teaching Alignment
  • General Alignment Principles
  • Choosing Alignment Cues
  • Problem Cues: Spine & Pelvis
  • Problem Cues: Standing Poses
  • Adjustment & Assisting Guidelines
  • Mindful Asana Transitions

In a Nutshell

• The enrollment fee is $25 and is open to Yoga Teacher Central members, past members and non-members.
• Members receive current membership benefits plus additional benefits listed below.
• Enrollment in the Study Program qualifies you for lifetime YTC Teacher status.

Benefits

Enrolling in the Study Program gives you:

1. A downloadable Knowledge Standards Lesson Guide to walk you through a structured study path toward certification.
2. Selection of 5 downloadable lessons of your choice (from a library of nearly 500).
3. Recognition as a YTC Teacher (for life; no expiration).
4. Professional marketing kit for highlighting your YTC Teacher status on social media and your website.
5. Excellent preparation for taking certification exams.

Members

• Your current membership gives you online access to not only thousands of pages of organized study and teaching knowledge, but also sequence breakdowns and teaching notes, theme plans, injury cheat-sheets, and so on.
• When you enroll in the Study Program, you get these additional benefits: a Knowledge Standards Lesson Guide, selection of 5 downloadable lessons of your choice, and a professional marketing kit for highlighting your YTC Teacher status on social media and your website.

See here for information about exams, badges and certification. Get links for each exam, and for a no-risk trial exam.

We think you’ll enjoy taking the exams. The questions are well-thought-out and the subject matter is quite engaging and significant for teachers. You’ll get an inspiring teaching after answering each question. At the end of the exam, you see a summary of wrong answers and the relevant teachings,  giving you a personal study guide targeted to your needs.

This is an hour well-spent!

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