A practical guide for teachers and practitioners who want their practice to evolve with the science.

Who this is for: This is written for yoga and fitness instructors, teacher trainers, experienced practitioners, and anyone who wants to understand why certain common instructions can cause harm and what to say instead. If you teach movement to other people, this is for you. If you take classes and want to make better decisions about which cues to follow, this is also for you.

Why this article exists

This isn't a callout. Every cue in this article was passed down with positive intention by teachers who cared about their students, working with the best information they had at the time. Many of these instructions come from revered lineages and traditions that have given millions of people a meaningful relationship with their bodies. That deserves respect.

But we now have significantly more information about how the human body actually moves. Better biomechanical research. Deeper understanding of skeletal variation. More clinical data on injury patterns. Decades of physical therapy insight that simply wasn't available when many of these cues were first put together. It would be a disservice not to use it.

This article is here to help. Teachers, students, and anyone who moves. Not to preach. Not to shame. Just to share what the science now tells us so we can all benefit from it. Think of it as a software update for your cueing, not a criticism of the original programmers. This is not a list of "bad cues." It's a guide to using cues as tools, matching them to the person, the day, and the load.

A note for students: Throughout this article, we'll discuss cues you may hear in class. Always honour your instructor's guidance to the extent that it feels safe in your body. But the moment a cue doesn't feel right, if something feels forced, pinchy, sharp, or unstable, you have full permission to modify, back off, or skip it entirely. No cue is worth an injury. Your body's feedback always outranks any verbal instruction.

A note for teacher trainers: Consider including this article (or material like it) in your training handouts. The gap between what science now knows and what's still being taught in 200-hour programs is one of the most actionable problems in our industry.

If you share this: This article is free to reference, quote, and distribute in your teaching, training materials, or content. All we ask is that you credit the source: The One Practice (the1practice.com). The researchers and practitioners cited throughout deserve proper attribution too. If their work informs your teaching, cite them by name. That's how the profession keeps moving forward.

Scope and limits: This article discusses biomechanics and load management. It does not claim that a single cue causes injury. Human tolerance varies widely. The point is to reduce avoidable risk and improve long-term practice outcomes. This is educational content and not medical advice. When in doubt, consult a qualified clinician.

The bigger picture: it's not just anatomy, it's experience, context, and load

The most commonly cited reason these cues fail is skeletal variation, and that's real. Paul Grilley's work with actual human bone specimens showed that hip socket orientation, the angles where the thighbone meets the pelvis, spinal curvature, and limb proportions vary so enormously between individuals that universal alignment cues are inherently flawed. Bernie Clark built on this with his "What Stops Me?" framework, distinguishing between tensile resistance (the pull you feel from muscles and connective tissue, which can adapt over time) and compressive resistance (the hard stop you hit when bone meets bone, a structural limit that no amount of practice will change).

But the problem goes deeper than skeleton-to-skeleton differences. These cues also fail because they ignore:

Level of experience. A cue that's helpful for a beginner learning body awareness can become counterproductive, even dangerous, for an intermediate or advanced practitioner. "Push your chest toward your thighs" in Downward Dog might help a brand-new student understand the direction of the pose. But for someone whose shoulders have opened over years of practice, that same cue encourages them to dump their weight into their joints and push past a healthy range of motion. The cue didn't become wrong. The practitioner outgrew it, and no one updated the instruction.

Biomechanical reality regardless of skeleton. Some movements aren't just "hard for certain bodies." They often conflict with joint mechanics under load. Squaring the hips fully in Warrior I isn't something most human hip joints can do regardless of bone shape, because the combination of extension (leg moving behind you) and internal rotation (thigh turning inward) required in the back hip commonly exceeds the comfortable capsular range for the majority of practitioners. This is often not primarily a flexibility issue. It's a joint-capacity issue.

The evolving body. Our practice should adjust as we go. What serves us at 25 may not serve us at 45. What helps during a period of building strength may be wrong during recovery from injury. Good cueing accounts for where someone is right now, not where a textbook says they should be.

Jules Mitchell brought exercise science rigor to this conversation, arguing that alignment cues should be grounded in biomechanics, load management, and tissue adaptation rather than aesthetic ideals. Alexandria Crow warns that cues devised for beginners have been taken far past their original intent, even leading to the injuries they were designed to prevent.

A quick note on language: you'll sometimes hear instructors and articles talk about "opening" the fascia. Fascia is the web of connective tissue that wraps around and connects your muscles, organs, and other structures. Think of it like the casing around each section of an orange. It adapts to load over time. It can become more pliable, better hydrated, and change in stiffness. But it doesn't "open" like a door. That metaphor, while common, can mislead students into thinking they should force their way through resistance. The more accurate framing: tissues adapt to the demands we place on them, gradually and within limits. Clark's insight is the useful one here. The question is always whether you're feeling tension (tissue that may adapt) or compression (a structural limit that won't).

A note on resilience. Nothing in this article should be read as suggesting that the body is fragile. Joints are remarkably robust. They tolerate enormous loads daily. You walked down stairs this morning and your knees didn't file a complaint. The issue isn't that a single "wrong" cue will cause injury. It's that repeated, context-inappropriate loading patterns accumulate over time, especially under fatigue, high volume, end-range passive hanging, or with prior injury history. The goal is smarter loading, not fearful avoidance. Bio-individuality is the rule, not the exception.

How to use this

Read each cue as a context problem, not a moral failing. Use the Quick Test to decide if the cue fits the person in front of you today. If it fails the test, use the replacement. If the replacement doesn't land either, ask the student what they're feeling. That's usually the best cue of all.

Yoga-Specific Cues

1. "Push Your Chest to Your Thighs" in Downward Dog

What it's trying to do: Create length through the spine and open the shoulders.

Why it's a problem: This one cuts both ways.

For practitioners with limited shoulder mobility, a stiff upper back, or a larger body frame, this cue forces the body to "solve" the gap by collapsing through the shoulder girdle (the complex of bones and muscles connecting the arms to the torso), overloading the wrists, or hyperextending the lower back. The chest moves toward the thighs, but at the cost of the shoulder joint and the spine. Downward Dog is also a head-down position. Controlled studies (Jasien et al., 2015) show that pressure inside the eye rises significantly within one minute in head-down postures. This is an acute spike, and more research is needed on whether it affects long-term glaucoma progression, but it's worth knowing about for anyone with glaucoma or glaucoma risk. If that's you or your student, keep the head above the heart: Puppy Pose or Wall Dog are solid alternatives.

But here's what's less discussed. This cue is equally problematic for experienced practitioners whose shoulders are already open. For them, "chest to thighs" doesn't create opening. It allows the hips to dump their weight into the shoulder joints and pushes range of motion beyond what's structurally healthy. The pose collapses into passive hanging on ligaments rather than active engagement. Jenni Rawlings puts it well: "The less I try to control and dictate my students' positions in down dog, the more easefully and efficiently they embody the pose on their own."

This makes it a perfect example of a cue that's useful in one context and harmful in another. The direction was helpful for a new student. The destination was never the point, and once the shoulders have the mobility, that cue needs to evolve with the practitioner.

Stop before: Wrist pain, shoulder pinch, or low-back dumping. Any of those means the depth has outrun the control.

Say instead: "Bend your knees, find a long spine." Or: "Press the floor away. Reach your sit bones up and back." The priority is spinal length, not chest-to-thigh distance. As Rawlings teaches: "It doesn't matter if your heels are up or your knees are bent."

Quick test: Can you keep the shoulders active and roomy while breathing smoothly? If not, bend the knees or reduce range.

2. "Flat Back" (Anywhere)

What it's trying to do: Prevent excessive rounding.

Why it's a problem: Your spine has four natural curves in the neck, upper back, lower back, and sacrum, and they're there for good reason. They absorb shock, distribute load, and allow range of motion. "Flat" is never factually true and isn't what we're actually going for. Cueing a flat back causes students to try to reverse those curves, which creates unhelpful spinal loading, especially when fatigue or end-range bracing is involved. Alexandria Crow states it plainly: this cue describes a shape that doesn't exist in a healthy spine. Rawlings admits: "'Flat back' was what I said in class all the time. What I really meant was neutral spine."

Pro tip: "Flat" is a visual illusion. A healthy spine maintains a slight curve in the lower back (lordosis) even when bending forward. Losing neutral control under load is a common mechanism associated with disc irritation and injury risk.

Say instead: "Find a long spine." In a hinge: "Hinge at the hips, not the waist." If you're coaching deadlifts, Eric Cressey's cue is gold: "Show me the logo on your shirt." (He stands in front. If the logo disappears, the spine has rounded. He says: "I haven't met a lifter yet who doesn't understand what I mean.")

Quick test: Place a dowel rod along the spine. Three points of contact: back of head, upper back, sacrum. A hand should fit in the gap at the lower back. If it doesn't, the back is too "flat."

3. "Square Your Hips to the Front" in Warrior I

What it's trying to do: Create symmetry in the pelvis.

Why it's a problem: This isn't just difficult for certain bodies. It often conflicts with common hip mechanics under load. To square the hips fully while the back foot is anchored, the back hip must simultaneously extend (leg moves behind you) and internally rotate (thigh turns inward). The iliofemoral ligament, the strongest ligament in the body running across the front of the hip, becomes increasingly restraining near end range of hip extension. And here's the key: as the hip extends further behind you, available internal rotation decreases. This means the instruction asks for a movement that commonly exceeds the comfortable capsular range for many practitioners, regardless of bone shape or flexibility level. Individual variation is considerable, but the pattern is common across many bodies.

When the thighbone hits its end range, the force doesn't disappear. It transfers up the chain to the sacroiliac joint (the junction between the base of the spine and the pelvis), creating asymmetrical loading across the lumbopelvic region. This can increase stress at the SI region and low back, and torque gets transferred to the back knee, which has limited tolerance for twisting forces under load.

Can some individuals approximate squared hips? Yes. A small percentage have the hip anatomy and mobility to get close. But it should never be cued as a universal standard. The problem isn't that it's impossible for everyone. It's that it's impossible for most people, and the compensations it creates are invisible to the student experiencing them.

Dr. Ariele Foster (DPT, Yoga Anatomy Academy) teaches that the pelvis will naturally face about 45 degrees toward the back leg, and that's fine. Di Hickman's framing is memorable: "When we walk we don't keep the pelvis square. Why would we in yoga?" Yoga Journal's modern Warrior I guide says it plainly: "We need to let this cue go once and for all."

Stop before: SI joint aching, back knee twisting, or a feeling of strain in the back hip crease.

Say instead: "Let your pelvis be diagonal. Turn your chest toward the front." Widening the stance to "two lanes of traffic, not a tightrope" also reduces the torque demand significantly. And if the back foot position is creating problems, consider High Lunge (Crescent Lunge) as the modern functional alternative. Lifting the back heel unlocks the pelvis and removes the torque from the knee and SI joint entirely.

Quick test: If squaring the pelvis makes the back knee or SI feel tense or twisty, go diagonal pelvis and rotate the ribcage instead. If it still doesn't feel right, lift the back heel.

4. "Back Foot at 45 Degrees" (Combined with Hip Squaring)

What it's trying to do: Ground the back foot for stability.

Why it's a problem: Combined with the hip-squaring cue, a turned-out back foot creates conflicting demands. The foot points one direction while the hip is forced another, and the knee absorbs the mismatch. This is compounded at different experience levels. Beginners don't have the body awareness to feel the conflict, and experienced practitioners may push through it because they've been told it's "correct."

The rigid degree prescription came from a system designed to efficiently cue large groups, not from therapeutic understanding. As Dr. Karina Smith (yoga teacher and researcher) teaches: "Get the hip socket feeling comfortable first and then rearrange the feet second. If the angle doesn't happen to be 45 or 90 degrees, does it really matter?"

Say instead: "Let your back heel roll down to where it lands naturally." Or: "Find the angle where your whole foot can press down without strain." The biomechanics-informed community has a consistent rule here: set the hip socket first, arrange the foot last. If the knee or hip is complaining, turn the back foot in more. If that doesn't solve it, lift the heel.

Quick test: Can you press into the whole back foot without the knee or hip pinching? If not, adjust the angle or shorten the stance.

5. "Knee Directly Over Ankle" as an Absolute Rule in Warrior II

What it's trying to do: Protect the knee.

Why it's a problem: The landmark Fry et al. (2003) study found that restricting forward knee movement decreased torque on the knee by about 22% but increased torque on the hip by roughly 10 times. The study used trained men at a specific squat depth and load, so it illustrates biomechanical principle rather than universal injury prediction, but the principle is clear: the force has to go somewhere. And the hip, a robust ball-and-socket joint built to handle massive loads, is a much smarter place for that force to land than the lower back. The real concern isn't the knee's position relative to the ankle. It's the direction the knee travels. Collapsing inward toward the midline is genuinely risky. Travelling slightly forward is normal and necessary for many body proportions.

Jules Mitchell challenges the inconsistency directly: "Why are we saying this in one pose but in another pose it's okay?"

Say instead: "Point your front knee toward your pinky toe." (Dr. Ariele Foster recommends this to keep the outer hip muscles active and prevent the inward collapse that's the actual risk.) Or simply: "Track your knee toward your second or third toe."

Related cue worth addressing: "Drop your hips lower / thigh parallel to the floor." This depth target causes the front knee to collapse inward as the hip's outward rotation reaches its limit, the pelvis to tip forward creating lower back compression, and excessive load on the front thigh without adequate support. "Thigh parallel" treats a visual target as the goal rather than the body's capacity in the moment. The "right" depth changes with fatigue, injury history, and experience level. Rachel Scott normalizes it beautifully: "A higher warrior is still a warrior."

Stop before: Knee tracks inward or hip control gives out. Depth is capped by tracking and hip control, not the mirror.

Say instead: "Only as deep as your knee can track. Press your knee outward like you're pushing into a wall."

Quick test: Look down. Can you see your front pinky toe? If the knee has drifted inward past the big toe, you've gone too deep.

6. "Shoulders Down and Back" in Weight-Bearing and Overhead Positions

What it's trying to do: Counter upper-trapezius tension (that "shoulders around the ears" feeling) and create "clean" lines.

Why it's a problem: This cue has legitimate uses in standing posture or pulling movements. But in overhead or weight-bearing positions like Downward Dog, Handstand, and overhead presses, it blocks the shoulder blade's necessary upward rotation. Here's the key concept: when your arms go overhead, the shoulder blade (scapula) must rotate upward and elevate slightly, contributing roughly 50 to 60 degrees of the total overhead range. This is called scapulohumeral rhythm, and it's not optional. It clears space for the upper arm bone to move without compressing the tendons that pass through a narrow gap at the top of the shoulder (the subacromial space). Alexandria Crow named this the #1 cue to retire for Yoga Journal's 40th anniversary. Dr. Trish Corley (DPT) explains that pinning the shoulder blades down blocks this natural rotation, which can reduce clearance and increase impingement risk in some shoulders.

In simpler terms: Imagine trying to raise your arm overhead while someone pushes your shoulder blade down. Something has to give, and what gives is the soft tissue that gets pinched in between.

The serratus anterior, a muscle that wraps around the side of your ribcage, is the key player for overhead stability. It's activated by pushing away and allowing the shoulder blade to move, not by pulling down. Jenni Rawlings cites a 2023 systematic review showing that scapular dyskinesis (irregular shoulder blade movement) is also observed in many asymptomatic people, so it is not automatically pathology. Her recommendation: "Simply allow them to relax. Let go of any retracting effort and just let your shoulders naturally fall where they will."

Say instead: "Let your shoulder blades move with your arms." (Eric Cressey: "Where the arm goes, the shoulder blade goes.") In plank and arm balances: "Press the four corners of your hands into the mat." (Dr. Corley uses this. It activates the serratus anterior without ever mentioning the shoulder.) Overhead: "Let them float." Or: "A little space between ears and shoulders."

Quick test: Raise your arms overhead. Now actively pull your shoulder blades down. Feel the pinch? That's the problem. Let the blades ride up naturally and notice the difference.

7. "Square Your Hips" and "Shin Parallel to the Front of the Mat" in Pigeon

What it's trying to do: Create "correct" alignment and hip openness.

Why it's a problem: "Shin parallel to the front of the mat" demands roughly 90 degrees of hip external rotation that most people simply don't have. The knee absorbs the rotational deficit. When the front shin is anchored on the floor, forcing the hips to square torques the knee, and a bent knee has very little capacity for twisting forces. Paul Grilley notes that people whose hip sockets face more forward (a variation called anteversion) have dramatically less room for the outward rotation Pigeon requires, regardless of muscular flexibility or years of practice. No amount of stretching changes bone orientation.

Experience level creates an additional trap here. Advanced practitioners often force deeper positions because they've been told that depth equals progress, when what they're actually doing is loading a joint at its limit without muscular support. Jules Mitchell notes pigeon should be "performed more in a strengthening way unless fully supported by bolsters," not as a "floppy, stretchy, feel-good pose." Which, honestly, is how half the yoga world has been treating it.

Stop before: Any sensation in the knee. Not "mild discomfort." Any. The knee is not the target of this pose. If the knee is talking, the hip has already said its piece.

Say instead: "Bring your heel closer to your groin." (This dramatically reduces the external rotation demand.) "Slide a block or blanket under your front hip." (If the hip doesn't reach the floor, the body collapses sideways and torques the knee. Props are essential here, not optional.) "If your knee talks to you, bring your foot closer in." Or: "Try figure-four on your back instead." Jules Mitchell and many modern teachers recommend supine pigeon (thread-the-needle) as the default, offering the same hip stretch without knee or SI loading.

Quick test: Is there any sensation in the front knee? If yes, the shape needs to change immediately. Heel closer to groin, prop under hip, or switch to figure-four.

8. "Never Place Your Foot on Your Knee" in Tree Pose

What it's trying to do: Protect the knee from lateral (sideways) force.

Why it's not necessary for most healthy individuals: This is one of the most widely repeated cues in yoga, and one of the least supported as a blanket prohibition for asymptomatic people. It's yoga folklore that hasn't survived biomechanical scrutiny.

Evidence-informed educators have analyzed this in detail. Dr. Trish Corley (DPT) argues that placing the foot at the knee can actually provide more stability than placing it above or below. When you press the sole of your foot into both bones at the knee joint simultaneously (the bottom of the thighbone and the top of the shinbone), and press your standing leg back into your foot, you're mimicking the stabilizing role of the collateral ligaments. Those are the tough bands that run along the inside and outside of the knee to prevent it from bending sideways.

The forces involved in Tree Pose are low. Risk is still context-dependent, especially with acute injury, instability, or balance loss. But for healthy knees under controlled conditions, knee ligament injuries generally result from high-speed, high-force movements. A skiing fall, a fast change of direction in soccer, a collision. Unless a linebacker is tackling you mid-Vrksasana, the pressure from the foot is insufficient to damage a healthy knee. Jenni Rawlings points out that the knee routinely tolerates lateral forces far greater than Tree Pose during jumping jacks, side plank, Warrior II, and simply standing on a moving subway. She puts it plainly: placing the foot on the knee is a biomechanically benign alignment that healthy yoga students don't need to go out of their way to avoid.

One caveat: If you have an acute knee injury, you'd want to avoid loading that joint in any direction, but that applies to every pose, not just this one. And this cue is genuinely debated. Some yoga therapists still maintain the traditional warning is valid for populations with pre-existing knee issues.

The real issue is that this cue creates unnecessary fear about a joint that's more resilient than we give it credit for. It's a perfect example of a restriction being passed down from teacher to teacher without anyone pausing to ask whether it holds up.

Say instead: "Place your foot at some point along your inner leg." (Rawlings' recommended cue. Simple, non-restrictive.) Or: "Foot on the ankle, calf, or thigh, wherever feels steady." For beginners: "Toes can stay on the floor like a kickstand."

Quick test: Are you pressing foot into leg AND leg into foot? If there's reciprocal pressure and nothing in the knee, you're good wherever the foot is.

Fitness Cues

9. "Knees Should Never Go Past Your Toes" in Squats

What it's trying to do: Protect the knee joint.

Why it's a problem: This is the most studied outdated cue in fitness, and the tide has turned decisively. The Fry et al. (2003) study showed that restricting forward knee travel decreased knee torque by about 22% but increased hip torque by roughly 10 times. The study was conducted with trained men at a specific squat depth and load, so it's not a universal injury prediction, but the biomechanical principle is consistent across research: the body has to manage force somewhere, and restricting the knee just redirects it into the hips and lower back. A 2023 comprehensive review (Illmeier & Rechberger) concluded that restricting this natural movement is not an effective strategy for healthy trained individuals.

Olympic weightlifters routinely allow knees past toes under extreme loads with healthy outcomes. Everyday movements like descending stairs require forward knee travel. The recent popularity of Ben Patrick's "Knees Over Toes" training method has brought this conversation into mainstream fitness culture. Patrick's core insight: "In the 1970s, they found more pressure on the knee when it goes over the toe. But think about stepping downstairs. You're loading your knee over your toes every single step." He advocates progressively strengthening through the knees-over-toes position, not just permitting it.

It may have limited value as a temporary strategy for someone with acute kneecap pain, but that's a specific clinical context, not a universal rule for every squat in every class.

Say instead: "Sit down, not back." (Tony Gentilcore retired the old "sit back" cue because it caused excessive forward lean: "The squat is equal parts knees coming forward and hips going back. You know, a squat.") Or: "Spread the floor apart with your feet." (Used at Cressey Sports Performance. Drives external rotation, proper knee tracking, and better bracing through a single external-focus cue.)

Quick test: Are the knees tracking over the toes (not caving in) and is the whole foot grounded? Then the knee position is fine, even if it's past the toes.

10. "Suck In Your Stomach / Draw Your Navel to Your Spine"

What it's trying to do: Activate the core and protect the spine.

Why it's a problem: This cue came from research on a deep abdominal muscle (the transverse abdominis) that showed delayed activation in people with chronic low back pain, a finding that was inappropriately generalized to everyone. Dr. Stuart McGill's work demonstrates that drawing in actually decreases the internal pressure that stabilizes the spine, the opposite of what's needed when lifting or bearing weight. Think of it this way: under load, your core needs to act like an inflated tire around the spine, firm in all directions. "Sucking in" deflates the tire.

This cue also inhibits diaphragmatic breathing (your ability to breathe deeply using your diaphragm) and can contribute to pelvic floor problems by disrupting the pressure balance in the torso.

One important caveat: The drawing-in maneuver does have a validated use case: isolating the transverse abdominis in low-load motor control retraining, particularly in early-stage rehabilitation for people who have lost motor control after injury. It's a rehab isolation tool, not a stability strategy for movement. The moment you add load, external forces, or dynamic movement, bracing wins.

Say instead: "Brace like you're about to get punched in the gut." (McGill's signature cue. Co-contracts all abdominal wall muscles simultaneously for what he calls "super stiffness.") Or: "360-degree brace. Lock your ribs to your pelvis." For breathing under load: "Exhale through the hardest part."

Quick test: Place your hands on your sides just above your hips. Cough. Feel everything tighten? That's bracing. If your belly draws inward instead of bracing outward, you're hollowing.

Bonus Cues Worth a Second Look

"Keep your back perfectly straight" in deadlifts. A neutral spine is a range, not a fixed position. Aggressively arching to achieve "flat" is one of the most common causes of extension-based back pain in athletes. Eric Cressey's go-to: "Show me the logo on your shirt." Tony Gentilcore: "Squeeze the orange in your armpit" (engages the lats without anatomy jargon). For the hip hinge setup: "Push the floor away" shifts focus from pulling the bar up to driving with the legs. These are all external-focus cues, and motor learning research consistently shows they produce better movement than internal commands like "extend your thoracic spine." There's a reason Cressey says: "I haven't met a lifter yet who doesn't understand what I mean."

"Chest up" in squats. Frequently over-interpreted into rib flare (the lower ribs splaying outward) and excessive lower back arching. Gentilcore calls this the "scissor position" and considers fixing it crucial. His #1 squat cue: "Belt buckle to chin." He clarifies: "I am not implying not to arch. All I am saying is that it often works in people's favor to not OVERarch." Also effective: "Ribs down" (Gentilcore and Greg Robins at Cressey Sports Performance), "Drive your back into the bar" (keeps spinal alignment without extension), and Tony Bonvechio's gem: "Make your butt disappear" (provides just enough posterior tilt to prevent hyperextension while keeping the chest tall).

"Always stretch before exercise." This one is worth flagging because the evidence is more nuanced than the blanket rules suggest. The Warneke et al. (2024) meta-analysis (83 studies, 2,012 participants) found that static stretching can still reduce performance in isolated maximal strength tests, particularly for holds longer than 60 seconds. But for athletic performance measures like jumping and sprinting, the effects were generally neutral, sometimes even slightly positive. The practical takeaway: a general warm-up matters, warm-up quality and specificity matter more than a blanket rule, and context (what you're about to do, how long you hold, your individual response) is everything. Neither "always stretch" nor "never stretch" is right. It's almost like the answer is "it depends," which is the answer to approximately 90% of fitness questions.

"Pull your shoulders back and down" during overhead pressing. Locks the shoulder blade in a position that prevents the roughly 50 to 60 degrees of upward rotation needed for safe overhead movement. This cue works for bench press setup where you want a stable, retracted shoulder platform. In overhead work, it can reduce clearance at the top of the shoulder and increase impingement risk. Jennifer Crane (Cirque Physio, DPT) recommends: "Wrap your shoulder blades around the side of your ribcage."

A Note on Hypermobility

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) prevalence varies by subtype and is likely underestimated, with hypermobile EDS sometimes estimated around 1 in 3,100 to 5,000. But the clinical diagnosis is just the tip of the iceberg. A far larger population falls on the Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) range, and many of these individuals are undiagnosed "bendy" people who don't meet full EDS criteria but still suffer from the same instability. These individuals have connective tissue that deforms more easily, reduced proprioception (the body's internal sense of where it is in space), and increased susceptibility to joints partially or fully slipping out of position.

Here's the cruel irony: hypermobile people often appear "naturally good" at yoga because of their extreme flexibility, which gets misread as mastery when it actually represents instability and injury risk. They're the students who look like they're nailing every pose while quietly accumulating damage. They need stability cues, not flexibility cues. Shorter hold times, reduced range of motion, and strength-building emphasis replace the "go deeper" paradigm entirely. As the Ehlers-Danlos Support UK advises: "Just because it goes there doesn't mean you should take it there."

If you're teaching a group class, assume at least a few people in the room are hypermobile. Cue options and control, not depth and surrender.

What the Emerging Consensus Looks Like

The convergence of skeletal variation science (Paul Grilley, Bernie Clark), biomechanics (Jules Mitchell, Katy Bowman), spinal research (Stuart McGill), fascial science (Jill Miller), pain neuroscience (Neil Pearson, Shelly Prosko, Marlysa Sullivan), motor learning theory (Gabriele Wulf), and trauma-informed practice (David Emerson, Bessel van der Kolk) has produced a shared set of principles that now represent the standard for evidence-informed movement teaching:

Function over aesthetics. How a pose feels matters more than how it looks. The question is "what are you feeling and where?" not "does your pose match this photo?" In practice: stop correcting poses that look "wrong" but feel right to the student.

External cueing often outperforms internal cueing. Gabriele Wulf's motor learning research consistently shows that external focus cues ("push the floor away," "press the mat apart") produce more efficient, coordinated movement than internal muscle commands ("engage your quads," "fire your glutes") (Chua et al., 2021). Telling someone what to do to the environment generally works better than telling them which muscle to squeeze. Both have context-dependent value (internal cues retain value in hypertrophy-focused training and proprioceptive rehabilitation), but the default should lean external. It's how the nervous system naturally organizes action. In practice: replace "engage your core" with "press your feet into the floor."

Invitational language replaces commands. Trauma-informed practice, pioneered by David Emerson and informed by Bessel van der Kolk's research, has shifted instruction from "put your foot here" to "if it feels okay, you might try..." This isn't softness for its own sake. It restores agency rather than imposing compliance, and it gives every student implicit permission to opt out, modify, or choose differently. In practice: use "you might" and "consider" more than "do" and "don't."

Tissues adapt. They don't "open." Jules Mitchell's biomechanics work reframes stretching as load management and tissue response, not simply "lengthening" or "opening" muscles and fascia. The body adapts to the demands placed on it gradually and within limits. The quality of loading matters more than the depth of any stretch. In practice: teach students to work at moderate intensity consistently rather than chasing maximum depth occasionally.

Pain is biopsychosocial, not purely structural. This means pain is influenced by biology, psychology, and social context, not just whether a bone is in the "right" place. Fear of "bad form" can itself increase pain perception. The body is robust and self-organizing, not fragile and easily broken. This doesn't mean form doesn't matter. It means catastrophizing about alignment is counterproductive, and cueing should build confidence, not anxiety. In practice: correct with encouragement, not warnings. Reassure students that their body is resilient.

Practice should evolve with the practitioner. A cue that serves a beginner may harm an intermediate. What works at 25 may not work at 45. The best teachers don't just teach poses. They teach people how to read their own bodies, so the practice grows with them. In practice: periodically audit your cue library. Ask: "Is this still serving the people in front of me?"

The International Association of Yoga Therapists now requires 800 hours of training emphasizing individualized, assessment-based approaches. Advanced teacher trainings increasingly include biomechanics, pain science, and motor control theory. The shift from scripted cues to critical thinking, from memorized sequences to responsive problem-solving, represents the profession coming of age.

Alexandria Crow puts the whole thing simply: "I can give you all of this detailed anatomy and mechanics, but I can't give you alignment because alignment is personal. I can't make you look like a picture. That's unwise and irresponsible." The best cue, it turns out, is often the one that gives the student permission to trust their own body.

Quick Reference Table

References

1. Fry, A.C., Smith, J.C., & Schilling, B.K. (2003). Effect of knee position on hip and knee torques during the barbell squat. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 17(4), 629-633.

2. Jasien, J.V., et al. (2015). Intraocular pressure rise in subjects with and without glaucoma during four common yoga positions. PLOS ONE, 10(12), e0144505.

3. Warneke, K., et al. (2024). The effects of chronic stretching on athletic performance. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 13(3), 418-427.

4. Illmeier, G. & Rechberger, J. (2023). The limitations of anterior knee displacement during different barbell squat techniques. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(13), 4252.

5. Chua, L.K., et al. (2021). The effect of attentional focus on motor performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 147(12), 1272-1303.

6. Ehlers-Danlos Society. Prevalence notes for hypermobile EDS and hypermobility spectrum disorders.

7. International Association of Yoga Therapists. IAYT accreditation standards: 800-hour minimum requirement.

Teacher Cheat Sheet

10 Cues to Retire

1. "Push your chest to your thighs" (Down Dog)

2. "Flat back"

3. "Square your hips" (Warrior I)

4. "Back foot at 45 degrees" (as a rigid rule)

5. "Knee directly over ankle" (as the only concern)

6. "Thigh parallel to the floor" (Warrior II)

7. "Shoulders down and back" (overhead/weight-bearing)

8. "Shin parallel to the front" (Pigeon)

9. "Knees behind your toes" (Squats)

10. "Navel to spine" (under load)

10 Replacements

1. "Bend your knees, find a long spine."

2. "Find a long spine." / "Show me the logo."

3. "Pelvis diagonal. Turn your chest toward the front."

4. "Heel lands where it lands. Hip socket first."

5. "Point your knee toward your pinky toe."

6. "A higher warrior is still a warrior."

7. "Let your shoulder blades move with your arms."

8. "Heel closer to groin. Block under the hip."

9. "Sit down, not back. Spread the floor apart."

10. "Brace like you're about to get punched."

10 Quick Tests

1. Down Dog: Shoulders active and roomy while breathing smoothly?

2. Flat back: Dowel rod test, hand fits in the lumbar gap?

3. Warrior I: Back knee and SI feel calm, not tense or twisty?

4. Back foot: Whole foot presses down without knee or hip pinching?

5. Warrior II knee: Can you see your front pinky toe?

6. Warrior II depth: Knee tracking outward, not caving in?

7. Shoulders overhead: Blades move freely with arms, no pinch?

8. Pigeon: Zero sensation in the front knee?

9. Squats: Knees track over toes, whole foot grounded?

10. Core: Hands on sides, cough test, everything braces outward?

5 Global Principles

1. Function over aesthetics. How it feels outranks how it looks.

2. External cues before internal cues. Tell them what to do to the environment.

3. Invitational language. "You might" beats "you must."

4. Tissues adapt. They don't "open." Quality of load over depth of stretch.

5. The practice should evolve with the practitioner. Audit your cues regularly.

The body isn't fragile. But it is unique, and it changes. The best cue you'll ever give isn't a specific instruction. It's a question: "What are you feeling, and where?" And the best teaching habit you'll ever develop is asking yourself: "Does this cue still serve the person in front of me right now?"