What is cueing and why is it so important? Cueing is a vital way of communication for movement professionals, every single one should have a variety of clear cues in order to be able to communicate with their clients. Cues are used so that clients know where their bodies should be, what their bodies should be doing and what they could be feeling during a movement or exercise. People learn differently, so it is important for the instructor to have the skill set to be able to communicate for each individual learning style.
Visual Imagery:
Attaching images to the language you are using in order to have your client understand what their body should be doing.
For example when a client is laying on his/her back and we are creating some movement in the pelvis before settling to neutral, I may use the visual cue that they have a marble at the centre of their pelvis. The cue would be something like this- ”On the inhale let’s slowly roll the marble away from your face which will increase the space between your low back and the mat, on the exhale lets roll it back towards the face, decreasing the space between the low back and the mat, do this a few times and then find centre with the pelvis, the marble will be still now somewhere between those two movements.“
I used the marble to help my client find movement and then find alignment. Visual cues can be used for a variety of exercises and are especially beneficial for clients who are new to what you are teaching, I do tend to only use a couple of these types of cues per session, if you spent the whole hour cuing imagery, it could be quite overwhelming for your client.
Tactile Feedback:
This is a hands-on approach to teaching, encouraging clients to use certain muscles or move their body in a certain way by using your hands to guide or bring attention to. It is important to note that for this type of cueing an instructor must get permission from the client before placing their hands on them. Self-palpation and props are also an excellent form of feedback in order to give the client a deeper sense of awareness and connection.
For example if we use the same exercise as before I may place my hand under the small of my clients back to show where they may feel movement. I may also place my palms on the hip bones in order to help them understand the movement and understand where neutral is, alternatively I may have them place their own palms on their hip bones and fingers on the pubic bone and encourage them to find neutral this way.
Verbal Cuing, Internal and External Cues:
With verbal cueing we are able to use directional words (left, right, up, down, front, back), action words (slowly, quickly, push, pull, lift, lower), we are also often using names of muscles or describing what to do with parts of the body (soft bend in the knees, relax the shoulders, round your spine etc.), we may use landmarks in the room as well (find your gaze at the window, anchor your feet into the floor, reach your finger tips to the ceiling, turn to face the clock etc.)
I will also use cueing throughout the session as a way of reminding my client of things and as a way of checking in on them. I may cue them to think of the breath, cue to help bring them back into position if they lost it, let them know the benefit and intention of the exercise, contraindications, ask them what feels tight vs. what feels lax, ask them if they can move from their centre etc.
Internal cues focus the client’s attention on their body movement or muscle action, when having a client do cat/cow for example, my internal cue would be “round your spine like a cat stretching”.
External cues focus the client’s attention on external objects, giving specific instructions using these external objects helps the client achieve the intended sensation or movement. Using cat/cow as an example again, I would say “as you round your spine, push the mat away from you”.
Demonstrating:
This is typically my last resort, if I am having a hard time getting my client to understand what I am asking of them, I will demonstrate the exercise, either just in standing with my limbs making shapes or actually getting on the equipment/mat if available. This can be a good way to have your client understand the big picture, the ultimate goal of all the little cues you are giving them. I would typically talk and cue while I demonstrate and often I will show clients the “wrong” way as well so that they can see the contrast. The reason this is my last resort is because how the exercise looks when the instructor does it compared to when a client does it is going to be quite different, not just because all bodies are different but because the body of the instructor is a lot more experienced when coming into these movements than a client will be. The expectation of the client is not going to be that they can match what it is that the instructor can do but they may feel as though it is which can be disempowering when they are unable to achieve this.
Cueing is really one of the most important things that we do with our clients in order to get them to have the most impactful session possible. Using a blend of all the above cue types is the best way to see what will work for each person, it is really easy to see if a cue has landed for the client and given them an “ah ha” moment or if it has made no sense to them at all. Often it is trial and error and then repeated use of the types of cues that do work for them. Our goal as instructors is to help cultivate more awareness and deeper connection for our clients but not overwhelming them and making them feel like their natural movements are wrong. The most important thing is being intentional with our cues and being aware of how those cues have landed and what experience this has created for the client, then we do that process again and again :)
Jess Xx
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