Teachers - Are You Creating Space For Your Clients To Explore And Discover?

I was in a group class recently and I was getting super frustrated.

The setting was beautiful, the class was great, but I could feel my body getting more and more wound up as my frustration was rising.

Finally my brain went "ok...what specifically is it that is frustrating you?"

I put my observation skills to use and figured out what it was......

The teacher was listing out a bunch of things that they wanted us to experience....

- A sense of breath
- Grounding
- Calm
- Connectedness

And I realised that the barrier to me feeling those things was the lack of stillness and silence.

For me, the constant verbal suggestions/cues/instructions was bringing me out of my body awareness and into my head....it was DISCONNECTING me from the opportunities to feel all of the things they intended for the class...

and this is exactly what our clients experience!

So how can we CREATE SPACE for our clients to connect to their bodies, observe the somatosensory experience they are having, and make their own discoveries??

A couple of things to try.....

1. Give them the gift of silence!

Once you have set up the exercise and given them the cues to get them moving.....let them practice!

It might not look exactly how you intended....and that's ok...but maybe they are doing something fabulous!

So often my clients will surprise me with their interpretations of my verbal cues...

" oh wow - that's not what I intended...but I can see how you got to that from my words!" is a common thing for me to day!

or "that's not quite what I meant, but it's an awesome Susan*-special"

*insert name of curious mover here

When we give our clients TIME to process our cues, and embody the movement for the themselves we are...

- helping them building their confidence in their bodies
- decreasing their reliance on us for decisions about what to do with their bodies
- encouraging them to explore what options are available to them
- reinforcing that their is no "perfect" way to do things


2. Give them physical space

After giving a client a suggestion/cue/recommendation about their movement I try to create some physical distance between myself and the client.

As in, step away, be somewhere else in the room.

Again, giving them the autonomy to play with, and explore the suggestion I've just made.

If we are always hovering close by, watching over, observing, it can sometimes feel a bit crowded!

Build their confidence by giving them the gift of time and space to play and explore.