A modification isn’t automatically an easier version of a yoga pose.

It’s a change in demand.

And once you start thinking about modifications that way, it can completely change how you teach them.

Because I think a lot of us learned modifications as a hierarchy.

There’s the “full expression” of the pose.

Can’t do that? Use a block.

Still can’t do it? Try this.

Need more help? Here’s the chair.

And before we know it, we’ve accidentally created a system where the unsupported version of the pose sits at the top—and every modification represents another step down.

Which is how the chair somehow became the kiddie table of yoga.

It’s not.

It’s a tool.

And what matters isn’t whether you used a chair, a block, a wall, or changed the movement entirely.

What matters is:

What demand did you change—and why?

A Modification Changes Something

Let’s say I’m teaching a standing balance exercise and my goal is to challenge hip strength.

I could have someone perform the movement without support.

Now they’re dealing with several demands at once: producing force at the hip, controlling their position, and maintaining balance.

But what if balance becomes the thing that limits how much they can actually challenge the hip?

I might give them a chair.

Did I make the exercise “easier”?

I reduced the balance demand, yes.

But that change may allow them to work harder at the hip—which was the capacity I actually wanted to challenge in the first place.

That’s a very different way of thinking about modification.

I didn’t give them the lesser version of the exercise.

I changed a demand so the movement better served the person and the purpose.

Ask a Better Question

This is why I don’t think yoga teachers need bigger and bigger collections of modifications to memorize.

We need to get better at understanding what we’re changing.

Instead of automatically asking:

“What’s the easier version?”

Try asking:

“What’s actually creating the challenge here?”

And then:

“What happens if I change that?”

Maybe you reduce the balance demand.

Maybe you increase stability.

Maybe you change the range of motion.

Maybe you change the load.

Maybe you change the relationship to gravity.

The important part isn’t simply that you modified something.

It’s that you understand why you’re changing it.

And Then You Have to Watch

There’s another piece of this that matters:

You don’t actually know whether your awesom modification was brilliant until you see how the person responds.

Because teaching isn’t:

Choose modification → congratulations, problem solved.

It’s a process.

Observe.
Change something intentionally.
Reassess.

Did the change accomplish what you thought it would?

Did something unexpected happen?

Did you reduce one demand only to discover that something else was actually driving the challenge?

That’s information.

And that’s where teaching gets interesting.

Better Teaching Isn’t About Having More Answers

I think teachers sometimes assume that becoming more skilled means accumulating more answers.

More cues.

More modifications.

More exercises.

More things to pull out of the giant imaginary teacher toolbox.

Those things can certainly be useful.

But at some point, what matters more is your ability to make decisions with what you know.

To observe what’s happening.

To understand the demands of what you’re asking someone to do.

To change something intentionally.

And then to pay attention to what happens next.

Not bigger collections of modifications. Better decision-making.

That’s a skill you can practice.

And the more you practice it, the less teaching becomes about searching your brain for the “correct” modification—and the more it becomes about responding thoughtfully to the person standing in front of you.

Prepare for the Demands, Not the Shape

A yoga pose is one possible way to organize movement.

It isn’t the goal by default.

So before deciding how someone should perform a pose—or which version they should be working toward—ask what you’re actually trying to accomplish.

What capacity are you challenging?

What demands are involved?

Which of those demands matter for your purpose?

And which ones might you change?

Because a modification doesn’t automatically mean someone has taken a step down.

Sometimes it simply means the teacher made a better decision.

The pose isn’t the prize.

The person is the point.

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Want to Get Better at Making Those Decisions?

That’s exactly why I created The Yoga Teacher Companion.

She’s designed to help yoga teachers think through real teaching questions around cueing, sequencing, modifications, and those moments when something happens in class and you’re left wondering:

Okay…what was going on there?

Because I don’t think what most teachers need is another giant list of modifications to memorize.

I think they need opportunities to practice making better teaching decisions.

If you want to spend less time second-guessing your teaching decisions and get better at thinking through what you’re seeing in the room, come meet The Yoga Teacher Companion. It’s like have education and mentorship right in your pocket!

MEET THE YOGA TEACHER COMPANION →

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A Modification Is Not Necessarily The Easiest Version of A Pose