If you’ve ever been in a yoga class and heard phrases like “engage your core” or “come back to your breath”, you’re not alone if you’ve wondered what they really mean.
The use of short cues helps to guide movement and awareness, but the language can sometimes feel a little mysterious. The good news is that most of these phrases are actually quite simple once they’re unpacked.
Here are a few common cues you might hear in class, and what they really mean.
“Engage Your Core“
When a teacher asks you to engage your core, they’re not asking you to tense your stomach or hold your breath.
Think of it more as gently switching on the muscles around your centre — the abdominals, lower back and pelvic floor — to support the spine. A helpful image is to imagine lightly drawing your navel towards your spine or gently tightening a belt around your waist.
This kind of subtle engagement helps create stability and support, particularly in standing poses, balancing and transitions.
“Neutralise the Spine“
The spine has natural curves that help it move and absorb pressure. When teachers cue neutral spine, they’re encouraging you to find a position where those natural curves are supported rather than exaggerated.
In practical terms, it means avoiding overly arching or rounding the back. Instead, think about lengthening through the crown of the head and tailbone, allowing the spine to feel spacious and supported.
This position helps distribute effort more evenly through the body.
“Come Back to the Breath“
You’ll probably hear this cue often.
When a teacher says come back to the breath, it’s an invitation to pause and notice your breathing. Is it smooth and steady? Has it become shallow, short or rushed?
Returning to the breath can help regulate the body’s parasympathetic nervous system, sometimes called the rest and digest system. This part of our nervous system helps the body relax, recover and move out of stress mode.
“Expand the Shoulder Blades for Strength“
This cue can sound unusual at first. Many people are used to thinking about pulling the shoulder blades together, but in some poses the opposite action is helpful.
Expanding or gently spreading the shoulder blades across the back can create strength and stability through the upper body, particularly in poses like plank or downward dog. It helps activate the muscles that support the shoulders while protecting the joints.
“Take a Vinyasa Flow (optional)”
Sometimes during a class you might hear: “Take an optional vinyasa.”
A vinyasa is a short flowing sequence that usually links poses together with the breath — often moving through plank, lowering down, opening the chest and returning to downward dog. See my short video for a demo that includes two options – full Chaturanga or drop-knee.
The important word here is optional. It simply means you can choose whether to include it or skip it, perhaps by resting in child’s pose or moving straight to downward dog instead.
Yoga is always about working with your body, not forcing it into a particular path or comparing to others.
And finally, often the most important cue of all is the simplest one:
“Pause, breathe, and notice how you feel”.
