The way you teach is just as important as what you teach. Effective coaching is more than teaching a form or correcting posture. It inspires understanding and motivates practice.
The SilverSneakers Way of Coaching begins first with planning and strategizing what you want to teach, while keeping in mind how you want to teach it. (The resource section provides a suggested 12-week lesson plan on how to introduce and teach new forms, then build into a flowing sequence.) When you move from initial delivery to adaptation for individual participants, tai chi principles and motivational feedback can be layered into your class presentation.
The SilverSneakers EnerChi flowing sequence is a “moving meditation” experience. In the work segment, time is spent in each class learning and practicing one or two new forms. This provides the opportunity to apply the SilverSneakers Way of Coaching to learning and understanding the forms. When the forms are practiced together in the sequence, simpler cues may be enough to remind participants of transitions, posture and weight shifting. Allow for the opportunity to practice mental quietness.
Below are two examples demonstrating the SilverSneakers Way of Coaching.
Describe and demonstrate
Name the exercise, then provide one to three cues that communicate and define safety and execution.
“Open and Close”
- “Stand with feet about shoulder-distance apart. Relax the knees.”
- “With hands in front of heart, palms facing each other and fingers toward the sky, open hands to the width of your shoulders, then close and compress hands toward each other, but not touching.”
“Parting the Wild Horse’s Mane”
- “Stand with feet about shoulder-distance apart. From hands in front of heart, open hands to the width of your shoulders. Spiral the right arm under, palm up, and the left arm over, palm down.”
- “Shift weight to the left foot, tap in with the right toes. Turn torso slightly to the right. Step right heel out about shoulder-distance apart, with toes toward the right wall.”
- “Transfer weight into right foot, heel-ball-toe while separating hands, right arm extends out towards right shoulder and left palm stretches down toward left hip.”
Adapt and refine
Provide adaptations and options to correct posture, increase accessibility and guide for safety. It can be helpful to use the “correction sandwich.” To practice this method of communication, begin by giving positive feedback. Continue by making a refinement, adjustment or correction. The final piece of the correction sandwich is positive reinforcement. Provide multiple movement adaptations, refinements, progressions and regressions, whenever possible, for the exercises you teach.
“Open and Close”
- “That looks beautiful. Your shoulders are down and relaxed.”
- “Open your hands just to the width of your shoulders. Relax your elbows.”
- “Perfect.”
“Parting the Wild Horse’s Mane”
- “Your posture looks strong and relaxed.”
- “Maintain a soft crescent shape in your arms. Slowly spiral your arms while shifting your weight from one foot to the other.”
- “Beautiful. Nice relaxed flow.”
Feeling and Purpose
Layer in principles such as awareness during weight transfer, maintaining postural alignment, focused breathing, mental quietness and relaxation. If everyone seems to “get it,” it’s ok to simply “be” and flow with the movement, experiencing the “meditation in motion.”
“Open and Close”
- “Feel as if 10-pound weights are hanging down from your elbows, anchoring you toward the floor.”
- “Imagine a small balloon behind and just below your belly button. Inhale and feel the balloon gently expand. Exhale and use your muscles to compress the air out of the balloon.”
- “Inhale. Feel light and lifted. Exhale. Feel heavy and anchored.”
“Parting the Wild Horse’s Mane”
- “Imagine tossing a frisbee away from you.”
- “Pour your weight into the right foot and empty weight from the left foot.”
- “Bend your knees slightly to feel more anchored.”
- “Feel your weight move into the middle of your foot, keeping your knee over your ankle.”
Motivation and Coaching
Maintain a positive and supportive environment. Use cueing that elicits peace from natural surroundings. Inspire joy that comes from “going with the flow.”
The following example cues can be appropriate for many EnerChi exercises.
- “Breathe in light. Exhale darkness.”
- “Sense yourself rooted to the ground, like the big oak tree.”
- “Feel the sway like wind rippling through a tree’s branches. The tree remains anchored because it has deep roots and a tall, lengthened trunk.”
- “Imagine you are flowing in water. Notice the resistance created in your body. Move with the soft current while remaining strong in your flow.”
Put it into Practice: Choose a Practice Form
Choose a form from the sample class or exercise library to practice.
Once you feel comfortable with the flow of movement, write down a cue you can use for each of the four principles in The SilverSneakers Way of Coaching:
- Describe and demonstrate
- Adapt and refine
- Feeling and purpose
- Motivation and coaching