I’m a yoga teacher and I can’t stand this common reference. And here’s why.

I’ve been teaching yoga for about five years, and there’s a common yoga reference that I’ve never said in any of my classes. Not even once.

If you’ve ever taken yoga, Pilates, or movement classes of any kind, I can guarantee you’ve heard of them before.

The signal?

“From the navel to the spine.” Sometimes the words are hidden in slightly more anatomical language such as “from the navel to the spine.” Either way, I’m not a fan.

In fact, I’m in a friend group of yoga and movement teachers, personal trainers, and dedicated class-goers, and we’re no strangers to attending Sunday morning classes together and then analyzing the experience afterward. At this point, my disdain for this reference has become a running joke. When the teacher says that, they all subtly shake their heads to look at me and laugh.

The thing is, I don’t think teachers are using this reference maliciously. Quite the opposite. I’ve heard great teachers—teachers I respect—casually leave this in the classroom. I suspect that words have become so common in movement culture that many teachers say them automatically, without ever stopping to ask whether they are actually useful.

Frankly, this is not the case. I would say that “navel to spine” is ineffective if the goal is to help students activate the deep core muscles, especially the transverse abdominis. The idea is to create a stabilizing internal “corset” that supports the spine and contributes to overall stability.

If you pull your belly button in while reading this, notice what happens. Your abs don’t work magically. Most likely, you are simply sucking in your stomach, causing you to change position and restrict your breathing. When taken too literally, many students respond by holding and straightening excessively or holding their breath completely. None of these results were particularly useful.

If you’re already familiar with this feeling, it may be all you need to hear from belly button to spine to start things on the right track. But if you are new to movement and yoga classes, you need to understand that it is a more complex and precise movement that involves all the muscles of the core. This tip oversimplifies the matter and, at the same time, makes it more confusing than it needs to be.

Movement teacher Jenny Rawlings Written extensively about the approach to core stability and reveals several reasons why “navel to spine” may not be the most effective way to achieve the intended result from a mechanics perspective, including some faulty assumptions.

The intention is good. Implementation? Not much.

The other problem with this ineffective yoga braid

Then there is the issue of body image.

your Average yoga teacher From lived experience in classrooms where signs were not tailored to my body, I make a point to keep my signs as physically neutral as possible. I know from personal experience as well as from conversations with students and colleagues that cues that focus on pulling the body in, shrinking, or making it smaller in some way can manifest differently than teachers intend.

It’s important to remember that many people have a complicated history with their bodies. They may have been criticized, shamed, or excluded in fitness venues before they even stepped on a yoga mat. Worse still, they may have also tried it on a yoga mat.

For some students, especially those who have spent years receiving messages about changing their bodies, the phrase “from navel to spine” doesn’t seem like a signal for movement at all. It feels like a reminder to shrink themselves.

The moment a student starts worrying about whether his stomach looks flat enough while trying to pull his navel toward his spine, we’ve completely lost the story.

We lost their attention too. Their mind is somewhere else entirely because their nervous system is active. This could ruin the rest of the class for them or even the rest of the day.

What should be indicated instead of “belly button to spine”

The good news? There are more effective cues that can help students find key engagement.

Also, asking students to pull their belly button to their spine misses something essential that everyone can use as a reminder while moving: breathing. For me, breathing and stability should work together, not compete with each other like they do when you’re busy sucking your belly button into your spine.

I prefer to do 360 degree ribcage breathing in my classes. This means that I encourage students to expand through the front, sides, and back of the ribcage on the inhale and allow natural core tension to return on the exhale. There is less emphasis on squeezing and contracting and more emphasis on engaging the superficial and deeper muscles and focusing on your breathing.

Here are some cues I’ve heard teachers say that lead to core engagement, which tends to instinctively create the desired core engagement response in students that we seek without asking students to hold, suck, or overthink their midsections:

• Exhale with an audible “haa” sound
• Imagine that you are about to step into freezing cold water
• Prepare as if your dog, cat or toddler is about to jump on the bed
• Imagine that you are preparing to catch a heavy box.

As yoga and movement teachers, it is important to remember that language shapes experience. We have thousands of words at our disposal. If one set of words doesn’t improve movement mechanics or support breathing, and if it risks distracting some students from their practice, maybe it’s time to retire it.