Chapter published in:
Imperatives and Directive Strategies
Edited by Daniël Van Olmen and Simone Heinold
[Studies in Language Companion Series 184] 2017
► pp. 159–180

“You’re just workin’ for yourself”

Directive strategies in yoga instructional discourse

| Louisiana State University
In this paper, I examine directives uttered by yoga teachers to their students during classes, with special attention to their frequency of use and their degree of modification. Yoga instructional discourse is shown to be characterized by a wide range of directives, from bald imperatives to modified forms, including indirect directives. I demonstrate that these different types of directive have a characteristic pattern of distribution within the yoga instructional practice context. Indirect directives include present and future descriptions of actions rather than instructions to perform them and various kinds of modifications, including phrases that echo yoga ideology.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Categories of directives in instruction
  • 3.Yoga philosophy and yoga instruction
  • 4.Data
  • 5.Directives in yoga instructional discourse
    • 5.1Bald imperatives
    • 5.2Modified imperatives
    • 5.3Incorporated imperatives
    • 5.4Elided verbs
    • 5.5Combinations
  • 6.Indirect versus direct directives in yoga instructional discourse
  • 7.Discussion: Embodied practice
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 11 April 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.184.05bro
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