How to Make Movement Meaningful

Join us for a practical webinar exploring different styles of learning movement, and why the way we teach matters

Join us for a practical webinar exploring different ways we learn movement — and why knowing how to teach matters just as much as what we teach.

At some point in our lives, most of us have been taught movement like this:

• Here’s the movement we’re aiming for (coach demonstrates)
• Here’s what we’re looking for (Position A, Position B, how to get there)
• Here’s what to avoid (rounded backs, bent knees, etc.)
• Here are the cues (“big chest,” “push through your heels,” and so on)

This prescriptive, rule-based approach has its place. It can be incredibly effective when someone wants to refine a specific skill, train for performance, or work towards a clearly defined technical outcome.

But it’s not the only way people learn to move — and it’s often not the best starting point.

For people who are less physically active, older, returning after injury, or unsure of their bodies, this style can miss the mark because their goals are different.

If someone is still struggling to get up from the floor, feel safe on uneven ground, or join in everyday life, do they really need to master a textbook squat — or do they need confidence, options, and experiences that rebuild trust in their body?

In this webinar, we’ll explore movement learning as a continuum — from prescriptive, coach-led teaching at one end, to task-based, emergent, and playful learning at the other.

Crucially, we’ll talk about when each approach is useful, and why good practitioners need to be able to move between the two.

We’ll also explore the often-overlooked skill of facilitation. Stepping back, creating the right environment, and resisting the urge to correct can sound easy — but in practice it’s one of the hardest shifts for coaches to make. You can’t “coach” emergent learning; it requires a different hat entirely.

In this session we’ll cover:

• Why prescriptive teaching dominates movement culture
• When coaching works best — and when facilitation works better
• How task-based and playful learning help movement skills emerge
• The difference between active coaching and active facilitating
• Common barriers to learning — including our own habits as coaches
• How to match teaching methods to real-life goals, not just perfect form

Whether you work in gyms, community settings, outdoors, or healthcare-adjacent spaces, this webinar is about expanding your toolkit — not replacing one method with another, but learning when to use each, and when to step out of the way.