How To Build A Yoga Sequence For Your Yoga Class
Its time to recall back your memories of being a school student and remember how your teacher in class taught you the lesson of your favorite subject. Did she used play cards to teach words and alphabets, rhymes to make us learn the name of rivers or a math theorem, pipes to teach us the measurements and drawing charts to decipher the anatomy of our human body?
This means even though you have a Bachelor of Education degree in Yoga or merely holding any diploma or certificate in Yoga training, you do need a lesson plan to teach a Yoga class. Yoga, like any other subject needs a plan or Yoga flow sequence to partake a Yoga lesson to Yoga students.
Many Yoga teachers create their own Yoga sequence. Some take the help of online tool to prepare one. For a smooth Yoga class you must first know the dynamic flow of how each posture connects to one another.
According to Workout labs its not enough to simply shout out postures in hopes that they will fluidly move together. If you do this, you should kindly stop to prevent injury to students.
Factor 5: Record Keeping
To program intelligently, you need to keep records. Your records should be both objective and subjective .
Having these records at hand will allow you to see whats working and whats not, giving you clues as to how to alter the program for the next cycle. For instance, lets take the program above.
Imagine that runners log shows that during Month 1, her mile time got faster each week, as did her 200m splits. During Month 2, her mile times slowed during week 6, as did her 200m splits:
| Month | |
| 42.9 sec | Slower |
What happened? Its likely that we increased challenge too quickly, layering on too much volume too quickly. Remember, at the beginning of month 2, we added two extra 200m sprints, an additional mile to the long run, and a second medium-distance time trial. She handled it okay during week 5, but then we saw decreased performance.
Well want to make an alteration. We could revert to the Month 1 programming and see if we resume the streak of personal bests. Alternatively, we could back off a portion of the Month 2 volume, going back to the Month 1 five-mile distance runs and three 200m sprints, but keeping the additional 1-mile time trial. We could even add in an additional rest day for a few weeks.
How would we know which course to take? Herein lies the art of training. Wed rely on experience and our subjective records for each day to pick the most likely solution, running a one-person experiment.
How Should I Prepare A Corporate Yoga Sequence
First, consider your students. From my experience, most will be beginners and theyll be taking a break from work which means the class has to be quick. If you want to keep your students coming back, make sure its fun, beginner friendly, and keep the woo woo to a minimum.I can just picture a bunch of accountants that get scared away from yoga because the teacher talked in Sanskrit 90% of the time while delivering astrological readings and tuning everyones chakras. In other words, keep it basic. Maybe even consider using chairs as props if you dont have a dedicated studio space or much time.
Dont Be Afraid To Create Your Own Adventure
Before you settle into a regular yoga routine, try out as many styles and formats first. This way, youll be able to find the best match for you.
If youre going to mainly perform your yoga routine at home, learn to listen to what your body needs on that particular day. Try to move and practice at your own pace and learn to develop intuition about the kinds of yoga poses you need to do the most on any day.
If youre feeling exhausted and fatigued, for example, try to do a restorative yoga sequence. If youre feeling full of energy, perform a more fast-paced sequence thatll channel that energy.
Be Familiar With The Poses
Attending a class without prior research can be confusing as there are studios and instructors that use English or Hindi for the pose names.
Take time to review the most common poses and try to familiarise yourself with both their Hindi and English names. Study their basic forms as well.
For example, downward facing dog and childs pose are generally incorporated in every yoga class. Knowing these poses in advance can give you a good start in your lessons.
Select An Apex Pose Or Set Of Postures
Most yoga classes have an apex pose, or a peak posture that the class builds upon from the beginning. To do this safely, ensure you choose postures during integration that warm up and strengthen the body in preparation for the apex pose. The apex pose is the most challenging posture of the class.
If you dont want to select one apex pose to work towards, another idea is choosing postures that open up a specific part of the body. i.e.: hips, shoulders, hamstrings, heart.
Tip: Integrate your theme into the postures. For example, if youre theming your class around self-love, a natural selection of postures would include heart openers.
Step 3 Show Yourself Love Throughout The Day
Sometimes its the little gestures you practice throughout the day that make the biggest difference to your self-esteem.Sure, grand acts of self-love such as taking yourself on a retreat and going on a huge self-care-inspired spending spree are great, but its those small daily self-love rituals that will permanently rewire your psyche for self-love.
Choose at least one of the following:
- Keep hydrated and take plenty of mindful breaks with a cup of your favorite tea
- Smile at yourself every time you pass a mirror
- When people give you compliments, say thank you and accept them fully
- Set an alarm on your phone to go off every hour to remind you to think of one thing you like about yourself
- Be selective about who you give your energy to, and always save some for yourself
- Listen to your self love playlist
- Say no when you need to, and set healthy boundaries
- Take a few minutes in the afternoon for a 10-minute power nap or meditation
How To Build A Yoga Sequence
Camille DodsonYoga and Mindfulness Teacher
Camille Dodson is a wanderlusting yogi with a passion for teaching yoga to teenagers. She recently completed her 200hr yoga teacher training and is ready to share the gift of yoga with young people everywhere. View more
For new yoga teachers and students wanting to build their home practice, creating a yoga sequence can seem daunting. From choosing poses, to remembering what you did on the first side in a sequence, theres a lot going on in a yoga class.
The truth is that each yoga class follows a rough outline, and once youre comfortable with that, filling in the blanks becomes second nature. If youre looking for some more inspiration, you could take part in the free 30 Day Yoga Challenge. Youll take part in a number of flows that might even influence how you put together your own!
While different styles of yoga will dictate just how the sequence goes, most classes will have similar elements. If youre going for an all levels Hatha or Vinyasa class, keep the following things on how to build a yoga sequence in mind:
Commit To A Time Make It Achievable
Consider what works best for you are you a morning person or an evening person? Could you squeeze in some yoga on your lunch break? As for the ideal length of time to practice, forget about whether your friend practices for an hour each day or what you think constitutes a proper yoga practice and go with what works best for you. Perhaps start by making a commitment to practice for 10 minutes a day. Alternatively, you could try blocking out a particular time on a certain day if that works better. The key is, it has to fit in with your life if it doesnt you wont keep maintain it.
Energizing Or Relaxing Class Sequence
Each yoga posture can elicit different energetic effects in your students. Are you teaching a power vinyasa class or a slow flow yoga sequence?
As a general rule, moving the spine forward or inverting, are generally more stimulating. Flexing the spine towards forward bending are more relaxing. Whereas twisting can be considering balancing.
If youre going for a relaxing class, add a longer seated yoga sequence.
Lastly, even changing the order of postures in a class will deliver a different effect on your students. Take this into consideration as you teach targeted classes for students with various injuries or mental and emotional states.
Create Your Self Love Routine: 4 Steps
Your self-love ritual and care routine will be totally unique to you depending on your daily schedule. No matter what it looks like, learning how to practice self-love will be one of the best decisions you ever make.Grab a pen and paper and go through the following four steps to plan how to practice self-love. For each step, pick at least one self-love practice. By the end of the exercise, you should have at least 4 acts of self-love to get practicing every single day.
Best Yoga Sequence Builder App
Besides the above apps, there are many yoga sequence builder apps that are specifically designed to build a yoga sequence. Here are the best yoga sequence builder apps that seem worthy to use.
1. Tummee
There are about 90000 yoga sequences for you here at Tummee. You can use Tummee.com yoga sequencing app just as a mobile app on your iPhone, Android phone and iPad. With easy to use mobile interface you can create, view, and share your yoga sequences on-the-go.
Also, the app offers 2500+ yoga poses, daily reference yoga sequences, and yoga sequencing guides which will really help you in your lesson plans.
There is a 15-day free trial to use this app and later on, you will pay $69.95 per year or $8.95 per month to use this app.
2. Yoga Class Plan
With this app, you can get access to use over 6000 shared class plans or create your own poses and plans and share with others. After 15 days of free trial, yoga class plan that cost you $109 per year.
3. Sequence Wiz
After 14 days of free trial this app costs you $120 per year or $12/month
Different Ways Of Intelligent Yoga Sequencing
Your goal should always be to sequence your yoga class intelligently. Intelligent yoga sequencing is the art of creating a class that builds towards a specific intention in a logical manner. The order of the yoga poses should be designed to reduce tightness and strengthen weaker parts of the body. At the same time, it should uplift the heart and free the spirit.
While there are many approaches to sequencing a yoga class, we focus on the following 5 ways of yoga sequencing:
1. Sequencing towards a peak pose;
2. Sequencing around a specific action or detail of alignment;
3. Therapeutic yoga sequencing;
4. Creative yoga sequencing;
5. Sequencing around a spiritual theme.
Intelligent Sequencing is the art of creating a class that builds towards a specific intention. The order and arrangement of asanas is designed to open up tightness and strengthen weakness in the body, uplift the heart and free the spirit.
Barbra Noh.
Hows Your Self Love Life
Forging a healthy, balanced, authentic self-love life can be tough.
Growing up, you may not have been taught how to practice self-love, honor your feelings and express yourself fully. Our Mindvalley co-founder, Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani went through the same thing. And it was only when she became an adult and had a family of her own that she realized how far away from self-love she really was.
And now, she wants to share her story with you.
You can watch Kristinas exclusive self-love Masterclass for free by clicking the link below.
How To Create A Yoga Sequence That Flows For New Yoga Teachers
Creating a yoga sequence can feel daunting for brand new yoga teachers.
Even though yoga teacher training instructs on the basics of yoga sequencing, putting together a class is an entirely different beast. It can come out choppy and disconnected. Especially with very little experience.
Ways To Create A Fitness Space
Creating a personal workout space can give you the motivation you need to work out. Fitness offers several benefits to your physical and mental wellbeing. Theres nothing quite like that mood-boosting feeling you get after completing a tough workout session. You can create your own fitness space with the space you have available. It doesnt need to cost thousands, and anyone can craft an at-home fitness space they love. Here are six ways to create a fitness space to kickstart your exercise routine and develop healthy habits for the whole year.
Precautions When Performing Bikram Yoga
Although this activity can be very enjoyable for many people and almost everyone can do it, you should consult with your doctor before adopting it in your routine. The reason for this is that if you have high levels of blood pressure, are prone to seizures, are pregnant or any other special condition, it can be harmful for you.
Learn To Create A Website For Your Yoga Business
When weaving poses together, think about a couple of things:
- How do all of those poses fit into the sequence above?
- How do the poses relate to each other?
When thinking about how poses relate to each other, think about the areas of the body they focus on, the energies they create, and how each pose affects the pose before it and after it.
You want your flow to feel harmonious and, well, in flow!
Choose Yoga Poses From Each Category
If you are using a theme, be mindful to choose poses that compliment your theme. For example, if you were teaching a root chakra themed class, including restorative or yin yoga sequences that are calming and grounding.
Similarly, If you are building your sequence up to a peak pose, you would incorporate poses that foreshadow and prepare students for the more challenging pose ahead.
In addition to choosing poses that make sense with your theme, including poses from each of these categories will ensure that your classes have a natural, balanced flow: warm-ups that link breath to movement, standing poses, seated and prone poses, twists, backbends, hip openers, supine poses and always including savasana.
Tips For Building Creative Yoga Sequences
As new yoga teachers, creating yoga sequences can feel overwhelming at first. But over time, as your teaching experience grows and you are consistent in your personal practice, creative yoga sequencing will flow to and from you as naturally as your breath.
Maybe you teach at a yoga studio that adheres to a specific style
but if this is not the case, which style should you incorporate into your sequencing?
With so many styles available to students hatha yoga, Iyengar yoga, hot yoga, and vinyasa to name a few choosing the best style to teach may feel daunting, but its actually pretty simple.
One of the biggest tips I give to students in my advanced teacher training course is to teach what you practice and let your own direct experience be your guide. These following tips will help you with the rest!
Watch Out For The 3 Ps
Always honour your bodys boundaries and avoid pain, pinching and pushing. If youre new to yoga it might be difficult to distinguish between pain and discomfort. Pain feels hot and sharp, whereas discomfort is more of a dull, nagging sensation. Generally speaking, STOP if its inside the joint structure If you do feel pain, move gently rather than suddenly out of the pose. If you feel discomfort, perhaps you can soften or adjust or even use props to assist you.
Its always advisable to warm up properly before attempting advanced poses and be especially mindful of the transitions between poses.
How To Make Your Own Bikram Yoga Routine At Home
January 14, 2021Rianna RossFitness
Have you ever wanted to exercise from your own home, but gave up because you didn’t know how to do it? That’s what it’s all about when we talk about putting together your own Bikram Yoga routine at home . With just a few elements and a lot of dedication you can become an expert in the field, you just have to do your research.
To get the most out of this new activity, you must follow certain steps in order. Anyway, you should not be scared since it is so simple that everyone can try it.
If one day you can’t get to the gym or you just don’t have the strength to leave your house, we will give you the information you need to create your own Bikram Yoga at home .
Contents
Weave The Poses Together To Craft A Sequence
Now its time to weave all the separate poses together to craft a yoga sequence that fits with your intended purpose.
A typical, basic flow of a class is something like this:
- Centering and grounding to bring students into the space
- Warm-up postures
- Standing and strengthening postures
- Backbending postures
- Cooldown postures
- Savasana
However, feel free to expand upon this and get creative! Think of this as just your basic structure.
Bonus: Free Sample Yoga Sequences For Teachers
So much for the theory. Surely, youre now eager to start building your own yoga class sequences and put your newly acquired knowledge into practice.
However, if you still need some assistance to start off, weve got you covered. In our TINT Magazine, you can find an array of inspiring articles that provide you with sample yoga sequences for teachers. There are different topics such as yoga for stress relief, yoga for beginners, or a yoga class sequence focussing on twists.
Apart from that, we have created a free ebook for you that contains a collection of ready-to-use yoga class plans. Use them as inspiration or guideline when preparation time is short. You can also use them when youre just getting started in building your own sequences.
And dont worry: Using ready-made sequences is not cheating its intelligent assistance.
What Class Is Right For Me
There are many styles of yoga classes taught today. Some are very physically challenging and will leave you sweating; others are gentle and restorative. Some teachers play music in class; others dont. Some classes include references to yoga philosophy and spirituality; others dont.
Here are a few types of classes your yoga studio or gym may offer:
Hatha: Most yoga styles being taught in America today are a form of hatha yoga, which is a general term that refers to the physical part of yoga, rather than yoga philosophy or meditation. A Hatha yoga class is likely to be a combination of poses and breathing exercises, but its hard to know whether it will be challenging or gentle. Check with the school or the teacher to find more about the level of classes that are described only as Hatha yoga.
Ashtanga Yoga: This is a challenging style of yoga that is centered around a progressive series of yoga sequences that, traditionally, students practice on their own under the guidance of a teacher. If you think that yoga is not a workout, you havent tried an Ashtanga class. Classes include advanced poses such as arm balances and inversions including headstands and shoulder stands. Beginner students are strongly advised to study with an experienced teacher. Ashtanga classes will also often include teachings in yoga philosophy.
Note: Its a good idea to try several yoga classes. How much you enjoy any class will come down to how much you like the teacher, not how its labeled.
Beginner Yoga Sequence For Teachers
Just because you enjoy complicated yoga sequences in your personal practice doesnt mean you should attempt to teach this way. Most students enjoy and benefit from more straight forward sequences where they can focus on the present moment instead of trying to keep up.
A beginners yoga class sequence might include fewer postures repeated more frequently. Build the sequence in a way that lets your student intuitively move from one position to the next.
If youre looking for ideas, most bigger yoga studios have beginner yoga sequences that rarely change. Take a few beginner classes around town for inspiration.
Pro tip: a yoga sequence for beginners allows the teacher to focus more on the space their holding, giving dharma, and adjusting students.
We Know Some Of You Will Be Missing Your Live Studio Classes Right Now But Practicing At Home Has Loads Of Benefits Too Here’s How To Make The Most Of It
Having a home yoga practice has loads of benefits. You can practice anywhere , day or night, and you dont need much in the way of equipment. Theres a huge range of teachers and classes at your fingertips, plus, its also pretty inexpensive. You even do it in your pjs!
Best of all, having a home yoga practice teaches you to pay attention to your own body, without worrying what anyone else in class is doing. It encourages you to understand what you need on any given day and practice in a way that supports you physically, mentally and emotionally.
Use The Bedroom Corner
If youre struggling to think of where you can create your fitness space, you can put it in the corner of a room. Use the bedroom corner or a living room nook. Invest in a set of home gym flooring tiles and create a separate area for fitness. You dont need a whole room or garage to craft your personal workout space.
There are several ways you can create a fitness space at home and kickstart your summer exercises. The bottom line is that its never a better time than the present to incorporate physical activity into your day. Whether you want to start walking more each day or add HIIT training to your workout regime, you can get creative and find ways to stay motivated and accountable.
How To Practice Self Love: 7 Examples
Here are 7 examples of how to practice self-love and self-care:
there are countless ways to take care of yourself. Read on to find out how to create your own self-love ritual and self-care routine.
Should I Use A Set Template
In contrast random creativity, theres also is a wide variety of classes that are based on some kind of template found in a book, teacher training manual, or website or that have been adapted from other yoga teachers classes.
These templates can certainly be helpful to get started in creating your own well-rounded classes. However, beware not to apply the template or observed yoga class sequence in an off-the-rack manner. You risk teaching it to students or in settings for which it is not appropriate.
While creativity is beautiful, it is ideally expressed in keeping with the basic sequencing.
Mark Stephens.
Another mistake you need to avoid when using pre-designed classes is to change the sequence in a way that it does no longer fulfill its intended purpose of addressing movement or flexibility. You may unintentionally and unconsciously change the energetics of the sequence or any other essential aspect of the original sequence that made it work. Yoga Sequencing author Mark Stephens recommends: While creativity is beautiful, it is ideally expressed in keeping with the basic sequencing.
Creating Yoga Lesson Plan Notes
If you want to learn how to write out a yoga lesson, it’s a good idea to attend as many yoga classes as you can. Even if you’re already an instructor or have been attending classes for quite some time, it may help to attend a variety of classes to get ideas for what you want to incorporate in your lesson plan.
Here are a few other ideas that will help energize your yoga routine for yourself and your students.
