By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
Do you always design a lesson plan before teaching Yoga classes, or do you mentally group segments, of your next class, before teaching them? Regardless of which method you choose, it seems that every Yoga teacher wishes that he or she could have inserted five more techniques in the class.
The challenge is to design a class that is well-rounded and fits into a finite amount of time. For example – if you teach classes in a fitness center, the management may require that your class last only one hour before the next class uses the same studio space. This puts you on a strict schedule and may require more planning than if you had to teach a 90 minute class.
Yoga teachers are like everyone else; we need to prepare for the upcoming day and it requires a bit of scheduling. One of the easiest ways to get the most accomplished in a day is to have a “to do” list. Within those daily tasks, we have sub-tasks, such as designing the lesson plan for our next Yoga class.
An easy way to design a lesson plan is to take a more broad view of the class, rather than writing down each technique. Hatha Yoga classes tend to be made up of centering, warm-ups, pranayama, asanas, meditation, and/or relaxation. We change the dynamic of our classes in order to maintain the interest of our students. By keeping classes fresh, we do not feel stale and our students look forward to coming to sessions.
To read more about this subject, please click here.
© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”
How to Become a Yoga Instructor
FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste, Paul
Tags: design a lesson plan, every yoga teacher, hatha yoga classes, teaching hatha yoga, teaching yoga, yoga class, yoga teacher
I keep a journal of all my yoga classes. What I PLAN to teach, what I DID teach and how it went, comments made etc.
I teach a vinyasa form of yoga where we address a different chakra each week. This enables me to focus on a particular energy field that makes selection of asanas quite simple and easy to recall. We start with breathing exercises, move on to gentle stretching, sun salutes, balance poses, standing poses, floor work, meditation with more breathing and savasana with a reading… The similarity in class structure allows my regular yoginis to feel comfortable in the flow… and the variety that stems from focusing on a different energy field each week facilitates keeping it fresh. Namasté. Maureen Kelly in Birch Bay, Washington
Such sound advice! I teach several regular 90 minute classes and two 45 minute lunch-break classes each week and I believe in the importance of keeping the classes alive. The lunch classes are a challenge simply because of the short time; we also do not use mats so pose selection is limited. I have found that targeting a different area of the body each week allows the students to stretch and relax and remember so they are able to re-create those postures while at their desks. As for the full-length classes with many students who are relatively new to yoga, we move slowly and methodically through centering, stretching, standing, and seated postures, ending with twists and savasana. I do this for a couple reasons – first to teach alignment that will keep them safe from injury, and second, as a blueprint for the home practice I hope they develop. It seems the newest students feel a sense of comfort in knowing ‘what comes next’. Blessings to all!
not really on the subjet here…..not sure if it has changed or if it is just my computer screen….i have it set at the lightest setting….but…..the green background of this e-mail is so dark that the black print is difficult to read…..i don’t seem to recall noticing this before…maybe it’s just a glitch or maybe you have changed the color in the background….let me know….thanks…..on the subject…i try to keep rotating asanas so that we don’t do the same ones with the same students each class….it is a challange to keep a flow to the sessions but to also introduce new ideas or ways of practising the asanas…i like to show alot of iynegar alternatives to classic postures as i teach mainly people over 50….the supported postures make a big difference in peoples ability to do the asanas…..
This article is very helpful to me. I teach at the local college and feel I am having to rush through my classes, while still trying to maintain the quality and integrity of the session! It’s really hard for me sometimes because I don’t want to cheat my students out of any of the important aspects of their class. At the same time, I want to be respectful to the instructor and students that are waiting to use the space after me.
I teach a new sequence every 8 weeks, modifying it for shorter classes. I print handouts for my students and each week I have a different focus to keep the practise alive, yet have a clear target. eg this current sequence leads to bakasana. There is a marker pose for all students, so they may monitor their development. Some of my classes are very short (45 mins) but as they have a goal they get the most out of this short practise and can be responsible for their own development. I can only guide them, it is up to the student to how much they commitment and progress. Any views on this are more than welcome.