Should You Change Your Yoga Sequence Every Class?

One of the hardest aspects of teaching yoga is sequencing. Many yoga teachers spend a considerable amount of time meticulously planning their classes to ensure they work for everyone. It's not uncommon to overthink and doubt your sequences. However, there's a simple tip that can make your teaching clearer and more confident without the need to constantly change your sequences.

The Benefits of a Familiar Yoga Sequence

If you have been to yoga studios or classes, you may feel the pressure to constantly reinvent your class. There's a common belief that every class needs to be entirely different, with a strict order of poses. While it's important to keep your classes fresh and engaging, it doesn't mean you need to drastically change your sequences every time.

Consider the example of Ashtanga yoga. In Ashtanga, practitioners follow a set sequence of poses in every class. This consistency allows students to build a deep understanding of each pose, refine their technique, and progress over time. The familiarity of the sequence provides a foundation that supports growth and confidence.

Balancing Novelty and Familiarity in Yoga Sequencing

While maintaining some consistent elements in your yoga class sequencing can help your students build on their practice, gain confidence, and feel more comfortable. By introducing small, intentional variations—such as focusing on a different action or alignment cue—you can keep things interesting while still providing the stability that helps your students thrive.

Also, the element of surprise can reinvigorate your students' practice, making each class a fresh and enjoyable experience. Balancing familiarity with novelty ensures that your students remain motivated and look forward to each session, eager to discover what new aspects of yoga they will encounter

This approach not only simplifies your teaching but also enhances the functional movement of joints and muscles, supports the nervous system, and keeps your classes engaging without the pressure of constantly creating entirely new sequences.

The One-Action Focus: Balancing Novelty and Familiarity

In Heart and Bones Yoga Teacher Training we encourage teachers to use one simple action or focus to strike a perfect balance of novelty and familiarity when sequencing their yoga classes. This approach works regardless of the yoga style you teach, whether it's yin, vinyasa, or any other form. By focusing on one action, you simplify your teaching process and enhance your students' experience.

For example, one action you can focus on is the external rotation of the shoulder joints. This can be applied to various poses, adding a new dimension to familiar movements and benefiting the brain and nervous system by introducing slight variations.

You could choose to keep sections of your class the same week over week with small one-action variations. This will help your students feel a good balance of both familiarity and novelty.

The Benefits of One-Action Focus Yoga Sequencing

This approach not only simplifies your teaching but also enhances the functional movement of joints and muscles. It keeps your classes fresh and engaging without the pressure of constantly creating new sequences. Moreover, it supports the nervous system by integrating new actions into familiar poses.

While external rotation is one example, you can choose other actions like "ribs down" to prevent overextension of the spine. By maintaining ribs over the pelvis during twists, for instance, you change the focus and engagement without altering the sequence.

Incorporating a single action focus into your yoga sequences can transform your teaching, making it more effective and less stressful. Stick to what you know, be creative, and explore different actions. Your students will appreciate the thoughtful, yet straightforward approach.