# 4: Keep the Needs of Your Students In Mind If you’re teaching a 60 minute class, plan for at least six minutes in Savasana. Watch your time as you’re teaching so that your students have enough time to wind down and integrate in Savasana. Savasana is arguably the most important pose of the practice. # 3: Allow at Least One Minute of Savasana for Every Ten Minutes of Practice Keep your students' bodies even by practicing the same poses for the same amount of time on each side. Your sequence should effectively prepare your students for your peak pose, and effectively wind them down from it. This will inform the rest of your sequence. #1: Build to a PeakĬhoose a pose or a few poses that your students will work up to throughout class. These are not necessarily hard and fast rules and you won’t lose your teaching certification if you choose not to follow them.īut by understanding a few basic rules, you’ll have a road map to easily create sequences, and if you choose, learn the skills necessary to effectively break them. Most good yoga sequences follow a few rules. We’ll go over three different sequencing methods for the hot part of class: Vignette Sequencing, Standing Series Sequencing, and Ladder Flows. The middle part of the sequence, which we’ll call the hot part, will vary significantly from class to class. Cool-Down: Poses or movements that help students’ bodies return to homeostasis after a practiceĪll yoga sequences have a beginning, a middle, and an end.Īlmost all sequences begin with a warm-up and end with a cool-down.Warm-Up: Poses or movements that prepare the body for greater intensity and complexity of movement.Vignettes: These are typically 2-4 poses strung together and done on one side, then repeated in the same order on the other side.You may have taken a class and heard a teacher say “Take a Vinyasa” when referring to moving through these three poses and ending in Downward-Facing Dog. Vinyasa: This is both a style of yoga and also sometimes refers to moving through Chaturanga Dandasana, Upward-Facing Dog, and Downward-Facing Dog.Sequence: The series of poses that make up your yoga practice.Peak Pose: This is the pose that your sequence is ultimately working up to.Key Actions: These are physical components of a pose that point out what muscles are being activated or stretched.Here are some terms that I’ll use throughout this article that are important to note for yoga sequencing: This style came to the West and inspired the Vinyasa Yoga we now see practiced in studios all around the world. These sequences link movement with breath and poses are held for a set number of breaths. Students are encouraged to master one sequence before moving on to the next. Ashtanga Yoga is a complex method of yoga comprising six different series–or six sequences. Pattabhi Jois, became the founder of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. He developed yoga sequences with a focus on asana and shaped the way that yoga has been taught ever since. Krishnamacharya, often called the grandfather of modern-day yoga, began teaching in Mysore, India in 1926. Yoga sequences as we know them actually haven’t been around for as long as one might think. This article will cover the basics of sequencing and set you up for success in every class you teach. Writing a good sequence prepares you to teach a great class that leaves your students feeling refreshed, energized, and better than they did when they first stepped onto their mat. You have a beginning, middle, end, and hopefully, some kind of lesson woven into it. Creating a yoga sequence is a lot like writing a story.
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