As a yoga teacher, you'll probably find yourself in the situation of having several classes each day, with different students of all different levels. You may even have to move around the city many times a day if your classes are not in the same place. If you don't plan your sessions well, it could soon reflect negatively on your teaching and be detrimental to your students.
But worry not; you aren't the first one to have to go through this. You can learn from the experience of others so that your classes flow naturally and you can also organise your time in a better manner.
As a registered yoga academy ourselves, offering online yoga teacher training courses, we recommend the following to help you plan your yoga class.
1. Develop a theme for the class
Every good yoga class follows a story, a theme that is followed throughout the practice. It's important that the movements flow naturally, the postures are performed effortlessly, and end naturally. You can add a reflection quote or meditate before ending the session.
2. Manage your time properly
Every class, whether it's yoga or any other subject, needs to be well organised in time and form. Just as you need to be punctual for all classes, you also need to manage the time frame within which to complete your class, and ask your students to respect the time as well. We recommend that you divide your class into timed blocks, and that you have a way to measure the time – either by way of a clock or a piece of music per block.
Don't forget to always start the first five to ten minutes with breathing and stretching exercises to warm up, and dedicate the last five to ten minutes for meditation and reflection.
3. Ensure students' safety
Every physical activity has its risks if not practised correctly. It's necessary to warm up properly to avoid discomfort or muscle strain, and to check that your students are doing the movements correctly.
It's also very important that you guide your students regarding yoga equipment. Check that they have the right mat, comfortable clothes, and that they don't have any equipment that could hurt them.
4. Plan class according to students' progress level
After a few sessions, you'll know the progress level of your group. In the best-case scenario, everyone will be at a similar level, and will be able to quickly understand the class. However, you may find that you have students who struggle more than others, and that's fine. That's the reason they're at your class, to learn and to improve. It's important that you have patience, and plan your class in such a way that everyone can understand and go at a pace that doesn't slow down the more advanced students.
If you follow these recommendations, you'll surely feel more relaxed knowing that planning your classes isn't so complicated. It just requires some organisation and practice. You'll see that within a week or two, you'll be in your element.
If you have any doubts about how to plan your yoga classes, or have any other yoga-related topic you'd like to discuss, you can get in touch with us anytime.
