As a new instructor, it can be daunting to plan out the poses and language you’ll use in your classes.
There is a lot to balance in a Holy Yoga® class. Hopefully, teacher training has ironed a lot out for you, and you are learning to navigate balancing the elements of a class. Just for support, I wanted to share with you a process for working out directives as you are planning your flows for your classes. I hope you find this helpful and will feel free to modify this process to fit your learning and teaching style!
I want to start with banging the same drum I always do…this process starts with your personal practice. It is critical to this process that you are “working out” your own practice, as the insights you’ll gain on your mat are far more superior than intellectually trying to understand directives and how they align the body. I can explain to you all day long the need to root down the opposite hip in a twist and you can try to understand that in a disconnected way. But it will remain that way, disconnected. When you roll your mat out, close your eyes, taking long deep breaths and feel your rooted hip pull on the thoracic vertebrae allowing more length. That unlocks understanding that thinking through directives will never allow. Use your body-brain, not your physical brain.
Once you’ve planned the asana in your class, be sure to roll out a mat, turn on some tunes and do it! Making the connections you are going to talk through before getting in front of your class will help you in many ways. You’ll memorize the flow with your mind and your body. Writing it out will allow you to work it through your mind and then practicing it will help you feel it in your body. This will not only help you speak directives but give you confidence in your flow by reducing the anxiety around whether you’ll remember or know it well. We all know reducing anxiety is key to keeping your mind clear!
Once you know your asana and you’ve felt it in your body, you can begin to write out your directives. Start with writing out your flow. Leaving bullet points below each asana for a few directives depending on the level of class you are teaching to.
The newer a student is to yoga, the fewer directives they hear and can connect into their body. For instance, if you are teaching a power class, you can speak four to seven directives for each pose. This is because your students likely have a good foundation for each pose you call. When you say Warrior 1, they likely are comfortable with what that shape is and can get there on their own. Once there, your directives refine their pose. On the other hand, if someone is new to yoga and has no context for a pose name or shape, they are looking to your directives to get them there (especially if you are not modeling the pose). These students will often only hear one to four directives per pose. Keeping your directives minimal brings them success in the poses, which increases their confidence as well.
I’ll write out a sun salutation for a new class based on the above facts. Here’s an example outline:
Mountain
Forward Fold
Halfway Lift
Plank-Chaturanga
Upward facing dog
Downward facing dog
Once you do these steps, you’ll likely have to reference your notes very little. By this time, you’ve written it out and practiced it. Your notes are there for your comfort and reference in case you forget them. I hope this has helped your process for writing out directives for your class. As you grow in your teaching, you’ll have foundations down and this process will grow to include advanced variations.
Have fun with it!
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