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    The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching a Yoga Class
    The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching a Yoga Class
    The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching a Yoga Class
    Ebook118 pages59 minutes

    The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching a Yoga Class

    By Patricia Mason and Carla Bazemore

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    About this ebook

    The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching a Yoga Class is a manual for new yoga teachers. It discusses the many aspects of teaching that usually aren't included in teacher training courses, from planning classes to finding teaching positions to making a place in the yoga community. After reading this book you'll start your teaching career with confidence, not fear!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateJul 7, 2014
    ISBN9781483531809
    The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching a Yoga Class

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      Book preview

      The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching a Yoga Class - Patricia Mason

      LIFE)

      PART I

      THE LESSON PLAN

      If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up somewhere else.

      Yogi Berra

      Prior preparation prevents poor performance.

      James A. Baker III

      1. The Reasons to make a lesson plan

      You’ve been chosen to teach a yoga class. Your goal for your class is for it to be safe, enjoyable and appropriate. Of the hundreds of yoga asanas and combinations, which should you choose and how should you combine them?

      Studies have shown that goals are much more likely to be accomplished if they are measurable, achievable, and written. A more detailed goal is preferable to a less detailed one. (Walk one hour three times a week is a better goal than Get in shape.) One way of achieving your goals for your yoga class is to prepare written lesson plans.

      2. The four parts of a yoga class

      Before we start on the plan, let’s take a look at the structure of yoga classes. You have attended many yoga classes. You have doubtless noticed that every class ends with relaxation, usually savasana. You may not have noticed the other parts of a yoga class. Every good yoga class has four basic parts: centering, warm-up, asana or body of class and relaxation, taught in this order. Let’s take a look at each of these components.

      A. Centering

      A yoga class should begin with a centering exercise. A yoga class is a temporary sanctuary from outside life. Think of centering as a bridge between the outside world and the class environment. During centering students’ attention will drop away from everyday concerns and be redirected instead on themselves and the class to come.

      There are several ways to center the class. The most common involves some kind of attention to the breath. A simple session might be to instruct the students to close their eyes and breathe consciously, slowly and with attention for a short period of time. Or you may wish to instruct the students in a counting pattern (inhale 4, retain 4, exhale 4) or ujjai (sound or victorious breath). The students may be standing, sitting or supine during the centering.

      Centering can be a good time to introduce breathing exercises (pranayama.) The student who has not yet discovered the value of pranayama may be resistant and think that it is a waste of time. To use pranayama as a centering technique, give a short explanation of the how and why you are teaching it. You can thus introduce a new concept and at the same time encourage the students to practice pranayama.

      Pranayama exercises can be quieting (three part breath), balanced (alternate nostril breath), energizing (bellows breath) or even cooling (sitale, shitari). Any of these pranayama will aid centering. Consider the time of day and condition of the class. Energizing breath might be more appropriate in the early morning. Either energizing or relaxing breath might be appropriate in the evening, depending on whether the class seems more tired or stressed. Or you might try two different techniques briefly. If you are introducing a new breathing technique to the class allow at least five to eight minutes of class time for instruction and practice of the exercise.

      Centering may be used to introduce a spiritual component to the class. Centering may be used to dedicate class efforts to a person who is need of healing or is going through a tough time emotionally. It may also include an invocation in English or Sanskrit, a reading, or a chant in call and response form.

      Consider your class composition, goal and location when utilizing chanting and invocations. A long chant might be off-putting to students who don’t know it. And an invitation to Ganesha (one of the Hindu deities) might not be welcome to those of other religious beliefs.

      Centering is a comfortable ritual and a connection to the class. It need not occupy more than a few minutes of class time, but at the end of the period the students’ minds and bodies are quiet and ready to proceed with the class. Though directed at the mind, some physiological changes may occur as well. Heart rates and blood pressure may drop. The breath slows and becomes rhythmic.

      B. The warm-up

      Once the mind is centered and the body is more relaxed it is time to prepare for the asana practice. This is done in during the warm-up. What exactly is a warm-up and why does a yoga class need one? A warm-up is a preliminary activity that helps prepare the students physiologically and psychologically for the challenging demands

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