Is it bad if your yoga teacher wings it? 

This may be controversial, but, despite the fact that I’m about to teach a sequencing workshop:

I don’t think it’s a bad thing to “just wing it” when teaching yoga.

Decent yoga teacher trainings offer their trainees class formats to follow. Most yoga teachers therefore have a reliable foundation for improvisation.

Granted, most of us simply can’t wing it.

• We are planning people.
• Or we are teaching a specific series.
• Or we know that dialing it in ALL the time is not the ✨ inspirational fire ✨ that gets students coming back for more.
• Or we are creative people whose minds deserve to bring that creativity to the classroom.
• Or we are designing a workshop and want to deliver.
• Or maybe we want to plan a home practice, and have specific goals within that.

The problem is not the lack of class outline.

It is that we know that there is more to “this teaching yoga thing” than following a script.

Of the many ways to expand upon the template of a basic yoga class, Anatomic Sequencing is a way that:

• Feels (consistently) good in human bodies,
• Coaxes comfort out of poses that can make us feel cranky*,
• Unlocks more complex poses,
• Gives you the blueprint for physical progress, that no one can ever take away.

* Take triangle pose, for example: have you ever been in an asana class while this pose was being taught and not heard someone’s hip pop? (If you never noticed, take our word for it that joint sounds are super common in this shape).

A good hip warm up might stop the pop. But the warm up won’t help if it doesn’t address the anatomic motion that causes it.

“Anatomic sequencing” can also unlock flexibility you never knew you had, or offer more ease (sukka) in complex positions.

Curious? Please join us live — or for the two week REPLAY to all who register — of our latest workshop, Principles of Anatomic Sequencing.

I’ll be teaching and bringing my whole physical therapy brain 🧠 with me as well as 22 years experience (OMG) of teaching interdisciplinary yoga.

Principles of Anatomic Sequencing WORKSHOP

Thursday Nov. 9th:

12pm Eastern (New York) time

9am Pacific time

4pm London, England

(Check the time zone converter for your specific location.)

** YES registrants will get the replay! **

Read more of our thoughts on sequencing at these older blog posts:

3 Elements of Intelligent Sequencing.

Naginyasana Sequence how-to.