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You realize that feeling of exhaustion mingled with contentment that occurs throughout Savasana an distinctive yoga class? If solely each yoga apply felt this fashion.
In yoga instructor coaching (YTT), lecturers be taught the essential rules of logical sequencing—how you can heat up and funky down, when to peak in depth, perhaps even how you can concisely and inclusively cue a pose with out breaking the rhythm of a vinyasa class.
However there are widespread sequencing errors that many lecturers make, even after they’re proficient within the fundamentals. These blunders can really feel lower than stellar in college students’ our bodies and equally unsatisfactory to their minds.
Everybody wants various things on completely different days, and there’s no foolproof approach that we will create an distinctive expertise for every pupil. Downside is, you’re the instructor and supposedly know finest, so likelihood is college students aren’t going to complain. After a pair disappointing experiences, they’ll both cease coming, attempt a distinct class, or suppose they only don’t “get” yoga.
However there are issues you are able to do to extend the probability of your college students feeling extra put collectively after your class than earlier than it.
5 Yoga Sequence Errors That Distract Your College students
While you’re making a sequence, you wish to problem your college students in physique and thoughts whereas additionally serving to them really feel a way of objective and studying. An imbalance amongst these parts can create an imbalance of their expertise.
1. No Theme or Uniting Precept
The phrase “vinyasa” is usually translated as “to position in a particular approach” or, as I interpret it, to position with objective. An efficient yoga apply feels as if it has an underlying objective, which means, or lesson. It’s a lot extra than simply shifting and respiration, which is likely one of the explanation why practising yoga with a instructor feels completely different than merely stretching on the ground whereas watching Netflix.
We domesticate that objective by linking poses or practices with a central theme or repeated motion in thoughts. Your objective may reference a bodily or philosophical idea, whether or not a gentle breath, sturdy basis, focus or drishti, even an open coronary heart. It may additionally convey a technical ability related on the mat, whether or not that’s specializing in the mid and higher again in twists or sustaining engagement in your unseen again leg throughout standing poses.
A sequence that grows from a single cohesive idea generates a really completely different, and extra fulfilling, expertise than a category consisting of an assortment of postures, even when there’s a seemingly logical trajectory to the sequence and the transitions make sense. We assist college students hook up with the theme by way of not solely the poses we select however the cues we provide, the questions we ask, even the music we select or a studying we’d share. We might even succinctly point out or trace on the ways in which theme may carry past the mat.
With out the cohesion of a shared which means or context, the apply lends no perception to the scholar’s expertise. Nor does it add to anybody’s understanding of yoga itself.
2. Adhering Too Rigidly to Your Theme
Though a central theme gives depth and which means to a category, it’s attainable to overdo it. College students come anticipating a fairly well-rounded expertise. No less than a few of your college students will already be aware of or solely mildly curious about what you educate, each by way of the poses and their associated ideas. In case your total sequence adheres solely to that theme, similar to backbends even in standing poses, they could go away feeling that the category wasn’t for them.
3. Repeating Too Many Comparable Poses in a Row
Associated to the earlier level, even a theme that college students respect can create a sense of bodily imbalance or exhaustion if that’s the predominant sort of pose that you just share in a brief span of time.
Consider making a sequence themed to discovering your steadiness. A sequence of a number of one-legged standing poses may appear to make sense, similar to taking college students from Chair Pose (Utkatasana) to Determine 4 (Standing Pigeon) to Warrior 3 (Virabhadrasana III) adopted by Shiva Squats earlier than taking them into Half Moon (Ardha Chandrasana).
The transitions could seem fluid, however by the point college students lastly land in a two-footed pose like Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana II), their entrance leg muscle groups will in all probability be fatigued to the purpose of feeling unstable, which is opposite to your supposed lesson.
On a extra refined stage, in the identical approach {that a} fast-paced film wants moments of quiet to let the viewers catch their breath and contemplate what’s at stake, your theme will resonate extra vividly when college students even have the chance to give up their weight to the mat or props.
4. Overemphasizing Novelty
A novel pose variation, transition, cue, or new-to-you strategy to acquainted poses may be exhilarating. It may be tempting, for instance, to fixate on probably the most fascinating strategy to transfer right into a pose somewhat than probably the most intuitive.
There’s profit to difficult the established order and inspiring our college students to discover new approaches throughout the protected confines of their mat. However there may be additionally energy in simplicity and familiarity.
The poses and cues that we lecturers would possibly contemplate to be so foundational as to be boring is likely to be one thing college students have by no means earlier than skilled, heard, or understood. Yoga is seldom as central in our college students’ lives as it’s in ours.
When the apply of yoga is constructed from acquainted poses and intuitive transitions, college students have power and a spotlight left over to absorb the brand new info you’re additionally providing. As such, novelty ought to be a small portion of any sequence, not the first part. Your sequence can present area for one or two new issues, often associated to your focus. That’s adequate.
5. Not Working towards Your Sequence Earlier than Educating It
How a sequence appears to be like on paper isn’t precisely the way it interprets to the physique. Regardless of how nicely a sequence could seem to precise your theme, it’s important to maneuver via it on the mat previous to sharing.
When your sequence stems out of your mind alone and never your physique, there’s extra potential for disconnect between what you’re educating and what the scholar is feeling. Your cues for a transition may very well be inaccurate. Or your sequence would possibly inadvertently overtax a physique half. That mistake can have the unlucky impact of distracting, exhausting, and even irritating college students.
For instance, a sequence targeted on twisting would possibly inadvertently take college students via lengthy holds in too many bent-knee standing poses, similar to Chair Pose (Utkatasana), Revolved Chair (Parivrtta Utkatasana), High Lunge, Revolved Crescent (Parivrtta Anjaneyasana), Warrior 3, and Revolved Half Moon (Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana). College students in all probability felt exhausted of their legs and hips earlier than the tip of sophistication.
Likewise, when you don’t apply a novel transition earlier than educating it, you would possibly fail to anticipate when college students would possibly want props or not anticipate how complicated and overwhelming it’s in apply.
There’s no single prescribed strategy to create a apply that can go well with each pupil. However avoiding these errors might help their expertise be much less irritating and extra significant, which has results far past a memorable Savasana.
