Many new teachers are making the same few mistakes.
Because of my presence on YouTube, people have often reached out to me asking about how to sequence yoga classes. I finally created a short course around the question. Still, there are 3 things I wish all new teachers knew about sequencing.
Here they are:
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1. You don't have to use sequence generators
YOU are the secret sauce
Look, I get it! Online generators and AI make it so easy to build a class nowadays. But here’s the problem.
That sequence is missing the most important ingredient:
You.
- Your unique way of moving.
- Your unique way of expressing yourself.
- Your unique transitions.
You see the point.
What your students are really craving is a connection to the genuine aspect of you — call it your soul. When you rely on an external source to create a sequence for you, you’re kind of cheating on yoga.
Yoga advises, at every turn, to go INWARD.
And asana sequencing is no different.
Get on your mat. Mess around with what feels good and what doesn’t. Tune into how you’re feeling. What brings you joy?
You can even borrow someone else’s sequence and then make it your own.
Or: Try a transition you’ve never tried before.
Be willing to fail.
What will result if you really take the time to tune into yourself is a class sequence that allows students to sample something they will find NOWHERE ELSE.
…You.
The connection is what will bring your students back to class again and again to drink from the well of yoga.
2. You don't need to try and be creative.
Your creativity will shine through even if you try to hide it.
I’ve lost count of the number of students who’ve expressed to me that they just want to offer something a little different, a little more unique than others’ classes.
The problem is that, in their effort to make their classes somehow more special and more creative than others’, these new teachers end up bringing a degree of stress and strain to their sequences. Who needs that pressure?
Sometimes a herculean effort to make a class creative works out. More often, the transitions feel clunky and contrived.
What I advise instead is this:
Bravely master the most boring sequences and transitions you can think of. THEN…
Add one teeny-tiny piece of “flare” to this otherwise orthodox sequence.
- an unexpected hand position
- a breath retention
- a different gaze point
Instead of making the choreography overly complex for your students, what you’ll find is that you can calm all the nervous systems in the room by offering tried and true sequences — and then making the most minuscule changes.
—
The truth is, your uniqueness will inevitably shine through whether you want it to or not.
- the way you describe things
- the way you pace
- the body part you tend to focus on
- the lilt of your voice
- that certain hand position you like
You don’t have to TRY to be creative because you already ARE a creative being.
Trust yourself more, stop expecting yourself to reinvent the wheel, and I bet you’ll find that your students appreciate your easy presence just as much as the classical sequencing.
3. You do not have to design your classes around a pinnacle pose.
Try a different way to sequence
Designing around a pinnacle pose is such a common way to design classes, and look: you can do it! But I’d advise, do it only here and there. And learn other ways to sequence.
- Have you tried the All-Angles method?
- How about the Pepper-It-In method?
- The 3-Pass Deepening method?
There are as many ways to sequence as there are teachers on the planet. If you’ve been relying on pinnacle-pose sequencing, it could be time to branch out. Learn something new.
If you want to give your students a stress-free, joyous experience that keeps them coming back, put another method in your pocket.
If you remember only one thing...
Remember this:
Good sequencing comes from the soul
If you want to design unforgettable yoga sequences, keep this is mind:
What your students are truly craving is a touchpoint with yoga itself. The best thing you can do is get out of your own way, make the process fun, and thereby become the clearest possible vessel for the transmission of yoga.
If you’ve got questions, leave them below!
With love,
Leigha Butler
About Leigha Butler
Leigha created one of the first yoga channels on YouTube. She’s also run and sold yoga studios, trained 100s of yoga teachers, hosted retreats, and created yoga courses of all kinds. Learn more at leighabutleryoga.com
My yoga portal has over 500 classes, most of them an hour-long, and not one of them is exactly the same as another. My partner once asked me when I would run out of sequences, and I answered him that I feel like I could never run out.
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