The studio owner sat me down and explained what my class should look like: “You’ll need to start with some warmups – whatever you want to do there is fine. Then you’ll need to teach at least four Surya namaskars, A or B. After that, start to play with the flow – make sure to include Warrior 1 and Warrior 3 and also Triangle or Side-angle and Half-moon. Then you can do some backbends, some twists, and inversions. Finish with shavasana of course – at least 2 minutes.”
I listened and nodded and then asked, “So, can I have a little leeway with that? I mean, how strictly do you expect me to stick to this?”
She assured me that there was plenty of room for creativity within her sequence. She also asked me to switch up my playlist because it would keep my classes fun and, “That’s what our students expect.” Hmmm. Okay. I guess? I typically just played some ambient background music and didn’t pay much attention to it.
At that point I’d already been teaching for about 7 years, so I wasn’t completely green. Plus, I figured I could get away with doing my own thing since she probably would not come to my class – which turned out to be true, she never showed up – and I never taught her sequence.
Back then I was really into intuitive sequencing, I had some basic ideas about how to put classes together, but I wanted to teach slow, mindful movement – and I knew that teaching yoga was not the same thing as teaching a choreographed dance routine to music.
When I was a little girl, I took a lot of dance classes – in retrospect I think it was mostly because I loved the tutus 😍. I also loved the challenge of learning routines. It almost didn’t matter what style of dance I practiced because I just loved the universal formula of any kind of catchy music + choreographed routines = fun.
But when I started practicing yoga, it felt very different to me, more internal, less trying to move in a specific, aesthetically oriented way – maybe because I studied it in India where yoga is generally not confused with Indian dance – they have very different purposes.
Perhaps because yoga, as it’s taught today in the west, emerged out of dance culture, “physical culture”, and the “harmonial gymnastics” of the early twentieth century (for more on that check out Stephanie Syman’s book, The Subtle Body and/or Mark Singleton’s Yoga Body), it has retained some of its connection with dance.
In the 80s Jane Fonda and aerobics, which were very much manifestations of dance culture, were hugely popular (I taught aerobics in college 😁). Then the trend faded, aerobics studios faded, and yoga studios sprung up from their soil– even the word “studio” is borrowed from dance culture. So, it makes sense that dance choreography has influenced the way that yoga teachers design classes, and that their approach to sequencing is often quite similar to that of a choreographer.
While of course there are lots of different styles of yoga and not all of them are dance-y, another popular approach to sequencing classes is oriented towards accomplishing difficult or “peak” poses. It has a different intention and typically has more in common with sports or fitness than with dance. I think of it as “elite athlete yoga.”
Dance-like yoga sequencing has a lot in common with choreography – smooth, flowy, and fun. Elite athlete yoga sequencing tends to be biomechanically oriented around the musculoskeletal system and maximizing physical accomplishment.
And then there are the kinds of yoga classes that try to merge both goals.
And while these two popular approaches to sequencing yoga may be appropriate for those who are interested in dance, fitness, or athletics, many people seek out yoga for a different reason – mental health.
Mental health took a serious hit during COVID. Health care professionals are increasingly recommending yoga to their patients – but not necessarily for dancing or fitness. They are referring their patients to yoga for stress reduction and/or improving mental health – helping them cope with anxiety, depression, trauma, etc. They hope that regular yoga practice will have a positive effect on their chronic conditions and improve their mental health. And certainly there is ample evidence that exercise in and of itself has positive effects on mental health.
However, since most of the yoga that’s offered out there is either dance or athletically focused, wouldn’t it be helpful if at least some of it was intentionally focused on meeting the needs of the people who are showing up specifically for the mental health benefits? How are these people supposed to navigate all the yoga classes out there and figure out which ones will help them?
A choreographed or elite athlete practice followed by shavasana is not the same thing as a sequence that is specifically focused on nervous system regulation.
Sequencing for the nervous system is an art and a science. I didn’t really understand that when I was teaching more intuitively. Nothing wrong with teaching intuitively by the way, but when you have a grasp on nervous system sequencing, then you can work intuitively within that framework.
When I started learning how to sequence for the nervous system it provided a significant shift in how I taught and how the practice affected my students.
This is a very brief, basic intro:
- Meet a low mood and slowly raise it and nourish energy – start lying down supine, slowly build up to standing poses, use cross-crawl movements, do a little breath pausing (retention) after the inhale with several but not all poses, add some simple backbends. Finish with more supine poses and a short savasana.
- Meet a high-strung mood and slowly bring it down and reduce hyperarousal – start standing up, do several stronger poses, use larger muscles, take your time getting down to the floor. Add poses that extend the exhale. End with a longer shavasana.
- Create a balanced practice by beginning in seated, and then purposefully weaving in elements of both.
When I started studying Desikachar’s approach to sequencing with several of his American students, primarily Gary Kraftsow, I remembered the adage “you don’t know what you don’t know” because it was light years ahead of what I had previously thought of as good sequencing. My teaching changed dramatically – and then my yoga career took off.
This is something that really needs to be experienced to be understood. So, please check out this video demonstration. And let me know what you think!
Please check out Sequencing for the Nervous System (not the hamstrings) – this link will take you to a waiting list, registration opens Sept. 18, 2023.
CHAIR YOGA FOR YOUR BRAIN & NERVOUS SYSTEM
SUBTLE® YOGA FOR ENHANCING TRAUMA RECOVERY
Five Ways Yogic Meditation Benefits Your Brain – eBook
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So.Much.Yes. I have been teaching yoga since 2005 and a yoga therapist since 2010. I decided to take a teaching sabbatical this year and focus solely on being a student again (AHHHHH). EVERY class I can find is an “asana sequence” class, not Yoga. Every class is the same postures. Teachers use all the same cues. Only sighing breath for pranayama. Not only am I bored, but I have found that these repetitive classes only REINFORCE patterns that likely need to be shifted for optimal well-being (my own article coming soon – HA!). It’s unfortunate that yoga has been diluted to Sun Salutations. Thanks for always sharing your POV and experience! Love your work.
Hey Tra,
Thanks for chiming in. Wow, to be a student for a year – kudos! But sorry to hear that you are having trouble finding classes – I think things are changing but some places faster than others perhaps? I do think RSI and CMD are real, despite the pushback against them and the labeling of “nociceptive language” that many people are talking about now. It’s interesting to me because that comes from a PT perspective not a MH one – where safety is always the first principle. Variety is the spice of life – we still need a bit more of it in certain parts of the yoga world.
for sure! i refused the call to teach for a long time because i couldn’t remember long sequences from one side to the next and i used to say i’m not a choregrapher. and at least in my world (which includes yoga studios) so much of this has really started to shift in small part thanks to funtional anatomy, body positivity, trauma-informed teaching, and mental health. (and students who dig the softer side of the practice, even if they have other “athletic” pursuits) thank god! and thankful for teachers like you!
yes I have seen a lot of it shift too, it’s good! Thank you for sharing.
This! Exactly what i am looking for here in Central Florida! I also dont want to be “graded” on my poses. Sure give me ideas of how to make it better ( especially to avoid injury) but i dislike when i end a session feeling good ( My Concentration is the mental health aspect, especially as it relate to healing trama) and i get a 5 poinnt eval regarding how my poses need work.
Thank you for understanding.
oh wow, that’s happened to you? yikes. I’m sorry to hear that.
Hello. I learn so much from your newsletter. I teach Veterans in recovery. I find that slow flow, moving with breath almost becomes dance-like and it creates a meditative flow. I’ve don’t worry what the “pose” looks like as long as we’re safe and practicing to feel connection, body /mind. So, it becomes dance-like, in a way, and most feel, effective. Sitting in stillness for meditation can be difficult, so this moving meditation works for many.
that’s lovely Elizabeth, thank you for sharing!
Dear Kristine. I have purchased some of your courses and I love them. I really like what you teach, and your message. I I am a clinical psychologist and I use a lot of yoga both in individual therapies and I teach traumasensitive yoga in the psychiatric unit where I work. I teach restorative yoga, yoga for breastcancer patients and for children with disabilities. I use A LOT of what I have learnt from you. Thank you!
And, I also teach hot, sweaty peak pose vinyasa flows. My classes all encompass yoga philosophy, mindfulness, self-compassion and pranayama. My students tell me that they walk out of my classes feeling repaired, grounded, self-compassionate, good in their bodies, feeling mastery at having challenged themselves, feeling present. None of what I hear is about “a work-out”. I think there is room for both the calmer, gentler practices and the more physically demanding ones. My own practice consists of both restorative yoga and physically demanding vinyasa depending on what I need that day.
Your message and teachings are amazing and important. They totally stand on their own. I am wondering, why the need to write about the physically demanding practices as “lesser than”? I know those are my words, it just seems to me to be a recurrent theme in your writings.
There is no need for either or. However it is done, practices that bring people into their bodies, regulates their nervous system, makes them feel good – isn’t that a good thing?
Thank you for your comments Kristin and thank you for doing such great work in the world! I have no intention of dismissing anything – rather I teach and write in a way to help folks feel that accessible yoga is as good as more intense practices and has equal but different value – which is quite different from the popular understanding of yoga. I wrote, “there is ample evidence that exercise in and of itself has positive effects on mental health. However, since most of the yoga that’s offered out there is either dance or athletically focused, wouldn’t it be helpful if at least some of it was intentionally focused on meeting the needs of the people who are showing up specifically for the mental health benefits? How are these people supposed to navigate all the yoga classes out there and figure out which ones will help them?” I’m not sure how this is dismissive of exercise yoga. I think it’s important to be frank and have these kinds of discussions – particularly because so many people feel excluded from yoga because of the popular portrayal of it. I simple am willing to advocate for the underdog – and the underserved and underestimated.
I love that you mentioned intuitive teaching. I have felt kind of subpar sometimes because I like to teach that way and don’t always have a script. That way I can check in with who’s in the class and determine how to start it and go from there. I have ALOT to learn and I am so grateful for your teacher training and continued support.
I always feel refreshed and confident after reading and doing your/my kind of yoga. So thanks, Kristine for always giving me the confidence I need as an old yoga teacher. So much of our lives are “high powered”, that slow and gentle yoga provides a welcome oasis. One comment my students make after classes is the feeling of relaxation. I say to students at the end of class to take that frame of mind with them whenever and wherever possible. Using slow and gentle yoga and pranayama to achieve that parasympathetic state of mind, body and spirit is key to optimal mental and spiritual health.
Some classes I’ve attended have focused on fast and action yoga, attending numbers and not the safety of students or pranayama. I have been invited to teach at such classes but then ‘disinvited’ because there was not enough action in the yoga I was teaching! Oh well, so those teachers may have a bigger following but yoga is about quality and not quantity.
I can totally relate. thank you! and thank you for the good work you are doing in the world!