Yoga Class Themes: 8 Reasons Why They Make the Difference

Yoga teachers have a big job. They are trusted by students with many responsibilities. Yoga is so much more than a workout. Yoga teachers must be able to guide students through all aspects of the yoga journey; from the physical, emotional, and even, spiritual and traditional facets of the practice.

Participating in a yoga class can be vulnerable, it can be intense, many feelings and emotions can arise. But have you ever found yourself in a yoga class and felt a bit lost? Like the class didn’t really make sense, that there was no clear trajectory, no place that the class was heading? That you felt confused and you felt distracted by your doubts and uncertainty?

Sadly, this can happen. For teachers, one of the most challenging tasks is to create flowing, creative classes that will help students address their needs and of course, have fun.

In most cases, if the class feels unclear and confused, it’s usually because the teacher has not established a theme and therefore the class has no direction in which it is heading.

Making sure a class is designed with a theme in mind will make all the difference when it comes to sequencing, and in terms of the overall experience, each and every posture will resonate deeper with students as they will understand that everything is building and growing, that the teacher has a peak or an objective in mind.

Here are a few ideas for effective yoga themes for your next class:

Yoga class themes

Surrender and letting go

Often, the hardest thing to do is to let go, allowing what has happened in the past go, and what has yet to come, go. We tend to hold onto the worst of our experiences. Encouraging students to practice clearing their minds, remaining in the present moment, and the art of letting go will prove to be an invaluable lesson, not only for practice on the mat but in our daily lives.

The more we can learn to surrender to what is, letting go of hurt, trauma, fear, and doubt, the more we can be fulfilled in our lives and enrich our practice.

The joy in the journey: Exploration and play

Even within the ancient texts, we find the theme of joy as a pillar of the practice. Patanjali said it in the Yoga Sutras, “the seat of the yogi should be joyful”. Yoga is not about suffering, we work to reach a state of elevated consciousness and bliss, but why do we wait for enlightenment to feel joy?

Joy can be found and practiced at any stage of one’s yoga journey. Joy should not only be reserved for success. There is also joy in the fall, in the struggle, in the face of challenge, and even in the moments of let down. Encouraging students to be playful, as they learn not to take themselves too seriously, giving students permission to make mistakes. To find our edge, sometimes we need to go a bit too far to find the balance.

Love

Love can be many and all things. You have the conditional and romantic kinds, the unconditional kinds, the love we show to ourselves, and the love we give to others, the love of doing, and simply the love for life.

This kind of theme can be a beautiful moment to remind ourselves about how lucky we are to be healthy and capable of giving. This can be a moment to recognise the love we have for ourselves no matter what, we are the only ones who have our own backs 100% of the time. If we aren’t there for ourselves, who will be?

Karma class: the dedication of one’s practice to someone else

Somedays we simply don’t want to do it. Yoga takes effort, dedication, and there are times, let’s be honest, when we just don’t have it in us. But holding a karma class can be a great way to remind students that, although we practice for ourselves, to fill our own cup, we also practice for others.

When we are the best version of ourselves, we have more to give to others. Not everyone has the opportunity to take yoga, not everyone is willing, however, we can practice in the form of a dedication to someone that cannot do or be in the yoga room with us for whatever reason. Maybe you don’t have it in you to practice today, but do you have it in you to gift your efforts to someone else?

Imagine that, all that you create, nurture, and cultivate on the mat could be given or sent to someone else. This can be a wonderful way to reignite passion and care into our practice. Turning something that can feel redundant some days into something meaningful. Think, what if every good feeling, every little success I find on the mat could be given away?

Healing

To heal is sometimes to feel worse first. Healing takes courage, turning inward and pulling all the hurt out. It often requires reliving moments that we never wanted to think about again. At first things can feel like they are getting worse, but once we can move past the things that burden us, traumatise us, and keep us trapped, the closer we are to being free.

Healing can look like taking responsibility and accountability for our actions, it can look like forgiving ourselves for being with the wrong person, it can look like taking a break or doing that which we are scared of. Opening the box can be that first step and yoga can be an integral part of your journey.

"Yoga can be almost anything you need it to be."

Balance

Balance within the context of a yoga class can be expressed as the physical practice of balance, such as incorporating standing postures that require accessing the core and the plumb line of the body to achieve balance, or flipping our centre of gravity and practicing balance on our hands or even our heads in the form of handstands or arm balances and headstand variations.

However, balance can also mean finding harmony in our practice and in our lives. Finding a place where we are growing but are not overworked and strained, where we are giving but also receiving.

Addressing the chakras

The charkas have the potential to unlock a deeper understanding of ourselves, and when we begin to align the chakras, we can address, not only the physical body, but the energetic body, helping students to understand why they may feel stuck in certain areas.

For more information on the chakras click here.

Ringing out the ego and the Manipura chakra

The Manipura chakra or the Solar Plexus charka, is the seat of our ego, it’s how we present ourselves to the world, our titles, who we think we are. Being able to soften around the ego and find more of our essence and what makes us truly who we are can be incredibly rewarding work.

Not to mention that, twisting asanas are excellent for good spinal health and improved digestion.

Meditation and focus

Centring a class around focus and meditation can be one way to introduce a guided meditation into the practice. It can be used as an opportunity to educate students on what meditation truly is.

Contrary to popular belief, the goal of meditation is not to empty the mind completely and think nothing, but to be able to hold one thought or idea in mind, steadily, without distraction.

Meditation is an incredible tool for improving concentration and focus, as well as learning how to be more mindful and present in life.

For more information on meditation visit this blog post.

Equanimity of the mind

In the ancient text, the Bhagavad Gita, within Sutra 6.8 we learn about the mark of the yogi, to have equanimity of the mind. Meaning, we can see all things with equal value, and understand that, everything serves a purpose and therefore, no object, nor person can be classified as more desirable than another.

This can be used as a theme to remind yogis, beginner or well into their yoga journey that, no posture is superior to another. We all get excited about practicing handstand because we think it is special or better than say, Tadasana, mountain pose.

However, we must learn to stand on our feet before we can learn to stand on our hands. Every posture in the practice serves a deep and meaningful purpose. The true yogi knows that the pose does not need to look or feel complicated in order for it to serve us and gift us with its many benefits.

Trust

Trust is something that we naturally do as children, we believe what people tell us, we trust those around us, and believe that there is no bad or evil in the world. But as we age, we often lose the ability to trust, we start to realise that not everyone has good intensions, we know that others lie, sabotage, and will do just about anything to get ahead. It is important to be aware of the dangers, but we cannot allow them to take away our ability to trust the good people in our lives, not to mention the trust we must have in ourselves.

When there is trust there is vulnerability and letting go. Creating a class all about trust, we can begin to shake off fear and learn to open up to ourselves and to one another.

Opening the heart: the Anahata chakra

The heart chakra or the Anahata chakra, means un-struck. Every instrument in the world, in order to sound must be played, we must apply external force with the hands and fingers, or the mouth and the breath, the heart however requires no external force to be played.

From the moment you come into this life it beats until the day you die. In this charka we hold our unconditional love. The love and compassion we feel and express simply because we can. To open the heart emotionally and energetically, we must start with the physical body. Arm balances and back bends are important to open and heal this chakra, and play well into a theme and dynamic sequencing.

Gratitude

Sometimes simply being reminded that we are alive and well when others in the world are not can speak volumes. There is nothing wrong with wanting the best for ourselves, for wanting health, love, our version of success, but can we love life in the process of getting there?

Can we wake up and just feel content, grateful for the privileges we have, the opportunities we have, the time we still have to make our dreams come true, even if we aren’t where we want to be yet?

Beginners mind: how to approach repetition

When we practice yoga often, things can, overtime become receptive, if we choose to see them that way. Like anything, most things are exciting at first. Starting a new job, a new relationship, moving to a new city, but after a few months, or years, will the routine and the sameness cause you to lose interest?

What a shame it would be to stop learning about ourselves, the ones we love, and about our yoga practice. Can we begin every yoga practice with excitement and curiosity, as if it were always the first time? Can we think “I wonder what my body will feel like today”?

Breath and prana

Without breath there is no life, it’s as simple as that. We breath automatically, most of us without giving it a second thought. But once we harness and understand the power that conscious breath holds, we will be able to change our lives and the way our body functions.

Grounding and the Muladhara chakra

Addressing the root chakra can be a wonderful theme to help find balance, stability, connection to the earth and help us understand what we may be holding on to from our childhood. Sometimes it’s the past that holds us back from being fully engaged in the present.

For more about the chakras, click here.

Speaking your truth and the Vishuddha chakra

Vishuddha, means purity, and this chakra relates to the ears, the neck, the throat, and the voice, it is our primary form of communication. If the heart is open, it will then be easy to speak from it. Likewise, we need to learn to speak our truth, hold our beliefs high and live true to them but never impose them onto others.

We need to live true to ourselves without trying to convince others to be the same as us. To align this chakra, we need to listen without judgement or expectation. Different things can be right for different people. Can we learn to soften around our judgement?

We can access the throat chakra by practicing asanas such as; shoulder stand, plow pose, legs up the wall pose, fish pose, and headstand. With these postures included in our asana practice we can begin to open up, and speak our truth, and in that truth, support, and uplift others.

Turning inward

Turning inward as a theme for class provides students with the opportunity to tune into their bodies on a deeper level, focusing solely on themselves, and any feelings that may arise. In our busy lives, the pressure to present ourselves to the world, always put together, giving everything to those that need us, sometimes we may find it difficult to take care or check in with ourselves as often as we do for those that we love.

To turn inward and focus on what what we need to address by quieting the outside world, we can gain insight. It is also an opportunity to realise the power and strength we already have within us. We don’t need to attain anything from the outside to make us more whole, we instead, want to unravel, peel back the layers and see that, we are already everything we have ever needed.

Honour your own path

With the use of social media on the rise, so is the need to edit one’s online life and appear perfect. It can easily become a way to compare ourselves to see how we measure up to others. But it is important to remember that, what we see online is curated, is often even manipulated and altered, it’s a highlight reel, and a reminder that we should never compare ourselves to others.

That lesson applies to our yoga practice too. It does not matter what you see online, how “advanced” people seem to be, the tricks, the arm balances, nor does it matter what the person next to you is doing.

The only thing that matters is your own journey. The others in the room are there to accompany you, to feed you energy as you do for them, to share the experience, not as a point of comparison or reference.

Be curious

Much like having a child-like mind, we want to remain curious throughout our life to prevent boredom. Not feeling engaged by life can make one feel isolated, uninterested, even depressed.

We want to remain curious about things, trying, tasting, playing, enjoying, and being unafraid. Life can get messy sometimes, but just as children are curious, they are not afraid to get their hands dirty and discover. There is joy in not knowing, there is excitement in finding out, and sometimes we just have to take that leap, both on and off of our yoga mats.

Why themes make the difference:

Now that we have covered some engaging themes, let’s talk about why themes make a difference in your class. There are distinct elements of your class that will change once you keep that overarching theme in mind.

Dharma talks

The teacher has about 5 minutes at the beginning of class to introduce the theme and set the tone for the class in what is called a Dharma talk. This is where the theme will be established and will be used as the pillar of all sequencing that will follow.

The teacher’s job is to keep everyone on track for the remainder of class with this introduction. This is a powerful moment for the teacher to make a connection with the students and give them purpose. Yoga like life isn’t just about moving, its about why we move, how we move. Creating reason for movement will change the quality and overall fulfilment of the practice.

Safe sequencing

When the body is moving with purpose, injury is not likely to happen. When the body is clear on the direction in which it is moving, and nothing is just left to chance, success is more likely to happen.

When the class is building up towards a common goal or focus and the energy of the class is directed, students can work together, really utilising the magic of practicing and moving together.

Peak pose

Often the pinnacle of a themed class will be a peak pose, specifically selected, in line with the theme the class has been working to address, allowing everything to come together in a sort of “ah ha” moment where it all makes sense.

The peak pose then weaves everything together. All the threads are woven to make a tapestry. The use of a peak pose helps the student understand what each posture is for and how it can be used to guide them towards a common goal.

Clear transitions

It’s what happens before and after a pose that is often the most important, just like in life, it’s how you start and finish something that really matters. When the theme is clear, the transitions will also flow, nothing will be randomly placed in class because it is cool or hard. Nothing will or should happen, just for the sake of it.

Focus and clarity

With the use of a theme the teacher will be focused, therefore the students will be too. The teacher has to be just as engaged in the practice as those who have come to follow the class. No one is investing any more or less than the other.

Clarity must come from the top and filter down. If the teacher is unclear about any of the information they are conveying, the students will not be able to embody the information. Establish the clarity and again, everything will flow. The class will move and breath together.

Keep it creative

Remaining true to your theme will help vary your class and sequencing, and keep things engaging and exciting. You will find that suddenly, variations of poses will come to mind easily, adding more complex or creative twists, folds, binds, and balances will allow you to challenge the class and keep the playfulness alive.

Monitor progress

When working with themes, it gives students an opportunity to monitor their progress and come back week after week. If a teacher is working through the chakras for example, the class will continue to build and take the student deeper.

Likewise, it gives students insight as to how they are developing and getting stronger. Don’t be afraid to bring back a theme or a full class in a few weeks time to show students how far they have come.

Shavasana

Shavasana; lying in stillness in a room with other people can feel very intimidating and vulnerable for some, but when trust and clarity are established from the beginning of class, it is much easier to let go.

Shavasana or corpse pose, being the seal of the practice and one of, if not the most important postures, it helps for students to know where they are heading so that once it’s time to let go, they can.

This is also a beautiful moment to reintroduce the theme and give the students some food for thought to keep their mind focused on one thing. No matter how simple Shavasana is to the eye, it is actually one of the most challenging postures, and we need all the help we can get to find peace in it.

In conclusion

Give one of these themes a try in your next class. Notice how easy it is to create flowing sequences, and notice the feedback from students. Yoga should never get boring, there are far too many beautiful discoveries just waiting for you.

If you are a student taking class, ask yourself how you feel afterwards. Did you feel that a theme or common goal was established? Do you feel uplifted and clear after class? Start assessing the classes you attend in this way and you will begin to notice faster progress and an overall, deeper and more meaningful experience.

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Jasmine Melrose

Director & Founder of DECO the Blog

Jasmine Melrose is a Toronto native living in Amsterdam. Once a professional dancer, her passions include movement, fitness, yoga, healing, and all things vegan. Jasmine is a 500-hour trained yoga teacher, who loves to get you deeper into your practice. She is also a certified barre teacher who loves making raw vegan, guilt-free and good-for-you treats. Check out her recipes and articles on everything from fitness to yoga, to notes on a journey towards healing.

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