Behind the Scenes: The Art of a Yoga Class Preparation

Have you ever wondered what your yoga instructor is thinking or how she prepped the class?

Most yoga teachers/instructors take a good time of their session analyzing and preparing prior to teaching. Selecting the proper music and just the right vibes can be part of that job, often taken for granted when students are in their minds, or trying to understand a cue that might not resonate as clear as the instructor mean to. Have you ever taken a class that was amazing, the music seemed to match the movements, or how fast and slow you were flowing x a class that felt uninspired? Yes, we all have been there. Not to mention a genre of music that you can’t care less or isn’t really right for the yoga. Music can sometimes make or break a class. I practiced a ton in Miami, Florida, outdoors where the donation class took place it was loud, cars, outside regular and chaotic Saturday morning sounds, yet my teacher held space and I never, not even once, thought “I wish there was music in this class”. It was magical, and part of that it was how she held space and her perfect sequencing and cueing.

Sequencing can feel like a “seven-headed-monster”

Unless you have taken yoga teacher training (commonly called YTT everywhere) you don’t really stop to think how much time and effort is placed on a flow that has intelligent sequencing, and it makes sense in your body, and it isn’t awkward to “perform”.

“Awkard” is Yoga’s middle name in a lot of cases, having you twist like a pretzel and fold in ways the human body wasn’t mean to. I am not speaking of the challenging poses, but how they are put together, one after the other, building up to an “apex” of sorts or at least creating some space in your body. The end result is very different for everyone, and different because we have different journeys of sorts in our lives, different backgrounds, different nutrition, different energy, you get the picture. Does this flow feels natural, even tho challenging in my body? Do I come up in one inhale, and fold in one exhale? Perphaps the instructor holds us in a very awkard shape such as fierce pose, for a number of breaths that can’t be right. You have felt that feel, that changes you for the better. The challenge being in your mind and not quite in the body, most of the time we are allowing our minds to give up way before the body does.

To say or not to say, that is the question

I am born and raised in Brazil and grew up speaking Portuguese. Eloquent cues are substituted at times for simpler, clearer cues rather than something I cannot express. Teacher’s vocabularies tend to be pretty simple yet I stay away from repetitive words in my classes, we all have heard “good job” or “eventually you will….”. Instead, the better cue would be “step your right foot forward”, instead of “eventually, you will step your right foot forward”.

This is fascinating for me because I am a great lover of the English language and the Portuguese of course, and grew up reading all kinds of books, expanding my vocabulary every day. Practicing makes progress and we are all learning. I was once reminded of a word (I can’t even remember which) that seemed repetitive, years ago. At first the feedback felt like a slap on my face; it hurt so deeply like a knife in my heart. Once the shock had passed, I came upon the thought that you have a group, an audience of open-hearted students and open-minded students and the minimum I could give them was a simpler vocabulary and trying not to be repetitive, like a broken record.

Next time you find yourself in a yoga class, try to catch any of these things I mentioned here. Most of us are simply trying to breathe, connect to our movements, be in the moment. I promise if you plug one more line of attention, as subtle as it can be, pay attention to your teacher’s subtle cueing. Her choice of music, her choice of lighting, her input before, way before you roll out your mat that morning. I hope you can catch more than one thing.