Online Yoga Lesson Planner https://georgewatts.org/ Yoga Lesson Planning Made Easy Sun, 20 Sep 2026 09:03:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://georgewatts.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/georgewatts-site-icon-512-100x100.jpg Online Yoga Lesson Planner https://georgewatts.org/ 32 32 Plan a Yoga Class in 15 Minutes With the 6-4-2 Method https://georgewatts.org/2026/09/16/6-4-2-yoga-lesson-planning-method/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 10:24:46 +0000 https://georgewatts.org/?p=233620
A yoga teacher presents the 6-4-2 yoga lesson planning method with six spinal movements, four leg lines and two core actions
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On This Page

George’s Intro

A balanced class becomes easier to plan when you stop asking one enormous question and answer twelve small ones.

Hi, I’m George. I’m a British Wheel of Yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner and maker of yoga card decks.

We yoga teachers have spent so long drawing stick figures in our yoga lesson plans that they feel like old friends.

Naturally, I’ve snuck them into my sticky-note doodles to make the useful bits of this post easier to remember. Small yellow spaces for big ideas that stick.

The 6-4-2 yoga lesson planning method checks six spinal movements, four leg lines and two core actions before you arrange the choices into a teachable route.

It can help you map the bones of a class in 15 minutes or less. It does not replace your training, knowledge of the students or the decisions you make while teaching.

Jump to the editable 6-4-2 class map ↓

The 6-4-2 Method at a Glance

Think of 6-4-2 as a quick map of movement, not a finished sequence.

6

Spinal movements

Flexion, extension, side bend left, side bend right, twist left and twist right.

4

Leg lines

Choose work for the front, back, inner and outer lines of the legs.

2

Core actions

Choose one action that stabilises and one action that moves the trunk with control.

Those twelve checks expose obvious gaps while the plan is still easy to change.

They also stop the familiar planning habit of collecting favourite poses first and discovering the route later.

Map the Class in 15 Minutes

Give each planning decision a small time box so the blank page cannot become the whole evening.

2 MIN

1. Name the class

Write the students, class length and one clear aim.

4 MIN

2. Fill the six

Choose a comfortable example for each spinal direction.

3 MIN

3. Fill the four

Add one useful choice for each leg line.

2 MIN

4. Pick the two

Add one stabilising and one moving core action.

3 MIN

5. Build the route

Order the choices from arrival to warm-up, main work, cooling and rest.

1 MIN

6. Protect the ending

Check that the plan leaves enough time to cool down and finish.

At fifteen minutes, stop adding. Read the route once, mark anything that needs rehearsal and move on to the teaching details that genuinely matter.

Start With Six Spinal Movements

The six checks are the three main spinal movement patterns counted in both directions where a side is involved.

Six traditional yoga movements show flexion, extension, side bends and twists in both directions
1

Flexion

Round or fold the spine with control.

Examples: Cat-Cow, Standing Forward Fold, Seated Forward Fold, Wide-Leg Forward Bend, Child or Hare.

2

Extension

Open the front body and move the spine into a backbend that suits the class.

Examples: Cat-Cow, Cobra, Locust, Bow, Camel, Bridge or Upward Facing Dog.

3

Side bend left

Lengthen one side of the trunk without collapsing the other.

Examples: Gate, Standing Side Bend, Crescent Moon, Extended Side Angle or Hero Side Bend.

4

Side bend right

Repeat the lateral movement on the second side.

Examples: Gate, Standing Side Bend, Crescent Moon, Extended Side Angle or Hero Side Bend.

Planning check: note the side instead of writing “both” and hoping.

5

Twist left

Choose a rotation that fits the position and purpose of the class.

Examples: Easy Twist, Seated Twist, Half Lord of the Fishes I, Lying Twist, Revolved Triangle, Revolved Chair or High Lunge Twist.

6

Twist right

Repeat the rotation on the second side without forcing symmetry.

Examples: Easy Twist, Seated Twist, Half Lord of the Fishes I, Lying Twist, Revolved Triangle, Revolved Chair or High Lunge Twist.

Planning check: allow different ranges while keeping the route clear.

You do not need six spectacular poses. A slow Cat-Cow can cover flexion and extension, and one simple side bend or twist can be repeated in both directions.

Add Four Leg Lines

The four leg lines are a practical scanning tool for the front, back, inner and outer legs.

A yoga teacher points to traditional yoga examples for the front, back, inner and outer leg lines
1

Front line

Choose a shape that asks something useful of the front of the hips or thighs.

Examples: Low Lunge, Crescent Lunge, Dancer, Camel, Bow or Reclined Hero.

2

Back line

Include a shape for the backs of the legs without making depth the goal.

Examples: Downward Facing Dog, Standing Forward Fold, Seated Forward Fold, Pyramid, Wide-Leg Forward Bend or Heron.

3

Inner line

Add a wide or side-to-side shape that brings attention to the inner legs.

Examples: Bound Angle, Goddess Anjali Mudra, Frog, Side Lunge Anjali Mudra, Wide-Leg Forward Bend or Reclined Bound Angle I.

4

Outer line

Choose a shape that involves the outer hip or lateral support.

Examples: Figure Four, Half Pigeon, Cow Face, Eagle, Supine Pigeon I or Standing Pigeon.

This is a planning lens, not a claim that every student should feel every pose in one exact place.

The question is simply: have I paid attention to more than the same familiar forward-facing shapes?

Choose Two Core Actions

Pick one action that stabilises the trunk and one that moves it deliberately.

Traditional yoga examples show one stabilising core action and one moving core action
ACTION 1

Stabilise

Ask the trunk to stay organised while the limbs or gravity create a challenge.

Examples: Plank, Plank on Forearms, Side Plank, Side Plank on Knees, Dolphin, Dead Bug or Bird Dog Band.

ACTION 2

Move

Ask the trunk to flex, extend or rotate through a controlled action.

Examples: Downward Facing Dog Knee to Nose, Side Plank Knee Crunch, Bird Dog Circle, Boat, Bridge Spine Curls, Goddess Squat Twist or Cobra Twist.

These two choices prevent “core work” from becoming a random hard pose added near the end.

They can be gentle. The useful question is whether the action supports the class aim and the students in front of you.

Turn the Checks Into a Class Route

The order matters more than the number of boxes you tick.

Move the twelve choices into a beginning, middle and end. Combine overlapping movements so the class feels like one lesson rather than a checklist being performed at students.

1

Arrive

Choose a simple starting position, breathing focus and the first easy spinal movement.

2

Prepare

Introduce the movement directions, joints and leg actions needed later.

3

Build

Place the main standing, balance or strength work where students are warm but not rushed.

4

Integrate

Use the two core actions and any useful repeated movement to connect the theme.

5

Cool

Reduce effort, complexity and pace before the final rest.

6

Finish

Leave enough time for rest, breath and a clear transition out of class.

If the route looks crowded, remove poses before reducing the ending. A shorter coherent class is usually easier to teach than a long plan that depends on hurrying.

Three Real-World 6-4-2 Examples

The same formula can produce very different classes.

A yoga teacher shows how one 6-4-2 formula becomes beginner Hatha, hip focus and steady balance classes
EXAMPLE 1

60-Minute Beginner Hatha Class

Real-life situation: a weekly mixed-experience class needs a recognisable route and uncomplicated transitions.

6 spinal movements

Cat and Cow for flexion and extension. Gate on both sides. Easy seated twist on both sides.

4 leg lines

Low Lunge, Downward Facing Dog, Goddess and Supine Figure Four.

2 core actions

Bird Dog to stabilise. Bent-knee Boat lifts to move.

Class route: arrive on all fours, practise Cat-Cow, add Bird Dog, move through Downward Dog to Low Lunge, stand for Goddess and a simple Warrior flow, return to the floor for Boat lifts, Figure Four, Gate, seated twists and Savasana.

Why it works: several poses do two jobs, so the checklist becomes a calm route instead of twelve separate stops.

EXAMPLE 2

60-Minute Hip-Focused Class

Real-life situation: the teacher wants a clear hip theme without repeating the same sequence from last week.

6 spinal movements

Standing Fold, Cobra, Gate on both sides and Revolved Low Lunge on both sides.

4 leg lines

Low Lunge, Pyramid, Wide-Legged Fold and Figure Four.

2 core actions

Plank to stabilise. Downward Dog knee-to-nose to move.

Class route: begin with Cat-Cow and Gate, build Plank and Downward Dog, alternate Low Lunge with Pyramid, add a careful revolved option, stand for Wide-Legged Fold, then finish with Figure Four, Cobra, an easy twist and rest.

Why it works: the four leg lines make the hip theme broader than one favourite outer-hip stretch.

EXAMPLE 3

45-Minute Steady Balance Class

Real-life situation: a familiar group wants balance practice, but the teacher does not want forty-five minutes of standing on one leg.

6 spinal movements

Ragdoll, Locust, standing side bends on both sides and a small standing twist on both sides.

4 leg lines

Crescent Lunge, Half Split, Goddess and Standing Figure Four.

2 core actions

Plank to stabilise. Slow standing knee drives to move.

Class route: mobilise the spine, practise slow weight shifts, build Crescent and Half Split, add Goddess, use supported Standing Figure Four and knee drives, then visit one or two balance poses before Locust, twists and rest.

Why it works: balance becomes the result of preparation, leg work and trunk control rather than a collection of increasingly difficult poses.

My Editable 6-4-2 Yoga Class Map

Fill the 12 planning checks, then turn them into a beginning, middle and end.

The example choices make a beginner-friendly Hatha route. Edit the final column, then copy or print your map before leaving the page.

EDITABLE PLANNING RESOURCE

My 6-4-2 Yoga Class Map

Edit the “My Choice” section.

15-minute map

Check Planning prompt My Choice
6 spinal movements
1. Flexion Round or fold Cat
2. Extension Open the front body Cow or Cobra
3. Side bend left Lengthen the side body Gate
4. Side bend right Repeat on side two Gate
5. Twist left Rotate comfortably Easy seated twist
6. Twist right Repeat on side two Easy seated twist
4 leg lines
1. Front Front hip or thigh Low Lunge
2. Back Backs of the legs Downward Facing Dog
3. Inner Inner legs Goddess
4. Outer Outer hip or lateral support Supine Figure Four
2 core actions
1. Stabilise Hold the trunk steady Bird Dog
2. Move Move the trunk with control Bent-knee Boat lifts
Class route
Beginning Arrive and prepare Cat-Cow, Gate and Bird Dog
Middle Build the main work Dog, Low Lunge, Goddess and simple standing flow
End Cool and finish Boat lifts, Figure Four, twists and Savasana

Your edits stay on this page only. Copy or print them before you leave.

What the 6-4-2 Method Does Not Decide

A complete checklist is not automatically a suitable class.

The method does not decide pace, repetitions, breath cues, transitions, props, teaching language or which versions are appropriate for a particular student.

It does not know your students

You still need to consider the people, setting, experience and choices required in the room.

It does not rehearse transitions

Walk through how one position becomes the next. Remove awkward travel when it adds nothing useful.

It does not protect the ending

You must still begin cooling early enough to avoid rushing rest.

It does not require every box

Leave out, reduce or adapt a movement when that makes the class more suitable.

Use the map as a first draft, then apply your training and professional judgement.

For a deeper check, compare the route with my guide to 29 common yoga sequencing mistakes.

George’s Conclusion

The best quick planning method is the one that leaves you with a route you can actually teach.

The 6-4-2 method gives you 12 small decisions: 6 spinal movements, 4 leg lines and 2 core actions.

Map them quickly, combine the overlaps, protect the ending and rehearse the transitions that need your attention.

If you want more yoga lesson planning formulas, yoga sequencing guides and ready-made yoga plans, visit the Yoga Lesson Planning Hub.

Turn the Map Into a Saved Lesson Plan

Use the 6-4-2 checklist to choose your ingredients, then organise, save and print the route in the Online Yoga Lesson Planner.

A yoga teacher moves traditional yoga pose cards into the Online Yoga Lesson Planner using the 6-4-2 method

  1. Yoga Lesson Planning Hub: Formulas, Sequencing & Class Plans
  2. How to Plan a Yoga Class: 101 Tips + Free Plans
  3. 29 Yoga Sequencing Mistakes + 58 Real Class Examples

]]> Yoga Retreat Promotion Planner: Build a Calm 30-Day Campaign https://georgewatts.org/2026/09/15/yoga-retreat-promotion-planner/ Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:43:12 +0000 https://georgewatts.org/?p=233594
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George’s Intro

I updated this post in 2026.

A retreat does not need frantic promotion. It needs a clear invitation and a manageable plan.

Hi, I’m George. I’m a British Wheel of Yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner and maker of yoga card decks.

I’ve hosted yoga retreats in the UK and tried more than one way of filling the room. Different channels produced different responses, but the lasting lesson was simple: choose the right people, make the benefit clear and organise a few useful actions you can repeat.

We yoga teachers have spent so long drawing stick figures in our yoga lesson plans that they feel like old friends. Naturally, I’ve snuck them into my sticky-note doodles to make the useful bits of this post easier to remember. Small yellow spaces for big ideas that stick.

Jump to the Yoga Retreat Promotion Planner ↓

Yoga Retreat Promotion Planner

Build the campaign before polishing the flyer.

The free editable planner below helps you clarify the retreat, write one honest promise, choose one booking path and map four weeks of promotion. Your entries save automatically in your browser, and you can download the finished plan as a text file.

Start with the planner.The flyer is included as a bonus tool, but it works best after you know who the retreat is for and what you want them to do next.
FREE EDITABLE RESOURCE

Yoga Retreat Promotion Planner

Build a manageable 30-day campaign and keep every useful action in one place.

  1. Clarify the retreat. Define one audience, one honest benefit and one booking path.
  2. Map four weeks. Choose a small number of useful actions you can realistically complete.
  3. Draft the invitation. Turn the same clear promise into a respectful email.
  4. Create the bonus flyer. Use the flyer tab only after the campaign foundations are clear.
  5. Download your plan. Keep a text copy with the rest of your retreat notes.

Stored on your device: your entries save automatically in this browser and are not sent to GeorgeWatts.org.

 


How to Use the Yoga Retreat Promotion Planner

1. Start With One Person and One Need

Picture one recognisable person.

“People interested in yoga” is too broad. Decide who would genuinely value this particular retreat and what they want help with.

For example, you might plan for busy teachers who want a screen-free weekend, regular students who want longer practices, or older beginners who need a gentle pace and clear accessibility information.

Write one sentence: This retreat is for [person] who wants [useful change].

Matti and adult stick-figure yoga students showing that retreat promotion starts with one person and one need.
Start with the person

2. Turn the Details Into a Clear Promise

The date is not the whole offer.

Describe the useful experience without promising a miraculous transformation. “Weekend Yoga Retreat, 18–20 June” gives facts. “A quiet weekend of yoga, walking and proper rest” gives somebody a reason to keep reading.

Other honest examples include “a gentle introduction to restorative yoga,” “three days to deepen your home practice,” or “a walking and yoga weekend for people who need fewer screens and more hills.”

Matti showing adult stick-figure yoga students that the retreat date is not the complete offer.
Name the useful change

3. Give People One Booking Path

Choose the next action before promoting anything.

Send everybody to one current booking page or enquiry form. It should repeat the same dates, price, suitability notes and inclusions used throughout the campaign.

For example, a small retreat might use one page with a “Check availability” form. A confirmed residential weekend might use one page with room options, deposit terms and a single “Book your place” button.

Adult stick-figure yoga students choosing one clear retreat booking path instead of several tangled routes.
One obvious next step

Use the yoga teacher website guide if the booking page needs improving first.

4. Map a Calm 30-Day Campaign

Give each week one job.

Week 1 can prepare the booking page and core message. Week 2 can introduce the retreat to existing students. Week 3 can involve a few suitable local partners. Week 4 can answer questions, send one reminder and review the response.

This is enough to create momentum without attempting to colonise the internet before breakfast.

Matti organizing a calm four-week yoga retreat promotion plan on a wall calendar.
Plan 30 days, not 30 panics

5. Put the Invitation Where It Helps

Relevance matters more than reach.

Begin with your own class community and people who have already asked about retreats. Then choose a few places where the audience genuinely overlaps with yours.

Useful examples might include the retreat venue’s mailing list, an independent café noticeboard, a walking group, a complementary wellbeing practitioner or a community centre where you already teach.

Ask permission before leaving printed material or requesting a share. For a fair exchange with another organisation, use the Local Yoga Partnership Planner.

Matti sharing a yoga retreat invitation on a relevant local noticeboard with permission as a stick-figure student notices it.
Put it where it helps

6. Send a Respectful Invitation Email

Use the same clear message in a short email.

Simple Yoga Retreat Invitation

Subject: A quiet yoga weekend in [place], [dates]

Hi [name],

You mentioned that [relevant need], so I wanted to share this retreat with you.

I’m hosting [retreat name] for [who it is for]. It includes [two or three useful details] and is designed to help participants [honest benefit].

It runs from [arrival] to [departure] at [venue]. The price is [price], including [main inclusions].

You can read the full details and book here: [one link]

Warm wishes,
[your name]

Matti sending one respectful yoga retreat invitation email to a stick-figure yoga student.
Send a respectful invitation

Only email people when you have an appropriate reason and permission to do so. In the UK, check the ICO’s current electronic-mail marketing guidance. The yoga teacher email marketing guide can help you build a calmer permission-based system.

Bonus: Create a Yoga Retreat Flyer

The flyer supports the plan.

Once the audience, promise and booking path are clear, use the planner’s Bonus Flyer tab to draft a concise flyer. It can be printed for suitable local venues or exported as a small digital image for students and partners who genuinely want to share it.

Include the Essential Details

  • What: a plain-English retreat name and short description.
  • Who: the intended experience level and suitability notes.
  • When: arrival and departure dates and times.
  • Where: venue, area and useful travel context.
  • Included: teaching, accommodation, meals and equipment.
  • Price: the full cost, deposit and payment terms.
  • Next step: the same booking or enquiry link used everywhere else.
Matti and a stick-figure yoga student checking the essential practical details on a yoga retreat flyer.
Answer the practical questions

Make the Flyer Easy to Scan

Give the headline, honest promise and booking action the most visual weight. Keep the supporting copy short, leave breathing room and use enough contrast for comfortable reading.

If every sentence is enormous, bold and urgent, the flyer is not confident. It is shouting from inside a laminator.

Matti and a stick-figure yoga student comparing a cluttered retreat flyer with a clear, easy-to-scan version.
Make it easy to scan

The yoga flyer design guide covers hierarchy, proofreading and print checks in more detail.

George’s Conclusion

A useful yoga retreat promotion plan is calm, specific and repeatable. It identifies the right people, gives them an honest reason to care and maps the next four weeks of useful action. The flyer is one supporting piece, not the campaign itself.

Explore the Yoga Marketing Kit for more useful tools for yoga teachers.

Keep Building Your Yoga Business

Plan a Yoga WorkshopBuild the experience before you promote it.
Design a Yoga FlyerGive the important information room to breathe.
Build a Local Yoga PartnershipReach the right people through a fair, useful exchange.

]]> 6 Steps To Start A Yoga Teaching Business https://georgewatts.org/2026/09/11/start-a-yoga-teaching-business/ Fri, 11 Sep 2026 17:57:21 +0000 https://georgewatts.org/?p=232921
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Updated on 11 September 2026.

George’s Intro

A yoga teaching business does not need to begin with a studio, a complicated website and 47 matching water bottles.

I’m George, a BWY yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner, yoga card deck maker and enthusiastic sticky-note doodler.

A useful first business needs a specific student, a class they want, numbers that make sense and a simple way to book. The aim is not to look enormous. The aim is to build a small version that can teach you what to do next.

Jump to the free Yoga Teaching Business Starter Workbook ↓

6 Steps To Start A Yoga Teaching Business

Build the smallest version that can teach you something.

The first three steps establish who the business helps, whether enough people want the class and how the offer works financially. Steps four to six put the practical foundations, booking route and 90-day learning cycle in place.

On This Page

1. Choose Who Your Yoga Business Helps

Matti focuses on one real yoga student instead of trying to serve everybody.
A class for everybody is difficult to explain to anybody.

Begin with one recognisable group of students and one useful result.

“Yoga for everyone” sounds welcoming, but it does not help a beginner decide whether your Tuesday class suits them. Start with people you are appropriately trained and genuinely interested to teach: perhaps complete beginners, active older adults, desk workers, runners or people who prefer a small supportive group.

Ask four practical questions:

  • Who do I most enjoy and feel competent to teach?
  • What do they want help with?
  • What commonly stops them joining a class?
  • What time, place and teaching style would make attendance realistic?

Turn the answers into a plain offer statement: “I help [specific student] achieve [useful result] through [your approach].”

This is a starting position, not a lifelong vow written on a mountain. You can broaden the business when real students give you a reason. If you need ideas, use my list of 101 yoga classes, workshops and services to test.

2. Test Demand Before Spending

Matti asks potential yoga students about the time, place and price before booking a venue.
Ask about the time, place and price before becoming emotionally attached to a hall.

Speak to likely students before committing to large costs.

A cheerful social-media like is not the same as somebody booking a six-week course. Talk to ten people who resemble the student you described in step one. Ask what they currently do, what makes a class difficult to attend and which practical details matter.

Then test the smallest useful version:

  • a one-off paid taster in a hired room;
  • a short beginner block with a minimum viable group;
  • a small workplace pilot;
  • or a private-session package for one clearly defined need.

Decide the minimum number of paid bookings required before you confirm the session. A test should protect your time and give you evidence. It should not turn you into the proud owner of 300 leaflets for a class nobody can attend.

If a venue is the next decision, work through my seven steps for finding a free or low-cost yoga venue.

3. Shape Your Services And Prices

Matti models a beginner yoga offer using the price, realistic capacity and expected revenue.
One clear offer is easier to explain, price and deliver than seventeen hopeful ones.

Give each service a clear promise, format, price and capacity.

For example: “A six-week Tuesday evening yoga course for complete beginners, limited to eight students.” That sentence helps you choose the room, create the class page, set the price and plan the lessons.

Test the basic monthly arithmetic:

Capacity × price × sessions × realistic fill rate = estimated monthly revenue

Use realistic attendance, not a permanent fantasy in which every mat contains a smiling human. Add venue hire, payment fees, insurance, software, equipment, preparation, travel, administration and marketing. Then decide what your working time needs to pay.

A full class can still be a poor business if the price ignores half the work. Use the free Yoga Class Pricing Calculator to work through costs, time, target pay, attendance and a sensible buffer.

4. Set Up The Business Foundations

Matti shows how business structure, insurance, records and safety support a yoga class.
Good administration is the unglamorous block holding up the yoga mat.

Protect the teaching with suitable structure, insurance, records and safety processes.

Choose a suitable business structure

In the UK, many independent yoga teachers begin as sole traders. A limited company or partnership may suit different responsibilities and plans. The structure affects tax and legal responsibilities, so use the current GOV.UK business-structure guidance and ask an accountant when your circumstances are not straightforward.

GOV.UK says you can begin trading without registering as a sole trader, but you must register for Self Assessment if you earn more than £1,000 in a tax year. Check the current sole-trader steps rather than relying on a number remembered from an old article.

Match the protection to the teaching

Confirm that your qualifications and experience match the students, activities and settings you intend to teach. Discuss public liability, professional indemnity and any other appropriate cover with an insurer, and make sure the policy covers your actual delivery model.

Prepare participant screening, attendance records, emergency procedures, cancellation terms and a secure way to hold personal information. Sole traders and partners also need suitable income and expense records for Self Assessment; see the current GOV.UK record-keeping guidance.

If you employ people, separate responsibilities can apply, including Employers’ Liability insurance. Check the current official guidance.

This article and workbook are educational planning tools, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Check the rules that apply to your circumstances and use a qualified adviser when needed.

5. Make Enquiry And Booking Easy

Matti shows one clear route from a yoga class page to booking confirmation.
A student should not need a treasure map to book Tuesday yoga.

Give a suitable student one clear route from question to confirmation.

Your class page or booking message should answer the ordinary questions that delay action:

  • Who is the class for?
  • What will happen?
  • When and where is it?
  • What does it cost?
  • What should the student bring?
  • How do they book, pay and receive confirmation?

Test the whole route on a phone. Click the link, complete the form, make a test payment where practical and read the confirmation. The most beautiful booking button in the world is still a small blue cul-de-sac when it does nothing.

Keep marketing consent separate and clear. If you plan to send promotional emails or texts, check the ICO’s current direct-marketing guidance. For the website itself, use my eight-step yoga teacher website guide.

6. Run A 90-Day Test And Review The Numbers

Matti tracks enquiries, trials and students across a 90-day yoga business test.
Ninety days gives a small plan enough time to produce real numbers.

Choose a short test, complete the actions and review what actually happened.

Set one useful 90-day goal, such as launching a six-week beginner course with six paying students. Break it into weekly actions: speak to potential students, compare venues, write the class page, invite a small list, run the first session and request feedback.

Track a short chain of measures:

ENQUIRIES→TRIALS→PAYING STUDENTS→RETENTION

Add revenue, direct costs and total working hours. At the end of each month, choose one thing to keep, one thing to change and one thing to stop. The numbers are not there to judge your worth as a teacher. They are there to stop your timetable making decisions behind your back.

If you want a fuller plan for a dedicated studio, use my eight-step Yoga Studio Business Plan guide.

FREE EDITABLE DOWNLOAD

Yoga Teaching Business Starter Workbook

Turn the six decisions into a business snapshot, realistic numbers and a focused 90-day plan.

Choose Your Workbook

Both versions contain the same nine editable tabs, dropdown menus, revenue calculations, 12-month forecast and 90-day action plan.

Complete the pale-yellow cells. The blue cells calculate automatically, so change the inputs rather than typing over the results.

DOWNLOAD FOR EXCEL
DOWNLOAD FOR LIBREOFFICE

Nine editable tabs · automatic revenue, profit and margin calculations · 90-day plan

Questions Yoga Teachers Ask Before Starting

Do I need a yoga studio?

No. Many teachers begin with hired community spaces, private sessions, workplace classes or online teaching. A regular studio creates fixed costs and responsibilities, so earn evidence before adding them.

Do I need a formal business plan?

You need a plan that helps you make decisions. The free workbook is enough for a small first test. A longer written plan becomes useful when you are borrowing money, signing a substantial lease, involving partners or building a larger studio.

How much should I charge?

There is no useful universal price. Work from your costs, total working time, desired pay, class capacity and realistic attendance, then compare the result with the local market and the value of the offer.

What should I launch first?

Choose the smallest paid service that fits your training and answers a real student need. One well-defined weekly class or short course usually teaches you more than a menu containing every yoga idea you have ever met.

Current UK Guidance Used For This Update

George’s Conclusion

A useful yoga business grows through clear decisions and small completed tests.

Choose one student, confirm the demand, shape an offer, protect the foundations, make booking easy and review the numbers after 90 days. You do not need to predict the whole business. You need to learn what the next sensible version should be.

The free workbook gives those decisions somewhere to live other than the back of a receipt beside an increasingly anxious cup of tea.

Matti connects the Yoga Teaching Business Starter Workbook to the Yoga Marketing Kit.

]]> 8 Steps To Discover How Much To Charge For Your Yoga Class https://georgewatts.org/2026/09/11/yoga-class-pricing-calculator/ Fri, 11 Sep 2026 16:10:04 +0000 https://georgewatts.org/?p=232853
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George’s Intro

A sensible yoga class price should cover your costs, value all your working time and survive contact with real attendance.

I’m George, a BWY yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner, yoga card deck maker and enthusiastic sticky-note doodler.

There is a traditional pricing method used by many new yoga teachers. Look at three nearby classes, become mildly confused, choose the middle number and hope nobody asks how you arrived at it. It is less a pricing strategy and more financial pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.

The free Yoga Class Pricing Calculator gives you a clearer starting point. It uses the costs and time behind your class, the pay you want, the number of students who are likely to attend and a modest profit buffer.

Jump to the free pricing calculator ↓

Matti uses costs, time, target pay, student numbers and a profit buffer to calculate a £14 yoga class price.
Real numbers make a much calmer pricing teacher.

8 Steps To Discover How Much To Charge For Your Yoga Class

Work through the decisions in order.

The first six steps gather honest inputs. Step seven does the arithmetic. Step eight checks whether the calculated price makes sense in the real world.

On This Page

1. Why Copying Another Yoga Teacher’s Price Does Not Work

Matti compares another yoga teacher’s £10 price with his own hall costs, travel and eight students.
Sandra’s price is useful data. It is not your answer.

Another teacher’s price tells you about the market, not what your class needs to earn.

She might own her studio. You might pay £35 every time you unlock the village hall. She might teach twenty students. You might keep your class to eight because you enjoy knowing everybody’s name and noticing when Derek’s left shoulder has quietly migrated towards his ear.

She might live two minutes from the venue. You might spend forty minutes travelling, fifteen minutes arranging mats and another twenty minutes replying to messages asking, “Do I need to be able to touch my toes?”

Competitor prices still matter. Business Wales recommends considering the cost of providing a service, the market, competitors and the value offered. Use nearby prices as a reality check after you understand your own figures.

2. Add Up Your Cash Costs

Matti adds venue, travel, fees, marketing and props to find one yoga class’s cash costs.
Small costs are surprisingly good at finding friends.

List every cash cost connected with running one class.

  • Venue hire
  • Travel and parking
  • Equipment, cleaning and consumables
  • Booking and payment fees
  • A fair per-class share of marketing and administration
  • Any other direct class cost

Do not leave out small costs because they look harmless on their own. Small costs have a habit of forming a committee.

If venue hire makes the calculation uncomfortable, try these ideas for finding a free or low-cost yoga class venue.

3. Count All Your Working Time

Matti counts planning, travel, teaching and administration to show two hours of work around one yoga class.
A one-hour class is rarely one hour of work.

Count the invisible work around the class.

You plan the sequence, travel, open the venue, arrange equipment, welcome students, teach, pack away, take payments and answer messages. The calculator separates teaching time from preparation, travel and administration.

Unpaid work is still work. It does not become leisure merely because you completed it while drinking tea.

The Online Yoga Lesson Planner can shorten some preparation, but the time you genuinely spend running the class should still be counted.

4. Choose Your Target Hourly Pay

Matti calculates £60 time pay from two working hours at a £30 target hourly rate.
Choose your pay before your leggings choose it for you.

Decide what each hour of your work should earn.

Your target hourly pay covers teaching and the invisible hours around it. It is separate from venue hire and other business costs.

In the calculator’s example, two hours of total work at £30 per hour creates £60 of time pay. If you would not cheerfully work for £8 an hour in somebody else’s business, your own business should not be allowed to sneak that arrangement past you while wearing leggings.

5. Use a Realistic Number of Paying Students

Matti uses eight paying students rather than a room capacity of twelve to calculate a realistic class price.
Price for the eight who attend, not twelve imaginary mats.

Use likely average attendance, not the room’s maximum capacity.

A hall might hold twelve people. If your class normally attracts eight paying students, calculate the price using eight. Pricing around twelve imaginary students produces very encouraging figures and rather less encouraging bank statements.

To improve the real number, see my marketing guide for new yoga teachers and these ten yoga marketing tactics.

6. Add a Profit Buffer

Matti adds a 10 percent profit buffer, increasing required class revenue from £99 to £108.90.
A small buffer gives the business breathing room.

Add a modest cushion after costs and time pay.

A business needs room for an unexpectedly quiet week, a replacement prop and future improvements. The calculator starts with a 10% profit buffer, but the yellow input cell is editable.

This buffer is not your wage. Your target hourly pay compensates you for working. The buffer belongs to the business.

7. Calculate and Round the Price

Matti shows four clear calculations leading from £39 costs and £60 time pay to a £14 yoga class price.
Four lines turn the inputs into a usable price.

Do the arithmetic in the same order every time.

The example in the calculator uses £39 in cash costs, two hours of work at £30 per hour, a 10% profit buffer and eight paying students.

A £14 Worked Example

Here is the calculation one line at a time:

  1. Costs + time pay: £39 + £60 = £99
  2. Add the 10% buffer: £99 × 1.10 = £108.90 required class revenue
  3. Divide by eight students: £108.90 ÷ 8 = £13.61 per student
  4. Round up to the nearest 50p: £14 per student

The rounded result is a useful starting point instead of £13.6125. Students tend to become suspicious when asked to bring four decimal places.

FREE EDITABLE TOOL

Download the Yoga Class Pricing Calculator

Use the Excel version or the LibreOffice version.

Preview of the editable yoga class pricing calculator with yellow input cells and a £14 worked example.
Replace the yellow figures; the suggested price updates automatically.

Choose Your Calculator

Both files contain the same one-sheet calculator and worked example. Change the pale-yellow input cells and the calculation updates automatically.

Download the Excel Calculator
Download the LibreOffice Calculator

One editable worksheet · Automatic suggested price · No email required

8. Check the Price Against the Real World

Matti checks local prices, teaching value and changing numbers before choosing a yoga class price.
Calculate first. Then use your judgement.

The spreadsheet does not get the final vote.

  1. Check the local market. Compare genuinely similar classes without blindly copying them.
  2. Check the value of your offer. Experience, specialist knowledge, individual attention, venue quality and a well-structured class all affect value.
  3. Check the numbers regularly. Venue hire, fees, travel costs and attendance change. Reopen the calculator whenever something material changes.

The calculated £14 might become a final price of £13.50, £14 or £15 after these checks. That is fine. You are now making an informed decision instead of borrowing Sandra’s number and hoping her spreadsheet has excellent karma.

Pricing Sources

Business Wales: Costs, Price and ValueWhy cost, market, competitors and customer value all matter.
Business Wales: Understanding CostsWhy a price needs to cover costs and leave a profit.

George’s Conclusion

A good class price is not copied, guessed or discovered during Savasana. It is built from honest costs, honest time and honest attendance, then checked against the market and the value you provide.

Use the calculator, test the result and review it when your costs or attendance change. Sandra can remain a perfectly lovely yoga teacher without being put in charge of your spreadsheet.

Matti points from a £14 class price to a practical yoga marketing plan and approaching students.

Related Yoga Marketing Guides

Yoga Marketing for New TeachersBuild a practical marketing foundation without the awkward sales pose.
10 Yoga Marketing TacticsUseful ways to attract the right local students.
Find a Free or Low-Cost Yoga VenueReduce one of the largest costs in your class calculation.
Find Your Yoga Teaching NicheExplain clearly who your class helps and why it is different.


]]> 9 Steps To Set Up A Useful Google Business Profile https://georgewatts.org/2026/09/10/google-business-profile-yoga-teachers/ Thu, 10 Sep 2026 23:02:44 +0000 https://georgewatts.org/?p=232698
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George’s Intro

A useful Google Business Profile helps nearby students find the right class without needing the detective skills of Sherlock Holmes.

I’m George, a BWY yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner, yoga card deck maker and enthusiastic sticky-note doodler.

A complete profile can show what you teach, where you teach and how to take the next step. It is not a magic button marked “fill Tuesday’s 6pm class”. It is a practical place to keep your local information accurate, reassuring and easy to act on.

Jump to the free Google Business Profile checklist ↓

George checks the name, hours and link on a yoga business profile while adult students find the class.
Accurate details beat an impressive profile that points to last year’s timetable.

What a Google Business Profile Does

It gives nearby students a compact, public summary of your yoga business.

Your profile can appear in Google Search and Maps with your business name, address or service area, opening hours, phone number, website, photos, services and reviews. A prospective student may use it to decide whether your class looks suitable before they ever reach your website.

Being excellent at yoga is less useful when your profile still sends people to the village hall you left in 2022. The work below is mostly ordinary maintenance, which is rather good news because ordinary maintenance can be finished.

9 Steps To Set Up A Useful Google Business Profile

Make it accurate before trying to make it impressive.

The first five steps establish the correct profile, business details and verification. Steps six to nine keep it useful with current photos, honest reviews, a supporting website and simple monthly checks.

On This Page

1. Check Eligibility and Ownership

Confirm that the business is eligible and that you are working on the correct profile.

Google’s eligibility and ownership guidance is the place to begin. Search Google Maps before creating anything new. If a profile already exists, claim it instead of making a duplicate and introducing two versions of the same yoga teacher to the internet.

Keep the business owner as the primary owner. Add trusted staff or agencies as managers when needed, and remove access when somebody stops helping.

George holds the owner key beside a verified yoga business profile while a manager holds a smaller access key.
Keep ownership clear before handing anyone the spare key.

2. Use the Real Business Name

Your profile name should match the name students know in the real world.

Do not turn it into “Sandra’s Yoga | Best Beginner Yoga Classes Near Market Harborough”. That is not a business name. It is a small nervous breakdown wearing vertical bars.

Google’s business representation guidelines say to use the real-world name and the fewest categories needed to describe the core business. Choose the most specific suitable primary category, then add only genuinely relevant additional categories.

George points to a sign using his real yoga business name while an exaggerated business name is crossed out.
Use the name students already recognise. Save the “Mega Zen Empire” crown for fancy dress.

3. Set the Address or Service Area Correctly

Show an address only when students can actually be served there.

If students attend your studio or regular venue, use an accurate address and map pin. If you travel to customers and do not serve them at your own address, follow Google’s service-area rules and hide the private address.

Use a realistic service area. Adding the entire United Kingdom does not make a Tuesday class in Truro locally convenient for somebody in Aberdeen.

George points to a realistic local service area while a distant yoga student waves from far outside it.
A realistic service area saves everybody a heroic commute.

4. Complete the Core Details

Give a prospective student enough accurate information to decide what to do next.

Add a phone number controlled by the business, a useful website page, current hours, a working booking link, a factual description and genuine class or service information. Google does not allow links or promotional offers inside the business description, so use the appropriate fields for those details.

Check every link on a phone. The perfect local profile followed by a broken booking button is a beautifully signposted cul-de-sac. If your website needs work, use my guide to improving a yoga class website.

George checks a list of essential Google Business Profile details beside a student using the booking link.
Complete details beat a mysterious profile with excellent vibes.

5. Verify the Profile

Follow the verification method Google offers for your particular business.

The available route may involve phone, email, video, live video or mail. If video is requested, Google may ask you to show the location, evidence that the business exists and proof that you manage it. Read Google’s current verification instructions before you begin.

Keep verification codes private. Google states that it will never ask you to share the code.

George verifies his yoga business profile using a phone and a video of the studio.
Verification is less exciting than teaching, but rather useful.

6. Add Useful Photos and Current Hours

Help a new student picture the real teaching experience.

Add a recognisable logo, a current teacher photo, the teaching space and any relevant equipment. Use permission for anyone shown and avoid exposing private student information.

Keep normal and special hours accurate, especially when venue timetables, bank holidays or seasonal breaks change. A photo of a sunlit studio is lovely. Knowing whether the door will be open is lovelier.

George photographs adult yoga students beside current opening hours and an outdated photo that is crossed out.
Current photos and hours prevent unnecessary door-handle rattling.

7. Request Honest Reviews

Make it easy for genuine students to leave voluntary, honest feedback.

Google lets you create a review link or QR code from the profile. Share it in a neutral message after a suitable interaction, and reply to reviews professionally.

Do not offer discounts, gifts or prize entries for reviews. Google’s review guidance prohibits incentives, and honest mixed feedback is more useful than a suspicious choir of five-star superlatives. Never reveal private health or customer information in a reply.

For a human way to ask, see my yoga referral marketing guide.

George politely asks three adult yoga students for honest reviews beside a five-star review card.
Ask politely, make it easy and leave the trumpet fanfare at home.

8. Support the Profile With a Useful Local Website

The linked website should confirm and expand the information in the profile.

Create clear pages for important classes and genuine teaching locations. Include practical details such as suitability, venue, parking, timetable and the booking route. Use local place names naturally where they help the reader.

Repeating “yoga in Bristol” seventeen times will not improve the class description, although it may make the page sound as if it has hiccups.

Relevant local relationships can also lead to useful mentions and links from venues, community groups and complementary businesses. The Local Yoga Partnership Planner will help you choose one suitable partner and plan a small, fair test.

George directs two adult yoga students from a local map listing to a useful yoga class website.
Let the website answer the questions the profile cannot.

9. Measure What Happens Monthly

Track enquiries and bookings instead of staring at a search result every morning.

Record the profile measures available to you, plus website clicks, calls, enquiries, trial bookings and new paying students. Ask new enquiries how they found the business and use the same definitions each month.

Look for trends. Fix inaccurate information, refresh outdated pages and note meaningful changes so you can understand what happened later. The Weekly Yoga Marketing Action Tracker is useful when you want one calm place to record the actions behind those results.

George reviews a monthly calendar and a simple chart for clicks, calls and bookings with three adult yoga students.
Review monthly. Your phone is allowed an occasional rest.
FREE EDITABLE RESOURCE

Google Business Profile & Local SEO Checklist

Work through the setup, website and review actions, then record what happens each month.

Choose Your Checklist

Both versions contain the same eight tabs, 50 practical actions, editable status fields and an automatic progress dashboard.

DOWNLOAD FOR EXCEL
DOWNLOAD FOR LIBREOFFICE

Eight editable tabs · 50 practical actions · automatic progress tracking

Useful Google Resources

George shares the Yoga Marketing Kit with adult yoga students in a sticky-note doodle.

George’s Conclusion

A useful Google Business Profile removes small doubts for a nearby student.

Keep the name, category, location, hours, website and photos accurate. Ask for honest reviews without incentives, and check the profile once a month rather than treating it like a nervous houseplant.

The free checklist gives you one place to finish the setup and track what happens next.

]]> 30 Mini Yoga Class Plans Using Downward Facing Dog https://georgewatts.org/2026/06/16/30-mini-yoga-class-plans-using-downward-facing-dog/ Tue, 16 Jun 2026 05:38:53 +0000 https://georgewatts.org/?p=231373

Here Are 30 Free Mini Yoga Class Plans (Sequences) Using Downward Facing Dog

Downward Facing Dog Love To Moon And Back

Greetings, my lovely Yogis, Yoginis, and Yoga teachers. I’m George Watts, a BWY yoga teacher and creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner.

In this post, I’ll be exploring the world of Downward Facing Dog which is one of the most useful poses in yoga lesson planning. It can warm students up, build strength, stretch the hamstrings, open the shoulders, reset the breath, link poses together, and give everyone a moment to pause before the next bit of yoga mischief begins.

Below, you’ll find 30 short mini class plans with downward facing dog. You can use these mini plans as warm-ups, class sections, short practices, or starting points for full lessons when using the Online Yoga Lesson Planner.

Theme 1: Simple Class Opening
Use for: A simple class opening.
Sequence: Child’s Pose → Downward Dog.
Teaching Focus: Teach students how to place hands in Downward Dog.

Theme 2: Beginner Confidence
Use for: Introducing Downward Dog gently.
Sequence: Child’s Pose → Tabletop → Downward Dog.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to bend knees for a longer spine.

Theme 3: Wrist-Friendly Practice
Use for: Students with sensitive wrists.
Sequence: Easy Seated Pose → Tabletop → Cat-Cow → Extended Puppy → Downward Dog.
Teaching Focus: Teach students how to reduce pressure through wrists.

Theme 4: Tight Hamstrings
Use for: Students who struggle with straight legs.
Sequence: Wrist Joint Rotation → Tabletop → Extended Puppy → Wall Dog → Child’s Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to prioritise spine length over straight legs.

Theme 5: Shoulder Space
Use for: Preparing tight shoulders.
Sequence: Cat-Cow → Monkey Splits → Low Lunge → Downward Dog → Standing Forward Bend.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to broaden across the upper back.

Theme 6: Effort And Rest
Use for: Teaching students how to pause during practice.
Sequence: Chair Arm Circles → Thread The Needle → Extended Puppy → Downward Dog → Child’s Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to use Child’s Pose before fatigue builds.

Theme 7: Hip Opening Transition
Use for: Moving from Downward Dog into lunges.
Sequence: Child’s Pose → Downward Dog → Child’s Pose → Downward Dog → Child’s Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students how to step forward safely.

Theme 8: Quiet Core Strength
Use for: Building core and shoulder strength.
Sequence: Downward Dog → Low Lunge Right → Downward Dog → Low Lunge Left → Child’s Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to move slowly between Plank and Downward Dog.

Theme 9: Evening Unwind
Use for: A calming evening class.
Sequence: Tabletop → Plank → Downward Dog → Plank → Child’s Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to keep Downward Dog soft and brief.

Theme 10: Morning Energy
Use for: Waking up the spine and back body.
Sequence: Child’s Pose → Cat-Cow → Extended Puppy → Downward Dog → Lying Twist.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to link movement with breath.

Theme 11: Breath Awareness
Use for: Calming the breath.
Sequence: Mountain Pose → Standing Forward Bend → Halfway Lift I → Plank → Downward Dog.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to notice breath before and after Downward Dog.

Theme 12: Sun Salutation Preparation
Use for: Preparing beginners for Sun Salutations.
Sequence: Easy Seated Pose → Tabletop → Downward Dog → Child’s Pose → Easy Seated Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students the basic shape of the transition.

Theme 13: Active-Rest Contrast
Use for: Helping students feel the difference between activity and rest.
Sequence: Mountain Pose → Standing Forward Bend → Halfway Lift I → Tabletop → Downward Dog.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to compare effort in Dog with ease in Child’s Pose.

Theme 14: Light Balance Challenge
Use for: Introducing Three-Legged Dog.
Sequence: Child’s Pose → Downward Dog → Child’s Pose → Downward Dog → Child’s Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to keep hips level.

Theme 15: Moving From Floor To Standing
Use for: Transitioning into standing poses.
Sequence: Downward Dog → Downward Facing Dog Leg Up Right → Downward Dog → Downward Facing Dog Leg Up Left → Child’s Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to bend knees when walking forward.

Theme 16: Back Body Release
Use for: Stretching calves, hamstrings, and spine.
Sequence: Downward Dog → Standing Forward Bend → Halfway Lift I → Mountain Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students not to force the stretch.

Theme 17: Arm And Shoulder Strength
Use for: Building upper-body confidence.
Sequence: Chair Hamstring Stretch → Monkey Splits → Downward Dog → Standing Forward Bend → Knee To Chest.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to press the floor away.

Theme 18: Calm And Reset
Use for: A quiet, grounding practice.
Sequence: Tabletop → Plank → Extended Puppy → Downward Dog → Child’s Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to move slowly between shapes.

Theme 19: Chair-Based Downward Dog
Use for: Chair yoga, seniors, or floor-free classes.
Sequence: Child’s Pose → Cat-Cow → Downward Dog → Standing Forward Bend → Savasana.
Teaching Focus: Teach students how to lengthen the spine from a chair.

Theme 20: Wall-Supported Practice
Use for: Wrist-friendly practice.
Sequence: Chair Mountain → Chair Cat-Cow → Chair Down Dog → Chair Heart Centre.
Teaching Focus: Teach students how to use the wall for support.

Theme 21: Shoulder-Friendly Dog
Use for: Students with shoulder restriction.
Sequence: Chair Arm Circles → Wall Dog → Chair Plank → Wall Dog → Standing Forward Bend.
Teaching Focus: Teach students not to force the chest down.

Theme 22: Spine Rotation
Use for: Adding gentle twists after Downward Dog.
Sequence: Chair Arm Circles → Kneeling Eagle Arms → Extended Puppy → Wall Dog → Child’s Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to reset the spine between twists.

Theme 23: Downward Dog As Peak Pose
Use for: Beginner classes.
Sequence: Downward Dog → Low Lunge → Gentle Low Lunge Twist → Downward Dog → Lying Twist.
Teaching Focus: Teach Downward Dog as the main pose.

Theme 24: Gentle Cool-Down
Use for: End-of-class release.
Sequence: Wrist Joint Rotation → Cat-Cow → Extended Puppy → Plank → Downward Dog.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to soften the pose near the end of class.

Theme 25: Pausing In Flow
Use for: Practising pauses inside flowing sequences.
Sequence: Child’s Pose → Downward Dog → Standing Forward Bend → Chair Hamstring Stretch → Savasana.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to pause for one breath in Downward Dog.

Theme 26: Runner’s Back Body Release
Use for: Calves, hamstrings, and hips.
Sequence: Mountain Pose → Standing Forward Bend → Plank → Downward Dog → Low Lunge → Downward Dog.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to keep the stretch gradual.

Theme 27: Post-Sitting Release
Use for: Desk workers or students who sit a lot.
Sequence: Low Lunge → Monkey Splits → Downward Dog → Half Pigeon → Chair Hamstring Stretch.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to lengthen through the side waist.

Theme 28: Playful Movement
Use for: A lighter, more exploratory class.
Sequence: Easy Side Bend II → Cat-Cow → Extended Puppy → Downward Dog → Standing Forward Bend.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to move inside the pose.

Theme 29: Grounding Into Balance
Use for: Moving from grounded poses into balance work.
Sequence: Downward Dog → Dog Tail Wag → Downward Facing Dog Leg Up Right → Downward Facing Dog Leg Up Left.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to find steady feet before balancing.

Theme 30: Simple Reset Practice
Use for: A short reset class.
Sequence: Downward Dog → Low Lunge → Warrior I → Warrior III → Mountain Pose.
Teaching Focus: Teach students to use Downward Dog as a reset point.

George’s Conclusion

 

George's Conclusion

Well, there you have it, my lovely fellow yoga teacher…or intrepid yoga student.

Downward Facing Dog is more than a pose. It is a doorway into dozens of different mini class plans (sequences). 

You can use it to warm students up, build strength, stretch the back body, calm the breath, prepare for lunges, introduce Sun Salutations, or simply give everyone a place to pause and regroup.

The mini down dog themed yoga class plans above are designed to give you quick ideas when your lesson-planning brain has wandered off, made a cup of tea, and refused to come back.

If you’d like to turn one of these ideas into a complete yoga class, you can do that inside the Online Yoga Lesson Planner. Choose your poses, adapt the sequence, add teaching notes, save favourite plans, and create ready-to-teach classes in minutes.

You can use these Downward Dog mini plans as they are, expand them into longer classes, or combine several together to create a full 60-minute or 90-minute lesson plan by using the Online Yoga Lesson Planner.

Hey, while you’re here, you might as well get your hands on 37 of my free Yoga lesson plans.

 

37 Free Yoga Lesson Plans

 

Below are 37 free downloadable yoga lesson plans that I’ve created for my own yoga classes using the Online Yoga Lesson Planner.

Feel free to use them for your own yoga classes, or as inspiration to come up with your own yoga class themes.

Become A Peaceful Warrior Yoga Lesson Plan

Caterpillar To Butterfly Yoga Lesson Plan

How Heavy Is This Glass Of Water Yoga Lesson Plan

Surrender To Slowness Yoga Lesson Plan

You Don’t Need Permission To Shine: Just Show Up, Shine & Be Yourself

Abiciously Delicious Core Yoga Lesson Plan

Chair Yoga Lesson Plan I

Chair Yoga Lesson Plan II

Chair Yoga For Seniors Lesson Plan

Dolphin Yoga Lesson Plan

Sun Moon Yoga Lesson Plan

Sun Salutations Chair Yoga Lesson Plan

Sun Salutations A Yoga Lesson Plan

Sun Salutations B Yoga Lesson Plan

Sun Salutations C Yoga Lesson Plan

Camel Peak Pose Yoga Lesson Plan

Downward Facing Dog Pose Variations Lesson Plan

Plank Peak Pose Yoga Lesson Plan

Revolved Poses Yoga Lesson Plan

Twists-Themed Yoga Lesson Plan: 41 Twist Poses To Whip Your Student’s Cores Into Shape

Valentines Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga for Cyclists Lesson Plan

Yoga for Swimmers Lesson Plan

Yoga For Seniors Lesson Plan

Hatha Yoga Lesson Plan

Kundalini Yoga Lesson Plan

Pregnancy Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga Therapy: Arthritic Spine Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga Therapy: Asthma Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga Therapy: Hips Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga Therapy: Opening Upper Back, Neck & Shoulders Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga Therapy: Restorative Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga Therapy: Soothe Sciatica Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga Therapy: Varicose Veins Yoga Lesson Plan

Online Yoga Lesson Planner

Create yoga lesson plans quickly and easily. Access 100,000+ yoga lesson plans. Choose from 3000+ poses. Used by 1000+ yoga teachers, trainers and trainees worldwide.

Find Out More

]]> Yoga Lesson Planning Hub: Formulas, Sequencing & Class Plans https://georgewatts.org/2026/05/14/yoga-lesson-planning-hub/ Thu, 14 May 2026 18:41:52 +0000 https://georgewatts.org/?p=231352
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George’s Intro

Planning starts here.

Hi, I’m George. I’m a British Wheel of Yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner and maker of yoga card decks.

A blank lesson plan can be wonderfully full of possibility. It can also feel like making soup from half a lemon, three carrots and a mysterious tub from 2017.

This Hub gives you five sensible places to begin: a formula, a sequence, a theme, a ready-made class plan or the needs of the students in front of you. The aim is not to finish every word for you. It is to help you reach an editable, approximately 80%-ready plan quickly.

We yoga teachers have spent so long drawing stick figures in our yoga lesson plans that they feel like old friends. Naturally, I’ve snuck them into my sticky-note doodles to make the useful bits of this post easier to remember. Small yellow spaces for big ideas that stick.

Jump to The 80% Ready Yoga Class Planner ↓

On This Page

Choose Your Lesson-Planning Route

Matti points to five lesson-planning routes while a teacher is tangled in arrows.
Pick one route. Planning brains dislike roundabouts.

Click An Option Below To Choose Your Lesson Planning Route

1FormulaYou need a dependable beginning, middle and end.
2SequenceYou know the goal but need the poses to flow.
3ThemeYou want one idea to connect the whole class.
4Ready-made planYou want a useful starting plan to customise.
5Student needsYou need chair, wrist, balance or mobility options.
6Build it hereYou want an editable timed outline now.

For a broader bank of ideas, explore 101 Yoga Lesson Planning Ideas or the primary collection of 101 Yoga Class Planning Tips and Ready-to-Use Plans.

Start With a Formula

Matti presents a six-part yoga class formula while a student finds the correct section.
Give the class a skeleton before choosing every pose.

A formula is a reusable class shape. It removes the need to make every decision from scratch while leaving you free to change the poses, theme and teaching language.

A balanced 60-minute formula could be:

  1. Arrival: 5 minutes
  2. Warm-up: 10 minutes
  3. Standing work: 18 minutes
  4. Main focus: 10 minutes
  5. Floor work: 10 minutes
  6. Relaxation: 7 minutes

That totals 60 minutes. More importantly, it gives you something useful to edit.

Useful formula examples

Shape the Sequence

Matti arranges yoga pose cards into a smooth sequence while a camel waits.
Smooth transitions. Very limited camel parking.

Sequencing is the part that turns a list of poses into a class. Each section should prepare for what follows and help students move without unnecessary furniture removal.

Ask these five questions:

  • What is the class preparing students to do or feel?
  • What does each pose prepare them for?
  • Does the next transition make sense?
  • Where will students need an easier option or a pause?
  • Does the energy settle before relaxation?

Real-world example. If the main focus is balance, begin with steady contact through the feet, add simple weight shifts, practise a supported balance, then offer an unsupported version. Tree Pose is less surprising when it has received a proper invitation.

Sequence with a clearer method

Add a Useful Theme

Matti connects a yoga class with one golden teaching thread while a marching band waits outside.
The theme may enter. The marching band may not.

A useful theme can be said in one sentence. It gives the class a thread without turning every pose into a lecture.

Grounding example: “Press down to feel supported.” You could introduce it during arrival, repeat it while students stand and return to it before relaxation.

The poses still matter. The breath still matters. The theme quietly connects them.

Theme ideas you can use

Borrow and Adapt a Ready-Made Plan

Matti hands a yoga teacher an almost-finished lesson plan beside a warm cup of tea.
Edit the last 20%. Keep the tea warm.

Borrowing is sensible. A ready-made plan lets you see the structure, timings and teaching arc before you adapt it for your own group.

For example, the Yoga for Your Spine plan gives you a complete theme and pose menu. You might keep its gentle spinal movements, remove anything unsuitable for your group and add more supported rest.

Use a shared plan as a starting point, not a script carved into a particularly inflexible yoga block.

Browse 37 free yoga class plans

Adapt the Plan for Real Students

Matti presents wall, chair and mat versions of Downward Facing Dog.
Same aim. Three useful options.

A class plan becomes teachable when it includes options. Think about the students you expect, then leave room for the students who actually arrive.

A 60-minute grounding class

Group: mixed-ability adults attending an evening class.

Purpose: steadier energy and a calmer finish.

Useful adaptations: wall or chair support for balance, fists or blocks for wrist comfort, bent knees in forward folds and a longer supported rest.

Teaching thread: press down to feel supported.

Plan useful alternatives

The 80% Ready Yoga Class Planner

Matti and a yoga teacher complete the final part of an editable class plan.
Useful first. Perfect can bring its own mat.

Start with a structure. Choose the class length and type. The planner creates a timed formula that you can edit for the people you teach.

Editable on this page

The 80% Ready Yoga Class Planner

  1. Load one of the six starting structures below.
  2. Choose the class length.
  3. Edit the timings, poses, options and teaching notes.
  4. Copy or print your plan before leaving, because it is not saved.
Load a starting class type:








Timed class formula

60 of 60 minutes planned

min
min
min
min
min
min






Your editable class outline



Add our famous blue yoga stick figures to this plan →






The result is a starting plan. Check it against your training, the needs of the group and what you observe in the room.


George’s Conclusion



  



A useful plan can change. Begin with a formula, borrow what already works and shape the final details around the students in front of you.


The Hub is here whenever your planning brain goes into Child’s Pose and refuses to come out.



  Matti arranges formula, sequence, theme, options and rest cards for a class of yoga students.





			

				
				
				
				
				

			

			

				
				
				
				
				
			

				
				
				
				
			

				
				
			
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		How to Turn a Shared Plan Into a Ready-to-Teach Yoga Lesson in 10 Minutes
		https://georgewatts.org/2026/03/31/from-shared-plan-to-ready-to-teach-yoga-lesson-in-under-10-minutes/
		
		
		Tue, 31 Mar 2026 15:49:30 +0000
				
		
		
		
		
		
		https://georgewatts.org/?p=231298

					
										
				
				
				
				
				
				
				

				

				
				
				
				
				
			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				




Browse by category






On This Page




George’s Intro


Borrow first.


Hi, I’m George. I’m a British Wheel of Yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner and maker of yoga card decks. I’m also mildly obsessed with sticky-note yoga doodles.


A shared yoga plan can save you from the blank page. It is not a finished script for your class. Think of it as the first 80%: a useful route, a sensible selection of practices and enough structure to begin making real teaching decisions.


The remaining 20% belongs to you. That is where you match the plan to your students, your class length, your teaching purpose and what you know about the room. The method below can often be completed in about 10 minutes once you have chosen a suitable starting plan. It is a practical target, not a stopwatch promise.


Start With an 80%-Ready Shared Plan


Short yoga lesson plan showing the sequence for a Side Plank Knee Crunch peak-pose class


You are not borrowing certainty.


You are borrowing a useful starting structure.


For the example in this guide, I am using one plan in three views. Open the view that helps you think most clearly:



There are three ways to view the same plan in the Online Yoga Lesson Planner.


The Short Plan shows the whole route at a glance. The Long Plan includes more teaching detail. The Stream Plan previews the sequence visually.


Anyone can open a public shared plan on my blog without a membership.


With an Online Yoga Lesson Planner membership, you can copy any of the 100,000+ shared plans into your account, edit it…and save as your own version.


Before changing anything, make three quick decisions:


    

  1. Keep: Which parts already serve the class purpose?
    2. 

  2. Remove: What is unsuitable, repetitive or unnecessary?
    3. 

  3. Add: What do your students need that the shared plan does not yet include?
    4. 



One shared plan, four possible classes


The Side Plank plan above could become any of these:


    

  • Mixed-ability evening class. Keep: the gradual build through kneeling and standing poses. Remove: extra repetitions that may tire wrists. Add: wall and knee-down Side Plank choices, plus a longer final rest.
    • 

  • Wrist-friendly class. Keep: the lateral-strength work, standing poses and floor twists. Remove: repeated Downward Facing Dogs, Planks and the full hand-supported Side Plank. Add: wall Side Plank, forearm options and side-body work without weight on the hands.
    • 

  • Stronger peak-pose class. Keep: the progressive warm-up, standing strength and knee-down Side Plank. Remove: poses that do not prepare students for the peak exploration. Add: full Side Plank, controlled knee crunches and enough recovery time before the final rest.
    • 

  • 45-minute lunchtime class. Keep: the arrival, essential warm-up, one Side Plank progression and the ending. Remove: duplicate Downward Facing Dogs, Child’s Poses and optional second rounds. Add: a clear cut-off time and a protected six-minute final rest.
    • 



This is the useful middle ground between teaching someone else’s plan word for word and rebuilding the entire class from scratch. If you want more starting routes, use the Yoga Lesson Planning Hub or browse 101 Yoga Class Ideas for Teachers.


Matti adapts a shared yoga plan before teaching a mixed-ability class


The 10-Minute Shared Plan Method


Make decisions in a fixed order.


It stops you polishing a pose that may not survive the edit.


    

  1. 1

    

    Choose and copy
    

    Choose a shared plan with the right broad purpose. If you have an Online Yoga Lesson Planner membership, copy it before editing. If you are working from a public plan, keep it open in another tab and write your notes as you go.
    

    

    2. 

  2. 2

    

    Identify people and purpose
    

    Write one sentence about the group and one sentence about what the class is exploring. “Mixed-ability adults in an evening class” is more useful than “general yoga”. “Build steady support for Side Plank choices” is more useful than “do Side Plank”.
    

    

    3. 

  3. 3

    

    Organise sections and timings
    

    Label the route: arrival, warm-up, build, main exploration, cool-down and rest. Add rough timings. Repeated Downward Facing Dogs and Child’s Poses now have jobs instead of looking like accidental duplicates.
    

    

    4. 

  4. 4

    

    Keep, remove and add
    

    Keep the practices that clearly prepare for the purpose. Remove anything that asks too much, repeats without a reason or steals time from the ending. Add only what solves a real gap.
    

    

    5. 

  5. 5

    

    Add options and a teaching thread
    

    Plan a simpler starting version, a supported choice and a resting option. Then write one short teaching thread you can repeat. For this example: “Press down to create space.”
    

    

    6. 



A yoga lesson plan formula can help when the shared plan needs a clearer beginning, middle and end. If a peak pose is doing the organising, use Peak Pose Planning 101 and How to Sequence Around a Peak Pose.


Matti edits a yoga lesson plan beside a five-step 10-minute timer


Worked Example: Side Plank Knee Crunch


The original plan supplies the ingredients.


The adapted plan tells you how today’s class will use them.






Before: useful shared plan


    

  • Title: Peak Pose: Side Plank Crunch.
    • 

  • A sequence of relevant poses.
    • 

  • Repeated Downward Facing Dog and Child’s Pose entries.
    • 

  • No explicit description of today’s students.
    • 

  • No class aim, objectives or teaching thread.
    • 

  • No clear decision about what to leave out if time runs short.
    • 







After: ready-to-teach route


    

  • Title: Build to Side Plank Knee Crunch.
    • 

  • Purpose: explore pressing down to create support and space.
    • 

  • Sections: arrival, warm-up, build, peak exploration, cool-down and rest.
    • 

  • Options: wall Side Plank, knee-down Side Plank and full Side Plank.
    • 

  • Wrist choice: forearm, fist, blocks or a non-weight-bearing alternative.
    • 

  • Ending protected before optional repetitions are added.
    • 







A practical 60-minute route


    

  • 5 minutes: Arrive, breathe and notice hand, forearm and foot contact.
    • 

  • 10 minutes: Mobilise shoulders, spine, hips and wrists with options.
    • 

  • 15 minutes: Build lateral strength through kneeling and standing shapes.
    • 

  • 12 minutes: Explore wall, knee-down and full Side Plank variations.
    • 

  • 10 minutes: Return to floor work, gentle twists and quieter movement.
    • 

  • 8 minutes: Settle into supported rest and close the class.
    • 



For a 45-minute class, keep the same teaching purpose but shorten the warm-up, build and main exploration. Remove optional repetitions before reducing the final rest. That creates a 4, 7, 11, 9, 8 and 6-minute route.


For more examples of what can go wrong between “good list of poses” and “teachable class”, see 29 Yoga Sequencing Mistakes.


Matti adds arrival warm-up build peak and rest signposts to a yoga sequence


Adapt the Plan for Real Students


A plan becomes teachable when it includes choices.


Those choices should support the purpose rather than create three unrelated classes at once.


Start with the people in front of you


Imagine that your evening group includes one student who prefers not to bear much weight through the wrists, one student who wants a strong Side Plank and several students who are tired after work. The purpose can stay the same while the route gains more doors.


    

  • Teach a wall version first so everyone can explore pressing down and lifting through the side body.
    • 

  • Offer a knee-down version on the mat before the full pose.
    • 

  • Use a forearm option or choose another lateral-strength practice when hands need a quieter evening.
    • 

  • Place the chair and blocks before class. A prop is not a useful option if it is hiding in a cupboard.
    • 

  • Name a resting choice and make it part of the route, not an apology.
    • 



The 22 Wrist-Friendly Modifications for Sun Salutation A guide and 59 Downward Facing Dog Modifications give you practical alternatives for hand-supported sections. The Yoga Pose Directory can help when you need another practice that serves the same movement purpose.


Use five final checks


    

  1. People: Does this plan fit the group and setting?
    2. 

  2. Purpose: Can I describe today’s exploration in one sentence?
    3. 

  3. Route: Can students follow the levels, sides and transitions?
    4. 

  4. Choices: Is there a clear supported, smaller or resting option?
    5. 

  5. Time: What will I leave out if the class runs late, and when will I begin the final rest?
    6. 



When those answers are clear, you have something much more useful than a perfect-looking document. You have a plan that can bend without breaking.


Matti offers wall knee-down and full Side Plank options to adult yoga students


George’s Conclusion



  



A shared plan should shorten the distance to a good teaching decision.


Choose a useful starting structure, keep the parts that serve your purpose and spend the final 10 minutes thinking about the people who will actually arrive.


Your plan does not need to predict every wobble, question or late arrival. It needs a clear route, useful choices and an ending you can protect. That is what makes it ready to teach.


If you want to copy, edit, save and print plans with George’s blue yoga stick figures, use the Online Yoga Lesson Planner.


Matti arranges blue yoga stick figure cards into a class plan for adult students





			

			

				
				
				
				
				
			

				
				
				
				
			

				
				
			
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		Chair Yoga for Grounding: A Simple 5-Pose Flow for Teachers
		https://georgewatts.org/2025/11/25/chair-yoga-for-grounding/
		
		
		Tue, 25 Nov 2025 18:12:37 +0000
				
		
		
		
		
		
		
		https://georgewatts.org/?p=230818

					
										
				
				
				
				
				
				
				

				

				
				
				
				
				
			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				




Browse by category






On This Page




George’s Intro


I updated this post in 2026.


Help students feel the chair, the floor and their breath before adding more movement.


Hi, I’m George. I’m a British Wheel of Yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner and maker of yoga card decks. I’m also mildly obsessed with sticky-note yoga doodles.


This five-pose chair yoga flow is for days when students need a simple route back to the chair, the floor and a comfortable breath.


Here, grounding means noticing physical support, moving within a manageable range and giving attention one clear job at a time. It is a teaching intention, not a medical promise.


The original five movements come from Card 2: Grounding in my Chakra Chair Yoga Mini Flows Deck 1.


Chair Yoga Mini Flow Card 2: Grounding
Card 2: Grounding


The deck is a visual prompt when you want several short chair-yoga routes without starting from a blank page.


Jump to the five-pose flow ↓


Teach the Five-Pose Flow


Start at the feet and finish with the breath.


Matti teaching a five-pose chair yoga flow one movement at a time


The order gives students a clear journey: feel the floor, add an easy reach, move the side body, rotate gently, then become still enough to notice breathing.


No complicated choreography is required. Let each movement finish before the next one begins.





1Ankle Curl: find the floor


Begin with both feet resting on the floor. Extend one foot only as far as the student can keep an easy upright seat.


Main cue: Keep the movement small enough to feel the heel, toes and floor.


Why it comes first: It gives attention a specific physical task and introduces movement without asking the whole body to organise at once.


Useful option: Keep the toes on the floor and alternate lifting each heel.






2Arm Side Raise: add space


Let the arms travel through a comfortable arc. The shoulders do not need to chase the ears.


Main cue: Stop below shoulder height if that is the more comfortable route.


Why it comes next: The student keeps the stable seated base while adding a larger, breath-led movement.


Useful option: Raise one arm at a time or slide the hands forward on the thighs.






3Side Bend: keep the base steady


Ask students to notice whether one sitting bone becomes light. Reduce the bend until both sides of the pelvis feel supported.


Main cue: Think length first, distance second.


Why it sits in the middle: It introduces a new direction without requiring students to stand or change equipment.


Useful option: Keep the upper hand on the shoulder instead of reaching overhead.






4Easy Twist: turn without tugging


Move from the breastbone and ribs. Keep the chin roughly in line with the centre of the chest.


Main cue: Rotate without pulling yourself deeper.


Why it comes fourth: The class is warm enough to explore rotation, but the movement remains supported and easy to leave.


Useful option: Make the twist tiny and keep both hands on the thighs.






5Belly Breath: finish by noticing


Invite students to feel the movement of breath without forcing it into the abdomen.


Main cue: Let the breath be comfortable rather than impressively large.


Why it finishes the flow: Stillness makes it easier to notice the effect of the preceding movements and decide what the class needs next.


Useful option: Place both hands on the thighs if touching the abdomen feels unhelpful.




The full sequence usually takes about eight to twelve minutes. That makes it useful as a short practice, an arrival sequence or the opening block of a longer class.


For more guidance on chairs, student choices and class setup, see My Top 20 Chair Yoga Teaching Tips.


Adapt It for Three Classes


Keep the route and change the emphasis.


Chair yoga grounding flow adapted for mixed mobility, a desk break and an evening class






Mixed-mobility group


Keep: the same five-part order.


Change: offer heel lifts instead of extending the leg, one arm at a time and a very small twist.


Add: a visible demonstration before each movement and extra time to change sides.






Desk-break class


Keep: the ankle movement, arm raise, side bend and twist.


Change: use fewer repetitions and a slightly brisker rhythm.


Add: one pause to notice jaw, shoulders and feet before returning to work.






Evening class


Keep: all five movements.


Change: slow the transitions and remain for two comfortable breaths in each side bend and twist.


Add: a longer quiet finish with hands on the thighs or abdomen.






These are planning examples, not fixed prescriptions. The useful version is the one that fits the people in the room.


Build a Full Chair Yoga Class


A mini-flow can become the beginning of a complete class.


Matti building a full chair yoga class from arrive, ground, strengthen, settle and rest


Keep the five-pose grounding route intact, then add only the sections that serve your group and purpose.


    

  • Arrive: seated orientation and a simple check-in.
    • 

  • Mobilise: use the five-pose grounding flow.
    • 

  • Strengthen: add seated leg work or supported standing poses.
    • 

  • Settle: return to quieter seated mobility.
    • 

  • Rest: protect enough time for an unhurried ending.
    • 



The Chair Yoga Class Formula gives you a reusable beginning, middle and end. The Yoga Lesson Planning Hub helps you choose the planning route that matches today’s teaching problem.


Matti turning five grounding movements into a full class with the Online Yoga Lesson Planner


George’s Conclusion


Grounding does not need an elaborate sequence.


A chair, five clear movements and enough time to notice the floor can give a class a dependable beginning.


Teach the route once. Watch what your students actually use. Then make the arm movement smaller, the pauses longer or the ending quieter next time.


That is useful lesson planning: a simple structure that leaves room for the people in front of you.






			

			

				
				
				
				
				
			

				
				
				
				
			

				
				
			
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		How to Create Fresh Chair Yoga Sequences With Yoga Cards
		https://georgewatts.org/2025/11/24/chakra-chair-yoga-cards/
		
		
		Mon, 24 Nov 2025 21:56:52 +0000
				
		
		
		
		
		
		
		https://georgewatts.org/?p=230806

					
										
				
				
				
				
				
				
				

				

				
				
				
				
				
			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				




Browse by category






On This Page




George’s Intro


I updated this post in 2026.


One dependable chair yoga sequence can become dozens of fresh classes.


Hi, I’m George. I’m a British Wheel of Yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner and maker of yoga card decks. I’m also mildly obsessed with sticky-note yoga doodles.


I created six Chakra Chair Yoga card decks because chair yoga teachers face two opposite problems.


We need enough familiarity for students to feel secure, but enough variety to stop the lesson plan becoming a photocopy of last Tuesday.


This is a practical course in using the complete six-deck series to create balanced, beginner-friendly chair yoga sequences for community classes, seniors, newcomers, workplace groups, home practice and gentle movement sessions.


You do not have to own all six decks to use the planning ideas. Start with the deck that solves your current problem, then borrow the method for the cards or plans you already have.


FREE CHAIR YOGA SEQUENCING MINI COURSE


Matti choosing between six card decks, each showing a chair yoga exercise




What You Will Learn


    

  1. What each of the six decks contributes.
    2. 

  2. How to keep 80% of a reliable sequence and refresh 20%.
    3. 

  3. How to build with individual pose cards, mini-flow cards or both.
    4. 

  4. How to turn one starting route into six different classes.
    5. 

  5. How to adapt the result for the students who actually arrive.
    6. 





Jump to the six-deck guide ↓


Jump to the Fresh Sequence Formula ↓


Why Chair Yoga Sequences Become Repetitive


Repetition is useful until it becomes automatic.


Matti and chair yoga students repeating the same sequence while the calendar fills with the word same


Familiar movements can help students feel secure, follow instructions and notice progress. A regular opening or closing can also give the class a reassuring shape.


The problem begins when the purpose, movement order and teaching choices stay unchanged because the teacher has run out of planning ideas.






Useful repetition
Planning on autopilot






Students revisit a movement with a clearer cue.
The same cue is repeated whether or not it helps.




A familiar pose supports a new variation.
Every pose appears in the same place each week.




The teacher keeps what suits the group.
The plan is used without considering who arrived.




Repetition serves the class purpose.
Repetition has become the class purpose.






Cards interrupt that autopilot gently. One visual prompt may remind you of a movement direction, transition, breathing practice or theme you have not used recently.


They are idea generators, not shuffled instructions that must be obeyed.


Meet the Six Chakra Chair Yoga Card Decks


The six decks give you two kinds of planning help.


The original deck and Expansion Deck contain individual exercises. Think of them as your ingredients.


The four Mini Flows decks contain ready-made five-pose sequences. Think of those as recipe cards that you can keep, shorten, combine or adapt.


Together, the first two decks provide 104 individual exercise prompts. The four Mini Flows decks provide 120 five-pose flow cards organised around different teaching purposes.
















Which deck solves today’s planning problem?






If you need…
Start with…
Why






A complete sequence from individual movements
Original Deck
Its seven categories give the class a clear route.




More poses, mantras and mudras
Expansion Deck
It adds 52 prompts and two extra categories.




An energising mobility emphasis
Morning Mobility
Its five-pose flows give you a lively starting structure.




A steadier, quieter class
Calm Focus
It supports concentration without demanding complexity.




An evening or gentle class
Evening Restore
It helps you create a slower route towards rest.




A posture or chest-opening theme
Heart Opening
It gives you related flows that can be adapted by range.






The product pages show the current purchase formats and prices. Each deck can be used alone, so you do not need all six before you begin.


Use the 80/20 Sequence Rule


Keep most of the route familiar and refresh one useful part.


Matti keeping a familiar chair yoga sequence and adding two new yoga cards


A practical target is roughly 80% familiar and 20% new. The exact percentages do not matter. The principle does.


Keep the arrival, dependable transitions, two or three anchor movements and the closing your students already understand. Change one movement family, one short flow or one teaching idea.


The Fresh Sequence Formula


Use five decisions to turn a card idea into a teachable plan.


Matti showing the five-step Fresh Sequence Formula: purpose, anchors, one deck, edit and rehearse






STEP 1


Name the class purpose


Decide what students should practise, notice or leave with.


Example: Choose energising mobility this week, then a calmer focus next week.






STEP 2


Keep the anchors


Retain the opening, familiar transitions and closing that already work.


Example: Keep your usual seated arrival, ankle mobility, easy twist and breathing finish.






STEP 3


Choose one deck


Match the deck to the class purpose rather than choosing at random.


Example: Use a Morning Mobility flow for the energising class, then a Calm Focus flow for the slower class.






STEP 4


Edit before adding


Remove anything that does not suit the group, chair, room or available time.


Example: Remove the middle three movements before inserting one five-pose flow.






STEP 5


Rehearse the route


Check both sides, transitions, props, alternatives and the ending.


Example: Rehearse the new middle and confirm that the familiar anchors still make the route feel recognisable.






Four Simple Ways to Build a Sequence With Cards


Choose the method that matches how much planning help you need.


Matti demonstrating an individual-card route and a three-card chair yoga mini-flow route






METHOD 1


Build from individual exercise cards


Use the original Chakra Chair Yoga Card Deck, the Expansion Deck or both.


Sort the cards by category. Choose a warm-up, side bend, twist, gentle backbend, forward bend, balance or strengthening movement, then a breathing or closing prompt.


Lay them out in a beginning, middle and end. Move or remove cards until the transitions make sense.


Best for: teachers who want complete control over every movement.






METHOD 2


Use the Three-Card Mini Flow System


Choose one Warm-Up card, one Main Flow card and one Cool-Down card from a Mini Flows deck.


You now have three short sequences rather than a blank page. Decide how long to spend on each, whether any movements repeat and what needs changing.


Add another Main Flow card for a longer class. Remove movements rather than rushing if the class is shorter.


Best for: teachers who want a strong starting structure quickly.






METHOD 3


Keep your plan and replace the middle


Take a class you already teach confidently.


Keep its arrival, warm-up and closing. Choose one Mini Flow card that suits the day’s purpose and use it to replace a stale middle section.


Check whether the flow introduces movements already used elsewhere. If it does, remove the duplicate or use the repetition deliberately.


Best for: escaping routine without rebuilding the whole lesson.






METHOD 4


Use a mini flow as the theme, then add individual cards


Choose a Mini Flow card to establish the class purpose.


Then use the original or Expansion Deck to add one preparation movement, one accessible alternative and one closing practice.


The flow provides coherence. The individual cards help you adapt it for the actual group.


Best for: teachers who want inspiration and control at the same time.






A worked hybrid example


Suppose you choose a Heart Opening Main Flow card.


From the original deck, add a gentle warm-up that prepares the shoulders. From the Expansion Deck, add a mudra that supports the theme. Finish with a familiar breathing practice your students already know.


Rehearse the whole route. If the middle asks for too much repeated arm lifting, remove one movement. If a student cannot comfortably lift their arms, plan a lower pathway before you teach.


Turn One Starting Sequence Into Six Different Classes


One dependable route can lead to six genuinely different lessons.


Matti turning one set of chair yoga cards into several different chair yoga class routes


Imagine the starting route is: seated arrival, ankle mobility, arm raise, side bend, easy twist, gentle backbend, forward fold, supported balance and breathing.


Now let each deck change one purposeful part.






Plan 1: Balanced foundation


Deck: Original Chakra Chair Yoga Card Deck.


Keep: the clear seven-category route.


Remove: any card that repeats the same movement direction.


Add: one alternative for the balance card and a clear breathing finish.






Plan 2: Fresh ideas


Deck: Expansion Deck.


Keep: the arrival, ankle mobility, twist and closing.


Remove: three middle movements used in the previous class.


Add: one new side bend, one balance, one mudra and a short mantra.






Plan 3: Morning mobility


Deck: Morning Mobility.


Keep: the familiar arrival and breathing finish.


Remove: the original middle section.


Add: one mobility flow, repeated once with smaller and larger options.






Plan 4: Calm focus


Deck: Calm Focus.


Keep: the seated base and clear beginning.


Remove: unnecessary changes of position.


Add: one focus flow, slower repetitions and a simple breath count.






Plan 5: Evening restore


Deck: Evening Restore.


Keep: the twist, forward fold and closing breath.


Remove: the stronger balance if it changes the mood.


Add: one restorative flow, longer pauses and an unhurried finish.






Plan 6: Heart opening


Deck: Heart Opening.


Keep: the warm-up and familiar closing.


Remove: repeated overhead actions.


Add: one heart-opening flow with low, medium and wider arm pathways.






The cards have not created six finished lessons by themselves.


They have made the options visible, which lets you compare, remove, rearrange and adapt more easily.


Build a Six-Week Chair Yoga Course


One deck can carry an entire six-week course.


Choose the course below that matches the deck you own and the group you teach. You only need to bring one deck for the full six weeks.


Keep the same arrival ritual, two anchor movements and closing practice throughout the course. Let the chosen deck supply a small, purposeful change each week.


Course 1: Original Chakra Chair Yoga Deck


Use the individual exercise cards to build a balanced route and then refine it over six weeks.






Week
Class emphasis
Familiar 80%
Fresh 20%






1
Build the basic route
Use your usual arrival and breathing finish
Choose a simple beginning, middle and end from the deck




2
Side body and rotation
Keep Week 1’s opening, transitions and closing
Replace two middle cards with a side bend and twist




3
Balance and confidence
Keep the route students now recognise
Add one balance card with seated and supported options




4
Repeat with more awareness
Use the same cards as Week 3
Slow the pace and repeat fewer movements more carefully




5
Student favourites
Keep the dependable class shape
Bring back two cards the group enjoyed most




6
Best-of course
Keep the strongest anchors from all five weeks
Choose the clearest final route and rehearse every transition






Course 2: Chakra Chair Yoga Expansion Deck


Use the extra exercise, mudra and mantra prompts to refresh a familiar chair yoga structure.






Week
Class emphasis
Familiar 80%
Fresh 20%






1
Explore the deck
Use your normal arrival, anchors and closing
Select a small group of new cards that suit the class




2
Refresh the middle
Keep the Week 1 beginning and end
Replace three familiar middle movements with new cards




3
Balance and steadiness
Keep the transitions students understand
Add one balance prompt with clear support options




4
Mudra theme
Keep the movement route from Week 3
Choose one mudra and return to it during the class




5
Mantra theme
Keep the same arrival and main anchors
Add one short mantra at the beginning or closing




6
Best-of expansion
Keep the most successful movements and pacing
Combine the group’s favourite new prompts into one plan






Course 3: Mini Flows 1, Morning Mobility


Use one deck of ready-made five-pose flows to create an energising six-week mobility course.






Week
Class emphasis
Familiar 80%
Fresh 20%






1
Establish the course rhythm
Use one arrival and one closing throughout
Choose one comfortable Morning Mobility flow




2
Repeat and refine
Repeat the Week 1 route
Offer a smaller and a larger range for each movement




3
A new mobility route
Keep the arrival, pacing and closing
Replace the main flow with a second card from the deck




4
Movement with rhythm
Repeat the Week 3 flow
Change the number of repetitions without adding more poses




5
A longer mobility class
Keep the familiar opening and first flow
Add one carefully chosen second flow if time allows




6
Favourite morning route
Keep the course’s best-known movements
Choose the group’s favourite flow and teach it with confidence






Course 4: Mini Flows 2, Calm Focus


Use the Calm Focus deck to build familiarity, steadier attention and unhurried movement.






Week
Class emphasis
Familiar 80%
Fresh 20%






1
Arrive and settle
Use a simple seated arrival and familiar closing
Choose one Calm Focus flow as the centre of the class




2
Slower repetition
Repeat the Week 1 route
Use fewer repetitions and allow more time to notice each movement




3
A fresh focus flow
Keep the same arrival, anchors and ending
Choose a second flow from the same deck




4
Breath and attention
Repeat the Week 3 movements
Add a comfortable breath count to one familiar section




5
Quiet coordination
Keep the established pace and closing
Repeat one flow with a simple attention cue




6
Calmest course route
Keep the prompts that helped the group settle
Build the final class around the most successful flow






Course 5: Mini Flows 3, Evening Restore


Use the Evening Restore deck to shape six classes that gradually become simpler and calmer.






Week
Class emphasis
Familiar 80%
Fresh 20%






1
Create a clear downshift
Use a dependable seated arrival and quiet finish
Choose one Evening Restore flow for the middle




2
Reduce unnecessary effort
Repeat the Week 1 route
Remove one transition and allow more settling time




3
A second restorative route
Keep the same opening and closing
Choose another flow from the deck




4
Slow the transitions
Repeat the Week 3 movements
Teach the route at a more unhurried pace




5
Protect the ending
Keep the best-known movements
Use fewer cards and reserve more time for stillness




6
Favourite evening route
Keep the calmest parts of the course
Repeat the group’s preferred flow with minimal new instruction






Course 6: Mini Flows 4, Heart Opening


Use the Heart Opening deck to explore posture and breathing space through several comfortable arm pathways.






Week
Class emphasis
Familiar 80%
Fresh 20%






1
Comfortable posture
Use a familiar arrival and breathing finish
Choose one Heart Opening flow with a modest range




2
Low arm pathways
Repeat the Week 1 route
Explore hands-on-thighs and low-arm versions




3
A second heart-opening flow
Keep the same arrival, anchors and closing
Choose another flow from the deck




4
Several movement ranges
Repeat the Week 3 flow
Offer low, medium and wider choices without changing the purpose




5
Posture and breath
Keep the course’s most familiar route
Add one breath cue to the selected flow




6
Favourite heart-opening route
Keep the options students used confidently
Build the final class around the most useful flow and arm pathways






Use one course at a time


Choose one table, not all six.


At the end of each lesson, note one movement the group enjoyed, one transition that felt awkward and one idea for the following week.


Carry the successful movement forward as part of the familiar 80%. Replace or simplify the awkward transition, then use another card from the same deck for the fresh 20%.


Real-World Chair Yoga Planning Examples


The same card can do a different job in a different room.


Matti adapting one chair yoga plan for community, workplace and evening teaching situations


These examples show the practical decisions a teacher might make. They are starting points, not prescriptions.


Weekly community class


A teacher knows the group enjoys a familiar seated warm-up but has begun anticipating every movement.


She keeps the first ten minutes, draws one new twist card and one new side-bend card from the Expansion Deck, then chooses the clearer transition between them.


One new pair of movements refreshes the middle without unsettling the beginning or end.


Care-home session


The teacher chooses a Morning Mobility flow but notices one movement asks for more shoulder range than the group usually finds comfortable.


He keeps the lower-body movements, swaps the overhead action for hands sliding along the thighs and repeats the most successful movement instead of filling the time with more cards.


Fifteen-minute workplace class


The teacher starts with one Calm Focus Main Flow card.


She adds a posture check before it and three comfortable breaths after it. The session remains short because she does not add a second flow merely because another card is available.


Evening class after a busy day


The teacher selects an Evening Restore Main Flow card, then checks whether its transitions still feel calm when taught at half speed.


He removes one change of position, repeats a quieter seated movement and protects the final minutes for stillness.


Heart-opening theme with mixed shoulder mobility


The teacher uses a Heart Opening card as the theme, not as a demand for everyone to make a large shape.


She teaches a low arm pathway, a hands-on-thighs version and an optional wider movement. Everyone follows the same intention through a different range.


Mature beginners who value routine


The teacher keeps the same arrival, ankle movements and closing for the entire month.


Each week, he changes only one middle card. He gives the new movement more explanation and leaves the rest of the route familiar.


A mixed-ability class


The teacher chooses an original-deck balance card and rehearses three ways to teach it.


One version remains seated, one uses the chair for support and one offers a little more challenge. The class shares one purpose without everyone copying the same shape.


A class that has become too complicated


The teacher has placed five Mini Flow cards on the table because they all look useful.


She chooses the one flow that best serves the purpose, saves two for future classes and puts the other two back. Variety comes from better choices, not from squeezing in more material.


For a ready-made example of adapting a short card flow, see Chair Yoga for Grounding.


For a reusable beginning, middle and end, use the Chair Yoga Class Formula.


Check the Sequence Before You Teach


A fresh idea still needs a teacher’s judgement.


Matti checking chair yoga transitions, both sides, the chair and class timing before teaching


    

  • Purpose: Does every major section support what the class is meant to practise?
    • 

  • Transitions: Can students move between cards without rushed repositioning?
    • 

  • Both sides: Have you planned repetitions clearly for left and right?
    • 

  • Chair and room: Is the chair sturdy, the floor non-slip and the space appropriate?
    • 

  • Options: Is there a comfortable smaller version or a pause when needed?
    • 

  • Timing: Have you protected enough time for a proper closing?
    • 

  • Repetition: Are repeated movements serving a purpose rather than appearing accidentally?
    • 

  • Exit route: Can a student stop a movement and return to a comfortable position easily?
    • 



If the sequence looks clever on the table but awkward in your body, change it.


Rehearse the transitions yourself before expecting students to follow them. Use fewer cards if that gives the group more time to understand, repeat and feel the movement.


The 20 Chair Yoga Teaching Tips covers practical setup and adaptations.


The Yoga Lesson Planning Hub can help when you need a different route into the planning process.


George’s Conclusion


Use the decks to escape the blank page, not to replace your judgement.


The original and Expansion decks give you 104 individual ingredients. The four Mini Flows decks give you 120 ready-made five-pose recipes.


You can build card by card, use the Three-Card System, replace the middle of an old favourite or combine a mini flow with carefully chosen individual cards.


Keep the dependable 80%. Add a thoughtful 20%. Then rehearse, adapt and teach the people who actually arrive.


If you want to turn those ideas into a saved visual plan, use the Online Yoga Lesson Planner.


Matti turning chair yoga cards into a complete class with the Online Yoga Lesson Planner






			

			

				
				
				
				
				
			

				
				
				
				
			

				
				
			
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