Sequencing Principles for Energizing and Relaxing

Remarkably enough, changing the order in which you teach the same set of poses will completely change its effect on your students. Learning how to facilitate relaxation or energy during your classes begins with understanding these energetic effects.

By Jamie Lindsay

In practice--and in teaching--in order to achieve balance it is important to pay attention to the overall content of the sequences you design and to make sure that they contain a sensible and balanced variety of postures, ideally not grouped and entirely separated as they are in the sequence ideas presented above. The options are limitless. Twists are themselves generally balancing postures, and so even a long practice of twisting will tend to have a balancing effect.

With these basics in mind and an understanding of your students' needs—which change day to day and month to month--you can begin to structure your classes around the experience you'd like to create.

Jamie Lindsay has been teaching Hatha Yoga in various forms since 1996. He has studied with many senior Ashtanga teachers and spent two years in the Advanced Studies Program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco. The writings of the Bihar School of Yoga and the techniques of Univeral Yoga have been important influences on his studies, and his current teacher is Andrey Lappa.

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