How to Teach a Multi-Level Class

Teaching a multi-level class is challenging and requires tremendous focus and care. Fortunately there are skills you can learn to give all students--young and old, practiced and new, injured or healthy--a good experience.

By Marget Braun

Swenson echoes the sentiment. "A teacher's experience is demonstrated by how well he is able to inspire each person in the room." In a class of many levels, Swenson gives alternatives that resemble the full posture as closely as possible, such as Marichyasana B with leg on the floor instead of half-lotus, so students have a multiple choice list of possibilities. "Variations are possible even in a flowing class," he says.

Cyndi Lee is also a strong proponent of adaptation and variations. No props? No problem. "If the only prop is a wall, use the wall," says Lee. "If students have a yoga mat, roll it up and use it as a cushion. There are a gazillion things you can do."

Most importantly, Lee says, know the foundational building blocks of each pose in order to offer variations. "I don't mean to rant," says Lee, "But I'm not sure you can call yourself a teacher until you can deconstruct poses."

For example, Vrksasana (Tree Pose) has elements of Tadasana (Mountain Pose) and Baddhakonasana (Bound Angle Pose.) And Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog) is Tadasana split by a 90' angle. "Lie on your back," says Lee. "Put your legs up the wall with your arms extended alongside your ears. That's a Downward Dog. Or, place your hands on wall and walk back. Find a 90' angle. That's a Downward Dog."

"Every pose can be broken down," Lee says. "Know the action of the pose. Is it a twist? A side pose? A forward bend? A backbend? What are arms and legs doing in relation to space? What are legs doing in relation to the pelvis? What are arms doing in relation to the shoulder girdle?" Once you can identify the foundation of each pose, you can break it down for all levels of students.

"When you teach variations in the context of these building blocks, everybody can accrue the energetic action and benefits of the pose. Then students learn more about yoga than where to put their hands and feet," says Lee. This kind of learning can be exciting. People can see where a pose comes from and where it's going. "With this level of understanding," Lee says, "You are teaching yoga, not just giving instructions."

Redefining Levels

But how do you know whom to teach an easier variation to, and whom to challenge with the full expression of a pose? Sharon Conroy, director of The Iyengar Yoga Center in New Orleans, equates level with the attention a student can demonstrate to the practice. "Level is not necessarily how perfectly anyone does the pose, or how flexible or strong he or she is, it's more the focus they embody," Conroy says.

"Right off the bat I can see how intelligent a person is in a pose when I instruct him to perform multiple actions," she says. "Beginners are apt to do one thing at a time. More experienced students can hold more than one action in their body, maybe as many as six or seven actions. A beginner may lose a second or third instruction after the first instruction."

Conroy gives instructions for Tadasana as an example. "Press your feet down and pull the front of the thighs up. Lift up through the sides of the ribs and stretch your arms. Now, take the top of your thighs back, hold the tail bone down."

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