Can you think of effective themes for Yoga sessions that are based on the seasons? Although many of us visualize the carefree days of summer, the summertime can also be filled with long “to-do” lists, as many of us plan assiduously to fit in all of the activities we had planned to do, during these supposed “lazy days.” The same is true of many of the seasons during the year. For instance, during the fall many Yogis and Yoginis rush to fit in that final trip to the wilderness or to the ocean. In a similar fashion, the holiday season, as festive as it is, is also often a time of heightened stress, because of all the extra gatherings with family and friends.
When the weather is warm, it is quite relaxing to emphasize cooling Yoga postures, such as forward bends and supported inversions, in order to offset the heat of the season. In the winter, creating a warming sequence of Yoga postures, pranayama exercises and relaxation techniques to offer to your students will ideally include some active vinyasa sequences to fully heat up the body, as well as seated forward folds and supported supine poses, which are deeply nourishing, calming and relaxing. In the same way, by tailoring your Yoga classes to meet the needs of your students appropriately and effectively during the fall and spring months, you will be offering your students a practice that is both energizing and replenishing.
A wonderful way to effectively use the teaching theme of stress relief around which to organize a Yoga class, is to initially lead your students through a balanced flow of active standing and balancing postures, which then seamlessly leads into a more soothing, Yin-centered practice towards the latter half of your class. Teaching a series of warming standing and balancing postures at the beginning of your class, such as the Sun Salutations, Triangle Pose, Side Angle Pose, Eagle Pose, and Crow Pose, will leave your students feeling energized and “like they got a good workout.” Halfway through your class, you can begin to cool down the practice, by leading your students through some slower-paced, Yin Yoga postures.
Virginia Iversen, M.Ed, has been practicing and studying the art of Yoga for over twenty years. She lives in Woodstock, New York, where she works as a writer and an academic support specialist. She is currently accepting Yoga and health-related writing orders and may be contacted at: [email protected].