Quick & Easy 5 Step Formula For Creating A Memorable Yoga Lesson Plan

Hi, my name is George. I’m a full-time BWY yoga teacher, and creator of the Drag & Drop Yoga Genie Lesson Planner – a time saver for busy yoga teachers. 

I hope you’ve been enjoying the hundreds of free yoga lesson planning tips, downloadable yoga lesson plans, and yoga class handouts on my site. 

Every week I receive emails from my fellow yoga teachers asking how I go about creating memorable yoga lesson plans.

Here’s my 5 step formula for creating a memorable yoga lesson plan…

• Step 1: One Yoga Lesson Plan
• Step 2: Yoga Class Themes
• Step 3: 101 Yoga Lesson Planning Ideas
• Step 4: Yoga Lesson Planner
• Step 5: 1001 Yoga Lesson Planning Tips

Step 1: One Yoga Lesson Plan

Create ONE yoga lesson plan

The biggest mistake a newbie yoga teacher makes is to create a new yoga lesson plan for each yoga class.

I used to do it. Why? Because I thought I was over-delivering value. Because I thought I was being a fabulous yoga teacher.

But boy, was I wrong!

And here’s why I was so wrong…

It takes too much time to create a new yoga lesson plan for each class, and your students won’t like it. That’s two really good reasons to only create one lesson plan every 6 weeks (or 10 weeks if you run your classes every 10 weeks).

So, why won’t your students like you going the extra mile to create 6 unique lesson plans for your next 6 yoga classes?

Good question.

Well, because creating a new yoga lesson plan for every class means your students never get their “groove on”. They don’t have time to learn anything because you’ve giving them something new in every class. If you teach from the same yoga lesson plan for 6 or 10 weeks they get to groove some of the sequence and “mental/emotional” teachings into their DNA.

So, trust me on this one. Your students want “continuity” for 6 or 10 weeks. That means resisting your A Type Personality (gotta be the best at everything you do) urge to create a new yoga lesson plan every week.

Hmmm, OK…

Time to click the Pause Button. If you’re an A Type Personality, please read the above section several times.

Seriously.

Read the above section a few times…I’ll be here waiting for you.

Welcome back. You’re ready for step 2.

Step 2: Yoga Class Themes

Morph into existence an interesting yoga class theme 

There in an infinity of yoga lesson plan themes you can choose from.

Below are 34 free downloadable yoga lesson plans (within 10 themes) that I’ve created for my own yoga classes here in sunny Wales (United Kingdom). Feel free to use them for your own yoga classes, or as inspiration to come up with your own themes.

Attitude 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

Body Part Focus Themes

Abiciously Delicious Core Yoga Lesson Plan

Chair Yoga Themes

Chair Yoga Lesson Plan 1 

Chair Yoga Lesson Plan 2

Chair Yoga For Seniors Lesson Plan

Nature Yoga Themes

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

Peak Pose Yoga Themes

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

Quirky Yoga Themes 

Valentines Yoga Lesson Plan

Sports Yoga Themes

Yoga for Cyclists Lesson Plan

Yoga For Seniors Yoga Themes

Yoga For Seniors Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga Style Themes

Hatha Yoga Lesson Plan

Kundalini Yoga Lesson Plan

Pregnancy Yoga Lesson Plan

Yoga Therapy Themes

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

Step 3: 101 Yoga Lesson Planning Ideas

Have a brain storming session

Click here for 101 yoga lesson planning ideas which covers the following seven categories for coming up with creative yoga lesson plans: theme, peak pose, group of postures, muscle type, key point, body area, and quotes.

The only rule to coming up with a creative yoga class plan is that there is no rule.

Allow your imagination to roam free!

At the end of a 6 week yoga course, I allow myself time to brainstorm a new “theme” for my next 6 weeks of yoga classes. This brainstorming time can take anywhere from 5 minutes (if I get lucky and stumble across a theme quickly) or 5 hours. Though, my 101 yoga lesson planning ideas will save you time.

I also love picking up a book and flipping through for ideas. To show you what I mean, I’ve just randomly picked up a book from my bookcase and scanned for sentences and words that popped from the pages. The book I picked was called: Journey Into Power: How to sculpt your ideal, body, free your true self, and transform your life with yoga (it didn’t have to be a yoga book though).

The Journey Into Power book is packed with emotive, rich wording. So, the theme ideas I came up with (see bullet points below) were almost all “emotional IQ themes”.

• As We Think & Act, So Our World Becomes – The Dhammapadda (emotional IQ theme)
• Be In The Now And You’ll Know How (emotional IQ theme)
• Bumblebee: With my heavy body I shouldn’t be able to fly, but with light in my heart I find a way (bumblebee theme)
• Empty Your Mental and Emotional Cup (emotional IQ theme)
• Exceed Yourself To Find Your Exceeding Self (emotional IQ theme)
• Forgive & Let Go (emotional IQ theme)
• Journey Into Power (warrior yoga theme)
• Sculpt Your Ideal Body (core yoga theme)
• Sculpt Your Inner Body (yin yoga theme)
• Stop Chasing The Illusion (emotional IQ/yin theme)
• Stumbling Upon Your Path To Bliss (emotional IQ theme)
• Sweat And Serenity (yin yang theme)
• Think Less, Be More (breath awareness theme)
• Transcend Your Boundaries And Grow (emotional IQ theme)
• Uddiyanna Core Stabilization (muscle type theme)
• Unlearning Negative Patterns (emotional IQ theme)
• We Are Either Here Or Nowhere (emotional IQ theme)

Step 4: Yoga Lesson Planner

Use the Yoga Lesson Planner

Open up the Drag & Drop Yoga Lesson Planner that’s included within The Yoga Teacher Lesson Plan Kit and create the yoga lesson plan quickly and easily. Or, if you love creating yoga lesson plans from scratch with pen and paper, do that.

I do both.

95% of the time I use the Drag & Drop Yoga Lesson Planner because it saves so much time.

5% of the time I draw yoga stick figures using pen and pad.

Step 5: Keep Enlarging Your Yoga Lesson Planning Brain

Below are 1001 yoga lesson planning tips on my blog…to help enlarge your yoga lesson planning brain

101 Yoga Lesson Planning Ideas

101 Ways To Teach Yoga With A Poet’s Heart

101 Tantalising Yoga Lesson Plan Title Templates

101 Yoga Asana Symbols: Reveal A Hidden Language To Your Yoga Students

101 Guided Yoga Imagery Phrases For Yoga Teachers

101 Perfect Quotes For A Quote Themed Yoga Class

22 Yoga Lesson Planning Tips

12 Part Yoga Class Structure

10 Reasons To Use A Yoga Lesson Plan

10 Steps To Uncover Your Yoga Sequencing Formula

10 Tips To Motivate Your Students To Start A Home Yoga Practice

10 Yoga Lesson Planning Tips From 10 Yoga Teachers

9 Quirky DIY Yoga Props To Use In Your Classes

7 Yoga Imagery Phrases To Inspire Your Students

5 Steps For Teaching Relaxation Techniques

4 Quick & Easy Ways To Combine Yogic Breathing & Movement To Your Yoga Sequences

Become An Olympic Yogi: Use Visualization To Rehearse Your Yoga Classes

Do Your Own Practice Tactic

Einstein And Om

Give Your Yoga Lesson Plans A Chill Pill

How To Create A Yoga Card Deck In 10 Easy Steps Using My Free Downloadable Card Template

How To Create Yoga Class Themes (5 minute video tutorial)

How To End Your Yoga Class On Time Every Time

How To Make A DIY Bolster In 60 Seconds

How To Sequence Around A Peak Pose: Secret Formula Revealed

How To Use Safari Web Browser To Create Yoga Class Handouts With One Click

How To Teach Mula Bandha

How To Write Compelling Yoga Lesson Plan Aims & Objectives

Include 10 Minutes Of Inversions At The End Of A Class

Smooth Flowing Yoga Sequence: A Simple Formula For Yoga Teachers

Yoga Class Plans Made Easy: Includes 3 Top Secret Yoga Teacher Marketing Tactics

Yoga Practice Tracker

Yoga Sequence Flow Formula

How I Applied The 8 Limbs Of Yoga To Go From 5 To 25 Students

How To Become A Full Time Yoga Teacher

How To Draw Staff Pose

How To Hire A Local Photographer To Morph You Into A Yoga Star

How To Remember Student Names

How To Teach Extended Triangle Pose

How To Teach Revolved Triangle Pose

Yoga Anatomy 101: A Crash Course For Yoga Teachers

Yoga Teacher Poet: How To Teach Backbends With A Poet’s Heart

Yoga Teacher Poet: How To Teach Boat Pose With A Poet’s Heart

Yoga Teacher Poet: How To Teach Bow Pose With A Poet’s Heart

Yoga Teacher Poet: How To Teach Bridge Pose With A Poet’s Heart

Yoga Teacher Poet: How To Teach Extended Side Angle Pose With A Poet’s Heart

Yoga Teacher Poet: How To Teach Mountain Pose With A Poet’s Heart

Yoga Teacher Poet: How To Teach Staff Pose With A Poet’s Heart

Yoga Teacher Poet: How To Teach Tree Pose With A Poet’s Heart

Yoga Therapy Precautions Cheat Sheet

That’s it. 

And just in case you have low class numbers, here are lots of free yoga marketing tips and templates for you.