Right Brain Yoga
Yoga Lesson Planning The Right Brain Way

Everyone has heard of “left brain” and “right brain” learning.   Some yoga teachers will be more left-brained (logical, analytical) and some will be more right-brained (intuitive, creative).    However, the trick is to use the “whole brain” when creating something (e.g. a yoga lesson plan).  That’s why I use both the left and right brain when creating my yoga lesson plans.

Generally when planning a yoga class, I will start off with a blank page and doodle ideas in a Yoga Lesson Plan Mind Map.   Then, when I’ve completed my right braining, I’ll switch on my left brain by opening up the 15 Minute Yoga Genie Lesson Planner Software  to structure the yoga lesson plan.

The “left brain structure” makes teaching the class effortless, fun and rewarding.  Without taking a structured lesson plan to my yoga class, I’d be unprepared which causes unnecessary stress (what to do next) and the unavoidable inner knowing that I’d been lazy and undisciplined.  I’d feel like a hypocrite walking into a yoga class as a yoga teacher if I didn’t even have the discipline to take a few minutes to plan a simple yoga class.   You see, the very first yoga limb of the 8 limbs of yoga are the yamas which cover our moral interactions with others.  I personally would feel immoral for taking my student’s money and not taking the time to prepare and practice the lesson plan (unless I used the same lesson plan every week, like they do in Bikram yoga).

And let’s not kid ourselves, an unprepared yoga class is never as good as a thoughtfully prepared one.   There is a myth that if you’re an experienced (or creative) yoga teacher, you don’t need to spend time planning a yoga lesson plan.   Did you know that arguably the greatest speaker the world has ever known was Winston Churchill and he never made a speech without preparing and practicing it?    Did you know that Tiger Woods is regarded as the most gifted golfer to ever grace the fairways, yet he prepares and practices longer than any of  his fellow pros?   The same “prepare and practice philosophy” is also true of the greatest yoga teachers amongst us.  You’ll find that most of them will spend time “preparing and practicing” their lesson plans long before they arrive to teach their class.

Take a quick peek at the video below to see how I use
“the right brain” to create a memorable yoga class plan…

http://youtu.be/wudaUS48TSc