How to Come Up with a Yoga Class Theme

1. Pull from Yoga Philosophy

The ancient texts in yoga philosophy cover a wide range of topics and can be applied to most situations in present day life. They are a great foundation for drawing inspiration. As Patrick says in the video above, he began to live his life by the influence of those texts, which has helped him navigate story-telling by applying the ancient meanings to things he’s experienced himself.

2. Talk About Things That Inspire You

Dharma Talks are an integral part of the yoga practice. While students may show up initially for the physical aspect, the spiritual and philosophical element is what gets them to come back and keep coming back. When you touch on things that have inspired you, you may be of inspiration to your students in class.

People can tell when someone is inspired by something. If you approach your class theme from an angle of education (learning something new, something that really stood out to you, etc.), you are adding an element of passion that people will find special. If you show eagerness and passion when talking about it, that will most likely intrigue your students and resonate with them throughout class.

3. Make it Personal

People trust people. People also relate to people. When you are able to put a piece of yourself into your practice, students may find that you’re just like them! Relatable scenarios and everyday situations in life make for great topics to lead a yoga class. It not only shows that you are human, but it gives you an additional opportunity to show them how you apply yoga philosophy to your everyday life dealing with the joys, trials and tribulations. Peppering in personal stories is probably the easiest way to engage your students and get them familiar with the message behind a lot of the information in the ancient, philosophical texts.

If you don’t have any personal stories that day, refer back to hot topics that people find interesting (we’ll list a couple below).

Yoga class theme inspiration:

• The Five Koshas
• The Bhagavad Gita
• Chakras
• Yoga Sutras