Creating an Inclusive Classroom: How Consistency and Permission Build Student Confidence

My first yoga class as a student was a disaster—I felt lost, uncomfortable, and unsure of what was allowed. It wasn’t the poses that overwhelmed me—it was the uncertainty. Can I leave if I need to? What if I can’t do a pose? Where’s the bathroom?

As teachers, we often focus on our confidence, but what about our students? In this episode, I explore how consistency in class structure and clear permission create a supportive, predictable environment where students can focus on their practice instead of worrying about logistics.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Why predictable class structures help students feel safe

✅ How to give explicit permission for modifications and classroom logistics

✅ Simple ways to normalize choice and agency in your yoga class

Want to become (almost) everyone's favorite yoga teacher? Get in the Zone at Comfort Zone Yoga, my virtual studio focused on teacher development. I have a ton of Sage advice in there for you—let's chat there!

For more insights, subscribe to Yoga Teacher Confidential, check out my YouTube channel, and follow me on socials:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Threads
• Bluesky
• Pinterest

And come explore my continuing education workshops and 300/500-hour teacher training programs. It's all at sagerountree.com.

Chapters

• 0:00 My First Yoga Class Disaster
• 1:34 Why Student Comfort Matters
• 2:07 The Role of Consistency and Permission in Confidence
• 3:05 Creating a Safe and Predictable Class Structure
• 7:33 Teaching Students How Not to Be in the Pose
• 10:25 Giving Permission for Classroom Logistics

Transcript

0:00

Can I tell you something? My first yoga class experience was completely miserable. You see, I went to a class at my gym and within the first 10 minutes I felt totally out of my depth. It had looked so easy from the stair climber looking through the glass into the studio, but in the room Yoga was hard. The teacher used a foreign language. He put us into poses and he left us there while he went around the room correcting everyone. And by the end we were just lying there. And I desperately needed to pee, but I had no idea if it was allowed to get up and leave. Was it disrespectful? Would everyone stare at me? The teacher never mentioned it. So I just laid there increasingly uncomfortable. As we held that last shape for what felt like an eternity throughout the class, I had no idea how long we'd be in each pose, what was coming next, or if I'd ever get to relieve myself. The entire experience was defined by uncertainty and discomfort, and very little of that had to do with the actual yoga. And don't get me started on my second class. After having such a negative reaction to the first class, I went back the next week to see if it would get easier. But that first teacher wasn't there. He had a sub and she had us do partner yoga. I had to touch some woman's feet and I didn't even know her. That was it for me and yoga for several years. I didn't feel comfortable or confident in the yoga classroom as a student. Across this season, we've been discussing how to feel confident as the teacher. But let's take the time to center our students and find ways to make them comfortable. This is the key to retaining your students, to helping your students grow in their practice, and to having your students refer their friends to you. So let's see our students as the heroes, and ourselves as the guides, and find ways to help our students feel comfortable in class. This is Yoga Teacher Confidential. I'm Sage Rountree. And today we're exploring how consistency and clear permission create the foundation for student confidence. When students walk into your yoga class, they're often carrying more uncertainty than just, will I be able to do the poses? They're wondering, can I leave if I need to? What if I can't do something? What if I fall? Or like I was, where's the bathroom? How long will we hold these poses? Without answers to these basic questions, students spend mental energy on anxiety instead of on their practice. They can't fully engage because they're distracted by uncertainty. The solution to this problem is two fold and beautifully simple. Number one, consistency in class structure, and number two, offering clear permission about how not to be in the pose and how not to be in the room. Consistency means creating reliable patterns in how you open and close your class, how you sequence your class, and how you transition between sections in your class. It means students know roughly what to expect, even if the specific poses change. Clear permission means explicitly telling students what their options are, not just for modifying poses, but for how to exist, how to be in your classroom space. It's about teaching them how not to be in the pose and how not to be in the room. Um, when we combine these elements of consistent container of your class and explicit permission in your class, something magical happens. Your students stop worrying about the small stuff and they start focusing on their practice. Then yoga begins. Here's why this matters so deeply. Yoga is ultimately about freedom, moksha, freedom in the body, freedom in the mind. But paradoxically, that freedom comes through structure, aha, once again it comes down to sthira and sukha, structure and freedom, effort and ease, and to finding the right balance. When we create a consistent container for practice, we give our students the safety they need to explore. Think about children. They thrive with predictable routines and with clear boundaries because these create a sense of safety from which kids can grow and explore. Our yoga students aren't so different. When your students know what to expect, when they trust that you'll begin and end your class the same way each time, and when they understand the general arc of your sequencing, they can relax into the experience. This is the power of consistency and clear permission. It removes unnecessary anxiety so students can be fully present. How do we create this container of safety and permission? Let's break it down into practical steps. Step 1. Create consistent class structure. As we've covered in the previous two episodes, it's useful to bookend your class with reliable openings and reliable closings. I encourage you to develop a consistent opening ritual. It might be as simple as offering three deep breaths, or a brief centering, or a specific sequence of movements that you start every class with. What matters is that it's the same every time. This sends a signal to your students that practice has begun. Similarly, at the other end of class, create a consistent closing sequence, perhaps as a specific Shavasana setup, or a particular seated pose, or a certain way that you seal the practice. This is what we discussed in the previous episode, S1E26. Again, consistency is key. Between these bookends, maintain a predictable arc to your class. This doesn't mean teaching the exact same sequence every time, but rather having a recognizable structure. Maybe you teach a four quarter format that always starts with gentle movement, builds to standing poses, moves back down to the floor, and ends with relaxation. In my weekly classes, I use what I call a capsule wardrobe or a prefix menu approach to sequencing. Just like you might have core pieces in your wardrobe that you mix and match, I have core sequences that I use consistently. You can find most of them in my book, The Art of Yoga Sequencing. Our warmups in class always include the six moves of the spine. Our standing segment targets those plus the four lines of the hips. That's the front and the back of the hips, the inside and the outside of the hips. And our standing work always includes standing balance poses. Then we move to the mat and focus on the core. We work both stability and articular movement of the core. Then we work around the world of the hips, again front to back, inside and outside. We always end with a specific relaxation sequence. Within that framework, within that menu, I change details week to week, but the structure remains familiar. This builds my students confidence. They know what to expect. Step two is teaching how not to be in the pose. So the second key element is teaching students not just how to do poses, but how not to do them, how to exit a pose, how to modify a pose or how to completely opt out of a pose. I'm going to repeat that because I think it's so important and not talked about very much. Teach your students how not to be in the pose. Now for balance poses, this means that you'll explicitly demonstrate how to fall out safely and what to do if students want to opt out and show them. If you start to lose your balance and tree pose, you can simply step your foot down. No drama needed. it. Normalize wobbling and falling as part of practice, not as failure. I often teach approaching a balance pose in a two pose cycle. Warrior two onto tree pose on the back leg. For example, we'll go back and forth, back and forth. And I do this expressly so that students know how to leave the pose so that students know how not to be in the pose. For more challenging shapes, you could offer clear alternatives before you even begin. So for example, we'll be exploring side plank now. If that's not right for your body today, here are two other options that offer similar benefits. Use language that reinforces your student's choice and agency. This means saying things like, you might choose to, or one option is, or if this doesn't feel right in your body today, or if your back, or your knees, or your feet don't like this, or you're welcome to stay in the previous pose if that feels better. It's also helpful to follow asymmetrical poses where the two sides of the body are doing something different with a symmetrical pose so that students can always go back to the last symmetrical shape they saw. When you string too many asymmetrical poses together, students can lose touch with their home base. They lose touch with how not to be in the pose. In my classes, I typically offer a few options for most of the poses we do for most of the shapes. We'll do a simplified version, the foundational shape, and we'll do a more challenging variation. These aren't in a hierarchy from beginner to advanced. They're equally valid choices depending on what anybody needs on that particular day. I often present them in a different order than one, two, three, simple foundational quote unquote advanced, because I know my type A athletic students are going to do only the one I mentioned last. So I do simple, then complex, then sweet spot. Mama bear, papa bear, baby bear. Too soft, too hard, just right in Goldilocks terms. Step three is to give permission for your students about how not to be in the room. Be explicit about classroom logistics and permissions. At the start of each class, I'd say something like, the bathroom is through that door. You're welcome to use it anytime without asking. You can take water breaks whenever you need the water fountains out there too. If you need to leave early, that's completely fine. Just try to stillness and final relaxation. And if something, if anything doesn't feel right in your body, you always have permission to skip it or take child's pose or some other shape instead. It's okay to go off book as long as you aren't distracting your neighbors. I repeat these permissions regularly across the class, especially when new students are present. So after a challenging sequence, I might say, Remember, a child's pose is always there for you. Or before a balanced pose. We all fall out of balanced poses. That's why it's called practice, not performance. And as my teacher Brian used to say, Everything is optional, just like being here is optional. Start normalizing these permissions from the very beginning of class. You might say, today we'll be moving through a flowing practice, but you can pause or rest any time you need. Your practice belongs to you. This explicit permission removes the guesswork. Students don't have to wonder if it's okay to take care of their needs. They know it is. Additionally, consider creating visual cues in your space, like a sign pointing to the bathroom, or props placed visibly with an invitation to use them, or even a written reminder that Child's Pose is always available, and that can reinforce these permissions and remind your students to own their practice, to hold the agency for their own practice. If you're teaching beginners or a particularly challenging sequence, you might even demonstrate taking a break yourself. I'm going to show you what it looks like to listen to your body and take a break when you need it. You could say. This powerful modeling shows students that even teachers make choices based on their needs. Remember that you'll need to repeat these permissions regularly, not just once at the beginning of class. Some students won't hear it the first time, and others need multiple reminders before they truly believe they have permission to do what they need moment to moment. When you combine a consistent class structure with clear permission about how students can navigate poses in the classroom space, you create an environment where confidence can flourish. This confidence isn't just about an ability to do the poses. It's about students feeling empowered to make choices that honor their bodies and needs. And this carries huge value on and off the mat. It's about knowing they belong in the space exactly as they are. The beauty of this approach is that it serves all students from the anxious beginner to the experienced practitioner having an off day or really listening to their body. Everyone benefits from clarity and permission. And here's the best part. When students feel safe and supported in these fundamental ways, they actually become more willing to try challenging things. The safety net you've created gives them courage to explore their edges. Here's an affirmation to help you remember. I give my students freedom to find their own practice. I give my students freedom to find their own practice. I invite you to examine your class structure. Is it consistent? Are you explicitly giving your students permission about how they could modify poses and how to navigate the classroom? Choose one aspect to focus on. Perhaps you start with your opening ritual, or the way that you present pose alternatives, or how you communicate bathroom breaks and other logistics. Implement it consistently, starting with your next class, and notice how your students respond. I'd love to hear how this works for you. Come to comfortzoneyoga.com, my virtual community for yoga teachers, and join the discussion. There's a free community there called The Zone, and there's a link for you in the show notes. I would love to see you there. For now, I'm Sage Rountree and this is Yoga Teacher Confidential. See you next time.