79. Theming Your Yoga Classes without Overthinking

Think about the last time you sat down to plan a themed yoga class. Did you freeze—staring at your notebook, wondering whether to use a Sanskrit concept, a seasonal metaphor, or a quote from a book you half-remember? You're not alone, and you're probably overthinking it.

In this episode, Sage Rountree breaks down what a yoga class theme actually is—and what it isn't. A theme is simply a thread: one idea that gives your students something to hold onto from centering to closing. Sage shares practical methods for choosing a theme in five minutes or less and demonstrates how to weave it through your class naturally.

Drawing from both volumes of Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses—the books Sage co-authored with Alexandra DeSiato—this episode gives you access to 108 ready-made themes and a template you can use to create your own. Whether you use the observation method (demoed in full), inquiry, or borrowed wisdom, you'll walk away with a simple system that makes your classes feel cohesive and intentional.

Sage also previews the free Comfort Zone Conversation on April 9th, where all three methods will be walked through live. Join the Zone at comfortzoneyoga.com to RSVP—it's free, and the recording will be available afterward.

For the full class-arc framework and S.E.R.V.E. Method, visit sagerountree.com/mentorship.

RSVP for the open house—we meet at noon EDT on Saturday, April 18. I'll send a replay to all registrants after the event! Register here: Find Your Teaching Voice Live + 200YTT Open House

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!

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Transcript

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Can I tell you something? You might think theming A yoga class means delivering a mini philosophy lecture at the beginning and then hoping it somehow sticks. Does this sound familiar? You pick a quote. Usually something from Rumi or Patanjali, or better yet, the patron poet of yoga teachers, Mary Oliver. You read it during centering and then you never mention it again. Your students nod politely and then you all move on to cat cow like it never happened. If you have ever sat down to plan a themed class and frozen staring at your notebook, wondering whether you should use a Sanskrit concept or a seasonal metaphor, or a quote from a book you have, remember you're probably overthinking it. Here's the thing. A theme doesn't have to be a production. It doesn't require hours of philosophical research, and it doesn't need to sound like a TED Talk. A theme is simply a thread, one idea that gives your students something to hold onto from the moment they settle in to the moment they leave. Today I want to talk about what a yoga class theme actually is, how to choose one in five minutes or less, and how to weave it through your class so it feels natural instead of forced. I'm going to draw from both volumes of Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses, the books I co-authored with Alexandra DeSiato, which together give you 108 ready-made themes you can use as is or adapt to make your own. I'm Sage Rountree, and this is Yoga Teacher Confidential. Let's start with why theming feels so hard, because I think the problem is not that yoga teachers lack ideas, it's that they've been taught implicitly or explicitly that a theme has to be profound. Somewhere along the way, many of us absorbed the idea that theming means becoming a philosopher, that you need to study the yoga sutras deeply enough to deliver a lecture on AYA non stealing, all while your students hold Warrior two. That every class needs a big idea. Capital B, capital I, that if you're not weaving in Sanskrit and citing ancient texts, your theme isn't real. Your class isn't real. Now that's a lot of pressure and it's no wonder teachers freeze. My original career trajectory was academia. I had the training to give lectures that did carefully introduce, then support an argument about a text, seven years of graduate study, and the letters PhD after my name gave me some confidence in doing that. But here is what I have learned in 20 plus years of teaching yoga. Your students are not coming to class for a lecture. They're coming for an experience and a theme is what turns a sequence of poses into a cohesive experience. It's something that feels intentional and connected from start to finish. So what is a theme really, it's not a topic sentence for a philosophy essay. It's a through line. Think of it as a thread that you pick up in centering touch during a queue or two, weave into a transition and tie off in closing. That's it. It doesn't need to be complicated. Seriously. It just needs to be. Present and persistent to be introduced and then often referred to throughout the class in Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses. Alexandra and I define a theme as an idea that deepens and enriches the experience of practice. Something that connects the physical work on the mat to something meaningful off the mat. Volume One offers 54 themes built around the yamas and niyamas, the Koshas, and other core philosophical concepts. Volume two adds 54 more. It has themes on equity and joy and mythology and resilience even on rebellion. Together. That's 108 themes ready to go. But the real gift of those books isn't the themes themselves, it's the template. Once you see how a theme is built, you'll be able to create your own in minutes. so why bother theming at all? You could just teach a well sequenced class, a good warmup, balanced standing work, thoughtful mat sequence, solid finish, and call it a day. And honestly, that is a good class structure matters, and I talk about that all the time, both on this podcast and throughout all of my content. But theming adds a layer that structure alone can't provide. It gives your students a reason to pay attention beyond the physical. It turns. Hold this pose into notice what happens when you stay. It turns a transition into a moment of inquiry. It makes your class feel like yours, not like anyone else could have taught it. Let me put it this way without a theme. Your students are following directions with a theme. They're following a story, and humans are wired for stories. We remember them. We carry them off the mat. Here's what I've seen in my work with teachers in mastering the art of yoga sequencing, my mentorship membership, half of my 300- hour yoga teacher training. The teachers who themed their classes, even who themed them, quite simply report that their students are more engaged, more present, and more likely to comment after class that something resonated. And that's not because the teacher delivered a perfect philosophical treatise that would be jarring or boring or both. It's because the student felt a thread running through the experience and it gave them something to hold. There's a practical benefit too. When you have a theme, your cueing gets easier. Instead of scrambling for something to say during a long hold, you return to the thread. As we settle into the shape, you might say, come back to that word. We started with enough. That's a cue that does double duty. It fills the space and it deepens the experience. You're not performing. You are returning to the thread. And theming doesn't mean every class has to be deep or heavy in volume two of Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses. Alexander and I include themes like rise to joy and less is more. And even rebel yogi themes that are playful and grounded and modern. A theme can be as simple as softening or the exhale or what you already know. The bar is way lower than you think. Alright, let's get practical. I want to give you a method for choosing a theme quickly, because the number one thing that keeps teachers from theming is the time it takes to come up with a theme in the comfort zone conversation I'm hosting on April 9th, I will walk through three quick pick methods for choosing a theme, observation, inquiry, and borrowed wisdom. Today I'm going to demo one of those fully so you can use it in your next class, and I'll tease the other two so you have a reason to join us live or to catch up with the recording after the event. Let's start with observation, which I think is the most natural and the most underused. Observation means you look at your life and notice what's showing up, not what you think should show up what is actually there. Uh, maybe you had a conversation this week that stuck with you. Maybe you noticed something on your walk. Maybe you're feeling a particular quality in your own practice. Heaviness, lightness, restlessness, steadiness. Here's how it works. Before you sit down to plan your class, take 60 seconds, literally one minute, and ask yourself, what have I been noticing lately? Write down the first thing that comes to mind. Don't edit it. Don't judge it. Just capture it. Let's say the word that comes up for you is patience. Now you have a theme. Here's how you could thread it. During centering. You could say something like, today I invite you to explore patience, not the gritting your teeth kind, but the kind that comes from trusting the process as we settle in. Notice where patience is easy for you today, and where it asks for something more. Here's a cue you could use during a longer hold. This is where patience lives right here in the staying. Not pushing, not escaping, but being with what is. During a transition, you could say, as we move from this shape to the next, see if you can carry that patience with you, letting the transition be as intentional as each pose. And at closing you can draw back around and say something like, oh, we practiced patience today on the mat and what you practice on the mat you take with you. Notice where patience shows up for you between now and the next class. That's it. Four touch points, one word, five minutes of planning, maybe less. You do not need to shoehorn in oblique references to patience from the yoga sutras, although you could. You could talk about Santosha contentment. You didn't need to find the perfect quote. Even you noticed something true and you let that become the thread. Patience. Now the other two methods, inquiry and borrowed wisdom are equally simple and equally powerful. Inquiry starts with a question instead of a word borrowed, wisdom draws from something you've read or heard or experienced. And of course, the 108 themes in Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses are a goldmine for this, as is all of your reading and all of your self-study. Each theme in those themeing books comes with a complete template. It's got a quote or a concept, language to use during centering, cues you can weave through class, and a closing reflection. You can use them exactly as written. The book is designed to lay flat on your mat so you can read from it or you can adapt them. However, suits your unique teaching voice and your student population's needs. The themes are recipes, and once you understand the recipe, you can start cooking on your own. Now I'll walk through all three methods in detail with live practice at my free comfort zone conversation on April 9th at 2:00 PM Eastern. We'll take one theme and build it together from a single word to a woven class plan. I'm thinking of it almost as an improv exercise. If you are in the zone, my free community for yoga teachers, you can RSVP there. But if you're not in the zone yet, head to comfort zone yoga.com to join. It is free, and the conversation will be recorded if you can't make it live. And if you want 108 themes ready to go, complete with templates, with cues, with closing reflections. Pick up Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses and its volume. Two. Between the two books, you will have enough themes to teach a differently themed class every week for two years. Without repeating though, if you've been in my world, you know, I think the true value comes in repetition, not just of sequences, but of themes. You can find both books, wherever books are sold, or order them from your local library. The links are in the show notes for the full class ARC framework, how theming fits into your overall class structure using the serve method. That's what we go deep on in mastering the Art of yoga sequencing. We'll have a whole month long module when you and I are working together in that mentorship program to get your themes in great shape. Here is what I want you to take away from today. Theming your yoga classes doesn't have to be a big production. You don't need to be a philosopher. You don't need to spend hours researching. You need one word, one thread, and four places to touch it. Centering movement, stillness, and closing. Okay. Your students are not looking for a lecture. They're looking for an experience with a thread to hold onto something that makes your class feel cohesive and intentional, and you already have what you need to give them that you notice things you care about your students' experience. That's enough. RSVP for the Comfort Zone Conversation on April 9th. Join us in the Zone at Comfort Zone Yoga. Grab the books for 108 Readymade themes, and please let me know what you think in the comments. If this episode helped you, or if the books have helped you, I'd love for you to rate and review the show and the books. It helps other yoga teachers find us. This is Yoga Teacher Confidential. I'm Sage Rountree. Thanks for joining me. I'll see you next time.