In almost three years of posting here I have never once written about hands on assists and adjustments…

The closest I’ve come to this topic is this post (which is actually a great little nugget, in my humble opinion) on using verbal cues to adjust students.

And even today, I wanted to skip over the “hands on adjustments” topic and dive straight into what I promised for this week, which has to do with adjusting intensity for students as you’re teaching flow, but as I started to write that one I realized I couldn’t do it unless I lay the ground work.

So today, let’s talk about using hands on assists as a teacher…

I want to start by recognizing that this is already a crowded conversation. And I think that’s part of the reason I haven’t written about it. It’s also a complex one (like so many things in yoga!), and it takes some nuance—and an understanding that different teachers and students will require a different approach.

But generally, my stance can be boiled down to this:

1. You always need to ask for consent before you touch someone.

2. The possibility for injury is very real, and a “strong” assist isn’t always called for.

3. It’s an “advanced” teaching skill, and it can be hard to juggle in a vinyasa flow.

4. It can feel really wonderful and add a beautiful element to your yoga classes.

I’m going to explain each of these in a bit more detail, and perhaps more importantly, I am going to tell you how I personally navigate it / let it guide my actions as a teacher.

1. You always need to ask for consent before you touch someone.

Depending on the lineage that you study / practice / have trained under then hands on assists might be “expected.” For example, I have a training in Rocket yoga, and studying hands on assists was a big part of it. But even when a hands on assist is the “norm” I still believe, and many others do, too, that asking for consent is a must.

And that’s because we simply never know what’s truly happening for a person on any given day. I think when people think about opting out of an assist they automatically default to the thought that maybe that person has had something traumatic happen to them and they don’t want to be touched. And YES that is such an important reason to not want a hands on assist. But I can think of many others, too.

Like:

• You’re a new parent and you have kids crawling on you constantly and you just want to be left alone during your practice.

• You’ve had an injury and it’s flaring up that day.

• You ate so much during breakfast and you still feel bloated and you worry that if a teacher presses on you then you might fart on them. 🙃

The list goes on….

It is so much better to ask.

The tricky thing here, in my opinion, is remembering to pose the question at the start, when your mind is full with the other opening details. My go-to approach is to get the students set up in their opening pose, ideally with eyes closed if that’s comfortable.

Then I say: “I want to take this time to ask if anyone would like to opt-out of hands on assists today. If so, please raise your hand high in the sky so I can see you.”

Then I clock the responses, I say “thank you,” and I continue.

Sometimes I forget to ask, because I’m too focused on my opening sequence or message or it just slips my mind. In which case, I wait until they get to their first child’s pose and I ask then.

If I don’t ask at those two points, but I really want to, then I suppose I could still ask at anytime. But, I do like to ensure it’s a private moment, because I don’t believe students would honestly make their request if everyone is watching. So if I don’t ask right at the start, then I simply don’t use touch that day.

For so, so, so many reasons—even if the student is a regular—I always ask.

2. The possibility for injury is very real, and a “strong” assist isn’t always called for.

If you teach for long enough, then you will live to hear at least a few horror stories of a hands on assist gone wrong. In fact, maybe you’ve been on the receiving end. I certainly have been. I can remember a few hands on assists where I just felt like the teacher was taking me too deep.

People say: “Let the teacher know if it’s too much” — but the lived reality, especially for a people pleaser like me, is that it can be pretty hard to speak up for yourself, especially in a live moment like that. I don’t blame any of those teachers—they genuinely didn’t realize what was happening—but I can remember that feeling of…“ouch.”

I love the podcast Yogaland, and there are a number of episodes that cover hands on assists. In one of them (and I’m sorry I can’t remember which one, it might be what I linked but might not be!) Jason says something like: “We should simply never be forcing students more deeply into a shape.”

And that has kind of become my MO when it comes to using my body to adjust another person’s body — meaning, I do adjust for the sake of deepening feel-good sensation and perhaps correcting alignment, but I never force, yank, pull or push a students’ body with the intention to radically move them from their starting point.

If anything, more often than not, the feedback I get on my hands on assists is “you could go a little harder,” but if I’m going to do it I would so much rather have a light touch than press too hard and hurt someone. I know that might not be everyone’s approach, but it’s what makes me feel comfortable.

3. It’s an “advanced” teaching skill, and it can be hard to juggle in a vinyasa flow.

Another reason teachers don’t give many hands on assists is that it’s hard! It can be daunting—for the reasons I listed above—and others.

Certain styles are a bit more naturally inclined to adjustments—like Ashtanga, where you are holding each pose for a clear number of breaths and the sequence is always the same. In a flow class, it can be harder to manage adding on an assist.

When teaching vinyasa, the sequence is sometimes changing, which means more of your brain power is devoted to that layer. Then there’s the breath, the pace, the cues, etc. All of that tends to take center stage and the assists element takes the back seat. Of course, if you’re “flowing” then it’s even harder, and there’s usually not enough time.

In my approach, I try to do hands-on assists more heavily during the start and end of the class, when the pace is a bit slower and postures are held longer. Then, during the standing sequence, I try to do little “drive-by assists” — like a gentle reminder to soften the shoulders in warrior II.

If you feel overwhelmed by all the other elements of teaching, then I would consider focusing on those first, and adding in assists as you build confidence. I would argue that your words are your first and most powerful tool when teaching, and your hands are a lovely addition.

4. It can feel really wonderful and add a beautiful element to your yoga classes.

So, at the end of a long list of reasons why assisting is hard—why do it? Well, I know a number of teachers who have taken the stance that it’s just not worth the risk, effort, and unknowns. But for me, personally?

I have tried to incorporate it into my teaching (and I’ve only just started to do it more actively again) because I think it is a lovely thing to both offer and receive.

A hands on assist is a way to really connect to your students’ practice. A way to remind them that you actually are present with them. A way to remind them that you are there to support them. That you see them.

Human touch is complex. We need to be respectful and mindful. And, at the same time, a hands on assist done well is a powerful conduit of energy.

And that the end of the day, that’s a fundamental thing we are doing in yoga—working with energy.

There’s so much else that could be said here (I feel like I say that in all my newsletters lol) — but I think that’s enough for now!

I would LOVE to hear from you about your experience with hands on assists. Do you give them? What makes you nervous? What else would you like to think about / talk about / explore?

Leave a comment

Remember, the most important thing about showing up for your students is that you show up in a way that feels safe and authentic.

If hands on assists feel that way to you, great.

If not, there are many, many other ways to create an impactful yoga class.

Thanks for being here, dear humans,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

@yoga.humans | @martensizzy

Notes on today’s flowwwwww

I filmed this week’s class up in the mountains and I kind of made it up on a whim tbh, but then I went and I actually taught it today and the people loved it!

I often hear teachers wondering if they have to reinvent the wheel, or if they can teach the same sequences. I often fall somewhere in the middle, which is that I have some favorite “go-to” moves, and I teach them pieced together in a variety of ways.

So today you’ll probably recognize the “yogi pushup” from three limb table, and maybe the cross-arm wide leg fold into goddess with eagle arms from my most popular flow to date.

I kind of feel like this is a sweet spot—you teach some of the same things time and again, which helps build rhythm and comfort for students, but you also sprinkle in newness.

IDK - now I feel like I’m writing another newsletter lol, but I do think you’ll love this week’s sequence. :)

I have the Main Flow to share with everyone and then I show Paid Subscribers how I foreshadowed with the Mini Flow and then how I wrapped up class with the Peak Flow. Enjoy!

My kind of old school new school intermediate flow | May 6, 2026

main flow

• three legged dog

• 3 limb table

• yogi push up

• tiger curl

• plant toes at back of mat

• three legged dog

• high crescent lunge

• open twist

• cool transition to warrior 2

  • bring back palm to meet front, then slide arm open to W2

• high side lunge

• open arm twist

• cross armed wide fold

• goddess with eagle arms

• bowing eagle

• star

• warrior 2

• dancing warrior

• peaceful warrior

• cartwheel to low lunge

• standing l

• shiva squat

• one leg mountain

• standing figure four

• revolved hand to big toe

• airplane

• low lunge

• step back down dog

• other side

Practice with me in Portugal this summer

I am leading a yoga retreat in Portugal this August and we have just a few rooms left. I would love, love, love to have you there. Use code HEART for 10% off the entire retreat.

Let’s build out the rest of this class! Our mini flow is juicy, with a “cow / cat” in lizard variation. Then our peak flow features a “yogi pushup” variation that I’ve never shared before. Let me know what you think!

mini-flow

Read more

One of the marks of a seasoned yoga teacher, in my opinion, is the ability to truly teach to the description of their class.

By this I mean: A student should be able to read the write-up of a yoga class, and then walk into that class and have an experience in-line with what they signed up for.

Like so many things in the yoga space, even a topic like this is a little bit tricky to write about, and that’s because there’s some debate in the yoga world about the right language for different class levels / intensities.

Some people are put-off by language like “beginner” and “level one,” especially because we’re usually talking about asana when we’re saying words like this. Some people dislike words like “advanced” for this same reason. These words, it’s said, create hierarchy when yoga is instead holistic. Some people believe that no matter the class description the class should be taught to the bodies in the room that day, rather than the description.

I think all of this is valuable to think about, and it’s important to be clear with your intentionality when you’re speaking.

At the same time, it’s useful for students and teachers alike to be able to communicate different levels and intensities, and in fact, I think it’s a way to build trust and respect one another.

Let’s imagine it like this: Have you ever signed up for a “gentle” class that involved a lot of movement or even a plank hold or a chaturanga? How did that make you feel? Probably kind of peeved. Not because you don’t enjoy those poses on certain days, but simply because it’s not what your body needed on that particular day. It’s not what you signed up for.

Now what about this: Imagine you’re a student and you’ve been practicing at a studio, doing their “Basics” class for months. You really want to push yourself and try a “Flow 2” class that you’ve been hearing about. You get to class, and you’re a little bit wobbly and definitely not doing everything perfectly, but you’re having fun by challenging yourself. But after a while you notice that the teacher has really slowed down the pace of class, and they are standing by you and seem to be oftentimes speaking directly to you. Now you’re worried that the teacher has shifted the class style because of you. It makes you feel called out and uncomfortable. You leave class feeling disappointed, like you shouldn’t have been there in the first place, rather than empowered.

Neither situation is a great one.

When we fall into the trap of modifying based purely on what we see, we risk letting our personal biases rule our decisions and actions. While acting out of good intent, the teacher might actually be creating more harm.

Let me give you a few more examples…

Imagine an 80 year old comes to your “Level 3” class. Looking at them, you see they are “old” and so you simplify your class plan and you don’t teach with the same intensity. But what you don’t know is that this person has been practicing asana for the last 50 years and has a super advanced practice, even if they have to modify a little bit.

Or, imagine someone with a bigger body comes to your Power Class, and you immediately think you need to slow down the pace. But what you don’t know is that this person takes Power classes every week and knows just how to take care of themselves.

“Modifying” might be the thing to do based on what society has taught us about old bodies, or big bodies, or even disabled bodies — but the truth is, if these humans signed up for your class, then we have to trust them enough to understand that they likely read the description and know what they are signing up for.

And that’s why our class descriptions are actually so important.

Have you ever heard the phrase: Communication is kind?

I think of our class descriptions kind of like that. They are how we set the stage, and kick off the relationship with each other.

By teaching what we said we were going to teach, by giving students the experience they signed up for, we are actually being much more clear and respectful than if we are modifying based on assumptions alone.

As I write this, I am struck by how much nuance is needed within the conversation, because there are always exceptions to any statement. There’s never one blanket “truth.”

Of COURSE you might encounter a scenario where a student has come to class and they are in need of a lot of attention and adjustment for their own safety. And there are ways to handle that in real time, without shifting the whole class toward this student’s energy. So, next week I think we need to dive into a more in-depth conversation on personal modifications during a live class.

I guess this week I simply want us to start thinking about what we actually teach versus what we say we’re going to teach.

Ask yourself:

• When was the last time I actually looked at my class description?

• Does the class description clearly communicate with the lived experience in the class?

• If not, is there room to modify and edit it based on how you actually teach?

• Are you in the right class style for your teaching style?

What else comes to mind here, my friends? I am thinking that this is a wide enough topic for a few more conversations. Let me know what’s on your mind:

Leave a comment

As with everything we talk about here, dear humans, remember that all of this takes time, practice, and a whole lot of self-compassion.

I often write about these things because I know that I haven’t done them perfectly in the past.

How do we have conversations when there is so much gray area? How do we balance wanting to make sure a student feels safe and supported in our class, while also recognizing that we don’t actually know what that means unless we ask them? How do we clearly communicate our class style and intensity, without falling into a trap of competition or hierarchy with language?

Seesh. It isn’t easy.

I think, ultimately, what we can do is move forward with love and good intent in our heart. With an open mind and a desire to learn. And act from there.

♥

Hey friends, guess what? It’s my birthday on Saturday :)

I’m offering 33% off subscriptions right now, so if you want to celebrate with me then consider becoming a paid subscriber. Being in this community is the greatest gift you could give me.

Thanks for being here. I see you. I’m with you. I love you.

Until next time,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

@yoga.humans | @martensizzy

Notes on today’s “level one” vinyasa class

Okay, I think I got rolling on today’s topic because I wanted to film a class that wasn’t my typical “Flow 2” style. I wanted to offer my take on a class that is slightly slower in pace, more accessible (using the strap all throughout), and not overly complex, but still interesting. If I was teaching a “Level One Vinyasa” class, this is what I would teach.

Now, this differs in my mind from a “Gentle” class, and that’s why I think the descriptions are so important. In my mind, a Flow 1 is something that leads students up into a Flow 2. Meaning that we still work on transitions, standing shapes, strength and balance, we just are doing slightly less, and we’re using more props and tools to help us find bigger shapes down the line.

I’ve offered everyone the class opening, which is nice and long, and could easily be modified to many different class descriptions.

From there, paid subscribers have access to the mini-flow and the main flow, which are both ultimately building to the extended hand to big toe series using the strap, which is integrated right into the flow!

A class opening with the strap | April 29, 2026

class opening: class minutes 0 - 15

• place a looped strap around your body and tuck it underneath your feet

• pull the strap tight

• then come to reclined butterfly

• stay here for a few minutes

• release the strap and then loop it underneath one foot

• reclined hand to big toe pose A with the strap

• b variation using your elbow as a kickstand

• keep strap on the first foot and then switch out feet

• repeat on the other side

• bring both feet into the strap

• find a little momentum and try and rock and roll up and land

• in boat pose

• gently lower the legs down to the earth

• seated forward fold

• release the strap place it at the top of your mat

• tabletop into cow and cats

• calf stretch

• mini side plank

• both sides

• child’s pose

• side stretches

• come to kneel and grab your strap

• shoulder flossing

• front to back

• and then big circles both directions

• if too intense open the strap wider

• set strap at top of mat and then downdog

At the end of the newsletter, for paid subscribers, I give you the next two standing sequences — a mini-flow and main flow.

Practice with me in Portugal this summer

I am leading a yoga retreat in Portugal this August and we have just a few rooms left. I would love, love, love to have you there. Use code HEART for 10% off the entire retreat.

Let’s build out the rest of this class! We’ve set up our foundation in the class opening. Now, let’s move onto two standing sequences. With the class description in mind (Flow 1), I’ve simplified these sequences, while still keeping them creative and interesting.

What I love about these sequences is the strap is integrated seamlessly into both, which ultimately leads to the extended hand to big toe pose series. Enjoy!

mini-flow

Read more

Dear Humans,

There are a few fundamental tricks to teaching effective yoga classes that seem so simple that sometimes I think we forget to talk about them.

But have you ever had the experience of learning one of these little tricks many years down a path and thinking to yourself: Why have I never heard about this before??

I think it’s often because we assume people already know, and we don’t want to look silly by bringing up something that feels basic. But to master the basics, we have to revisit the basics.

One thing I know to be true as a writer and teacher is that often the simplest messages are the most powerful ones.

And we can hear those simple messages over and over again. They don’t get old. Even if we have heard them a hundred times, the reminder is always potent.

Examples of this might be: Release the thoughts that aren’t serving you; If you feel blehhh, take a shower; Be kind, we don’t know what’s happening for someone underneath the surface; Salt your pasta water.

:)

There are more tactical examples, too. Prune the shoots of the tomato plant so that there’s more energy for the fruit; stand back if you’re putting something wet into hot oil; let the knees follow the toes in most movements.

We don’t know these things until we do. And then once we do, they seem obvious.

So today I want to go back to the basics and make sure each one of you knows, or remembers, a very basic and essential strategy for great cuing. And this matters, because good cues make your class feel more settled and confident.

A great yoga cue follows this pattern:

• Breath

• Pose Name

• Base Cues

• Adjustment Cues

Let me break it down for you…

Breath

In The Heart of Yoga, Desikachar reminds us that each yoga posture has an intention behind it, and knowing the direction of the breath in each pose is part of that intention. This doesn’t mean you have to get it right 100% of the time, nor does it mean you have to go memorize each of the poses and their corresponding breaths right away, because it’s actually fairly intuitive—if you can quiet the mind enough to feel it.

The typical rule is that expansive poses get an inhale breath, and contracting poses get an exhale breath.

Sometimes it doesn’t feel clear, or doesn’t follow your sequence, in which case you can simply alternate. Sometimes you get lost in your rhythm. When this happens, I’ll often stop the breath cues until I get back on track. That’s okay. Some teachers swap the norms on purpose to see what that feels like, and that’s also okay and can even be interesting.

But the main point here is that when you are cuing, try your best to start with either “inhale” or “exhale”. The breath matters. It’s foundational. And it’s important and helpful to remind your students of it.

Pose Name

This is the golden ticket to effective cuing.

And it’s where I see teachers skip the pattern the most.

But if you can get into the habit of starting each and every one of your movement cues with the pose name, then I guarantee your students’ ease and confidence in class will change.

When you offer the pose name first then students who know the pose can start heading there, and the students who don’t know the pose will have examples all around the room of what’s supposed to be happening.

Plus, if you say the pose name first, your cuing doesn’t have to be so precise. Students already know where you want them to send up, which means if you make a mistake in your cue, they aren’t listening so closely that they’ll blindly follow you there.

But say you’re cuing something brand new, a pose no one has seen. What then? In that case, I’ll give a warning, telling my students to pay attention so they don’t launch into action too soon (which is what often happens with cues—they think they know where you are taking them, so they move there, but they are ahead of you, and then that confuses the room, too.)

So I’ll say something like, “okay, this is a funky one, listen carefully: Visvamitrasana…bring your right knee to your left elbow…” Notice how I’ll still say the pose name, but I also give them a heads up that they might not already know where to go.

What if you don’t know the pose name??? This is valid and tricky. I would say, you can fudge it a little by calling something a “variation” — like from today’s flow there’s a shape that looks like pyramid but the back heel is lifted, I just call it “pyramid variation.” But I would also recommend writing out your sequence and just doing a little google if there’s a name you’re unsure about. Knowledge = confidence.

One thing I’ve noticed is that when I am demoing I have the tendency to skip the pose name and move into the other cues, and I think that’s because I’m feeling the movements in my body and I just want to repeat what I feel. You can do that, just say the pose name first.

It’s also okay if you trip up and don’t say the pose name first every single time. I can think back to my class just this morning where I taught the flow below and when I cued Bear pose I kept saying “Inhale, lift your heels, bend your knees, Bear pose.” It wasn’t horrible, they got it, but I repeated Bear pose a number of times, so by the second flow I could easily have just said “Bear” and they would know what to do. Watch yourself when you get into habit loops. You keep saying what you’ve said, because you’ve already said it, but that’s not always the best direction for the room.

Anywho—the main take away from this post is say the pose name before you give any other directional cues. Just try it. Notice if you don’t do it already, and see if anything shifts when you do.

Base Cues

Whenever we are moving someone’s body in space, we want to make sure they are stable. That’s why, after you’ve said breath and pose, you want to think about what body parts are supporting their weight, and how to move them into the next pose while still staying supported.

So take a transition from Airplane pose (where you are balancing on your right leg) to Warrior II.

Imagine that you started by saying: “spiral your left arm back.” Can you imagine all the many ways to read “spiraling your left arm back” from Airplane???? They might end up in a funky dance move! They might fall! Who knows.

Instead, I would recommend saying something like: “Warrior II. Soften your right knee and tap left toes to the back of the mat, ground your left heel down to forty five degrees, and spiral hips and chest open to the side of the room, reaching arms long.”

After the pose name, those cues start with the legs, the base, and then build up the body. It follows the natural flow of energy when you’re moving, it’s table, and that’s what you’re looking for.

Adjustment Cues

Once you are in the pose—let’s keep going with Warrior II—then you have the opportunity to give small micro adjustments. These are the tiny tweaks that you can offer to your students so that they find more stability and integrity in the shape.

Some of my favorites for Warrior II are:

• Tuck your bottom hip under you

• Relax your shoulders

• Activate your fingers

• Gaze over your front middle finger

• Activate your back glute

• Press through the knife edge of the back foot

• Shift your shoulders slightly back so they are over your hip points

• Hug your low ribs in

• Equal weight from back leg to front leg

• How’s the breath?

There are more here, too! There are many!

But I also wouldn’t give all these cues every time students find the shape. I would try to look around and see if there’s anything you notice in the room that you can speak to. Or, just pick one or two, then pick a few more on the next side.

Here’s the thing about cuing, especially when we’re just starting, we often think more is more is more is more. But the more you offer the more frazzled your students might become.

If you’ve said your base cues for Warrior II on one side, or even a couple times, then you don’t really need to say it again after that. Trust that your students have got it. And if they happen to be struggling, add the cues back in.

Silence is a beautiful and almost rare thing in our modern yoga world.

If your students are regulars, and they know the flow, try saying even less. What if you just cued: breath, pose, breath, pose—and you let them be in their own experience? It’s powerful.

Play with it. Be curious about it. Let your students feel confident about the direction they are heading in—that’s really the most important part.

Thoughts, comments, other ideas—I truly, truly l always love to hear from you. It makes this community feel so much more like a community. Drop me a comment and tell me the silliest cue that you’ve ever heard, or maybe the best one:

Leave a comment

Most importantly, be gentle with yourselves.

Practice, not perfect.

And also, this sequence today is really fun. I hope you like it :)

♥

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

@yoga.humans | @martensizzy

Notes on Today’s Sequence

I don’t want to over inflate this too much, but I taught the sequence I’m sharing with you today and one student came over to me after and whispered to me, almost like it was a secret: “That was the best class I’ve ever taken.”

😳

There’s a bounciness in this sequence that comes from Bear Pose into the Knee to Elbow transition, and from floating up from our Warrior I into a series of balancing poses. My paid subscribers will get to experience the full thing with the Main Flow and the Peak Flow, offered at the bottom of the letter.

We are ultimately moving into Visvamitrasana which is a bigggg move. But hopefully you’ll see how this class prepares the body through side planks, fallen triangle, heart openers, and side lengthening.

All subscribers get to take a peak at the Mini Flow, to give you a sense of where this class starts, and maybe to give you some inspo to decide for yourself where it goes next.

But if you do want to see all three flows, and you don’t already have access, you can always subscribe. It’s so very appreciated.

Want more on cuing? Check out these posts

• Cues to create relaxation

• The three main cues in any yoga class

• Finding your growth edge as a teacher

Mini Flow | January 14, 2026

the write-up:

• bear pose to knee to elbow

  • each side, then end with the leg that is starting the flow

• three legged dog

• scorpion tail

• fallen triangle

• three legged dog

• warrior one

• humble warrior

• lift up halfway and release hands at low back

• walk hands out

  • think downdog in the back

• low crescent lunge

• half splits

• low lunge

• modified side plank

  • or side plank

• down dog

Let’s keep it rocking! From the Mini Flow we make our way into the Main Flow and then the Peak Flow. The Main Flow continues to build on our base, but it expands the standing sequence with a number of interesting moves and brings us ultimately to our bellies for some back strengthening. The Peak Flow is where we find our deepest expressions!

Main Flow

Read more

Another philosophy lesson today!

Who here has been following along since I started introducing the kleshas back in March? If you have been, then you know my intention has been to take it slow and steady. Not to rush through the journey, rather, to introduce a concept and then spend some time sitting with it, digesting it, and ultimately getting comfortable with explaining it to my students.

With this approach, I feel like I’ve been able to really remember and digest the concepts, rather than shoving them all down, which is slightly different than how I feel we usually learn during something like a training, when we’re overloaded with a lot of information at once. I hope this method has been working for you.

If you haven’t been following along, or you need a reminder, here’s a quick summary of where we’ve been (if you don’t need the reminder, then skip ahead!):

We started by introducing Samkhya philosophy—which is said to be the “mother philosophy” that precedes yoga. Samkhya seeks to answer: Why do we suffer and how can we become liberated? In this philosophy, everything is made of two forces: Purusa, pure awareness, and Prakriti, the ever-changing material world. We suffer when we forget who we are (awareness itself) and get tangled in what we are not (our thoughts, bodies, stories). The kleshas are obstacles that trip us up on the path. The first klesha is Avidya (ignorance)—it’s the bedrock of all the others—which is best defined as: ”We suffer because we think “the impermanent is permanent, the impure is pure, the painful is pleasant and non-self is the self.” The second klesha is Asmita, which has to do with the ego—mistaking our monkey mind, our labels, our identities with our true higher self. The third is Rāga—desire and attachment to what feels good.

These aren’t moral failings, just side effects of being human.

If you are brand new to these, I would recommend backtracking. Start with the first post, read it, digest it, and then in a day or two move onto the next.

If you’re ready to move forward, then let’s jump into the fourth klesha: Dvesha—avoidance. Dvesha is considered the counter part to Rāga. If Rāga is about running toward what feels good, then Dvesha is all about running away from what’s uncomfortable.

Dvesha first appears to us in Yoga Sutra 2.8:

duḥkhānuśayī dveṣaḥ
दुःखानुशयी द्वेषः ॥८॥

Translated loosely to: Aversion is detachment from pain and suffering.

The simplest way to start thinking about this might be to draw your mind back to a commonly used yoga cue, which is: “See if you can sit with any discomfort you might be feeling in this pose.”

When we use that cue, what we’re really asking students to do is to stay with something that feels challenging, instead of running away or hiding from it. We’re really teaching how to recognize dvesha.

But this goes far beyond just sitting in a challenging yoga pose. We can think of all the many ways that we tend to run or hide from what’s challenging. We avoid the needed-but-difficult conversation, we reach for numbing agents so we don’t have to feel awkward in social settings, we don’t move our bodies because it’s hard. All of those are examples of running from discomfort.

We also tend to get uncomfortable when we’re faced with difference. So we push difference away. We label difference as “bad.” We turn away from it. This can be differences of opinions, differences in appearance, differences in language, or culture, or political views. That’s why another translation of dvesha is hate.

So what’s the opportunity here? First, it’s to recognize that this experience is so very human. I will say it again: shame doesn’t serve us on this journey. We all do this. But we can learn to do less of it.

We can recognize when this is arising for us. Notice when you have the desire to “run” from a hard feeling, emotion, or sensation. (There are moments of true safety when it is important to leave the situation, of course.) But most of the time we also have the choice to face whatever is uncomfortable instead. Let us stare into the face of discomfort until it morphs, loses its power. Becomes not something that is “good” or “bad” but just something that “is.”

My friends, this is a valuable lesson. Especially in our world right now.

If dvesha is a veil, then let’s remove the mask. Let us look at differences not with aversion but with acceptance. Let us examine our hatred. Let us attempt to choose peace instead.

It’s not easy. But it could literally heal our world.

What is coming up for you with this one? I’d love to hear from you:

Leave a comment

Notes about today’s sequence

My friends, this class today is one of those classic, flowy, modifiable vinyasa sequences that many audiences will love. I’ve shared both the mini-flow and main flow with the full audience.

The peak flow, for paid subscribers, is cool though. This is the flow we’ve been building up to in this class. It features a number of peak postures, like middle splits (how often do you see middle splits in class???) and a few other standing balances and arm balances. The peak poses are integrated directly into the flow. It all feels fluid and cohesive.

I hope you enjoy them. I hope you’re well. And just as a reminder, I’m always a comment or an email away. I’d love to hear from you. It makes this online world seem human—you know?

Sending love,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

@yoga.humans | @martensizzy

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | October 29, 2025

Mini Flow

the write-up:

• easy twist

• sweep up to high crescent lunge

  • from easy twist take the top arm back, down and around, and then sweep up to high crescent lunge

• three knee dips

  • pull elbows down by sides as you dip back knee

• launch into standing L

• 90-90 lunge

• open arm twist

• airplane

• one leg mountain

• cactus knee circles

  • open to scarecrow and just explore this hip joint

• one leg mountain

• chair plane

• extended mountain w/ cactus arms

• take a vinyasa of your choice

Main Flow

the write-up:

• easy twist

• “travel the world”

• high crescent lunge

• knee dip

• warrior II

• dancing warrior X2

• peaceful warrior

• cartwheel to standing L

• 90-90 lunge

• open arm twist

• exalted

• airplane

• one leg mountain

• scarecrow into dragon squat

• (reverse the movement)

• one leg mountain

• chair plane

• extended mountain

• vinyasa of choice

Questions? Leaving a comment, or liking the post, helps me out! I appreciate it and you!

Leave a comment

Did you listen to the latest Dear Humans podcast yet? This is a truly beautiful conversation. James A. Pearson is a poet who I have featured many times in What I Read in Yoga this Month and he was just as insightful in person as he is on the page. Listen here or search “Dear Humans” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Listen

Here’s a peek at what waits for you behind the paywall! This peak flow includes middle split, a playful take on a balance challenge in that 90-90 lunge, soldier pose, reverse dancer’s. I hope to see you inside.

Read more

Dear Humans,

Here is one of my favorite quotes about feedback:

“We do want to learn and grow, but we also want to be accepted as we are right now.”

–Douglas Stone and Shelia Heen, Thanks for the Feedback.

I love this quote because it encapsulates the complexity of feedback.

As a human being, we usually do want to know where we can improve AND we want to feel like we are already enough.

Feedback can be challenging, because most people were never taught how to give it in a way that really supports the other person.

I’ve written before that feedback has to come from a bedrock of trust. It’s really hard to have a good feedback relationship if there isn’t trust that this person has your best interest at heart and an inherent agreement about the nature of the feedback conversation.

Feedback is sensitive. And okay, here is my hot take for the day: I think that feedback, especially in the yoga studio setting, often does more harm than good.

But what if we could change that?

Today I want to offer up a couple more ideas on how to create a loving culture of feedback in the yoga studio (or really any environment). This is the next step in what I’ve already written about which is that: feedback relationships should start with relationship building and trust, feedback should be agreed upon (they know it’s coming), and it’s always okay to say no thank you to feedback.

#1. Give the person receiving feedback the opportunity to speak first.

Take a moment and put yourself in this scenario: You just finished teaching a yoga class. You know it was clunky. You felt a little off and there were a couple places where you know you made errors or shifted into a habit that doesn’t serve your teaching. You have a feedback conversation coming up and you know that they are going to point out all those places that you are already feeling bad about. You want to explain yourself, but you don’t want to feel defensive, so you just quietly nod.

Have you been there before? I have.

Now, imagine that same thing has happened, but instead the person giving you feedback starts by saying:

That was a really wonderful class. Thank you for guiding me. To start our conversation, I want to hear from you. What are a few things that went well in class and a few things that you’d like to work on.

Ah! Now you have the opportunity to chat about not only the things that you didn’t feel good about, but also the things you did feel good about. You have the chance to acknowledge your own strengths and growth areas, which can feel empowering, without feeling defensive.

If you’re the person giving the feedback, you might be surprised just how self-aware the other person is about their own sticky areas. Then, you have the opportunity to agree, modify, or add to what they are saying. Remember, always with love in mind.

#2. Feedback should support the relationship, not the other way around.

Most research shows that in order for a relationship to flourish, the magic ratio is at least 5:1. Five positive interactions for every one negative interaction.

And for most people, a feedback conversation is considered a negative interaction. It’s a criticism, whether it’s delivered kindly or bluntly.

That’s okay. It doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen. It simply means that we should think about when feedback conversations are happening, and at what frequency.

Let me invite you to imagine another scenario: You are a brand-new yoga teacher. You are teaching at a studio and the yoga studio owner regularly attends your classes and evaluates you. You are doing your best, but you are still learning and making mistakes. After every class, the studio owner gives you things that you could work on. You start to become wary of teaching, because it’s feeling disheartening to hear so much critique every time you teach. You feel like even when you improve, there’s always something else to work on. You start to dread seeing the studio owner, because you feel like you are never allowed to just be yourself, you always have to “be better.” It makes you feel like you aren’t really seen as a person, just as a teacher who can improve.

That sounds pretty exhausting, doesn’t it?

As yoga teachers, we are putting ourselves in a vulnerable situation. Sometimes we have great classes, and sometimes we have off nights. And often, we already know when that’s happening.

We don’t always have the energy or bandwidth to take on critique. We’re already our own harshest critics.

If feedback is coming from a person too often, then the magic ratio is compromised. It starts to effect the relationship.

Sometimes it’s okay to just celebrate that you taught a class, no feedback needed.

I know a few teachers who were clearly trained to ask for feedback after each of their classes, and while I admire this, it goes against some of the bedrock principles above, which is that not everyone is the right person to be offering you feedback, and not every moment is the right moment to get feedback.

When I’m a student attending class, even though I’m a teacher at that studio, and a teacher asks me afterward: “Do you have any feedback for me?”

Usually I say: “Not tonight! I was just enjoying class as a student, but next time if you want feedback after class, let me know and I’ll keep my eye out for some things!”

Even if I noticed something funky in the class, I don’t often see the need to offer it to my yoga teacher friends on the fly after class. I want my interactions to be feedback oriented when they need to be, but to stay within that ratio — mostly, we’re just humans, hanging out and having a human experience.

We want to learn and grow. And we want to be loved as we are right now.

Alright my friends, I know that’s a long topic for today. I hope it’s given you some ideas to chew on. Any thoughts or comments, we can chat in the comment section:

Leave a comment

It’s Fall! I’m loving it! My mind is feeling much more settled after the whirl of summer. What about you? Let me know how you are, dear humans.

Warmly,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

@yoga.humans | @martensizzy

Notes about today’s sequence

Today I am sharing three sequences with you!

This sequence set is designed for an intermediate class, with a focus on mobility and flexibility. With that being said, the layers evolve in intensity from the mini-flow, to the main flow, and finally to a spicy peak flow. So if you aren’t teaching an intermediate group, the mini-flow might be a good inspiration for you this week.

Our peak flow leads us into some fun poses, like hovering fallen triangle, marichyasana I, bound half moon, and more!

We are thinking about hip mobility, adductor flexibility, and shoulder mobility.

I hope you enjoy them!

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | October 1, 2025

main flow—the write-up:

• three legged dog

• fallen triangle

• wild thing

• crouch and reach

• wild thing

• 3 legged dog

• extended side angle

• skandasana

  • sit back

• hip flossing

  • rotating the top knee in and then up

• skandasana

• crawl to an easy twist

• shiva squat

• hovering shiva squat

  • pulsing in and out a few times

• low lunge

• three legged dog

• vinyasa with one leg hovering

Check out how you can build a class around this sequence with two more standing flows, offered below! Or, if you’re looking for something else, remember you can always “search” for poses, intensity, or class section at yogahumans.substack.com.

New Podcast! Inclusive Cuing and Intuitive Noticing

Listen now!

Alright my friends! I have a mini flow for you, which will help set the foundation for the deep postures in our main flow. In the mini flow we are going to start to stretch and lengthen those adductors, find some gentles twists and shoulder opening, and get comfortable on our hands.

Then our peak flow is where all the magic happens! We are getting into some funky binds, balances, and stretches that an intermediate or advanced student group will love. Enjoy!

Read more

Dear Humans,

Since January, I have been chewing over a few fundamental concepts in the yoga practice.

I started by diving into Samkhya—the mother philosophy that came before yoga.

Then I took us into avidya—the first of five kleshas that help us understand why we suffer.

A few months later, I brought us to the second kelsha—asmita or ego—and how you might teach the concept in your yoga class.

Today, I want to bring us into the third of those kleshas—rāga or desire.

This one is so resonate for me in my life right now. But before we jump in, I want to address why I’m moving through these so slowly.

You might be thinking: “Five kleshas, five weeks in a month, this could be a month long series, Izzy, let’s just power through.”

But this year I’ve been wary of overloading myself with information. Instead I’ve been trying to deeply integrate and understand the information that I’m consuming and sharing.

I don’t know about you, but it takes me some time to fully embody a complicated concept. I need time to chew on it. To ponder it. To explain it in my own words. To think about it a few times over the course of many weeks.

I am trying to start at the roots of the yoga philosophy and build up from there. I am trying to create a solid foundation of understanding; rather than skating by concepts. I’ve learned all of this before. But right now in my life I want to truly know it.

In something like a 200 hr YTT, we move SO QUICKLY through thousands of years of knowledge. And I understand why. But that blur of info makes it hard to hold onto.

So my approach, now, is slow, steady, and deliberate.

And I hope learning this way helps you, too, my friends. I hope chewing on these concepts helps you have the confidence to really apply them to your own life and your own teaching.

With that, let’s begin…

Read more

Dear Humans,

There is a lot of information out there about what you should or shouldn’t do as a yoga teacher.

And part of determining the right approach for you has to do with your own observations and gut instincts.

There are plenty of things that they told me I must do in my teacher training that I no longer do.

One of those things came up for me when I was attending a class recently.

The teacher sat down and then said:

“Before we begin, does anyone have any injuries or conditions that you want me to know about?”

This is probably a pretty common approach, and to be clear, I’ve also done this. But now, my gut instinct tells me that asking people to reveal their injuries or conditions in front of an entire class is problematic for a couple of reasons.

I’m going to start with the more minor reasons in my mind, and then get to the big reason. I’m doing this deep dive, not to judge or shame anyone who has maybe done this or still does this, but simply to examine a common piece of yoga teacher training advice, and invite us all to examine the impact of this topic.

Firstly, asking this question in front of the whole group takes up class time. You might have four or five people raise their hand (maybe more!). This isn’t something that all of your students need to spend their time listening to, even if the advice you provide might be useful to everyone.

More than likely, students will zone out or feel like class time is slipping away. You might also encounter the situation where a student with an ailment hears so many other people share that they get nervous about taking up air space so they don’t speak and then don’t get the help they need.

The second thing on my mind is, as the teacher, you then need to publicly address the injuries or conditions that come up.

I remember being a new teacher and thinking to myself that I simply didn’t know how to respond to every injury or condition that came my way.

I do think that there is an expectation that yoga teachers should have a baseline knowledge of modifications that can be made in the body for certain conditions (if you’re interested, I’ll do another post about the injuries and conditions that I’ve seen come up most frequently in my teaching career). But especially when we’re first starting, we might not be there yet.

So, with that in mind, I think it’s important to have the mindset of a lifelong learner. Continuing to look and research possible yoga modifications. And it’s important to have a good response ready if you don’t know the answer.

If you’re presented with an injury or condition, and you don’t have the answer, then rather than pretending, you can simply be truthful, you can say: “I don’t actually know about that specific condition. My best advice is to listen to your body as you move. If anything isn’t feeling good then it’s not worth it and you can ease off of it. If I notice that happening, I’ll come over and give you a suggestion for what else you might do. I’ll do some research into your concern and chat with you about it next time.”

This is a lovely way to address an injury you don’t have the knowledge to speak to. It’s better to “confess” then it is to possibly give misleading or harmful advice. And this is SO much easier to do one-on-one than it is in a full group.

The final reason I don’t like the full group approach is because this is a pretty vulnerable question.

Injuries or chronic conditions can shape people’s identities and mental health, so by asking this in front of other people you run the risk of people being too nervous (or even ashamed) to communicate what’s going on with them publicly so they don’t get the advice from you that they need.

Imagine a pregnant woman that doesn’t yet want to disclose she’s pregnant, or someone who has any other type of personal condition that they don’t feel comfortable talking about. That’s not something we should be asking our students to share publicly. Even putting the question out there might trigger a nervous reaction.

So how would I handle this instead?

Here are a couple of other approaches that I like:

• As you meet new students, address this with them the first time you meet them. You can say something like: “In my classes, please feel free to come chat with me at any time if you want advice about modifications you might make if any injuries or conditions come up that might impact your practice.”

• Another approach that I’ve seen work well is when the teacher moves from mat to mat and individually asks the students how they’re feeling before class time. This can also feel somewhat public, especially if it’s a tight classroom. It could also be quite time consuming and you might not get to everyone, but it does create more of an individual connection and rapport.

My honest, honest answer about what I do is that I usually rely on students to come to me and communicate what’s going on with them. If they are seeking advice, in my experience, they will come ask for help.

I know that’s not going to be a pleasing answer for everyone, and depending on what style of yoga you teach it might be completely the wrong approach for you. Again, you have to know your student base and trust your gut here.

Now this deviates us off topic a little bit, but I think one of the reasons it is so complicated to be a yoga teacher right now is because there is so much conflicting and competing information out there.

With the rise of social media and the algorithms, there is also a reward for presenting conflicting or controversial information and taking a hard stance on it.

Yoga, I believe teaches us to walk a middle path. To try and really understand the energetics, the nuance, and the complexity of any given situation. That means that what’s right for me might not be right for you. What’s right for one student might not be right for another student.

And this has been part of my journey as a teacher—understanding that so much advice when it comes to teaching yoga is subjective. This newsletter included! These are my thoughts and opinions, so we won’t always agree, and that’s okay.

If you understand that there are lots of different “right” approaches depending on your unique position as a teacher, and your unique students, then you’re able to really detach a lot of emotion from it.

It becomes less about what is right and what is wrong, and more about what is kind and compassionate, and the smartest choice given the information that you have, including your gut instincts.

So while this topic today is a simple one in essence, to me it represents a lot of what’s challenging about yoga teaching and yoga teacher training.

I endeavor to never tell you what you should do — instead, I invite you to tune in to the effects of your choices as a teacher, in order to create the ideal container for your students and their path.

Thoughts, my friends? I always love hearing from you.

Leave a comment

Today I’ve shared three sequences—a warm-up flow, mini flow, and a main flow. (If you want a reminder about my sequencing approach check out this post).

This class is an invigorating all-body vinyasa flow, with an emphasis on transitioning from horizon lunge into side plank. I’d recommend doing a little wrist-warm up during your cat/cows with this one.

Dear humans, I hope you’re well, I appreciate you. Let me know how you are.

Until next time,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

@yoga.humans | @martensizzy

Read more

I had just started at a new yoga studio and I was taking over a popular class time from another teacher, Sydney. I’d had multiple people tell me how much they had loved Sydney’s classes and how much they would miss her.

To be honest, I felt a bit intimidated. I looked at her social media and saw that we were about the same age. We seemed to have a similar teaching style. She was lovely and interesting.

I felt like I had something to prove. I wanted to be a good replacement for this teacher who everyone seemed to love so much.

I think this is so very human: to compare ourselves to others. To wonder how we stack up. And I think it’s especially true in yoga studios—which is fascinating. I think it’s partly by design: we can compare reviews, class sizes, student feedback.

And if we’re not super conscious of it, we can let that comparison seep into our relationships with our fellow teachers.

But I think there’s an antidote to this—and that’s to get to know your fellow teachers on a human level.

I decided to go to one of Sydney’s classes. It was clear right away that we got along. She was sweet and bubbly. Taught a wonderful class. And at the end we decided we should go get coffee together.

Coffee turned into swimming at the reservoir turned into dinners at each others’ houses turned into Sydney teaching yoga for my community on the morning of my wedding.

I’m so grateful that instead of listening to my fear voice, and staying intimidated and competitive with Sydney, I decided to see who she really was. Not as a teacher, but as a human.

We don’t have co-workers in the traditional sense as yoga teachers. We don’t often spend time with each other unless we carve out that time. And there’s so much benefit to having yoga teacher friends.

It’s nice to talk to someone about your classes, your students, your experiences. It’s nice to have someone to lift you up on both the great days and the hard days.

And it’s amazing to have a collaborator…

My friends, today Sydney and I are launching an extremely special offering — a week long yoga and wellness retreat in North Portugal. The first yoga retreat I’ve ever offered. Which feels just so incredibly special.

Join us in August 2026 for Intuitive Return: A Retreat to Move, Breathe, and Return to You. More information about the retreat can be found below, and if you have any questions about it please feel free to reach out. It would be SO amazing to practice with you in person, so I hope you’ll consider joining us.

This full circle moment reminds me that when we look at each other, and we look past our fears, we can so often see the potential for connection. We can shift from competition into support. We can lift each other up.

Humans, the sequences I’m sharing with you today lead to a spicy class which features flying pigeon as a peak posture, and also gives students a chance to play in handstand stag kicks or shiva squats.

With all four sequences, you’re well prepared to lead a firey and thoughtful class. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you’re doing well.

Sending love,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

@yoga.humans | @martensizzy

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | June 18, 2025

main flow — the write-up:

• downward dog

• bear pose

• right knee to right elbow

• three legged dog with scorpion tail

• wild thing

• crouching wild thing

• wild thing

• crouching wild thing

• three legged dog

• low lunge

• warrior II

• reverse triangle

• extended side angle with half bind

• reverse warrior with half bind

• cartwheel to low lunge

• standing L

• handstand kicks or shiva squats

• one legged mountain

• twisted one legged mountain

• one leg mountain

• standing figure four

• one leg mountain

• airplane

• warrior I

• humble warrior

• low lunge

• downdog

To build a class around this sequence, I have three more flows. Two flows to use as your warm-up, which set the foundation of the flow. Then a “peak flow” to bring it all together. I share these at the end of the newsletter for paid subscribers!

Move. Breathe. Return to you.

This retreat is for anyone craving a shift. Not just rest—but reconnection. Reconnection to body, mind, and spirit, but also to community. Through daily yoga, guided meditation, intuitive movement, and deep conversation, we’ll explore what it means to come home to your body, your purpose, and your own inner rhythm.

✨ A pristine escape in Northern Portugal

✨ Movement practices in the sun-drenched studio

✨ Daily meditation and communal silence

✨ Rituals and ceremonies to help us deepen our connections

✨ Spacious rooms. Good food. Good humans.

This retreat is perfect for:

✔ The Seeker
Longing to pause, listen inward, and realign with your intuition.

✔ The Body-Led Healer
Craves movement that’s both empowering (playful yoga) and surrendering (restorative rituals).

✔ The Nature Lover
Wants to wake up to birdsong, hike wild trails, and unwind under starry skies.

✔ The Community Builder
Thrives in circles of authentic sharing—no small talk, just real stories.

✔ The Burned-Out Creative
Needs a reset: no planning, no cooking, just being held in a sacred container.

Learn more

Check out the beautiful retreat center

QUESTIONS? Check our FAQ page or send us an email at portugalreturn@gmail.com

Use these additional three sequences to build out your class! The first flow and the mini flow do an awesome job at foreshadowing our movements in the main sequence and setting our foundation. This prepares us for the peak flow at the end, which highlights flying pigeon. Enjoy!

Read more

Dear Humans,

We haven’t talked sequencing in a while. So if you weren’t part of the community when I sent these out, or you want to revisit these topics, I have a lot of content around sequencing, like:

• 360 Degree Sequencing

• A Structure for Sequencing Your Class

• Sequencing for Strength, Not Strain

And today I want to revisit a topic which has been widely covered in the yoga world, and which I’ve also written about, but which is actually quite tricky to do well, which is teaching to a “Peak Pose.”

I want to start here by saying that I don’t always teach to a Peak Pose. I’ve started to mentally divide my classes: sometimes I am teaching to a peak posture and sometimes I am teaching for the sake of movement, without any “end goal.”

That right there was a big “a ha” for me — that I don’t always need to be teaching toward something. That sometimes a class which focuses across the body, and on interesting transitions, or flow, or rhythm, can be a beautiful and fulfilling yoga class. Sometimes that’s what the students need. Other times, I do want to target specific areas in the body, especially if I am introducing a difficult movement.

I think this is an interesting topic to explore further, so I’ll come back to it, but for today, I want to take an in-depth look at this Peak Pose(s) flow I’ve provided and explain why I made certain choices. In other words, I want to point out the areas of the body that I am trying to target in this class which focuses on getting into deep binds like: Bird of Paradise, Sage Twist Pose (Marichyasana), Bound Half Lord of the Fishes Pose, and Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana).

I hope that this will be interesting to you and will help you be better prepared to teach these sequences!

For all, I am going to show you the Warm-Up Sequence and then I am going to show you the Peak Flow.

Then, paid subscribers will get two additional flows, which they can slot-in between to create a full class. In those sequences, I am foreshadowing and warming up specific parts of the body, so I’ll point all that out.

This edition of What I Taught in Yoga This Week is more tactical, but I hope that will be interesting and useful to you.

How are you, my friends? Leave me a comment and tell me how your teaching journey or life is going. I love to hear from you.

Leave a comment

For me, this is my FINAL week of classes! I can’t even imagine how sweet summer is going to taste after this intense first year of my MFA program.

Also, we are meeting live on the Substack app next Monday, May 12 at 5pm MT. Mark your calendars below and I hope to see you then!

Sending love, dear humans,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

www.yogahumans.com

Mark your calendar 📆

The next LIVE class for paid subscribers is coming up on Monday, May 12 at 5pm MT. You need the Substack App to join in live. The class will be a 45 minute vinyasa flow, featuring a sequence that I’ll share in this newsletter.

Add to calendar

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | May 7, 2025

warm-up flow — the write-up:

• three legged dog

• lizard lunge w/ optional bind

  • the reason I added lizard into the warm-up is because many of the binds involve deep hip compression and knee flexion, this is a good warm-up pose for those areas; the first foot bind is optional there

Read more

What are we really doing here? This is a question that has been fascinating me over the past few months.

I’m a yoga teacher. What does that truly mean?

I’ve been on a journey this year to be able to answer that question, and to really understand the heart of the yoga practice.

(And if this post already feels overwhelming to you, don’t worry. I get that. I’m not here to judge you or shame you if you can’t answer those questions for yourself yet.

But if you’re like me, and you want to be able to confidently answer the question of what it means to teach “yoga” — in all it’s complexity—then I’m here to go on that ride with you. We’re learning. Side by side.)

You’ll remember that in this post I took us into Samkhya, the mother philosophy of yoga, and in this post I reminded us not to feel shame if we couldn’t yet answer these questions for ourselves in our yoga journey.

Read more

There are certain things that we do all the time in a yoga class: downward facing dog, ujjayi breath, savasana—and my question over the last week has been: do we understand why we’re doing all of this?

Again—no shame if the answer is “no”—so often I’ve forgotten or never learned in the first place, too. But as you know, my mission for this year is to revisit some of the basics around yoga philosophy and bring you along for the ride.

If you’re a yoga teacher seeking to deepen your understanding of the philosophy, one way to do that is to get curious about the intention behind the practices and postures.

The yoga practice has been built in an extremely intentional way. Most of the movements and techniques we use have deep layers of meaning behind them. That’s so cool, really, because it means there is so much to explore.

For example, this week I wanted to cue Nadi Shodhana or Alternate Nostril Breathing in my class. It’s a practice I’ve taught many times and one that I often see offered in yoga classes. At first, I just added it to my class plan. Then, I paused and asked myself if I really understood the why behind Nadi Shodhana.

The why rings a bell from my YTT days, but as I’ve talked about, it’s been a long time since then and it’s hard to remember it all. So, I looked it up. And, of course, there’s a really interesting reason behind this specific pranayama practice.

As teachers, I want us to be encouraged to dive back in to yoga with a beginner’s mind. Again and again exploring this big, vast philosophy, and not being scared to not know it all. When we revisit what we’ve been taught, we solidify it into our minds.

In today’s newsletter, I am going to share what I’ve learned about the philosophy behind Nadi Shodhana, and how I cued it in class. Then, for our sequences I am sharing a main flow that I used to stretch and activate the quads, designed for a class leading to reclined hero’s pose or supta virasana as a peak pose.

For paid subscribers, I then share three more flows that you can stack around the main flow to build a full yoga class: a warm-up flow, a mini flow, and the peak flow.

So, onward: first philosophy and pranayama, then asanas.

In yogic philosophy, it’s said that there are various energy channels throughout the body, we call these the nadis. The nadis bring prana (breath, energy, life force) throughout the body.

One of these channels moves through the left nostril: the ida nadi. Another channel moves through the right nostril: the pingla nadi.

The ida nadi is connected to the moon energy. This energy is softer, feminine, cooling. The left channel invites receptivity, relaxation and rest.

The pingla nadi represents the sun. This energy calls in vitality, passion, and strength. This is a heating energy.

In Sanskrit, “Ha” represents the sun and “Tha” represents the moon. Thus, “hatha yoga.” Much of the yoga we practice today comes from the teachings of hatha yoga. The idea is that we’re seeking to balance the sun and the moon energies in our bodies.

*This gets a little confusing because hatha yoga is both an umbrella terms for many styles of practice and it’s become a term ascribed to a set sequence of postures. I might try to explore this deeper in a future letter.*

The flow of energy through the two channels is often unequal. Depending on who we are, we might favor one more than the other. (This is also a physical phenomenon, nostril dominance is supposed to switch every 90 minutes, but sometimes this falls off pace, which is why this breathing practice can be beneficial).

When it comes to Alternate Nostril Breathing or Nadi Shodhana, we are using our breath to balance the ida and pingla nadis.

Here is how I cued it in my yoga class:

I had my students come to hero’s pose (virasana) using a block underneath their sitz bones for extra support. This served a dual purpose, because it’s a nice seated option and it foreshadowed the peak posture.

I led them into a few deep breaths, inviting them to close their eyes and begin to drop into the space.

I introduced the concept of the nadis, using the overview from above. Then I began to set them up for alternate nostril breathing.

I invited them to take their right hand and fold their index and middle fingers down to their palm. Then, lightly rest their thumb on their right nostril and their ring and pinky fingers on their left nostril.

I cued them to take a full breath in through both nostrils and a full exhale out.

Then, I began to cue in the following way:

• Close left nostril, exhale right for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Inhale right for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Hold at the top for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Exhale left for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Inhale left for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Hold at the top for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Exhale right for 2, 3, 4, 5

• Onward

After a few rounds cuing using the counts, I said: “Keeping going at your own pace” and I stopped cuing, allowing them to breathe in silence.

After a few more rounds, I let them know they had two rounds left. I invited them to end with an exhale through their left nostril, then take a big inhale through both nostrils and a big exhale.

For some of you, this content today will be a refresher, and hopefully for many of you it will be a good reminder that there’s always an opportunity to dive deeper.

Substack is telling me I’m nearing my email length limit…lol. So I’ll leave it here for today.

Be well this week, dear humans. Leave a comment if you want to add to the discussion! I know there’s even more depth to this topic.

Leave a comment

Sending love, warmth, and balance your way,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

yogahumans.substack.com | yogahumans.com

IG: @yoga.humans

If you don’t have the means to become a regular paid subscriber, but want to send a token of gratitude for the time and energy it takes to create this content, you could buy me a coffee instead,

Another easy way to support me is to simply give these posts a “like” or leave a comment on Substack. The algorithms love that. <3

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | Feb 12, 2025

the write-up:

• three legged dog

• toe to wrist taps (1-3)

• warrior II

• reverse warrior with gomukhasana arms

• reverse triangle

• triangle

• revolved half-moon

• revolved dancer’s pose

• eagle

• shooting star

• tik tok arms

• extended mountain

• forward fold

• high plank

• side plank with foot grab

• vinyasa!

For my paid subscribers, I’m giving you basically all the sequences that I stacked around the main flow from above to design a class leading to reclined hero’s pose as a peak posture. Reclined hero’s pose requires a lot of knee flexion and quad flexibility and it’s one of those postures you don’t want to jump into. So these flows are designed to activate and lengthen the quads so that students feel supported in the final shape. Enjoy!

Read more

I went to a yoga class the other day and as we were laying in our opening posture the teacher said:

“You know, so many of you come up to me after class to thank me and tell me how much you needed this, but the truth is, I need you, too.”

She went on to tell us how she works as an occupational therapist and spends her days trying to encourage people who are resistant to move their bodies and care for themselves. So she needs the balance of coming to yoga where students show up willingly to do those things.

I thought this was such a sweet sentiment, and it made me reflect on that question for myself: Do I need to teach?

Is there something about teaching that fills not just a practical purpose, or an ego-drive purpose, but a deep need?

This then sparks a broader question: Why do we teach?

I’m going to bet that most of us aren’t doing this for the money. (Though I think it’s important to get paid for this work.) And it’s a tough job for many people to do full time.

So why, then? Why choose this path over countless other options for how to spend your time and focus? Why do we devote our energy and effort into our teaching?

My guess is because it nourishes us in much the same way that it nourishes our students.

Sometimes I talk about teaching as an “energy pull.” It certainly takes a lot of energy to hold space and lead classes for others. But in all the ways that it “pulls” energy in a certain way, does it also “give” us energy in many other ways?

This is one of those nuances that I think is easier to feel on some days than others. And I think feeling it might depend on your intention and your mindset.

What if instead of thinking of teaching as an energy “pull,” we think of it as an energy exchange? Could that switch our experience of teaching on any given day?

I decided to put this theory to the test when I taught last Friday. I had a really busy day. One of those days where I was moving from one thing to the next. So by the time I got to the studio to teach I was feeling drained. I asked myself: Could my intention for this class be for it to nourish me? Can this be my break? My pause? My safe space?

And you know what? It was.

It was, simply because with this intention in mind I allowed myself to more fully tap into the energy that was being cultivated in the space. It softened some of the voices in my head that sometimes say “be perfect!” while teaching. It allowed me to access the flow.

Humans, I invite you to reflect on this question for yourself this week: Why do you teach? In which ways does it nourish you? In which ways does it deplete you? (Because it certainly does do that sometimes, too).

I hope that by reflecting on this question you arrive once again to the magic of the teaching practice. Because teaching yoga is a path, too. A place to be a student. A place of lifelong growth.

And I hope you’ll remember that some weeks, when our teaching practice isn’t nourishing us, it’s okay to take breaks. To find a sub simply because you feel like you need to rest.

I think coming back to our why? is an important practice, and one to revisit every once in a while. Often it brings us back to the heart of the practice.

Why do we teach?

Because—yoga reminds us that we are one.

I would love to hear your Why, dear humans:

Leave a comment

Friends, today I’m sharing with you a set of sequences that I designed to ultimately bring students into “Janu Pada Parvritta Anjaneyasana Namaskar.” What a name!

I was flipping through one of my yoga books and encountered this pose and decided to let it guide me as I was sequencing. This is a fun challenge as a teacher. It’s a pose with a balance element and a deep twist. So the class I designed works on those elements.

For this full community, I am sharing the “mini-flow” which I taught as my first standing sequence in class. Then, for paid subscribers I share the “main flow” and finally the “peak flow” which features our peak posture and a few fun arm balances.

Enjoy, be well, and thank you for being here, dear humans.

Sending you lots of love,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

www.yogahumans.com

If you don’t have the means to become a regular paid subscriber, but want to send a token of gratitude for the time and energy it takes to create this content, you could buy me a coffee instead,

Another easy way to support me is to simply give these posts a “like” or leave a comment on Substack. The algorithms love that. <3

Leave a comment

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | January 29, 2025

the write-up:

• three legged dog

• primal squat

• three legged dog

• cross step

  • right foot steps towards left wrist

• two / three dancing pyramids

  • lift the hips, straighten both legs, and fold

  • then re-bend

  • repeat

• cross legged forward fold

  • slide your left foot behind your right heel

• one leg mountain pose

• open arm twist

• airplane

• high crescent lunge

• revolved crescent lunge

• high crescent lunge

• open arm crescent lunge

• exalted

• vinyasa or downdog!

Dearest paid subscribers, two more flows and I also threw in a little bonus drill. I combined all the sequences into one video, so you’ll see the “mini-flow” from above, and then we’ll move onto the main flow (0:45 time mark), peak flow (1:49), and finally the bonus drill (2:37).

If you teach the drill, I would nestle it in between the main flow and the peak flow. The drill is intended to help the students engage their extended legs so the arm balances coming up.

I hope you enjoy these flows and that you can see how they build together to get us towards Janu Pada Parvritta Anjaneyasana Namaskar. Bonus points for you if you cue that name outloud during class!

:)

Read more

Yesterday I looked at my schedule and I realized that, between holidays and travel, it would be a full month before I taught my Tuesday night yoga class again. It would also be my final class with this group of the year.

All my classes are important to me, but my Tuesday night class has a special place in my heart. It’s an extremely dedicated group of regulars who I’ve come to know and love over the past few years. So I knew I wanted to teach something special to close out the end of the year.

I decided to teach a “capstone” class.

When you’re in school, a capstone class is basically your final project. It’s a culmination of everything you’ve learned as a student that year.

This is done in academia all the time, so why not in the yoga studio?

When I prepared my flow yesterday, I reflected on my favorite sequences, transitions, and drills that we’ve worked on as a class in 2024. Then, I took my favorite elements and I strung them together to create a fun flow.

It was a funky ladder, half mandala, playful sequence. I’ll film it for you on Saturday and share it with you soon.

Not only was the class familiar and fun, but it gave my students a sense of where they’d been and how far they’ve come.

Yoga will always be a practice. There’s no “end point” — there’s no real capstone — but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate the progress we’ve made on our mats: whether emotional, physical, or spiritual.

The class was special, too, because it felt special to me. Now I don’t mean to say that in an ego-driven way. I simply mean to remind you that the intentions you place behind your class as a teacher shine through to your students.

So if you’re thinking about how to “cap off” your year as a yoga teacher, I invite you to reflect back on all that you’ve taught this year. What have been your favorite transitions to play with? What poses did you love working on? What strengthening drills intrigued you? Use these reflections to guide you in creating an end of the year class that celebrates who you were as a teacher this year and all the hard work your students put in.

Humans, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being part of this community. I recorded a little message for you!

In this message I share my gratitude, invite your feedback, and announce that next week I will be sharing a special podcast episode where I’ll guide listeners through an intention setting ceremony for the new year.

Now, onto today’s business: I have three flows for you today! A mini-flow, a main flow, and then a final flow to get students into grasshopper as a peak posture. Free subscribers get the main flow, and paid subscribers can find the other two flows at the bottom of this edition.

In these flows, you’ll see how they are all building on one another. In the mini-flow, we introduce some base movements. Those movements are mirrored and amplified in the main flow. We also practice poses like figure four and toe stand in a variety of ways, to help us get to grasshopper later on in the peak flow.

Grasshopper is a tricky, tricky pose. So when I taught this in class I reminded my students that the class wasn’t about getting into grasshopper, it was about the journey to get there.

What a journey it’s been.

Until next time, be well, dear humans,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

www.yogahumans.com

the sequence write-up

• three legged dog

• low lunge

• high crescent lunge

• open arm twist

• exalted (walk fingers back to get deeper)

• open arm twist

• tap front elbow to outside of front thigh

• open arm twist

• tap back elbow and back knee (see video)

• one legged mountain

• figure four

• figure four folded twist

• unwind to mountain

• chair

• toe stand

• boat pose

• low boat

• rock back and roll up

• land in ragdoll with shoulder expansion bind

• one legged mountain with bind

• airplane with bind

• high crescent lunge with bind

• high crescent lunge with cactus backbend

• star with arms wrapped into a hug

• wide leg fold with arm wrap

• wide leg fold with twist

• low lunge (back of mat)

• revolved side lunge (revolved skandasana)

• low lunge

• downdog figure four

• three legged dog

• downdog or vinyasa!

Important Note

In January, I am increasing the cost of my paid subscriptions. If you are an existing paid subscriber, your cost will stay the same. You’ll stay at $5/month or $45/year until you cancel.

But if you’re interested in becoming a paid subscriber, you can subscribe now to take advantage of the lower rates before the price bump on January 1.

Subscribe now

Do you have a yoga teacher in your life that you are thinking of this holiday season? Consider giving them the gift of sequencing inspiration and community!

Gift subscriptions to What I Taught in Yoga This Week are a thoughtful token of appreciate and a gift that keeps giving through the year.

Give a gift subscription

Get a group subscription

Two more flows! We start with a mini-flow, which prepares the body for the movements ahead. It is also just a great flow to teach to an all levels class, or maybe to practice on your own.

If you were teaching this in the studio, you would start with the mini-flow, then head to the main flow from above, and finally the “peak flow” which will take you into our final standing postures and our peak pose of “grasshopper.”

Check them out!

Read more

When I was new to teaching I remember trying to sequence to a “peak posture” and getting overwhelmed. I didn’t really know what specific muscles needed to stretch or activate for every pose I wanted to teach.

My YTT had given me a basic overview of human anatomy, but I was still a beginner and I didn’t know all I felt I needed to.

So when it came to something like teaching to a “peak” pose, I wasn’t sure if I was doing it correctly or well. It was frustrating because I wanted to be doing my best and I also wanted to teach safely.

It’s been a journey of learning for me to get to a point where I feel I can confidently call out muscle names and explain to my students what’s happening in their body and why.

But even if you don’t feel like you’re there yet, or you’re brand new and you are feeling overwhelmed (like I was), I think you can still sequence to a peak pose or tune-in to what’s happening in your body, even if you don’t have the scientific language.

So today I’m going to share a few thoughts on teaching to a “peak posture” and then share a peak pose flow leading to grasshopper, which I taught to my students last night. For my paid subscribers I’m also going to share the two other flows I used in my class to build out the full set of standing sequences, one of which features baby grasshopper!

Here are a few thoughts:

#1. I think all yoga teachers should continue to learn anatomy and understand the human body. It’s going to be harder for some people than others. Our brains all work in different ways. Keep going. You’ll pick up more and more knowledge as time passes.

#2. Most YTT are only going to give you a basic overview. A lot of this learning will have to happen on your own through books, blogs, and workshops and courses specifically related to anatomy. I would recommend this online course from YogaMedicine and this book.

#3. Most teachers are already teaching, even before they feel totally confident in their anatomy training. That’s the reality. So be gentle with yourself, remind yourself its a journey, and proceed safely and curiously. There are so many resources online to help you – just look up what peak pose you want to reach for and you’ll get lots of ideas.

Understanding what you want to stretch, and what you want to strengthen, in order to reach a peak pose is an important skill. But I want to demystify the process of creating a peak posture flow by giving you a simple hack that’s helped me:

pay attention and then mimic.

By this I mean, take a look at the peak pose you want to move into. What’s happening in this posture? You don’t need to know the names for each muscle group, but you can see that certain things lengthen, certain muscles are working, certain joints are holding weight. Then ask yourself: What other postures look like this one? What poses mimic the one I’m reaching for?

Take Grasshopper, the peak posture from my flow below. Well, I notice a few different things happening, in general terms:

• my arms are holding my weight and mimicking an arm balance like crow pose

• my legs are in a figure four-like shape

• there is a deep, deep bend in my knee and compression in that hip

• my wrists are bearing weight, so warming up the wrists would be important

• there’s a lot of extension happening in my lifted leg, so that would be good to practice

• there is a twist happening in my spine

Now, we can begin to think about the warm-ups that would be useful to integrate into our flow:

• We can add some easier arm balances like Crow Pose

• We’ll want to practice Figure Four

• With the hip compression we noted above, happy baby seems to mimic that

• We can add-in a wrist warm-up to our opening

• We’ll want to integrate a lot of twists into our flow

• We can add a pose like Malasana to mimic the deep knee bend

Just like that, you’ve started to build out your standing sequence and ensured that you have poses in your class that will nicely warm-up and prepare your students for a peak posture. Take a look at our flow from this week and then let me know in the comments what you can identify as preparatory for grasshopper!

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | July 3, 2024

I hope you saw some of the elements we identified above as being important: twists, figure four, malasana – and other elements like balancing and leg extension. As I mentioned, for my paid subscribers at the end of this issue, I’ll share the two other flows I taught before I taught grasshopper, which include more preparatory poses and baby grasshopper, which can be a nice starting point.

In class, I taught all three flows, and then I had the students come to the top of their mat to practice grasshopper. I didn’t film myself in grasshopper (whoops!), but Daniel Rama has a video on Instagram that he just posted about getting into it.

Fair warning, this is a tough pose!! Hence all the warm-up. :)

Humans, whether you love anatomy and sequencing around a peak posture, or you’re new to it and maybe a bit overwhelmed, remember that all things take time. As I’ve said, teaching is a skill and it takes practice.

Good thing we love the practice.

Warmly,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

www.yogahumans.com

the write-up

• chair plane

• revolved chair

• step back to revolved high crescent lunge

• open arm twisted crescent

• high crescent

• open arm twisted pyramid

• high crescent

• warrior II

• reverse triangle

• star with hands at heart center

• warrior II (face back)

• reverse warrior

• cartwheel to standing L

• shiva squats (x3)

• hold in shiva squat then sit

• half lord of the fishes

• unwind to frog squat (malasana)

• malasana swoops

• pyramid (face front)

• warrior III

• one leg mountain pose

• figure four (add the twist)

• one leg mountain

• step forward to mountain

If you’re new here – hello!

• Let me introduce myself! My name is Izzy Martens and I’m just a human who teaches yoga, writes, hangs out with her husband and two cats, hikes around Colorado, and enjoys creating yoga sequences.

• I teach three yoga classes a week and I started this publication to simply share what I was teaching, in the hopes that other yoga teachers would find it helpful. My real flows designed for real yoga teachers.

• My style and study background are mostly vinyasa, power, ashtanga, rocket, and hatha. Though I have a touch of training in yin, dharma, iyengar, and yoga nidra as well.

• My husband and I started yogahumans.com because we were new-ish teachers and we found we had so many questions about the actual act of teaching yoga after our 200hr training. We started Yoga Humans to provide some of the answers we were finding and create a sense of community around teaching yoga.

• Many years later and my husband, Kyle, is now tattooing and just opened his own tattoo studio in Fort Collins, Co (foundtattoo.com) – a space for intentional and beautiful tattoos. I’m primarily posting on this newsletter now and on social media (@yoga.humans on IG).

• Ethos. I believe that yoga is a beautiful practice and the more people who have the opportunity to practice it, the better. I believe in deeply honoring the traditions and history of yoga. I also acknowledge that much of the modern yoga we teach now has evolved away from the original teachings. I, like much of the modern yoga world, am working to find the best way to continue to practice, breathe, move, play and evolve, while also honoring the deep roots of the yogic practice. It’s not always a perfect attempt. I am by no means an expert. Just a human, trying to figure it out as I go. One of my main goals for this publication is to come at it from a place of love and compassion. This is a place where we can discuss our ideas and ask questions without fear of retribution or judgement. I notice a lot of critique and anger online in the yoga world. Honestly, it’s disheartening and I know prevents people from sharing. You’re always welcome to send messages and leave comments, but please do so from a place of curiosity. First and foremost, let’s extend love and empathy towards one another. Let us remember that we’re all humans, walking this path together. A key principle of yoga in ahimsa - non-harm - let’s seek to find that online as well as in our real lives.

• Who are you, dear human? Leave a comment and get into the discussion! My door is always open. I’m so glad you’re here.

Leave a comment

Two more flows for you below!

Read more