How I teach an all levels class

& a fun eagle flow with options

Mar 06, 2024

Dear humans,

I hope you’re having a beautiful start to the week. In Colorado, the Crocuses are popping up from the ground, making it feel like spring for the first time. (Even though, let’s face it, we likely have much more snow ahead).

I want to talk today about what it means to teach an “all levels” class.

From my perspective, an all levels class means that a student at any level of their asana practice should be able to attend and find what they’re looking for. Both a student brand-new to yoga and a student who has been practicing for years will find the right postures and intensity for them.

But how does that work??? How can you teach to such a wide range of experience in one class??

For me, the answer comes down to options. Providing your students with lots and lots of options throughout class. Additionally, it means having props available and cuing the use of those props.

Let’s paint this picture. Imagine you’re teaching the following sequence of postures: three-legged dog, half-pigeon, mermaid, three-legged dog, wild thing. There are some advanced postures in there.

Here’s how it might sound cued during an all levels class:

“From three legged dog, bring your shin forward to the front of the mat for half-pigeon. Take the time to adjust your posture, using props like a block or bolster under your lifted hip if you’d like extra support. If this feels funky on your knee, you can always take this pose as figure four on your back. From half-pigeon, if you’d like to move on to mermaid, we’ll head there next, or take an inhale and lengthen through the spine, then descend into sleeping pigeon. If you’ve stayed lifted, kick your back heel in towards your seat. *continue with mermaid cues until you’re ready to bring the students out.* Press into your palms, tuck your back toes and lift your back knee. Either sweep your leg up to three-legged dog or step back to downward facing dog. From three-legged dog you could bend the knee and open the hip, maybe take some hip circles, you could also flip your dog to wild thing. Find anything that serves you.”

You’ll notice in that short set of poses, a lot of options were provided using invitational words rather than a command, like “you could” or “if you would like to” or “you can stay here or…”. Additionally, you’ll notice that the use of props were cued.

That final sentence “find anything that serves you,” is a reminder I often like to make throughout my classes, especially an all levels class. I like to call out, explicitly, that a lot of options will be offered, and the students are always welcome to find what feels best in their bodies, and rest and modify as needed.

Let’s take a look at our flow this week, and then I’ll point out a few options that could be given if you teach a similar flow to an all levels audience.

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | March 6, 2024

In this flow, here are some places where the postures might be challenging and you could provide an option:

Instead of “exalted” option to stay in “open arm twist”
Instead of “shiva squat to half-moon” option to stay in “shiva squat”
Instead of “eagle” option to stay in “one-legged mountain”
Back toes can touch ground in “warrior III”
Eagle arms can be released at any time
Toes and hands can support in “boat”
Boat transition can be skipped entirely

Ultimately, teaching to an all levels audience can be challenging! It requires more cues, more awareness of the postures, their challenges, and the variations that can be made. I think it’s quite rewarding, as well.

It’s a gift to give an hour of yoga to another person. It’s even more of a gift to provide an hour of yoga where the student feels seen and held; where a diverse set of students can walk out and think “that class felt great.”

What other thoughts do you have about teaching to an all levels audience? Feel free to share in the comments! I love to hear from you and I know we can all learn from the collective wisdom of this group.

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

www.yogahumans.com

This week’s sequence in longhand:

extended mountain
pull arms down, palms face forward
press palms forward and step back to thunderbolt lunge
warrior II
flip palms to face the side
close back palm to front palm, coming into a lunge
peel palm back and open into open arm twist
exalted
star
goddess with arm circles
star
triangle (face the back of the mat)
half-moon
shiva squat
back to half-moon
back to shiva squat
step back to low lunge
high lunge with crescent squat
one legged mountain
eagle
release leg and keep eagle arms
warrior III with eagle arms
warrior I with eagle arms
humble warrior with eagle arms
unwind arms
wide leg forward fold
low lunge (front of mat)
half-lord of the fishes poses
boat pose
low boat - arms over head
sweep legs back
roll into a vinyasa!

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 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 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 veers 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 always 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 so much hate, critique and anger online in the yoga world. This doesn’t feel very yoga-like to me. You’re always welcome to send messages and leave comments, but please do so from a place of curiosity and sharing. First and foremost, let’s extend love and empathy towards one another. Let us remember that we’re all humans, walking this path together.
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.