It's brave, you know, to take the dive

// circle your mat with these half and full mandala flows, including a cool down!

Dear Humans,

I’m in Germany right now, on a little holiday with my husband. As I write to you, I can see forest all around me, and the sounds of the birds and the bugs and something that might be frogs, or might be something else, chirping from the trees.

There’s a river that runs past our cabin, just a short walk through the woods. Yesterday, I wanted to jump in. My husband didn’t feel like swimming so I ventured off alone.

As I walked, with the sounds of the animals as my companions, over to a river I’d never been to, I could feel myself on high alert—noticing every sound and scuttle behind the reeds.

I got to the riverbank and put my water bottle down at its edge. I stood for a while, gazing at the surface of the water. I could see a fish swimming, and lily pads blossoming. The water looked and smelled cleaned, I knew it was swimmable, but I couldn’t see below the surface, which made me nervous.

I found myself looking at the water, my mind racing through possibilities of risk. What might happen if I stepped into these unfamiliar waters? Would I get sick? What else was swimming under there? I’d seen a small fish, could there be bigger ones? What if the current was stronger than it seemed? Or, most unlikely, what if something reached up from the depths and pulled me under?

Funny, isn’t it? How our minds work.

There’s good reason for these thoughts of course. This is our protection instinct as human beings. We tend not to be overly reckless. We weigh the risks. We trust our instincts. We want to protect ourselves.

But there’s a balance in life between staying safe on shore and taking the dive. It’s an old metaphor.

In this moment, my deeper instinct was that I was perfectly safe, perfectly fine—but the fear of the unknown, of the unseeable was there.

But that wasn’t what I wanted to hold me back. So, I stepped slowly into the water. Splashing my feet to alert the other animals that I was there.

Then I dove in.

My friends, I’m not sure if this is related to yoga and yoga teaching, but I’m also certain that every lesson in life can be tied back to yoga in some way.

I don’t know about you, but my heart still tends to race before I teach. It’s that same instinct trying to kick in. It’s your mind telling you that you’re about to do something that feels risky. “Do you really want to be in charge of all these people for the next hour?” the fear says.

So why do we do it? Why do we put ourselves out there?

I think, partly, it’s because we want to show ourselves that we can. That we can face the stage fright and the fear of getting it wrong. We can brush off our mistakes and laugh with our switched sides and trust that we’re growing, just by being there.

We don’t have to teach yoga. It would actually be much easier not to. But if you’re here, reading this right now, I’m guessing that you teach because something about it calls to you.

So you stand on the river’s edge. You feel your heart beat. And you dive in anyway.

Because, in the end, it feels pretty good below the surface.

I guess, dear humans, all I want to say today is that I’m proud of you. I’m proud o you for diving in. It’s not a risk that everyone takes—following your passions, following the part of yourself that tells you to take the dive.

Today I’ve shared three sequences—a mini-flow, main flow, and then a cool down / peak flow. I’m sharing the main flow and peak flow with everyone. Then, if you want to see the mini-flow, so you can take a look at how I set my students up for success with this sequence, you might consider becoming a paid subscriber. (I’m running a summer sale right now!).

All of these sequences are either half-mandala or full mandala flows, which means they circle you either halfway around the mat or fully around the mat. If you need a reminder on how to teach these, head here.

It’s a long but fun main sequence. This is really for a more intermediate or advanced audience, but remember that you can always modify based on YOUR audience!

I hope you’re staying cool in the heat of summer, my lovely teaching friends.

Until next time,

Izzy

Izzy Martens

author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast

@yoga.humans | @martensizzy

What I Taught in Yoga This Week | July 2, 2025

main flow

the write-up:

• three legged dog

• knee to nose

• tap knee to mat

• knee to nose

• three legged dog

• low lunge

• high crescent lunge

• chair plane

• one legged mountain (if you are leading with right leg, right foot stays down)

• revolved one legged mountain

• one legged mountain

• airplane

• high crescent lunge with fists of fire

• warrior II

• reverse triangle to triangle to reverse triangle

• swoop down to wide leg forward fold

• low lunge (back of the mat)

• dancing pyramid

• chair pose

• extended mountain with a backbend

• forward fold

• lift to standing L (if right foot was leading, right foot stays on earth here to make the full circle of the mat)

• airplane

• broken plane

• star

• goddess with arm circles

• star

• warrior II (front of mat)

• reverse warrior

• cartwheel to three limb high plank

• wild thing

• unwind to downdog or vinyasa

peak/cool down flow

the write-up:

• three legged dog

• half pigeon to sleeping pigeon

• half pigeon to janu sirsasana (seated head to knee) facing the back of the mat

• revolved head to knee (lateral bend)

• stargazer

• seated forward fold (facing the back of the mat)

• dynamic movement (inhale, sweep negative energy off the body, exhale toss it off and fold)

• option for elephant trunk pose and / or eight angle pose

• hug in and then transition to downdog for the other side

Don’t forget to check out the mini flow at the end of this letter! This shorter sequence provides an awesome opportunity for both teacher and student to get a baseline of the sequence.

Have you listened to the latest podcast episode?

This week’s main flow is obviously a little long and a little tricky. One of the best ways to remember it is by teaching a shorter version first. That’s exactly what this mini-flow is. It’s a great sequence to foreshadow certain elements of the main flow. Plus it’ll help you remember what’s happening as the teacher, check it out!