What I Taught in Yoga This Week | 11.29.23
A chunky ladder flow to get your students moving!
Dear Humans,
Before we begin this week I want to mention that I’m teaching a yoga workshop this Sunday in Fort Collins, Colorado called Yoga Playground. If you’re in the area I’d love to meet you! You can find out more here.
Now, onto the main event!
In class last night I taught a version of a ladder flow. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, a ladder flow is a style of sequencing where you start with a set of postures, then you repeat those movements and add on a few more postures each time you flow, steadily building up into a full sequence.
A ladder flow, in my opinion, has pros and cons.
Cons: On the one hand, the repetition can start to get monotonous for the students, especially if they don’t like the sequence. The repeated movements also have a higher potential to stress out certain areas of the body.
Pros: By repeating the sequence multiple times, students begin to understand and build confidence in the postures and transitions. A ladder flow is also a great way to get in some cardio in a yoga class – you typically move quite a bit. It can be exciting for the students to wonder what’s coming next and see the full thing come together.
I think the biggest benefit is the students getting to learn the sequence and better access the poses. For example, in my flow below, you’ll notice I started with a “primal squat” (I’m getting this pose name from something I saw online, but if you call it something else, let me know! This movement is coming from Animal Flow Yoga.) The first time we moved through it, I looked around the room and saw that maybe about half the students were accessing the posture. By the end of the ladder flow, almost everyone in the room had nailed the shape! The more we do something, the better we are at it!
I decided to teach a “chunkier” ladder flow, so instead of only adding on two movements at a time, I added in big sections at a time. You’ll see that in the write-up of the poses.
Under the video below, I write out the sequence including the rungs of the ladder, which is how I taught it. You can modify these movements and teach this flow in so many different ways. If you try it, I hope you’ll let me know what you think in the comments section!
Sending love, dear humans,
Izzy
Izzy Martens
author, yoga teacher, sequence enthusiast
www.yogahumans.com
What I Taught in Yoga This Week | 11.29.23:
The Ladder Flow:
first rung:
primal squat
pistol squat step-through
unwind to three-leg dog
vinyasa
second rung:
primal squat
pistol squat step-through
sit
janu sirsasana fold
stargazer
unwind to three-leg dog
high crescent
airplane crescent
high crescent
full airplane
one leg mountain
figure four
one leg mountain
airplane
broken plane
low lunge
vinyasa
third rung (full sequence):
primal squat
pistol squat step-through
sit
janu sirsasana fold
stargazer
unwind to three-leg dog
high crescent
airplane crescent
high crescent
full airplane
one leg mountain
figure four
one leg mountain
airplane
broken plane
high crescent
warrior II
dancing warriors x3
reverse triangle
triangle reach
triangle
reverse warrior
vinyasa
Workshop Announcement!
Are you in Colorado? Come play with me on your yoga mat!
Join me for a special two-hour yoga workshop: Yoga Playground. A special environment to enhance your yoga practice and experiment with interesting arm balances, inversions and binds.
👉 Sunday, December 3, 1:30 - 3:30pm
👉 Price: $25 for two hour workshop
👉 The Movement Apothecary, Fort Collins, CO
This class is an opportunity to practice unique postures that you might see in a typical yoga class, but you may not have had the time and space to really explore.
I’'ll take requests from students on poses they'd like to work on and give instruction on how to access the postures. There will also be ample amount of time to practice at your own pace, play around and ask questions.
This class is best suited for intermediate to advanced practitioners, or those who have a good understanding of the yoga basics and are looking to take their practice to the next level.
✨✨Take the afternoon to turn your yoga mat into your playground!✨✨
Want more? Head to yogahumans.com