become (almost) everyone’s
favorite yoga teacher
This one mindset shift will change everything in your yoga career:
You are not the hero.
Your students are.
You’re the guide.
Once you adopt this perspective, you’ll finally be able to:
- Center your students’ agency
- Feel confident in the yoga classroom
- Easily plan and teach useful yoga sequences that help your students progress
- Be brimming with ideas for private lessons, workshops, and retreats
And your career will flourish as a result.
Hi, I’m Sage Rountree, PhD, E-RYT 500—(almost) everyone’s favorite yoga teacher for yoga teachers.
As a yoga teacher mentor and yoga teacher trainer, I help yoga teachers gain confidence leading inclusive, adaptable classes.
I’m here to help you recognize that you can’t please everyone in the room, and you will burn yourself out trying. Instead, let’s get you up to speed on how to include almost everyone in class—and how to offer workshops and private lessons to the folks at the far ends of the bell curve.
as seen in:
where are you on the path?
Build with sound pedagogy from the start, then commit to continuing education to keep your teaching fresh.
CEU trainings, mentorship, and single courses: see all programs →
ready to start teaching
200-hour online yoga teacher training
Finish credentialed and walk into your first class ready for whoever shows up. You’ll start the self-paced lessons the day you enroll, then join me and your cohort on live video calls February–April 2027, so you go from wondering whether you could ever lead a class to teaching one you’re proud of.
already teaching
300-hour online yoga teacher training
If you still feel like everyone else just walks in and teaches, you’re in good company (I once spent hours planning a single class). The 300-hour training gives you a structure you can trust, so you’ll feel really confident in your sequencing and in your specialties, and you finish at the 500-hour level.
something for this week
my go-to yoga lesson plan
Feeling uninspired when it’s time to plan? Trade me your email for my go-to yoga lesson plan, with ideas for every minute. It’s the class I teach when my energy is low, and it’s a favorite of my students from 20 to 80 years old. I’ll even give you tips for adapting it to different class formats.
learn how to be
the best yoga teacher
come practice with me at Kripalu
I’ll be in the Berkshires March 5–12, 2027: a weekend of gentle, yin, and restorative yoga for anyone running on empty, then five days for yoga teachers on teaching rest with real skill.
double your income teaching yoga to athletes
Teaching yoga to athletes is easier than you think. You just need to embrace this mindset shift: yoga for athletes is not athletic yoga.
listen to Yoga Teacher Confidential
My podcast pulls back the curtain on what really happens in the yoga classroom, with stories from my own teaching and conversations with seasoned yoga teachers, so you feel more comfortable in front of your class.
by the numbers
13
books to help you perform at your best
14
online trainings for movement teachers
14
years offering classes & trainings online
15
years owning a yoga studio
23
years teaching yoga
30
years training educators
200+
videos in my virtual studio
3,400+
members in Comfort Zone Yoga®
what yoga teachers who’ve trained with me say
“As someone who had never taught yoga before . . . Sage’s wealth of experience, warmth, and thoughtful feedback transformed my confidence from questioning whether I could do this to truly believing I can teach.” —April Leming, 200-hour training, fall 2026 cohort
“If there was any imposter syndrome lingering after my 200-hour, Sage’s program wiped that away. I’m so much more knowledgeable now, and I’ve seen the real difference in my students since I started applying her methodology. My class sizes are growing week after week.” —Lana Boone, 300-hour graduate
from controlling students to centering them
I began my teaching career in the college classroom, en route to my PhD in English literature. Every semester, I wrote a syllabus and judged my success as a teacher on my students’ performance: did they understand my assignments? Did they discern and achieve the criteria I’d set for them?
Those standards carried with me as I moved into teaching yoga. For at least the first half of my two-plus-decades teaching yoga, I came into class thinking I needed to stick to the agenda and direct a performance. If I did my job “right,” all the students would be in lockstep, following my careful cueing to the letter. That was what I figured was success.
Then my own yoga practice kicked in and showed me this wrong-seeing approach was causing suffering for my students, and for my career as a yoga teacher.
Now when I look out in the studio and see everyone doing something different, I celebrate. That’s how I know my message has really landed: every student in the room is paying attention to what they need from their practice. By centering students’ agency and reminding them of their own main character energy, we help students progress toward connection, union, yoga.
And that’s how you become (almost) everyone’s favorite yoga teacher: by remembering it’s not about you. It’s always about the practitioner.
“Yoga with Sage has eased my stiff body from thousands of hours of air travel and helped me relax after the intensity of close games.”
Hall of Fame Coach Roy Williams
my student for 10+ years
latest resources for yoga teachers
Yoga Off the Mat
brand new: a guide to yoga philosophy you can use in your daily life
Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses
a companion volume to my bestseller with 54 new themes, templates, and ideas for your class
The Art of Yoga Sequencing
contemporary approaches and inclusive practices for teachers and practitioners
On the Blog
Learn more from me on ways to improve your training and become a better teacher!
let me plan your next yoga class
Feeling uninspired when it’s time to plan? I’m here to help!
Trade me your email for my go-to yoga lesson plan with ideas for every minute. This is the class I teach when my energy is low—but it’s the favorite of my students from 20 to 80 years old! I’ll even give you tips on how to adapt it for various class formats.
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bring me to your studio, festival, or conference
I bring workshops to studios and festivals, guest modules to teacher trainings, and keynotes to conferences. Here is where to start.
