How Teaching the Same Yoga Sequence Over and Over Made Nyisha a Better Teacher

Jul 22, 2025

Ever felt like you need to reinvent your yoga class plan every time you teach? Many teachers feel pressure to create something totally new for every session—especially when teaching the same students regularly.

But what if the real key to confidence isn’t creativity—it’s repetition?

That’s what my mentee Nyisha Rylander discovered after she started teaching yoga on Kauai. In episode 43 of Yoga Teacher Confidential, she shares how one repeated class sequence helped her shift from overthinking to embodied, present teaching.

A Pandemic Pivot That Turned into a Calling

Nyisha didn’t start her career in yoga. She spent over 25 years as a cosmetologist and salon owner before the pandemic forced a massive professional pivot. After moving to Kauai and completing a 200-hour training online during lockdown, she found herself with time, curiosity, and a desire to share yoga.

When a teaching opportunity opened at a local gym, she stepped in—even though she’d never taught a class before.

Teaching in Three Formats: Studio, Resort, and Online

Today, Nyisha teaches in three very different settings:

  • At a gym, with a consistent group of regular students
  • At resorts, where students are often brand-new to yoga and only there once
  • In her online yoga library, recorded for her health coaching clients

Each of these formats demands something different. But what unites them is how Nyisha uses repetition as her foundation.

Repetition Isn’t Lazy—It’s Liberating

When Nyisha began teaching at resorts, she quickly realized it didn’t make sense to plan a new sequence for every class—the students came only once. So she created one master sequence—a well-rounded, accessible flow—and taught it again and again.

She made small adjustments based on who showed up, but the structure stayed the same.

Over time, the repetition helped her:

  • Memorize her plan
  • Look up from her notes
  • Cue with greater fluency
  • Walk around the space
  • Adapt based on what she saw

“It started to feel like teaching instead of just instructing,” she said.

When You Stop Planning from Scratch, You Start Teaching with Confidence

Nyisha’s planning process has also evolved. At first, like many new teachers, she spent hours writing in notebooks, typing sequences, and pasting from different sources.

Now, she builds classes with what she calls “vignettes”—modular mini-sequences she can swap in and out based on the needs of the moment.

This approach reflects the heart of the modular 6-4-2 framework we use in Mastering the Art of Yoga Sequencing—where clear structure supports freedom, and repetition opens the door to intentional variation.

How MMM Helped Her Grow

Nyisha is a member of my mentorship program, Mastering the Art of Yoga Sequencing, and she shares how having access to a full “cookbook” of sequences, themes, and community ideas has helped her stay inspired.

She still teaches her own way—but when she’s feeling stuck or low on time, MMM gives her the structure and spark she needs.

It’s like opening a cookbook and going, “Oh right—I already knew this, I just forgot.”

Repetition as the Path to Confidence

If you’re in the early stages of your teaching career—or even years in but still stuck in the planning-confidence cycle—Nyisha’s story is a reminder that you don’t need to be constantly creating something new to grow.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is repeat yourself. On purpose.

Do it enough times, and the structure will live in your body. You’ll teach with less demo and more time with your eyes on your students. You’ll adapt with ease. And you’ll grow—not just as a planner, but as a teacher.

Want help building your own structure for teaching with ease?

Mastering the Art of Yoga Sequencing offers the tools, templates, and support to help you step confidently into the teacher you’re becoming.

Hi! I’m Sage Rountree, PhD, E-RYT500. Thanks for stopping by!

As a yoga teacher mentor and trainer, I’m here to help you become (almost) everyone’s favorite yoga teacher.

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