A post on my flipbook approach to sequencing interesting, balanced yoga classes is online at the prAna blog today. While it’s written for teachers, the principles apply just as well to home practice. If you’d like to investigate this approach further, you’ll want to sign up for my online sequencing class, which will be available by October 15. (The video is in postproduction right now!)
Remember the flipbooks we had as kids, where you could dress up a figure in various tops and bottoms combined into interesting outfits, or create a novel monster with the head of a dinosaur, the torso of an eagle, the legs of a goat, and the feet of a lion? This model works well not just for entertaining children (and adults), but also for structuring a balanced sequence for a yoga class. Think of the entire class as a full outfit or monster. Envision what you want that outfit or monster to look like, play with interesting combinations of options, then present that entire creation to your students. You’ll be engaged, they’ll be engaged, and you’ll be helping them not only with that one sequence but also by teaching them structural rules so they can keep themselves balanced in home practice.