Whether it’s taught online or in person, a well-themed yoga class uplifts students and shows them the true connection to heart that yoga offers. But it can be tough to know where to start, and inspiration takes work. Join Sage Rountree, E-RYT500, and Alexandra DeSiato, E-RYT500, authors of Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses, for this workshop.

In this enhanced in-person workshop, you'll learn to integrate themes, ideas, and inspiration into your class to help your students feel more connected. Whether you’re a new teacher who now feels comfortable with poses and is ready to weave in more, or an experienced teacher who feels like your classes have hit the doldrums, you’ll get all you need to uplift your students in both video and in-person classes.

This unique format includes both self-paced preparation, live meetings, and continued mentorship after the weekend workshop.

A month before the workshop, you’ll gain access to an online course that lays the groundwork for the work we will do in person. Please budget at least four hours to prepare your homework in the weeks before the workshop.

Then we meet in person at Carrboro Yoga Company Saturday, November 20, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., and Sunday, November 21, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. (There is no Sunday afternoon session, freeing you to travel.) If you're coming from out of town, our Travel Accommodations page has suggestions.

In short lectures, full group discussion, led movement, journaling, and small-group exercises, we will explore mindful themes to elevate any class for every student in a way that feels individually authentic. You’ll leave with a host of ideas that will keep you and your students inspired every day.

The experience continues as you develop themes on your own and share with the group, with Alexandra, and with Sage, to get continued feedback and suggestions for more ways to elevate your classes.

Required reading: Sage Rountree and Alexandra DeSiato, Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses. Please purchase this book on your own in your preferred format. Paperback, e-book, and audiobook editions are available.

This is a required module for Carolina Yoga Company's advanced studies teacher training; it is also open to everyone. You'll get the most benefit if you've been regularly teaching for at least a year. If that doesn't describe you but you are still eager to take the workshop, please contact Sage to discuss your unique situation and determine whether this is the right fit for you.

Currently, proof of vaccination against COVID-19 is required to enter the studios.

18 CEUs
$360/$340 early

Teaching a flow yoga class doesn’t have to be sun salutation after sun salutation. (Matter of fact, maybe it shouldn’t be!) In the Creative Flow weekend, we’ll look at the art of teaching this linked-movement practice, beginning with the foundations of flow sequencing and moving to crafting flow sequences for yoga practitioners of varying abilities. Our weekend together will help you confidently sequence vinyasa classes that start from a clear intention, offer a balanced movement practice, and give students from a broad spectrum of needs a class that works for them. This weekend workshop is for teachers who already teach flow and would like to refine their teaching and also for teachers who would like to expand their yoga teacher offerings to include flow yoga.

In advance of our weekend together, you will be asked to write out your current philosophy on sequencing and reflect on your relationship to flow yoga, both as a student and a teacher. Please plan to budget 2 hours of time for this omwork in advance of the weekend workshop. Alexandra will contact you with more information about this in advance of the training.

In our in-person sessions, we will:

+ Review philosophies that underpin flow yoga sequencing, including progression / krama sequencing, anatomical, intention-based sequencing, and peak pose sequencing
+ Challenge standard aspects of flow yoga, including cuing multiple rounds of sun salutations, sequencing backbends, inversions, and other asana only during a specific time in the practice, routinely practicing elbows-in 4-limbed staff pose (chaturanga), linking breath to movement—we’ll look at the science and mythology behind these and other typical practices.
+ Create our own philosophies of sequencing and write out a “teaching template” for our classes
+ Explore ways to offer variety in sequencing so flow can fit various levels of student, including those working around injuries
+ Craft creative transitions and reflect on the importance of transitioning
+ Find new and creative versions of sun salutations
+ Move from black-and-white thinking to more nuanced, creative thinking about what the flow practice can be

After the weekend, you will be asked to submit a written “teaching template” as the final omwork for the workshop. Plan to budget 4 hours for this omwork.

We meet at Carrboro Yoga Company Saturday, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. and 2 p.m.–5 p.m., and again Sunday, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. (There is no Sunday afternoon session, freeing you to travel.) If you're coming from out of town, our Travel Accommodations page has suggestions.

Currently, proof of vaccination against COVID-19 is required to enter the studios.

18 CEUs
$360/$340 early