Beginner Yoga Lesson Plan: Ideas for the January Rush that Work All Year
Becca is the author of Teaching Yoga: Creative Cueing for Safer Mixed Level Classes. A long-time studio owner and teacher trainer, she now teaches online, blogs, and creates resources for other yoga teachers.
It’s almost that time again for yoga and fitness instructors—the New Year’s resolution rush! Every January, I’m happy to see all the new faces, but sometimes my regular students are not as excited. The committed students want a more in-depth practice, while the beginners need the basics. It is a tough situation to manage, and it also arises at other times during the year when venues run ads and promotions. In this post, I will share how I prepare my students for times of influx and ideas for a beginner yoga lesson plan, and I’ll also explain how to adapt the plan for different levels of students.
Ask Your Community to Help with Beginning Yoga Students
In the perfect world, we’d have an exclusively beginner class or series, but this isn’t realistic in most venues. Typically, all the best time slots are full, and students want to try yoga at a time that fits their schedule. Everywhere I’ve worked over the years, I’ve been required to include beginners in my regular classes. Knowing that this is a challenge, I prepare the community ahead of time. Here is what I do:
Promote a Non-Competitive Environment
I create a culture where everyone works at their own pace. Each student practices the modifications or variations best for them without judgment. For example, during Sun Salutations, I often demonstrate or cue a slower, more accessible version with Plank (instead of Chaturanga). At the same time, I encourage students who want more intensity to practice the version they love. Some of the more experienced students will complete two Sun Salutations in the time it takes me to demonstrate one. When a group of beginners shows up and I need to slow the class down, the regular students are already accustomed to making the practice their own.
Encourage Empathy
I remind my regular students, especially in December, that beginners will always be joining us— especially in January. I appeal to their better nature by asking them to welcome and support new students. I remind them how it felt when they were beginners and how yoga has changed their lives. Why not help someone else get started with the practice?
Explain the Business Reality
If I hear grumbling about new people, I explain the reality: yoga and fitness classes are a revolving door. If we don’t get a few new people to commit to classes at the beginning of the year or during promotions, then we may not have enough attendance to sustain the time slot. Recruiting new students directly impacts the health of the venue, whether it is a studio or a gym.
Use Classroom Management Techniques
I ask experienced students, who are willing, to place their mats in the front row. This technique works like magic if the volunteers are comfortable and willing to keep their practice accessible (no advanced poses). For the visual learners, having other students to watch can be invaluable, especially when I leave my mat and walk around the room to assist.
Another option is to pair new students with friendly, experienced ones. Visual learners often benefit from having someone close by to observe, and this also fosters a sense of community.
Our classes are frequently mixed level. Students of various ages and fitness levels attend! As teachers we can learn to integrate beginners effectively. I picked this photo because it represents a real class with beginners present. This situation can be a real challenge for new teachers.
Include an Eight Week Beginner Yoga Lesson Plan within your Regular Class
Whenever a new group of beginners arrives, I maintain the structure of my regular yoga classes, but slow down the pace and integrate a beginner-friendly series. While I explain the basics to beginners, I encourage regulars to choose variations that work for them. I show the modified or accessible versions with props so the new students will follow me.
Reviewing fundamentals benefits regulars too; some may have missed a few things in their first classes. Many beginners have sedentary lifestyles, so at the start of the New Year’s rush, I focus on breathing and basic standing poses to get them moving.
My primary goal is to prevent injuries as students explore yoga for the first time. The most common injuries and issues that discourage return attendance include knees, shoulder, wrist and low back pain. To reduce these risks, I slow the pace of the classes and emphasize proper alignment.
Below is an outline for a beginning eight week series that builds skills and awareness. I cover all these basic skills in every class but focus more heavily on one area each week.
Eight Week Beginner Series Plan
Week 1: Focus on the Breath and Basic Standing Sequences
Goal: Introduce breath awareness and get students moving.
Example Cues: “Feel your breath moving your ribs as it comes in and out"
Week 2: Foot Placement in Standing Poses
Goal: Introduce students to basic cueing for the alignment of the feet in standing poses.
Example cues: “Place your feet hip distance apart, spread the toes, and press into the big toe mound and outer heels.”
Week 3: Alignment of Feet and Knees in the Standing Poses
Goal: Focus on alignment cues for safer knees.
Example cues: “Track the knees with the toes.” “Bend your knee to a comfortable angle.”
Week 4: Strengthening and Stretching the Hips
Goal: Students will build awareness of their hip joints and discover ways to stretch safely and effectively.
Example cues: “Engage the glutes and thighs as your stretch.” “Hold the stretch where you feel a stretching sensation, but no pain.”
Week 5: Core Integration and Strength
Goal: Focus on how to discover and engage the core in different poses.
Example cues: “Draw the belly in and up.”
Week 6: Spinal Mobility and Elongation
Goal: Explore all the ways the spine moves, including elongation (lengthening).
Example cues: “Lengthen through the crown of your head.” “Lift your rib away from your hips."
Week 7: Awareness of Healthy Posture
Goal: Students will learn how to evaluate and improve their posture. The class will focus on opening the chest and strengthening the upper back.
Example cues: “Release your shoulders away from your ears.” “Widen your collarbones.”
Week 8: Shoulder Strength and Mobility
Goal: Build awareness of shoulder alignment and basic movements. Teach students how to safely begin stretching and strengthening their shoulders.
Example cues: Ideas: “Firm your shoulders blades onto your back.”
Beginner Yoga Lesson Plan
This simple plan is easily adapted for different fitness levels. For athletic groups, add more Sun Salutations, increase the pace, and repeat the standing sequences. For beginners or sedentary groups, slow down and simplify. Reduce or remove the Sun Salutations.
Centering
Start the class supine (laying on the back) and ask the students to focus on their breathing. For beginners start with a simple practice such as 5-10 belly breaths.
Warm-up
Supine:
Knees to Chest
Wind Relieving
Windshield Wipers
Reclined Pigeon
Prone (on the belly):
Mini Sphinx
Side stretch in Mini Sphinx - move the forearms to one side and then the other
Thigh stretch in Mini Sphinx - bend the knees and reach the heels towards the buttocks.
Hands and Knees:
Cat/Cow
Bird Dog (opposite arm and leg extended)
Curl elbow towards opposite knee in Bird Dog - x3 both sides
Lift and lower the elevated leg and arm in Bird Dog - x3 both sides
Low lunge with twist - both sides
Standing Sequence 1
Mountain
Standing Side Bends,
Chair
Warrior 1
Warrior 2
Dancing Warrior (also called Reverse Warrior)
Side Angle
Warrior 2
Triangle
Dancing Warrior
Warrior 2
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Modified Beginner Sun Salutation
Mountain
Low Lunge right foot back
Downward Dog
High Plank
Knees down push-up to the floor on belly
Baby Cobra
Knees down push-up to come up
Downward Dog
Low Lunge right foot forward
Standing Forward Fold
Mountain
Standing Sequence 2
Mountain
Warrior 1
Airplane
Pyramid
W2
Side Angle
Humble Warrior
Dancing Warrior
Warrior 2
Triangle
Warrior 2
Modified Beginner Sun Salutation
Same as above, but this time step back with the left foot first into the lunge.
Balancing Challenge (ask students to move near a wall for support)
Modified Big Toe Hold (holding one knee up) - both sides
Tree - both sides
Once balancing is over ask students to move back to their mats and rest and breathe on the belly.
Mini Backbend Sequence (prone)
Locust - leave head down and work only the legs first, then do full pose with arms at the side
Baby Cobra or Cobra - 2-3x with the breath
Mini Sphinx or Sphinx
Half Bow with option of reaching arm back towards the foot without trying to hold it
Supine Stretches
Happy Baby
Reclined hamstring stretches with a strap
Reclined Pigeon
Reclined Twist
Shavasana
What Yoga Postures Not to Include When Teaching Beginners
I avoid hand balancing and inversions when I have beginners present in class. During busy times classes are often too large to effectively watch all the students, and beginners are not ready for these postures. If they see someone, especially the teacher, doing a side Crow, many of them are going to try it unsuccessfully. This increases the chance for injuries. Instead, as mentioned above, I encourage the regulars to make the class their own by holding the standing poses longer or by exploring advanced variations.
When I have a group that is making a lot of progress with inversions and/or hand balances, then sometimes I’ll hold a few private classes for them during the New Year’s rush that are not on the public schedule. This is also a great time to hire someone to do an advanced workshop on a Saturday afternoon that is promoted to the regulars and not the beginners.
Learning to Include Beginners in our Classes is a Skill
While it’s challenging to integrate beginners into our regular classes, it’s an essential yoga teaching skill. We must take the time to plan thoughtfully and be prepared with a beginner yoga lesson plan that works for everyone. By fostering a welcoming environment, we can grow our classes and help more people experience the benefits of yoga. Have fun, and keep teaching! ♢
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