Themes for an AYI Baisic / Precicion Class

Before class think about the following:

Who is coming to that class? How old are your students? Whats their fitness level? What's their occupational and private background?

Of cause you can't foresee the future. But the title of your class, the advertisement and location can help you before hand to come up with some conclusions. The more often you give this thought, the more likely it is, that you are right on the mark. But there always will be surprises.

What could be of interest to your students?

Based on your traget group and also the announcement, try put yourself into the position of your students. Why are they coming to you? What is it they'd like to learn from you? These considerations will help you to tailor the class to the needs of your students.

What is it I want to transport to my students?

This question leads you straight away to the read thread of your class. Try to be as clear as possible to your students regarding the lesson you'd like to teach. Become clear for yourself. For exsemple:

• I'd like my students to understand, that Yoga is an art form to get in touch with oneself.
• I'd like to enable my students to see the beauty in collectively practicing in the same rhythm of breath.
• I'd like my students to understand that how the feet are placed has an impact of the entire body.
• ...
  Choose a theme that will realistically fit into this one class time wise. If not shorten the subject or work out part of it which you then put emphasis on.

Special beauty lays in creating a 10 Class Course for a cohesive group of students where each lesson builds on the next.
In the prep phase work out the global goal for the entire course and than divide it into smaller parts that by the end of the course will come together like a finished puzzle. Which steps do you need to get you there?

THE AIM of an AYI Basic Class

Typically an AYI Basic Cours prepares the student for an AYI Mysore Style or AYI Basic Full-Form-Led Class. The students should be able to practice on their own the Basic Modifid until Purvottanasana. Further more they should be familiar with the basic philosophic principles of the Yoga practice so much so, that they are able to cultivate a mindful and meditative practice according to their abilities.

10 thypical themes for an AYI Basic Course

Write down the lessons you want to teach for class 1 to 10. Those are typical themes:

1. What is Yoga? - in connection with this context for you and for your Students
2. What is particular about AYI? - in connection with this context for you and for your Students
3. Foundation and placement of the feet.
4. All about the breath.
   e.g. moving in the rhythm of the breath
5. lesson about how elements of the practice can be experience in the students own rhythm.
   e.g. Yoga is meditation in motion
   Introduction of a simple to understand basic concept of Bandha
   e.g. Yoga means to come into balance holistically it is an inner erection on the physical plane.
6. Connection between Body and Spirit. We are shaping our Body. What changes in perception?
7. ...
8. ...
9. ...

To make true use of these suggestions for yourself, you should bring them in an order that works for you, elaborate or reduce as you see fit.
Draft the units the way you want to introduce them to your students.

The matching sequence to the particular theme

This way the student dives in even deeper into the backgrounds and the practise of yoga with each class. It turned out best to put a lot of the AYI Basic Full-Form-Led-Class content into the AYI Basic Class from the beginning. This way the practitioners become familiar with all the poses from the get go.
Depending on the supject of the particular class it's possible to repeat parts of the sequence or emphasize them or skip something.
Write down which exercises you'd like to emphasize in particular and in which way ( e. g. repetition, more explanation, holding that pose longer...? Also write down, which part of the sequence you plan to skip. Always not why you intent to do so.

Before class again go over your notes. But before you enter the Yoga Studio put them away and make yourself available for the students that did show up and their particular needs and expectations. You will have to deviate away from your plan to adjust to the situation at hand.

After class look again at your notes:

• What were you able to convey?
• What did you do differently? - Why?
• What went well? - Why?
• What do you want to do differently next time? - Why?

Wih these conclusions revise your notes for the following classes to come.