Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses: A Practical Workbook for Integrating Themes, Ideas, and Inspiration into Your Class

I love this book! I'm a yoga teacher and I've worked really hard creating themes for my classes. This book lays out the themes so clearly, with such detail (including quotes, songs, etc), that they are ready-made for teaching classes. There's 54 themes, so a year's worth of classes is ready made for you. I was worried about using the material for fear of plagiarism, but the authors are very clear in explaining that the material presented is generously fully available for the reader's use. I've had fellow teachers say that theming is too hard, but in addition to the wealth of complete themes, the authors give tips on how to start writing themes for classes ourselves as well as "inspirational prompts" to jumpstart our process. I'd like to add also, that even if you have no desire to teach or teach with themes, many of these themes relate to yoga philosophy and how that philosophy helps to improve our lives by reducing suffering. These ideas are presented in a clear and concise manner that are valuable on their own completely separately from this book being oriented towards helping yoga teachers teach their classes. In order to have a balanced review, I'd just like to mention a small negative criticism. The last section of the book included 54 blank templates for our use to create our own 1 year's worth of class themes. I can understand that some teachers might like having these blank template pages so the classes they create will physically be in the same book with the authors' themes. It could also be helpful for teachers who don't have access to printers so they can't use the template the authors provide on their website. For me, though, it just felt like a big waste of paper because I don't plan on using those pages when I create more themes for my classes. I also could see someone considering buying the book and looking at the length of it and coming up with a conclusion about the value of it based on its length without realizing that about 20% of it is blank (template) pages. For me, it's a fairly minor point. The major point is that it's a great overview of yoga philosophy and messages that I can use for my own understanding as well as a very practical tool to teach with.

I’ll tell you why I SO needed this book. First, when I saw the title, I thought, “Yes! That’s it!” As a yoga teacher and a constant student, I like an athletic practice and precise anatomical cues as much as anybody, but so often I feel that the “why” - a sense of deeper meaning - is missing. Or, an idea/theme will be stated by the teacher at the beginning of class and never returned to again (so it doesn’t have time to stick or resonate). It's hard!! Before I teach, I really try to discern something of value that I can authentically bring to the class that day, but sometimes I feel rusty, or like I don’t have much to offer (or I feel as though I say the same things over and over), but lucky me (/us), this book now exists.The tone and content of the book encourage you to draw from your own experience and voice; not just to use the authors' examples for themes, but to create your own and build upon what feels true to YOU. They're not out to tell you that their way of theming is the right way, but to prompt you with deep-diving questions into finding your own voice and purpose as a teacher. I found myself circling and highlighting passages, phrases and ideas, while also feeling totally empowered to nix things that didn’t resonate with me/my style/my playlists.All told, I’m super grateful to have this book in my stockpile of teaching resources. It richly fills a much-needed gap in the yoga-teaching literature, and I plan to recommend it to all the yoga teachers I know - whether new or seasoned. I know I’ll be returning to it again and again. (Plus, it’s a really beautifully designed book, which doesn’t hurt one bit.;)

I’ve gifted this book twice to 2 close friends who finished yoga teacher training and both loved it. I’ve read many reviews for it and I like the approach it has. Great book and something I’d like to also read one day!

I'm a fan of Sage Rountree and her teaching methods. I already own some of her books, and I use them routinely. They have helped me bring yoga comfortably to older students, illustrate yoga as a tool for athletes, and have aided in planning my classes. This book is a little different. It was designed to help teachers move beyond asana and into some of the more esoteric precepts yoga. I've been teaching for about seven years, and frankly, I needed a little help to broach some of these illusive concepts. Initially, I flipped through the book, making mental notes and steeling songs from the playlist ideas. Since then, I've revisited the book, and I'm finding more and more elements I might gently incorporate into my classes.While the topics can be intimidating, this book is accessible. It's a reference, not a quickie read, and I'm quite sure I'll be coming back to it for years to come.

Love this book! It is a great addition to the library of anyone that teaches yoga.

Our daughter is a yoga teacher and requested this. She's delighted.