Sequencing for Every Body Type with Paul Teodo

0:00 Hey there, Before we get started on this week's episode, I would love to ask for your support by reviewing this podcast. We want to share yoga with as many people as possible and this free resource. This podcast is one of the ways that we can do that. And the best way that you can help support us is by giving us a review.

0:16 So if you go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify or whatever podcast platform you use, Scroll down until you find that star review and then give us some love. Thank you so much, and let's get started with this week's episode. If you want to learn other body types, do some privates with your friends and family. People with different body types than you, that's going to really help you.

0:37 And then yes, when you get privates, most of them will usually be a person who is newer to yoga, whose body is pretty tight and they lack the flexibility or they're very self-conscious about something. Maybe they're self-conscious that they don't feel comfortable transitioning and flowing.

0:55 Or maybe they're very overweight or something where like they they don't feel quite comfortable being in a public class. Welcome to the Going Pro Yoga Podcast. If you love yoga. As much as I do, then this podcast is for you.

1:14 We talk all things yoga related. For teachers in order to supplement and complement and even support after a 200 hour yoga teacher training. Or if you've never done a training before, this podcast is all about just learning more about yoga in an authentic way. Together with.

1:29 Paul Tioto and Byron de Marseille we put together this podcast to. Provide you with a free resource. To learn more about yoga, whether you want to share yoga or teach yoga or just practice yoga, this podcast is talking all things yoga related.

1:42 And we're trying to talk from the teacher's perspective and also the student's perspective to make sure we get a full 360° angle on what yoga is all about and how it's evolved in the modern world. Welcome to our podcast.

1:53 Welcome back. Here we are again, Episode 2 of Mastering Yoga sequencing, and we have Paul back again. So for the first episode, if you missed that one, we talked about the common mistakes in their solutions for yoga sequencing.

2:09 And today we're talking about sequencing for everybody type, right? Creating classes, creating sequences that are suitable for everybody type, not just your own. Assuming that you're teaching yoga. If it's your own home practice then yeah, you know you can do your own thing of course.

2:26 And as our in house expert on sequencing Paul here, we're going to talk about that. So Paul, when it comes to sequencing for everybody type, talking to newer teachers or teachers who may not be familiar with other body types, what would you, what kind of advice or what kind of, yeah, what kind of advice would you give them or what what would you say would be important for them to understand when it comes to sequencing?

2:52 Yeah, we touched on this a little bit in episode one, but what I would say is as much as possible, when you're a new teacher, practice teaching to somebody with a different body than you. So we do this in the teacher training. When you partner up with somebody, really encourage people.

3:11 If I see two like, short, young, flexible women like practicing together, I'd be like, no, no, I want you to work with Michael. I want you to work with this guy who's 15 years older than you and six inches taller. And you know, so that way you can just see what certain poses look like and feel like for other people and learning how to hold them for an adequate period of time to warm the body up for somebody who might be tighter.

3:42 And also for somebody who is super bendy, challenging them to have more stability. So teaching holding simple things like plank for longer periods of time are like a great way to to warm that body up to to to get that person ready.

4:00 So it makes me think about teacher trainings. And you know, in our teacher training we get a decent amount of different body types I find. Yeah, actually, which is pretty cool. Absolutely, yeah. And different age. Groups, different ages.

4:12 It's not just. Body type. You also have to think about even if a person has a certain body type and they're like. Again, I mentioned this in episode one. Like I'm I luckily don't have any major injuries and I am strong and pretty flexible.

4:27 But now that I'm 43 years old, my body needs longer to warm up, right? You know, So taking into account a person's age as well is is important. And for some people who've done teacher trainings, and because I've seen this, I've been in a lot of teacher trainings where it's mostly fit, mostly young women, couple men that are just very able bodied, you know, early 20s.

4:50 And there's not really a lot of option to excuse me in those trainings, actually teach or learn about another person's limitations or restrictions because there's just not a lot of options. And then going from a teacher training and teaching with all these able bodied people for weeks and then going into the real world, like how, how, how, what would be a helpful strategy for them to start to learn a little bit more about different body types?

5:15 Do you have any ideas for that? Yeah, I would say when you teach classes, teach different types of classes. You know, so you're not just teaching a level 2 vinyasa class at your favorite studio where everybody has the same body as you. And you know what I mean?

5:30 So like, OK, I'm going to teach a beginner's class, I'm going to teach a strong flow class, I'm going to teach a HAFA class, something like that. And then also taking classes from different teachers that are experienced, even if they teach a style that you don't necessarily love.

5:48 So like taking a Hatha class so you can understand OK, why is this teacher going from this pose to the next, looking around the room and noticing like what type of a body goes to Iyengar, what type of a body goes to Hatha.

6:00 And you can bring things from lots of different influences. So having having several influences I think is really good. So you go to not just your favorite teachers class. I always recommend not just like if somebody takes my training, our training.

6:17 I say like it's it's keep coming to my class, that's great. But go to other people's classes, you know go to not just me and Byron, go to other people's classes and and see what's working, what's not working. Other styles are very important. It's just going to make you a more skilled teacher. Yeah, and what about for I'm thinking like privates or smaller class.

6:41 I mean, when you're when you're a newer teacher or you're going out and you're like, I'm going to start teaching or I want to improve my teaching. And the conversation today is about trying to learn about other body types besides your own. I'm thinking about teaching privates and how when you have a private student, I wouldn't say always, I mean I haven't had as many private students as probably you have, considering the experience there.

7:07 But I would say that usually private people are or not always but are people who maybe don't feel comfortable going to public classes. So they might typically have a different body type that is, let's say, not as flexible or they're not as strong, they're more insecure or they're just they don't understand yoga very well and they're trying to learn. So that might be a good opportunity, would you say, to learn different body types is like maybe possibly offering some private classes to a few

7:35 people? Absolutely, yeah. But that that's it though. If, if, if you are, if you want to learn other body types, do some privates with your friends and family, people with different body types than you, that's going to really help you. And then yes, when you get privates, most of them will usually be a person who is newer to yoga, whose body is pretty tight and they lack the flexibility or they're very self-conscious about something.

8:01 Maybe they're self-conscious that they don't feel comfortable transitioning and flowing or maybe they're very overweight or something where like they they don't feel quite comfortable being in a public class. Or they're a person who is very successful and they don't have a lot of spare time, a lot of free time. A lot of those people that are very successful are tight because their body has a lot of stress stored inside of it. So again, it's mostly tight or

8:33 you would get somebody who's like I want to do 3 privates with you because I want to work in handstand. Like you get that type of client as well sometimes. So there's all different types, but just. Yeah. So I think just seeing as many different bodies as possible, the more, the more yoga you teach, the more different studios you teach at.

8:57 Because like you know if you teach at a gym, you're going to attract a certain type of person. If you teach at a retirement center, you're going to attract a different type of person, OK. So being in all different types of environments is really going to help and then but also taking different styles I think would be that would be something that somebody might not necessarily consider, but I think really help you understand how to sequence to all different types

9:22 of bodies. So like a vinyasa teacher usually only takes vinyasa classes but could really benefit from taking some hatha yin as well. But I would say even like something something slower where you're you're holding poses for longer, really focusing on alignment. That could be a really beneficial learning experience, yeah.

9:45 I've never taken an Iyengar class. They're very, it's very technical. It's like going and you probably. Like it? I probably would. Yeah, it's very sciencey cuz. I mean, I anger's all about alignment and all about the. Maybe I should teach I anger.

9:58 I think you'd like it if they have the new teachers actually just started at yoga barn doing I anger twice a week. OK, cool. So understanding different bodies, giving yourself opportunities to, you know, be in front of different bodies and learn what they can or can't do, which I think would probably bring some clarity to things that you probably learned in a teacher training or sequences that you created that might be complicated.

10:23 Hence episode #1 if you want to learn more about not complicated sequences. And if you bring a complicated sequence or you try to present complicated flows to someone who has a body type that can't really manage that, and it's in a private situation, that's an opportunity where you're going to have to learn how to pivot or you're going to have to learn how to adapt for that person's needs.

10:42 Yeah. Right. So I'd say that's another way of kind of realizing the simplicity of sequencing is whenever you're working with different body types, right? Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Cool. And then obviously modifications and variations with regards to providing options. And let's just say classes that have more than just one person. Not a private, you know, five people, 10 people, whatever it is.

11:08 And you have it, you know, not a complicated sequence. It's simple, yet there is opportunity for challenge, right? And then how do we make this class inclusive? Using or providing modifications and variations? Well, first of all, I don't know if everyone understands the difference between modifications and variations, at least for me. Yeah, a modification would be usually making the pose less challenging.

11:34 So drop your knee if you're in like a If you're in like a twisting lunge, drop the knee. A variation usually is making a shape that makes the pose usually more challenging. Not all the time though, cuz the variation could also just be like extend the arm over your head.

11:52 That changes it from like a chest opener to a side bend OR something. Right. A different style of the pose, but the physical challenges. Relatively equal or slightly more challenging sometimes, Yeah, yeah. But a modification almost always makes the pose less physically challenging, right?

12:09 So what are ways to make poses easier, more accessible? Besides, I mean, obviously props. Yeah, props, modifications, dropping a knee. A great way to make a pose more accessible is to cue it very skillfully because certain poses will feel better in your body when the feet are set up very specifically when the arms are set up very specifically when we cue what's called the spirals of energy. So learning how to do action cues and counter action cues is going to make the poses for the

12:44 most part. They will feel lighter and and more more available to a person. So really getting, you know, every discussion on sequencing. Again, the other side of the coin is queuing. So your queuing needs to be simple, specific and direct and that will help the pose feel better for most people as well. So when it comes to offering these modifications or you know, the the queuing being targeted at trying to set up this pose so that even for someone who it's

13:16 not as accessible, it's it, it gives them a better chance of being able to do, let's just say that pose, How do you, how do you kind of present like if you're going to be, you know, going into a particular pose, let's just say I don't know, Warrior 3 for example, you're going to go into Warrior 3 and you want to provide certain options, right?

13:35 How do you kind of like lay that out? A lot of times what I do is I say level one, level 2, Level 3. So if you're coming into Warrior 3, it's a great thing. I would say a great pose example. It's a great example Warrior 3 because you can take warrior three with your hands at your heart and that is the least intense for your shoulders and and for your back.

13:57 You can take it with the arms reaching out like airplane wings. I would call that like a level 2 version of the pose and then Level 3 would be the arms reaching forward. The traditional version of Warrior Three, that's the that's pretty intense and for some people it's too intense. So a lot of times that's what I'll say. I'll say option one, hands at your heart. Option 2A, little bit harder, reach the arms out like airplane wings.

14:19 Option three, arms forward and then that's a but be careful. I'll usually give some sort of a warning, like if that's too intense for you, go back to level 1 to level 2. Yeah, good. So multiple options. So on that same example, how would you make it even easier if you were to to to, you know, leave the hands of the heart.

14:39 But like, what if someone's, like, really struggling with the balance? There I would offer a modification. I would say take standing splits. So bend your knees, bend your knee and take your hands down. Right? Like that, you just rest your hands down either.

14:50 Or blocks maybe as well, yeah. Blocks or standing splits. Right. OK. And then just a challenge here, how would you make it more more difficult, like another level on top of just arms out in front? Arms out in front. What I would say, if somebody really wants to make that even more difficult, a more difficult version of warrior Three than arms in front would be warrior Three with Gomu Kasna arms. That's freaking hard.

15:16 So I would start them in Crescent pose. I would say, you know, staying down, this is you need to open up the shoulders first. OK? I would do a bunch of shoulder openers and then this would be like 60 minutes into a 90 minute class. 70 minutes I would say.

15:30 OK, step into Crescent pose and from you're in your right leg and Crescent pose with your right leg. Reach your left arm. Out, reach your left arm, up, reach your right arm out. Spin your right hand down, take your right hand up, your back, left hand down.

15:44 So now you're in Gomukasana and then you're going to lean forward and lean into warrior three with Gomukasana arms. That's really freaking hard, right? So you'd have to set up a lot for that. It's not something you could necessarily throw in once they're in Warrior 3. It's very intentional, that one.

15:58 Yeah, cool. Great, but try that. Those of you who've been teaching for a while, try a sequence where you sequence into Warrior Three with Gomakasan arms. Freaking hard. I've never seen that, but I've seen reverse prayer.

16:11 Yeah, that's hard as well. Gomakasan is even harder. Right, right. Cool. And the other note I have here is we kind of talking about it a little bit but inclusive language and queuing. So we we talked about the other side of the coin of, you know, intelligence sequencing or making your sequences better, which is focusing on some of the cueing and the alignment, the stability in the body. So, inclusive language, what does that really mean and how do you apply it when teaching?

16:40 For me, inclusive language is offering modifications to the beginners and telling people it's OK to take child's pose but also including the people. If you're teaching the power of your class, like including the people who maybe your class is too easy for them and they want to float up to handstand.

17:00 Like giving them a moment to do that, you know, giving them a moment to be creative. So you know the more experienced a person is, the more they're going to want to be able to not be micromanaged. So you don't want to micromanage your students, whether they're beginners or the more advanced people. So that that makes your class inclusive too. I think giving a certain degree of freedom within the structure and giving a moment of the class where you let them kind of flow to music I think is a really

17:28 good idea. So that that's another thing that makes it inclusive. But I also think it's it's important to realize like yoga is for everybody but my class isn't for everybody. So like I'm, you know, my class is listed as a power yoga class, it's listed as a a level two class. So, like, it's not my job to make my class inclusive to every single person in the world, you know? So like, just knowing that, like, you're still, there's still a description for like

18:06 what the class is. Like it's a vinyasa class, It's a power yoga class and a certain degree of experience is expected. Just like a advanced Yogi probably wouldn't want to go to intro to Yoga. It would be very bored. But like, if that person shows up, it's not my job to change my class for one person when the class is listed as something you know.

18:33 So it's like, it's very important, like we want our class to be inclusive and yoga is for everyone. But your class, your power yoga class isn't necessarily for everyone. There's certain people that belong in a beginner's class, There's certain people that belong in a hatha class, you know.

18:52 So, like, it's as a teacher, you want your your students, You hopefully want, excuse me, your students to like you. But more so you want them to respect you first and just being mindful, like, not to overdo the inclusivity sensitivity.

19:13 You know, like, like people are adults and and and let them find their own way. Does that make sense? Yeah, Yeah. Yeah, you want to provide permissions, but you don't want to coddle and baby people. Too much? Exactly. Especially if the class itself is labeled like you're saying, a level 2 or a beginner's class versus an all levels class.

19:35 Which in an all levels class, I would assume that you you don't necessarily need to change your class, but your class should be suitable for all levels. Yeah, right. Which is a lot of what we're talking about, providing modifications and options and noticing the room and what, you know, type of options you might need to add in for particular body types that come in that you weren't expecting.

19:52 For example. Exactly. Which is a little bit more challenging, of course. Exactly. Yeah. OK, I had another thought, but it's a little. Oh yeah, here it is. So yoga has been around for a long time, right? And I'm sure there's another episode somewhere where we can talk more about this.

20:07 But I I I think it's really important to just talk about the modern body, like compared to the old, old school body. And you know, if you are a flexible Yogi or you're someone who just loves yoga and you don't really know what it's like to be in a different person's body, right?

20:23 Which I assume most people tell you only know what it's like to be in your own body. But the modern body has certain limitations and certain restrictions that, yeah, limit them from to be able to do certain post postures and certain types of yoga or certain styles of yoga right away because their bodies are so tight from typically usually sitting along. Sitting, Yeah.

20:45 And stress. And stress. Both, yeah. People underestimate how tight their bodies can get from just being stressed out. Yeah, yeah. And also just sedentary for a period of time, I usually use the example of, you know, if you're going to be teaching a class or you start teaching yoga and things are going well, then all of a sudden you have this person that's been working in an office for five years and they've never really done a lot of exercise.

21:13 And they quit their job and they decided they're going to start getting into shape. And then all of a sudden they show up to your yoga class. Like, are they going to be able to take your class? Is it, is it a, you know, beginner's class? Is it an all levels class?

21:25 Are you going to be able to know how to support that person or are they going to walk into the class? You know, they took the courage to show up. They're like, I'm going to try to get into shape and then they realize, like, I can't do any of this stuff.

21:37 So then they leave and they don't come back to yoga. Like to me that kind of. Yeah, we don't. Want that breaks my heart. We don't want that and and if your class is listed as all levels, you need to find a way to make it accessible to everyone.

21:53 But if it's listed as a level 2-3 vinyasa and that person came to that class, then I'd be like, look, that's just what's in my class for you. And you go up to that person, you can say, hey, you know, I would usually go up to the person just for a moment because again, you don't want to make an example of them. Then they feel embarrassed because they're already embarrassed because they can't do most of the poses. And then if you and then if you come up and micromanage and then they feel even more like the

22:17 spotlight is on them. So you come up and say, hey man, like I used to say like, hey, it gets easier or just keep coming back. Like you'll get more flexible or these movements get easier Or I'll say, you know, I'll come and say, hey, this is a, this is a strong power yoga class.

22:33 A lot of these people have been doing this for 10 years. Please don't compare yourself to these people. So you say something reassuring. You say something to know that to, to to just to give the person a little pat on the back so that. So they do come back.

22:48 And but also like, you don't need every single person that comes to your class to convert them into one of your regulars if they're not the right person for you. Like, hey, you should try, you know, try Alyssa's class. It's a little softer. It's a little more feminine, you know, try Weena's class. It's a beginner's class.

23:10 You know, like, it's fine. You know, like I not everybody. I don't. Not everybody needs to be in my class, you know? Yeah, for sure. And that's a thing that beginners like a beginning teacher. You want everyone to come to your. You want everyone to like you know. And it takes, it takes time to realize like to let go of that, to detach.

23:33 It's a detachment. Right. Yeah, you want to you want to continue to teach in your own authentic way and not change who you are for at the you know, each person that comes into the room. You want to make sure you teach a safe class.

23:44 Absolutely. But you don't want to change who you are the way that you teach. Sorry, Hun, I don't try to say this properly here. You don't want to change the style in which you teach because of the people that are walking in the door. You want to change the safe that you want to change the the sequencing or the queuing or the options or the permissions for the people that come in the door so that it's a safe class. But if someone comes in and it's, you know, you don't necessarily need to change your

24:13 style. You know you don't. If you don't want to necessarily teach to beginners, then you don't have to teach to beginners. If you don't want to teach to advance, you don't have to teach to advance. But it kind of comes back to what's the class about. Yeah, to begin with.

24:24 Yeah, right. Yeah, and and and if a person comes to your class and they are really struggling, just a moment or two just to acknowledge them and to say something reassuring and then leave them alone, a lot of times they they're, they'll come back. You know, I had a lot of times, the people that look really unhappy in your class, they're unhappy not because of you. They're unhappy because maybe the class is very challenging because their body's not used to

24:49 it or maybe they're have a bunch of stress in their system or maybe they had a really bad day. You know, I've always noticed this over my years, like so many times. Like it'll be someone in my class that just looks miserable the entire class. And then that person will come up to me at the end and be like, dude, that was such a great class. I thought you were fucking.

25:08 I thought you fucking hated it. You know, it always happens. So just years of teaching, I've really learned, you know, to learn to let it go, you know? Great. I have one other thought. And that's about celebrating, celebrating effort. Or you kind of talked about it a little bit like kind of, you know, letting people feel seen, especially if they're, you know, like they look like they're new.

25:31 They don't look like they're, you know, quite at the level of what this class might be or the level of your particular teaching. And I kind of see this as well. Or or at least try to acknowledge if someone looks like they're just having a bit more of a challenging time, either just coming up to them and be like you're doing a great job. You know.

25:47 Yeah. And or just to the room, you know, you don't necessarily. And I think you've said some of these things before or maybe it's Byron or other teachers, but like kind of giving permissions of, you know, you can do all these options level one, level 2, Level 3 or no thank you. You know you don't have to do them either kind of thing. And are and also kind of giving people a little bit of love near the end of class or towards the end of class of saying something like if you, you know, if you

26:17 were only able to do certain percentage of the class, which I think you usually say that a lot, 70% of the class or 50% of the class. Like that's OK kind of thing. You know. Because I can imagine if you know, let's just say Mr. five years in an office shows up and he comes to the class and he's like fuck, this is really hard.

26:35 And you know he has to sit out and like 50% of the stuff and he's just like struggling and he's judging himself being like I can't do this, I can't do this. And then boom, all of a sudden you say near the end of class, like, hey, if you've only done this percentage of class or 70 percentage of class, like it's great.

26:50 It's all about, you know, connecting with your breath and progressing and moving on from where you are and just continuously showing up for yourself. Something like that, yeah. Absolutely, Yeah. Yeah. And that's the great at the end of class when you want to bring in more softness.

27:04 Absolutely. And there's also moments to do the opposite of that. Like if you if the room is like you, don't you, you want to call out mediocrity. Like if somebody like is like, you know, they're dropping down instead of going in a child's place, they're checking their phone or doing whatever. Like, I'll be like, what are you doing? Like you didn't come here to, like, check your phone. You know, 'cause you want, you want both. You're you're there to be, like

27:28 loving motherly energy. And the father that says, like, what are you doing? You know, both sides. And I think a lot of people have a hard time with that second part, really like, you know, but you know, I think the the. That's how you That's how you gain respect.

27:43 And that's how people will show up again, because they'll be like, wow, that person kind of put me into place and I needed to hear that. Yes, exactly. Yeah, both sides of it. Great. Cool. So sequencing for everybody. Tape. So we talked about a few things.

27:57 But yeah, the main thing is getting experience with different bodies. I think is probably the foundation of all this. Experience with different bodies. And you get that not just by teaching but also like going to different styles of yoga.

28:10 You see other teachers teaching to different bodies, and you learn by you learn by doing and watching, yeah. And then also queuing the other side of it, So really making sure that your queuing is clear, you know, and focused on alignment and stability for postures so that even if the posture is challenging it, it makes it more accessible.

28:30 Yep, that was one of the other major points. Modifications, Variations give them different options. Levels of that particular posture. Using props, You know, basically down grading the pose to make it accessible or upgrading the pose to make it more challenging.

28:45 All in the same class or the same moment. And then using inclusive language and providing permissions, but then also challenging or maintaining a certain level of respect in the room. Yep, sounds about right. Yeah, cool.

29:01 Is there anything else that comes up for you with regards to sequencing body types? The thing is that with the one last thing about respect is the more you're able to to or the more you're able to, the more respect you have in the room, the more well behaved your students will be.

29:22 So you're not going to get the people that are checking their phone. You're not going to get the people that are flying all around, do whatever the hell they want. You're not getting the people that are going to be like scatterbrained or talking during class. The more respect that you have and you can be respectful and still have fun and still be loving, but the more of that you're able to have, the more well behaved your students would be.

29:44 And and the people who are the toxic people, they won't come to your class like they don't come to my class. I hear about them all the time. Or or maybe they come if they're on their best behavior, right? You know, that's.

29:55 One thing. You scare them, yeah. And you want that a little bit. Right. Yeah. But that's, you know, scare them or just they respect. They see that. They see that. They need to show up respectfully. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what you want.

30:05 I think everybody wants that. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Awesome. Cool. Well, I think we'll wrap it up. So thank you. Thank you for today's episode. And then the next episode, we're going to be moving into transitions, so creating seamless, seamless transitions. And so that'll be episode 3.

30:23 And yeah, thank you so much for listening. Thank you, Paul. I thought maybe we could just mention a few of the trainings that we have coming up at the beginning of this year. So we have quite a few actually starting in April and then May, I believe.

30:36 So April, we have the hands on adjustments. Training 50 hours with Byron and myself starts April 1st to the 5th. And then following that I believe is the meditation teacher training. Is that right? Yeah, meditation training starts May 9th, May 9th through the 26th.

30:51 That's 150 hours with myself and my wife Leah. And then right after that Byron and you are a part of the the empowerment training. So if you come in May, you'd have the opportunity to get 250 hours towards your 300 hours certification. Yeah, amazing.

31:10 And if you come through April, then you get your full 300. Actually, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. All right, Thank you so much. And if you have any questions, you can always reach out to us at podcast@goingproyoga.com.

31:20 Otherwise, we hope you have a beautiful day and we'll speak to you next week. All right. Before you go, let me just tell you about the going proyoga.com platform. So right now you can go to goingproyoga.com and check it out for free for seven days where you can actually learn more about yoga in the ways of alignment, queuing, sequencing, yoga, anatomy.

31:40 So that if you've done a 200 hour teacher training and you want to continue to learn, ractice and grow, this platform is definitely for you. So I definitely suggest checking it outgoingroyogacom right now. You can try it out for free for seven days.