Twenty minutes of continuous talking to a room full of people lying still with their eyes closed has scared off more experienced yoga teachers than any arm-balance workshop ever has. I hear the same question from teachers who can sequence a 90-minute class in their sleep: what do I actually say for 20 minutes? If that question has stopped you from offering yoga nidra, this episode is your orientation session.

I’m walking through what yoga nidra actually is, why it’s a distinct practice rather than a very long savasana, and how it differs from meditation in one specific way: in nidra, your voice carries the student’s attention for them. That’s exactly what makes it intimidating from the teacher’s seat, and exactly what makes it learnable. Continuous narration sounds like improv. It isn’t. It follows a map that has been in the tradition for a very long time: the koshas, the five layers of the self that Alexandra DeSiato and I describe in Yoga Off the Mat as a set of nested lampshades.

You’ll also hear why your students need this more than almost anything else on the schedule. Nearly every class asks students for more output, and skilled, structured, permission-granting rest is the one thing most of them get nowhere. Nidra is also radically accessible: the student rehabbing a shoulder, the pregnant student, the 75-year-old newcomer, and the student who “can’t meditate” can all do this practice completely on the first try.

By the end, you’ll have three things to do this week: practice nidra yourself as a student, play the which-you-is-which game with the kosha map, and draft two minutes of body-scan language and listen back to yourself. Then come build the rest with me on Thursday, October 15, at this month’s Comfort Zone Conversation on teaching yoga nidra, free in the Zone. If you want the complete training with full scripts and continuing education credit, that’s the Fundamentals of Teaching Yoga Nidra course: https://www.comfortzoneyoga.com/nidra

Start this week with the free 5-Minute Yoga Nidra Script: https://www.comfortzoneyoga.com/nidrascript?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=nidrascript&utm_content=e105

Listen now!

Live online classes are back in the Prep Station this fall: one lesson plan a month, taught live by me on three Mondays, 6:00–7:00 p.m. Eastern, with 15 minutes afterward to talk teaching. Balance Play Trio in September, Yoga for All Athletes in October, Meet the Warriors in November. Every class posts as a recording. Membership is $39 a month.

Practice with me

The next cohort of Mastering the Art of Yoga Sequencing Mentorship Membership—MMM, my six-month group mentorship for yoga teachers—starts in January 2027, and the wait list is open now. Doors open to the wait list first, in December, before anyone else hears about it. MMM is also the required half of the Comfort Zone Yoga 300-hour yoga teacher training.

Add your name:

Want to become (almost) everyone's favorite yoga teacher? Join Comfort Zone Yoga, my virtual studio focused on teacher development. I have a ton of Sage advice in there for you!

For more insights, subscribe to Yoga Teacher Confidential, check out my YouTube channel, and follow me on socials:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Threads

And come explore my mentorship program, Yoga Class Prep Station membership, continuing education and 200/300/500-hour teacher training programs, and my many books for yoga teachers. It's all at sagerountree.com.

Every September I promise myself this will be the year I stay on top of my class planning. By week four, the notebook holds four lesson plans and a grocery list, and the fall shine has worn off—for me and for my students.

In this episode, I'm revisiting atha, the very first word of the Yoga Sutras and one my coauthor Alexandra DeSiato and I return to throughout our new book, Yoga Off the Mat. Atha means now, and it turns out to be exactly the word a mid-season teacher needs.

I walk through what atha actually means (it's not just an auspicious opener—it assumes the student arriving has already lived some life before showing up), why week four is when the syllabus meets reality, and three ways to teach with atha this month: building it into your opening minutes, using it as a mid-class reset, and giving your own fall schedule a midterm look without overhauling everything.

If the season's early shine has started to wear thin, in your own teaching or your students' attendance, this episode meets you exactly where you are.

Live online classes are back in the Prep Station this fall: one lesson plan a month, taught live by me on three Mondays, 6:00–7:00 p.m. Eastern, with 15 minutes afterward to talk teaching. Balance Play Trio in September, Yoga for All Athletes in October, Meet the Warriors in November. Every class posts as a recording. Membership is $39 a month.

Practice with me

The next cohort of Mastering the Art of Yoga Sequencing Mentorship Membership—MMM, my six-month group mentorship for yoga teachers—starts in January 2027, and the wait list is open now. Doors open to the wait list first, in December, before anyone else hears about it. MMM is also the required half of the Comfort Zone Yoga 300-hour yoga teacher training.

Add your name:

Want to become (almost) everyone's favorite yoga teacher? Join Comfort Zone Yoga, my virtual studio focused on teacher development. I have a ton of Sage advice in there for you!

For more insights, subscribe to Yoga Teacher Confidential, check out my YouTube channel, and follow me on socials:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Threads

And come explore my mentorship program, Yoga Class Prep Station membership, continuing education and 200/300/500-hour teacher training programs, and my many books for yoga teachers. It's all at sagerountree.com.