Yoga Teaching and Learning
​at www.yogauk.com

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Hello Reader

Happy new year! And welcome to my January newsletter for yoga teachers.

This month's article is a reflection on: Weaving yoga into the small moments of daily life and how we can use this teaching to enhance our students' experience.

I look forward to seeing some of you at our January yoga teacher networking meeting, for the usual variety of interesting conversations about teaching yoga.

Love and light,

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Keep scrolling for:

🤷🏻 Article: Weaving yoga into the small moments of daily life

👉 News and resources: Yoga teacher networking dates and free Foundation Course introductory workshop for your students

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Article:

Weaving yoga into the small moments of daily life

Students usually arrive with enthusiasm at the start of a new term, keen to get back to their yoga classes. In January, new year’s resolutions often bring renewed motivation and sometimes new students too.

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At the same time, the usual routines and responsibilities return after the holidays which can derail good intentions.

Caring duties, work deadlines, getting over winter bugs, coping with cold weather, can all detract from efforts to maintain health and wellbeing.

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People who manage to attend a yoga class once a week, often feel too busy or too tired to practice in between, even if they know it would do them good. But we can shift the narrative from:
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👎"I can’t squeeze any more yoga into my busy life!"

to:

👍 "When can I use yoga to support me in my everyday life?"​
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For some, that could be a private moment of centring before having a challenging conversation. For others, it could be breath awareness while waiting in a queue, or having a stretch during a quick coffee break away from the computer.

Everyday micro-practices like these can build on what is learnt and experienced in weekly classes - not through intensity, but through gentle consistency.

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A suggestion of mini-practices peppered throughout the week can feel more achievable than big plans to get on your yoga mat every day. And though brief, they can be more powerful than they seem.
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Why small moments count

Yoga classes are a great way to retreat regularly, to develop life skills, build body strength and flexibility and to let your system truly rest. Micro-practices on the other hand allow yoga to meet life while it’s actually happening.

For students who have embodied basic yoga concepts, yoga can become something they do every day. A deep breath before writing a difficult email, grounding the feet or standing on one leg while cleaning your teeth, relaxing your jaw while driving.

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Micro-practices are stress relievers - little doorways back to presence when the mind has become scattered or over-loaded. They’re not another addition to the to-do list but can arise naturally once we’re familiar with them. Small practices are easily achievable – you just have to remember to use them.
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What micro-practices can we teach?

We can take out small elements from what we are already teaching in class, such as deep breathing, hasta mudra, or simple movements and stretches that don't need much preparation. We can also suggest situations where students might try them at home.

Here are some examples that can be easily taught in class, including coaching and safety guidance so that students know how to practice them safely at home.
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​🌟 Sit upright and drop your shoulders

Simple cues that help students sit or stand upright with ease can shift their energy immediately. Repeating these words in class makes them familiar and something students can come back to throughout the week. Practices like this remind students that yoga is about more than just practising asana.

🌟 Take one deep breath

A long, slow deep breath, in and out through the nose, has a calming effect on the nervous system. In class we can teach students how to breathe deeply with ease, balance and full attention, so that in addition to the physiological and neurological effects of taking a deep breath, we are also associating this practice with how we feel in class and remembering and invoking a sense of presence.

🌟 Grounding the feet

Spreading the soles of the feet into the floor while doing a standing activity, such as waiting in a queue, washing the dishes or cleaning your teeth develops a sense of grounding, instead of creating tension in the tops of the shoulders.

🌟 Shoulder rolls

We can teach students how to ease out tension in the shoulders and upper back after time at the computer or driving or periods of stress. We can teach them to move slowly and with awareness, rolling the shoulders, or circling the elbows so that it becomes familiar and natural.

🌟 Easing out the neck

Drop the chin to the chest and slowly roll the chin towards the left shoulder, then back towards the breastbone. Repeating a few times to each side helps to ease out muscle tension in the back of the neck. We can teach students to keep movements slow and pain-free, and to un-learn any muscle memory of less safe exercises that circle the head all the way back.

🌟 Wrist circles

Hand, finger and wrist exercises relieve tension in the wrists after typing. Hold the arms horizontal and parallel at shoulder height. Make loose fists and rotate them both in the same direction, without moving the arms, and then reverse.

Other hand and finger exercises are also useful, for example alternating between clenched fists and stretching out the fingers and palms. These short exercises are particularly helpful for typists, those with arthritis, and anyone in cold weather.

🌟 Half uttanasana

Using a wall, the back or seat of a chair, or the kitchen worktop, place your hands or elbows on the support. Step back, lengthening out your spine creating space in the front of the body. The ankles are directly below the hip joints, with a soft bend in the knees, the tail is reaching back, and the crown of the head is reaching to a point between the hands or elbows. This is one of my favourites while waiting for the kettle to boil!

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There are so many other possible micro-practices, and these can be geared towards the needs of the students in our classes, eg. desk workers, gardeners, young mothers, people with arthritis or other ailments.

For the teacher

It is of course important that we practise what we offer our students. When we embody these small pauses and micro-practices, we can teach from lived experience.

I have always used micro-practices in this way. If you do too, you can teach your favourites to your students, and they will undoubtedly appreciate hearing about your own experience of how you find them useful in life.

Teaching yoga demands presence, energy, and emotional effort and we can also use micro-practices privately for ourselves to help us stay present, vigilant and relaxed while teaching.
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A gentle invitation

Students come to class for an experience and for how it makes them feel. A gentle invitation to take micro-practices into real life can be an additional benefit they hadn’t thought of, that is manageable and quietly transformative.

Small practices can reveal the essence of yoga: presence, breath, and the willingness to return again and again to ourselves.

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News and resources

Yoga Teacher Networking meetings

These sessions are short, impactful meetings designed to connect and support us all in our yoga teaching. More info here Put the dates in your diary and join the next session to share, listen, and get inspiration:

• Saturday 17th January 2026 at 10-11am
• Saturday 7th March 2026 at 10-11am

Our friendly get-togethers are open to all yoga teachers and are free of charge. You'll receive an invitation by email the day before, if you are subscribed to this newsletter. (If not subscribed you can sign up here. To unsubscribe from the invitations, select Preferences at the bottom of this email.)

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Resources:

👉 BWY Foundation Course online - free introductory workshop for your students - course starts March 2026.
​Saturday 17th January 12.30-2.30pm
​Email yogauk@gmail.com for more information.

👉 Essential Anatomy and Physiology for Yoga Teaching online study - more information here​

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Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to any yoga teacher friends or colleagues who might be interested in any of the content. They can sign up to receive newsletters to their own inbox at www.yogauk.com
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