Teaching From the Heart: How Intentional Yoga Themes Shape Our Practice—and Our Lives

There’s a quiet moment that happens before every class I teach. A pause. A breath. A soft tuning-in where I ask myself, What do my students need today? What do I need today?

For years, I have had the same monthly themes, and they flowed easily. Those familiar themes supported me through so much, but lately I’ve felt a deeper shift. A call to move beyond the patterns I’ve relied on… toward teaching with more intention, more presence, and a renewed sense of soulful planning.

It’s funny how yoga works like that.
We think we’re just choosing a theme, and suddenly we’re learning about ourselves.

When Teaching Themes Become Life Themes

What I’ve discovered is that choosing themes isn’t just about cueing a class. It’s about choosing the energy we want to cultivate—on the mat and beyond it.

When we guide students through grounding, we remember to root ourselves.
When we teach about softening, we start to release our own grip.
When we focus on balance, we begin noticing the places in our lives that feel uneven.

The themes we teach become tiny mirrors reflecting back what we, too, are navigating. And that’s the beauty of yoga—it never asks us to have it all figured out. It simply invites us to be awake to our experience.

Planning With Intention Isn’t Less Soulful—It’s More Meaningful

For a long time, I resisted planning too much. I prided myself on intuition, on feeling the energy in the room and following it. And there’s magic in that, yes. But now, as I grow and evolve, I understand something deeper:

Intentional planning doesn’t restrict the soul—it gives it a container to shine.

When we choose themes in advance, we’re not locking ourselves into rigidity. We’re choosing to approach our work with care. We’re giving our students consistency, nourishment, and continuity. And we’re giving ourselves a moment to pause, reflect, and ask:

What lesson is trying to be lived out here?

Practicing the Principles We Teach

Each time we create a theme, we apply the principles of yoga without even realizing it:

Ahimsa reminds us to choose gentle words.
Satya invites us to teach what feels honest.
Svadhyaya asks us to look inward as much as outward.
Tapas nudges us to stay committed, even when life feels heavy.
Santosha reminds us to find contentment in the simple act of showing up.

The way we plan is a practice.
The way we teach is a practice.
The way we live is a practice.

When we bring intention into our teaching, we naturally bring intention into our days. Our yoga themes become our reminders, our anchors, our quiet truths that follow us long after the class has ended.

A New Season of Teaching—and Living

As I move into this new season of teaching with greater intention, I’m reminded that yoga is always evolving us. It doesn’t just shape our bodies—it shapes our choices, our energy, our presence, our perspective.

And maybe that’s the real theme of all of this:

When we teach from a place of intention, we live from a place of intention.

And in that space?
Everything—your practice, your life, your purpose—begins to align with more clarity and more heart. I cannot wait to share each month’s theme with you!