65 Yoga Themes and Intentions to Transform Your Teaching
Photo by: Nicole Naone Photo
We all know the feeling of an amazing yoga class - the kind where you realize yoga isn’t just transforming your body, it’s transforming your life.
What turns a yoga class into a life-changing practice? It’s not the sequence, the music, or the difficulty of the poses. More often than not, it’s the theme.
As a student and as a teacher, setting an intention in your yoga practice can help you gain awareness, peace, and clarity. But it can also be one of the most difficult elements to master.
Below are 65 yoga themes and intentions to inspire, challenge, and ground your yoga practice.
And if you’re a teacher learning how to theme a yoga class, keep reading for our expert guidance on what to say and when to say it.
65 Yoga Themes to Transform Your Teaching
Below, we’ve grouped our themes into categories based on the overall message you want your students to take away. While theming can also be based on elements of yoga philosophy, and fun or relevant ideas, we’ve focused on actionable intentions. The overarching themes we came up with are: surrendering, heart-opening, mental clarity, empowering, self-care, grounding, joy/celebration, and self-exploration. Once you’ve chosen your theme, read on for ideas about how to use them in your teaching!
Themes for Surrender
Surrender
Let Go to Grow
Accept What Is
Embrace Non-Attachment
Find Stillness
Find Peace
Themes for Heart-Opening
Practice Self-Love
Release Judgment
Choose Gratitude
Open Your Heart
Let Love In
Practice Forgiveness
Appreciate Yourself
Embrace Imperfections
Release Fear
Choose Compassion
Themes for Mental Clarity
Clear the Lens
Peel Back the Layers
Turn Your Gaze Inward
Find Focus
Quiet Your Mind
Sit in Your Silence
Move to Meditate
Themes for Empowerment
Embrace Discomfort
Choose Courage
Empower Yourself
Break Your Boundaries
Choose How You Change
Embrace Change
Energize to Elevate
Build Discipline
Say Yes to You
Be Your Own Cheerleader
Strengthen Your Mind
Believe in Transformation
Themes for Self-Care
Practice Self-care
Listen to Your Body
Trust Yourself
Be Your Own Teacher
Focus on the Feeling
Serve Yourself First (Modify)
Create Boundaries
Themes for Grounding
Root to Rise
Ground Down
Reconnect
Be Present
Embrace Your Now
Come Back to Basics
Find Balance
Realign
Center Yourself
Balance Effort and Ease
Themes for Joy & Celebration
Celebrate The Small Things
Enjoy the Journey
Choose Joy
Live Your Truth
Follow Your Bliss
Feel Freedom
Pursue Passion
Themes for Self-Exploration
Explore Yourself
Notice Your Thoughts
Expand Your Mind
Reflect
Be Curious
Be a Beginner
Find Meaning
Theming: A Note for New Yoga Teachers:
Theming can feel extremely vulnerable! We all want to be able to speak eloquently, but like all things, it takes time and practice. If you have anxiety around the right thing to say, remember:
Your theme might not resonate with everyone.
And that’s okay! Your theme is simply an offering, and the people who need to hear it will take it to heart.
Repetition is a good thing.
It’s more than okay to use the same theme more than once. Some learnings take time to land, and it will help you get comfortable with what you have to say.
There is no right or wrong.
The “rules” around theming may not apply to every class you teach. Sometimes you might want to introduce the theme right away with an explanation, and sometimes you may want to wait until after integration. Trust yourself to design the class experience and say what you need to say.
Speak from your heart.
We all have something to learn from each other. If you’re working on finding balance or choosing courage in your own practice, share the way it shows up for you. You don’t have to be the most eloquent person in the room to have something meaningful to say. We’re all on the journey together.
Tips for Theming Your Yoga Classes
Keep it simple.
Think: one word. Your theme should be able to be distilled down to a single idea so that your students can come back to it with focus. If your theme is too vague or all-encompassing, it can be hard to relate to. Focusing on one specific theme or intention allows the message to resonate deeper.
Spend time reflecting.
In order for your theme to resonate, you need to be able to speak from the heart. Choose something that is relevant to you or that you’re working on in your own practice to keep the connection real.
Sequence for success.
The best themes often work alongside an intentional sequence - but try not to confuse sequencing for theming! For example, “backbends” is not a theme - but combining a backbend-focused sequence with a theme like “Self-Love” or “Gratitude” will create a cohesive experience.
Choose mindful moments.
Your theme should be sprinkled throughout your class mindfully, so that you don’t overdo it. Touch upon your theme when you set the intention for class and again when you close class, but also weave it throughout. Themes land best in moments of challenge or surrender, so speak to them during peak postures, drills, and in moments of deep release.
How To Theme for Surrender
Surrender | Let Go to Grow | Accept What Is | Embrace Non-Attachment | Find Stillness | Find Peace
The Mantra:
I let go to what is.
Relevant Quotes:
“Surrender to what is...and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.” - Eckhart Tolle
“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loves, how greatly you lives, and how gracefully you let go of the things not meant for you.” - Buddha
Gentle Guidance:
With each new exhale, let go of what is no longer serving you. Let each inhale fill you with what you need.
Know that your thoughts and your emotions are temporary. Let them come and go like waves on your shore.
Close your eyes and imagine what it would look like for you to be fully at peace with what is. Sit in that space.
Questions for Reflection:
“Where in your body are you still holding on? Where can you let go?”
“What can you leave on your mat today?”
How to Theme for Heart Openers
Practice Self-Love | Release Judgment | Choose Gratitude | Open Your Heart | Let Love In | Practice Forgiveness | Appreciate Yourself | Embrace Imperfections | Release Fear | Choose Compassion
The Mantra:
When I choose love, I am love.
Relevant Quotes:
“Yoga is not about self improvement, it’s about self acceptance.” - Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
“Practice love until you remember that you are love.” - Swami Sai Premananda
“When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” Lao Tzu
Gentle Guidance:
Life gets better when we accept ourselves for who we are.
Allow yourself to enjoy the feeling of being in your body, exactly as it is.
There’s nothing you need to change to be worthy of unconditional self-love.
The more love you give yourself, the more you have to share.
Questions for Reflection:
What would you say to yourself if you loved yourself unconditionally?
What would happen if you devoted each day to loving yourself more?
How to Theme for Mental Clarity
Clear the Lens | Peel Back the Layers | Turn Your Gaze Inward | Find Focus | Quiet Your Mind | Sit in Your Silence | Move to Meditate
The Mantra:
I clear the lens.
Yoga Quotes for Clarity:
“When you just sit in silence, and the wind blows through you, and the sun shines in you, and you realize you are not your body; you are everything.” - Anita Krizzan
“Clarity is the moment we see without opening our eyes.” -Stephanie Banks
Gentle Guidance:
Release the idea that your mind needs to be silent to be in true meditation.
It is not about being perfect. It’s about being fully present with yourself.
Let thoughts come and go with the same ease as a deep breath.
Close your eyes and arrive where you are.
Questions for Reflection:
When your eyes are closed, what more do you notice?
What is clouding your vision?
Theming for Empowerment
Embrace Discomfort | Choose Courage | Empower Yourself | Break Your Boundaries | Choose How You Change | Embrace Change | Energize to Elevate | Build Discipline | Say Yes to You | Be Your Own Cheerleader | Strengthen Your Mind | Believe in Transformation
The Mantra:
I choose the direction of my growth.
Empowering Yoga Quotes:
“You are what you choose to be in this moment.”
“It is not who you are that holds you back. It is what you think you are not.” - Unknown
“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” - Oprah Winfrey
“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress.” - Sophia Bush
Gentle Guidance:
You get to control the voice in your head.
When you say yes to challenge, you also say yes to growth, courage, and change.
The power of believing in what’s possible is the power to change your life.
Questions for Reflection:
What would happen if you just said yes?
What thought patterns do you notice in your mind when you come up against challenge?
Ask yourself: are you standing in your own way?
How to Theme for Self-Care
Practice Self-Care | Listen to Your Body | Trust Yourself | Be Your Own Teacher | Focus on the Feeling | Serve Yourself First (Modify) | Create Boundaries
The Mantra:
I meet myself where I am.
Yoga Quotes for Self-Care:
“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.” - Etty Hillesum
“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” - Aldous Huxley
“Self-care means giving yourself permission to pause.” -Cecilia Tran
Gentle Guidance:
Trust in your body to tell you what it needs. You are your own best teacher.
See if you can balance your energy with strength and softness. You may need more of one than the other.
Give yourself the grace to meet yourself where you are.
Listen to yourself more than you listen to me.
Questions for Reflection:
Where can you be gentle with yourself?
What would it look like to fill your cup every day?
How to Theme for Grounding
Root to Rise | Ground Down | Reconnect | Be Present | Embrace Your Now | Come Back to Basics | Find Balance | Realign | Center Yourself | Balance Effort and Ease
The Mantra:
I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Grounding Yoga Quotes:
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.” Ekhart Tolle
Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” -Pema Chodron
Gentle Guidance:
Feel the soles of your feet ground into the earth and let that feeling putt you back into the present.
If your mind has wandered away from the four corners of your mat, come back into the feeling of being in your body.
Imagine yourself sending out energy in balance with the energy you receive.
Questions for Reflection:
What brings you back into the present moment?
What is holding you back from being in the here and now? Can you allow yourself to let it go?
Theming for Joy & Celebration
Celebrate The Small Things | Enjoy the Journey | Choose Joy | Live Your Truth | Follow Your Bliss | Feel Freedom | Pursue Passion
The Mantra:
I follow my bliss.
Yoga Quotes for Joy & Celebration:
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein
“The more you celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” -Oprah Winfrey
Gentle Guidance:
Let every new expiration fill you with the joy of being alive in your body.
Feel gratitude for the
The small things are the big things.
Feel the freedom of the four corners of your mat.
Questions for Reflection:
How can you invite more joy into your life?
What are three things you’re grateful for right now?
What does a blissful life look like to you?
How to Theme for Self-Exploration
Explore Yourself | Notice Your Thoughts | Expand Your Mind | Reflect | Be Curious | Be a Beginner | Find Meaning
The Mantra:
I am my own teacher.
Yoga Quotes for Self-Exploration:
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It may be when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.“ - Wendell Berry
You make the path by walking. ~ Robert Bly
Listen–are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life? ― Mary Oliver
Gentle Guidance:
Explore movement with curiosity.
Arrive with a beginner’s mind to feel your body awaken as if for the first time.
Notice the monologue in your mind, with more curiosity than judgement.
Questions for Reflection:
What feels different about this day? This time? Time moment in your body?
Where does your mind go when you’re not paying attention? Can you bring it back?
Ask yourself: Are these thoughts serving me?
There you have it - 65 yoga themes and how to teach them in your yoga class! What questions do you have about theming? Let us know in the comments below!