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I was chatting to a friend who is an experienced yogi and he says that when he teaches a general hatha class the sequence is always the same. He changes the poses that he teaches each time but the students always know where he's going to go. He thought that they get comfort from that, they know what he's going to do and there fore they can focus on the poses. My initial thought was, dont people get bored? I suppose the ashtangis and the bikram yogies like a yoga which is more about a sequence but isn't hatha yoga about being creative with the poses and the breath? Teaching a class that suits what you're going through that day. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

There is definitely something good about coming in to class and knowing that you are going to start doing some breathing to calm you down and then standing poses etc. But for me I like it when the sequence is the same but they mix up the poses. It's horses for courses, I guess that's why there are so many different types of yoga, you just get to find one that suits you.

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Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind - so switch your phone off!

I'm with Nyan on this.
I'd never really mess with the classical sequencing principles for poses, but rarely teach (or practice) the exact same sequence twice. I modify things for the season, for who is in the class, for the feeling or the weather that day, and on requests from students too, sometimes.

I simply find I have a class theme, or intention, and follow that thru to wherever it leads me on the day, within the principles of ordering poses (Vinyasa krama etc)

The nice thing about set sequences are that you get to explore them each day from a new starting point, even if the sequence is the same. A bit like skiing the same trail every day, but of course the conditions are different each day so the run is never the same twice.
T/Boy

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Qi Yoga

Hi Amanda, it seems to me that you're both saying the same thing? You have a sequence but you're doing different stuff within it.

Personally speaking I have a class sequence but I teach different poses or sequences of poses in different classes depending on who's in the class, how I'm feeling, what I've been working with in my practice etc. This suits me but I guess were all different and we can only teach what works for us. Don't you think?