Yoga Teacher Tip: Let The Pause Teach
Learn how intentional pauses in your yoga classes create space for healing, deeper awareness, and a more transformative practice—for your students and for you.
Yoga teachers, let’s talk about the pause.
You know—the moment in class when you feel like you need to keep saying alignment cues or something about the breath because it feels uncomfortable to be in the space between what’s going on and what’s next? Or maybe it feels uncomfortable to sit in silence for a few seconds? Does it feel stressful to just pause?
Sometimes embracing that pause can be where some interesting stuff begins.
I used to be so focused on sequencing the perfect class, building heat, weaving the theme, holding the energy. And I still love all of that. But I’ve come to learn that what happens between the shapes is just as powerful as the shapes themselves.
Why Stillness Matters in a Fast-Paced World
Most of the world rewards speed, results, and doing more. But yoga reminds us to come home to ourselves through presence. And presence needs space. Stillness. Breath. Silence. A moment to land.
Adding intentional pauses in your teaching gives your students:
A chance to integrate the physical effects of each pose
Time to reconnect with their breath
The mental training to rest in the present moment
Permission to just be, without having to perform or strive
And, let’s take a reality check: we need this too—as teachers, space holders, and humans living in a go-go-go world.
How to Weave in the Pause (Without Losing Momentum)
Here are a few ways to experiment with stillness in your classes this week:
Post-Vinyasa Check-Ins
After a strong flow or the peak pose, land them in Downward Dog, Child’s Pose, or Tadasana. Cue one round of breath. Say less. Let the body speak.
Silent Transitions
Try moving students between two shapes with minimal cues. Let them find the pose in their own time while you hold space. You’ll be surprised what they discover on their own.
Stillness After Effort
After the standing or balancing poses, which require a ton of focus, give them a pause in Tadasana. Not everything has to be “next, next, next.” Sometimes it's “stay, feel, breathe.”
Let Sound Teach
If you use music in class, let a few beats or a soft track hold the space for you while your students process. If you don’t use music, let the breath be the soundtrack.
A Practice Within the Practice
Here’s the thing: teaching stillness can feel vulnerable. You might worry your students will get bored, or that you’ll lose the momentum of class. You might even feel like you’re not “doing enough” as a teacher.
But here’s what I’ve learned: the more we model presence, the more we give permission for others to experience it too.
Stillness is where the subtle body gets louder. It’s where we digest, integrate, and feel. It’s where transformation takes root.
What Happens in the Pause…
…isn’t always flashy or Instagrammable. It might look like nothing from the outside.
But inside?
That’s where healing happens. That’s where the practice lands.
So this week, in your classes and maybe even in your own life, try pausing just a little longer. Let the stillness do the heavy lifting. Let the pause teach.
Because sometimes, the most powerful part of your class is the moment when you say nothing at all.