Community Yoga: Taking Yoga Beyond the Studio

I think we all associate yoga with one of two things:

• Showing up to a class.

• Pressing play on YouTube or another online platform.

As I’ve mentioned before, about 90% of my personal yoga practice has been online—which is amazing for:

• Finding a class length that fits your lifestyle.

• Staying consistent when life is chaotic—and when is it not chaotic?

• Not having to leave your house. Introverts, assemble.

But recently, I’ve been seeing more community yoga pop up on my social media feeds — the algorithms are working ;)

So, what is community yoga?

My definition is that community yoga is usually a class practiced among a group of people who have something in common—a library, apartment complex, workplace, neighborhood, or community center…

The focus is often less on attending a traditional studio and more on creating access, connection, and togetherness.

Community yoga may also be lower cost because there isn’t necessarily studio rent to cover. But the biggest benefit, in my opinion, is that yoga is brought directly to the people who might want to practice it.

For my student project, I had the option to choose between self-study and teaching. Of course, I chose to teach—and I chose to teach community yoga.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to teach my neighbors.

The only thing better than pressing play from the comfort of your own home might be taking the elevator downstairs to do yoga without needing real shoes.

It also doesn’t hurt that my apartment complex has a beautiful turf area next to the pool that probably wasn’t designed for yoga—but it might as well have been.

However, there are some important considerations if you’re going to attend or teach a community yoga series.

1. As the teacher, you have to be aware that your students will be diverse.

And I don’t just mean diverse in age, flexibility, strength, or experience.

I mean diverse in how they feel that day.

I almost always give “gates” or options for most poses so that each person can choose based on where they are that day. Even a student who regularly attends a Yoga 2 class—or a more advanced class—could very well be having an Extra Gentle kind of day.

Community yoga requires the teacher to offer options without making anyone feel like they are doing the “lesser” version of a pose.

There is no lesser version. There is simply the version that works for that person today.

2. As the student, you have to be aware that your teacher is teaching a diverse class.

This means the class may not move exactly how you are used to moving.

You may be familiar with a pose that someone else has never tried. You may want to move faster than another student. You may need more explanation—or less.

Community yoga asks everyone to practice a little patience.

The class is not designed around one person’s experience. It is designed to make space for many experiences at once.

3. As the teacher, you will probably not have a plethora of props available.

Unlike a studio, you may not have a closet full of blocks, straps, bolsters, blankets, and every other yoga accessory imaginable.

You may have whatever you can carry.

4. As the student, you may not have access to a plethora of props either.

And honestly, having a few props of your own might be a lifelong worthwhile investment.

For my community practices, I decided to invest in:

• Five yoga mats

• Five sets of blocks

• Two straps

That gives me enough equipment to support a small group and offer students more options.

It also means that community yoga is not completely free for the teacher, even when the class itself is free or low cost.

There is still preparation, planning, transportation, equipment, and time involved.

5. Many students will probably not be knee-deep in yoga philosophy, Sanskrit, mudras, or breathing techniques.

This one has been especially interesting to me as I continue my training.

I observed a class yesterday where the instructor gave cues such as:

“Start in kneeling side plank, then baby half moon, and then baby sugarcane pose.”

Amazing.

That made perfect sense to me.

But it also assumes that each student knows how to get from A to B.

And if I’m teaching a group of people who are newer to yoga, I cannot assume that they know the names of every pose—or that they know what “baby sugarcane” means just because I do.

This doesn’t mean Sanskrit or traditional pose names should be avoided. It means the teacher has to decide whether the cue is useful to the students in front of them.

Sometimes “come onto your side, bend your top knee, and reach back toward your foot” is more helpful than using the pose name alone.

A teacher has to meet the students where they are.

And that, to me, is one of the most beautiful parts of community yoga.

So, as I wrap up the last 60 something days of my training I have began to brainstorm what the future of Rocks and Chakras will become.

• Will I have an opportunity to teach a class of my own?

• Will I reach out to all the usual community yoga spots that are on my mind?

• Will I offer online courses targeted to specific areas of the body, common misalignments, common ailments that impact desk workers, running, climbers, you name it, or

• Maybe a little of all the above or something I haven’t stumbled on yet?

Honestly, that’s part of the excitement.

For now, I’m enjoying the process of learning, teaching, experimenting, and figuring out where this little yoga adventure might take me.

Where do you normally practice yoga? What’s your preference—studio, online, community, or a little of everything?

I’d love to hear what works best for you.