What to do when your ‘creative’ Vinyasa yoga class no longer makes you feel creative

A few weeks ago I went to the same studio three times in one week. Three different vinyasa teachers. Three different classes. And guess what? Every teacher taught almost the same sequence. Different voices. The same flow.

It felt like déjà vu, as if the teachers had attended the same workshop the previous weekend and were returning to teach the same thing. I don’t think they were deliberately copying each other. And as a teacher, I understand how this can happen. That’s what happens when we’re all floating in the same little education bubble. You hear the same cues, take the same classes, absorb the same playlists and transitions. Before you know it, your “creative vinyasa” starts to sound just like everyone else’s: it’s copy-paste.

I find myself falling into this trap too. It always happened when I wasn’t really practicing yoga for myself. Yes, I demonstrated poses for students when I stood in front of them. I was rehearsing fragments that I had already learned. But actually I wasn’t moving for myself. I didn’t create anything new or get carried away by how I felt.

Everything about the classes I taught felt flatter. I’m sure my students felt it too, even if they couldn’t or wouldn’t name it. Everyone, including myself, seemed like we were going through the motions instead of meeting the moment.

Here’s the problem. Familiarity can be reassuring. The nervous system likes patterns. I started my yoga journey with Ashtanga and I still long for and honor a primal series in my body. But if we teach classes where students come because it’s creative vinyasa, we have to be creative. If we keep repeating the same sequences, we won’t cook anymore, right? We’re just heating up the leftovers.

3 reasons why I need creative yoga sequences

This is why mixing things up is important, both for me and for my students.

1. Bodies need it

When every class follows the same or overly similar pattern, the students’ bodies take notice. If you keep doing the same thing all the time, it can manifest itself in bodies like tight shoulders, overworked calves, and a nervous system that overrides the same set of postures.

2. The mind needs it

If you’re bored, chances are they’re bored. There is something to be said for recognizable patterns. They can be reassuring. And perhaps these are the reasons why some students are attracted to the same teachers. But nothing kills my vinyasa yoga high faster than a teacher on autopilot, serving up the same sequence with slightly different words over and over again.

3. Your vote depends on it

Your unique voice won’t shine if you copy the teacher across the hall, or for that matter if you repeatedly copy yourself. It comes out when you practice in silence and actually listen. But you can’t keep creating if you don’t have inspiration. New lessons, new teachers, exploring new modalities, or allowing yourself to move in a different way and be inspired by something or someone outside yourself. Because ‘creative vinyasa’ without creativity? That’s just vinyasa.

When I realized that week that all three lessons were basically the same, I first changed my own practice. I took classes outside of my usual job. I practiced in silence. I let myself feel bored, uncomfortable, and uninspired long enough for something new to emerge.

When I started teaching again, the difference was immediately noticeable. The sequences somehow felt alive again. And me too.