March Musings: Letting Go to Let It Flow in Yoga Practice
- Sam Turner
- Apr 4
- 3 min read
Hello curious person
I'm sad to say goodbye to our March theme, Let It Flow. It transformed into something truly wonderful. It was a journey, that’s for sure.
When I first put up the poll in our WhatsApp group, I was curious to see if people would embrace the idea of a flowing sequence that focused on the left side—moving from ground to standing—before returning to the 'beginning' for the right side. And they absolutely did. I was all in too. Stepping outside my comfort zone in February brought me so much joy (and a fair bit of nervousness) that I was more than willing to embrace our new theme, Let It Flow, with open arms.
I got down to planning. I built a sequence and ran through it a few times. I wanted something that flowed smoothly, moving from the ground, through the various pose groups, and ending in standing. I knew that timing would be crucial as I planned. I planned to explore pace throughout the month, but quickly realised it would be explored not only in the sequence but also in my ability to teach it.
I walked into our first class armed with a pristine piece of paper. I think I even showed it to everyone in our class, hosted in Zoomlandia. I knew I’d need it. We moved through the sequence as I kept an eye on the clock, making sure we had time. One issue that can arise when teaching a sequence on one side, then the other, is that running out of time is simply not an option.
In our first class, we reached the midway point and had made it through the sequence in the right amount of time. We came back down to the ground and took a moment to pause, as if we were returning to the beginning of the class. We spent a few moments on the ground, and wow! The true power of the sequence revealed itself. I hadn’t really considered this in my planning, but you could feel the difference between the left side and the right side. Then, some of my SATYA training kicked in, and I started prompting people to check in with the left side and right side, noticing the similarities and differences. We then moved to the second side, just in time for a brief moment of relaxation at the end, where we could check in again with the left and right sides.
As we reached the end of the class, it was the first thing people commented on. At that halfway point, they felt one side of their body was longer, more grounded, and generally very different after the sequence of movements. This became an important marker in the practice. I’m constantly wowed by this practice, and this moment reminded me of the profound impact these poses can have on the body. It’s so easy to connect to one side when the other feels so distinctly different.
By the way, that pristine piece of paper I started with didn’t look so pristine after I stepped on it multiple times and unintentionally kicked it out of the way throughout our first class. Surprisingly, it survived the month, and I actually managed to memorise the sequence by the end of week three.
Over the rest of the month, we added poses and expanded the sequence to include variations. I quickly learnt that if I added something, I needed to remove something, or time would quickly run away with itself.
It was an absolute joy to teach this theme to you! I loved every moment of it. 2025 has had a great line-up of themes, but this one had something special about it. Plenty of you have shared a similar sentiment too. I’m glad I pushed past that initial feeling of discomfort over timing because there was something magical waiting for me on the other side.
We may be saying goodbye to Let It Flow, but I don’t think this is the end for it. I proposed a Round 2 of this for April’s theme, but our new theme won out by just one vote. I think Let It Flow (Part 2) — or, more likely named, Left Side, Right Side — will make a return in a couple of months. I came to the end of this theme with so many ideas I still want to explore.
We’re now working through a theme called 'Spacious Shoulders.' It seems that 2025 is the year of stepping outside my comfort zone! We’ve had our first class on this, which has helped me workshop the theme and explore how to integrate our yoga props. I’m excited to see what’s to come.
Thanks for hanging out with me while you read this. Until next time!
Sam
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