When your lesson planning keeps returning to the same answers, sitting at your desk and forcing it rarely works. Briefly changing your physical context may offer the starting point you need. Step away from your lesson plan to separate idea generation from evaluation, then return to choose what fits.
What the Research Supports
A Stanford study found that walking helped participants with certain divergent-thinking tasks, which involve generating several ideas. While it does not demonstrate that a walk automatically improves the quality of a yoga class, it suggests that walking may be a useful way to generate ideas before evaluating them.
Take One Focused Question
Rather than trying to plan a whole class on your walk, take one specific question with you. Try something like: “How many ways could I introduce the idea of support?” On a comfortable route appropriate to your circumstances (or even during a seated break in a new setting), just collect possibilities. Let your mind wander without building the entire sequence.
Return to Evaluate
Creasana · Workshop
Try it in your planning
- Write one specific, narrow planning question.
- Take a brief break in a different setting.
- Record five ideas when you return, without ranking them yet.
- Develop only one idea after checking its relevance to your students.
References for further exploration
These planning examples should be adapted to your group and training. References provide context for the topics discussed; they do not validate every example sequence.
