One of the coolest things about becoming an actual, real yoga instructor is finding my teaching style. It’s been a few months since I stepped into this new role, and so far, I love it.
I’ve been experimenting with different styles when it comes to the various elements of teaching: Sequences, assists, vocal tones, cue wording, music selection — there’s honestly so much that goes in to teaching a yoga class that I never even noticed until I started doing it myself.
One of the biggest small things (if that makes sense) that we learned in yoga teacher training is the importance of cultivating a class atmosphere that conveys what you want it to convey. Like I said, there’s so much that goes into this! Everything from an instructor’s vocal tone to the studio’s lighting and music selection/volume — it all plays a role in creating a very specific atmosphere for your class. As the teacher, you have to do what you can do in order to craft and control that atmosphere. For contract teachers (like me!) sometimes, that’s a tall order. You’re often given what your studio has to work with, and depending on the type of environment you want to offer your students, that may not be enough. As a Type A control freak (I know, ironic), sometimes, that’s a little too unstable for my liking.
Enter: My yoga teacher “go bag.”
Shortly after I started teaching, I put together a small bag (it’s quite literally an old Lululemon shopping bag) filled with little things I can use to enhance my classes and upgrade the experience for my students. Some of these things also make my teaching experience better! It’s easy enough to keep all these things in one place, so I can just grab my bag and head out the door when I’m scheduled to teach.
If you’re a yoga teacher without a “go bag” of some sort, I would definitely recommend putting one together.
A bit of a disclaimer: I recently updated this a bit since technology has evolved QUITE a bit since I started teaching back in 2019. I left the original graphic I made at the end of this post, if you’d like a bit of a throwback!
(Pst! Affiliate links!)
・・・
My iPhone. I’ve typically relied heavily on two apps while teaching yoga: MINDBODY’s Business and Spotify. MINDBODY is the yoga class scheduling app that most yoga studios use to check students in and out of class/ process payments, and Spotify is, of course, what I use to play music in class. (A quick note: I always, always put my phone on silent before I teach so it doesn’t interrupt music! Either a focus mode or straight-up airplane mode.)
A Bluetooth speaker. I use a Bose Soundlink Revolve+ these days, but when I first started teaching, I used a cheap speaker from BestBuy. Even a phone will work in a pinch.
Hand sanitizer. As a yoga teacher, I touch my students quite a bit throughout class to correct alignment and refine postures. I always apply hand sanitizer between students.
Essential oils. The first studio I ever taught at had an oil diffuser and humidifier that I would sometimes use before night classes, just to set the mood and relax my students. The studio I’m teaching at now has us mist essential oils onto towels to wave across students during savasana. During past yoga teaching gigs, sometimes I would rub a bit of oil on my wrists before giving students assists during some of the restorative postures at the end of class. You can always find some kind of a use for essential oils while teaching. (Note: I never apply oil directly to my students. Just to my wrists!)
A small Turkish towel. If I’m teaching a particularly challenging vinyasa class that causes my students to get particularly sweaty, I’ll fan them off with a towel during savasana. I love Turkish Towels because they’re lightweight, dry quickly and pack down small.
Flameless battery-powered candles. The first studio I taught at had a drawer full of these — they’re especially great during a yin class! — but I have a few at home as well, just in case I end up teaching a special class somewhere that they aren’t available.
An external battery for my phone. I don’t use this quite as much these days, but again — I relied on this heavily during my first contracted yoga teaching gig, since I was commuting and didn’t often have reliable access to a wall charger.
A watch. Not every studio has a clock — and this is usually intentional. I usually create playlists and sequences in advance that help keep me on a general pace, but restorative and yin classes can be a bit trickier to time. I’ve upgraded my regular ‘ol watch to an Apple Watch over the course of my yoga teaching career, and it’s amazing both for keeping track of time and being able to control Spotify from anywhere in the room.
A notebook of written sequences. Some instructors are capable of making up sequences on the fly, as they go through class. I am not one of those instructors. I have to craft my sequences out ahead of time and practice them in my own body several times before I feel confident teaching them. And, even then, I still will write them down because it takes a lot before I’m able to memorize a sequence. I’ll often carry a few pre-crafted sequences in my go bag, just in case.
・・・
So, there you go! That’s a little look at what I keep in my “yoga teacher go bag” that aids and assists me when I’m teaching a class. It’s really important to me that my students feel totally comfortable, relaxed and — most importantly — safe in my class, and these things help me achieve that!
And, as promised, here’s that original graphic from the 2010s. RIP to that iPhone home button!
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my disclosure policy.
This post was originally published May 15, 2019. It has been continually edited and updated since publication to ensure accuracy and relevancy. It was last updated Jan. 28, 2026.
