7 Ideas for Yogis to Celebrate National Yoga Month

September is national yoga month, and if you are a yoga studio owner or a teacher you are probably wanting to do some extra fun things to celebrate with your students.

Although there are many ways to celebrate an event like this, here are seven of my favorite ways to celebrate national yoga month this year.

Feel free to try one or several of these ideas when planning your celebration for this special and unique month.

The Top 7 Ways Yogis Can Celebrate National Yoga Month

Hold a Special Outdoor Class 

Is it just me or is fall one of the most beautiful times of the year? For most places September is a great time to get outside to practice before the weather starts to turn and winter is upon us. 

Get outside, enjoy the falling leaves, maybe do a special fall equinox class to celebrate national yoga month and honor the beauty that surrounds you.

You can get creative, and host a community class in a park, or partner with a local cafe and practice on their patio, or maybe your studio space already has a beautiful outdoor practice area you can utilize.

Mixing up your teaching environment is a great way to celebrate, but also invite new students to come and move with you outside of the studio.

Do a Yoga Challenge

Yoga challenges both in the studio or online can be a fun and unique way to celebrate. These challenges can be a fun way for students to try something new, build upon a skill or connect with other yogis by doing a challenge together. 

You can get creative with what you want the challenge to be. Maybe you challenge your students to come practice everyday for a week, or meditate for 5 minutes every day this month, or do a special build-up to a certain peak pose challenge. 

When deciding what your challenge topic will be, think about what you are known for in your teaching, and how this challenge can best support your students and their learning in a fun, collaborative way. Challenges can be simple, fun, and a great way to celebrate. A special tip- have a prize for those that complete the challenge for extra fun and motivation.

Ask a Guest Teacher to Share a Class

Collaboration is always better than competition. For national yoga month, why not consider partnering up with a guest teacher, or doing a collab with another studio to bring your students a new style or a fresh take on what they are already practicing.

Maybe you know a local teacher who specializes in restorative yoga, or does sound baths at the end of classes, or perhaps there is a yoga studio in your town that offers different styles than you do.

Why not consider asking a guest teacher to come share something new with your community, or join forces with another teacher to create something new together. Bringing a fresh new look and voice to the practice of yoga, and building community can be a great way to practice.

Give the Gift of Yoga

What a better way to celebrate than giving a gift? People love to celebrate with giveaways, prizes, or by giving gifts themselves. During this month you may want to consider doing a gift card special, or a promotion on class packs, scholarship opportunities or give away classes to those that usually wouldn’t be able to come to a studio.

You could also consider doing some acts of seva by volunteering to teach at senior centers, or women’s shelters or anywhere else you can think of.

Yoga is a beautiful gift, and this month think outside the box on how you can give that gift to others in your community, or how your students can give this gift to others around them.

108 Sun Salutations

108 sun salutations is one of my personal favorite ways to celebrate something. I like to ring in the new year with 108 sun salutations, or do them on the fall equinox to mark this special time of year.

The number 108 appears in sacred texts, as well in sacred numerology and symbolizes completeness, it is also the number of beads that are on a mala. The practice of doing 108 sun salutations is often done on special days of change, new beginnings or other great significance.

It is a wonderful time to have your students challenge themselves physically, practice tapas, and explore the limitations of their body on the mat. This practice usually takes 90-120 minutes and is a way to turn up the heat on national yoga month.

Explore the Other Limbs

Yoga is so much more than poses, but often we get stuck teaching the asanas, and our students don’t realize that there are 7 other limbs out there to dive into. Educate your students on all 8 limbs and invite them to explore new ones.

Maybe you have a meditation workshop, or ask a breathwork teacher to come lead a special class, or perhaps you have a moonlit yoga nidra class to practice pratyahara.

You could also hold a workshop or lecture on all of the different limbs, or make it a series throughout the month. The ideas are endless, but what a special way to celebrate national yoga month than introducing your students to new limbs and increasing their knowledge of yoga.

Host a Workshop or Event

When you are planning how to celebrate this month, consider diving deep into an aspect of the practice that you love, but don’t often share with your students.

You could host a workshop or special event around a part of yoga that speaks to you. Maybe you love inversions, or you teach vinyasa but you love yin too, or perhaps you want to help people craft their soul’s personal mantra with a soul writing workshop. 

When it comes to workshop and event planning there is no wrong answer, and the only limitation is your own creativity.

Share from the heart, and welcome your students into an immersive learning experience that will teach them something new, help build community and be a fun celebration for national yoga month, you can make it extra fun and special by making it feel like a party with drinks, sacks, and other fun things.