Closing a yoga class is just as important as any other part of the class. We may have our go-to phrases to end off the session, but it may start to feel a little stale repeating it multiple times a week.

Express Gratitude

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” ~ Meister Eckhart

A common favorite theme to close a yoga class among yoga teachers is that of expressing gratitude and giving thanks. Many yoga teachers expressed that it is a simple, yet effective way to not only end off the session well for the students, but also remind themselves about why they are teaching yoga.

Oftentimes, a genuine and heartfelt “thank you” will suffice, but if you are looking to expand on that, here are some ideas.

• Thank you for sharing your love, light, and energy with me today!
• From my heart to yours, thank you for joining me / practicing with me.
• It’s always an honor and a privilege to share my practice with you. Thanks for playing!
• Thank you for allowing me to lead you in practice today.
• Be grateful to yourself for the time you offered yourself, for your motivation, for the attention you gave to yourself. I thank you for practicing with me.
• Give gratitude to your mind, your body and your breath for allowing you to practice today.
• Give thanks to yourself for making it to the mat and thanks to each other for the energy each of you brought to class today.
• I invite you to bow and give gratitude to your mind, body & breath for taking you through your practice and the rest of your day.
• Thank you for joining me! I look forward to seeing you back here next week.

Share an Uplifting Message or Affirmation

Another popular way to close a yoga class is by sharing an uplifting message or affirmation. Yoga teachers find that leaving their students with some positive words at the end of a yoga practice helps them transition back into the rest of their day with ease. Positive affirmations have also been shown to have many additional benefits.

Here are some uplifting messages and affirmations that yoga teachers share with their students.

• Do good, be good, shine bright and have fun.
• May your days be happy, healthy and full of love!
• Bring your hands together at your heart, lower your head to your heart and acknowledge yourself for showing up to your mat today. Take this feeling you have cultivated here, off your mat, into each and every moment of your living.
• May you be happy. May you be well. May you be safe. May you be at peace and at ease.
• May all beings be happy and free. May our thoughts, words and actions support this.
• The light in me honors the divine and beautiful light in each one of you. I wish you peace, love and light.
• May the rest of your week be as beautiful as you are.
• I have everything I need. I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am grateful to be me.
• Bow your head to the wisdom within your heart. Thank you for sharing your practice with me.
• The goodness in me salutes the goodness in you.
• I’d like to close class by offering you a final wish of ‘peace’. That you may find peace both within yourself and in those around you.
• May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.

Focus on the Breath

Some yoga teachers, including Shannon Crow, host of The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast, prefer to end their yoga classes by bringing the focus of the practice back to the breath.

Focusing in on the breath after a strenuous Vinyasa practice, or a soothing Restorative practice can help students come back to the present moment and conclude the session harmoniously.

• Three breaths, arms raising up and out, into the center and down.
• Three unified breaths (seated and taking arms out and up on inhale, then join over head and exhale down to heart centre, with a sigh or OM on last exhalation)

“Bring hands to heart centre.

Find an inhale.

Exhale and tip forward releasing anything that no longer serves you.

Inhale and rise up, bringing anything you might need as you go forward into this week.

Thank you.”

~ Shannon Crow

Allow Your Students to Close Class

COVID-19 and the physical distancing measures in effect in many places around the world mean that many, if not all, of our yoga classes are being conducted virtually. At this time, many of our students (and even us teachers!) are lonely, and craving social connections and community. One teacher, Caroline Holmes, shared that she uses the close of her class as a time to build and strengthen the relationship with and between her students by allowing the students to close the class.

At the end of every virtual class, Caroline unmutes all her students and invites one person to “walk them out” and end the class. The student then closes the class with any words they like, sharing their own thoughts and words in the spur of the moment and speaking from the heart. Caroline has shared that this is a very humbling experience for her as a teacher, and that the students’ words have, on occasion, moved her to tears. For Caroline and her students, closing the class has become a joint effort that helps to bring her students together.

Whether you choose to close your class by expressing words of gratitude, sharing affirmations, returning to the breath, or even letting your students take the wheel, the important thing is that it comes from the heart, and is comfortable for you.

Do you have a favorite phrase to close your yoga class, or have you found a new favorite that really resonates? Share it in the comments below!