I’ve graduated from my first Yoga Teacher Training! One of the challenges I’ve had teaching my first classes is timing. It is easy to go over the scheduled amount of time! I’ve used different devices to help, but in the end I was inspired to create something any yoga teacher could use.
The result is a free yoga and meditation timer web app. It is featured on the Sow & Grow Meditation website and it will refer back to it’s home to help raise awareness of and inspire participation in the movement!
One of my pet peeves over the years is yoga teachers that did not manage to balance the amount of time a pose is held on each side of the body. The process of giving helpful prompts on the first side takes time and often the second side gets “cheated” by being held for less. My timer is designed to make it easier to even them up. The display has unique features towards that goal.
The app does not require a login. It has no ads. There are no paid subscription features. It can be installed on your phone’s desktop to enable off-line use. The name and length of time for each segment of the session is configurable. The segment names could be categorical (warm-up, standing poses), specific Asana sequences (2 sun salutations) or even individual poses, for Yin (90+ second holds). The timer could be helpful for home practice too.
The timer display, when you turn your phone sideways, is unique:
In this orientation, the numbers are the pause / play button. Touch the speaker icon in the upper right corner to turn off / on the chime sound at the end of each practice segment. There are three timer displays in one:
- The main numeric display shows the time left in the current segment or part of your practice. The green time bar at the bottom also grows to full width when the current segment is done.
- A sweep second hand that makes a full rotation every 20 seconds. Use this to time holds less than 20 seconds.
- A sliding parade of shapes under 10 second tick marks. Use this to time holds longer than 20 seconds.
The config screen allows you to add / reorder / delete and configure segment names and durations:
Users can save and share practice segment configurations through “magic URLs.” This is great for:
- Teachers can share their class plan with a substitute.
- Teachers can give sequences (or meditation sessions, described in another post) to their students as “homework.”
- Any yogi can share the app and their favorite configuration with one link.
To create a configuration link, go to the Config screen and scroll to the bottom. The button at the bottom brings up this display:
The URL itself contains all the segment settings. It can be shared via text, email etc., or copied and pasted into a document to save for reuse. The QR code image file can be downloaded and included on a poster or flyer. Since the timer is a web application, the single URL provides the configuration and almost instant use of the timer app itself.
The app also has a meditation mode, which I’ll highlight in a future post. Meanwhile, it’s quick and easy to check it out for yourself!