Last week's standing pose sequence for Level 2 classes

As I mentioned in the previous post, last week many of our classes included a standing poses vinyasa routine (a "flow" from one pose to another).   Instead of doing a pose on one side, coming up, and repeating on the second side as we often do in an Iyengar yoga class, we did one pose, moved into another, and another, etc.

The higher level classes had a slightly longer sequence than the Level 1 classes.   I'm including that longer sequence here.  The stick figure drawings are from the Free Yoga Stick Figures Facebook page.  

Start this sequence going to the right (i.e. triangle pose, turn right leg out).

Trikonasana -- Triangle pose

Ardha chandrasana -- Half moon pose

Parsvakonasana -- Side angle pose

Virabhadrasana 2 -- Warrior pose 2

Virabhadrasana 1 -- Warrior pose 1

Lunge to Parsvottanasana -- Side stretch pose

Parivrtta trikonasana -- Revolved triangle pose (i.e. if right leg forward, take LEFT hand down for intense twist)

Come back to Parsvottanasana.
Then Prasarita padottanasana -- Wide legs standing forward bend.

Turn legs to left, go to Triangle pose to left, and go through sequence again.   Or you might see what happens if you reverse the order of the poses.

Play with the sequence -- maybe change the order of the poses, and maybe add other poses such as Warrior pose 3 ("airplane pose"), Revolved side angle pose, Downward facing dog pose (possibly moving into more of a sun salutation sequence, including plank pose and upward facing dog pose).

This type of sequence is good for building stamina and strength, as well as flexibility.    Those of you who are more experienced may start working to hold the poses longer.  

Last week's standing pose sequence for Level 1 classes

Last week many of our classes included a standing poses vinyasa routine (a "flow" from one pose to another).   Instead of doing a pose on one side, coming up, and repeating on the second side as we often do in an Iyengar yoga class, we did one pose, moved into another, and another, etc.    A couple of you requested that I post the sequences, so I am doing that here.

I found a series of yoga poses drawn as stick figures on a Free Yoga Stick Figures Facebook page that I'm including here to refresh your memory of what the poses look like.   I'm including the Sanskrit names too.

Start this sequence going to the right (i.e. triangle pose, turn right leg out)

Sequence #1 (from the Level 1 classes)
 Utthita trikonasana -- Triangle pose

 








Utthita parsvakonasana -- Side angle pose

Virabhadrasana 2 -- Warrior pose 2

Virabhadrasana 1 -- Warrior pose 1

Lunge to Parsvottanasana -- Side stretch pose

Prasarita padottanasana -- Wide leg standing forward bend

From here, you can either reverse the poses to the left (moving from Prasarita padottanasana to Parsvottanasana), or go to Triangle pose to the left and go through the list of poses again as shown.

Those of you who are newer to yoga may hold these poses for a short time.   Those of you who are more experienced, start to hold the poses longer to build up strength and stamina.

Don't worry if you feel you're not doing the poses "correctly".   Do them as you remember them, and over time you'll learn more about the shape of the poses and the finer points of alignment.