Sequencing Week 3

Level 2 Class, Theme: Grounding, Balance

Opening

Sukhasana (Easy Cross-Legged Seat) – grounding through tailbone

Dandasana (Staff Pose) – grounding through tailbone

Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Forward Bend) – grounding through thigh while reaching out through heel

Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose) – to release the forward bend and ground through sole of foot, stretch shoulders

Sukhasana (Easy Cross-Legged Seat) – set intention

Balasana (Child’s Pose) – still the mind

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog) – lengthen spine

Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) – lengthen spine

Surya Namascara – warm the entire body

SNA x3 – lengthen spine, extend through heels in Chaturanga

SNB x3 – ground through 4 corners of feet

Standing Poses – open the hips and prepare for peak pose

Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) – ground through 4 corners of feet

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog) – lengthen spine, shoulder girdle mantra

Balasana (Child’s Pose) – hold for 3 breaths to rest and reenergize for standing poses

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog) – lengthen spine, shoulder girdle mantra

Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I) – gentle backbend to counteract Uttanasana

Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II) – open hips, ground through 4 corners of feet, shoulder girdle mantra

Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) – shoulder girdle mantra, extension of arms toward sky and earth

Tadasana (Mountain Pose) – ground through 4 corners of feet

Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) – ground through 4 corners of feet

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog) – lengthen spine, shoulder girdle mantra

Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I) – gentle backbend to counteract Uttanasana

Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II) – open hips, draw legs together

Utthitta Parsvokonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose) – open hips, ground through 4 corners of feet, shoulder girdle mantra

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Vrkasana (Tree Pose) – balance, external rotation of single leg, draw hips together

Tadasana (Mountain Pose

Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-Legged Forward Bend) – focus on activating quadriceps and releasing hamstrings

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Peak

Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) (to get into peak pose)

Ardha Chandrasana (Half-Moon Pose) – grounding through 4 corners of feet, balance, shoulder girdle mantra

Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) (to exit peak pose)

Cooldown

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) – cooling

Sukhasana (Easy Cross-Legged Seat) – ground through tailbone

Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Forward Bend) – cooling, release hamstrings

Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose) – counteract forward bends

Balasana (Child’s Pose) – release spine

Setu Bandha (Bridge Pose) – prepare for Sarvangasana

Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)

Supta Padangusthasana (Reclining Big Toe Pose) to sides with belt – release hips

Savasana (Corpse Pose)

Teaching Script for Utthita Trikonasana

To prepare for Utthita Trikonasana, place your blocks on the long side of your mat about 4 feet apart. Standing in Tadasana, inhale slowly. On the exhale, step your feet to a wide stance, bringing your hands to your hips. Bend your left leg and rotate it open from the hip. Check the position of your feet: the back toes should be turned slightly in and the front heel should align with the back arch. Also check that your left knee is aligned with your second toe. Allow your right hip to rotate forward (unsquare your hips). On your next inhale, lift your arms to the sides, parallel to the floor. Focus on generating the lift from your shoulder muscles while also allowing your shoulders to drop down as the shoulder blades melt forward into your chest. Hold here and breathe. Keep your arms lifted and engage the muscle in the front of your thigh, straightening your left leg.  On your next inhale, extend your body over your left leg, reaching your arm to the side of the room. Keeping length in your waist, slowly reach your left hand to the floor, your ankle, or onto the block, as your chest expands and your right hand reaches toward the ceiling. Soften the front ribs so that your chest does not puff out. Hold the pose for several breaths, lengthening your waist on the inhale, and deepening the stretch on the exhale. Press your femur bone on your right leg back while you firm the left glute under. As you inhale, feel the front of your chest expand and widen across your collarbones, exhale and send the breath down your arms and out through your fingertips as they lengthen. Draw the shoulders down and away from your ears and firm the outside of your right arm in, making a straight line from one hand to the other. Keep your neck elongated, turning the head to look up to your hand if that is comfortable. On your next inhale, press down into your feet and raise yourself up to standing, keep reaching the arms outward in a straight line. Exhale and step your feet together, bringing your arms at your sides, palms forward, to return to Tadasana.

Teaching Script Week 5 – Salambhasana

From all fours, lower yourself to the floor. Place a block between your inner thighs, and as you lie on your belly, release the arms along the sides on your body. Place your forehead on the floor, but keep the neck long. Bring your breath to your lower back; focus on maintaining the length in your spine. Inhale and feel the space between the vertebrae increase, exhale and release any tension from the muscles in your back. Bring your breath to your legs and feel how the inner thighs must spiral inward and up to the ceiling to maintain the block in position. Inhale and extend your legs strongly, lifting them just one inch off of the floor. Exhale and lower the legs to floor. Remove the block to the side, but remember that spiral of the inner thighs during the pose. Now bring your breath to your neck. Inhale and lengthen, lifting your head and shoulders just one inch off of the floor. Exhale and lower, again placing the forward on the floor, maintaining the length in the cervical spine. Take a breath here. On the next inhale, lift the head, torso, arms, and legs off the floor one inch. Hold on the exhale, releasing any tension in the glutes. On the inhale, lengthen the torso forward, drawing the shoulder blades in toward the sternum. Release to the floor on the exhale. Take a breath here, finding any tension in your neck or low back and releasing it on your exhale. Inhale and rise into Salambhasana, maintaining the work in the upper body from the previous round. Hold the position on the exhale, releasing the glutes away from the waist and drawing the frontal hipbones toward the bellybutton. Continue to hold the position, lengthening the spine from neck to tailbone on the inhale and reaching strongly through the feet to the back of the room. Release to the floor on the exhale. Take two breaths here. On the next inhale, rise again into Salambhasana, maintaining the work from previous rounds. Hold on the exhale and notice if you are clenching the glutes; if so, relax them. Inhale and extend the sternum forward while expanding across the collarbones. Hold the pose on the exhale, releasing the shoulders away from the ears, stretching the arms firmly toward the feet with the palms toward the floor. Release and lower to the floor. Press back into Balasana to release the spine.

Teaching Script for Salamba Sarvangasana

To prepare for Salamba Sarvangasana, fold 2 to 4 blankets in quarters and lay at the edge of your mat with the fringe pointing inward. Fold your mat about halfway over the blankets – enough to ensure your upper arms will be on the mat, but not your shoulders. Lay down with your shoulders fully on the blankets with your head over the edge – your neck should move freely just past the edge of the blankets. Take a moment here to just breathe; bring your focus to your breath. Remember not to turn your head at all while entering, in, and exiting this pose.

When you are ready, bend your knees, firm your core muscles, and lift your legs overhead to Halasana. Relax your neck, maintaining the natural curve, and avoid pressing your chin into the neck. Bring your hands to your low back for support and ensure your arms are no further than shoulder width apart. Anchor the top of your shoulders into the floor, and on an exhale, use your core muscles to lift your right leg, then your left leg, into the air. Inhale, expanding across the collarbones as you press the shoulder blades toward the heart. On your next exhale, work to bring the back of the body into the spine, and on the following inhale, draw your core in and toward your feet. Press your tailbone toward the pubic bone and send their center in a straight line toward the sky. Inhale and again expand across the collarbones while grounding through the upper arms; on the exhale, press the shoulder blades toward the heart. Inhale and lengthen the spine, sending the tailbone to the ceiling. Exhale and reach toward the sky firmly with the legs, using both the front and back leg muscles. Hold the pose for five more breaths, expanding the chest and grounding into the earth on each inhale; lengthening the body to the sky on each exhale.

Slowly lower the feet overhead into plow pose, controlling their descent by keeping an active core and reaching the feet toward the wall. Hold here for one breath, maintaining the expansion in the chest and the strength in the shoulders. On your next exhale, slowly roll your back onto the floor, controlling the legs until the spine is fully on the ground. Bring your legs down with bent knees and set your feet on the floor. Take a breath here and then we will prepare for Savasana.