YOGA PRACTISE 1

Namaste Greeting

Tadasana Mountain

Urdhva Hastasana Utkatasana Upward Hands Fierce/ Uneven

Utthita Trikonasana Extended Triangle

Virabhadrasana 2 Utt. Parsvakonasana Adho Mukha Virasana Warrior 2 Extended. Side Angle Face down Hero

Virasana Hero

Parvatasana chair Bharadvajasana Urdhva Prasarita Mountain chair twist Padasana Upward stretched legs

Savasana Corpse

TADASANA Mountain pose Stand straight. Join the feet and legs. Pull up the kneecaps and front thigh muscles. Stretch the trunk up evenly. Open the chest and look straight ahead. Keep the shoulders moving back and down. Keep weight on inner heels.

NAMASTE Greeting Join the palms in front of the chest. Keep the heels of the hands on the lower breastbone. Have the hands angled forward a little and pressing lightly together. Lift and open chest, release shoulder blades and upper arms down.

URDHVA HASTASANA Upward Hands Inhaling, raise the arms forward and up, beside the ears if possible, keeping elbow joints firm and inner arms extended. Keep back body in line. Do not project abdomen forward. Keep buttocks descending and abdomen lifting. Press tops of shoulder blades into body. Use the power of the arms to stretch sides of trunk up. Keep tops of shoulders releasing away from ears. Breathe normally. Lower the arms breathing out. NB This can also be done with back resting against a wall or lying on your back to check alignment. Palms can face each other or forward. Fingers can be interlocked and palms turned away.

UTKATASANA Fierce / Uneven a) Full pose. Do Urdhva Hastasana as above and bend the legs at ankles, knees and hips. Make the legs a zigzag shape. Release hips down, keep chest lifting. Gaze straight ahead. b) with hands on hips, bend the legs then raise the arms c) stand with your back 6-12 inches from wall. Take hands onto wall behind you and rest whole back to wall. Bend the legs to right angle, sliding back down the wall. Then straighten legs and slide back up the wall.

TRIKONASANA Triangle Stand straight. On an in breath jump or step the legs 4 apart and raise the arms sideways at shoulder level, palms down, toes facing forwards Turn left toes slightly in and rotate whole right foot and leg 90o to the right Line up the right heel with the left arch. Pull up the knee caps and thigh muscles Exhaling, tilt and extend the trunk sideways and place the right hand on the right leg. Hold the leg firmly and raise the left arm up vertically, locking both elbows. Keep both knees firm and legs straight. Revolve the legs outwards, away from each other. Revolve the chest forwards and upwards. Breathe normally, stay for 15/20 seconds Come up inhaling, turn feet forward and then to left and repeat pose to the left side. Then come up turn feet forward, then step or jump legs together and lower arms to your sides

VIRABHADRASANA 2 warrior 2 Stand straight in centre of mat in Tadasana. Inhaling raise the hands to the chest and jump or step legs 4 ft apart and raise arms sideways at shoulder level, palms facing down, feet facing forward. Turn the left toes slightly to the right and the whole right foot and leg outwards to the right 90o Line up the right heel with the left arch. Pull up the knee caps and thigh muscles and keep the arch of the left foot lifted throughout Bend the right leg to a right angle, keeping the left leg straight with the kneecap tucked in. Keep the right knee above the right angle Keep the trunk vertical and the arms extending evenly at shoulder height, elbow joints firm and palms facing the floor Stay for 15 seconds breathing normally. Straighten the right leg and turn the feet forward. Turn feet to the other side and do the pose to the left. Then come up, turn feet forward and step or jump legs together, arms to sides.

PARSVAKONASANA side angle pose Stand straight in TADASANA. Inhaling jump or step legs 4 ft apart and raise arms sideways at shoulder level, keeping toes facing forwards Turn left toes in slightly to the right and then turn whole right foot and leg 90o outwards to the right. Line up right heel with the left arch. Pull up knee caps and thigh muscles. Keep left arch lifted throughout. Bend right leg to a right angle, keep left leg straight with kneecap gripped. Keep right knee above right ankle. Tilt the trunk and extend it sideways to right and place right fingers down beside the right outer ankle. Stretch left arm up and lock both elbows. Press right knee back towards the right arm and press the right buttock forward. Revolve the trunk forwards and upwards. Come up inhaling, turn to left and repeat to left side. Hold 15 seconds each side, breathe normally. Come up inhaling turn toes to front and jump or step legs back together into TADASANA. VIRASANA hero pose Kneel up and sit on the feet with the big toes joined. If there is any discomfort take a folded blanket deeply into the back of the knees before sitting back. Keep the buttocks on the feet and spreading the knees hips width apart extend the trunk forward and rest centre of forward to floor. If the buttocks come away from heels, take the support of a folded blanket or block under the buttocks to close the gap. If head does not reach floor take a blanket or block beneath forehead. Stretch arms forward, palms on the floor, gripping elbows straight and arms and wrists lifting a little from floor. Keep the back, legs and head relaxed (you can also stretch arms back and up, fingers interlocked or thumbs hooked to release shoulders)

PARVATASANA Mountain pose

Sit up with legs folded as in last pose Interlock fingers (on backs of hands). Stretch arms forward at shoulder level, keeping shoulder muscles moving back and down the back. Inhaling, Turn the palms away and raise arms up and back, to the vertical if possible. Breathe normally and keeping arms straight and elbows locked push heel of hands and roots of fingers up to ceiling. Lower arms, exhaling and change grip and repeat

CHAIR BHARADVAJASANA Chair Twist Sit sideways on a flat chair. Have feet and legs joined. Press feet to floor and sit up straight. Turn to the back rest and hold either side with each hand. Use the arms to turn trunk further to the chair back. Keep back soft and whole trunk and head vertical. Hold 30sec to 1 minute. Turn to other side and repeat.

LEGS UP THE WALL Sit sideways by the wall. Lean back on your elbows and take one leg straight up wall. Lie trunk back onto floor and swing other leg up. If buttocks have come away from wall bend legs a little and pushing elbows into floor row yourself in closer. Stretch legs up and join them, stretching inner legs and inner heels in particular. Support head and neck if head is tilted back. You can separate the legs for a while or bend the legs and join the soles of the feet, or cross the shins, drawing the feet down as if sitting cross legged on the wall.

SAVASANA Corpse pose The full pose is done lying flat but if this is not comfortable it can be done with calves resting on seat of a chair Lie down on your back and extend legs away and then let them relax (or take calves onto chair seat with thighs vertical). Close the eyes Extend arms straight along floor a little away from the sides of the body and draw the shoulders back to floor and pull shoulder blades down the back of the body and away from each other. Then relax arms completely. Relax face, brain, whole body. Draw mental gaze inwards. Relax mouth, tongue jaws and lips. Keep drawing attention back to pose paying attention to descent of back body towards the floor, spreading away from spine and releasing from head to heels. Rest for 5 mins with normal breathing. Then bend up legs, rest hands to abdomen and turn quietly to side keeping knees bent and rest on right side. Then slowly come up from knees, with minimal disturbance to head and neck.