Sirona Sky Yoga.4

To check out Sirona Sky Yoga's blog, please do so here. As mentioned, she has a load of wonderful sequences on the Yoga Journal Community pages, and those come with pictures! Big continually, weekly shout-out to this wonderful, creative human being.

Morning Sequence

Practice each pose for 5 to 10 breaths making sure to practice on each side equal time. This is a Very Energizing sequence! Don't practice this late at night unless you need to stay awake.

1. Balasana (Child's Pose)
2. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog)
3. Plank Pose
4. Sphinx Pose
5. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
6. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog)
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 twice
8. Plank Pose
9. Sphinx Pose
10. Bitilasana (Cow Pose)
11. Marjaryasana (Cat Pose)
12. Bitilasana (Cow Pose)
13. Uttana Shishosana (Extended Puppy Pose)
14. Virasana (Hero Pose)
15. Bakasana (Crane Pose)
16. Paripurna Navasana (Full Boat Pose)
17. Dandasana (Staff Pose)
18. Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Forward Bend)
19. Marichyasana III (Marichi's Pose)
20. Marichyasana I (Pose Dedicated to the Sage Marichi, I)
21. Krounchasana (Heron Pose)
22. Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose)
23. Upavistha Konasana (Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend)
24. Purvottanasana (Upward Plank Pose)
25. Vasisthasana (Side Plank Pose)
26. Utthita Hasta Padangustasana (Extended Hand-To-Big-Toe Pose)
27. Garudasana (Eagle Pose)
28. Natarajasana (Lord of the Dance Pose)
29. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
30. Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose)
31. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
32. Kapalabhati Pranayama (Skull Brightener Breath)
33. Dhyana (Do the Right Thing Meditation)

Breath of Joy

This is one of my favorite pranayama. Something about it actually does create joy in me (even if it might be based off of suggestion). Do a YouTube search for this term if you haven't ever heard or seen it before, but I'll do my best to explain it here. Inhale through the nose, move the arms parallel directly in front of you. Without exhaling, inhale through the nose and move the arms out to a T position. Without exhaling, inhale through the nose, swinging the arms parallel overhead. Exhale "Ha!" through the mouth, hands towards the floor in a forward fold. Repeat on inhale, bringing arms in front again. The inhales are sharp and quick, the arm motions are fluid. I have called it Mad Conductors breath before, because you look like a crazy musical conductor as you are practicing it. It is intended to raise energy in the body and, as per the name, bring joy. Considering the name of this blog, I'm surprised I haven't devoted a post to it before. 

I guess sometimes the most obvious things are actually the least. 

Breath of Joy

1. Sukhasana  (Easy Pose)
2. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
3. Breath of Joy (8x)
4. Begin lightly jumping, feet barely leaving floor
5. Taking 30 seconds or so, continue to increase height of jumps until you are jumping as high as you can. If your knees can't take that, insert some energy-raising activity that works for your body
6. Take feet 2-3 feet apart. Swing arms and twist torso, pretending your arms are empty coat sleeves, letting them gently hit your body. Exhale "Ha!" as you twist. 1-2 minutes.
7. Tadasana
8. Utkatasana ( Chair Pose)
9. Uttanasana (Forward Fold)
10. Ardha Uttanasana  (Half Forward Fold or Pike Position)
11. Utkatasana
12. Tadasana
13. Repeat steps 7-12 six to twelve times. 
14. Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I)
15. Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
    
16. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)
17. Vinyasa to Tadasana 
18. Breath of Joy (8x)
19. Repeat steps 14-18 on other side
20. Prasarita Padottanasana (Standing Wide Leg Forward Fold)
21. Folding forward still, bring torso towards on one. Coming through center, repeat on other side. 
22. Slight backbend on coming up, hands interlocked behind back
23. Prasarita Padottanasana, hands interlocked behind back
    
24. Slight backbend on coming up
    
25. Upavistha Konasana (Seated Foward Fold)
26. Urdhva Dhanurasana, gently coming up by placing one hand behind your sitz bones and bending knees (so feet can be flat on floor), only using one arm as you slightly straighten legs to bring sitz bones off of floor (Upward Bow)
27. Repeat steps 25 and 26, other arm
28. Tarasana (Star Pose)
29. Supta Matsyendrasana (Reclined Twist). Repeat other side
30. Savasana

Carly S.'s Yoga Poem

A wonderful woman and friend I was in teacher training with is working on a project of poems about and influenced by yoga. So, going a bit off track, today's offering is a something I hope will inspire your sequences, but in itself is not a sequence. Carly is a published poet and author and a Kripalu Yoga instructor. For more information on her work, visit her website The Why and Later. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more of her yoga poems here in the future. 

Ahimsa

for Brian

Ahimsa sounds like wind, a soft sigh or breath,

the way wheat moves in a field

or the way sun warms the body,

how much it comes in waves, one and then

another and another, always another chance,

a time to ride, feel, and be alive;

in this way, it is always a continual practice,

much in the way blood is always being circulated in the body.

Or, it can be like light, like the one in a dark café,

airplane or bus, the one that helps you find your page

or your place. Ahimsa is the word you write, or say when

you need to find meaning. Ahimsa is the breath

that whispers in your ear, that inner voice or teacher

who tells you, you are loved.

Whee!

Oh my goodness did I have fun the other morning. After the usual closing sequence with Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow), the instructor had us come to the wall, headwise, perpendicular. Getting into Urdhva Dhanurasana prep, our hands just a bit from a the wall, we came up into Upward Bow (or Wheel Pose), took one hands at a time to the wall behind us (terrifying first step), slowly walked our hands back up the wall until we came to standing. My body, completely not used to moving in this way, was ringing. Savasana came pretty soon afterwards and I felt completely electrified and alert. Whee, indeed.

Whee!

Now for some killjoy. Don't go trying this and killing yourselves. I felt like I was going to kill myself with this and don't want anyone actually doing it. Folks with over-flexible lumbar areas (that tend to compensate for other less flexible areas) can injure themselves, folks  who wake up in the morning and feel fit as a fiddle can injure themselves. Just be careful and listen to your body. Got that? Mhm. That's what I thought.

1. Sukhasana (Easy Pose)
2. Ajna Chakra (Third Eye) Meditation 
3. Supta Kapotanasana (Gentle Reclined Pigeon)
4. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 on the other side
6. Sun Salutations, 3 or 4 times
7. Utkatasana (Chair Pose)
8. Garundasana (Eagle Pose)
9. Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III)
10. Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I)
11. Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
12. Parivrtta Virabhadrasana (Revolved Warrior)
13. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)
14. Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose)
15. Parsvottanasana (Intense Side Stretch Pose)
16. Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana (Standing Split Pose)
17. Matsyendrasana (Seated Twist Pose)
18. Jump to Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)
19. Repeat steps 7 through 18 on other side
20. Prasarita Padottanasana (Standing Forward Fold)
21. Come into different variations of Prasarita Padottanasana: Hands interlocked behind back, hands around shins or toe-locked, hands inbetween feet
22. Baddha Trikonasana (Bound Triangle Pose)
23. Svarga Djivasana (Bird of Paradise Pose)
24. Come out through Baddha Trikonasana and Trikonasana
25. Virabhadrasana II 
26. Repeat steps 22 through 25 other side
27. Vinyasa to floor
28. Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose)
29. Either repeat bridge pose twice, or come into Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow Pose)
30. If you are practicing Upward Bow pose (or Wheel Pose) do the pose coming up out against the wall (see notes above)
    
31. Paschimottanasana (Seated Foward Fold)
32. Supta Matsyendrasana (Reclined Twist Pose). Repeat other side
33. Savasana

Arm Strengtheners

There's a story that Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the father of Ashtanga Yoga, once said: "Yoga changing. Now some women very strong. Correct asana performing possible. Before, not possible. Now possible. All women doing all asanas o.k." [http://www.ashtanga.com/html/macgregor2.html] I think a lot of that change is in arm strength.

Men, anatomically, tend to have stronger upper bodies. It can be frustrating to work on a pose for months, just to see a dude, on his first try, muscle his way through. Given, the gift is in the journey, but it's also good for the ladies to work on upper body strength and develop their bodies (along with their practice) more evenly.

Arm Strengthener

If you feel like your arms are giving out, and not allowing you to maintain the integrity of the poses, come into a restorative pose. Trying to work around over-tired arms can lead to injuries, because who knows what will end up compensating. Often the first indicator that we are practicing at a more physically challenging level than we are prepared for is that the breath begins to quicken and become erratic. Again, if this is the case, take a break from the sequence. It will still be there for you to come back to.

1. Vajrasasana (Diamond Pose)
2. Begin Ujaayi (Ocean Sounding) and Dirgha (Three Part) breath 
3. Come onto stomach
4. Taking 10 counts, come to Chaturanga Dandasana (Plank Pose)
5. Exhale, take 8 counts to lower back to the stomach
6. Inhale, take 8 counts to ride back to Chaturanga Dandasana
7. Kapalabhati pranayama (Breath of Fire)
8. Exhale, take 8 counts to lower to floor
9. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)
10. Pedal heels, bend and straigten legs
11. Take one leg up into Three-legged Dog
12. Bring the foot of the raised leg towards the shoulder in a straight line (you will need to take edge of foot parallel to ceiling)
13. Move between steps 11 and 12
14. Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I Pose)
15. Bend back knee towards ground, letting it hover right over floor, and return to straighten. Move between the two locations.
16. Yajnasana (Cross Pose)
17. Chaturanga Dandasana
18. Repeat steps 3-17, other side
19. Adho Mukha Svanasana
20. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog Pose)
21. Move between steps 19 and 20, trying to let the head (as opposed to the chest) lead between 19 and 20; it may feel like you are slithering like a snake
22. Repeat steps 3-7
    
23. Vasistasana (Side Plank Pose). Repeat other side
24. Garbasana (Child's Pose)
25. Parvatasana (Outstretched Mountain Pose)
    
26. Eka Pada Dhanurasana (One Legged Bow Pose). Repeat other side
27. Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)
28. Supta Padangustasana (Reclined Big Toe Pose)
29. Supta Trivikramasana (Reclined Vishnu Pose)
30. Urdhva Mukha Paschimottanasana (Upward Facing Fold Pose)
31. Repeat steps 28-30 other side
32. Savasana
    

Stillness

OK. Here's where I've been so far (North to South): Vancouver (BC), Bellingham (WA), Port Townsend (WA), Seabeck (WA), Seattle (WA), Olympia (WA), and, now Portland (OR). I'm starting to confuse the locations a bit in my brain and feel a bit all over the place. I am finding it hard to find stillness of my mind when my body is in a different location every day. 

A phrase I have often heard in yoga studios is "Come into Stillness." This means a trio of things to me: the stillness of the body, breath, and the mind. In seated meditation, the stilling of the body and breath precedes the stilling of the mind. Recently, in my practice, I have found that once I am in a pose I keep fidgeting. Under the guise of coming deeper into a pose, I keep moving this arm, that foot. Really, this extra movement is only keeping me from going further because it prohibits the stilling of my mind, takes me away from my breath. It'll be an hour into practice and I'll realize I've been obsessing about the exact position of my body for the entire time. I do yoga, and move my body, for physical and mental health. There needs to be a balance, and I am working on it.

If this sounds familiar to you, I encourage you to do this practice with a focus on coming into physical stillness once you have come into the pose. Hopefully, this is turn will  allow mental stillness. 

Stillness

Try softening the eyes in poses. Let the softening of the eyes come with a softening of self-judgement, needless comparisons, and mental inflexibility. Flow in postures even when the body is still. Find stillness even when the body is flowing. 

1. Sukhasana (Easy Pose)
   
2. Janu Sirsasana (Head to Knee Pose)
   
3. Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head to Knee Pose)
   
4. Upavistha Konasana (Seated Wide Angle)
   
5. Repeat steps 2-5 on other side
   
6. Wide-legged Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)
7. Malasana (Garland Pose)
8. Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold)
9. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
10. Two-four sun salutations
11. Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I), focus on opening chest
12. Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
13. Parsvottanasana (Intense Stretch Pose)
14. Anjaneyasana (Kneeling Lunge Pose)
15. Vinyasa to repeat 11-14 on other side
16. Vinyasa to standing
17. Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold). Hold for 2-3 minutes
18. Take hands to lower back for gentle back bend/chest opener
19. Vrksasana (Tree Pose)
20. Garundasana (Eagle Pose)
21. Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III)
22. Marichyasana (Marichi's Twist)
    
23. Vinyasa to repeat steps 19-22 other side
24. Garbasana (Child's Pose)
25. Walk hands in front of you and off to one side for gentle side stretch. Repeat other side
26. Supta Pavana Muktasana (Reclined Wind Relieving Pose). Repeat other side
27. Take both knees into chest, bringing head gently towards knees. Release.
28. Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby Pose). Rock gently side to side
29. Savasana

Alida's 15 minutes of Morning Yoga

This isn't a guest post, but a loved ones request. Alida is a friend from the days of yore, who is starting an organic farm in Massachusetts (currently taking CSA members!). She has a blog, too. She is fierce, kind, and has beautiful red hair. In Alida's honor, here is a quickie for women who have to wake up and farm.

Alida's 15 minutes of Morning Yoga

Start off this morning, and if you like it every morning, by standing up, making your body as big as 
possible and make ridiculous morning noises. Go MRRR! and UGGGHK! and scare your 
children/partner/neighbors. Get it all out, enjoy.

1. Uttanasana (Forward Fold). Hold for 2-3 minutes. Come into it gentle, don't pull yourself deeper. 
2. Hands to sacrum/low back. Raise your chest towards the ceiling for slight back bend (chin slightly tucked)
3. Lateral stretch, with single arm going towards opposite side above head. More morning noises to release crunchy sides and back. Repeat other side. 
4. Taking feet 2-3 feet apart, swing arms like empty coat-sleeves, allowing torso to twist as comfortable. Gently hit yourself. On the twist exhale a strong "HA!" sound, inhaling through the nose in between. Speed up or slow down as you feel is right for your morning body. 2-3 minutes. Note: If you do allow your hands to gently hit the back body, the usual location is right over the kidneys. If you're not hitting too hard, this can massage the adrenal glands, and work like a cup of coffee by encouraging the flow of adrenaline in the body. 
5. Marichyasana (Marichi's Twist). Or any good twist. This helps untangle the nerves along the spinal cord. Hold each side for a minute, and gently twist in the opposite direction before switching sides.