Coming into Balance

Last night, I talked to my boyfriend, Chris, about the project. Chris lives, for now, in Londonderry, NH and picks apples for the fall harvest. He's been super-supportive for past five or six months, and is also a very good editor.

"Isn't that a little ambitious?," he said.

Well, personally, I hope not. For the classes I teach, I tend to plan out ahead what I think would be a good flow for the class. As I'm sure many yoga teachers find, you start to see similar faces showing up for class, and then you can begin to figure out what they like, and what postures would help them. Because of that, I have a pretty thick book of sequences. It helps that I also was that person in the back of the room, copying down sequences from great teachers. Between those two, I think I'm good for at least a month.

In honor of Chris' skeptism, the sequence today will focus on balancing poses. May I, and you, find balance in your life. And enough time, in that balance, to post a sequence a day.


Coming Into Balance
                                   
Balancing postures are a beautiful mixture of concentration and strength. Students cannot hold a posture without one or the other attribute. When a student comes into balance, they exhibit a perfect combination of both.


The sequence:
  1. Sukhasana (Easy Pose)
  2. Dirgha (Three Part Yogic Breath) and Ujjayi (Ocean-sounding Breath) pranayama
  3. Janu sirsasana (Head-to-knee Pose), repeat both sides
  4. Tadasana (Mountain Pose), arms by side
  5. Akarna Dhanurasana (Archer’s Pose), repeat other side
  6. Tadasasana , arms by side
  7. Vrkasana (Tree Pose), repeat other side
  8. Tadasana
  9. Utthita Vayu Muktyasnana (Standing Wind Relieving Pose), repeat other side
  10.  Tadasana
  11.  Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation). Repeat twice.
  12.  Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I)
  13.  Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III)
  14.  Repeat 12 and 13 on other side with Sun Salutations as transitions
  15.  Come onto stomach
  16.  Vasisthasana, single knee down (Knee Down Side Plank), repeat other side
  17.  Paripurna Navasana (Upward Boat).  Begin Kapalabhati pranayama (Breath of fire).
  18.  Urdhva Upavishta Konasana (Upright Seated Angle Pose)
  19.  Savasana (Corpse Pose)

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