Supta Baddhakonasana

Sleeping Bound Angle Pose

Feel that you are lying in a straight line with nothing digging into the back of your head or neck. Extend the spine to relieve compression. With soles of the feet touching, allow the knees to fall apart softly, and surrender to the pose. Scan the core of your body, relaxing the face, the head, the spine and the pelvic region. Bring your thoughts into the moment and let go of the every day mental chatter.

Expand and extend the breath, starting your diaphragmatic breathing. The 3 phases of the breath are: 1: Draw the diaphragm down and expand the belly 2: When the bottom of the lungs feels full expand the sides of the ribs 3: Finally softly lift the collar bones and fill the top of the lungs.  If you find it difficult you can try counting your breath slowly, in for a count of 4, out for a count of 6. Work up to 6 & 8, and then 8 and 12. 

Keep your core soft, shoulders and arms relaxed, mind focused.

Surya Namaskara

Sun Salutation

Breath: the instructions here are given before each pose, this is the breath you should be on to move into and through the next posture described, remembering to flow with the breath, the speed of your movements should match the rate of your breathing.  Each movement should be considered and smooth, just following the breath.

1: Tadasana

Standing Pose

Take several breaths here to prepare and focus.

Stand with heels toes and ankles touching. Ground the feet purposefully and actively into the floor. Lengthen up the legs, lift the kneecaps softly. Lift the pelvis and feel the subtle activation this brings into the lower abdomen, just above the pubis, in your deep abdominal muscles. Lengthen and hollow through the abdomen, lit the ribcrest slightly, do not suck in the tummy or puff out the chest, it’s much more subtle than that.

Roll the shoulder back and down, and gently forwards again. Find the correct place for them to sit. The top of the arms should be rolling back. Lengthen down the arms, open the hands soflty. Extend the spine fully and allow your head to be a natural extension of the spine.

Tadasana is very important, get this right and the rest will follow naturally. Practice standing against a wall, if you feel your heels, backs of the legs, hips, shoulder blades and head are touching the wall, you are straight. Remember to ground the feet, feel weight on your heels, and through the entire feet.

Inhale

2: Urdvha Hastasana

Upward Salute

From Tadasana, lengthen through the finger tips and extend the arms upward in sweeping arc. Tops of the arms should rotate towards the back of the body all the way up, to protect you from should injuries. Keep the shoulder blades softly working down the back, but allow the outsides of them to float up with the hands. Gaze towards the palms if neck allows. Palms come together.

Exhale

3: Uttanasana

Standing Forward Bend

As you come down from Upward Salute, keep the full extension of the spine and come forward first, then down. Remember hands come to wherever they come to, bend the knees if the or hamstrings lower back are asking you to. Release the spine, don’t hold yourself against the pose, surrender.

Inhale

4: Ardha Uttanasana

Half Standing Forward Bend

Bring the hands as far up the legs as required to fully extend the spine forwards and gaze far in front of you. Drop the lower back down to gain full extension. Look in a mirror at first if you need to, see that your spine is not rounded, but nice and long.

Exhale

5: Ardha Chaturanga Dandasana

Half Four Limbed Staff Pose

Bend the knees now as much as required to bring the palms flat to the mat outside the feet. Step back, bring feet shoulder width apart, hands stay where they are. Drop the knees to mat, and then come forward and down, with focus and control. Elbows do not come out at all, but stay tucked into your sides. Knees, chest and chin should now be on the floor, belly up. Hands should be positioned directly below the elbows, and pressing into the mat, right through the entire length and breadth of the hand.  Feel every part of the bottom of your hand in contact with the floor.

Inhale

6:  Bhujangasana

Cobra

Drop the toes back, so the tops of the feet are flat on the floor. Lie down flat on the floor, and activate the legs strongly as they come straight – the thighs need to be strong to support the lower back. Extend forwards first, and then float upwards. Keep the pubis working into the mat  to extend the lower spine and avoid compression, and only come up as far as feels safe and comfortable, and you can maintain pubis pressing into mat. Don’t over reach with the spine, let it gently open, keep the shoulders relaxed, don’t shrug them up or tense. Look forward.

Exhale

7: Addho Mukha Svanasana

Downward Facing Dog

Tuck the toes under again, and really press hard into the hands as draw the hips first back, and then up.  Arms are completely straight, and you want a nice straight line, right up from your hands, through arms and shoulders, and along your sides. Don’t allow your shoulders to hunch or bend. Long stretch along the front and back of the body. Press the hands in tot the mat constantly, into the palms, and along the fingertips.  Especially press the base, like the ball, of the index finger into the mat (not the tip!), and at the same time, open the shoulders and roll the tops of the arms out from the middle towards the sides of your body. Bend the legs if you need to, but bring weight towards your feet, and really float the hips high up to the ceiling.  This is the only Posture which we don’t flow through in one deep breath. Stay here breathing deeply and scanning your body, full stretch, be aware of the four corners of your foundation and distribute the weight evenly so it doesn’t take all your strength to hold. If it helps to count, stay here for at least 5 deep breaths.

Exhale

9: Uttanasana

Standing Forward Bend.

Coming forward and then down, keep the full extension of the spine. Remember hands come to wherever they come to, bend the knees if the hamstrings or lower back are asking you to. Release the spine; don’t hold yourself against the pose, surrender.

Inhale

10: Uttktasana

Fierce or Chair Pose

Bend the knees very deeply and sit back onto sit bones, your imaginary chair. Bring the weight towards the heels. Extend the arms in front of you and sweep them, gazing  towards the palms, coming up slowly into your upward salute.

Exhale

11: Urdvha Hastasana

Upward Salute

Gaze towards the palms if neck allows. Palms come together for a fleeting moment, then lengthen through the finger tips and extend the arms downwards in a sweeping arc as you exhale. Tops of the arms should rotate towards the back of the body to protect you from should injuries.

To finish your practice:

Move through half a sun salute, and from Downward Facing Dog step a little forward and come through to sitting on the floor. From there lie flat on your back.