Below is a detailed written sequence I lead on 10/29/13 for credit in my final Yoga Teacher Training Practicum class. The theme for this class is change and how to accept it on and off our mats.
Begin in a comfortable seated position and close the eyes.
Change is something that is present in almost everything around us, it’s inevitable and is the nature of the Universe. However, sometimes, change can be scary for us and hard to accept. We don’t know how change will affect us, will affect our lives and so we fear or reject it. Alternatively, sometimes we may feel stuck in a situation, a time period, an asana, and feel like we are not changing when we want to be changing. Yoga helps us resonate more efficiently with the Universe; helps us to be more flexible in our bodies and minds so we can deal with and even welcome the ebb and flow of everything around us. Although we cannot control a lot of the changes that happen around or to us; we can control and work toward changing our bodies, our perspective, our attitudes and our breath both on and off the mat.
With that, begin Ujjayi breathing.
As you’re sitting here, I encourage you to take notice of anything in your body that feels tight or sore or like it might need some extra attention today. Don’t try to do anything to change it at this moment, just put a mental pin in those places to bring focus and awareness to.
However is comfortable, come to a standing position and prepare for Tadasana or Mountain Pose. Feet should be hip-width-distance apart, shoulders are on the back body and away from the ears, and tailbone is tucked down. Inhale, root down through all four corners of the feet and open the palms to the front. Stand tall and strong in this position, breathe deeply. I encourage you to emulate the mountains; tall, strong, stable, majestic, rooted, grounded.
Stay for 5 breaths.
Begin to warm up the joints starting from the feet and working up towards the head. Point and Flex the feet including the toes, and slowly begin to rotate the ankle in both directions. Repeat on other side.
Place both feet on the ground, bend the knees a bit and rotate the knees in a circle, giving the balls of the feet a nice massage against the ground and lubricating the knee joint. Change directions.
Take feet a little further than hips-width-distance and rotate the hips in a slow, smooth circle. Change directions.
Extend the arms in front and begin to rotate the wrists in whatever direction feels good. Change directions, flex and extend the hand. Open the fingers wide, close them into a fist. Repeat.
By doing this to the joints, we are preparing our bodies for a full range of movement and lubricating our joints with the fluid in them that sometimes becomes stagnant. Keeping this fluid moving helps with the prevention and treatment of arthritis.
Take the right ear to the right shoulder, stretching the left side of the neck. Now look at your right shoulder, stretching the back of the left side of the neck. Rotate the chin down towards the chest, lift up and repeat on the other side.
Inhale while lifting the right arm up into the sky and come onto the toes, exhale to come down.
Inhale while lifting the left art up into the sky and come onto the toes, exhale to come down.
Inhale while lifting both arms up into the sky and come onto the toes, retain the breath and this position for a moment, exhale to come down.
Inhale the arms up, keeping the shoulders away from the ears, extending the side body, exhale and slowly swandive down into our first Standing Forward Fold or Uttanasana. Keep the knees slightly bent as this is our first forward fold and take note of where your body is in this first fold of the practice. Take your time here, shaking your head no/yes, grabbing the elbows if you’d like. Bringing breath into those areas we put a mental pin in earlier.
Inhale and come up into a flat back to extend the spine, keep the shoulders in their sockets and avoid hunching towards the chest.
Exhale to return to Uttanasana. Slowly roll up, vertebrae by vertebrae.
Repeat-Inhale arms up, exhale down to forward fold, inhale flat back, exhale forward fold. Inhale hands come to the ground-fingers are extended, take the right foot back, keeping the left foot on the ground and come into high lunge. Keeping the right knee off the ground, find your foundation on the left foot first and raise the torso and arms up. Energetically pull your legs in towards each other encouraging prana to move upward. Keep shoulders away from the ears. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale and come down putting both hands on the ground.
Inhale, come into plank, take side plank on both sides-offering modification of knee on ground if needed. Come back to plank. Exhale and come to Knees-chest-chin or chatturanga if it is in your practice today.
Exhale down, Inhale Upward Facing Dog or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, pressing the toenails into the mat and lifting the thighs off the mat-shoulders away from the ears.
Exhale into Down Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana. This is our first down dog of the day so be gentle and kind to yourself. Don’t try to jam your feet towards the ground; bend your knees, move the hips around, get comfortable. Notice where your body is in this first down dog, are your shoulders or hamstrings tight? Put a mental pin in where you are here. Stay for 5 breaths.
Walk the feet towards the hands, bend the knees and inhale as we come up, taking our arms all the way up and coming into a tiny back bend.
Inhale arms up, exhale swan dive to Uttanasana, inhale to flat back and lengthen, exhale to Uttanasana. Inhale put the hands on the mat, exhale take the left foot back, inhale come up into high lunge, again energetically pulling the legs towards each other. Exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale place hands on the ground come into plank. Do side-plank on both sides, move through the rest of the vinyasa.
Complete entire vinyasa again, this time jumping the feet back to plank instead of coming into a high lunge.
From downdog, come into Balasana or Child’s Pose. Breathe deeply. It’s important for us to take intermittent breaks in yoga, so we get a chance to passively feel the effects of what we’re doing on our body. Feel your pulse, control your breath.
Come onto all fours, we will begin a variation of cat/cow called tiger. Inhale and take the right leg, bent, back behind you, lift the head as if you’re bringing the crown towards the foot. Exhale and bring the knee in towards the chest, rounding the back and neck as in cat. repeat 8x. Repeat both sides.
Come into heroes pose with knees bent. Take the arms out to either side and place them on the shoulders, thumbs on the back body, fingers on the front. Inhale and rotate the upper body to the right, exhale and rotate to the left. Repeat, and gain speed, the end result being that the breath is quick and moves the body back and forth like a washing machine, wringing out the spine and abdominal muscles. Do not tighten the torso, let it be relaxed.
Come back to table top and back into Down Dog. Notice how our down dog has changed already from the beginning of our practice. Walk/Jump/hop/fly however you’d like; bring the feet towards the hands, bend the knees and on an inhale come up, hands above the head and come into a deeper back bend.
Bring legs and feet closer together and prepare for chair or Utkatasana. Inhale arms back up, bend the knees and sit back. Arms stay raised, palms either facing each other or together. Back sure tailbone is curving downward to elongate lower back. Inhale, exhale. Stay in this position for 5 breaths. Inhale to come out, exhale to come back to Uttanasa. Notice how our Forward fold is continuing to change through our practice. Roll up and repeat chair. Utkatasana is difficult; continue deep ujjayi breathing to get through it. We don’t grow or change when things are easy, we evolve when we face and overcome challenges.
Hands can come to anjali mudra or prayer hands in front of chest. Inhale to come up, exhale to fold forward and roll up again.
Come into Tree or Vrksasana, balancing on the right foot, place the left foot on inner shin or upper thigh. Breathe deeply, emulate the trees and how they are so deeply rooted; how they simply let go of their leaves and accept the change of seasons; knowing without fear that the leaves will return. From tree, come carefully into Warrior III or Virabhadrasana ; take the left foot back behind you on an exhale. Hands can come to Anjali mudra in front of the chest or extended forward. Inhale, exhale. Come up. Repeat on other side, tree to warrior III.
Bring the legs apart, coming lengthwise on the mat, inhale and lift the chest, exhale and fold forward to wide-legged forward fold. Keep a micro bend in the knees Inhale and raise up.
Face your left foot towards the front of the mat, the right bisecting the left at a 45 degree angle behind you. Prepare for Warrior II or Virabhadrasana II. Point the hips towards the long side of the mat, open the arms, bend the left knee and gaze at the left fingers. Keep shoulders away from the ears. Inhale, Exhale.
Emulate the warrior. Strong, agile, determined.
Being a warrior doesn’t necessarily have to imply destruction; a warrior can be someone who has the courage to do the right thing, someone who can do what is difficult because it is important or someone who has compassion for those who need it,
Straighten the left leg and prepare for Triangle or Trikonasa on the left side. Elongate the sides of the body, hugging towards the midline, imagining you are pressed between two sheets of delicate, beautiful stained glass and must stay very strong and still.
From Trikonasana, move into Half-Moon or Ardha Chandrasana put weight on the left foot, bring the right foot closer. Take the left hand and place is on the mat or the ground or a block in front of you. Take the right hand to the hip and with a micro bend in the left knee, raise the right leg up trying to get it perpendicular to the mat. The right hand can come into the air, gaze can be down at the left hand or if you are comfortable here, up to the right hand. Stay for 4 breaths.
Swing the right leg down to the left, take the right hand up in the air, keeping the left on the mat, twisting the torso and then switch hands. Inhale to come up, into a little back bend at the top.
Repeat Warrior II-Triangle-Half Moon on other side.
Inhale the body and arms up, exhale down into our last Uttanasana. Try to press your booty up higher, and bring your chest closer to your legs. Wrap the hands behind the ankles if you wish. Notice how much we have changed this posture from the first time we did it today. Walk the feet back to Down dog.
Inhale the right foot up in the air, keeping the hips square and exhale bringing it up to pigeon. Lengthen the upper body and chest before lowering down. Stay for several breaths. Repeat on other side.
Come back into the last down dog of the day; press the booty up higher, the shoulders on the back body closer together, the heels closer to the ground. Feel gratitude for what you can change.
Come back into Childs pose to rest.
Lift the upper body up, and come back to seated, and carefully lay down.
Come into bridge pose or Setu Bandha Sarvagasana. Keep feet on the ground, close to the booty as possible, keep legs parallel and exhale to lift the hips up. Arms can be under the body with hands clasped, or they can be beside the body, hands pointing upwards and forearms pressing into the mat. Whatever helps the shoulders to open more. Exhale and carefully come down vertebrae by vertebrae. Repeat 2x. When lifted, pretend you are carefully squeezing a beach ball in between your knees to avoid them splaying outwards.
Bring the knees to the chest, circle the back massaging the spine. Take the left knee into the chest, with an inhale, elongating the right leg. Exhale and twist to the right side, bringing the knee over to the right, keeping the left shoulder on the mat. Repeat on the other side.
Bring both knees to the chest, come into Happy Baby or Ananda Balanasa. Roll back and forth, side to side.
Bring the legs down and prepare for Savasana. Let the legs fall open wide, roll the shoulders under the back, let the arms open and hands sprawl out.
Stay in Savasana for 10 mins. Offer adjustments for those who would like them.
Come back to seated. Keeping your eyes closed. Bring your awareness to those places that we put a mental pin in at the beginning of our practice today. Notice how or if those spots have changed. Do you feel less tension; is it more comfortable to sit this way now?
Feel gratitude for what you can change, for coming to your mat today, for giving yourself some time to be good to yourself. Close with:
“No amount of guilt can change the past, no amount of worrying can change the future…” so we might as well appreciate each moment for what it is and where we are and be flexible and accepting to the changes that do come our way.
Begin in a comfortable seated position and close the eyes.
Change is something that is present in almost everything around us, it’s inevitable and is the nature of the Universe. However, sometimes, change can be scary for us and hard to accept. We don’t know how change will affect us, will affect our lives and so we fear or reject it. Alternatively, sometimes we may feel stuck in a situation, a time period, an asana, and feel like we are not changing when we want to be changing. Yoga helps us resonate more efficiently with the Universe; helps us to be more flexible in our bodies and minds so we can deal with and even welcome the ebb and flow of everything around us. Although we cannot control a lot of the changes that happen around or to us; we can control and work toward changing our bodies, our perspective, our attitudes and our breath both on and off the mat.
With that, begin Ujjayi breathing.
As you’re sitting here, I encourage you to take notice of anything in your body that feels tight or sore or like it might need some extra attention today. Don’t try to do anything to change it at this moment, just put a mental pin in those places to bring focus and awareness to.
However is comfortable, come to a standing position and prepare for Tadasana or Mountain Pose. Feet should be hip-width-distance apart, shoulders are on the back body and away from the ears, and tailbone is tucked down. Inhale, root down through all four corners of the feet and open the palms to the front. Stand tall and strong in this position, breathe deeply. I encourage you to emulate the mountains; tall, strong, stable, majestic, rooted, grounded.
Stay for 5 breaths.
Begin to warm up the joints starting from the feet and working up towards the head. Point and Flex the feet including the toes, and slowly begin to rotate the ankle in both directions. Repeat on other side.
Place both feet on the ground, bend the knees a bit and rotate the knees in a circle, giving the balls of the feet a nice massage against the ground and lubricating the knee joint. Change directions.
Take feet a little further than hips-width-distance and rotate the hips in a slow, smooth circle. Change directions.
Extend the arms in front and begin to rotate the wrists in whatever direction feels good. Change directions, flex and extend the hand. Open the fingers wide, close them into a fist. Repeat.
By doing this to the joints, we are preparing our bodies for a full range of movement and lubricating our joints with the fluid in them that sometimes becomes stagnant. Keeping this fluid moving helps with the prevention and treatment of arthritis.
Take the right ear to the right shoulder, stretching the left side of the neck. Now look at your right shoulder, stretching the back of the left side of the neck. Rotate the chin down towards the chest, lift up and repeat on the other side.
Inhale while lifting the right arm up into the sky and come onto the toes, exhale to come down.
Inhale while lifting the left art up into the sky and come onto the toes, exhale to come down.
Inhale while lifting both arms up into the sky and come onto the toes, retain the breath and this position for a moment, exhale to come down.
Inhale the arms up, keeping the shoulders away from the ears, extending the side body, exhale and slowly swandive down into our first Standing Forward Fold or Uttanasana. Keep the knees slightly bent as this is our first forward fold and take note of where your body is in this first fold of the practice. Take your time here, shaking your head no/yes, grabbing the elbows if you’d like. Bringing breath into those areas we put a mental pin in earlier.
Inhale and come up into a flat back to extend the spine, keep the shoulders in their sockets and avoid hunching towards the chest.
Exhale to return to Uttanasana. Slowly roll up, vertebrae by vertebrae.
Repeat-Inhale arms up, exhale down to forward fold, inhale flat back, exhale forward fold. Inhale hands come to the ground-fingers are extended, take the right foot back, keeping the left foot on the ground and come into high lunge. Keeping the right knee off the ground, find your foundation on the left foot first and raise the torso and arms up. Energetically pull your legs in towards each other encouraging prana to move upward. Keep shoulders away from the ears. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale and come down putting both hands on the ground.
Inhale, come into plank, take side plank on both sides-offering modification of knee on ground if needed. Come back to plank. Exhale and come to Knees-chest-chin or chatturanga if it is in your practice today.
Exhale down, Inhale Upward Facing Dog or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, pressing the toenails into the mat and lifting the thighs off the mat-shoulders away from the ears.
Exhale into Down Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana. This is our first down dog of the day so be gentle and kind to yourself. Don’t try to jam your feet towards the ground; bend your knees, move the hips around, get comfortable. Notice where your body is in this first down dog, are your shoulders or hamstrings tight? Put a mental pin in where you are here. Stay for 5 breaths.
Walk the feet towards the hands, bend the knees and inhale as we come up, taking our arms all the way up and coming into a tiny back bend.
Inhale arms up, exhale swan dive to Uttanasana, inhale to flat back and lengthen, exhale to Uttanasana. Inhale put the hands on the mat, exhale take the left foot back, inhale come up into high lunge, again energetically pulling the legs towards each other. Exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale place hands on the ground come into plank. Do side-plank on both sides, move through the rest of the vinyasa.
Complete entire vinyasa again, this time jumping the feet back to plank instead of coming into a high lunge.
From downdog, come into Balasana or Child’s Pose. Breathe deeply. It’s important for us to take intermittent breaks in yoga, so we get a chance to passively feel the effects of what we’re doing on our body. Feel your pulse, control your breath.
Come onto all fours, we will begin a variation of cat/cow called tiger. Inhale and take the right leg, bent, back behind you, lift the head as if you’re bringing the crown towards the foot. Exhale and bring the knee in towards the chest, rounding the back and neck as in cat. repeat 8x. Repeat both sides.
Come into heroes pose with knees bent. Take the arms out to either side and place them on the shoulders, thumbs on the back body, fingers on the front. Inhale and rotate the upper body to the right, exhale and rotate to the left. Repeat, and gain speed, the end result being that the breath is quick and moves the body back and forth like a washing machine, wringing out the spine and abdominal muscles. Do not tighten the torso, let it be relaxed.
Come back to table top and back into Down Dog. Notice how our down dog has changed already from the beginning of our practice. Walk/Jump/hop/fly however you’d like; bring the feet towards the hands, bend the knees and on an inhale come up, hands above the head and come into a deeper back bend.
Bring legs and feet closer together and prepare for chair or Utkatasana. Inhale arms back up, bend the knees and sit back. Arms stay raised, palms either facing each other or together. Back sure tailbone is curving downward to elongate lower back. Inhale, exhale. Stay in this position for 5 breaths. Inhale to come out, exhale to come back to Uttanasa. Notice how our Forward fold is continuing to change through our practice. Roll up and repeat chair. Utkatasana is difficult; continue deep ujjayi breathing to get through it. We don’t grow or change when things are easy, we evolve when we face and overcome challenges.
Hands can come to anjali mudra or prayer hands in front of chest. Inhale to come up, exhale to fold forward and roll up again.
Come into Tree or Vrksasana, balancing on the right foot, place the left foot on inner shin or upper thigh. Breathe deeply, emulate the trees and how they are so deeply rooted; how they simply let go of their leaves and accept the change of seasons; knowing without fear that the leaves will return. From tree, come carefully into Warrior III or Virabhadrasana ; take the left foot back behind you on an exhale. Hands can come to Anjali mudra in front of the chest or extended forward. Inhale, exhale. Come up. Repeat on other side, tree to warrior III.
Bring the legs apart, coming lengthwise on the mat, inhale and lift the chest, exhale and fold forward to wide-legged forward fold. Keep a micro bend in the knees Inhale and raise up.
Face your left foot towards the front of the mat, the right bisecting the left at a 45 degree angle behind you. Prepare for Warrior II or Virabhadrasana II. Point the hips towards the long side of the mat, open the arms, bend the left knee and gaze at the left fingers. Keep shoulders away from the ears. Inhale, Exhale.
Emulate the warrior. Strong, agile, determined.
Being a warrior doesn’t necessarily have to imply destruction; a warrior can be someone who has the courage to do the right thing, someone who can do what is difficult because it is important or someone who has compassion for those who need it,
Straighten the left leg and prepare for Triangle or Trikonasa on the left side. Elongate the sides of the body, hugging towards the midline, imagining you are pressed between two sheets of delicate, beautiful stained glass and must stay very strong and still.
From Trikonasana, move into Half-Moon or Ardha Chandrasana put weight on the left foot, bring the right foot closer. Take the left hand and place is on the mat or the ground or a block in front of you. Take the right hand to the hip and with a micro bend in the left knee, raise the right leg up trying to get it perpendicular to the mat. The right hand can come into the air, gaze can be down at the left hand or if you are comfortable here, up to the right hand. Stay for 4 breaths.
Swing the right leg down to the left, take the right hand up in the air, keeping the left on the mat, twisting the torso and then switch hands. Inhale to come up, into a little back bend at the top.
Repeat Warrior II-Triangle-Half Moon on other side.
Inhale the body and arms up, exhale down into our last Uttanasana. Try to press your booty up higher, and bring your chest closer to your legs. Wrap the hands behind the ankles if you wish. Notice how much we have changed this posture from the first time we did it today. Walk the feet back to Down dog.
Inhale the right foot up in the air, keeping the hips square and exhale bringing it up to pigeon. Lengthen the upper body and chest before lowering down. Stay for several breaths. Repeat on other side.
Come back into the last down dog of the day; press the booty up higher, the shoulders on the back body closer together, the heels closer to the ground. Feel gratitude for what you can change.
Come back into Childs pose to rest.
Lift the upper body up, and come back to seated, and carefully lay down.
Come into bridge pose or Setu Bandha Sarvagasana. Keep feet on the ground, close to the booty as possible, keep legs parallel and exhale to lift the hips up. Arms can be under the body with hands clasped, or they can be beside the body, hands pointing upwards and forearms pressing into the mat. Whatever helps the shoulders to open more. Exhale and carefully come down vertebrae by vertebrae. Repeat 2x. When lifted, pretend you are carefully squeezing a beach ball in between your knees to avoid them splaying outwards.
Bring the knees to the chest, circle the back massaging the spine. Take the left knee into the chest, with an inhale, elongating the right leg. Exhale and twist to the right side, bringing the knee over to the right, keeping the left shoulder on the mat. Repeat on the other side.
Bring both knees to the chest, come into Happy Baby or Ananda Balanasa. Roll back and forth, side to side.
Bring the legs down and prepare for Savasana. Let the legs fall open wide, roll the shoulders under the back, let the arms open and hands sprawl out.
Stay in Savasana for 10 mins. Offer adjustments for those who would like them.
Come back to seated. Keeping your eyes closed. Bring your awareness to those places that we put a mental pin in at the beginning of our practice today. Notice how or if those spots have changed. Do you feel less tension; is it more comfortable to sit this way now?
Feel gratitude for what you can change, for coming to your mat today, for giving yourself some time to be good to yourself. Close with:
“No amount of guilt can change the past, no amount of worrying can change the future…” so we might as well appreciate each moment for what it is and where we are and be flexible and accepting to the changes that do come our way.