Downward dog, forward fold, walk to front of mat, uttanasana, roll up Tadasana.On forearms and knees, take hips in circles.Add in cat/cow seated undulations, sufi grinds (make a circle through hips) – change legs and repeat.If I had to choose a peak, it would be upright pigeon (more on the two pigeons here), but really the intention is the hips. Props: two hard blocks, one chip foam block (for under knee in low lunge, or to sit upon).Soft joints (bent knees, bent elbows: find more “buoyancy” in joints).Create a theme to get students out of the head and into a nourishing state of surrender/receptivity.Use juicy language to evoke a nourishing practice (words like yummy, delicious, nourish, sense, connect, enjoy, delve, carve, explore, etc).Help practitioners get out of their head by playing music that invites movement and softness.Focus on flow and feeling rather than getting poses “right”.Every practitioner’s hips are different students should be encouraged to embrace their own unique structure and capacity.As this is a more cooling, lunar practice, you can invite exhales through the mouth rather than consistent ujjayi. This is an “unsticking” sequence, where practitioners find the energetic flow to release densities in the body. The strength of the moon is equally powerful, but she moves like water or air. Rather than focusing on long holds and fixed alignment, invite your students to move in spirals, loops, and undulations. Lunar energy is more feminine when we embrace the sacred power of the feminine, we invite surrender, receptivity, creativity, changeability. Solar energy is like a blast of sunlight: direct, fierce, and forceful. Rather than sequencing to a peak pose, this anatomical intention of this sequence is rather to mobilize the hip joint in all directions.Įnergetically, this sequence is lunar rather than solar. This sequence is a well-rounded flow yoga class for all levels that take an “around the world” tour of the hips: opening the front, sides, and back of the hip joint. This can be a powerful practice to break through barriers and move into new ways of living and being.I’ve been playing with this delicious hip opening sequence this week. Ask them to question the negative thoughts that arise in their mind and discover which ones actually align with their best self. Encourage them to feel lighter against the downward pull of gravity. Invite your students to view the habitual tendencies of society through new eyes. Viloma as a Class ThemeĬhanging the breath is just one way to shift the way you look at something familiar. This will naturally calm the mind in preparation for savasana. Then, in the cooling portion of class, we will inhale normally and slow down the exhales by breaking them in to 3 parts. This is contrary to the single, fluid type of inhale you take on a regular basis. In the energizing portions of class, we will split the breath into 3 parts as you inhale. This sequence to uplift the body, mind and spirit incorporates viloma pranayama to break through unwanted patterns of thinking. It’s also a great way to enhance an inner sense of calm amidst the breathing process. Essentially, this part of the practice interrupts the natural flow of breath to increase your awareness. Viloma means to go against the natural line or movement of the breath. Please modify this practice as you see fit, and email me with any sequence questions that arise. When you pair that with a class theme–and practice–of viloma pranayama, you’re bound to feel lighter in your mind and spirit, too. Just the pose alone causes physical invigoration. The peak pose in this sequence is eka pada raja kapotasana, which is a pose that requires length in the spine, openness of the heart, shoulders and hips, as well as flexibility in the psoas and quadriceps. This was the perfect class to give me more energy and life to make the trek back home after a long day. I had driven 2 hours from my home to run errands in Reno. This flow is inspired by my friend Jelena Hardy who owns and teaches at Rishi Yoga. Instead, you can use this flow to uplift your body, mind, and spirit on a regular basis. This 75-minute yoga flow sequence uses viloma pranayama to go against the grain of such heavy influences. The Earth’s gravity weighs the body down and negative thoughts of the world can cause your spirits to dwindle.
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