The Yoga Practice Guide

Introduction

Why practice at home? To participate in and develop your own personal practice is what yoga in all its forms is asking us to do. It’s a personal connection between your body, your mind and your spiritual aspects. It is where you integrate the sum of your life’s experience and make it your own. In turn, you can use the tools and knowledge you gain from yoga in your daily life. The merits of your practice are an endless well you can continually draw upon. Traditionally, yoga encompasses many different practices. The Yoga Practice Guide essentially addresses the two important foundational practices of asana (physical postures) and pranayama (breath work).

In first developing a home practice, you may find deciding how to structure it very confusing. The practice of yoga is built over time and with a steady commitment. How you practice is equally as important as your practice itself. The attitude you bring to your mat creates the color and texture of your experience. Determining our attitude is a choice we make from moment to moment. The practice of asana and the putting together of sequences is a limitless creative process. The art of sequencing develops with your understanding of what creates openness, strength and healing in the body. Sequencing can also cultivate certain psychological and emotional effects and broaden conscious awareness. For example, certain sequences can cultivate a calm, restful state of mind, while others can promote a more energetic, uplifting effect. Ultimately all sequences should have some balance of these qualities. There are literally hundreds of individual asana and their variations that can be combined in infinite ways. This guide is intended to cover many, but certainly not all, the asana known to hatha yoga. It is divided into levels of experience and difficulty. Within each level there are different sequences emphasizing different areas of the body. These sequences are designed to open the body gradually and methodically for maximum pranic, or internal energy, flow. Each progressive level builds upon previously introduced concepts, taking your practice to a new level of strength, balance and openness. In some cases, familiar poses and sequences are recombined to challenge balance, stamina and mental focus in new ways.

It is important to remember that all of us are distinct and unique. We have different intrinsic abilities and strengths. Our needs and energy levels change daily and even seasonally. While there are guidelines for practice, ultimately do what feels right for your body and energy level.

The five sections or levels in this book are: Beginner, Intermediate, Intermediate/Advanced, Advanced and Restorative sequences.

You will find the Sanskrit names for all poses written under each illustration. In a case where there is no Sanskrit name for a pose or its variation, English is used. When it is first introduced in a sequence, the name of the pose is written under the illustration. If the same pose is later repeated in a sequence its name is not written out again. I chose to show a variety of both male and female figures in each sequence to reflect the diversity of people who practice yoga.

There is also a unique approach I call The Modular System. This section outlines how to tailor your practice to accommodate your needs and your schedule. There are a variety of sequence modules for warm up postures, standing postures, hip openers, twists, back bends, inversions and finishing postures. For example, you can do the warm up sequence of Module 1 and the finishing postures of Module 6. This will give you a well-rounded yet short practice of about 10-15 minutes. Perhaps you have an hour to practice and wish to focus on back bends; then you might choose to combine Modules 1, 2, 4 and 6 together. Say you want to have a strong but short 1/2-hour practice; you could combine Modules 1, 3 and 6. Experiment with this modular system and see what works for you.

Experience has shown that proper sequencing prepares the body and mind for progressively deeper and more challenging poses. I recommend following the sequences as they are presented here to begin with. Once your own experience grows, you can begin to experiment and create your own sequences.

Yoga asana are a living, flowing experience. The drawings here can act much as a map of a city does in helping to guide you through a three-dimensional town or landscape. It may take some initial study of the individual sequences to become familiar with them. With the book at your side, I encourage you to go through a particular practice a few times until you are accustomed to the sequence. Soon you will need only to refer to the page occasionally. The sequences are meant to be aspirational. They show you where you can go and what is possible. All are achievable, so simply work at your own pace.