Stillness&Flow

Sharon Hughes,
Yoga Teacher

Yoga Routine List

Yoga Routine Description

Start feet together - heels toes touching -- if balance is an issue bring your feet a couple of inches apart -- shoulders rolled back and down -- chin parallel to the floor. Hands down by your side. This is Tadasana, Mountain pose.

Take a few breaths here. In yoga we breathe in slowly through the nose filling the belly with air. As we breathe out, we pull the belly into the naval attempting to make the exhales twice as long as the inhales.

As we bring ourselves into the yogic frame of mind, turn off the judge in your mind. In yoga you only need to go to your own personal edge, no matter what I do or your neighbor does.

Moving into some gentle neck stretches. Bring your LEFT hand out to the side, palm facing down, Exhale and slowly bring your RIGHT ear to your RIGHT shoulder. And hold and breathe.

From this position, Inhale, exhale and simply turn your head to look down your RIGHT shoulder. And hold.

Inhale and exhale as you draw a diagonal line with your nose and look up TOWARD at the ceiling. And hold. Inhale, Exhale and bring your nose back to CENTER. Now bring your head back to NEUTRAL.

Switch sides. REPEAT once more each side.

You should be able to relax in the pose, maintaining your slow, rhythmic breathing.

Now move into palm tree breathing. Bring your arms up shoulder height. Bend forward, crossing your arms at the bottom. Inhale come up, sweep your arms up by your ears, palms facing inward. Roll your head back. Hold your breath, if you can.

Exhale bend down crossing at the bottom. Inhale come up and hold your breath at the top. Exhale forcefully through the mouth as you go down pushing out the old air. Inhale come up. Back straight. Shoulders rolled back. Arms straight, shoulder width apart, reaching for the ceiling. Fingers and thumbs together. Hold.

Your lower body is firm and strong like the trunk of a tree. Your upper body is relaxed and supple. Hold. REPEAT 3-5 times.

This is a series of side bends. First with the feet together. Then with the feet hip width apart, then in a wide straddle.

Start in Tadasana with the feet together. Make your lower body strong and firm like the trunk of a tree.

Stretch BOTH ARMS UP by your ears, reaching to the ceiling --- keep your SHOULDERS DOWN and relaxed. Inhale, Exhale and bring your RIGHT ARM DOWN by your side. LEFT ARM stretches up. RIGHT ARM stretches down. Inhale, exhale, LEAN to your RIGHT. Hold and breathe. Inhale up. Exhale. Inhale your RIGHT ARM up.

Exhale and bring your LEFT ARM DOWN by your side. RIGHT ARM stretches up. LEFT ARM stretches down. Inhale, exhale, LEAN to your LEFT. Hold and breathe. Inhale up. Exhale. Inhale your LEFT ARM up. REPEAT on each side

Bring your arms down and relax. Take a breath or two here, breathing in and out your nose.

Now bring your feet hip width apart. Stretch both arms up. Inhale. Exhale your RIGHT arm down. Inhale. Exhale over to your RIGHT. Breathe. Inhale up. RIGHT arm up. LEFT arm down. Exhale over to your LEFT.

Keep your shoulder open. If you find your self leaning forward come up out of the bend a little.

Let your body guide you to your own personal edge.

REPEAT on each side

Let your arms float down and relax a moment.

Now bring your feet into a wide straddle. You want your feet to be a comfortable distance apart. Inhale both arms up. Exhale your RIGHT arm down. Lean to your RIGHT. Breathe in and out the nose. Relax and focus inward. It should be a little easier to maintain the pose now. Inhale up. Inhale and bring your RIGHT arm up. Exhale your LEFT arm down. Lean to the LEFT.

REPEAT on each side

Now let your arms float down and rest a moment before going into Triangle.

Inhale your arms up. Shoulder height, palms facing toward the front of the room. Turn your RIGHT foot out. Check your alignment. You should be able to draw a straight line from your right heel to the center of your left foot.

Windmill your RIGHT arm down, LEFT arm up toward the ceiling. Now slide your hand down your RIGHT leg. Look up at the ceiling.

You should feel like you are between two panes of glass here. Chest open. If your left shoulder is falling forward, move back up your leg until you can maintain the pose comfortably. This is your yoga session, adjust to your body/'s needs.

Come up. Turn your foot and knee in. Lets do the other side.

Repeat on the other side

Exhale your arms down. Take a few breaths here. Put your hands on your hips and bend forward from your hips into open leg forward bend. When you are as far down as you can comfortably go, you may place your arms on the floor or grab your elbows and hang like a rag doll.

Relax here. Regain those slow, rhythmic breaths we started in the beginning. Come up slowly and gently.

Inhale up. We\'re moving into extended side angle pose. Inhale your arms up to shoulder level, just like you did in triangle. Turn your Right foot out. Your knee should always turn with your foot.

Now bend your knee. Your knee should be right over your ankle, adjust your stance by moving your back leg if you need to. The outside of your back foot should be completely on the floor, creating a strong foundation in the lower body.

Exhale and lean to your RIGHT, resting your RIGHT elbow on your right knee. Your LEFT hand goes straight up to the ceiling. Look up at your LEFT hand. Now slowly bring your LEFT arm over your ear. Hold and breathe.

Repeat that on the other side.

Come up. Turn your knee and foot forward bring your arms down and relax. Bend one knees and bring your one into the other.

Inhale your arms up and come over into Uttanasana, forward bend. Relax here. Breathe deeply. Inhale up bringing your arms all the way over your head. Exhale your hands down into Namaste position.

Now lets move to the floor.

Lets go to our hands and knees in table. Lets check our alignment here. Hands should be directly underneath the shoulders, knees directly underneath the hips. Proper alignment adds stability, helping you to relax in the pose.

Now we\'ll go into cat-cow. On your next exhale, tuck your chin in and arch your back up like a cat. Hold for just a moment. Inhale and arch your back the other way bringing your head up and your tailbone up.

Exhale and pull your belly in, arching up into cat and while pushing out the air. Hold. Inhale, let your belly drop down, filling it with air as you look up. Repeat 6-8 times, coordinating the movement your breath.

Yoga means union. This uniting of the breath and movement exercises our ability to unite mind, body and spirit in our daily lives. Do two more rounds and finish by coming into table.

We\'re going to do thread-the-needle, which will give your shoulder a good stretch, while also giving the upper body gentle twist.

Put your RIGHT hand on the ground underneath your chest, palm facing up. As you move into the pose you\'ll want to keep your hips squared to the ceiling. Thread your RIGHT arm underneath your LEFT shoulder, twisting until your RIGHT shoulder and cheek are on the ground. Hold here for three breaths. Come up as slowly and gently as you went down.

Repeat on the other side.

Sit back on your heels. Back straight, palms open and up on your thighs. Lets take a few meditative breaths here. Take your attention inside. Inhale. Exhale.

Now lets stretch your shoulders the other way. Put your hands on the floor behind your buttocks, fingers facing in. Shift your hips forward putting your weight onto your arms.

Lean back on you arms and let your head fall between your shoulder blades. Hold and breathe.

REPEAT

Sit off to one side. Swing your legs in front of you and sit into staff pose. Legs are straight, hamstrings on the floor. Toes face the ceiling.

Moving into seated spinal twist. Cross your RIGHT leg over your LEFT. Make sure your RIGHT foot is flat on the floor. Fold your LEFT foot back to your thigh. If this is uncomfortable or your RIGHT foot is coming off the floor, you may keep your LEFT leg straight. Put your RIGHT hand on the floor behind your back. Wrap your LEFT arm around your RIGHT knee.

Inhale, sit up straight. Exhale and twist. Hold and breathe. With every inhale straighten your back a little more. Every exhale, twist a little deeper. Come back to center and place the hands on the floor beside your feet. Drop your head over your knees and breathe. Come up.

Repeat on the other side.

Come to floor on your belly. We\'ll do a series of three backbends, each one deeper than the last. You do not need to proceed to the next level of difficulty if a pose is challenging for you.

First we\'ll do sphinx. You\'ll keep your forearms on the floor and curve up lengthening your spine from your head to your tailbone. Breathe in and out the nose. Come down.

Turn your head and relax.

Next will do cobra or you may repeat sphinx. Bring hands all the way back by your chest. Spread your fingers wide. Pull your elbows in close to your sides. (The pose will be a little easier if you move your hands forward a few inches.) Come up on your hands slowly. Keep your pubic bone on the floor. Shoulders should be relaxed. Elbows soft. Lengthen your spine. Come down as slowly as you went up.

Turn your face the other way and relax.

Now we\'ll do upward facing dog. Again, you may also stay in cobra or sphinx. Do what\'s right for your body.

Place your hands by your chest. Slowly drag your nose along the floor. Look at the floor then move to the wall. Move your eyes up the wall, past the seem between the wall and the ceiling and finally bring your eyes to the ceiling, coming up on the tops of your feet if you can comfortably. Hold here and breathe through your nose.

Come down the same way you went up, bringing your eyes from the ceiling to the wall and down the wall slowly to the floor slowly bringing yourself down to the floor.

Take your hips back to your heels into child pose.

As slowly as you can curl up onto your heels, dragging your fingers along the floor. Sit off to one side of the hips. And come down to lying on your back.

Hug your knees into your chest. Roll side to side, massaging your back. Stop and hold your knees in.

Stretch both legs out on the floor. Hamstrings make contact with floor, toes face up. You may also have your feet flat on the floor if this is too uncomfortable.

Going into wind reliever pose. Inhale and pull the LEFT knee into your chest and hold for a couple of breaths. On the exhale, bring your head up to your knee. Hold for a couple of breaths. Inhale, exhale the head down. Inhale, exhale knee out. Repeat on the other side.

Inhale both knees up. Put your arms out into the T position. Exhale your knees over to the RIGHT into lying spinal twist. Hold for 1-5 minutes. Inhale the knees to center.

Repeat on the other side.

Straighten your legs out for final relaxation. Savasana. Corpse pose.

Bring your hands to the side palms up. Take a deep breath in. Exhale and let your feet flop out to the side.

Now breathe naturally. Long slow breaths. Relax your feet, relax your ankles. Release your shins, knees and thighs. Relax your tummy and your low back. Let the earth take on the weight of chest and shoulders. Relax your neck. Let go of any tension in your face relaxing your cheeks and let your lips part.

Continue to breathe. Let your breathing capture your attention and carry you inside your own spirit and float there, knowing the earth is fully supporting your body. Take a time for yourself in this state.

After a few minutes of deep relaxation, start to come back into your body slowly. Wiggle your fingers and your toes. Roll over on your right side pulling your knees into your chest. Rest here a moment.

Now sit up, bringing your hands to Namaste, prayer position.

Take a final breath, inhale bringing our arms up overhead. Exhale and lower them into prayer position.

Namaste.