Deepen your home practice

What's your hardest yoga pose? If you and your yoga friends were to compare notes, you'd likely come up with a wide variety of answers. But virtually all practitioners will tell you that a greater challenge lies in developing and maintaining a home practice. 

Beginners face the task of remembering poses to practice; more experienced students face the dilemma of deciding what emphasis to choose during any particular session. Even teachers and students with decades on the mat can be daunted by the difficulties of maintaining and renewing a home practice. Illness, family obligations, boredom, travel, and that universal bugaboo, a perceived lack of time: All these obstacles, and more, will inevitably appear.

Even if you've established a strong desire and commitment to practice regularly, knowing which poses to do right now, for today's session, is one of the most concrete challenges of a home practice.

This challenge can be met by choosing a specific sequence of poses that will meet your needs, in this moment, for health and wholeness. Some systems of asana practice, like the Ashtanga Vinyasa of Pattabhi Jois, use set groupings or series of poses, so sequencing is not an issue. But many systems do not designate the order of poses; within limits, choosing the sequence is left to the student. And even students who practice set sequences like the Ashtanga series can benefit by working especially diligently on different poses on different days.

Even with years of regular class attendance under your belt, if you don't have the technical knowledge to create a well-rounded and well-organized home practice, that practice may very well remain spotty. It probably won't sustain itself-and you-over the long haul.

Planning Your Practice Sessions

To create a satisfying practice that you approach with enthusiasm, at least on most days, requires two basic kinds of knowledge. The first kind is gained by answering this next question for yourself: What do you really need from your practice today? If you are very tired from a long airplane trip, for example, you might choose a restorative practice to replenish your energy. At the least, you might start with resting poses and then see where the practice leads you; if you find your energy is increasing, you can always move into more dynamic asanas. On the other hand, if you feel energetic at the beginning of your practice, you might use a more vigorous session to channel that energy. For example, you could choose to emphasize standing poses or arm balances, making challenge and strength your focus.

Regardless of what you actually do, if your practice is an expression of what is alive in you now, that practice will help you stay present during your time on the mat. That experience can serve as a model for practicing presence all day long. It will also satisfy you and thus help give you the impetus to practice again tomorrow. If you force yourself to practice because you think you should, because you didn't yesterday, or for any other more external reason, even the most technically polished poses will not answer your inner need for ease and wholeness.

The second kind of knowledge necessary for creating a home practice is an understanding of the principles behind sequencing yoga poses. Once you know what type of practice you want for today, you need to decide the order in which you'll do those asanas. But before you can understand the effect a pose has in relationship to others, you must first become aware of the effects of the individual poses on your body and mind. Then you will better understand where exactly to place each asana in your sequence.

Another way to observe the effect that a pose has on you is to practice it and then lie quietly for a moment, eyes closed, paying attention to all the sensations that arise in your body. The more clear you are about the effects of a pose, the more understanding you will have about exactly where to include it in your practice, as well as what might beneficially follow it.

The Basic Pose Groups

To begin to create effective asana sequences you enjoy, keep in mind that yoga poses fall into several groups. These groups are analogous to food groups. Most nutritionists will agree that health comes from balancing our intake of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. And any particular person's needs for one of these groups may be different at different times. Pregnant women, for example, have an increased need for protein; other people may do well limiting certain forms of carbohydrates. But to be healthy, we all need some of all these kinds of nutrients.

A similar balance is necessary in asana practice as well. On a certain day you may need more of one particular type of pose, but generally you need some of all of the basic types of poses.

Here are the basic groupings of asanas. The first group is called standing poses and includes many poses, like Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), Parsvakonasana (Side Angle Pose), the various Virabhadrasanas (Warrior Poses), and Vrksasana (Tree Pose), as well as other one-legged balancing poses. I also place Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) in this group.One way to increase your understanding of a pose's effects is to hold it longer than you usually would-say by counting breaths and gradually, over a period of days, increasing the number of breaths as you hold the pose. If you do this, it may become more clear to you, for example, that backbends tire your arms quickly. Thus, you may decide to focus more on arm strengthening in your practice sessions and remember to follow backbends with poses that do not additionally challenge your already tired arms.

The arm balances are a relatively small group of poses that require both balance and strength. They include such poses as Bakasana (Crane Pose), Tittibhasana (Firefly Pose), and Vasisthasana (Pose Dedicated to the Sage Vasistha). I also include in this group other poses that require arm strength, like Plank Pose and Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose).

The next group of poses is inversions, which draw on the vertical power associated with standing poses as well as the upper body strength needed for arm balances. Inversions

include Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), Sirsasana (Headstand), and Halasana (Plow Pose), of course, but also Adho Mukha Vrksasana(Handstand), Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Balance), and others. Inversions are considered by many yogis to be at the core of asana practice. However as these powerful, satisfying poses can cause injury if performed incorrectly or when you have contraindicative health conditions (including menstruation, pregnancy, high blood pressure, and glaucoma), I strongly advise you to learn them directly from a qualified teacher who is able to guide you personally.

There is disagreement in the yoga world as to whether Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose) is an inversion. I prefer not to include it in this group; even though your head is lower than your heart (one technical definition of inversion) in Downward Dog, the inversion effect is muted by the fact that your legs are semi-vertical and by the fact that you cannot hold the pose very long compared to Headstand and Shoulderstand.

A fourth asana group consists of backbends, like Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose), Salabhasana (Locust Pose), and other basic spinal extension movements; this group also includes Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose), Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward-Facing Bow Pose), and more advanced poses like the Kapotasana (Pigeon Pose) variations.

Twists are exactly what the name says. They are usually done sitting, but some can be done lying down as well. Always remember that it is not a good idea to end your practice with a twist, as these poses are so one-sided in their effect on the spine. Instead, after twists practice at least one symmetrical forward bend, like Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) or Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend), before Savasana (Corpse Pose).

Forward bends along with various miscellaneous seated poses other than twists form the next group. All are done while sitting or reclining on the floor. While there are forward-bending movements done from standing, like Uttanasana and Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend), I would group these with the standing poses.

I also group the other seated or floor poses in the forward-bending category, even though they are not actually forward bends. Such poses include the various meditation poses, including Padmasana (Lotus Pose); hip and groin openers, like Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose), Hanumanasana (Monkey Pose), and Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose); reclining poses such as Supta Padangusthasana (Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose) and Supta Virasana (Reclining Hero Pose); and a number of others.

Restorative poses are the final group. These include Savasana, the basic relaxation pose that should be done at the end of every session, as well as other supported relaxing poses like Supta Baddha Konasana(Supported Bound Angle Pose).

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