There no right way, but this is an introduction about what
works for me.
Check in
Take a moment to check in, this can be standing, sitting or
lying, or you can do a full shavasana*. Notice your thoughts, notice your
breath, notice if you feel restricted in any areas of your body.
The beauty of home practice is that you can spend more time
where you need it, for example if you have been doing lots of sitting you may
decide to spend more time on backbends (such as sphinx, cobra, bridge, fish or
even the shoulder clock*)
So use those first few moments to note any areas that could
do with some attention. Continue to notice throughout your practice, and
remember to spend a little more time where you feel resistance.
How long should my practice take?
You might just have 15 minutes or you might have a delicious
2 hours, or somewhere in between. Make sure you allow for some quiet time to
finish.
What poses to do?
Depending on what your body needs, you most probably want to
warm up your joints, taking them through circular movements like we do in
class, and then warm up the body. This warm up might include cat pose before
moving into Salutes to the Sun.
A balanced practice would include forward bending, back
bending, twisting and some form of inversion (upside down pose). Then as time
permits, drawing on what your body seems to want, perhaps adding balancing,
side stretching, poses for hips (such as pigeon) and shoulders (such as cow
face pose), poses for abdominals and so on.
For me, I like to feel like I’m getting a good strong
physical practice so I usually like to include some salutes and then add in
various standing poses once I feel sufficiently warmed up and eased out. These
could be a selection of warrior 1, 2 and 3, triangle pose and variations, half
moon pose, and so on. Then take it to the floor and explore sitting and lying poses.
As you will have noticed in class, if we do a strong
movement in one direction, we bring the body back to a more neutral state
afterwards by including counter poses, that is, by doing a more gentle movement
in the opposite direction.
You may like to add an inversion or two. If you have done a
standing forward bend you have already inverted at least partially, and lying
with the legs up the wall might feel right here.
Meditate!
I like to close with sitting meditation, but lying is also
fine. It is important to have a few minutes of quiet for your body and mind to absorb
and assimilate the benefits of the practice. And this is the perfect time to
develop a longer meditation practice, drop back from thinking and feel into
your natural quiet inner state.
What about the time
of day?
I would decrease the salutes at night as I find these too
invigorating just before bed. A more relaxing practice with the emphasis on
sitting and lying poses is better then.
It’s personal
See what works for you. See how you feel afterwards. Have a
play. It is your personal practice. What is good for me is different to my
husband who is a golfer and wants to stretch and balance tight back muscles. So
it will be different for you too. Experiment. See what feels good. I would LOVE
to see your feedback in the comments section below. Enjoy!
Note
This is for those of
you who come to class, or who know how to do the poses and are willing to
respond to your body’s needs. Remember pain is an indication that something is
wrong, so ease back from pain. Stretching, on the other hand, has a sweetness
to it.
* Shavasana
CD: http://www.waverleyyoga.com.au/relaxation_cd.html
Oh dear, I've probably bitten off a bit much for this post, there's so much more I could say! Will gradually tease out more about different poses as we go along.
ReplyDeleteAnd do you want sanskrit names of poses etc? It seemed a bit clumsy so I kept it simple. Let me know, thanks!
ReplyDeleteA lovely post. I also think it's important to try and mane sure that your home practice is a regular thing. That way, you build a habit and it becomes a priorityin your day, rather than something you fit in if you can. I can't remember where I heard it (it may have been David Swenson? ) who said 15 minutes every day is better than two hours once a week. 15 mins is good for me right now!
ReplyDeleteYes good point Fiona. Different stages and times of our lives allow different time for practice, but keeping up your practice gives you so many benefits. Judith Lasater, when asked by students how often they should practice, says it depends on how often you want to feel good!
ReplyDelete