YIC Spring 2017 Guide v6

1
MASTER LINEUP
SATURDAY MAY 13th SUNDAY MAY 14th
9 AM CHRISTINA SELL
9 AM JILL MILLER
The Ethics of Touch
The Principles and Practice Cue Clinic: How to Update, Captivate, Motivate,
of Hands-On Adjustments and Move Beyond the Script
+BONUS Q&A +BONUS Q&A
12 PM JIM BENNITT 12 PM SHARI FRIEDRICHSEN

6 Key Elements of a Tantric Vinyasa Practice
Tantric Vinyasa Practice Intelligent Sequencing
+BONUS Q&A +BONUS Q&A
3 PM CYNDI LEE
3 PM DIANNE BONDY
Teaching Pranayama
+BONUS Q&A The Power of Language
Learn to Teach Accessible Sun Salutations:
On the Floor, in a Chair, & at the Wall!
+BONUS Q&A
REA
6 PM SHIVA 6 PM SIANNA SHERMAN
Rhythmic Vinyasa: The Evolution of
The Art of Theming
Surya Namaskar A & B
Mythic Flow: Experience Theming in Practice
+BONUS Q&A
+BONUS Q&A
Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

2
T H E CON F E R E N C E PASS GIVES YO U CO NTINUE D ACC ESS

TO A L L WO R KS H O P S AND P RACTIC ES
A N YW H E R E A N D ANYTIM E TH AT YO U WANT.
Not only do Conference Pass holders get ongoing access to all of the conference content,
you also get special interviews with every presenter on topics such as how to skillfully
sequence a class for a variety of needs and abilities, what to do if a cue isn't resonating
with a student, and a lot more!
GET THE PASS

3
CHRISTINA SELL
The Ethics of Touch
Overview
Touch, why we touch, and how we touch.
The ethics and concerns that go along with this very effective means of communication
in yoga class.
Take what youre offered and make it your own. Leave behind what isnt useful and take
what you can as you are learning.
Touch in a yoga class

As a teacher who knows your students well, you may be intimate with peoples needs,
worries, and concerns. Youll learn who likes to be touched/adjusted and who is
uncomfortable with being touched.
When you have new students it may behoove you to be more conservative about touch.
You must learn how to integrate what you get from different teachers and take their
perspectives into each unique class/situation.
Tips
Be gentle with yourself and learn to be patient with your students because its a lot to
ask of them to come to yoga class and its a lot to ask of yourself to guide people as
they endeavor on their journey.
Different people learn in different ways. Use verbal cues, demonstrations, partner
exercises, and hands-on adjustments to help all students eventually get the practice
into their bodies. You want to help make it click in their bodies so you must
supplement other forms of teaching with the verbal description of poses.
Our task as yoga teachers is to teach students our language so that we have a shared
language.
Hands-on adjustments can be the key to helping a student feel something in their body
that they did not know was possible for them.
Consider using consent cards to avoid uncomfortable situations for your students.
The card would be placed at the front of their mat and they would check a box that
indicates if they would like adjustments or not.
You can decide as a teacher that you do not want to offer hands-on adjustments to
your students and that is okay too.
Expect to make mistakes and be forgiving and patient with yourself.

4
As your relationship grows with your students, dont be afraid to communicate and ask
them for feedback. Create a safe space so they will feel comfortable talking to you and
telling you why something did or did not feel good.
Make sure your touch is confident.
Lateral poses (triangle, side angle, half moon) all have similar misalignments. Once you
learn an assist for one it can typically be applied to similar poses. This applies to other
poses that are in the same category like backbends, hip openers, etc.
If the majority of people in the room are doing the pose incorrectly, suggest using a
prop, or back out of the pose and offer a modification. Most likely you are teaching
something too advanced for their level.
In standing poses teachers must train themselves to look at the foundation (the feet
and legs) first before looking at the upper body and arms.
A principle of adjusting is to start from the bottom and go up.
The ultimate goal is to help students set up the structure of the pose and to really
prepare students for alignment cues so that the cues begin to mean something real and
true to the student.
Your student should be participating in the assist, not fighting it or yielding to it.
When you see students struggling, its best to offer props before hands-on adjustments.
Most of the time, hands-on adjustments are for going deeper.
Types of learning in yoga

Auditory learners can take oral information and translate it into their bodies.
Visual learners may need to look at the teacher (demonstrations), in the mirror, or at
other students in order to understand poses.
Kinesthetic learners are students who need to feel it in their body in order to
understand what the teachers words mean.
Risks of touch in yoga

Recent studies about touch indicate that most people have issues with touch.
One in four women and one in five men have reported some type of touch that borders
on abuse in their lives. It is also thought that these numbers are grossly underestimated.
Teachers need to be aware that some people who walk into our classes have had
negative experiences with touch.
For many people, touch can have pain, trauma, and a difficult history attached to it.
Working through those difficulties is outside the scope of the contractual relationship
of the public yoga class teacher and the public yoga class student.
5
Teachers are hired to teach a safe and effective yoga class, but what feels safe to one
person can feel threatening and scary to another. We cant expect ourselves to get it
right every time.
The Principles and Practice of Hands-on Adjustments
n one-hour practice/class that focuses on hands-on adjustments for teachers.

A
n Teaches how to safely give adjustments, along with safety measures to consider
and which adjustments to avoid due to injuries.
n Offers advice about verbal cues for helping to adjust students before using
hands-on adjustments.
n Includes a discussion of common misalignments and things to look out for.
n Teaches the correct way to approach a student in order to make them feel
comfortable.
n Teaches about the energy flow that happens during a pose and how a teacher
can learn to read that energy.
Hands-on adjustment instructions
Tips
n ake sure the adjustment feels good for you too.
M
n Dont compromise yourself or put your body at risk in order to help someone
else (both on and off the mat).
n When approaching a student, remember they are in their internal world, which
means you need to make your presence known and prepare yourself to go from
talking to everyone in the room to talking to one person.
n When exiting an adjustment, move slowly and be sensitive to your students
needs.
n If possible, when exiting let the student know how to maintain what you have
provided as best as they can as you slowly back away.
n Be prepared to go back and forth in your awareness and presence as you
instruct the room verbally and give hands-on assists to a single student
physically.
n Give hands-on adjustments after exhausting all other options (cues and
demonstrations) based on what you see is or is not happening during a pose.
n Make sure when you approach a student that your physical body is comfortable
and youre not standing in a place that feels awkward for them (i.e., right in front
of them in cow pose).
l
Always stand in a respectful position when giving an assist to preserve
privacy and dignity so that you can be as helpful as you can as
unobtrusively as you can.
n Do not try to force peoples bodies to go where they shouldnt go or where they
cant go.
n Look for the place with hidden potential and unrealized capacity.

6
Childs Pose
Do not do this assist if

n
Your student has a knee injury or cannot flex their knee joint.
n
Your student had a recently injured ankle and couldnt handle pressure on their
ankle joint.
n
Your students seat is lifted very high up (again because they probably shouldnt
have pressure on the knee joint).
Do this assist when

n
A student has their head down on the floor and their seat is raised up just a little
and there is a noticeable overarch in their lower back/the seat appears to be
moving up instead of down due to the overarching in the lumbar spine.
When giving this assist

n
Stand near the students head, and separate your legs apart for a sturdy
foundation.
n
Root your legs and feet into the ground.
n
Make sure your belly is strong.
n
Place the soft part of your hands face down on either side of the sacrum, and
as you make contact, feel the students clothing, skin, muscles, and bones (think
about pressing your bones into their bones).
n
First, make contact, then draw the flesh of the buttocks away from the
shoulders to deepen the connection between the students hips and heels.
n
Aim to get some length in the muscles around the lumbar spine.
n
This assist can also be done while standing behind the student with your hands
facing the opposite direction and still drawing the hips down.
n
To exit the assist tell the student to keep their belly strong and their hips this heavy
(as youre pressing down) and then tell then Im going to let go if you can.
Tabletop
n hen giving verbal cues, pay attention to the more mobile students because
W
they may collapse in their lumbar spine.
n If all verbal cues fail, place your hand on the middle of their back and say Bring
your body back into my hand, then instruct them to keep going until they are
where they should be, and then say Good, keep that as you move your hand
away.
n When instructing the room to move their side ribs back, you can also place your
hands on a students ribs and gently encourage them to move their ribs back.
n To help a student make their side body longer, place your hands on their upper
arms and encourage them forward as you say Inhale, make length along the
sides of your torso.
n Next, you will want to instruct them to soften in the thoracic spine, so you can
place a soft fist there to encourage them to move the spine in.
n Remember to be firm in your legs and keep your belly strong while giving these
assists.

7
Downward Facing Dog
The goal of this pose is to move the upper spine into extension (think upper back
backbend).
Do not do this assist (with the hips) if

n
Someone has very tight hamstrings.
Do this assist when

n
Your students arms are in the overhead plane and their upper back is rounded
(the humerus or arm bone moves in front of the clavicle in this position, which
could lead to a shoulder infringement).
n
In a mobile student, you see a rounded thoracic spine but a collapsing in the
shoulders (this person is most likely hanging out in the armpits instead of
mobilizing the thoracic spine).
n
A mobile student is in the pose correctly, but the lumbar spine is overarched.
n
When someones heels are very close to the floor or on the floor.
Adjusting the shoulders and upper back

n
If you need to adjust the shoulders but you notice the heels are off the floor, the
backs of the legs look stiff, or the lumbar spine is rounded, then you can offer a
different position before making an adjustment in the arms.
l
You could start the student in a tabletop position and give the tabletop
assist described earlier/above, then tell them to curl the toes and lift the
hips to downward facing dog. From there you could offer them a wider
stance by telling them to place their feet as wide as the mat and asking
them to bend the knees if the hamstrings look stiff.
n
Once the student is in the correct position, stand with one foot in between their
hands, ground down through your legs, strengthen your belly, then place your
hands on the upper arms and say Inhale, make the sides of your torso long
here as you pull their shoulders toward you. Next, place a soft fist on the upper
spine, and say Move your upper back in. Then you will instruct them to push
into the floor as they extend their spine long.
n
When giving an assist to a mobile student who has a rounded spine but is
collapsing in the upper shoulders, ask them to come onto their tiptoes and bend
their knees to take some weight out of the legs. Then youll come in underneath
their arms and place your hands on their upper arms, with fingertips pointing up
toward their ears, to roll their triceps inward and pull the shoulders toward you.
You can then place your head on the upper spine and encourage the student to
move their upper back in.
Adjusting the lower back

n
When a mobile student is in the pose correctly but the lumbar spine is
overarched, you can give an assist that is similar to the childs pose assist
described earlier. You still step in front of the student, placing one foot between
their hands, ground down in your legs, strengthen your belly, and then place
your hands on either side of the sacrum on the hips. Use your body mechanics

8
to stretch the hips away from the shoulders.

n Do not push straight down into the legs.
l
The energy of this pose begins in the hands, lengthens through the spine,
and then goes down the legs last.
Another down dog adjustment for long-time students and friends

n
Stand behind the student with your feet apart.
n
Bend your knees.
n
Strong belly.
n
Criss-cross your arms, and place your hands on the inner thighs above the knee,
while still being respectful.
n
Pull straight back by sitting heavy into your legs.
n
To exit, ask the student to keep pressing their thighs back as you let go.
Locust Pose (Salabhasana)
The goal is to avoid a common uncomfortable sense of compression in the lumbar

spine. The flow of energy in this pose is a movement away from the hips before lifting
up (this applies to most belly backbends).
Do not assist (with the hands on calves) if

n
Someone has any knee issues or has had a knee replacement.
To assist in this pose

n
Stand with your feet on either side of the students body and squat down.
n
Place your hands on the front of their shoulders.
n
Create length first on the sides of the torso by guiding the shoulders forward.
n
Then roll the shoulder blades onto the back.
n
Instruct the student to press the tops of their feet into the mat and to firm their legs.
n
Pull the student forward and then up.
n
Bring your elbows on top of your thighs, just above the knee, for support, and
lean back.
n
Instruct the student to soften behind their heart and yield.
n
To exit, say Keep pressing your toes down, firming up your legs, and hold as much
as you can while slowly moving your hands, standing up, and stepping away.
Additional assists in locust pose

n
Check for sickled feet, because its a common tendency for people to squeeze
their buttocks muscles so tight that their legs turn out.
n
If the feet are straight, you can step on the students pinky toes with your big
toes to encourage the toe-pressing action further.
n
Adding on as the student lifts up into locust pose: Lean forward and place your
hands on the back of the calves and lean your body weight forward as you
press down, creating an anchor for the student to lift the chest higher.
n
To exit, tell the student to keep their chest as high as they can as you slowly
move your hands away, keeping your feet where they are for the duration of the
backbend.

9
Cobra Pose
Common misalignments
n
Many people lose awareness of what is going on with their feet in this pose.
n
Similar to locust pose, the feet often sickle and/or the legs turn out.
l
If the muscles of the buttocks are engaged (which is okay) without the
strength of the inner thighs, the legs will externally rotate.
n
Its hard for students to get their shoulders back, so they will often keep
them moving forward, creating a backbend in the lumbar spine instead of
the thoracic spine.
Assist for the legs

n
When a students legs are separated, stand on either side of their left calf.
n
Place your right hand to the front of their left inner thigh.
n
Place your left hand on their left hip.
n
Using both hands give their left leg an internal rotation by lifting it up and
turning it in.
n
Then pull the left leg back.
n
Repeat on the right side.
Assist for the shoulders

n
If their head is back, make sure to move it in an upright position with a long neck.
n
Tell the student to bend their elbows and lower down a little bit.
n
Then, like locust pose, stand on either side of their torso and squat.
n
Place your knees on the students shoulder blades.
n
Hands will come to the front of the students shoulders.
n
Make sure you are grounded in your legs and strong in your belly.
n
Squeeze your knees toward each other as you take the students shoulders back.
n
Once that action has been achieved, you can bring the students shoulders back
toward you more, which will allow for a deeper bend and opening in the chest.
n
To exit, tell the student to keep that as you slowly move away.
Energy of the pose

n
Swoop the heart forward and then up toward the sky.
Modifications
n
For stiffer students, have them move their hands slightly forward.
n
Tell them to keep a bend in their elbows for more mobility in the shoulders and
upper back.
Triangle Pose
n he goal of this pose is to stay in the side plane and find more external rotation
T
in the bottom hip.
n The hip, knee, and foot of the front leg should all be in line with each other.

10
Common misalignments
n
The student has a difficult time standing in the side plane.
n
The upper body collapses forward.
n
The butt sticks out too far.
n
People also get into a limited version of the pose due to the cue Imagine that
you are between two panes of glass and only come down as far as you can stay
in between those panes of glass.
n
The periphery of the body will move faster than the core which is an issue for a
mobile person.
l
Their arm would most likely be too open.
n
A stiffer person would have their arm more forward than back.
n
The emotional body may take over and cause a hypermobile person to move
more freely and openly, but potentially to the detriment of their physical body.
n
The bottom shoulder often internally rotates in this pose.
Modifications
n
Block under the hand.
n
Bend the front knee.
To assist the legs

n
Approach from the back plane of the pose.
n
Tell the student to take their top hand down to their hip.
n
Take your left hand to their left (back-leg side) hip.
n
Take your right hand to their inner thigh.
n
Press into your feet and give the student support with your foot.
n
Turn in slightly with the hip.
n
Pull the inner thigh back and then away from the front heel.
n
This slight internal rotation enables the pelvis to move off the front thigh.
n
Then cue with Take your tailbone in, Lift your belly up, and Draw the flesh of
your buttocks under.
n
Then repeat the assist when they do the pose on the other side.
To assist the arms

n
Stand near the front of your student and behind them.
n
Place your hand a little bit in front of where their top hand should be (so they
have more mobility to move the shoulder back before straightening the arm up).
n
Cue the student to bring their top hand to meet yours.
n
Cue the student to firm their legs and draw in.
n
Cue the student to push their hand against yours and draw their top shoulder
back.
n
Cue the student to stay there and then stretch up.
n
If the bottom shoulder is not in the correct position, you can place your hand on
the front of it and give a directional cue to draw the shoulder back.

11
Side Angle Pose
To assist the legs

n
Place the arch of your left foot around the heel of your students left foot (back
foot) to help ground them.
n
Interlace your hands around your students left upper inner thigh.
n
Lengthen through your low back for stability.
n
Place your knee to their left outer shin.
n
Broaden the upper thigh by pulling the left leg toward you.
n
Then cue the student to Take your tailbone in, lift your low belly up, and press
your front knee into your front arm.
n
To exit, slowly move away before you move on to the next pose.
To assist the arms

n
Offer this assist if a student is hypermobile and the top shoulder is externally
rotated too far and the armpit is fully exposed.
n
Stand behind the student and cue them to move their arm straight out in front
of them.
n
Place your left hand on the students tricep.
n
Place your right hand on the students wrist.
n
Cue the student to make/keep the side body long.
n
Draw the students shoulder back and allow them to move slightly toward your
body.
n
Cue the student to turn their arm down and stretch it up overhead as you help
them move it.
Supine Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose (Supta Padangusthasana)
Misalignments
n
With tight quads and hip flexors, its difficult to keep the legs moving in
different directions
n
The leg on the floor may have a bent knee.
n
When the hips are flexed there is an internal rotation.
Modifications
n
If a student isnt supple in the back of their legs, they should use a strap.
To assist
n
Stand with your feet on either side of the left (bottom) leg.
n
Place your hands on the upper left thigh and press straight down to root and
ground.
n
This assist can also be given from a kneeling position.
n
Make sure your belly is strong as an anchor to transfer the power into your arms
as you give the assist.
n
To help the student go deeper you can place your left hand on the top of the
right thigh and pull that side back slowly as you push the left side down (this
can be very intense for the student so be mindful).

12
n epeat the assist on the other side.

R
n An additional assist here is to place both hands around the lifted thigh and draw
the femur toward the back plane of the students body, which allows the student
to bring their leg closer toward their torso and control how deep/intense the
stretch is.
Supine Twist with leg extended and opposite hand holding big toe
The goal of this pose is to align the hips.
Modifications
Place blankets or a bolster underneath the top leg to diminish the demand on the outer hip.
To assist
n
Place your right foot behind the students sacrum and hips to give them a stack.
n
Place your left foot to the front of the right (bottom leg) thigh to make sure it is
aligned properly (if not you can ask the student to move their right leg back).
n
Take your left hand to the students back ribs (the side closer to the floor).
n
Take your right hand to the left side of the students spine.
n
Cue the student to press the back of their head and left elbow into the floor and
twist.
n
Youll move their torso into the twist with your hands.
n
Then place your right hand on the front of the students left shoulder and the
left hand on the students left hip.
n
Press down to help them lengthen and deepen into the twist.
n
Repeat the assist when the student does the pose on the other side.

13
JIM BENNITT
6 Key Elements of a Tantric Vinyasa Practice
Vinyasa yoga: a style of hatha yoga (hatha yoga being the yoga of the physical body)
n
Many of the teachings in the hatha yoga texts come directly from tantric yoga
scriptures: especially ideas about the subtle body (chakras, nadis, vayus).
n
The original hatha yogis emphasized working with prana and the subtle body
more than working with muscles, bones, ligaments, and postures.
n
This approach to hatha yoga has changed much throughout the years.
n
We have much more knowledge of anatomy, however, many teachers forget the
subtle body and focus more on the physical body.
n
There is a way to incorporate both. It takes skill and practice, but you can work
with the subtle body while still having a flowing approach to the practice of
hatha yoga.
6 key components of tantric vinyasa

1. Energy follows awareness
ratyahara: our ability to turn our awareness inward
n P
l
In yoga classes, just as in life, there are many distractions (music,
adjustments, too many words). There is a place for physical adjustments
and verbal cues, but its important to give students a moment to turn their
awareness inward. Certain postures and cues will help students to do this.
l
Students need time to find the posture and the alignment thats right for
them on their own, and they need time for silence.
2. Linking each movement to one breath, and making the breath last longer than the
movement (both on the inhale and the exhale)
n
Its very common in vinyasa classes to link the breath to movement, but it is
important that the breath lasts longer than the movement.
n
If our breath is rushed, we cant bring awareness to the the subtle body and
cultivate prana (vital force) within practice.
n
Its important for teachers to not only see what their students are doing but to
also hear their breath. Ujjayi breathing is a technique you can use to make the
breath audible in practice.
3. Pace: Slower is almost always better

n
The original hatha yogis were working toward slowing down and stilling the
mind. They found a direct correlation between the momentum of the breath
(prana) and the momentum of the mind (chitta). If they slowed the breath
down, the mind would slow down also.
n
Once the practitioner got used to this (slowing down the mind and breath), they
would stop the breath. This would also stop the mind.
n
Get students in simple postures, even within a complex sequence of postures,
where they can focus on keeping the body still and slowing down the
momentum of the breath.
n
Moments of this throughout practice, even if its a vigorous practice, will help to
cultivate that still state of mind we are looking for in yoga.

14
n In a more experienced class, you want to give students a series of challenging
postures but know when its time to stop. If you see people struggling, or hear
people struggling with their breath, take them into a basic posturegive them a
moment to slow downthen you can continue on with teaching more complex
postures. The result: They will probably do each posture better and they will
also leave class feeling as though they have built prana rather than depleted
themselves of it.
4. The number of poses

n
More is not always better.
n
Compare a sequence to a meal: If you take everything in the refrigerator and
add it to a pancake mix, it wont make the pancakes better.
n
Reducing the amount of poses you teach is especially important when it comes
to asymmetrical poses. If you do too much on one side it can fatigue students.
5. Hub poses
n
Hub poses are symmetrical postures that can be very simple (like savasana),
or a little more complete (like mountain pose), or even more complicated (like
downward facing dog).
n
The spine is neutral and the students have a chance to reset: physically,
energetically, and mentally.
n
Incorporating these hub poses is crucial for building prana.
6. Incorporating the tantric tools of kumbhaka (breath retention), mudras (which

include bandhas), and kriyas (purification techniques)
n
The previous five components are prerequisites for this one.
n
Hub poses are where we can incorporate these techniques.
n
These tantric tools make sitting in meditation at the end of practice more
enjoyable.
l
Breath retention helps to stop the flow of prana and the breath, and thus
help the mind (as long as it is a short retention).
l
Bandhas and mudras help us re-direct the flow of prana (to stop the flow
of prana, or reverse its direction). Different bandhas and mudras have
different effects on the subtle body.
l
Kriyas help us to purify and open the nadis (subtle channels).
To incorporate these into your teaching, go slowly and incorporate each step one at a
time.
Tantric Vinyasa Practice
Centering in childs pose (balasana)
Thunderbolt pose (vajrasana)

n
Bring hands to anjali mudra (prayer position).
n
Remember your sankalpa (intention).

15
Flow 3x
n Childs pose
n Kneeling with arms raised overhead
n Childs pose
n Table
n Downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana)
Downward facing dog variation (alternating which knee you bend, shifting hips to the side)
Dynamic twisting in vajrasana
In vajrasana, bring hands down into brahma mudra (wrap fingers around the thumbs
and place the fists in your lap) and practice kapalabhati (sharp exhale, passive inhale).
Fold into childs pose and feel each fist press into the abdomen on either side of the
navel.
Plank pose
Full prostration (full danda pranam)
Cobra (bhujangasana) or upward facing dog (urdhva mukha svanasana)
Three-legged dog
Lift the right leg up, and then step the right foot forward to the outside of the right
hand. Circle the hips in this wide lunge pose.
Repeat on the other side, starting with a three-legged dog with the left leg lifted, then
moving into the wide-legged lunge pose with hip circles.
Transition: Keep the left foot where it is and then step the right foot to the outside of
the right hand. The feet are now the width of the mat. Soft bend in the knees, hold
opposite elbows, allow the weight of the arms and head to decompress the spine.
Inhale to rise up to standing.
Uddiyana bandha
Mountain pose (tadasana)

Sun salute A (surya namaskar A) variation with full prostration 3x
n
On the third sun salute hold downward facing dog and practice uddiyana
bandha in downward facing dog.
Flow
n hree-legged dog (right leg up, opening the hip)
T
n Step right foot forward, coming into warrior II (virabhadrasana II)
n Triangle pose (trikonasana)
n Side angle (parsvakonasana)
n Side plank (vasisthasana) (on the left hand)
n Plank

16
pward facing dog

U
n
n
Downward facing dog
n
Repeat on the other side (with side plank on the right hand this time)
Forward fold (uttanasana) to halfway lift (ardha uttanasana)
Tadasana
Tree pose (vrksasana), arms overhead, fingers interlaced (attention to mula bandha).
Repeat on the other side.
Tadasana to forward fold

Dynamic malasana (squat) with attention to mula bhanda
n
Optional crane pose (bakasana)
Full prostration
Locust (salabhasana) variation with kali mudra
Plank pose
Downward facing dog
Flow
n arrior I (virabhadrasana I) (right foot forward) with arms extended overhead,
W
palms together
n Pyramid (parsvottanasana) variation
n Revolved triangle (parivrtta trikonasana)
n Side angle variation on left side
n C haturanga (four-limbed staff pose
n Upward facing dog
n Downward facing dog
n Repeat on other side, starting with warrior I
Forward fold to halfway lift

Urdhva hastasana (upward hand pose)
Tadasana
Extended hand-to-foot pose (utthita hasta padangusthasana) (repeat on both sides)
Urdhva hastasana
Forward fold to halfway lift
Sphinx pose
Bow pose (dhanurasana)

Chaturanga
Plank
Downward facing dog

17
Flow
n evolved side angle (parivrtta parsvakonasana) (right foot forward)
R
n Side plank on left hand (hand to foot)
n U rdhva vasisthasana on left hand
n Chaturanga
n Upward facing dog
n Downward facing dog
n Repeat on other side
Hero pose (virasana) with shoulder opener

Reclined hero pose (supta virasana)
Downward facing dog
Flow 3x
n
Staff pose (dandasana) with attention to mula bandha
n
Seated forward fold (paschimottanasana)
n
Staff pose
n
Plow pose (halasana)
Reverse plank (purvottanasana)
Revolved head to knee (parivrtta janu sirsasana) (repeat on both sides)

Knees to chest
Tadaka mudra (empty lakebed seal) with breath retention (kumbhaka) and engagement
of uddiyana bandha (Lie down on back, arms overhead, fingers interlaced, palms
pressed away from head, pressing into the heelsusing the strength of arms and legs
to lengthen the back.)
Mini savasana, drawing awareness inward
Bridge pose (setu bandha) with ujjayi breathing, option to interlace the fingers and
open the shoulders, or even bend the elbows and place hands under the hips for a
supported bridge
Constructive rest pose
Shoulderstand (sarvangasana) into side-stretching bridge (option to extend the legs).

(Repeat on other side.)
Bridge pose
Mini-savasana (Notice the breath, heartbeat, and mind slowing down.)
Windshield wiper. With feet as wide as the mat, first drop knees to the left and then to
the right, pausing on each side for a few breaths. (Option to bring ankle on top of the
thigh for a deeper stretch.)

18
Upward bow (urdhva dhanurasana) 3x (with a mini-savasana after each round)

Variation of reclined hand-to-foot pose (supta padangusthasana), option to bring
forehead to shin (Repeat on both sides.)
Supine wide-legged forward fold with engagement of uddiyana bandha and breath
retention (kumbhaka)
Downward facing dog
Low lunge (anjaneyasana) with mula bandha, arms extended overhead

Half splits (ardha hanumanasana)
Full splits (hanumanasana)
Downward facing dog
Repeat low lunge to half splits to full splits on the other side.
Side lunge (skandasana), engaging mula bandha (Repeat on both sides.)
Wide-legged forward fold (prasarita padottanasana) to straight angle pose

(samakonasana) (mula bandha engagement)
Cow face pose (gomukhasana), allowing everything to slow down. (Repeat on both sides.)
Staff pose
Ardha baddha padma paschimottanasana (half spinal twist variation)left leg

extended, right leg bent, right foot to inner left thigh or into half lotus. Option to fold
forward and bind.
Full lotus (padmasana), half lotus (ardha padmasana), or easy pose (sukhasana)
Tolasana (scale pose) with mula bandha engagement

Yoga mudra (forward fold in lotus, half lotus, or easy pose)
Repeat on other side, beginning in ardha baddha padma paschimottanasana with right
leg extended, left leg bent, and left foot to inner right thigh or into half lotus.
Also repeat lotus pose, half lotus, or easy pose into tolasana and yoga mudra.

Closing
Final savasanaattention to pratyahara
Nadi kriya
Seated focus on sushumna nadi (central channel)

19
CYNDI LEE
Teaching Pranayama
Overview
Pranayama is an important practice because its about slowing down and placing
our attention on this vital force, this precious activity, and this most ordinary of
activitiesbreathing.
Through the breath, we can have a rich life of being present and engaging with the
moment.
When we leave our pranayama practice we might start to notice our breath in daily life
more (i.e., we may start to notice when we are gasping, sighing, or holding the breath).
Information about pranayama

n
The practice is to notice and become intimate with your breath.
n
Pranayama is not asana. Its one of the eight limbs of yoga, and they are all
equally important.
n
Asana supports the practice of pranayama.
n
Contemplate what it means to be a breathing being.
n
Its about the wind and the element of air. When youre teaching pranayama,
your voice is riding on the vehicle of your wind energy. To transmit the quality
of the practice youre teaching you want to make sure as a teacher that you
yourself are manifesting that qualityeven in how you move through the room
(think walking meditation).
n
There are different types of practices in pranayama. While they are all about the
breath, sometimes you do a more energizing one and sometimes you do a more
quiet one.
n
There are up-regulating and down-regulating practices, and there is no one
size fits all. When teaching pranayama, consider each person, each day, each
temperature, etc.
n
There are two categories: breath awareness and breath manipulation.
n
Think of pranayama as a method of getting familiar with what it feels like to
breathe. What is it like to be so quiet and intimate that you have a relationship
with your own breath?
n
Breath and wind are interesting because we cannot see either. We have to
observe what is the result of moving the wind or just pay attention to how the
wind moves in and out of us on its own.
Practice: Learn What it Means to Breathe! (A Complete Pranayama Practice)

n
A one-hour practice that focuses on pranayama.
n
Teaches different techniques for using folded blankets and other props in order
to support the breath practice.
n
Goes through different visualizations and breathing instructions you can use
while teaching pranayama.
n
Encourages you to create a relaxing and safe environment that will allow
students to get more intimate with their breath.
20
Pranayama practice:
n
Begin in sukhasana (easy pose) on a blanket folded in thirds.
n
Be open to your experience breath by breath, moment by moment.
n
Place your attention on the breath and notice. Wherever you are is okay.
n
Feel the chest rise and fall and the breath at the edge of your nostrils.
n
Work with the idea of not knowing. Do not try to make anything better or
different. Just notice.
n
No worrying, fixing, planning, or manipulating.
n
When the mind strays, come back to the breath, and the sense of intimacy you
have with the breath, and to not knowing.
n
Be curious; examine how your breath changes as the moments pass.
n
Begin to extend the inhalations and exhalations. Explore and know that every
breath is different.
n
Rest and sit upright at the same time as you move through this experience.
n
Notice your mind and what is happening. Allow for space to fill you as the
breath moves in and out.
n
When youre done opening with pranayama, you can aum to start the
movement part of the class.
Warm-up (from sukhasana):

Sunbreath side leans
n
Inhale the arms up and feel the length in the side body.
n
Exhale your right hand down to the earth and the left arm above the ear as you
lean to the right.
n
Sunbreath twists
n
Inhale the arms up.
n
Exhale twist to the right and place your right hand on the floor behind you and
the left hand on the right knee.
n
Shoulder rolls
n
Inhale the arms up.
n
Exhale, backstroke your arms and clasp your hands behind your back.
n
Big shoulder roll back and lift the chest.
n
Exhale, release your arms right out to the side.
n
Hug the arms tight across the chest with the right arm on top.
n
Let the head fall to either side.
n
Keep the arms hugging tight and then lift the elbows up and let the hands come
overhead and then down to the floor.
n
Repeat on other side after starting at the beginning again.
Restorative sequence
Blanket folding: pyramid fold

n
Start with the blanket fully opened.

21
n old the two fringe sides together.

F
n Then fold it in half again, keeping the fringe side together.
n Place it on the floor and flatten it out (iron it).
n Then lift it up and fold it accordion style as you count 1, 2, 3, and 4 layers.
n This is called a pyramid because of the different levels and widths of each fold.
Pranayama
n
Place blanket at sacrum and lie back with the center along the spine.
n
Roll the top so you can rest your head on it.
n
Place the feet wide apart and rest the knees together.
n
Teach this pranayama with visualization (the breath pours in coming down the
front body, softening the groins, then on the exhale it moves up the back of the
body through the spine, widening the waist).
n
Tell your students to use the mind to move the breath through the body.
n
When this portion of the pranayama practice is complete, instruct your students
to turn over to the side and stay there for a breath or two, and then come up to
seated.
n
Sit quietly for a moment and check in.
Blanket folding: in thirds

n
n
Fold the two fringe sides together.
n
Then fold it in half again, keeping the fringe side together.
n
Place it on the floor and iron it (you can think of this as tadasana for the
blanket).
n
Lift it up and then fold it in thirds, creating a wider base.
Pranayama
n
Place the blanket at the sacrum and sit in dandasana (staff pose).
n
Place the back of the hands together as the palms rest on the inside of the
shins, draw the knees up, and open the legs into a butterfly position.
n
Take an additional blanket and roll it up tightly (from tadasana for the
blanket).
n
Place the blanket over the feet and then under the shins, supporting the legs.
n
Another option would be to place blocks under the thighs if the first option isnt
comfortable.
n
Then lie back onto your first blanket, coming into supta baddha konasana, and
let the arms be long with the palms face up.
n
Roll the top of the blanket for your head to rest on once again.
n
Lengthen the neck and find support from the blanket and the floor.
n
The back is strong like tadasana and the front is soft like savasana.
n
You can use visualization to teach here as well.
n
to place their hands on the outside of their thighs and use their hands to gather
their legs together.
n
Ask them to roll onto the right side.

22
n hen slowly come up to sitting.

T
n Take a moment to feel, and then open the eyes.
Blanket folding: in fourths

n
n
Fold the two fringe sides together.
n
Then fold it in half again, keeping the fringe side together.
n
Place it on the floor and iron it.
n
Then lift it up and fold it in half longways.
n
Then fold it back and iron it.
n
Flip it over and fold it back again.
n
It should be in four layers like pyramid but all layers are equal in width.
Pranayama
n
Place the blanket behind the sacrum and lie back.
n
Yogis choice with the legs.
n
If its too big of a backbend, open the blanket up to make the backbend less
intense.
n
Let the arms open out to the side and roll the blanket behind the head if youd
like.
n
Focus on the gentle and subtle shoulder opening in this position.
n
Run your fingers along your sternum and get to know this bone.
n
Then keep your fingertips in the center of your sternum for a few breaths.
n
Bring the arms back alongside the body. Make a fist with your right hand and
hover your arm above the floor. Tighten your whole arm and focus on your
breath and right ribs. Notice how your breath changes or not. Then drop your
arm down to the earth. Now notice how its different.
n
Then repeat on the left side.
n
to turn over to the side and stay there for a breath or two and to then come up
to seated.
n
Ask them to feel their breath on the left and the right, then open their eyes.
Blanket folding: in thirds (see directions above)
Pranayama
n
This time sit on your blanket directly and make sure your bolster is nearby for
use.
n
Sit in a box-like shape flexing each foot and placing them under each knee (if
the knees are lifted use your blocks or use the rolled up blanket from earlier).
n
Inhale, reach your hands forward on the floor, tilt your pelvis forward, and lift
your chest.
n
Exhale, press into the floor and tuck your whole pelvis under as your draw your
chin down.
n
Tilt the pelvis forward and lift your chest.
n
Exhale, press into the floor and tuck your whole pelvis under as you draw your
chin down.
n
Continue this movement with the extension and rounding of the spine (like cat/cow).
23
n hen walk your hands in and find a neutral sitting position.

T
n Place your index fingers on your knees and then shift your legs out and cross
the opposite leg on top.
n Place your palms on your thighs and close your eyes.
n Breathe here for a while.
n Again, visualization is a good tool for helping students drop deeper into their
body and breath. Describe how the breath moves through the body.
n Open the eyes and place your bolster on your thighs and let your arms rest on
the bolster.
n Make sure your seat is comfortable.
n Palms up or down is fine.
n Begin nadi shodhana pranayama with the mind (no holding the nose).
n Breathe in through the left nostril for 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
n Exhale through the right nostril for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
n Repeat for a few minutes.
n Then repeat, inhaling through the right and exhaling through the left.
n When finished, breathe naturally for a moment and open your eyes.
Savasana
n
For savasana, youll lie down with your legs resting on a stonehenge-like prop
setup.
n
Place two blocks on the ground with a little distance between them on the
middle level, then place the bolster on top (with the blocks at either side like a
table).
n
Fold your blanket in half and place it where your head will go.
n
Place your legs on the bolster with soft knees and lie back. Make sure you are
comfortable.
n
Take your savasana.
n
At the end of savasana, place each foot on the floor.
n
As you exhale, roll onto your right side.
n
Then come up to sitting with a soft neck.
n
Have a seat on your blanket, keeping your eyes closed to keep your awareness
inward.
n
See how you feel, and notice the effects of this pranayama practice for today.
n
Aum if you would like, then hands to prayer and bow to conclude the practice.

24
Shiva Rea
Rhythmic Vinyasa: The Evolution of Surya Namaskar A & B
Intro and Overview
The evolution from the roots of surya namaskar A & B

The next step: rhythmic vinyasa
n
We can teach alignment in the flow.
n
We can increase the flow of breath by returning to the rhythm of ujjayi.
n
We can convey the relationship between asanas.
n
Brings a creativity to teaching alignment. It allows you as a teacher to adapt the
flow based upon your students needs and to the energy of the season.
A Need for Change

Our students need change like the seasons, and theres an intelligence to change. How
do we change the namaskars without losing the root?
Rhythmic Vinyasa A
If we look at rhythmic vinyasa A, we have the inner heart of the namaskar: From
dandasana (plank) we have chaturanga dandasana (four-limbed staff pose), urdhva
mukha svanasana (upward facing dog pose), and then we have adho mukha svanasana
(downward facing dog pose). So we could say that the inner heart of the namaskar
becomes a very potent place to adapt to our students. To begin to have a rhythmic
relationship between the different asanas. Later in this workshop well be looking at
different variations of what in Prana Vinyasa we call the connecting vinyasa.
Rhythmic Vinyasa B
From downward dog, we have the variations that lead to virabhadrasana I (warrior I).
We have variations in the extended leg, which is more of a modern interpretation, we
have variations that come from the base of lunge into virabhadrasana I or crescent
lunge, and we have variations in how we move from uttanasana (standing forward
bend) through utkatasana (chair pose).
Even tadasana (mountain pose) becomes a place where we can transmit alignment in
the flow and different energetic qualities, such as a lunar quality of moving very slowly
and peacefully or a solar quality of being more dynamic and energetic.
If you teach rhythmic vinyasa A or B, please call it by its name so that we can all, no
matter what background we come from, continue to evolve together.
The Art of Teaching Ujjayi

Ujjayi has the root of jai; its name means the victorious breath.
Theres an art to encouraging your students to not only listen to the sound of their
breath as a reflection of their inner state, but also to listen to the rhythm of their breath
as a guide into meditation.

25
During meditation, our brain waves, and our heart rhythm, create a sine wave. Its
a state where theres a continuous flow of awareness rather than a broken flow of
awareness. When our breath is fragmented its a reflection of our inner state.
The art of ujjayi breathing is empowering your students to cultivate meditation through
this even breath flow.
When we listen to our students breathe and when we listen to our own breath, one of the
things that we often hear is a kind of pushing of the breathtrying to push the river.
Instead, we can encourage the experience of being breathed rather than pushing the
breathing or doing" the breathing
One of the key aspects of ujjayi breathing: Receptivity
Were going to look at three things in this section

1. Metaphors in which we can enter this receptivity to ujjayi breathing
2. The rhythm of ujjayi
3. A way of using movement to create this even flow of breathing, which Krishnamacharya
described as sama (even, steady, equal) vritti (waves). Sama vritti pranayama.
The metaphors of breathing

n
The inner river of the breath
n
In ujjayi, the glottis gently closes in order to create the sound of ujjayi. This
sound can be described in many ways:
l
As if you were deep sea diving and could hear your breath.
l
Commonly called Darth Vader breath.
l
Drinking the breathquality of receptivity, savoring, brings a gentleness
to the restriction, a slower rate for our breath to flow into our lungs and to
release from our lungs.
n
When teaching ujjayi, one thing thats helpful instead of touching the throat
(which is quite vulnerable) is asking your students to touch a little lower, in the
impression between the collarbones.
n
The second thing that can be very helpful is to ask people to exhale through
their mouth with an ocean sound, and then to close the mouth and hear that
same sound, but feel as though youre drinking the breath from the very base of
the throat.
n
And then listen to the sound of ujjayi on both the inhale and the exhale.
The rhythm of ujjayi

n
In Krishnamacharyas teachings, a vinyasa is anything that has a beginning, a
middle, and an end. As youre listening to ujjayi, do you find that your breathing
is stronger in any one of those points (the beginning, the middle, the end)?
n
Typically what we hear is an increase in intensity in the beginning of the inhale,
and then it peters out a bit. Same with the exhaletheres often a pushing out
of the exhale that peters out near the end.

26
n he rhythm of ujjayi is essential because it forms the basis of movement

T
meditation.
Using movement to create an even flow of breathing

n
A jagged breath is very common in surya namaskar because some movements
are quite long, and other movementssuch as when we come into a forward
bend and just lift up halfwayare shorter.
n
Bringing that teaching into something simple such as the opening arm
movements in surya namaskar A.
n P
rinciple: Between the beginning of a movement and the end of a movement
we can divide the movement into three parts: The beginning of the movement
lasts the first third of the breath, the middle would be the second third, and
the end, all the way to the completion of the movement, is the final third of
the breath. The practice is to not have all of the breath at the beginning of the
inhale or exhale, but to distribute it evenly.
n
This becomes particularly important during shorter movement cycles.
Its common to hear a loud pushing during ujjayi

n
Effect on the nervous system.
n
Stress of the day coming into the yoga practice.
n
If our teachers ask us to make our breath loud, we may find ourselves pushing
the breath without being conscious of it.
n M
etaphor: Picking up a sleeping baby and setting the baby down.
n P
rinciple: Instead of sucking in the breath in the beginning of the inhale or
pushing out the breath at the beginning of the exhale, being slower at the
beginning of the inhalation and the exhalation.
One more principle: Sometimes when were breathing, we can feel the energetic aspect
of prana. We no longer hear the sound of ujjayi, but can still feel some movement
because, of course, our breath is filling our lungs. As the breath is descending into
our body, were having the feeling of prana rising and expanding into the full rib cage,
all the way to the tops of the lungs (and thats a whole other workshop, as to what
happens in the diaphragm and heart region!). For now, remember that as prana arises
at some point, particularly when youre letting your breath become very subtle, you
may no longer hear the sound of ujjayi, but you may still feel this energy arising. And
thats a very beautiful segue into breath retention in pranayama and just staying very
calm in the transitions of inhale and exhale rather than a feeling of panic, a feeling like
the breath is running out or the inhale is too full, for example.
Summary: The essence is, let us breathe in an even flow, an even rhythm from
beginning, middle, and end. If you start to feel your oxygen breath running out, stay
very calm and allow that to guide you into the feeling of the flow of prana that is still
part of your breath. And in this way we begin to enter into meditation, movement
meditation, effortlessly.
Rhythmic Vinyasa A
Each station is a placeholder of possibilities. At each one, well go over some

27
possibilities with the intention of teaching alignment in the flow, but in real time, so it
will be somewhere between workshop style and practice style.
Tadasana: Feet hip-distance apart (a good option for beginners or people who are tall)
or together. Some common things that we see in tadasana are either excessive lordosis or
pushing the hips forward (example of two extremes). One option is to ask people to bend
the knees, and as they press down into the four corners of the feet to draw the energy
up through the inner legs (straightening the legs) and through the lower belly up through
the spine and then repeating this. This is an example of a body vinyasa: simply bending
the knees, with hands by sides or at heart in anjali mudra, then dropping the tailbone to
the heels as the legs straighten and allowing that rebound of gravity.
Another simple body vinyasa is having people bend their knees and tilt the pelvis, have
one hand to the lower belly and one hand to the sacrum and then feeling the action of
mula and uddiyana bandha, dropping the tailbone, connecting to the feet, drawing it up
through the inner legs (straightening), through uddiyana bandha, through the core of
the spine, up through the crown.
Normally in surya namaskar A youd swan dive forward, but lets draw our hands down
through center, and we can consciously touch our frontal brain in the beginning of the
exhale, our heart in the middle of the exhale, and then our lower belly as the hands root
(still remaining upright, not folding yet).
Then, sweeping the arms out to the sides and up, feel the beginning of your breath, the
middle of your breath, the top of the inhale (palms touch), then as you exhale, feel the
power of your touch, beginning of the exhalation (frontal brain), middle (heart), and
end (low belly).
One more round, drinking your breath in ujjayi. In the beginning of your practice you can
slow this down and pause and spend a full inhale and exhale at each place that you touch.
Folding forward: We can start to teach alignment in the flow by exhaling down halfway
and then inhaling up. Often with beginners this works better with the feet hip-distance
apart. As you come down halfway, feel the beginning, middle, and end. Inhaling up.
Repeat this. Often beginners need to bend their knees here. Hands can also come to
the hips.
Uttanasana: Now, folding all the way forward you can really feel the swan dive quality.
Then pressing through the feet, inhale, rise back up, coming to urdhva hastasana
(upward hand pose). Instead of lowering your arms back down after coming up, just
oscillate two more rounds, swan diving forward and rising back up. Here, the emphasis
is on rotating back, encouraging your students to bend their knees if needed. The most
important part is the extension. Moving between urdhva hastasana and uttanasana,
feeling the beginning, middle, and end.

28
Ardha uttanasana to uttanasana: This is a short movement, and its the first time in
rhythmic vinyasa A that we encounter the issue where if we inhale and lift up quickly,
weve already finished our breath with the movement. Move slowly: Inhale, feel the
beginning, middle, and at the top of the inhale we want to feel that full extensionthis
is actually a backbend here. Keep the rotation of the pelvis from the pubic bone to the
tailbone. Exhale, leading with your heart, lower down beginning, middle, end, folding
forward. Repeat two more times. Hands are typically on the earth or on the shins.
Dandasana (plank) to chaturanga: When we come up halfway, were already in the

danda quality of the spine. Stepping back into dandasana, we already have so many
possibilities. Lower the knees and use the base of being on all fours to teach the basis
of chaturanga dandasana.
Bring knees together and inhale, draw right knee to navel, and bow in. Normally you
might think Shouldnt this be on an exhale? It could be either way, but as we exhale,
were going to place the ball of the foot on the earth and radiate the crown away from
the heel. Then inhale, pull through the navel, and draw the left knee in, bowing, and then
inhale, radiate back out into dandasana.
We can enjoy a body vinyasa here of pulling through the core: Inhale, draw the right
knee to the navel, bow; exhale, radiate. Other side. You could also do this on all fours
with your students.
You have a choice in rhythmic vinyasa A, of whether or not youre going to go down
through chaturanga dandasana and back to dandasana. Most people, for a long time,
need to do this with the knees down. The feeling of spreading the shoulders so that
the shoulder blades can come onto the back, drawing the heart forward, and that
stabilization through the shoulders is the feeling that you want to have as you shift
forward and create the danda from all fours. This is not classical ashtanga namaskar.
Here, were doing ardha (half) chaturanga dandasana one to three rounds. Or full
chaturanga dandasana one to three rounds. Shoulders, hips, and heels in alignment.
And then the last round, take it all the way to the earth.
Bhujangasana (cobra) and urdhva mukha svanasana (upward facing dog): Basic body
vinyasa to teach the actions of bhujangasana (cobra) in the upper body: Rolling the
shoulders, drawing the shoulder blades down the back but not locking them, reaching
through the crown, the heart is open. You can have your students do that with the
hands off the earth.
And then the feeling as the forehead comes down to the earth, that theres a relaxation
and an activation that happens at the pelvis. You can do a rhythmic vinyasa of pressing
the pelvis, inhale, rise, stretching from the toes to the crown. Exhale, coming down.
Or you can have the feeling of rising from cobra to upward facing dog, keeping your
feet stretched back. Then coil up as if youre in plank, and have the feeling not of
pressing in the lower back, but as you release your pelvis, like in traction, stretching
back from the thighs through the toes, and rising from the navel, heart, and crown.

29
Inhale, coiling; exhale, stretching back through the toes, lowering; and then inhale,
rising, upward facing dog.
That also helps with the transition of rolling over your toes into downward facing dog.
Adho mukha svanasana (downward facing dog): Once you come to adho mukha
svanasana, you can emphasize different movements according to what you see your
students need. Lets start with the upper body. Once classic Krishnamacharya vinyasa
is to oscillate from being on all fours and really emphasizing the opening of the chest,
the stabilization of the shoulders, and then the hasta bandha, pressing through the four
corners of the hands. As you press down, youre drawing from the pit of your belly.
Keep your knees bent as you press back to downward dog. As the knees are bent
youre able to feel this pull in the union of opposites: from the grounding in your hands,
this pulling through the belly. Oscillating: Inhale, lower the knees; exhale, pulling back,
staying on the balls of the feet, and keeping the knees bent. Feeling the beginning,
middle, and end of the movement.
Another body vinyasa: Straightening the legs and bending the knees to get deeper
rotation in the pelvis. As you straighten your legs, the key is to keep your pelvis high so
that as you then root your heels, youre now feeling that even extension through your
whole body.
Coming forward to uttanasana: Rather than just jumping forward, we can rock, giving
your students a chance to feel where the action of jumping forward comes from.
Then step or float forward. Inhale, heart opens in ardha uttanasana; exhale, bow and
fold. Typically, at this point, to come up we just rise straight up, but you can certainly
oscillate again, up to three rounds between uttanasana and ardha uttanasana, and then
rise up to standing.
Round two: Reviewing what weve just experienced in a rhythmic flow.

Moving through the flow with the intention of the unbroken breath.
At the end of this round pause for a moment in hasta mudra, noticing if you feel a
connection to the deeper intelligence. In rhythmic vinyasa, were letting the body be the
teacher.
Round three: Adding in an intention of side-waist opening.

Some things will stay steady, and some things will change.
n From tadasana, you can flow through standing side bends.
n Then hands to the sarum and we can come into a backbend, applying all of that
beautiful side-waist opening.
n Flowing vasishthasana: From dandasana (plank), staying with the possibility
of side-waist opening, we can shift our heels, drawing them one in front of the
other like windsheild wipers, and inhale, draw the top arm overhead for a side
plank variation, then moving back through dandasana and opening up to the
side plank variation on the other side.
n P arsva vasishthasana: Another possibility (not for beginners) would be (from

30
plank), to draw the knee to the navel, then inhale, extend the leg back, radiate
your foot directly out of your hips, and then shift into parsva vasishthasana,
keeping the side waist and the sacrum level. On an inhale, draw the top arm
overhead, keep the danda of the body, the underside is active, rising up out of
your bottom wrist. Then exhale, place the top hand down, back to dandasana.
Repeat on the second side, then move through chaturanga dandasana, cobra, or
updog; you can come back through dandasana, perhaps adding in chaturanga
dandasana, and pull back through the belly to come to downward facing dog.
n From downward dog, if you want to continue opening the side waist, you can
draw your right hand to your outer left shin. This is both opening the shoulders
and you feel it through your side waist and quadratus lumborum. Youre
pressing your shins back and keeping the left side of your body steady. Change
sides, then return to downward dog and then complete the namaskar.
Next round: Experiencing rhythmic vinyasa A with side-waist opening in a flow.
Giving back to the root

Finishing with one round of surya namaskar A, seeing what these variations give back
to the root namaskar.
Rhythmic Vinyasa B
An evolutionary form that helps to teach alignment in the flow, brings circulation of
prana, increases our breath flow, and as teachers, helps us to convey the relationship
between two asanas, making our students own cellular intelligence the teacher.
First: Well learn a simple rhythmic vinyasa B that gives a foundation for teaching surya
namaskar B.
Purpose: Serving the flow of movement meditation so that our students dont have to
stop or intellectualize alignment, but can learn it as part of the movement meditation.
After we learn the first foundation flow, well look at variations for specific purposes.
Rhythmic Vinyasa B Variation 1: Simple Variation
Tadasana: Feet hip-distance can be preferable for taller students, beginners, anyone
who needs more support for their lower back.
Utkatasana: Involves a rotation of the pelvis. Beginning with the inhale, hands
stretching back to the sit bones. As you begin your inhale here, youre emphasizing
pelvic rotation (but not so much that you have a shelf-like excessive lordosis). From
here, draw the arms up and drop the tailbone. Then, as we exhale, the hands will come
down (back where they were, by the sit bones) and theres a fanning and spreading of
the sit bones and at the same time this backbend that happens in utkatasana.
Experiencing that in a flow: Inhale, arms stretch up. You can look down, which is more
cooling, or up, which is more activating; exhale, (sweep arms back) if you can, thighs

31
become more parallel to the earth, but if thats too much for your knees, stay higher.
Continuing to flow like this. This is whats called a body vinyasa in Prana Vinyasa; its
just the arms moving, were still in utkatasana.
Moving from utkatasana to uttanasana: Hands can be on the shins, or by the feet, or
reaching behind you in uttanasana. What is shared between utkatasana and uttanasana
is the rotation of the pelvis from pubic bone to tailbone. Inhale, come back to
utkatasana, hands either apart or together; exhale, feel the beginning, the middle, and
the end as you go to uttanasana. Repeat: Inhale, utkatasana, reaching from the roots,
the thighs creating an anchor and traction for the spine; exhale, keep the backbend and
draw your chest to your thighs as you fold in uttanasana.
Ardha uttanasana: Now inhale when you come up halfway, either hands to the earth or
to the shins; exhale, folding down. Inhale, rising halfway, feel the beginning, the middle,
and the endits a shorter movement, so as you exhale keep that smooth flow of ujjayi
into all phases of the breath. Inhale as you come (halfway) up again; if you want to
challenge yourself, bring the weight more into the front of the feet, feel the sit bones
open.
Connecting vinyasa: And then as you exhale, bring the hands to the earth, step back
into dandasana (plank). Stepping back gives us a range of possibilities. Weve already
detailed flowing down from chaturanga and to upward dog and downward dog, so now
well come onto all fours.
The connecting vinyasa: Chaturanga, upward dog, downward dog is like the basic unit,
but many people can develop strain in their shoulders or in their wrists from repetitive
restrain in chaturanga dandasana, so when we step back into dandasana, lets look at
the simpler unita different way of entering chaturanga dandasana:
n
(Knees down) hips over the knees, arms stretch forward, and we flow into
anahatasana. As the shoulders open, your heart comes to the earth and you feel
the pulling of the pelvis back.
n
And then we can make a transition here of drawing the shoulders over the
elbows and lifting the knees. Now were in chaturanga dandasana, but with
pincha mayurasana arms (chaturanga dandasana II). Here, you can feel the
power of chaturanga dandasana.
n
If you lower your hips, this is a foundation backbend (foundation cobra). Almost
everyone feels comfortable here, even more so than cobra, because you have
length and support with elbows right under the shoulders. Exhale, down, and
then see if you can feel the same sense of length and support in low cobra, and
then see if you can feel that as you roll the shoulders and rise into urdhva mukha
svanasana.
n
Exhale, in this round pass through all fours, spreading the shoulders open,
aiming your lower ribs to your thighs, and then straightening your legs, and
finally lowering your heels toward the back of your mat (downward facing dog).
One-legged downward dog: Whats happened in contemporary vinyasa is the

32
one-legged downward dog. Perhaps because we sit so much, weve found that
we really need to extend our leg to release our iliopsoas, plus there are so many
possibilities!
n
Bringing the feet together first in down dog creates a kind of tripod so that
when we extend the leg, were never losing this basic balance in adho mukha
svanasana. The shoulders are open and even, the side waists are open and even,
and were not going to lean onto one side of the body.
n
As you inhale, remember the three parts of the breath. Taking it slow, starting
with the ball of the right foot, inhale, leading through the ball, feeling the
beginning, middle, end. Maintain internal rotation of the thigh so that shoulders
remain even at the top of the inhale.
n
Exhale, like youre painting down, lowering so that at the end of the exhale, your
feet come together.
n
Rooting the right heel, repeat on the other side.
n
Then repeat with the right leg again. This time, if you take external rotation,
bend the right knee and draw the right knee to your left sit bone so that both
side waists are even. Exhale, lower the right foot beginning, middle, and end.
n
Repeat on the left side.
Stepping forward into a virabhadrasana I or lunge variation: As the leg comes forward,
there are also so many possibilities!
n
Pulling knee to navel and hovering: Drawing the knee to the belly first helps
beginners to be able to pull the leg forward and step through to come into the
lunge. Thats the basic unit of possibility. Every time we come forward we can
try a new possibility.
n
Once you come into lunge, one teaching tool for virabhadrasana I is to take the
back knee down. This lunge is like a template for what happens in vira I. If you
place your hands on your front thigh here and push back, its much easier to
align the heart over the pelvis.
n
Creating the feeling of uddiyana bandha by dropping the tailbone and lifting
through the lower belly.
n
Take this to the next level of crescent by simply lifting the back knee off the
ground. Then you can extend arms up, hands apart, together, or interlacing the
first three fingers. Inhale, emanate in all directions.
Connecting vinyasa: As you exhale, make the first part of the exhale hands to the earth,
the second part of the exhale, dandasana, and then complete the exhale in chaturanga
dandasana. Inhale cobra or upward dog; exhale, downward dog. Feet together, repeat
the stepping forward into lunge variation above on the left side.
Then exhale, hands to the earth, dandasana is the middle, and complete the exhale
in chaturanga dandasana. Inhale, cobra or upward dog. Option: If you can keep your
shoulders, hips, heels even, try another chaturanga dandasana. Exhale, downward
facing dog.
In surya namaskar B, the five breaths in adho mukha svanasana allow for an inner
listening, a pause.

33
Finishing this variation: Exhale completely, looking forward, step or jump to

uttanasana. (There are merits to stepping.) Feet together or apart, utkatasana. You
could choose to do the body vinyasa with your arms. Exhale, come up to stand.
Next: Experiencing that rhythmic vinyasa B as a flow without all of the detailing
n
Listen to your breath and see if you can feel your body teaching you as we
oscillate the rhythms between the asanas.
Hip and shoulder-opening variation

n
This time, start with feet hip-width apart. From the wide utkatasana you can
just keep going down to malasana. The reason why we pause in utkatasana
is that for some people, either being down in malasana is not good for their
knees, or they might come into it in a precarious way, and this not an ideal time
to bring out all the props. Remaining in utkatasana is great for strengthening
the quadriceps to support the knees. You can stay there, or come to malasana.
From touch the earth come to uttanasana, exhale, forward bend.
n
You can oscillate between the two: malasana and uttanasana. In malasana,
combing heart opening and hip opening.
n
Returning to the connecting vinyasa with anahatasana, which has a deeper
heart opening for the thoracic spine region.
n
From downward facing dog with feet together: Hip joint mandala as a variation:
Inhale, extend the right leg back. Exhale, pull knee to navel. Then, keeping your
shoulders steady, all the mobility is happening in your hip joint as you circle.
Exhale, pull knee to navel, the back-leg heel will lift; as you circle around the
back-leg heel will root down.
n
3 rounds, then knee to navel to bring your foot forward between your hands.
n
Back heel comes down for virabhadrasana I, aim your tailbone to your back
heel.
l
Bring your hands to your front thigh again.
l
From there, bring one hand to your lower belly and feel that support of
uddiyana bandha and as you draw your shoulders back, feel the heart
opening.
l
Then, hands by your side, interlace them (from this angled position, so
theres no weight on your front hip joint) and feel the heart and shoulder
opening here.
l
Then as you exhale, tailbone to your back heel, bow the crown to the earth
and stretch up through the arms. Here, youre actually in traction; youre
not collapsing forward. Theres a balance of the rising through the hands,
the bowing through the crown, and the outer and inner hip opening.
l
As you inhale and come up, oscillate rhythmically two more rounds.
l
Inhale, come up, release the arms in vira I.
n
Exhale, touch the earth, beginning, middle (dandasana), and this time, knees,
heart, anahatasana is the end. Move through the connecting vinyasa (from
anahatasana, chaturanga dandasana II, foundational cobra to cobra/upward
dog, downward facing dog).
n
Repeat the hip-joint mandala variation on the other side.

34
n Connecting vinyasa.
l
You can take an extra breath. You have that freedom when youre teaching
and you feel people really entering into the meditation.
n When you end up in downward facing dog, sometimes it feels more efficient in
the sequencing to step or jump through, to go into core work, or to come into
any other variation, walking your hands back, beginning an arm balance cycle
Since were not doing the classical surya namaskar B, we have the freedom to
end the sequence in downward dog if that makes more sense in the sequencing.
Giving back to the root

Finishing with one more cycle of pure surya namaskar B to feel what the rhythmic
vinyasa has given back to the root.
Concluding the practice

The beauty of surya namaskar is that you can actually enter into your day after
completing it. Its not necessary to come into savasana, but if youd like to settle, please
come down onto the earth for savasana. Taking a moment with your knees bent, feet
wide on the floor and knees close in toward each other, broadening the sacrum. One
hand to your heart and one hand to your belly. Then, straighten your legs the width of
your mat. Keep your hands at your center or gently open your arms to your sides.
.
Be one with your life force. Letting ujjayi, victorious breath, just be free. Letting the
world exist in freedom, feeling the power of the rhythm of life underlying all of our
cellular symphony. The rhythm of life. So we bow in stillness and quietude. Rest here as
long as you like.
Om shanti, shanti, shanti

35
Cue Clinic: How to Update, Captivate, Motivate, and

Move Beyond the Script
Prepared by Jill Miller, Creator of Yoga Tune Up
www.yogatuneup.com
jill@yogatuneup.com
It is hard to inspire others when your own inspiration has fizzled. Most yoga teachers
know that too much teaching and demonstrating can lead to overuse syndromes and
repetitive stress injuries, and in the same way the overuse of the same cues day in
and day out can lead to RCS: repetitive cue syndrome. Its a purgatory of dull, blah
cues ricocheting around in empty space and falling on deaf ears. Years of cueing in a
classroom can often lead to boredom, complacency, and a lack of teaching pizzazz.
In this workshop, learn to uncover your own verbal blind spots while transforming your
relationship to your students. Dig into a new toolkit of invaluable techniques to help
you relate to both your students and your subject in a deeper, more meaningful way.
Produce standout instruction every time you teach! You will ultimately invigorate your
own mind while helping your students to better embody your lessons.
Props: yoga mat, pen, paper
Introduction
Crafting a teaching mindset: Resolve/sankalpaself-survey!
Answer these seven questions:
1) When you think about teaching a session to your students, what are the first three
emotions that occur to you? (aka, When I think about teaching, I feel _____.) Be honest!
1)
2)
3)
2) What are the top three things you want your students to experience when you
teach? (In other words, they just took your class, and the three things you want them to
walk away with are _____.)
1)
2)
3)
3) If you surveyed your students, what would be the top three qualities that they most
admire about your teaching? Whats the contact high they get from being around you?
1)
2)
3)
4) How, specifically, would you like to improve your teaching?
5) Are you giving yourself permission to grow as a teacher?
6) Are you willing to let go of students in order to grow?
Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Inc. 2017

www.tuneupfitness.com

36
7) What would happen if you changed significantly as a teacher?
Build a Body of Context

1) ContextWhat does context mean to you?
2) Building blocks of context:
n
WHYare we doing this pose/variation?
n
HOWis it affecting the bodys tissues?
n
WHICHother poses will this relate to?
n
WHATactions in daily life will this improve?
3) What are the layers behind great context?
n
Know the body anatomy/physiology.
n
Know your art form.
n
Know the mindpsychology, sociology, animal behavior.
n
Know yourself, have a point of view.
n
Thinking outside the boxana.
n
Know who you are talking toyour students!
l
As individuals, as groups
l
Type of student: Athlete? Healing from an injury? Exercise novice or
connoisseur? Chronic pain?
l
Type of environment: Yoga studio? Fitness club? Corporate setting? Private
in someones home?
4) Secret keys of building context
Directions of movement
l Pelvis
l Spine
l Hips
l Shoulders
Crafting Your Unique Voice

Great teachers are known for their ability to speak about the body and movement in
ways that capture the imaginations of their students. One of the ways to stay fresh with
your teaching is to reach for words and verbs that are active and descriptive. It is easy
to fall into the trap of teaching with a limited vocabulary and repeating things by rote.
Teaching on autopilot fails to articulate the nuances of a moment, or the specific needs
of individual students. Your job is not to create packaged cue-sets for your students
but rather to help them to clue into their own embodiment. Teach with clues instead of
cues.
A successful movement educator customizes the language of a pose as much as the

pose itself! If you find yourself falling into robotic teaching filled with complacency and
repetition of the exact same phrasing every time you teach, its time to crack open the
thesaurus!
Here are a few examples of words that are habitually overused in yoga and fitness
classes, and some other options that might work instead.


37
Overused New Verb

stretch elongate
lengthen
release
extend
grow
bloom
awaken
breathe respirate
saturate your lungs
indulge your lungs
broaden the rib cage
spread your diaphragm
feel tune in
become aware
notice
finesse
grapple
pet

open your heart ?
My Own Words
Activities List Active Verbs


38
Build out your context

Grid itto know itto teach itto relate itto be responsibleand to show that you
have reasoned for your students and that this is in their best interest. What is in it for
them? Its all in the GRID?
Always be a student of your own work. Be a student of your own teaching.
Context Grid
Pose Name: Yoga Tune Up Moon Rises
Why are we How is it affecting Which poses will What actions in

doing this pose/ the body? this relate to? daily life will this
variation? improve?
To bring awareness The standing half moon, twisted Walking, standing,
to the end range of legs hip socket half moon, triangle, lateral movements,
motion of internal is challenged twisted triangle, samba and salsa
and external to dynamically warrior III moves on the dance
rotation in the strengthen and floor. Strengthening
standing legs hip stretch the inner the hip at its end
socket. To build and outer hip range serves as
proprioceptive muscles. Profound a bone builder
awareness of the length and strength for the femur
joint. To prepare the of all external and and acetabulum.
hip for half moon internal rotators Helpful for arthritis:
and twisted half and stabilizers, helps lubricate the
moon pose. piriformis, gluteus hip socket with
minimus, gluteus synovium and
medius, gluteus stimulates synovial
maximus, gemelli, fluid production on
obturators, IT the often under-
band is stimulated, contacted joint
tensor fascia latae, spaces. Familiarizes
hamstring group, you with the reverse
adductor group. action at the coxal
Back muscles joint, building
strengthened, awareness that the
erectors, quadratus acetabulum can
lumborum, buttocks, move around the
and more! femur.


39
Context Grid
Pose Name _______________________________________________
Why are we How is it affecting Which poses will What actions in

doing this pose/ the body? this relate to? daily life will this
variation? improve?


40
SHARI FRIEDRICHSEN
Intelligent Sequencing
Yoga is both a science and a philosophy. According to yoga philosophy, we evolve

from pure consciousness, and the simplest way to understand this concept of pure
consciousness is to study the kosha model.
The kosha model is comprised of five layers, and it represents the layers of our being.
At the center of the kosha model, these five layers, is our source (pure consciousness).
The energy of pure consciousness is said to pervade every single layer.
The layers of the kosha model

1. Joy
2. Wisdom
3. Mind
4. Energy
5. Body
Cultural messages (particularly negative ones) can cloud our ability to see our own
light. The science of yoga teaches us to turn inward, training our awareness to become
less externally oriented, so that we can unveil this light of consciousness, the truth of
who we are. Once we become more in touch with our essential nature, we can bring this
light into the world.
Yoga According to the Yoga Sutra

Yoga Sutra 1.2
Mastery over the roaming tendencies of the mind is yoga.
Yoga Sutra 1.12

Mastery of the roaming tendencies of the mind can be obtained through practice and
non-attachment.
Yoga Sutra 1.3

When we calm the roaming tendencies of the mind we can begin to rest in our own
essential nature.
The Yoga Sutra on Asana

Yoga Sutra 1.13-14
1. Do your practice for a long period of time.
2. Practice in an uninterrupted way.
3. Have reverence for your practice.
Yoga Sutra 2.46

A stable and comfortable posture is asana.

41
Sequencing
The way we sequence a class can support our ability to turn inward, bit by bit, in a
methodical and systematic way. If we sequence methodically we will not be surprised
by the outcome of our practice. We will know how to help ourselves and our students
so that we feel better and more in touch with ourselves and they feel better and more
in touch with themselves each time we practice.
How Working With the Body Affects the Mind

Asana employs every level of our being: body, breath, and mind. Breath that is short,
shallow, or jerky will not lead us to a calm state of mind. Similarly, if the body is hurting,
we will have trouble turning inward. We need to learn how to relax the body and breath,
to breathe where we havent breathed, and to calm the mind and discover the wisdom,
joy, beauty, and grace of our lives.
By working with the asanas we can reclaim the energy that is internal to us. This is the
exciting thing about teaching, or doing, asana. Each time you are working to uncover
your own buried treasures.
Sequencing = Returning to the Foundation of Yoga

Each category of poses can help build stability for the next, helping us to build strength
and move inward, step by step.
Power of Breath
Breath links us to what is infinite within us. Every time we ask our students to breathe
we are asking them to tune into that which guides the breath: prana. Prana is the first
vibration, the intelligence and the benevolence of consciousness.
5 Qualities of Breath
1. Deep
2. Smooth
3. Even
4. Continuous
5. Quiet
Sequence
Centering
Warm-up
Standing poses and abdominal work
Cleansing practices or an active inversion
Backbends
Seated twists
Forward folds
Restorative inversion
Savasana
Meditation

42
A Common Savasana Mistake

People either love savasana or they hate it. One mistake is to think that savasana is a
passive posture. If we are doing intelligent sequencing there is a system in savasana
too. Dont waste what youve done by having people space out and go to sleep. This
is the time for dessert. Where you actually can guide people to move to a sublime and
sacred space inside themselves.
3 Steps of Practice in Savasana

1. Stillness
2. Effortless breathing
3. Systematic relaxation
Not too long, not too short. Enough to relax and find stillness.
5 Steps of Practice: Meditation

1. Stillness
2. Effortless breathing
3. Scan the body (five seconds, just to make sure theres no tension).
4. Rest your awareness at the center of the brain.
5. Bring your awareness to the nostrilswatching the breath go out and in.
Intelligent Sequencing in Practice

Centering
Crocodile Pose (Makarasana)
l
Notice physical sensations, your emotional state, and the condition of your
mind.
Bring your attention to your breathing. Crocodile supports diaphragmatic breathing
because it makes chest breathing virtually impossible. Make the breath more smooth,
continuous, and quiet.
Warm-up
Transition from tabletop pose into cat-cow. Move through cat-cow at your own pace
with the breath. Then stretch from side to side, working laterally through the spine.
Return to center.
Lie down on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor a comfortable
distance from the pelvis. Separate your feet mat-width apart, place your arms in a goal-
post position or overhead. Rock your knees from side to side.
Return to center and place your hands on your belly. Take three exaggerated breaths,
where on the inhale your belly expands, and on the exhale gently contract the
abdomen. Then relax effort.
Draw the knees into the chest, take hold around the shins or under the knees. (You can
also use a strap.) Rock from side to side.
Return to center. Keep hugging your right leg in and place your left foot on the floor
and slide it away from you (extending leg along the mat).

43
Return to knees-to-chest and repeat on the other side, hugging the left knee into the
chest and extending the right leg.
Place both feet back on the floor and roll onto your side, transitioning back to hands
and knees (tabletop).
Practice note: We have flexed, extended, and laterally stretched the spine. Now we will
work into a twist (rotation of the spine).
Step your right foot forward for a low lunge with your left knee on the mat. Place
your right hand on your right thigh (left hand remains on the floor) and, with a long
spine, rotate the spine to the right. Inhale lengthen, exhale deepen the twist. Return to
tabletop on an inhale.
Repeat on the left side.
Return to tabletop, curl the toes under, and lift into downward facing dog.
Practice note: Remind students that this down dog is a part of the warm-up. Let them
find movement: bending both knees, or alternatively extending one heel and then the
other to the floor.
Walk your feet forward and rise up to standing. Take your hands to your shoulders and
roll the shoulders clockwise and counterclockwise. Release the hands and shake them
out.
Standing Poses and Abdominal Work

Come to tadasana and step your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees and come
forward, resting your hands on your thighs (just above the knees). Arms are straight
and the weight of your body rests on the thighs; you are also supported by the legs.
Initiate cat-cow from standing: Exhale and round the back, inhale release. Now add an
abdominal squeeze: As you round the back draw the belly in, inhale release.
Practice note: Adding the abdominal squeeze awakens the pranic hub and is said
to stoke our inner fire (where you digest and absorb prana so it can be distributed
throughout your body).
Triangle Pose
Rise up. Separate feet one leg-length apart. Turn your right foot out and your left heel
out. Place your hands on your hips and take a moment to close or soften your eyes so
you can tune into inner sensation at the center of the abdomen. Engage mula bandha
(engage and lift the perineum) to seal the energy youve cultivated and study the
movement of prana throughout the body.
Shift your pelvis to the left and reach through the right side of your spine (left hand to
your lower back, right hand rests on the top of the right thigh). Then release the right
hand and press the back of the right hand into the leg below the knee, on the shin

44
or above it. Use that leverage to roll the left shoulder up and over the right shoulder.
Maintain awareness of the pranic hub, breathe into it, and keep the pelvic floor lifted.
Sense the energy in your legs and draw this energy up through the spine as you raise
your left arm skyward.
Teaching note: As a teacher you are looking for the energetics of the pose, not just the
physical expression, but for what is happening deeper inside the pose.
Rise up out of the pose and release your hands to your side.
Repeat on the opposite side, then rise up from triangle on the second side. Maintain a
wide stance and inwardly observe the effects of the pose.
Step your feet apart a bit wider, turn your right foot out, and pick up your back heel and
turn it out so that your feet are in line with your hips, which gives you more stability.
Engage the pelvic floor and bend your right knee. Engage between the shoulder blades
and bring your arms into goal post or raise them overhead. Unbend the front knee and
return to center, feet wide on the mat and parallel.
Practice note: Engaging between the shoulder blades draws your awareness to your
heart. Often we (both students and teachers) push our hearts into the world and forget
to support them. By activating the muscles at the back side of the heart (the rhomboids
and the trapezius, the erector spinae) we allow the heart to rest in this support. This
also prepares us for backbends.
Repeat on the opposite side.
Agni Sara
Come to tadasana and step your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees and come
forward, resting your hands on your thighs (just above the knees). Arms are straight and
the weight of your body rests on the thighs; you are also supported by the legs. Initiate
cat-cow from standing: Exhale and round the back, inhale release. Now add an abdominal
squeeze: As you round the back draw the belly in, inhale release. Now as you exhale, lift
the pelvic floor and draw the abdomen in. Inhale and release. Do this four to five times.
Why agni sara is the next step: We have activated the pranic hub; we will gather and
strengthen this energy.
Contraindications for agni sara: Untreated high blood pressure, untreated heart
disease, detached retina, glaucoma, or a hiatal hernia. Or if you have just eaten.
Active Inversions
From tadasana, fold forward and come to downward facing dog.
Option 1: A chair under the hands can provide extra support in your down dog
Option 2: A chair under the feet can make down dog more challenging.
Option 3: Get playful in down dog however you like, perhaps by taking a three-legged
dog pose.

45
Prone Backbends
Downward Facing Boat
From down dog bend your knees and come to tabletop, then transition onto your belly.
Activate the legs, draw the pelvic floor in, activate the muscles behind the heart, lift the
legs, head, and shoulders. Keep breathing.
Come down and rest your arms alongside you, turn your head to one side and rest.
Option 1: To make this pose more challenging, draw the legs together and lift a little
higher. Challenge but do not harm.
Option 2: You can come into cobra, sphinx, or bow pose.
Return to table pose. Stretch from side to side (looking toward the right hip and then
the left), easing any tension in the spine.
Camel Pose Variation

Sit back on your heels. (If you have a discomfort in the knees, swing your legs in front
of you.) Place your hands behind you, fingertips to the floor. Attempt to slide your
fingers back (but dont actually do it, simply traction them back) to activate the triceps
and draw the shoulder blades together. Then you can begin to lift the hips. Keep the
neck long. Come down when youre ready.
Seated Twists
Remain seated on your calves. Fold a blanket, set it down next to you (to the left side),
then shift your left buttock to sit on the blanket (right buttock is off the blanket yet
hips remain level). Twist to the left, maintain a long spine, and place your hands on the
blanket. Turn inward.
Return to center and then repeat this pose on the opposite side (moving the blanket to
the right side).
Forward Fold
Lie down on your back. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor. Rock your
knees from right to left. Return to center, to stillness, then hug the knees in.
Practice note: Drawing the knees in toward the chest is an accessible forward bend that
most people can do. Its safe for nearly all students and it draws the mind inward.
Restorative Inversion
Supported Bridge Pose
Place your feet back on the floor, with bent knees, and place a block or cushion
underneath the sacrum. Every time you inhale, the lungs cover the heart. Every time
your exhale, the lungs reveal the heart. Allow the sweetness, the compassion, the innate
qualities of the heart to nourish the brain. The light of consciousness that flows through
the heart can help us heal the mind.

46
Savasana
Remove the support, lower the hips down. Lengthen your legs along the mat and rest in
savasana with or without props (as an option: place a blanket under the head, a bolster
under the knees, or a blanket over the body). If we practice with stability and ease, the
sequence that we just practiced will allow us to become still. Tune into your breathing.
Watch and notice the effortlessness of breath.
Body scan: Rest your awareness at...

1. The crown of the head
2. The center of the mind
3. Your throat
4. The shoulder joints
5. The elbows
6. The wrists
7. The thumbs and fingers
8. The wrists
9. The elbows
10. The shoulder joints
11. The throat
12. The heart center
12. The center of the abdomen
13. The center of the pelvis
14. The hip joints
15. The knees
16. The ankles
17. The tips of your toes
18. The ankles
19. The knees
20. The hip joints
21. The base of your spine
22. The lower back
23. The back of the heart (between the shoulder blades)
24. The neck
25. The center of the mind
26. The breath moving through the nostrils
Relax all effort and rest completely. These points that we stopped at are points of
energy and light, and the outline of our field of light in the vast field of space. Rest in
your radiance.
Meditation
From savasana, deepen your breathing, and come to a comfortable seated pose (sitting
cross-legged on a cushion, or blankets, or sitting on a chair). You want the knees to be
level with the hips or lower so there is not knee pain. The breath is smooth, deep, even,
continuous, and quiet.

47
Scan the body again:

Down crown to the neck and throat, arms, fingertips. Draw your awareness back up to
the throat, then down the torso, through the heart, abdomen, pelvis, hips, legs, knees,
ankles, and toes. From the toes scan back up, through the legs. Draw your awareness to
the tailbone, then slowly travel up the spine. Once youve reached the top of the spine
take your awareness to the center of the mind (below the crown, deep in the forehead).
Follow the breath from the center of the mind through the nostrils, from the tip of the
nose to the center of the mind (the pathway of prana).
Each exhale clears the mind and removes darkness.

Each inhale nourishes and replenishes, drawing more prana into the center of the mind.
Nadi Shodhana
Allow your awareness to rest within this enhanced pranic field.

48
DIANNE BONDY
The Power of Language
Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose
to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using
words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to
hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate, and to humble. Yehuda Berg
In yoga classes, the language teachers use to describe the body, the poses, and to
connect with their students can inspire or devastate. It can even make people not want
to come back to the mat.
Right speech
As we teach, its important to consider the power of words. Are the words were using
necessary? Do they inspire? Are we taking our own values and pushing them on our
students instead of letting our students have their own experience?
As teachers we can support our students by making them feel safe, and welcome, and
that they belong on the mat.
Keep your expectations of practice realistic

Using the phrase full expression of the pose can take students out of their practice
and into a downward spiral. There isnt one true expression of a pose. We each have our
own unique, individual expression of a pose. Ask students to have their experience of
the pose instead of offering them an idea of a pose they may never live up to.
Positive language is inspiring

The words we use as teachers have the power to allow students to have autonomy on
the mat. Encouraging them to get to know themselves through positive language is a
wonderful way to make classes accessible and inclusive.
Examples of words you can use to invite students back into their own experience in asana:
n Feel
n Explore
n Experience
n Engage
n Accept
n Embody
n I want you to move in a way that feels good.

n I invite you to have your own experience on the mat.
n Embody this pose in a way that feels good for you.
Advice
Audiotape yourself while youre teaching. That way you can hear what phrases you
often use, and over time you can become more concise and fine-tune your language.

49
Avoid making judgment statements

Give students options in class, but be clear that no option is better than any other, and
avoid telling your students to feel something particular. If a student is new to class and they
dont have the experience you told them to have, they may begin to question themselves
or their body; they may create a judgment about their body based on what you said.
Instead of saying You should be feeling this here, try saying:

n
Enjoy the sensation youre feeling.
n
Adjust until you feel first sensation.
n
Breathe into any sensation thats coming up for you.
Its important to not make comparisons

Your students will compare themselves to others on their own already. Try not to pick
out a flexible person to demo a pose and say that the pose should look the way they
practice it. And if you notice that your students are starting to compare themselves to
each other, remind them to come back to themselves, to their breath, and that every
pose will look different in every body. There are no good poses, there are no bad poses,
there are only poses and your experience of them.
Other considerations
n
Avoid gender-specific language. You can use gender neutral pronouns, such as
their, that include everyone.
n
Stay away from slang and stereotypes.
n
Know the music you are using and the language in the music.
Reframing languaging around props

Theres an idea that if you have to use a prop in a yoga class, youre somehow less
than. If you were going to run a marathon you would buy great shoes, and those
shoes would help you get to the finish line. We can reframe props as tools to make
practice more accessible. Props can help us navigate the asana more effectively, and
if we start framing a positive message around props and the way we use props, more
people will have access to asana.
Helpful tip: At the beginning of class always ask everyone to get the same props so no
one feels singled out.
Ahimsa (non-harming)
Our yoga mats can be a cease-fire zone where we do not blame the body for its inability
to execute a pose the way we think it should be executed. Can we enjoy the process? Can
we use a language with our students that is not body shaming or blaming?
As teachers, when we speak disparagingly about our own bodies, we give our students
permission to do the same.

50
Reframe the body in a positive light

If someone has an injured shoulder, they will often come to you and say, I have a bad
shoulder. We can start reframing that language and say: I have a shoulder that is
actively healing.
Homework
n
Can we talk less and listen more?
n
Can we ask our students how we can serve them as opposed to making
assumptions about what they need?
n
Can we slow down our cueing and take a breath while we are teaching?
n
Can we encourage our students to ask us questions?
n
Can we allow our students to be themselves without judgment?
Observe the ways that your language could be more empowering, and talk to your
students about how they like to communicate.
Learn to Teach Accessible Sun Salutations: On the Floor, in a Chair, & at the Wall!
Sometimes the up-and-down nature of sun salutes is not accessible, especially if you
are a brand new student, an older student, or a student working with a disability. We
will explore sun salutations at the wall, with a chair, and on the floor.
Salute from the wall!
You can make sun salutes at the wall as challenging or as easeful as you want. This
practice will be more challenging.
Wall practice
Wall dog
Cat-cow in wall dog
Wall plank
Warrior II variation at the wall
Wall dog
Wall plank
Wall dog
Repeat warrior II on the other side.
Complete the second side in wall dog, then flow into plank.
Return to wall dog, and walk your feet forward, then turn to face away from the wall. Sit

51
your bottom back against the wall to come to chair pose.

Fold forward from chair pose (option to walk back and lean buttocks against the wall).
Inhale, rise to standing, reach hands high to the sky; exhale, hands through center. Then
turn to face the wall, and come back to wall dog.
Wall plank
Wall dog
Step your right foot forward and bring your toes to the wall. Bend your front knee to
come into a variation of high lunge pose.
To come into warrior I, lift onto the ball of the back (left) foot, move the foot more to
the left, and turn toes outpivoting and planting the foot down. Keep your hands at the
wall, or to test your balance, bring your hands to your front thigh, then extend one or
both arms up to the sky.
Wall dog
Wall plank
Wall dog
Repeat on the second side.
From wall dog, come forward to plank, then turn hands out slightly, soften between the
shoulder blades, squeeze elbows in toward the rib cage, and lean into the wall coming
into up dog at the wall. Draw up through the pelvic floor and push out through the
heels.
From up dog at the wall, push back into down dog at the wall. From down dog, walk
your feet forward, and take a forward fold by walking your hands down the wall for
stabilityhands to blocks or the floor.
Inhale, walk hands back up the wall slowly, and then turn to face away from the wall,
coming back into chair pose.
Exhale, fold forward. Again: Walk back toward the wall if you want to lean against the wall.
Inhale, rise up, arms high to sky; exhale, hands to heart center. Turn and face the wall.
Wall dog
Wall plank
Up dog

52
Wall dog
Step the right foot (outer edge of foot) forward to the baseboard, coming into warrior II.
Pushing out through the outer edge of the right foot, take your left forearm to the top of
your right thigh, and draw your right arm up and over your ear for side angle pose.
Wall dog
Wall plank; either stay here in plank, or move into up dog.
Come back to wall dog, and repeat warrior II to side angle on the opposite side.
Complete second side in wall dog and come forward to plank. Ether stay here in plank,
or move into up dog.
Return to wall dog, walk your feet forward, and walk your hands down the wall into
a forward fold. Inhale and sit back, and walk your fingertips up the wall (spiderman
hands), coming into chair facing the wall this time.
Straighten through the legs and turn to face the front of the mat.
Homework
Feel free to get creative because there are many ways to offer yoga to your students,
so dont be afraid to try something new! Take this practice to the mat (and wall!) and
figure out how you can create new variations for traditional poses, then try them out in
your classes and see how they go.
Salute from the floor!
Floor practice
Start seated on a block with a folded blanket draped over it.
Seated twist
n
If you are working with abundance in the center of your belly, you may want to
lift your belly and move your belly in the direction of the twist to move deeper.
n
A playful variation: Hitchhike by sticking your thumb out and drawing the
arm back behind you, placing it where it lands (on a block behind you or on the
floor). Inhale back through center.
Forward fold, walking fingers in front of you

Twist one more time in each direction (with hitchhiker thumbs).
Forward fold once more.
Alternative to plank vinyasa

Start in tabletop. Place hands wide on the mat, pinkie fingers to the outer edge of the
mat, outer shoulders lined up with the center of wrists, the creases of the wrists parallel

53
to the top of the mat, and the fingertips spread apart. Walk your knees back so they
are behind your hipsfeet flat or toes curled under. Inhale and shift the weight forward,
bend your elbows and come down part way, exhale and push all the way up, and then
push back into a puppy pose.
Repeat one more time.
If it is a challenge to come down and press back up again, you can lower down to a
block (positioned just underneath the rib cage) and then push back up. This is called
cat bow.
Return to tabletop and extend your right leg behind you, pressing the ball of the foot
into the floor. Step your right foot forward in between your hands, place your hands on
your right thigh, and inhale your arms up to the sky. Exhale, touch the floor to frame the
front foot, then bring both hands to the inside of the front foot and swing your right
leg back to return to tabletop. Inhale, come forward into plank; exhale, lower down part
way, push up, and come back to puppy pose.
Inhale back to table and repeat this vinyasa on the left side.
Cobra breakdown
Return to tabletop and then come forward onto your belly, hug your legs together,
squeeze thighs together, squeeze between shoulder blades, and lift up; lift your gaze to
look forward just past the matlifting from the center of the back. Lower down, press
into your hands, come back to table.
Flow with cobra

Extend the right leg behind you, coming onto the ball of the foot, then step your right
leg forward into a low lunge. Bring hands to your right thigh, inhale arms to the sky,
exhale, hands come to the inside of the right foot, swing the right leg back to return to
table. Inhale, come forward to kneeling plank, come all the way down into cobra, then
come back to table and repeat, lunging with the left foot forward.
If you have a student who is abundant at the center of their body, coming down all the
way to the floor may not work. There are two variations of cobra we can do:
n
From a wide table come forward (as you would for the plank variation), soften
between the shoulder blades, and lift the gaze.
n
From tabletop walk your hands back to your knees, come to stand on your
knees, bring your hands to your waist as you come all the way up (lengthening
through your spine). You can curl your toes under for more stability. Raise your
arms overhead and backbend.
Flow with cobra variation

From tabletop, extend the right leg behind you, coming onto the ball of the foot, then
step your right leg forward into a low lunge. Bring hands to your right thigh, inhale,
arms to the sky; exhale, hands come to the inside of the right foot, swing the right leg
back to return to table. From table, walk your hands back and come to stand on your

54
knees, bring your hands to your waist, then lengthen all the way up and backbend.
From here, place your hands back on the mat, coming into table, then puppy.
Repeat, stepping the left foot forward into a lunge.
Learn How to Teach an Active Class With a Chair
Active chair salute

Forward fold with hands on chair
Inhale to rise up.

Exhale, fold forward.
Inhale, half lift (hands on the chair)
Exhale, fold and then move into warrior I variation (hands remain on the chair)
Option 1 for warrior I: Turn back foot out.

Option 2 for warrior I: Come up onto the ball of the back foot and make this more of a
lunge pose.
To play with balance, extend one arm straight out in front of you.
For extra stability, rest the fingertips of that extended hand on the chair.
Exhale, forward fold on chair

Chair dog
Inhale forward to a chair variation of plank pose
Chair up dog
Chair down dog
Chair pose (with hands on side of the chair)
Exhale and fold

Inhale and rise
Exhale and fold
Inhale, half lift
Exhale and fold
Chair pose (with hands on sides of the seat of the chair)

Forward fold
Repeat your version of warrior I on the other side
Flow: Take warrior I away from the chair

Chair dog
Chair plank

55
Chair dog
From chair dog, step your right foot under the seat of the chair between the legs of
the chair. Bend the right knee and bring your torso upright, hands onto right thigh first,
then lift your arms into the sky, taking your warrior I away from the chair.
Warrior II variation
Peaceful warrior
Chair variation of pyramid pose
Chair dog
Chair plank
Chair dog
Repeat on the left side, starting by coming into your warrior I with the left foot forward
this time.
Complete this side with a chair dog to plank to chair dog flow.
Forward fold (with hands on sides of the seat of the chair)

Chair pose
Fold forward
Inhale, rise up
Exhale, hands come down through heart center
Inhale, arms high to sky

Exhale, fold forward, touching the chair
Chair variation of pyramid pose
Press hands into the chair and step back to chair dog
Inhale, chair plank
Exhale, chair dog
Walk feet forward to forward fold
Chair pose
Fold forward
Inhale and rise up
Triangle variation
Step your left foot forward underneath the center of the chair and step your right foot
way back behind you. Float your arms into a T position (facing the long edge of your
mat), then lean forward and bring your left fingertips to the chair back and open your
right shoulder, bringing your arm up to the sky. Push out through your back heel and
maintain a softness in the front knee.

56
This variation can be used even for more advanced students, because sometimes when
we ask students to bring their hands to the floor or a block we can lose length in the spine.
Creating length and space can allow us to play with triangle pose in an accessible way.
Chair lunge
Chair dog, then repeat the triangle variation on the second side.
Chair dog
Chair plank
Chair dog
Chair
Fold forward
Inhale, rise up
Exhale, bring hands down through heart center
Pigeon pose
Sometimes when we are in downward facing dog we ask students to bring the knee
forward into pigeon, but if you are dealing with thighs, belly, boobs, your knee might
not come forward.
Heres a chair version to try/offer instead: Walk up close to the chair and place your
right foot on the chair. Grab hold of the top of the chair and let the thigh rest on the
chair. Lean into the chair and step the back leg back, going as far back as sensation will
allow.
To come out of the pose, place your hands on the chair seat and push back to chair
dog.
Chair plank
Chair dog
Repeat pigeon on the opposite side.
If this pigeon variation feels too intense, you can simply ask students to place their foot
on the chair without resting the leg on the chair.
Conclude with chair dog to plank flow.

Then walk forward from chair dog to a forward fold.
Inhale, rise up
When using a chair as a tool for asana, think: What is the shape of the pose, the
purpose of the pose, and how can I empower my students to use this as a tool, a
positive part of their practice?

57
Salute from a chair!

This is helpful if you have students who experience difficulty going up and down from
the floor in salutations. This will still be challenging.
Forward fold (with hands on the sides of the chair seat)

Tadasana
n Sometimes students dont know how wide their hips are (some people think
their hips are much wider than they actually are). Standing with a two fist-
widths distance between the feet is a good landmark.
Inhale, reach arms up
Exhale, fold forward (hands on the seat of the chair or back of the chair)
n This forward fold variation is great for students who cant reach their hands to
the floor.
n Ask your students to play with sensations: From the forward fold, push into
the feet and energetically make them wider, keeping the knees soft. This stops
students from locking out their knees.
Inhale, half lift

Exhale, fold
Inhale, rise up
Inhale, reach for sky

Exhale, fold forward (touching chair)
Inhale, half lift
Exhale, fold
Inhale, back to half lift
Step right foot to the outer side of the chair
n Stepping the foot to the outer side of the chair can make it easier to step the
foot forward, creating space for yogis with abundant bodies.
Bend the front leg and step the back foot back for a variation of warrior I.
Option 1: Stay here.

Option 2: Bring hands to the front thigh and bring the torso upright, reaching arms to
the sky.
Chair dog
Chair plank
Chair variation of up dog
Chair dog
Step forward and inhale, half lift
Exhale, fold
Inhale, rise up

58
You can raise the elevation of the prop by turning the chair around so that the back
side of the chair is facing you
Inhale, arms high
Exhale, fold forward
Inhale, half lift
Exhale, fold
Inhale, rise up halfway, and step your left foot to the outer left side of the chair. Shoot
your right leg back for a warrior I variation on the other side.
Chair dog
Chair plank
Up dog option
Chair dog
Tadasana
Inhale, arms up; exhale, bring hands down through heart center
Turn the chair so that the seat is facing you once more and we will work with a narrower
step-through.
Stand with feet two fist-widths apart (making room for butts, boobs, and bellies).
Inhale, reach high

Exhale, fold forward, touch the chair seat
Inhale, half lift
Exhale and step your right foot forward, underneath the chair seat
Step left foot back and stay in a runners lunge; you could also come into a warrior I.
Step back to chair dog

Inhale, forward to plank
Up dog
Exhale, back to chair dog
Repeat your runners lunge or warrior I on the other side.

Chair dog
Inhale, forward to plank

Up dog option
Chair dog
Forward fold
Inhale, rise up
Turn the chair so that the back is facing you once more (higher setting).

59
Inhale, hands high to the sky

Exhale, forward fold
Inhale, half lift
Exhale, forward fold
Right foot forward and left leg back for a warrior I variation
Inhale, right arm up; exhale, release
Inhale, left arm up; exhale, release
Hands on the back of the chair, step back to chair dog
Plank
Up dog option
Exhale back to down dog
Forward fold
Repeat on the opposite side and conclude in a forward fold.
Inhale, rise up
Exhale, hands down through heart center
Homework
How can you take the traditional poses of yoga and make them accessible for non-
conforming bodies so that everyone feels welcome on the mat?

60
SIANNA SHERMAN
The Art of Theming
Opening attunement and invocation
Chant: The praises for the maha shakti

Ya devi sarva bhuteshu shakti-rupena samsthita
Namastasyai, namastasyai, namastasyai namo namah
Ya devi sarva bhuteshu chetana-rupena samsthita

Namastasyai, namastasyai, namastasyai namo namah
Chant: For the happiness, freedom, and benefit of all beings

Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu
Om shanti, shanti, shanti

Hari om tat sat
Reasons for theming

n
Embodied wisdom
n
Creative expression
n
Connects the field
Themes come and go in cycles in our lives

Consider life in this very moment, and ask yourself:
What is a recurring theme in my life? A theme thats helping me to evolve myself? A
theme thats helping me to be inspired?
Crafting a theme
Yoga is always an invitation and never an obligation.
Contemplate: What is a theme of yoga that has impacted you?
Keys to crafting a theme

n B hava (deep feeling)
n Authenticity
n Street language
n Connect personal to universal
Three gateways
n P
ersonal
l
Living wisdom, stories, anecdotes
n M
etaphoric
l
Poetry, myths, archetypes
n P
hilosophic
l
Texts, scriptures, agamas, darshanas

61
Eventually, all three can be triple-braided.

Personal gateway
Whats happening in my life right now? Whats inspiring me?
Or, whats a story from my life that I can share with others that might be helpful for
their own lives?
Example 1: Equinox, balance between light and dark

Synthesis: Distill the theme down to one to five words and repeat it throughout the
class. You unpack the theme throughout the class, and it serves as a steady anchor for
the class.
In this example, you could say that the theme is the play of light and dark.
Example 2: Personal life story, joy/happiness

Synthesis: In this example, the theme could be distilled as Joy is the magnet.
Metaphoric gateway
Example 1: Derek Walcott poem Love After Love.
Synthesis: Feast upon your life could be the distillation of this theme. Or This life is a
gift. Or You are the embodied gift.
Example 2: The Mythic Way (Mythic Yoga Flow)

Kuan Yin (embodiment of compassion)
This will be the theme of our sample practice thats coming up.
Synthesis: Flow with compassion.
Philosophic gateway
This is where we gain our inspiration through our studies of the texts/scriptures,
through the philosophical pathways of yoga, whether its Classical Yoga, Vedanta,
Tantra
Something that were studying with our teachers or through the texts that we really
want to convey in a class. Many times in a class, we only have 60, 75, maybe 90 minutes
to convey this. A good way to do that is to introduce one Sanskrit word and to unpack
its meaning throughout the class.
Example 1: Sankalpa (root intention)

Have everyone create their own root intention.
Synthesis: Wish to grow.
Example 2: Mundaka Upanishad verse 2.2.4

Meditation is the bow, devotion is the arrow, love is the target.
Synthesis: Love is the target.

62
Unpacking the Suitcase

When you have a theme, consider it like this:
Youve packed your suitcase, youve prepared yourself to teach a class, and youve put
everything that you need in thereyour sequence, your biomechanics, your theme,
your peak pose, what level youre teachingand youve zipped it up and youve carried
it to your class. During the class intro, youre going to unzip your suitcase and reveal
the possibilities of this class. When you reveal the theme at the beginning of the class,
thats like opening up the suitcase and saying Our theme today is Joy is the magnet.
You introduce the theme. Throughout the class youre unpacking that suitcase. This is
very different from taking your suitcase, dumping it all over at the beginning, and telling
your students everything that's going to happen in the first one or two minutes. You just
unpack one little thing, two little things, and as youre teaching, you keep unpacking
that theme so that it becomes more and more relevant and personal and meaningful
and sparks the students own self-inquiry, and ultimately serves their transformation.
Mythic Flow: Experience Theming in Practice
In this practice were going through the gateway of the metaphoric.
Mythic Yoga Flow is taking the mythology of the deity and bringing it into the
embodiment of the practice.
Kuan Yin practice

Theme: Flow with compassion
Kuan Yin
l
A goddess, a bodhisattva who holds the empowerments of compassion,
unconditional love, mercy, and spiritual liberation
l
The legend of Miao Shan
Mantra
Namo Kuan Shi Yin Pusa
Mudra
Padma (lotus) mudra
Your body = vessel
Opening lotus mudra, circling (prayer wheel)
Fingertips touch the floor on each side.

Reach up, fingers touch, sphere of love mudra.
Pulsing forward on the inhale, backward on the exhale.
Release fingertips to the floor.
Seated crescents, flowing from side to side.

Your body is the vessel of love, your breath is the flow of compassion.
Anjali mudra

63
Call in for your embodied practice any area of your life in which you wish to know and
experience greater compassion.
All fours/hands and knees
Cat/cow flow
Hip circles/circling
Downward facing dog
Inhale, right leg lifts.

Exhale, step right foot forward.
Bend your back knee, rise up to high lunge with back knee bent, bringing all fingertips
together into sphere of love mudra.
Release hands, lower arms, then bring them out to the sides, open palms wide, facing
forward, engage your hands and lift up, externally rotate, possibly extend your back leg
straight.
Float the arms up again, high crescent
Exhale, lower the arms, place your hands, and step back, downward facing dog
Inhale, left leg up.

Repeat on second side.
From down dog, separate your feet as wide as the mat, bend your knees, walk back,
then slide your hands up your thighs and rise to standing with the feet wide.
Blessing energy:
Inhale, reach up.
Exhale, hands to heart.
Spin hands out, down, and open in another form of anjali mudra, then bend your knees,
offer to the earth, round up, inhale and rise up, reaching up.
Exhale, bring hands down through your heart, repeatinguntie the knots of your heart
and offer it up.
Crescents
Step to the front of your mat.

Feet separated at least as wide as hips.
Inhale, reach up; exhale, fold forward.
Inhale, lengthen the spine.
Exhale, step back to downward dog.
Inhale, right leg up.
Exhale, step through to lunge with right foot forward, bend the back knee, rise up.
Hold left wrist and crescent to the right.
Inhale up.

64
Hold right wrist and crescent to the left.

Inhale back up.
Exhale, place your hands, step back, downward facing dog.
Inhale, left leg up.
Repeat on second side.
From down dog, lower your knees and chest, keeping shoulders lifted, come all the way
down onto your belly, and hover your hands by the sides of your chest.
Draw your legs in, hover your hands, float your feet up, and lengthen the back of your neck.
Inhale, pulse up to the sky using your back body muscles, and exhale, pulse down.
Continue two more times, inhale pulse up, exhale, pulse down.
Baby cobra
Swaying cobra
Cobra
Exhale, lower
Come up to the knees, inhale, down dog
Next inhale, right leg up

Exhale, step through, walk hands to the inside of the front foot
Twisted lunge with thigh stretch
Downward facing dog
Inhale, left leg up
Repeat on left side
Downward facing dog
Lower down to knees and lie on back.

Bridge flow
Adding in mantra of Kuan Shi Yin
Bridge variation with hands on sacrum, heels lifted
Lower down.
Rest knees in toward each other, one hand to heart, one to low belly.
Gently roll over to side.

Come to full danda pranam, and make a full offering of your practice. A full offering of
your effort. A full offering of your heart, your body, and your mind. Be at peace within
yourself in this offering.
Wide childs pose with prayer hands behind the back of the skull
Come up, draw knees together, and pour yourself as an elixir of compassion over the
right thigh (side child).
Repeat on left side.
Invite yourself into the blessing energy to bless the whole of your life.

65
Childs pose with arms resting by sides
Rise up to take a comfortable seat.

Rest your hands palms down, ground to the earth.
Find ease and length through your inner body.
Turn the palms open and gently rest the hands to each other in anjali mudra.
Visualize your own heart flowering open like a lotus opening.

She who is born upon the blossoming lotus, Kuan Shi Yin.
As youre ready, allow your hands to unfurl into padma mudra.

Visualize your hands as a great chalice or vessel filled with the elixir of compassion. And
visualize your whole body as Kuan Yins vessel, and that your whole body receives the
flow of endless compassion.
Namo Kuan Shi Yin Pusa.
And now bathe your whole body in amrita, in this endless flow of compassion, bringing
it anywhere in your body that feels like it could use a little more love and compassion.
Anjali mudra
3x together as closing: Namo Kuan Shi Yin Pusa

YIC Spring 2017 Guide v6

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

YIC Spring 2017 Guide v6

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

1

SATURDAY MAY 13th SUNDAY MAY 14th

12 PM JIM BENNITT 12 PM SHARI FRIEDRICHSEN

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

T H E CON F E R E N C E PASS GIVES YO U CO NTINUE D ACC ESS

GET THE PASS

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

Touch in a yoga class

Expect to make mistakes and be forgiving and patient with yourself.

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

Make sure your touch is confident.

A principle of adjusting is to start from the bottom and go up.

Types of learning in yoga

Risks of touch in yoga

The Principles and Practice of Hands-on Adjustments

n  one-hour practice/class that focuses on hands-on adjustments for teachers.

Hands-on adjustment instructions

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

Do not do this assist if

Do this assist when

When giving this assist

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

Downward Facing Dog

Do not do this assist (with the hips) if

Do this assist when

Adjusting the shoulders and upper back

Adjusting the lower back

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

to stretch the hips away from the shoulders.

Another down dog adjustment for long-time students and friends

Locust Pose (Salabhasana)

The goal is to avoid a common uncomfortable sense of compression in the lumbar

Do not assist (with the hands on calves) if

To assist in this pose

Additional assists in locust pose

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

Assist for the legs

Assist for the shoulders

Energy of the pose

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

To assist the legs

To assist the arms

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

Side Angle Pose

To assist the legs

To assist the arms

Supine Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose (Supta Padangusthasana)

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

n  epeat the assist on the other side.

The goal of this pose is to align the hips.

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

6 key components of tantric vinyasa

3. Pace: Slower is almost always better

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

4. The number of poses

6. Incorporating the tantric tools of kumbhaka (breath retention), mudras (which

Tantric Vinyasa Practice

Centering in childs pose (balasana)

Thunderbolt pose (vajrasana)

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

n Downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana)

Dynamic twisting in vajrasana

Mountain pose (tadasana)

Visit Conference Now Yoga International.com/MasterSummit

n one-hour practice/class that focuses on hands-on adjustments for teachers.

n epeat the assist on the other side.

n Downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana)

pward facing dog

n old the two fringe sides together.

n hen slowly come up to sitting.

n hen walk your hands in and find a neutral sitting position.

n he rhythm of ujjayi is essential because it forms the basis of movement