Beginner’s Yoga Sequence

Weight & Levity

Please read the Home Practice page and the Asana page before beginning this sequence.

Weight and Levity

1.CENTERING : Begin sitting either in cross-legged position or in seated kneeling (feet pointing straight back, calves outside of thighs). Either way, support your bottom on several folded blankets or a bolster. Knees should fall lower than the hips. Feel the grounding of your sitbones (ischial tuberosities)-how they connect you to the bolster and the floor and eventually to the warm core of the earth. Allow your self to drop into this support, not only your physical self, but the mental chattering, and the churning of your heart. Imagine the brain resting deep in the skull.

Without losing that grounding, bring your awareness to your breath and allow it to lift and lighten your being. Feel the spine grow longer with each breath, beginning at the tail and continue through each vertebrae, lengthening the back of the neck, allowing the chin to draw down and in slightly, the body lengthening until the crown of the head lightens. Keep your gaze parallel to the floor.

Spend a few moments acknowledging your presence here and now. As you scan your present state of existence, you can set your intention for the day’s practice (e.g. “I will strive to practice yielding today”), for the gift of yoga in your life, and if you wish, to dedicate your practice to someone else or for a cause, such as “So that all beings may be free of suffering.”

2. BREATHING (PRANAYAMA): As you sit, observe the manner in which you are presently breathing. Resist the urge to modify your breath in any way, just watch how each breath is unique and how each part of the breath transforms into the next part. Observe any pauses naturally occurring in your breath cycle. Then begin to look at the way you are sitting and how the breath is moving more generally. For instance, are you collapsing, sinking into the earth and losing the rebound effect that lifts and lightens our being? This is the pattern of depression and self-negation. The breath becomes lethargic, labored, and shallow.

Another pattern you may find is pushing against the earth, attempting to prop yourself up in what you perceive as a “straight” spine? This is the fight-or-flight pattern and you are probably experiencing a lot of tightness in the upper chest. The muscles in the upper torso become very tired from this chest-breathing pattern.

We want to begin fostering a sense of yielding into the earth. To do this we allow ourselves to release into the attraction of gravity BUT we also allow the rebound effect that this releasing results in through the structural support of our being. It is a releasing of weight and a concurrent levity lifting our spine. The diaphragm remains free and the breath is working with us. Spend a few breaths exploring these patterns on your own.

Now work towards sama vrtti, or equal breath.

Begin slowly extending each exhalation a little bit longer and passively receiving the inhalations. So it’s long steady slow exhalation, soften the belly and receive an inhalation. The inhalation will be happening automatically; you don’t need to work at it, just let it happen.

After about five of extended exhalations, you can begin extending the inhalations slowly. Work towards making the inhalations the same duration as the exhalations.

If at any time, you notice that you are twitching your fingers or tensing your shoulders or your jaw, or anywhere else, please stop and resume normal breathing. Start up again only when and if you are comfortable. When you do restart, scale back on your effort. Don’t work so hard. Strive to work consistently and yet softly.

The breath can teach you a lot about yielding. Let it happen!
After ten breath cycles, release your conscious control of the breath and resume your normal breathing. Sit in the resonance of your own breath.
Feel any subtle effects.

3. SUPTA PADANGUSTHASANA: This is the first forward bend we learn. It is done while the back is supported by the floor, so it is relatively safe even if you have a back injury. Invite the entire back of the body to release onto the floor. Do this systematically, asking yourself if the legs are released, the hips are dropping onto the floor evenly, the sacrum has plenty of space to spread, the spine is supported and the back lifting and falling in healthy curves, the shoulder blades completely released onto the floor, the neck is lengthened and soft, and the head relaxed.

Begin with both knees bent. Grasp the right leg and make a few circles in the air to open the bones in the hip socket. When you are ready, use the loop end of a strap to loop around the balls of your toes. Grasp the loop with your right arm, held straight. Adjust the loop as necessary so that the right leg can be straight (no bend in that knee). The left arm can be placed on the floor or it can press down on the left hip. Engage the muscles of the left thigh to press it onto the floor. In the same manner, press the thigh of the lifted leg away from you. See if you can feel how it moves into the back of the hip socket.

Lots of energy should move through the floor leg and foot as well as through the lifted leg and foot. One way to increase lightness in the pose is by surrendering the hips and shoulders to the earth. Let them melt away from you. As this happens, keep the energy moving in the legs-allow the rebound action of yielding translate into the stretch in your legs. Breathe and Repeat on the other side.

4. MOUNTAIN or TADASANA: Explore standing as another exercise in yielding. Begin by observing your stance and your breath-without trying to change anything and without judging. Just observe and mentally note what you find. Spend several breaths here.

Then release as much hold provided by your muscles as you can and yet remain upright. Allow the bones to feel soft. In this collapsed position observe your breath and your stance and make mental notes of what you find. Are there any mental or emotional components to standing this way? Does the stance itself induce any particular emotional or mental states of being? What is your energy state?

After several breaths in a COLLAPSED state, begin to push yourself off the ground. Begin with the soles and toes of your feet. Continue up the legs, the abdominals, the chest, the arms, neck, face and head-all straining to get off the earth. Notice what happens. Observe your breath and the mental pattern that ensues. What is your emotional state as you stand rigidly working against gravity? What effect does this PROPPED stance have upon your energy? Can you feel the energy of the others in the room?

On an exhalation, slowly begin to reconnect or YIELD to the earth. How are you going to do that? Feel the weight of your body releasing down onto the earth. On the inhalation allow a natural REBOUND to spring upwards through your being. Try bending your knees a little on the next exhalation. Observe how much muscle tone provides the most rebound action and how much releasing allows a yielding without loss of energy.

Are you holding tension anywhere in your body or in your emotions that is preventing you from a healthy yielding? Observe how the rebounding springs through the inhalations and how the exhalations naturally feed a releasing. What happens to your mental and emotional states when you are yielding and rebounding? How does your energy feel?

5. TREE or VRKSASANA : This is a basic balance
Pose. It will strengthen your focus as well as your abs, legs, arms, even your feet. But first you need to learn to yield to gravity.

Begin in TADASANA.
Observe the rebounding action that lifts you on the inhalation. Feel the stability and grounding of the soles of your feet. Decide which foot will be the lifted foot. Root the opposite foot to the ground. Lift the opposite leg as high as you can-rooting that foot on the inner thigh-all the way to the groin if you can. Press the foot into the thigh with as much pressure as the thigh exerts onto the foot. Start wherever you can hold the pose for five to ten breaths-that may be with the foot resting on the grounded foot.

There are three possible arm positions. Again choose the position that challenges you without causing you to come out of the pose. The arms can be spread away from the body, palms facing forward, open and receptive. They can be held in atmanjali mudra or prayer position, thumbs resting on the sternum OR they can be lifted overhead with palms pressing together. Gaze softly far ahead, looking through whatever is in your visual field. Let the point of focus help anchor your balance.

Feel the three lines of energy radiating out from the navel: up through the arms or head, around the bent knee, and through the grounded leg.
Observe grounding and lifting of your being. Notice how you can sway and yet remain balanced. How true that is in life as well-nothing is static; everything changes and that transformation is constant.

If you lose your balance and fall out of the pose, rest for a few moments and then, if you feel Tree still calling you, go ahead and try again. Perhaps raise the opposite foot this time. Work hard to refrain from judgment. Just do it.

It is our ability to yield to the large and small waves in our lives that is one definition of enlightenment. Invite your “tree” to become enlightened with each breath and sway. Invite yourself to realize the true nature of all existence. Yield to life as you yield into Tree Pose.

6. DOWNWARD FACING DOG or ADHO MUKHA SVANASANA: Begin kneeling on all fours. Spread all of the fingers of the hand as wide as you can with thumbs moving towards each other and middle fingers pointing straight ahead. This will increase the area that is weight bearing and lessen the stress on your wrist. If you have carpal tunnel syndrome or other wrist issues, please make use of a wedge to lessen the bent angle of the wrist. Walk the legs back so that the knees are at a greater than 90 degrees from the hip. Curl the toes under and then begin to lift the hips toward the ceiling. Feel the connection from your heels through your legs and upwards into your sitbones. As the feet yield to the earth, the rebound flows through the legs into the sitbones.

Try to lift off the wrists by pressing into the knuckles of the fingers and lifting the lower arm away from you. As you release onto the hands, observe the rebound effect like a strong river moving up your arms and opening your shoulders.

Just as you did in Dandasana, and Supta Padangusthasana, press your upper thighs away from you, into the rear of the hip socket. Lift your sit bones. You can bend your knees and/or stay high on your toes to achieve a longer spine. The point of DOG Pose is to lengthen the spine. Observe where you feel the spine congealed and where it feels open and free-each vertebrae lifting off the lower bones.

Continue to breathe, lengthen, press the thighs back, raise the sit bones, lift off the hands. Work through these points as you inhale and exhale gently. Can you feel rebounding action in your arms and legs? Does it translate into other parts of your body? What parts feel heaviest? Can you find a way to create more lightness, more rebound? What happens to your spine and sitbones when you do?

7. FORWARD FOLD or UTTANASANA : Begin in TADASANA. Build on the previous experience of yielding in Mountain. To fold, bend the knees as if you were going to squat. Moving from the heart center, fold the torso over and onto the thighs. Observe the way the pelvis rolls over the heads of the femurs. Let the arms hang rag-doll style or hold onto the elbows, drawing the elbows down towards the earth. If the back and hamstrings are ready for more intensity, begin to lift the sit bones toward the sky as the legs straighten. With every couple of inbreaths, feel the energy moving up the legs and through the torso allowing the torso to lift off the thighs and extend. Then on the exhalation, release further into the pose. Yield everything that is toxic to your life, everything that clutters your existence. Visualize these things attaching to your out breaths and moving far into the distance. Focus on the way the exhalations release you and the way the inhalations lighten and lift you.
Ask yourself what is it that is keeping you propped, what is holding you back. The deeper you surrender, the longer you’ll lengthen. Breathe and enjoy the freedom and restfulness of release.

8. SEATED WIDE-LEGGED FORWARD FOLD or UPAVISTHA: A wonderful, open fold that teaches the hips to release from the pelvis and stretches the backs of the knees. Begin by sitting on a folded blanket with legs outstretched as widely as comfortable. Press the heels away from you and draw the toes up as you widen them. Don’t let the knees or feet roll out or in. Use your leg muscles to press the thighs and knees down onto the floor as much as you can. If the knees remain too uncomfortable, place a rolled towel or partial mat beneath to support them.

Place your fingertips on the floor behind you and stretch up through the spine-all the way from the tail. Keep pressing down with the legs. Watch that the knees stay aligned with the feet and that both are pointing straight up towards the sky. Soften the belly. Breathe gently.
This may be far enough for today.

If you feel as if you would like to stretch more, keep the belly soft, and lengthen the spine as you begin to lean forward. Feel the way the pelvis can roll over the heads of the femurs. Keep pressing the sitbones away from you in the back. Keep the elbows high and wide, heart center lengthening, not curling. When you have reached a spot that is enough, you can rest your forehead on a block or two. Don’t let the lower spine collapse as you do this though.
As the legs yield into the stretch, inhale lift and lengthen the torso, exhale and release further. Give yourself time to experience the release wide angled forward bend offers.

9. SITTING DIAMOND or BADDHA KONASANA: This is a sitting pose that, when comfortable, can be used as a pranayama or meditation posture.
Begin by sitting on a couple of folded blankets or a bolster. If you sit on a corner of the blankets, rather than upon the long edge, you’ll find that your thighs have room to drop and it is usually more comfortable. If your inner thighs feel stressed at this point, go ahead and place some support beneath your thighs. You might want to use blocks or blankets or bolsters. Whatever you choose, be sure the support is equal on both sides so that your sacroiliac joint is not stressed unevenly.

Pay attention to the grounding of your sitbones, legs, and hips. Allow them to drop onto the earth and to be completely supported. It is in this release that the “flexibility” or the outer rotation of the femurs, will manifest. Through this dropping, feel the rebounding action that lifts through the tailbone and up the spine and ribs and heart center, through the neck and head until the crown of the head lightens. Grasp the big toes with the second and third fingers of your hands, or hold onto your ankles, or place your hands behind you as you press the knees closer to the floor. The bottom will feel as if it is nearly lifting off the ground. Let that rebound occur and become mindful of its action as you continue to press down the thighs.

Breathe and notice how the breath can feed the pose even without any further muscular action on your part. Feel your heart shining as clear as a diamond. Feel the connection of the diamond shape of your legs with the piercing jewel of your heart center. Yield to all that you can be at this moment.

10. CROSS LEGGED FORWARD FOLD: Use a bolster or two or more folded blankets beneath your bottom for working on this essential seated posture. Cross your legs at the ankles. You can use the short end of a rolled blanket beneath the ankles if that will make them more comfortable. Support the knees with blocks or blankets if they are off the ground. Place the fingers on the floor or on blocks behind you and inhale, lifting the spine. If you feel you can stretch further, soften the belly and begin to bend forward. Observe the way the pelvis rolls over the heads of the femurs as you lead with the heart center.

Stretch the arms in front of you and place the hands on a chair, blocks, or the floor. Let the torso be pulled forward not downward. Only move as far as is challenging without any strain on your lower back or knees. If possible, rest your forehead on the chair or a block or a propped bolster. Let each exhalation draw you deeper into surrender. Invite your spine to lift and lengthen on every inhalation. Observe what aspects of your being are yielding as you remain in the pose. Don’t collapse; stay aware.

11. LEGS UP THE WALL or VIPARITA KARANI #1: While upside-down, the action of yielding is powerful. Sit as near to the wall as you are comfortable. Snuggle your right hip against the wall and then as you lay back onto your elbows, swing your legs straight up the wall and continue straightening out your torso on the floor. Don’t worry if your buttocks don’t rest against the wall—some like them there; others don’t. The point is how deeply you can yield onto the support of wall and floor, and how poignantly he rebound will move through you and refresh your being.

If your shoulders allow, stretch your arms over head so that the palms of your hands face the ceiling. Use an eyebag to assist your eyes in relaxing more deeply. As your eyes yield into the body, can you feel a rebound effect in terms of general relaxation? Give yourself permission to surrender and let go of the chattering in your mind. Invite silence and allow it to reverberate throughout your being. Permit yourself to release deeper onto the support of the wall and the floor. Breathe into any area of the body that feels as if it is still holding on. Let your thoughts go. Imagine yourself being breathed.

When you are ready to come out, slowly wiggle your fingers, breathe a bit deeper, slide the legs one at a time down the wall, hug the knees into the chest if you wish, and then roll over onto your side. Stay there for a breath or two before slowly pushing yourself up, using your arms for support, letting your head be the last thing to come up.

12. CORPSE or SAVASANA: End your practice session with 15 minutes of savasana. Give yourself permission to yield to your inner nature. The gifts of grace and renewal that will flood your being will be worth the time spent doing “nothing.”

Lie down on your mat. Use a bolster beneath your knees and a folded blanket beneath your head and neck-just place the blanket so that its edge reaches your shoulders-they should drop freely to the floor. Lift the head slightly off the floor, spread your fingertips along the back of your neck and then stretch the

skin of the neck and scalp away from the torso. Replace the “longer” neck on the blanket. Let the legs roll away equidistant from each other. Roll the arms outward one at a time so that the shoulders have as much space as they need and the thumbs touch the floor. Free the eyes to drop into their sockets as you soften all of the little muscles around the eyes. Let the lines in the forehead flatten out and the eyebrows melt away from each other. Allow the cheeks to lighten and feel airy. Invite the ears to melt towards the earth. Soften the inner ears and the jaws. Permit the lips to soften and expand. Release the root of the tongue. Be sure it is not pressing into the teeth; allow it to rest on the lower palate. Leave your teeth lightly parted. If you wish draw the mouth wide open in a lion’s roar to stretch the mouth and jaws, then let them close leaving the lips ever so slightly parted. Encourage the skin of the scalp release from the skull. Give the bones of the skull permission to soften. Ask the brain to grow quiet and rest on the back of the skull.

Surrender to your inner, faceless self.

Breathe in and out of your heart center. Observe the breath grow lighter, so soft the nostrils barely feel it. Feel the way the breath allows the heart center to open, the walls that have built around your inner self beginning to dissolve. Be in this stillness. Yield to the silence. No matter what is going on in your outer life, the silence is there-always available to you should you choose to be there.

Perhaps you can feel how surrendering allows a rebound of healing in your being. Ask the heart center to expand its healing energy throughout your being. Invite the breath to feed this process. Enjoy the refreshment of silence.