Hello and welcome to 'Yoga with Lin and Leo'. We're on day two of 19 days of yoga.
Lin, in the white top, is doing the classic versions of the poses suitable
for more experienced students. Leo in the coloured top is doing modified versions of
the poses, suitable for the less experienced student. You can see that
Lin has a yoga brick; that's the only support she'll be using in this sequence.
Leo has a yoga brick, a blanket, a bolster, and four foam pads. Start out for
Adho Mukha Svanasana, Dog Head Down, either on your hands and knees or lying
prone as Lin is doing in the white. Tuck your toes under and lift up into Dog
Pose. You can see that Lin is looking forwards to move the dorsal spine in. Leo
will look forwards in a moment and start to move a little in the shoulder and
dorsal spine region to get a little more movement in that area. Have the feet hip
width apart, the hands shoulder-width apart, the fingers spread well. Take the
weight back by pushing back at the root of the thighs. Now look forwards and
either step or jump forwards into your Uttanasana.
If, like Leo, you're doing a modified version of this pose then you will take
two wooden bricks, two cork bricks or maybe even two foam pads or a chair
underneath your hands. Take the feet wide at this stage, so the outer edges of the
feet line up with the outer edges of the mat. Lift through the kneecaps and the
thighs. We're going to come back again into Dog Pose, Adho Mukha Svanasana.
Step or jump the feet back for Dog Head Down. Once again just get a little
bit of mobility in that upper back if that's a little stiff for you at this
stage by swinging forwards and back in the action.
Push back with the root of your thighs. Look at your kneecaps.
Now look forwards again and step or jump forwards into Uttanasana. Again in the
modified action Leo is taking the feet wide. Lin now has brought her feet to
hip width apart. More experienced students who are able to do a good
forward bending action can take the hands either side of the feet and let
the head and body release down the fronts of the thighs. Otherwise keep the
action that you see Leo in the colored top doing. Slowly coming up and stand in
Tadasana, Mountain Pose. Inner edges of the feet together. Lift up through the front
of the pelvis, take the weight back into the heel rims
and extend through the spine. Coming to the center of your mat, stand in Tadasana
Lift through the chest, bring the hands to the centre and step or jump the feet
wide. Have the toes pointing forwards at this stage, the arms extending strongly
out. Now turn the back foot in, (that's your left foot) in slightly, the whole of the
right leg and foot out completely and we're going to bend that right leg into
a square. Stretch into your fingertips and look along the ring finger of your
right hand. Keep the lift out of the pelvis, the back leg strong and straight,
both arms in line with your shoulders. Come up, turn the feet to face forwards
and we're going to go to the other side. So turn the right foot in slightly, turn
the whole of the left leg and foot out completely and bend that left leg to an
angle. Keep your spine vertical; don't allow your spine to travel with you. So
don't lean to your left. Extend back strongly into your back arm.
Stretch into the fingertips of the left hand. Come up, turn the feet to face
forwards and step or jump the feet back into the centre. Stand in Tadasana
Mountain Pose. Re-establish, taking the weight back into your heels. Lift the
kneecaps and the frontal thighs, keep the breath fine and even through the nasal
passages. So now we're coming to the floor. If you're doing the modified
version of this pose, Dandasana, then you'll sit on two foam pads. Otherwise
like Lin in the white, sit onto the floor, move the flesh of the buttocks out
and back so you're sitting on the front of the sitting bones. You can see that
Leo here has got two bricks for the hands so that she can get the lift
through the chest. Keep the legs strong and straight, inner edges of the feet
together, extending into the inner heels.
We're coming into a Bharadvajasana twist so swing the legs to the left. If
you're sitting on the height place a brick behind you.
Take your right hand behind you, either onto the brick or onto the floor, stretch
the left arm up by your left ear and take it to the outside of your right
thigh. Inhale, lift your chest, lift your spine and on an exhalation or rotate a
little more. You can see from this side how the feet are positioned. So the
bottom foot is horizontal and the top foot sits on top of the arch of the
bottom foot and that top foot is vertical. It's important to get this foot
position right. Stretch the legs out in front of you. We're going to swing the
legs now to the right. If you're having any trouble in this pose, Bharadvajasana 1,
then look at our Pose Directory. So again, take the hand, the left hand this
time, behind you. Either onto the brick or onto the floor. Stretch the right arm
up and grab hold of your left thigh, so you're using those two points of contact
with the hand to lift and extend and rotate your spine. Keep anchoring down
with your right groin as you turn to your left.
So you're turning away from your feet in this twist.
Releasing out of the pose and stretching the legs in front of you, come back into
Dandasana, Staff or Stick pose. Again if you need to take the flesh of the
buttocks out and back then do so. If you need to have bricks for your hands,
then do so. Keep the chest lifted, the shoulders rolling back and down, the very
top of the thighs rolls in. So we're coming now for Setu Bandha, Bridge Pose.
You can see here that Lin is going to use a brick. This is a good action but it
is a one-size-fits-all action and it might not be appropriate for you, if
either this is a difficult pose for you, or you have any discomfort in your back.
The brick you can see that she's placed underneath her sacrum and this should
feel comfortable. For Leo, she is placing the foam pads one at a time horizontally
underneath the pelvis. So this is the heaviest part of your back body and the
breadth and openness of the horizontal actions in the foam pads will help to
spread the weight a little with this action. It's not imperative that you come
up onto four foam pads. If it's difficult for you in this pose, you can use two or
three. You can see that both Lin and Leo have held the outer edges of the mat
so that they can roll the shoulders under and come more on to the top of the
shoulders, to get the opening in the chest. Press down with your feet and roll
your thighs inwards. Keep the back of the neck long, keep the gaze of the eyes into
the chest.
Regulate your breath, keep it fine steady and even through the nostrils.
Keep rolling the shoulders under to get a little more opening and action in your
chest. To come out of the pose we're going to lift and either take the brick
out, or if you're using the foam pads take them out one at a time. Keep the
legs bent so that youd allow the back to just settle a little after this
action. Keep the breath fine and even. Allow the lower back, the sacral region
to spread and open onto your mat. So release the muscle fibres in the back of
the pelvis. To come out of the pose, roll to your right. You can see here
that Lin is coming into a Supta Baddha Konasana action by holding the
ankles. This is quite challenging for a lot of people, so it may be that you
choose to do your Supta Baddha Konasana as Leo is showing, with the feet
up onto the bolster. The mat is just rolled over the bolster to give you a
little bit of more traction. It is quite tough to hold on to those frontal ankles
when you start in this pose, so it may be that you need to work in the way that
Leo is showing for a little while before you're able to keep hold of your frontal
ankles. Your back should not be uncomfortable in this action. If you're
working in the modified version, with the feet up, turn the palms to face the
ceiling and allow the fingertips to curl in towards the palms. If you don't have a
bolster, you can always raise the feet up onto a couple of foam pads or onto a
cushion, or even keep them on the floor if that's not available for you.
You can allow the eyes to close, the body to rest. If there's any discomfort in the
groins you can bring the knees together.
But just see if you can get this opening in the inner thighs, the relaxation in
the throat, softening the abdomen and letting the abdomen release towards the
floor. Now bringing the knees together roll to your right carefully and come up.
If you're using the bolster, you can unravel the bolster and place it
underneath your knees. Those who need a blanket underneath the head, then take a
blanket to place underneath the head. If you're comfortable lying flat to the
floor and can keep the back of the neck extended and the throat soft, then like
Lin in the white is showing, you can just stretch out for your Savasana,
relaxation, Corpse Pose, by just lying flat to the floor. If this
action is a little difficult for you then work as Leo is doing with the
bolster underneath the knees and the blanket under the head. Turn the palms to
face towards the ceiling and let the fingertips curl in naturally towards the
palms of the hands.
Release your legs, soften the abdomen and relax the facial features. Take the back
teeth apart, allow your breath to become steady.
Alright we're going to come out of the poses now, so place the fingertips
lightly onto your ribs, bend your knees and carefully roll to the right side.
Rest on your right side for a moment. Don't be in too much of a rush to come
up. And now come into a seated position. Coming to Sukhasana, simple cross legs.
Thank you for joining us for 19 days of Yoga, we look forward to seeing you
tomorrow. Namaste.