A great sequence for sore backs (but, really, who gets those? Oh wait, everyone I know) comes to us today from Nadine Fawell. Nadine, a teacher with over 4000 hours of experience, is influenced by the Krishnamacharya lineage. On her blog, this sequence includes pictures of every pose and detailed instruction for while you are in it. Even if you don't have sore back pain, your students and friends probably do (at some point), so this is an excellent sequence to keep in mind for that.


Enjoy!

I made it onto my first good things list (um, that I know of) today. Huzzah! It's the Nursingschools.net 100 Incredible Yoga Teachers Who Blog list. It was also lovely to see so many familiar names on there. Anyway, since I took my blog-roll off fairly recently (to go through some serious and intensive revisions and additions, mostly additions) I think I'll use this site in the interim to find new people out in the blogosphere and check on the ones I know and love. A good resource for a yogini who spends too much time in front of a screen. 

1. Sukhasana (Easy Pose)
2. Metta Mediatation (Loving Kindness Meditation)
3. Maha Mudra (Great Seal)
4. Jana Sirsasana (Head to Knee Pose)
5. Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head to Knee Pose)
6. Repeat steps 3-5 on other side
7. Seated Yoga Mudra (Seal of Yoga)
8. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
9. Breath of Joy (Repeat 12x)
10. Stand in stillness, feeling the effects of your practice
11. Utkatasana (Chair Pose)
12. Uttanasana (Forward Fold)
13. Uktanasana 
14. Tadasana
15. Utkatasana
16. Flow between Mountain, Chair, Forward Fold, Chair, and Mountain, warming up the legs
17. Yoga Mudra Uttanasana (Forward Fold with Yoga Mudra arms)
18. Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I), interlocking fingers behind back for chest opener
19. Humble Warrior, folding forward to bring shoulder by forward knee
20. Virabhadrasana I
    
21. Virabhadrasana II
22. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)
23. Kaliasana (Goddess Pose)
24. Simhasana breath (Lion's Breath) in Goddess
25. Vinyasa to repeat steps 17-24 on other side
26. Malasana (Garland Pose) with hands in prayer position in front of the heart
27. Supta Puvana Muktasana (Reclined Wind Relieving Pose). Repeat other side
28. Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby Pose)
29. Supta Matsyendrasana (Reclined Twist Poste). Repeat other side
30. Savasana
31. Complete practice with three oms

I have an interview and trial class at Cornell University this week (to teach classes there) and one of the optional things to bring to the trial class is music. I haven't taught to a set list in a good long while (I once developed class as set to music) and it got me to thinking about the use of music in classes.


What do folks, teachers and practitioners alike, think about music during class? During personal practice? Is it an interruption or does it help create breath/movement synchronicity (and flow in general)? 

Well, Happy Easter. For this momentous occasion, the Yoga Bunny will be delivering a sequence with some Sasangasana (Rabbit Pose).

This pose is seen most often in Bikram classes, where it shows up as a part of the set series performed during every class sequence. In fact, I don't see it all that often outside of Bikram classes. It's a pity: performed correctly, without putting too much pressure on the neck, it can be a great counter-stretch to a lot of poses. Beryl Bender-Birch (the author of Power Yoga) recommends the pose as a good counter-stretch for Supta Virasana (Reclined Heroes Pose).

Yogabasics.com gives this description for getting into Rabbit Pose:

From child pose, hold onto the heels with the hands and pull the forehead in towards the knees with the crown of the head on the floor.

Holding tightly onto the heels, inhale and lift the hips up towards the ceiling. Keep the crown of the head on the floor and press the forehead as close to the knees as possible.

Breathe and hold for 4-8 breaths.

To release: slowly exhale and lower the hips to the heels and slide the forehead back to the floor into child pose.

Here, then, is a sequence for the Easter Bunny in all us. Now, hop off to your yoga mats and make sure that the egg is hard boiled before you paint it. Cheers!

With all the lovely weather springing up (get it? springing up? get it?) across the US, runners everywhere are tying up their laces and hitting the road. This week, on the blog My Yoga Life there is a great sequence, complete with photos for people who love to run and need a good stretch to go with it.

Full disclourse: I hate running, but envy those who can do it. My bestie, Ms Valerie, is running in the Boston Marathon this year, and she's my heroine. So, for all those folks out there who can do what I cannot, check out this great sequence, and while you are at it, the My Yoga Life blog where this sequence, and other yoga-brilliance, can be discovered.


Callah writes:

"Lucky," the car Chris and I share, has been declared not road-worthy. It runs, can go, but is not safe for long term, long distance travel. Well, crap.

Especially not awesome seeing as we were planning on leaving today (!!!) for Chicago to be with his family for Easter. And then drive back with a carload of stuff to start moving into our new home (...for a later post). I suppose this is a good time as any to use my Superheroine Yogini skills and try to not freak the heck out. Anyway, things are still being figured out, reassessed, and I am still trying to remember that breathing is good for my health. Whew.  

Here are some postures you can do while you are waiting on the side of the road after your car has died, waiting for the tow truck to pick you up. Although, maybe ya'll can hope for me that I don't end up in that situation.

1. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
2. Find balance in your feet and extension in your torso
3. Sun Breaths (12x)
4. Tadasana
5. Vrksasana (Tree Pose)
6. Natarajasana (Dancer's Pose)
7. Puvana Muktasana (Standing Wind Relieving Pose)
8. Tadasana
9. Repeat steps 5-8 on other side
10. Prasarita Padottanasana (Standing Wide Angle Forward Fold). Hold for 1-3 minutes
11. Come up slowly
12. Interlock finger behind back, gentle chest opener
13. Tadasana
14. Kripalu Ardha Chandrasana (Kripalu Standing Half Moon). Repeat other side
15. Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Arm Pose)
16. Tadasana
17. Imagine that your arms are empty coat sleeves. Swing your torso around, letting your arms swing naturally with the movenemt of your torso. Exhale "ha!" breath with each twist. Increase speed of movement for more energy, keep slower for relaxation. 
18. Tadasana
19. Nadi Shodna Pranayama (Alternate Nostril Breath). Repeat for 5-10 minutes
20. Tadasana

A few days ago, I wrote a post about a local theatre in danger of being closed. Now, they are up for a $50K Pepsi grant to keep the theatre local and community based. The way the grant works, whichever project up for it gets the most votes, get the money. So, here, now, if you have a spare moment, please visit the Pepsi site, and vote for the Rosendale Theatre. This small community will thank you for it!

Here's the details on it:

Chris and I took a bike ride into town today.

The river had recently jumped its banks and, crossing over a bridge, we took a second to sit and look at the water. After a bit, Chris says, "Wait... are those apples?" (You may remember, he is an apple man, through and through). No, they weren't apples, but upon further inspection, we realized that large quantities of onions were making their way down the river. White onions, purple onions, skinned and whole. More onions then we could count, rolling down the river. I wish I had my camera then, but I didn't. Our hypothesis is that the river flooded the farm fields and was now receding, bring last year's left-over crop with it. Truly, it was odd enough to be difficult to describe in the right way.

When we got back, I was feeling a bit silly and sore, so I did a sequence with my beloved Surly Long Haul Trucker (um, my bike). For those enjoying the turning of the seasons by getting out there on their bicis, here is a new way to connect to your favorite mode of transport.

Last week, I was asked to contribute a short sequence for eCollegeFinder.org, to help students who sit at their desks all day. Today, my sequence, along with about ten other yogis (including Sir Paul McCartney!) is posted on the site. Okay... isn't it a little odd to get two Beatles-related posts one after the other? I didn't know the article was going to come out today; it's just, as my pops says, a co-ink-ee-dink.

"The real issue for people who sit at the computer for hours every day, and believe me I count myself in there, is that it's basically one long forward bend. Actually, most everything we do during the course of a normal day is a forward bend. Tying our shoes, washing the dishes, folding the laundry... all these things require a forward bend at the stomach or hips (usually the stomach). The best thing you can do to help your body, and restart your brain, is to do a small, gentle back-bend."

1. Scoot all the way forward in your seat (a hard seat is better).
   
2. Take both hands, fingers facing forward behind your sitting bones.
   
3. Pushing your stomach as far forward as you can, inhale and try and drop your head back to rest on the top of the chair. You might not to able to reach, but the idea is to open your chest as much as possible.
   
4. Hold for 5-10 breaths. As you come back to a normal seated position, exhale. If this hurts your neck, you can drop your chin towards you chest, and just focus on pushing the chest forward and up.

Best moment: 1 minute, 23-24 seconds.

This just made me so incredibly happy and, well, this is the Joy of Yoga, so I figured, why not bring on the joy?

1. Sukhasana (Easy Pose)
   
2. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose). Hold for 5 breaths; bend knees, other movements, etc.
   
3. Chaturanga Dandasana (Plank Pose)
   
4. Knee into Chest Plank. Hold for 5 Breaths.
5. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog Pose)
   
6. Adho Mukha Svanasana
   
7. Repeat steps 2-5
8. Utkattasana (Chair Pose)
9. Parivrtta Utkattasana (Twist in Chair Pose)
10. Step opposite to twisting side leg back
11. High lunge twist
12. Ardha Chandrasana (Balancing Half Moon Pose)
13. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)
14. Parsvottanasana (Intense Side Stretch Pose)
    
15. Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana (Twist in Balancing Half Moon Pose)
16. Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose)
    
17. Parsvottanasana
18. High Lunge
19. Chaturanga Dandasana
    
20. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
21. Adho Mukha Svanasana
22. Repeat steps 8-21
23. Come down onto stomach
24. Sphinx Pose. Engage the forearms by isometrically pulling backwards on them to work the core muscle
25. Ardha Navasana (Boat Pose). Repeat on other side, without releasing. Flow between sides.
26. Release and relax
27. Come onto back
28. Supta Dandasana (Reclined Staff Pose), on back, legs directly towards sky. Hold for 1-2 minutes, engaging core
29. Bring one leg towards chest for hamstring stretch. Repeat other side
30. Supta Matsyendrasana (Reclined Twist). Repeat other side
31. Savasana