Second Series: Short Form

(waves crashing) Welcome, today we're gonna be doing a short form of the Ashtanga Second Series, so just a smaller version of the whole second series practice so that you can fit it into a day where you're a little more pressed for time. I'm gonna start with the opening invocation, and you're, feel free to join in with me. So we'll come to the front of our mat, and this practice today will also be a little bit faster, not as much explaining the poses, so if you're newer to the practice, you may wanna take some other classes ahead of time learning the Sun Salutations and some of the standing poses. We'll be going to pace with the breath. So we'll come to samastitihi, and you'll bring your feet together, hands to prayer position.

(chanting in foreign language) And then we'll release the arms down alongside the body. Inhale, reach the arms up overhead. Exhale, hinge at the hips and fold. Inhale look up, lengthen. Exhale, step or jump to chaturanga.

Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. One. Two. Three.

Four. And five. Inhale. Exhale, fold. Inhale all the way up.

And exhale. Samastitihi. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.

Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. One. Two.

Three. Four. And five. Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.

Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. One. Two.

Three. Four. Five. Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale, samastitihi. Surya Namaskar, bend the knees, sit the hips back, inhale. Exhale, fold forward. Inhale, head up.

Exhale, chaturanga. Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Right foot forward, left heel down. Inhale, warrior one.

Exhale, chaturanga. Inhale, upward dog. Exhale, downward dog. Left foot forward, right heel down. Inhale, warrior one, left side.

Exhale, chaturanga. Inhale, upward dog. Exhale, downward dog. That's one. Two.

Three. Four. Five. Inhale. Exhale.

Bend the knees, sit the hips back. Inhale, utkatasana. And exhale, samastitihi. Bend your knees, inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Right side, inhale.

Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Left side, inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale. One. Two. Three.

Four. Five. Inhale. Exhale. Bend the knees, inhale.

Exhale, samastitihi. Padangusthasana, step or jump the feet hip distance apart. Inhale, lift the chest up, tip the head back. Exhale, ease down the edge of the nose as you fold. Reach down and hook your big toes with middle and index finger.

Inhale, straighten the arms, lift the head, look up. Exhale, hinge at the hips, and fold, folding forward. That's one. Two. Three, tip the weight forward just a little.

Four. Five, inhale, head up, straightening the arms. Exhale, padahastasana, taking the hands underneath the feet. Inhale, head up, look up and lengthen. Exhale, folding again.

One. Two. Three, gazing to the tip of the nose. Four. And five.

Inhale, look up, arms straight. Exhale, pause. Take your hands to your waist. Inhale, come all the way up, lifting the chest high. And exhale, samastitihi.

Utitatrikonasama. You'll jump open to the right, inhale. Turn the right toes out, left toes in. And exhale, fold out over your right leg. If it's available to you, you'll hook your right big toe, spin the right thigh bone out, and then look up to your left thumb.

That's one. Two. Three. Four. And five.

Press your feet, inhale, come up. Turn your left toes out, right toes in, and exhale for your second side, hooking the toe, otherwise just setting the hand anywhere along the shin or on a block. Turning the head to look to the right thumb, that's one. Two. Three.

Four. Five, press the feet, inhale, come up. Turn all the way around to face back of your mat. Press your left leg straight, and with your exhalation, you'll fold out over your right leg into trikonasana B, or parivrtta trikonasana. Turning the head to look to the right thumb, that's one.

Two. Three. Four. Five. Press the feet, inhale, come up, turn around, face the opposite direction, left foot forward, right foot at an angle, and exhale to your second side, left side, setting the hand, twisting to your left, and looking up to your left thumb, that's one.

Two. Three. Four. And five, releasing. Inhale to come up.

Exhale, parallel the feet, and step or jump to the front of your mat. Utthita parsvakonasana. Inhale again, stepping or jumping open to the right. Turn the right toes out, left toes in, and exhale, you'll bend your right knee, and take the right hand to the floor outside your foot, keeping your left leg straight, tail bone lengthening to the heel, and the left arm up and overhead. That's one, gaze is to the palm of the hand.

Two. Three. Four. And five. Pressing the feet, inhale come up.

Turn your left toes out, right toes in, and exhale, left side, bend the left knee. Set the hand next to the foot, reach the right arm up and over. That's one. Two. Three.

Four. And five, press your feet, inhale, come up. Again, turn to face the back of your mat for parivrtta parsvakonasana, or parsvakonasana B. Bend the right knee, and with an exhalation, you're gonna take the left elbow to the outside of the right knee, hands can either come to prayer here, or you can bring the left hand all the way to the floor. And take the right arm up and overhead.

Gaze would be to the palm of the right hand, that's one. Two. Three. Four. And five.

Press your feet, inhale, come up. Turn all the way to facing the opposite direction. And exhale, bend your left knee, and take your right elbow to the outside of the left knee, hands to prayer, or right hand to the floor. And then the left arm up and overhead, that's one. Two.

Three. Four. And five. Inhale, come up, exhale, parallel your feet, and step or jump to the front of your mat. Prasarita Padottanasana A through D.

Inhale, step or jump open to your right. Take your hands to your waist, feet parallel. Inhale, lift the sternum up. Exhale, hinge at the hips and fold, setting the hands flat on the floor, shoulder distance apart. Inhale, head up, look up, lengthen.

Exhale, and fold. And squeeze the elbows in so they stay over the wrists. And over time you reach the head to the floor. That's one. Two.

Three. Four. And five. Inhale, head up, straight arms. Exhale, pause.

And inhale to come all the way up. Exhale. B, inhale, arms out to the side. Exhale, hands back to the waist. Inhale, lift the sternum, tip the head back, ease down the edge of the nose.

Exhale, and fold forward, reaching the head towards the floor as you fold. That's one. Two. Three. Four.

And five. Inhale, come all the way up. And exhale. C, inhale arms out to the side. Exhale, interlace the fingers behind your back.

Inhale, lift the chest, straighten the arms, tip the head back, exhale, and fold forward, gazing down the edge of the nose again. That's one. Two, you can also take the option to turn the palms in the other direction. Three. Four.

And five. Inhale, come all the way up. And exhale, hands to your waist, D, inhale. Exhale, and fold, reaching down, hooking your big toes with middle and index finger. Inhale, look up, lengthen.

Exhale, and fold. That's one. Two. Three. Four.

And five. Inhale, look up, head up. Exhale, pause. And inhale, all the way up. And exhale, step or jump to the front of your mat.

Samastitihi. Parsvottanasana, inhale, we'll open to the right, and turn to face the back of your mat, taking your hands to reverse namaste, reverse prayer position. Pull the shoulders back, lift the chest up, back leg straight, inhale. And exhale, fold out over your right leg. That's one.

Two. Three. Four. And five. Inhale, come up.

Turn all the way to face the front. And exhale to fold out over your left leg. That's one. Two. Three.

Four. And five. Inhale, coming up. Exhale, parallel the feet, stretch the arms, and step or jump to the front of your mat. We'll transition to second series, Inhale, reach the arms up overhead.

Exhale, fold forward. Inhale, look up, lengthen. Exhale to chaturanga. Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog.

End of the exhale, you'll jump your feet to your hands for pasasana, noose pose. So this pose has always been one that I've struggled with, mainly keeping the heels down as you twist and wrap. So you can do this as a twisting chair pose, and either bring the hand outside the foot, and the left arm up to the ceiling, and just work on keeping the knees level as you sink the hips down, that's one option. You can also do it with the hands at prayer if the right hand doesn't quite come to the floor. Actual pose, you bring your rib cage across your left thigh.

Start to sink the heels to the floor. And then wrap the right arm around. I like to use my right hand as though it's a third foot for balance, then I lift my left arm up and back and bind it. Then we turn the head to look over the left shoulder. That's one.

Two. Three. Four. And five. Release.

And coming onto the second side. So remembering the options, either setting the heels down and taking it as a twisting chair, hands in prayer or left hand to the floor, or taking pasasana, snuggling in, getting your left shoulder outside your knee, and then setting, if you can, bringing the right heel down to the floor, and wrapping the left arm around, reaching back for the right hand or wrist, and then breathing, that's one. Two. Three. Four.

And five. Releasing, setting the hands down outside the feet. Inhale to lift it up. And exhale to chaturanga. Inhale to up dog.

And exhale to downward facing dog. Krounchasana. So you can either jump through to seated, or you can jump right into an ardha virasana with the right leg. I'm gonna take that transition. If you jump through to seated, then you'll fold your right leg back.

So your toes are pointing straight back, outer right ankle is firming in. And then we raise the left leg up. Reach around the foot. If you can, you hold the wrist. Otherwise, just hold the foot out in front of you, point the toes, lift your lower back, lift your chest up, either stay here, or start to fold the leg in, looking towards the toes.

That's one. If you fold all the way in, you can make contact with your chin to your shin. Two. Three. Four.

Five. Inhale, straighten the arms, lift the chest, tip the head back, exhale, release, set the hands down. From here, you'll take it up and back, inhale up. And exhale back. Inhale to upward dog.

Exhale back to downward facing dog. Second side, either jumping through to seated, and folding the left leg back, or jumping right into the position, your choice. Keeping the outer ankle firmed in, baby toe reaching the floor. Lift the right leg up. If you can grab for a wrist, grab for a wrist, otherwise hold the foot.

Inhale, lift the chest. Exhale, and fold. Toe pointed. That's one. Two.

Three. Four. And five. Inhale, straighten the arms, lift the chest. Exhale, release, set the hands.

Inhale, lift it up. And exhale to chaturanga. Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Salabhasana, inhale, come forward to plank pose.

Exhale, all the way down to the floor. And we'll point the toes, the feet stay together, but we lift the inner thighs up to the ceiling, arms down alongside the body. Inhale, salabhasana, that's one. Two, going for straight legs rather than height. Three.

Four. And five, switching the hands to B, that's one. Two. Three. Four.

And five. Separate the legs. Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Bhekasana, inhale, coming forward.

Exhale, lowering down. So this pose can be a little challenging to find the grip. So we'll start with just an ardha bhekasana, taking the left hand across the body, reach back for the right foot, and you'll bring the thumb to the sole of the foot. Lift the elbow up to the ceiling as you flip the hand around to the front. This may be it for some of us, some of you may even have to stop here, and it may be enough for the right hip flexor and the right quad.

If you can flip the hand around to the front, then you start to press the foot down towards the floor outside of the hip. Lift the chest forward, squaring the shoulders off to the front, and you can hold there. You can also press the left hand down, which will intensify the stretch a bit in the right quad. And then we can release and do the other side. Reach back for the left foot, either staying here, turning the hand forward, and then the option to straighten the right arm.

And then the full position. You're on your stomach, bend the knees, reach back for the inside of the feet, flip the hands around the front, and breath, that's one. Two. Three. Four.

And five. Release the feet, set the hands. Inhale, upward dog. And exhale, downward facing dog. Dhanurasana, inhale, come forward.

Exhale, lower down. Bend your knees. You can point the toes to the ceiling. Reach back for your ankles. Start to straighten the legs to help lift the chest up.

And then lift the feet up towards the ceiling, that's one. Two. Three. Four. And five, release the feet, set the hands.

Inhale, upward facing dog. And exhale, downward facing dog. Parshva dhanurasana. Inhale, come forward. Exhale, lower down.

Same setup as dhanurasana, bend the knees, reach back for the ankles, point the toes. Start to straight the legs to lift the chest. Inhale, lift the feet. And this time, exhale, keeping the feet together, roll over to your right side, and start to pull the feet away from the body, reach the chest forward, that's one. Two.

Three. Four. And five. Coming back to center. Inhale, up.

And exhale, left. That's one. Two. Three. Four.

And five, roll back to center. Five more breathes in the middle. Inhale, up, that's one. Two. Three.

Four. And five, release, set the hands. Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Ustrasana, last one, camel pose.

Step or jump the knees inside the hands. Inhale, bring the hands to the hips, lift the chest, and exhale, reach the hands to the heels. That's one. Two. Three.

Four. Five. Inhale, up. Hands to the waist. Exhale, hands to the floor.

Inhale, coming up. And exhale to chaturanga. Inhale, up dog. And exhale, downward dog. From downward facing dog, look forward, and jump through to seated.

So now we're gonna do finishing poses, we'll go into back bends. We're just gonna do urdhva dhanurasana and then one drop back, there is a lot more information on dropping back in the tutorial on drop backs. So you'll lie down on your back. Separate your feet, set your hands up by the ears. Push down into your hands and feet, lift the hips up on an inhalation, you'll come up, either to your head, or all the way up to straight arms.

That's one. Two. Three. Four. And five, you can lower down to your head.

Walk your hands in, if it's available to you, and inhale, come up again, that's one. Two. Three. Four. And five, you can lower down to your head again, or just walk your hands in a little closer from here.

That's one. Two. Three. Four. And five.

And then coming up to standing on an inhale, if that's a part of your practice. Inhaling, lifting the chest. And exhale, dropping back. Inhaling to come up again. And for today, we'll just exhale and forward fold.

Paschimottanasana. So coming down to seated, straightening your legs out in front of you, reaching for shins, ankles, or feet. Inhale, lifting the chest. And exhale, folding forward. That's one.

Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

Seven. Eight. Nine. And 10, inhale look up, exhale release. We'll set the hands down, cross the ankles.

Inhale lift up. And exhale to chaturanga. Inhale to upward dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. And then jump through to seated.

And lie down on your back for shoulder stand. Press the hands down. With inhalation, you'll lift your feet up, overhead, right into shoulder stand, and bring your hands onto your back. If you need to take a few moments to setup in halasana. If you use blankets, then go ahead and do so now.

So press the hands with inhalation. We'll lift up, set the hands onto the back, and reach the toes to the ceiling. That's one. Two. Three.

Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.

Nine. And 10, halasana, keeping the toes pointed, legs straight, we'll lower the feet overhead, and interlace the fingers, and straighten the arms, that's one. Two. Toes pointed. Three.

Four. And five, karnapidasana, ear pressure pose. You'll bend the knees and take them outside of your ears. That's one. Two.

Ankles touching. Three. Four. And five. Take your hands onto your back.

Inhale, we'll lift the legs back up into shoulder stand. Exhale, if lotus is available, you'll take lotus, otherwise you can just cross the ankles, and we'll bring the hands to knees. You can come into lotus, it's urdhva padmasana. Take your legs into lotus, bring the hands to the knees and you'll balance here, that's one. Two.

Three. Four. And five, pindasana. Bring your knees into your chest, and wrap your arms around your legs, that's one. Two.

Three. Four. And five. Release the arms, set the hands onto the mat, rolling down, and coming right up into matsyasana. Press your elbows, bring the top of your head to the floor, and reach for your toes with your hands.

One. Two, arms straight here. Three. Four. And five, uttana padasana.

Lift the knees under your lotus and straighten the legs and the arms. That's one. Two. Three. Four.

And five. Release the hands. Lay the head flat, keep the legs up. Chakrasana, press the hands, lift the feet up overhead, change your hand position so that your fingertips are pointing to your shoulders, and you're gonna push into your hands and flip over into chaturanga. If you're not familiar with this transition, you can just roll up to seated, and come into chaturanga.

Inhale to upward facing dog. And exhale to downward facing dog. And you'll just come down onto your knees for shirshasana, or headstand. Setting up your foundation, interlace the fingers, and press the wrist and the elbows down to the floor, and you'll cup your hands around the back of your head. From there, you'll curl the toes under, and will inhale, come up.

That's one. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. And 10, then we'll take the halfway position, lowering the legs, that's one.

Two. Three. Four. And five, inhale, legs up. And exhale, lowering down.

Child's pose. Arms can either stay straight out in front of you or alongside the legs. Reach the hands out in front. Inhale, come forward. And exhale, lower down.

Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. From downward facing dog, jumping through to seated. If lotus is available to you, you'll take your lotus position now, taking the right leg back first, and then crossing the left leg on top. If it's not available to you, you just cross the ankles, easy seat, in which case you can take hold of your elbows behind your back.

If you're coming into lotus, then we take our baddha padmasana first, reaching the left arm back, and then the right arm back, and hooking your toes. With inhalation, we lift the chest up, and exhale we fold forward. That's one. Two, gaze to the tip of the nose. Three.

Four. And five. Inhale, come up. Exhale, we'll release the arms. Take index finger to thumb, the other three fingers straight, and the backs of the hands on top of the knees.

Lift the chest, drop the chin, gaze to the tip of the nose, that's one. Breathing with sound, ujjayi breath. Two. Three. Four.

And five, utpluthih. Set the hands down outside the hips. With inhalation, we'll bring everything up, that's one. Two. Three.

Four. And five. You can transition from there either by coming forward, bringing your hands down, and undoing your lotus, or you can just set the hands down next to the hips, and take it like a jump back. So inhale up. And exhale back.

Inhale upward dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. And jump through to seated. And then lie down for savasana. You're making yourself very comfortable.

Closing the eyes. Just letting the whole body relax. Telling all the muscles to relax, stop working. Telling the mind to stop thinking, stop emoting. And either drifting off into a peaceful place.

Deep rest. Or if you need to focus the mind to a mantra, the breath, or the heartbeat, that's also an option here. Coming up slowly, starting to depend the breath, and ring small movements into your fingers and toes. Taking any movements you'd like to gently awaken the body. You can stretch the arms, reach out through the hands and feets.

And just make way over to your right side, so bend your knees, and in your own time, roll over to your right. Resting here as long as you need to before pressing yourself up to a comfortable seated position. And then, crossing the ankles, bringing the hands to prayer position, gently bowing the head. Thank you all, namaste.