Balancing & Warrior Sequence

Welcome back. Now we'll start to introduce the one-legged standing balance postures as well as introducing the vinyasas, linking the postures together so that we'll finish the entire standing sequence and you'll wind up in a sitting posture ready for the next practices that come. Ideally these postures come into your daily practice after you finish the fundamental asanas. But for right now in this practice we'll warm up with a few sun salutations, so join me at the top of your mat in samasthitihi. Exhaling completely and Ekam, inhale, draw the hands up, see thumbs meet. Dway exhale, fold forward and drop the head. Trini, inhale, head up. Chaturi, exhale, step or jump back, lower down. Any chaturanga variation which serves you, broad collarbones. Punch and inhale, the chest forward through the shoulders rolled back and down and shot exhale drawing the belly in to find your way to downward facing dog. One, again the knees could be bent to keep the spine in line with the arms. Two, or if that's happening comfortably you may begin to three, straighten the knees lengthening the heels down towards the mat. Lengthening the hamstrings, lengthening the breath. Exhale completely. Insapta, inhale, step or jump the feet forward, the head lifts, the spine is long. Ashta, exhale, folding forward, grounding the palms if that's available to you. Another, inhale, rising up, seeing the hands meet together. Exhale, samastitihi. Again, ekim, inhale, arms up. Dway, exhale, fold forward and let the head drop. Trini, inhale, head up. Chaturi, exhale, step or jump back, keep the tail bone down, collarbones brought. Punch, inhale, baby cobra or upward facing dog, the full expression. Shag, exhale, lifting the hips into downward facing dog. Letting the head just dangle and finding a drishti, a comfortable gazing point. One, keeping the triceps rolling forward towards the face to melt the shoulders away from the ears. Hearing the sound of your own deep full breathing. Three, measuring the breath at the back of the throat, finding the bandhas. Four, spreading the fingers, spreading the toes and crowning through the root knuckles.

Five, sapta, inhale, step or jump forward, head up. Ashta, exhale, folding forward, drop the head, crowning the palms if you can. Another, inhale, rising up, seeing the thumbs meet together and exhaling your way to samastitihi. Now we'll do two sun salutation B together. Exhale completely and I can inhale, bend your knees, hands up, see thumbs. Dwe exhale, fold forward, dropping the head, looking towards the nose. Trini, inhale, head up, look forward. Chaturthi, exhale, step or jump back, lower down with broad collarbones. Punch and inhale the chest forward through the shoulders, rolled back and down. Shat exhale, lifting the hips, arriving in downward facing dog. Sapta, inhale, pivoting onto the left big toe mound, stepping the left heel down, the right foot forward with the heels in a line, the right knee stays deeply bent. Arms lift, see your thumbs meet. And ashta, exhale, the hands down pivoting and stepping the right foot back into chaturanga. Nava, inhale, upward facing dog. Dasha, exhale, downward facing dog. Ekadasha, inhale, pivoting and stepping the right heel down, the left foot forward. Arms up, see your thumbs meet. And Dvadasha, exhale, hands down, left foot back, chaturanga dandasana. Triyogdasha, inhale, upward facing dog. Chaturdasha, exhale, downward facing dog. Breathing and maintaining a position in stillness. One, really spreading the fingers so much that your thumbs may point towards one another. Two, staying grounded through the index root knuckle, rooting deeply into the mat. Three, and at the same time rolling the tricep area forward to the face. Four, so you get that space between the ear and shoulder. Five, panchadasha, inhale, step or hop the feet forward, head up, long spine. And shodhasha, exhale, fold forward, drop the head downwards.

Saptadasha, inhale, bend your knees, keeping the knees together, raising the arms together, exhale, stand tall into samastitihi. Last one, ahekam, inhale, bend your knees, arms up, dweh, exhale, fold forward, drop the head. Trini, inhale, head up. Chatwari, exhale, jump back, chaturanga. Punch, inhale, upward facing dog. Shaat, exhale, downward facing dog. Sapta, inhale, right foot forward, arms up. Ashta, exhale, hands down, chaturanga. Nava, inhale, upward facing dog. Dasha, exhale, downward facing dog. Dhekadasha, inhale, left foot forward, arms up, see your thumbs. Dvadasha, exhale, all the way into chaturanga. Triyogdasha, inhale, upward facing dog. Chaturgdasha, exhale, into downward facing dog. One, two, three. Four, five. Pancharasha, inhale, jump forward, feet together, head up. Shorsha, exhale, folding forward. Saptarasha, inhale, bend your knees, see your hands together, exhale, stand tall into samastitihi. And now the one-legged balance postures begin here. Utthita hasta parangustasana.

So take your left hand and grab udiyana bandha, the fingertips wrapping around the front of the left hip, grounding deeply through the left big toe mound, straighten the left leg and inhaling, draw the right leg up. Ekam, it may be available for you to keep the right leg straight as you reach it all the way up and grab the big toe mound. Or you may have to bend the knee to grab the big toe and then straighten the leg. Or if that's not available to you, if you feel that you cannot straighten the leg comfortably, you may be using a strap, taking it into the right hand while keeping the left hand still grounded on udiyana bandha. Now from any of those positions, dvay, exhale, poking the big toe mound forward, the right big toe mound folds forward as the right shoulder rolls back and down, one. And you may be leaning forward towards balancing, two. Or it may be that you're just working on standing straight up and down, three, with a comfortable one-legged balance. Four, try to keep the left leg straight, left fingertips always staying on the hip. Five, three, and you just inhale, lengthen the spine, standing straight up. And then chatwari, exhaling, keeping the right sitting bone down, bring the right leg over to the right side, and look over your left shoulder. One, make sure that your right sitting bone points down to your left heel. Two, avoid the temptation to raise the right hip up. Three, so that you feel the hips are still more or less in a horizontal line. Four, feeling udiyana bandha under the left fingertips. Five, punch, inhale, draw the foot back to the center, look to the center. Chat, exhale, lean forward towards touching. You might touch, you might not. Sapta, inhale, draw the head back up straight, keeping the foot elevated. Take both hands to the hips and breathe. One, make sure that both legs are straight and strong. Two, if you feel that you're unable to keep the leg straight, three, just lower the foot a bit and then straighten the leg. Four, but operating with the left leg straight as well is very important. Five, exhale, slowly lower the leg right back to samastitihim. Second side, ashta, inhaling, shifting weight to the right foot and then drawing the left leg up straight if you can manage it or bending the knee to catch the toe and then straightening the leg. Nava, exhale. Again, you're welcome to use a strap and you don't need to fold forward into the complete posture. One, instead work on finding some balance, some equilibrium. Two, and do try to feel that both legs are straight and strong. Three, keeping the breath. Four, and the right fingertips feel Uddiyana Bandha. Five, dasa, inhale, the head up only with a straight spine. Ekadisha, keeping the left sitting bone down. Exhale and bring the left leg over to the left side, looking over the right shoulder. One. Two, see if you can find every exhalation, engaging the Bandha. Three, and every inhalation floating the chest high. Four. Five, Dwadasa, inhale, draw the straight leg back to the center and look forward. Trayogdisha, exhale, leaning forward. Chaturgdisha, inhale, the head up. Both hands take the waist. One, and you leave the foot hanging in space. Two, make sure you're not leaning back with the spine. Instead, keep the back top of the head lifted straight up. Three. Four, making sure the right leg, standing leg is straight as well. Five, exhale and draw the feet together in Samastitihi.

Ardabhara Padmottanasana. Ekam, inhale, leaning way to the left side, draw the right foot up but this time, bend the knee. Make sure that the knee feels absolutely comfortable throughout this process so you'll be able to take any modification that serves you as long as the right knee feels comfortable. Reach your left hand under your right ankle, reach your right hand under your right shin and see that this still feels comfortable as perhaps the foot, the right foot raises to the same height as the right knee. If that felt pinchy already, straighten the leg in space, simply cross the shins or take a very modified tree posture and work on one-legged balance. With time, the practice will open the right hip and this will all become available to you. So take your time. If it's comfortable to be in this posture with the right foot, the same height as the right knee, dorsiflex the right foot, so draw the toes towards the midline, towards the center, you could balance here. One. Or if it's still comfortable, you could draw the heel towards the abdomen. Two. Perhaps even dropping the knee towards the mat as long as it's comfortable in the right knee. You could draw the right hand behind the back, taking the left arm. Three. Or maybe even taking the right foot and with an exhale folding forward, the left hand outside the left foot. Four. Five. And if you have gone forward, Ashta, inhale, lift the head, lengthen the spine, look forward, exhale here, just exhale. Maybe you bend the left knee. Nava, inhale, coming up, keeping the left hand empty, holding the right foot with the right hand as you find yourself standing straight back up. And then punch. Exhale, leaving the leg, straightening the leg in space, and then letting the leg come down into Samastitihi. The second side, shut, inhale, weight to the right foot, standing tall through the right leg, draw your left foot up and be careful and conscious of the difference between the sides. You may be in any one of the modifications previously explored, simply holding the left foot up high. One. Or feeling that you could draw the left heel in towards the abdomen. Two. Perhaps just binding the left hand to the right behind you and balancing here. Three. Or again, you might take the foot, and if it's comfortable, folding forward. Four. Five, Ashta, inhale, the head up only. Exhale here, you can bend your right knee. And Nava, inhale, coming up with the right hand, absolutely empty. And then exhale, straightening the left leg in space and finding your way back to Samastitihi at the top of the mat.

So having explored the one-legged balance postures, now we'll look into what I refer to as the warrior sequence. It's the first time when we start to introduce vinyasas, like mini sun salutation A's that link together postures. And we'll keep that practice going with us through the entire Arshtanga practice. The pose will be utkatasana, but we start in Samastitihi like a sun salutation A. Exhaling completely. Ekam, inhale with straight legs. Bring the hands together. Reach up and see your thumbs. Still with straight legs to A. Exhale, fold forward, dropping the head down. Trini, inhale, head up. Chatwari, exhale, stepping or hopping back to Chaturanga. Panchi, inhale, upward-facing dog. Charexhale, downward-facing dog. Exhaling completely and down dog. And then sapta, inhale, hopping the feet forward with the knees bent and the feet come close to the top of the mat. The knees stay bent as you still inhale, raise the arms upwards, inserting extra breath as you need to, one, but eventually taking it so that you can hop into this posture in one breath. Two, keeping the knees together and the shoulders rolling down the back. Three, the tailbone in a neutral place so neither sticking all the way out nor tucked all the way under. Four, and five. Keeping the knees bent, exhale and put the chest forward towards the thighs. Place the hands down to the front corners of the mat. And ashta, inhale, lean forward and lift your feet up. Navachatwari, step or jump back to Chaturanga dandastha. Asha, inhale, upward-facing dog. And karasha, exhale, downward-facing dog. Virabhadrasna A, sapta, inhale, pivoting on the left root knuckle, step the left heel way at the back of the mat with the left heel pressing down, step the right foot way forward. So your step winds up very long, keeping the right knee very bent, drawing the arms up, ideally still in one inhale and breathe. One. Two, you may find the left thigh internally rotating to keep the hips slightly more squaring towards the front. Three, the shoulders certainly square towards the front, towards the right side. Four. And the eyes settle under the thumbs. Five. Ashta, inhale, straighten your right leg, pivot on your feet to change the side. And exhaling, bend your left knee, letting the eyes settle under the thumbs. One. The left knee stays deeply bent and the step should feel very long to you. Two. Again, squaring the shoulders to the left side of your mat.

Three. Every exhalation, feeling the belly dry in. Four. And every inhalation still flooding the upper chest with breath. Five. Exhaling completely. And then nava, inhale, drawing your right hip, your right shoulder, your right hand back behind you. And dropping the left hand in front, gaze out over your left hand. One. As you wind up in Virabhadrasana B here. Two. Ideally the left knee staying bent the entire time. Three. And the right leg straight, even as the hips are open. Four. And every exhalation draws the belly in. Every inhalation floods the chest. Five. Inhale, straighten the left leg, pivot on the heels to change the side, keeping the step long. And dasa, exhale, bend your right knee, in Virabhadrasana B, gazing out over the right hand. One. Two. And don't be afraid to sit down and sink down deeply into the posture. Three. Four. Still feeling the length of the spine, the tailbone pointing down. The right knee just above the right ankle. Five. Exhaling, put your hands down at the front corner of the mat. Perhaps step your right foot halfway back with the heels lifting off the mat. Inhale, lift your left leg up straight, the right foot comes up. Exhaling, jump or step back. Upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. And from here, inhale, find yourself jumping or stepping into Dandasana, the neutral pose of the seated sequence. Feet together with straight legs. Wonderful. We've managed to complete the standing series and with time you'll be able to practice the sun salutations, the fundamental asanas and the poses we've just detailed, the one-legged balance and the warrior sequence all together. So keep practicing and feel free to join the next practice where we put them all together.