Teaching Peak Pose

Chapter 1

So what we're doing here is looking at preparatory poses that would warm and open all of those parts of the body. We start in the opening section, which is grounding and sitting, finding the center line to prepare for the balance. And then we just move into some really simple seated twist, Garuda arms to start warming through the shoulders, right? Then like any other opening section, warming the rest of the body, a little cat cow, moving back into down dog, taking the vinyasa to keep warming the body. Then in the middle section, right before the peak pose, we're moving through our sun salutes and our standing postures, again, generating heat, warming the body.

However, we're using standing postures that are related, right? So this whole setup for the peak pose are standing poses where the hips are open, right? Because we want open hips for our peak pose. So rather than emphasizing warrior one, we're looking at warrior two, and then corresponding poses like reverse warrior and triangle. We're also looking as much as possible to warm and open hamstrings and inner thighs.

So for instance, when we're in a pose like our Hanamanasana, that leg extension for the hamstring opening, and we turn the foot out to start opening that inner thigh, right? You can see the shape in our Hanamanasana with the leg opening, it's like the same shape that's going to lift into bird of paradise, similar to triangle, right? So whatever your peak pose is, look what's happening in that posture, and what would you need to do to warm and open to prepare to come into it, right? And in my practice, in my approach, the closing section after the peak pose wants to be kind of slow, steady, grounded, right? So after working that hard, after challenging the body, after challenging the body physically and energetically with kind of new territory, I think it's really lovely to slow it down and do more grounding, steady, seated postures, maybe some poses on the back.

If you love a backbend at the end of the practice, like I do, maybe a really sweet, gentle, supported backbend rather than a full urnbana nirasana, which is really intense for a lot of people. They've already worked so hard to explore that peak pose. They don't need another intense posture, right? So the closing is about settling, grounding, integrating. We also had this beautiful opportunity in this sequence to show two different bodies working with different expressions of some of the poses.

So bringing in blocks, using props, just modifying, maybe not coming as far into the pose. Really helpful to see all of that. The one last thing that I want to emphasize that I think is really beneficial and important in a peak pose sequence is to emphasize the stages of that posture. Because inevitably, in any class, you'll have people who can't come into the full pose. And what we want to do is set it up very slowly and very intentionally so that they can pause at their own edge, right?

Be with that. Breathe into that. What's going on in the body? Is it tightness in the hips? Is it tightness in the shoulders?

Is it everything? What do I need to work on? What do I want to open in order to keep moving forward towards that peak pose? So if you structure a sequence in this way, give that peak pose breathing room. It's not a 10-second experience.

It's not even a couple-minute experience. You want to really live with it and build it slowly and encourage your students to pause and stop at their own edge and really experience what's happening in their body there, right? It's a really exciting way to teach if you're looking to specifically develop certain aspects of the body, certain aspects of the practice. So experiment with this. Let us know how it works in your own body with your students.

We'd love to hear from you and enjoy.

Chapter 2

Thank you both so much for being with us. I also wanted to speak to just a couple aspects of the practice. We're going to be building into a peak pose, bird of paradise. And in some of the postures along the way, we'll be showing different variations. Amy will be working with two blocks in some poses.

And as you can see, Andrea is sitting on a blanket. So in the opening section, we'll play with those. And throughout the practice, we'll weave the blocks back in. I think we're ready. Yeah, here we go.

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

As you can see, there are lots of options. We have Andrea propped up just a little on a blanket. And we have Amy on two blocks in Virasana, our hero's pose. So feel into your knees, your hips, your body, and take what feels best for you. And then once you're grounded, finding a soft gaze or let the eyes close.

Begin to feel into the movement of your breath and gradually intentionally let the breath begin to expand. The inhales move out in all directions, front, back, both sides of the rib cage down to the base of the lungs and all the way up under the collarbone. And with each exhale, just letting it all go. Using these first few moments to transition from whatever came before to draw your awareness and your energy back home to your body, your center, your breath. And in so doing, we start to connect with that center line, with the length of the spine, the central channel, a connection with that center will be really helpful throughout the flow of the practice as we move into more challenging balance postures.

So contacting that now, kind of drawing the energy in towards the midline. And then sustaining that soft gaze or keeping the eyes closed, let's draw the hands to prayer at the heart center if it resonates for you silently, internally setting an intention for your practice. And then simply taking a soft bow forward to yourself for showing up on the mat. And as you're ready, lifting the head, gently letting the eyes open and with the inhale, let's reach the arms out and up. And then interlacing the fingers, exhale, press the palms to the sky, keep the shoulders soft down the back, the neck really soft and supple.

We'll keep this for a big inhale. And with the exhale, simply ease over to the right. The left hip bone stays heavy. Your choice, you can keep a soft gaze down to the earth or you might lift the gaze up and under the left arm, another breath into that left side body. With your inhale, come back to the center line.

And with your exhale, just ease to the left, heavy through the right hip bone, soft gaze to the earth or up and under the right arm. Breathing through the waist, the ribcage and up into the shoulder. And with your next inhale, draw it back to center. And with the exhale, we'll twist to the right, hooking that left hand to the knee if you're seated or just drawing the left hand to the outer thigh if you're in Virasana. Gently gazing back over the right shoulder, let each inhale lengthen the torso.

And maybe there's just a little more space for the twist as you exhale. One more breath. Drawing it back to center, let the arms rise, inhale to reach. And with the exhale, twisting to the other side, gently gazing back, lengthening as you breathe in, gently deepening into it as you breathe out. One more breath here.

And then back to center again, inhale, reaching the arms to the sky. And from here with your exhale, swing your right elbow underneath your left. You can take the backs of the hands or the palms to touch, Garuda Arms. With the inhale, lift a little through the arms through the heart. And with the exhale, curl in a little, letting the mid and upper back round, drawing elbows towards heart or solar plexus.

Inhale again, rise. And exhale to curl in, breathing across the upper back and the back of the shoulders. Once again here, inhale, rise, exhale, curling in. This time, inhale, release the bind and reach all the way back up. And with the exhale, swing the left elbow under, back of the hands or palms touch.

Inhale, rise, lift the heart, lift the arms, exhale, curling in, pull the belly back to the spine. Inhale, rise, exhale, curl in. And then once again, inhale, rise, and exhale, draw it in. With the inhale, release the bind, reach the arms all the way back up. And then take your time, especially if you're up on blocks, exhale, just release and start to transition forward, up onto the hands and the knees.

And with the hands under the shoulders, knees under the hips, finding really strong foundation through the hands, especially base of thumb and first finger, beautiful. Inhale to lift the tailbone, the heart, the gaze, moving into cacao, and exhale to round, pulling the belly to the spine, letting the head fall and the neck release. Good. Again, inhale, lifting, tailbone, heart, gaze. And exhale, round, releasing the head, belly to spine.

Yeah. Let's take three more on your own and feel free to play with us a little bit. You might circle the head, neck, shoulders, hips. You might circle through the whole torso, kind of feeling into what's going on in your body in this moment and taking a few breaths for whatever you feel for. Nice.

Yeah. You're welcome to stay with this as long as you'd like. As you feel ready, you'll gently draw yourself back to a neutral spine. And then take a big inhale as you tuck the toes and lifting from the center, exhale up and back, downward facing dog. And then play with this as much as you'd like.

Puddle the feet a little, shift the hips side to side, check out what's going on in the backs of the legs. We're really deepening into the hamstring muscles to build into our peak pose. So feeling into what's present there in this moment and starting to breathe into the backs of the legs. Let's give this three or four more breaths. Nice.

Still landing in the body, shedding the day, the distractions, whatever it is, finding the breath. And as you're ready, steady the body and your down dog. And we'll take a nice slow Vinyasa to begin with the inhale, ripple forward into plank pose. For this first cycle with the exhale, let's lower knees first and then come all the way down to the earth. And with the inhale, just a simple low cobra warming gently into the backbend.

And as you're ready on the exhale, moving it all the way up and back into downward facing dog. And then two more cycles, slowly building the pace, inhale to come forward in plank. Your choice, exhale, stay with knees first or shift to Chaturanga Dandasana. Exhale stay with your cobra or move to upward facing dog. And as you're ready from the center, exhale all the way back, downward facing dog.

One last cycle, inhale forward to plank, lowering knees or Chaturanga. Inhale to cobra or upward facing dog. And exhale all the way back, downward facing dog. Nice. Give this a breath again, back to center again and again.

And then slowly following the inhale, just walking the feet forward to the front of the mat. And as you do arrive easing down into Uttanasana, standing forward fold, the feet are about hips distance, welcome a gentle bend in the knees. You can drop the hands, you can hold opposite elbows, maybe stay neutral, maybe sway the torso a little side to side. At least three, four, five breaths here. Just continuing to shed those initial layers to let yourself land in the body and continuing to open through the backs of the legs and the muscles of the back.

Another breath here. If you're swaying, find center. If you have your elbows, just let the hands release to the earth. Keep that soft bend in the knees, keep the head heavy and the neck relaxed. And then slowly as you inhale, begin to roll the body all the way up to stand.

As you arrive, no rush, exhale, roll the shoulders down the back, beautiful. And then heel, toe the feet together, take the hands to prayer at the heart center for samasthiti, equal standing pause. Steady gaze, steady breath.

Chapter 5

In the middle section of the sequence, we're aiming to generate a lot more heat to start

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

You're just energetically descending as the sit bones lift up and back, shoulders rolling away from the ears, long through the spine and firmly rooted through the hands. The bottom of the next, exhale, soft bend in the knees, hop or step to the front of the mat. As you arrive, inhale just halfway, long spine and exhale, release back into the fold. With the next inhale, strong center, flat back, rise all the way up, reaching the arms to the sky and with the exhale, hands to the heart. Again, inhale to reach out and up and exhaling bow out and down.

Inhale halfway, rooting the hands, hop or step back with the exhale, lower knees or chaturanga, inhale cobra up dog and with your exhale all the way back, downward facing dog. For this cycle, we'll take three breaths, continuing to warm the body, to synchronize the breath and the body, letting the repetition of the sun salutes become a bit of a meditation for the whole body mind. Bottom of your exhale, soft bend in the knees, hop or step to the front of the mat. As you arrive, inhale, lengthen just halfway and exhale, bow and fold, beautiful, strong center, flat back, inhale, rise all the way up, reaching it out and with the exhale, draw the energy home to the heart. Last one, inhale to reach out and up.

Inhaling bow, out and down, inhaling halfway, root the hands, hop or step back with the exhale, lower knees or chaturanga, inhale, let the heart rise, cobra up dog and exhale all the way back, downward facing dog. Take a moment here, back to breath, back to center and intention, another breath or two. And then as you're ready, keep rooting down through the hands, strong through the upper body, with the inhale we'll take the right leg straight up and back, fairly neutral through the hips for now and with the exhale we'll simply step that foot forward and release the back knee down into a low lunge, hands on the front thigh, strong through the center so as the hips ease forward we feel that deep belly draw in and up which will deepen the opening through the left hip flexors. Taking a few breaths here, tall spine, soft through the shoulders, really deepening into the warming and the opening of the legs. Beautiful, let's keep this, take a big inhale and then with the exhale simply release the hands down to the earth and we'll draw the hips back for Arda Hanamanasana, beautiful, closer, neutral, finding your own edge and then inhale, lengthen out through the spine and exhale, deepen into the fold.

And we'll take a very slight variation of this pose today. You can keep it neutral if there's tension, tightness through the hips or you can start to turn the right foot out to the right a little or a lot, just go slowly, feel it in your own body. What we're aiming to do is warm and open the inner line of that right leg to stretch and open through the inner thighs, another breath or so here, beautiful. And then if the foot is turned out, draw it back to neutral, beautiful. With the next inhale start to guide the hips forward, bending the front knee.

With the exhale, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, pausing here, feel the strength in the legs, root through the feet, strong center, inhale directly up into a high lunge or crescent pose. And we'll take a moment here and then depending on your body, your shoulders, feel free to play with any variation with the arms and the hands. You might clasp the hands, draw the elbows out to cactus, play with it, whatever feels best, beautiful. About three more breaths, playing with the balance, playing with that center line of energy, beautiful, that's it. And as you're ready with the inhale, you'll simply reach the arms straight up framing the ears and with your exhale, release hands to the earth, stepping back into plank.

You can take the vinyasa or you can move directly into downward facing dog, always optional. Then we'll just weave into that on the second side as you're ready, inhale, take the left leg to the sky and with the exhale, step that left foot forward, releasing the back knee down to the earth, take the hands to the front thigh for a really simple rooted low lunge. As you slowly move the hips forward, keep drawing the belly in and up and even very slightly ease the torso back, deepening the stretch through the right hip flexors, spine is tall, shoulders are soft, gentle smile. Now, about one more breath. As you're ready on your exhale, simply release the hands down and start to draw the hips back for Ardha Hanamanasana, second side.

And again, finding your own edge and then inhale, simply lengthening out through the spine and exhale, deepening into the fold. And then again, if you have the mobility in that left hip, you'll slowly start to turn the left foot out a little or a lot on your own edge, opening through the inner line of the left leg and stretching through the inner left thigh as well as the hamstring muscles. Little more breaths here. If the foot is turned out, slowly drop back to the midline. And then with the next inhale, guiding the hips forward, bending the front knee.

With the exhale, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, pausing here, root through the feet, feel the strength in the legs, strong through the center. Inhale directly up into your high lunge, crescent pose, establish the foundation, feel that strength and then feel free to play with the arms, cactus or class, be side to side, breathing into the shoulders, playing with the balance, a few more breaths. As you feel ready with the inhale, draw the arms back up alongside the ears. With the exhale, simply release, hands to the earth, stepping straight back into plank pose again. You can take the vinyasa or you can move directly back into downward facing dog.

We'll meet in down dog and again, give the body a breath or two, coming back to center, feeling the breath. And from here, we're going to keep the feet where they are. And with your next exhale, start to walk the hands to the back of the mat. And when you find it, just a really soft, supple, uttanasana, easy forward fold, just for a breath or two. And then begin to open the feet a little bit wider than hips distance, turning the toes out the heels in and very slowly start to sink the sit bones down to the earth for malasana or yogi squat.

And you'll see this beautiful variation that Amy is demonstrating a block under the sit bones can be really supportive grounding. And if there is any vulnerability in the knee joints, this is a wonderful way to protect and support that the spine is tall, shoulders are soft down the back. And then we'll play with the variation here, keeping everything essentially the same, just extending the left arm inside of that left leg, reaching out through the left fingertips and taking a big inhale, reaching the right arm up and out to the sky. Yeah, you're welcome to stay right here as Amy will demonstrate. Or you can play with wrapping and binding around the left leg.

Both are opening through the front of the shoulders creating space. Yeah, just different expressions take what feels best. Beautiful. We'll stay for a big inhale. And with the exhale, simply release drop back to center and shift to the other side, extending out through the right arm, right fingertips and taking a big inhale, reaching the left arm up to the sky.

Feel the expanse through the chest and through the front of the shoulders. Sustain that or wrap and bind around the right leg. We're keeping a sense of stability and support through an engagement of the deep belly. We're keeping the spine nice and long and the shoulders soft down the back. One more breath here.

Yeah, we'll stay for the inhale. And with the exhale, drawing it back to center, simply releasing the hands to the earth and slowly letting the hips rise, coming back into that forward fold. Take a breath or two here, start to draw the feet back to about hips distance. And then inhale, just lengthen halfway, gently look forward. And with the exhale, walk the hands back to the front of the mat for downward facing dog.

Pausing here, take a breath. And then beginning to build the heat, moving into some standing postures. With your next inhale, take the right leg up to the sky. And with the exhale, go ahead and let the hip open, bending the knee, sending the left heel towards the earth. So we get this hip opening through the outer right hip, as well as the hamstring opening with the back of the left leg.

One more breath. And then inhale, reach it straight up to the sky. As you exhale, take the right knee outside of the right elbow and draw the belly to the spine, strong through the core. Inhale, take that right leg back to the sky. And with the exhale, step the right foot forward between the hands, bend the back heel down to the earth, opening on the inhale to warrior two, Virabhadrasana B.

Good, sitting down into it, soft through the shoulders, building the strength and the foundation beginning to build a little more heat in the body, a couple more breaths. Nice, foundation stays strong. With the inhale, reverse your warrior, reaching it back. You might slide the hand down the leg above or below the knee. You might wrap behind the back your variation.

We'll give this one more breath. And then inhale to rise, warrior two, and with the exhale extending out and then down for Trikonasana, triangle pose, let the right leg lengthen, place that right hand wherever you'd like on the earth, ankle, or a block. And always feel free to ease that back foot in a little if that serves the stance. Stability and balance. And a few breaths here.

One more breath, grounding through the feet, strong through the center. With the inhale, let's lift it back up into warrior two, beautiful. Exhale to reverse, reaching it back and stay here for a big inhale. And with the exhale, hands down, either side of the front foot, step back into your plank pose, lower as you choose or press back into downward facing dog. Inhale to cobra, up dog and exhale all the way back.

Forward facing dog, second side, inhale, left leg to the sky. And exhale, opening that hip, bending the knee. And again, the heel doesn't have to touch but sending it towards the earth to open the back of that right leg while also opening that outer left hip. One more breath. Inhale to reach it straight up.

And with the exhale, take the left knee outside of the left elbow, pull the belly to the spine, inhale, reach it back up. And with the exhale, step that foot forward, spin the back heel down to the earth, right arm reaches forward, open and back for warrior two, Virabhadrasana B. Softening from the shoulders down through the tailbone and rising from the belly up through the heart. Nice. We'll give this another breath or two.

And then a big inhale to reverse, reaching back, breathing space into the side body. One more breath. And then with the inhale, lift it back up into warrior two. And with the exhale, lengthening the left leg, reaching out and then down for triangle, second side. And again, place that left hand on the earth, ankle, shin, or as Amy is demonstrating on a block.

And then sending tailbone down towards the heel, draw the belly up towards the heart. And then roll the whole circle of the rib cage, open and up towards the sky. Just one more breath, pressing through the feet, inhale, lift it back up into warrior two. Just for a moment, exhale, reverse, reaching it back. Stay for a big inhale.

And with the exhale, hands to the earth, step back into plank pose. Your choice, lowering through the vinyasa or moving back into downward facing dog. Knees are chaturanga, up dog or cobra, and then all the way back. Beautiful. Give the body a breath or two here.

And then again, with the inhale, take the right leg to the sky, exhale, opening the hip, bending the knee, inhale, reach it back up. With the exhale, knee outside, right elbow, really strong through the center, inhale, reach it up. With the exhale, step that foot forward, spin the back heel down to the earth, return to warrior two, big inhale. Exhale, reverse, reach it back. Beautiful.

Inhale back to your warrior two and exhale directly into side angle. You're welcome to rest right forearm to thigh or take the hand to the earth, inner or outer edge of the front foot or on a block. A few more breaths here. Grounding through the feet, strong through the center, inhale, take it back up into warrior two. And then from here, as you exhale, we'll lengthen that right leg and spin the feet to parallel for Prasarita Padottanasana.

Hands to the hips for now, dropping down through the tailbone, inhale, lift the belly, lift the heart. And with your exhale, fold forward, taking the hands to the earth about shoulder distance. If you feel for the block, you're welcome to take the hands there. Exhale to lengthen and exhale to fold. As you can see with both Amy and Andrea, the hands are in line with the feet if that's not accessible to you and just wherever the hands can land.

Then easing yourself down into the fold, tipping a little weight into the front of the feet and breathing into the whole back body. More hamstring opening. From here, we're going to keep this foundation and then inhale, lengthen it about halfway up. And then with the exhale, start to walk the hands out in front, getting really long through the spine, energetically drawing back through the hips to counter that movement and then just melting down between the shoulder blades, softening the heart center towards the earth. Sometimes known as hammock pose, getting this sweet release through the heart and more opening through the front of the shoulders and the chest.

Another breath here. With the inhale, let the upper body rise just a little and with the exhale, walk the hands back in, essentially under the shoulders. Well come out of this slowly with a strong center, inhale again halfway up, keep the core engaged, exhale, take the hands to the hips, press through the feet, inhale all the way up. And with the exhale, let's turn back into warrior two towards the front of the mat. Feel the foundation, take a big inhale, exhale, hands to the earth, step back into plank pose and lower knees or chaturanga.

Inhale cobra up dog and exhale all the way back, downward facing dog together through the nose, we'll take a big inhale and go ahead and open the mouth, exhale, just let that all go, clearing it out. Second side, inhale left leg to the sky, exhale, open the hip, bending the knee, inhale back up and exhale, draw that knee outside of the elbow, strong through the center, inhale, reach it up and exhale, step that foot forward, spin the back heel to the earth, right arm opens you on the inhale, warrior two, exhale reverse, reach it back and with the inhale rise, warrior two, exhale directly into side angle, forearm to thigh, hand to earth, inner or outer edge, if you're close to the earth but not all the way down, you might rest the hand on the block and breathing for three, nice, pressing and rooting through the feet with the inhale drop back up into your warrior two and with the exhale go ahead and lengthen that leg, spin the feet to parallel, release the hands to the hips, just grounding here for a moment and then with the inhale reach the arms out and up and with the exhale interlace behind the back, inhale lifting through the heart and exhale fold forward, the legs stay really strong here engaging through the quad muscles to support the opening of the hamstring muscles and the arms go up and over, breathing into it and we'll give it one more breath and from here we stay in the fold but simply release the bind and take the hands down to the earth, moving very slowly here, we'll start to bend the right knee, toes are turning out a little bit, moving towards skandhasana and you'll see different variations here, we really want to honor Amy's knees so not coming too far into it or really deep bend sit bones almost all the way to the earth, again meeting this at your own edge, mindful of the knees, breathing into the inner thigh muscles, the hamstring muscles, one more breath on this side and then inhale drop back to the center line and exhale a slow bend in the left knee with the toes turning out, listening to the body just take it as far as feels best, you'll also see the two variations of hands on the earth especially if you need more support for that knee or the hands to the heart, we'll give this one more breath and then inhale meeting back in the center line, exhale just to ground here, inhale lengthening halfway up again strong through that center, exhale hands to the hips, pressing through the feet inhale rise all the way up and exhale spinning back to warrior two towards the front of the mat, beautiful take a big inhale and with the exhale hands to the earth, step back into plank pose through the vinyasa or let it go, knees are chaturanga, cobra, up dog and all the way back, downward facing down, another cleansing breath through the nose, a big inhale out the mouth, exhale from here with your next exhale you'll simply release the knees down to the earth and pause drawing the hands under the shoulders neutral spine, so after generating all of that heat, warmth, energy in the body we're going to start to move it into deeper shoulder opening in preparation for our peak pose, so for now both hands are rooted spine is neutral, we'll keep the left hand down and then with the inhale reach the right arm out and up to the side and with the exhale thread the arm under coming to the back of that right shoulder easing down to the side of the head, you're welcome to keep the left hand rooted or inhale reach the left arm up, breathing into this opening across the upper back through the back of the shoulders as those right fingertips the right arm reaches away you're energetically moving in the opposite direction through the back of the heart, one more breath and then if we've moved the left arm walked it forward reached it up we just draw it back basically under the shoulder rooting it down and with the next inhale take the right arm all the way up to the sky and with the exhale release back to hands and knees neutral spine for a breath give the body just a moment to integrate and with the next inhale reach the left arm out and up and with the exhale thread it under feeling into this side might be a little different the right hand can root it can reach up it can walk out and then again as you're reaching out through that left arm left fingertips the back of the heart between the shoulder blades moves in the opposite direction which really deepens the stretch across the upper back through the back of the shoulders another moment or two here if we move the right arm at all we draw it back planting the hand essentially under the shoulder and with your next inhale reach the left arm back to the sky and with the exhale release to hands and knees again pausing here spine is neutral drawing the energy back to that center line and then we'll keep this for a big inhale hips essentially as is with the exhale walking the hands out nice and long through arms and spine for anahatasana and take this just as far as feels good releasing down under the forehead or the chin let the heart relax to the earth and that sweet spot right around the back of the heart right between the shoulder blades surrenders softens melts down one more breath here and then very slowly feel a slight engagement of the core for this transition inhale lift back up onto the hands and the knees pause for the exhale and then big inhale talk the toes and exhale press it back into your downward facing dog give the body a breath here

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14