Continued from here.
Modified Sun Salutes:
A lot of the modifications here involve skipping or modifying individual poses in the sun salute. So I’ll go through the poses in smaller segments, noting where I offer verbal alternatives to my students.
- Chair pose, held for 5 breaths [options: shorter hold, or skip it entirely] to forward fold.
- Go through a chaturanga/backbend (cobra or updog), or proceed directly to downward facing dog.
- From down dog, inhale to slide forward into plank; then exhale to slide back into down dog. That’s one. Repeat for a total of 5 [options: fewer reps, just hold down dog, or take a child's pose] plank-to-down-dog-thingies.
- Step or jump forward. Through uttanasana, come back into chair pose and hold for another 5 breaths [same chair options as before]. Then come to stand.
In class, I lead my students through 2 of these. Alone, I might do 3 to 5. Or not.
Boat:
A few options on boat pose twist [links to video].
- Option one involves placing the hands behind — for support — and keeping the tiptoes on the ground, also for support.
- Option two involves placing the hands behind for support but lifting the legs off the ground, as shown in the video.
- The last option involves lifting both the hands and legs, as shown in the video.
In class, I like to go through 3 rounds of 3 repetitions each in order to give folks the ability to try each option. On my own, I’m more likely to do something like 2 rounds of 5 reps each.
Backbends:
- A half camel flow, spending one breath on each side, and repeating — both sides — for 3 or so rounds.
- One or maybe two rounds of full camel (where “full” = “both sides,” not necessarily “hands all the way back to heels”). I say I hold each for around 5 breaths, but I only start counting once I’m fully in the pose — and I take 2 or 3 breaths (or more) to get there.
- If I’m practicing alone, I might take either kapotasana or wheel pose for the same amount of time. Or not, depending.
Cool Down:
- Upavistha konasana usually, because it’s my favorite, but another seated (or reclined) forward fold would probably work just as well. The time I stay here totally approximately one trillion years. Or, like, a couple of minutes. You know.
- A reclined spinal twist. I like to make it an easier — so, for me, less twisty-tangly — spinal twist, so that it’s one I can relax and sink into for awhile. Again, here for approximately one trillion years, half on each side.
- Savasana.
So, yeah. It can be a lot of hard physical work, but for me, it’s hard physical work in a way that I find fun. I like the balance challenges of the traveling planks and the boat twists. And yes, I fall down reasonably often, but that’s part of what reminds me not to take my hard work so seriously.