It’s that time of the school year again. The time when I am acutely aware of how many days and hours and brain cells I’ve put in but when we’re not close enough to think about being almost done. Past experience tells me there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but I’m not quite close enough to see it yet.
It’s draining. In the classroom, we’re doing some of our most difficult academic work of the year. In the boardroom, budgets are being decided: who will get less, who will get even less. In the offices and orientations and after school clubs and upcoming summer programs, everyone wants something from me.
It’s especially important for me to be gentle with my practice right now, to use yoga as a time to give back — energy, grounding, peace, security — to myself.
I’m really loving this sequence right now. While it is gentle for me, it’s also a combination of some flowing movements, some stiller postures, and some even longer held yin poses. Additionally, with a little bit of heart opening and a little bit of standing work — but nothing too ambitious — it’s a sequence I find energizing as well as grounding.
Since I like it so much — and since I may not be able to think of much else to write for the foreseeable future — I thought I’d put it here.
Kickass Gentle Sequence:
- I start with a backbendy version of reclined bound angle, though I like my back block horizontal and my head block on “low.” But different people will adjust for different bodies and preferences. I hang out here for 1-2 minutes, maybe longer if, you know, inertia.
- Then a few rounds of a modified vinyasa that goes: child’s pose –> inhale to all fours –> exhale and lower to the floor –> inhale to cobra –> exhale back down –> inhale back to all fours –> exhale to child’s pose. I come back to this a few times, so, yes, it’s probably worth writing out here. For a first pass, I think I do maybe 3 repetitions.
- A variation of child’s pose with my arms crossed rather high up, like the first stage of eagle arms. It’s an awesome shoulder stretch, and I want to be sure to credit this video from Ekhart Yoga as my source. I stay here for maybe a minute on each side with a round of the above mentioned vinyasa in between.
- This knee down side plank with some shoulder circles, both because I like the movement in my upper body and because moving the arm while keeping the rest of the body stable is an interesting balance challenge. I do maybe 5 arm circles, take another kneeling vinyasa, and repeat on the other side.
- A lunge flow that rocks between low lunge and half hanumanasana for 5 rounds, then holds the forward bend for 5 breaths, then moves into this twisting quad stretch. With a strap if my hand does not reach my foot that day. (It varies.) I hang out in the final stretch for about a minute — because both my quads and my spine heart it — then vinyasa and do the other side.
- Down dog for 5 breaths, usually bending my knees or pedaling my feet. After that, some down dog twist for 5 breaths on each side.
- I come standing at the top of my mat and take a few rounds of half forward fold to forward fold. Usually some number between two and eight feels good to me. But whatever.
- A standing balance series that goes: padanghustasana, then revolved open toward the raised leg, then twisted (though of course, I still do the bent-knee variation; this is a gentle practice, after all).
- Back to the floor: Usually it’s through forward fold, down dog, and hands and knees. Occasionally, I get the thought to add a conventional vinyasa in there, but it absolutely works fine without.
- Moving into yin, some cat pulling its tail. Like in the lunging quad stretch, a strap is an option here, though I tend not to want it as much as I do in the kneeling posture. Also because the motion is largely the same as in the lunge variation — though the relationship to gravity is different — I don’t always stay for the full 3-5 minutes yin suggests, though I do always stay for at least 2 (and often 3). As you may have noticed a pattern forming — yes, I take a kneeling vinyasa in between and repeat on the second side.
- Some yin deer, though I’m sure pigeon would be a fine substitute for people who prefer it here. As it happens, I tend to take this pose in fairly pigeon sort of way, folded forward over my front shin — which creates for me a strongish stretch in the outer front hip (though not as strong as pigeon with the back leg straight) and a lighter stretch along the front of the back hip. Again, here for 2-3 minutes, then modified vinyasa to the other side.
- After one last kneeling vinyasa, it’s time for some reclining poses. Keeping with the yin timeline, I probably stay in each one here for another 2-3 minutes. First, I take legs up the wall — with an actual wall if at home, on a block if in class (we do not have wall space for all of us). Then back to supta baddha konasana. Then it’s time for savasana — or maybe I just stay in the bound angle. It varies.
While this is a gentle practice for me, I suppose I should point out that it’s not a particularly short practice. It ranges from about 40 minutes to just under an hour, depending on exactly how long I’m holding the poses. (So it’s not exceedingly long, either — but it’s not a quick practice.) I kind of like it that way, actually. Just because I’m doing less in terms of physical intensity doesn’t automatically mean I should be doing less in terms of creating time for myself.