Yoga Class by Katy Wright – Part 7

Chair – chair twist – revolved lunge – high lunge – downward dog – RIGHT

Come to the front of your mat and bring your feet together. Take a few breaths here and bring yourself into the present moment – let any distracting thoughts drift away with each exhale. And on the inhales, draw in energy for your practice…

Our first posture today is chair pose, so on your next inhale, bend your knees and swing your arms up to wherever it’s good for you… And as you exhale, bring your hands into prayer position, in front of your chest.

We’re going to put a twist in the posture now, so prepare for that on the next inhale, by lifting and lengthening through the upper body. As you exhale, turn to your right and see if you can put your left elbow on the outer edge of your right knee. If it’s not possible, just take the twist a little higher.

The main thing is to keep both knees pointing forward – the twist should come from your spine, not your hips, even though they’ll want to swing round in the same direction as your chest.

Inhale here… And as you exhale, transfer your weight into your right foot… Find your centre of gravity and then bring your left heel away from the mat… Again, steady yourself, and then lift your left foot off the mat.

Keeping your arms where they are now, extend your left leg behind you and step back – this should bring you into a revolved lunge. That means your back leg should be strong and straight!

Meanwhile, you can continue to press your left elbow against your right knee, and vice versa, so move deeper into the twist.

Now from our revolved lunge, we’re going to come up to a high lunge on an inhale, straightening the front leg when we get there… Then bend your knee again as you exhale and bring your hands down either side of your right foot and step back to downward dog.

Child’s pose

And from downward dog straight into child’s pose… So toes together, knees apart, and hips on or close to your heels. Recover your breath if it’s become short… And then we’re ready to do the sequence on the opposite side.

Down dog – forward fold – halfway lift – fold – chair – chair twist – revolved lunge – high lunge – downward dog – LEFT

So first press back into downward dog, and from there you need to walk your feet forward so you can come into a forward fold… Inhale as you come up halfway… And exhale, fold back down… And on the next inhale, bend your knees and sweep your arms up (keeping your shoulders back and down!) as you come into chair pose.

And as you exhale, bring your hands into prayer position, in front of your chest.

Next step: the twist. First, we need to lift the chest with the inhale, and then we take the twist to the left on the exhale.

How are your knees doing? Are they parallel and pointing forward?

Inhale here… And as you exhale, transfer your weight into your left foot… Engage your core, but keep your breath flowing smoothly as you bring your right heel away from the mat this time… And when you’re ready, lift your entire right foot off the mat, so it’s hovering above the ground.

Now, with control, extend your right leg behind you and step back into revolved lunge.

While you take a couple more breaths in the posture, make any necessary adjustments… Maybe you could contract your quads on your right leg, firm up your core, or bring your left knee in line with your left foot…

Take your deepest twist on the final exhale, then inhale as you come up to a high lunge. Straighten your left leg to give it a rest… Then bend your knee again as you exhale and bring your hands down either side of your left foot and step back to downward dog.

Child’s pose

And from downward dog straight into child’s pose… When you’re settled, bring your awareness to your breath and watch it become slower and smoother again.

Iron man – iron man 2 (locust)

Come out of child’s pose and onto your stomach, ready for ‘iron man’… Your arms should be stretched out behind you, about 30 centimetres away from your body, palms turned down. If your toes are tucked under, come onto the tops of your feet.

Roll your shoulders back, and lift your chest and arms away from the mat as you inhale. Push into the tops of your feet and you’ll feel your leg muscles activating…

Keep the back of your neck long by keeping your gaze ahead of you, rather than above you. And use your inhales and your deep back muscles to keep lifting your upper body away from the mat.

Next time you exhale, lower yourself down and turn your head to one side, so you’re resting on your cheek.

Come back to the centre with an inhale… Empty your lungs… And then on the inhale, lift your chest, arms and legs away from the mat. At first, it might just be your feet and lower legs that come up, but as your body gets stronger, you’ll be able to lift your thighs away too.

Don’t forget about the front of the posture: keep rolling those shoulders back and down, and use your inhales to bring your chest a bit higher. The exhales will naturally lower you a little. Enjoy this ebb and flow as you take a couple more breaths in the posture.

And with the next exhale, come back down, resting on the opposite cheek this time.

Knee to chest – supine twist – RIGHT

Now come onto your back and lay down flat on the mat. And then bring your right knee in towards your chest, with your hands around the front of the shin or the knee. Take your knee just outside of your body and gently draw your knee in a little closer each time you breathe out.

From here, we’re going to take a twist, so put your left hand on your right knee, and stretch your right arm out, so your hand is in line with your shoulder. Inhale here, and as you exhale, gently draw your right knee across your body and towards the left side of your mat.

Keep your right shoulder down as you take the twist. This will make it more difficult to bring your right knee to the mat – if that’s the case, you can rest that knee on a block if you want to. One last thing to do: turn your gaze towards your right hand.

Try to relax into the posture – let go of any tension that built up, or any resistance in the body… That’s what this spinal twist is for – we’re ‘resetting’ the spine after doing some strong back strengthening in iron man.

Now come back up to the centre… Give your right knee one more hug, bringing it close to your body,  then extend your leg along the mat… Take a single breath here, and then switch sides.

Knee to chest – supine twist – LEFT

Just like before, hug your left knee towards you – gently easing out any tightness in the hip. Allow the knee to move away again each time you breathe in. Work with the breath…

Next, you’re going to put your right hand on your left knee, and stretch your left arm out to the side. Going into the twist, remember to keep that left shoulder down as your draw your left knee across your body and towards the right side of your mat.

Lastly, turn your gaze towards your left hand.

We want to feel the twist in the spine, so keep your left shoulder down in this pose. One trick for making this easier is to empty the lungs completely – when we exhale in this way, the lower abdomen naturally contracts, creating space for the twist to deepen.

Come back up to the centre… Give your left knee one more hug towards your body, then extend your leg along the mat…

Double knee hug

Wrap your arms around your knees, and gently draw them closer to your body with each exhale, so you feel a good stretch in you lower back.

Corpse pose – overhead supine stretch

And when you’re ready, place your feet back on the mat and either leave them there, with your knees bent, or stretch your legs out along the mat and let your feet fall out to the sides. Your arms should be stretched out too – a few inches away from your body – and your palms turned up towards the ceiling.

Do what you need to do to feel comfortable and even throughout your body – get all your niggles and jiggles out, so you can completely relax into the posture.

Keep your awareness on your breath, noticing the cool air moving through your nostrils and into your lungs as your breath in…. And the warm air leaving your body as you breathe out.

If your mind is wandering, that’s totally normal! Just gently come back to the breath each time you realise your thoughts have strayed. Important thoughts always come back later anyway, so you can afford to let them go for now. Just enjoy this moment…

We’re going to begin ‘waking up’ the body now with some small movement of the fingers and toes… the wrists and ankles… arms and legs… Take your arms over head, bring your legs apart and stretch your whole body like a starfish! Doesn’t that feel good??!

Seated position

Now slowly come back up to a seated position – any way it feels good you – kneeling, crossed legs, knees drawn to your chest… And take a big breath in, and then slowly let it out.

Well done, you did it!