Yoga Class by Katy Wright – Part 9

Standing – mountain + arm lift – forward fold – halfway – forward fold – plank – down dog

From a solid standing position, with your feet hip distance apart, bring your arms up on an inhale and swan dive forward as you exhale. Inhale halfway – lengthen the spine. And exhale to forward fold. Inhale as you step back to plank. And exhale to downward facing dog.

Take a few breaths in downward dog, bending your knees so you can lift through the site bones and draw length into the spine and sides of the body. And try lowering one heel at a time, to stretch out the backs of the legs.

Down dog knee to nose – downward dog knee to right arm – knee to left elbow – RIGHT

Now from downward dog, take your right leg back behind you as you inhale, and as you exhale, draw your knee towards your nose. Keep the foot lifted – we’re not stepping down this time.

Inhale as you take your right leg back again, and exhale as you bring your knee to your upper right arm this time. Engage your core, lift through your mid-to upper back – this will create space for you to bring the knee further through.

Okay, inhale, bring the leg back again… And exhale as you draw your knee through to your left elbow, which will work your oblique muscles.

‘Crooked triangle’ – RIGHT

Now from this position, extend your right leg, so that it comes under your body and across the left side of your mat – you’ll be resting on the outer edge of your foot. And your left foot will now be flat on the mat. You’re then going to open your body to the left, bringing you left arm up towards the ceiling, while you support yourself with your right arm.

Downward dog – knees – shake out

To come out of the pose, bring your left hand down, draw the left leg back through and step back to downward dog. Come onto your knees and shake out your wrists – they’ve been working hard, supporting you throughout that sequence!

Downward dog knee to nose – downward dog knee to right arm – knee to left elbow – LEFT

Okay, back up to downward dog and let’s repeat the sequence on the left side.

Inhale as you send your left leg back behind you this time… Exhale, draw your knee towards your nose. Try not to let your foot drop down – keep your heel as close to your body as possible.

Inhale and take your leg back again… Exhale – the knee comes to the upper left arm.

One more to go… Inhale, bring the leg back again… And exhale as you draw your knee through to your right elbow. Hold for a breath…

‘Crooked triangle’ – LEFT

…And then straighten your left leg as you bring it under your body and out across the right side of your mat for ‘crooked triangle’. You’re resting on the outer edge of your foot. And your right foot is flat on the mat. Now open your body to the right, bringing your right arm up towards the ceiling, while you support yourself with your left arm. Stay strong in the posture for one more breath…

Downward dog – child’s pose – wrist stretch

And exhale back to downward dog and into child’s pose… Now, we’re going to release some of the tension from the wrists, so turn your palms up and make a fist with each hand. The draw each fist towards your head, so you feel a good stretch across the back of the wrists.

Downward dog – runner’s lunge – pyramid – downward dog – RIGHT

Next posture… Come back to downward facing dog, lift your right leg and step through to runner’s lunge – for this, you’re putting your foot outside of your right hand, not between the hands. The back leg stays straight, or you can drop down onto your knee if that’s too much.

If the leg is straight and you feel you can go further, walk your hands out in front of you – maybe even drop down onto your forearms. You’re going to really feel the stretch across the front of your left hip and inside the right hip. But if you end up with a rounded spine and a closed chest, lift back out of the posture enough for you to open the chest again.

Wherever you’ve been working in runner’s lunge, come onto your hands, so you can walk your left foot up the mat and plant it flat on the mat, ready for pyramid pose…

You want your right foot pointing forward, and your leg should be almost straight – keep a small bend in the knee to avoid over-stretching the back of it. Your hips should be ‘square’ with the short edge of your mat.

You can put your hands on the floor, your shins, on blocks or on your waist, and keep your chest open and your spine long.

Downward dog – runner’s lunge – pyramid – downward dog – LEFT

To come out of pyramid, bend your front knee and take your hands to the floor, so you can step back to downward dog, ready to do it all again on the opposite side.

From downward dog, lift your left leg back this time and exhale as you step through to runner’s lunge – so the foot comes to the outside of your left hand. The back leg is either straight, or you’re resting on your knee.

So remember, if you have your back leg straight and you feel you can go further, walk your hands out in front of you or come down onto your forearms… As you inhale, imagine that the breath is filling up your hips… And as you exhale, feel all the tightness in your hips melting away.

Ready for pyramid? Okay, walk your right leg up the mat and bring your heel down…

Your left foot should be pointing forward, and the leg almost straight – remember that small bend in the knee.

Put your hands on the floor, your shins, on blocks or on your waist, and draw forward through the crow of the head as you simultaneously send the hips back. Take a couple more breaths here…

And then on an exhale, bend your front knee, take your hands to the floor, and step back to downward dog. Take a nice long inhale here, and exhale through an open mouth…

Frog pose – frog twist LEFT – frog twist RIGHT – wide forward fold – down dog

From downward dog, walk your feet to the front of your mat and take them a little wider than your hips – about the width of your mat.

Turn your toes out and come down to a low squat, knees pointing in the same direction as your toes, hands in front of your chest in prayer position. If you can get your elbows in front of your knees, pressing back into the knees will help lift the chest.

You can stay in frog pose if that feels good for you. Or, we can stretch out the shoulders by taking a twist either side.

To do this, place your right hand either inside or in front of your right foot. Put your left hand on the inside of your left knee, and, as you take your left shoulder back, guide the left knee in the same direction, so the left side of your body begins to open out. Meanwhile, make sure your right arm isn’t collapsing inward – push the elbow into the knee, to keep your hips nice and wide.

If it’s all going well so far, you might want to extend your left arm up to the ceiling, whilst pressing into the right hand. Avoid letting the right shoulder collapse inward – keep the shoulder joint stable.

Exhale as you bring the arm down and we’ll set up on the other side.

So this time, put your left hand either inside or in front of your left foot. Put your right hand on the inside of your right knee, and, as you take your right shoulder back, guide the right knee in the same direction.

Make sure your left arm isn’t collapsing inward – find a stable position – and then, if you want to go further, take your right hand towards the ceiling. Each time you inhale, feel the chest opening a little more, and with the exhales, let yourself move a little further into the twist.

Come back to the centre and straighten your legs – keep them wide – and shake out your body in a loose forward fold. When you’re done, put your hands back on the floor, walk your feet in so they’re hip-width apart, and walk your hands forward to come into downward facing dog.

Runners lunge variation – twist – quad stretch – downward dog – RIGHT

Inhale as you take you right leg back, exhale into runners lunge – stepping the foot outside the hand. Now come down onto your left knee and put your left hand on the outer edge of your mat. Your right hand needs to be on the inside of your right knee, so that as you open your body to the right, you can gently take your right knee out. You can come onto the outer edge of your right foot for this.

Now if you can go a little further, bend your left knee and draw the heel towards you. Inhale as you reach up with your right arm and see if you can reach back for your foot on the exhale. Don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen! Your body just needs a bit more time to open up, so come back to the previous position.

If you have caught hold of the foot, focus on bringing your hips forward and down, whilst maintaining the twist through the spine, so your chest is facing the side of your mat.

To come out of the posture, release your foot, bring your hands back to the mat, and step back to downward facing dog. You might have to bend you knees a bit here to let go of any tension in the hips.

Runners lunge variation – twist – quad stretch – downward dog – LEFT

And now for the left side… So, inhale and take your left leg back… Exhale into runners lunge – stepping the foot outside the hand.

Come down onto your right knee and put your right hand on the outer edge of your mat. Put your left hand on the inside of your left knee, and open your body to the left whilst gently pressing your left knee out – it’s okay if the inner edge of your foot comes away from the mat.

If you’re going into the full posture, bend your right knee and draw the heel towards you. Inhale as you reach up with your left arm and exhale as you reach back for your foot.

If you’ve got hold of the foot, begin to draw your hips forward and down, whilst maintaining the twist through the spine, so your chest is facing the side of your mat.

Coming out of the posture… Release your foot, bring your hands back to the mat, step back to downward facing dog, and do whatever movements you need to, to release the hips.

Child’s pose

From here, all that’s left to do is to drop down onto your knees and move into a restorative child’s pose.