Student Experiments with Sequence Creation

As part of Denver’s Axis Yoga teacher training, aspiring teacher’s hone in on their skills by designing personal experiments using yogic philosophy.  In wanting to work on her sequencing skills as well as increasing her knowledge for using yoga as medicine, this student chose to create asana sequences that catered to healing particular ailments. She carried out this experiment by enlisting the help of four friends to be her willing and enthusiastic test subjects. She designed specific sequences for them based on their chief physical complaints.

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Creating Sequences for Specific Ailments

The idea came to me while meditating in class about mid-October.  As I was fighting myself to focus on the white light resonating from the middle of my head, it came to me. I wanted to make sequences for my friends. Specifically for my friends with ailments. Thus unfolded my four part (sequencing, ailment understanding, my practice and translating them all to ASL) personal experiment.

First, I wanted to work on my sequencing skills. This has been nagging on me as a particularly scary responsibility for a future yoga teacher. I not only hope to gain the skills required to create a proper sequence, but to also have some stock sequences to go back to in case I get yoga writer’s block. I also want to be able to have some sort of helpful pointers for the people who come into my classes with unexpected illnesses or physical  injuries. I have heard countless teachers tell me countless horror stories of classes gone wrong. While I’m sure I wont have a perfect track record, Id like to minimize the negativity that might reside in or result from my classes. Practice makes perfect. So I contacted my friends I knew who had an interest in yoga and asked them if I could make them a personal sequence. Most of them were 100% on board, much to my excitement. Next, I asked them to share their most prominent ailments. Again, they were happy to do so. People love the idea of relief, so getting good participation was a piece of cake.

 As I started making the sequences, I realized, to no shock or awe, that I knew very little about yoga for “medicine.” I ordered the book, but, as of now, it still has not arrived, so I utilized teachers and the good old internet (yogajournal.com, mostly) to aid me in my trek. What I found was astonishing! All of the poses that you would think would help a certain problem, do! Once you have the basic understanding of what you are trying to do, generally, you can handle the smaller scale problems! I love it! I only wish I had more people to practice on. I’ll be making up imaginary people with imaginary ailments from now on to practice with! I am starting to feel more and more confident in, as Kevin says, treating the person, not the problem. **The sequences and the reviews of my new yogis are below**

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Jason’s Sequence

**Designed for lower back pain, weak knees, stress, anxiety, weight loss**

NOTE

All poses should be done vigorously and held for an extended period of time. Modifications are available if needed for your knees. I’ve provided a longer meditation period for grounding and relaxation.

Dandasana-Staff

Baddhakonasana-Bound Angle

Bhardavajasana I-Bhardavaja’s Twist

Cat/Cow

Suptabadhakonasana -Reclined Bound Angle

Uptavishtakonasana -Open Angle Pose

Trikonasana -Triangle

Vrikshasana -Tree

Trikonasana -Triangle

Garudasana-Eagle

Parvritta Trikonasana -Revolved Triangle

Uttanasana -Standing Forward Fold

Ardha Chandrasana-Half Moon

Ardhabadhapada Uttanasana -Half Lotus Forward Bend (?)

Ardha Matsyandrasana -Half Sage Twist x2

Salambasana +Var. -Locust

Bhujangasana -Cobra

Adhomukasvanasana/Balasana -Dog/Childs

Parvrittajanusirsasana -Revolved Head of the Knee Pose

Janusirsasana -Head of the Knee Pose

Supta Padangusthasana-Reclining Big Toe with a strap

Paschittmotanasana -Seated Forward Fold

Malasana-Garland Pose

Pasasana-Noose Pose

Sarvangasana -Shoulder Stand

Halasana -Plow

Karnipidasana -Womb Pose

Shavasana -Corpse

 Bonus Move: VIPARITA KARANI MUDRA

Meditation: sit quietly in an upright comfortable position and start silently counting backward from 50. As your concentration improves, you can move the starting count higher, to 100, 200 or even 500. This exercise will improve your concentration and help you remember things better.

Jason’s Comments:

“I am brand new to yoga. I am studying massage therapy, and that’s making Chelsea and my’s transitions into our new careers much easier, because we are going into similar fields and we are doing it at the same time. We are a great support and source of strength to each other. I never had an interest in yoga, but when I was told to stay strong in my body for massage therapy, I turned to Chelsea and her yoga. She created my sequence, which was similar to hers. It was nice to be able to do it together. I feel stronger, calmer and more confident in yoga and in my body. My back feels much better, too.”

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Nicholas’ Sequence

**Designed for relaxation, concentration, and back and shoulder stiffness**

 NOTE

This will be a twist sequence to loosen up your back. The warmup and cool down, along with the forward folds should loosen your shoulders. Focus on the poses and hold them for extended amounts of time. The important emphasis for relaxation and concentration will be meditation, so I put in two extended sets.

To begin, sit quietly in an upright comfortable position and start silently counting backward from 50. As your concentration improves, you can move the starting count higher, to 100, 200 or even 500. This exercise will improve your concentration and help you remember things better.

To Begin your asana, start in a seated position.
Arms grasped, stretch them above head, raising shoulder girdle. Reverse grip
Arms grasped behind back. Stretch chest out.
Eagle Arms                                                                                                                                           
Dandasana (Staff)
Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle)
Cat/Cow
Tabletop position, extending opposite arm and leg
Tabletop twist, lifting one arm to sky
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog)
Side Arm Balance (Balance on right hand and right knee, place sole of left foot on floor behind right foot with left leg straight, extend left arm over left ear as left leg lengthens back-reverse)
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold)
Tadasana-Mountain
Tadasana side stretch
Tadasana
Uttanasana
Plank
Caturanga Dandasana
Bhujangasana (Cobra)
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana
Tadasana
Uttihita Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                          
Uttihita Parsvakonasana (side angle)                                                                                                 
Prasarita (forward fold with wide legs)                                                                                               
Uttihita Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                         
Uttihita Parsvakonasana (side angle)                                                                                                
Prasarita (forward fold with wide legs)                                                                                               
 Uttihita Trikonasana                                                                                                                         
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle)                                                                                  Prasarita                                                                                                                                              
Uttihita Trikonasana                                                                                                                        
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle)
Tadasana                                                                                                                                       
Uttanasana                                                                                                                                                  
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Tadasana
Utkatasana (Chair)                                                                                                                        
Utkatasana Twist to the Right
Utkatasana/Tadasana/Utkatasana
Utkatasana Twist to the Left
Tadasana for a break                                                                                                           
Sirasana/Ragdoll
Back into Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                 
Parvivrtta Trikonasana (Revolve Triangle)                                                                                          
Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide Leg Forward Bend)
Arda Chandrasana (Half Moon)
Tadasana to demonstrate Parvrtta Arda Chandrasana (Revolve Half Moon)
Parvrtta Arda Chandrasana
Tadasana                                                                                                                                       
Utkatasana                                                                                                                                         
Utkatasana Twist Right                                                                                                                Utkatasana                                                                                                                                   
Utkatasana Twist Left                                                                                                                  Utkatasana                                                                                                                                      
Tadasana                                                                                                                                Uttanasana                                                                                                                                       
Vinyasa flow to adho mukha svanasana                                                                                                   
All 4’s tabletop                                                                                                                                 
Kneeling side stretch (hips over knees, walk hands out front and over to the side, reverse)             
Come to seated position                                                                                                                  
Dandasana (staff)                                                                                                                         
Marichyasana (sage twist)                                                                                                           
Dandasana (staff)                                                                                                                                         
Janu sirsasana (head to knee)                                                                                                              
Baddha konasana (bound angle)                                                                                
Paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)                                                                                             
Viparita Karani Mudra                                           
Uttihita Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                            
Uttihita Parsvakonasana (side angle)                                                                                               
Prasarita (forward fold with wide legs)                                                                                             
Uttihita Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                         
Uttihita Parsvakonasana (side angle)                                                                                               
Prasarita (forward fold with wide legs)                                                                                              
Uttihita Trikonasana                                                                                                                         
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle)                                                                                 
Prasarita                                                                                                                                              
Uttihita Trikonasana                                                                                                                        
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle)
Tadasana                                                                                                                                      
Uttanasana                                                                                                                                            
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Tadasana
Utkatasana (Chair)                                                                                                                       
Utkatasana Twist to the Right
Utkatasana/Tadasana/Utkatasana
Utkatasana Twist to the Left
Tadasana for a break                                                                                                          
Sirasana/Ragdoll
Back into Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                
Parvivrtta Trikonasana (Revolve Triangle)                                                                                         
Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide Leg Forward Bend)
Arda Chandrasana (Half Moon)
Tadasana to demonstrate Parvrtta Arda Chandrasana (Revolve Half Moon)
Parvrtta Arda Chandrasana
Tadasana                                                                                                                                      
Utkatasana                                                                                                                                   
Utkatasana Twist Right                                                                                                                Utkatasana                                                                                                                                   
Utkatasana Twist Left                                                                                                                  Utkatasana                                                                                                                                      
Tadasana                                                                                                                                        Uttanasana                                                                                                                                      
Vinyasa flow to adho mukha svanasana                                                                                                   
All 4’s tabletop                                                                                                                                
Kneeling side stretch (hips over knees, walk hands out front and over to the side, reverse)            
Come to seated position                                                                                                              
Dandasana (staff)                                                                                                                  
Marichyasana (sage twist)                                                                                                            
Dandasana (staff)                                                                                                                                   
Janu sirsasana (head to knee)                                                                                                             
Baddha konasana (bound angle)                                                                                     
Paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)                                                                                       
Viparita Karani Mudra
Savasana

 A good ending meditation could be Tratak. Sit yourself at eye level to a lit candle. Close your eyes and get into a meditative mind set. Once you have opened your eyes from the meditation exercise, focus solely on the light of the candle without blinking for a long as you can and you should be able to rain your mind to hold onto a particular thought. Start doing this for five minutes and work your way up to a longer practice. Most yoga concentration exercises revolve around practicing regular and daily meditation.

Nicholas’ Comments:

“I have taken yoga classes recently. I am new to yoga, and I am always struggling to understand what a lot of poses are. This sequence takes me an hour to get done, and by the end I feel like I am in a different world. I don’t notice myself being less stressed in daily life, but at least at the end of my sequence I feel relaxed and ready for the day.”

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Emily’s Sequence

**Designed for slight asthma, wrist pain, weak ankles, stiff knees**

NOTE

Hold each pose for as long as is comfortable. Do NOT continue if you have pain. You can work up to extended length of the poses.

 Virasana (Hero’s Pose). If you need a modification to make it more comfortable, sit on a block or blanket to elevate the hips from the knees and ankles. Take a few deep, yogic breaths. Exhale with a long “Om.”

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute)

 Uttanasana (standing forward bend)

Plank

Chaturanga (elbows at 90 degrees)

Urdhva Mukha Svasana (Up Dog)

Adho Mukha Svasasana (Down Dog)

Virvidrasana Two (Warrior Two)

Utthita Parsvokanasana (Extended Side Angle)

Utthita Trikonanasana (Triangle)

Malasana (Garland)

Balasana (Child’s Pose)

Dandasana (Staff Pose)

Shivasana (Corpse)

 BONUS POSES:

 ½ MOON POSE

 VIPARITA KARANI MUDRA

 Emily’s Comments:
“I started the sequence about a month ago. My hope was that it would help me eliminate stress from my life. The first time I did the sequence it took me about an hour, afterward I felt great! I had stretched out all the achy muscles and relaxed. The next day, I had achy muscles again, but this time from doing the sequence. I stuck with it though, and by the next day the achy muscles had disappeared.
Now I do the sequence in about a half hour, and it has been a tremendous addition to my daily routine. I usually do it at night, around 10pm, due to my late schedule. This falls about 4 hours before I fall asleep. It is a great way for me to switch from school mode to relax mode.
Though I saw no changes in the conditions I had originally claimed, I also didn’t see any pain from them, which is rare. Usually when I start a new exercise regime or yoga routine, I do see pain once or twice. So I am taking the lack of pain as a good sign. I did however, prior to starting the sequence, have plantar fasciitis, which for some strange reason, I had forgotten to claim as an ailment. After starting the sequence the pain from the plantar fasciitis improved greatly.”

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Rachel’s Sequence

**Designed for anxiety, headaches, and asthma, with an emphasis on relaxation**

 NOTE

Hold each pose for as long as is comfortable. Do NOT continue if you have pain. You can work up to extended length of the poses.

Virasana (sitting on your knees) or Sukhasana (cross legged)

Cat/Cow Pose.

Tadasana (Mountain)

Uttasana (standing forward fold)

Plank

Chaturanga

Bhujangasana (cobra pose)

Adho Mukha Svasana (Down-Dog)

Repeat

Trikonasana (triangle)

Prasarita Padottanasana (extended spread leg forward bend)

Parivrtta Trikonasana (revolved triangle)

Tadasana

Baalasana (child’s pose). 

Uttana Shishosana (extended puppy).

Seated Twists

 Janu Sirsasana (head to knee forward bend)

Supta Virasans (reclined hero)

Svasana (corpse pose).

BONUS POSES:

½ MOON POSE

VIPARITA KARANI MUDRA

 Rachel’s Comments: (This was taken from her Facebook status after her first one on one with me)

 “Oddly enough I learned a lot about myself from one session of yoga. I learned I love yoga, I learned that I can do yoga, I learned I never give myself enough credit, and I learned that doing yoga for the first time ever is gonna make me hella sore but in spite of that I can not wait to do it again. Thank you so much Chels for teaching me so much and not even meaning to. You will make an excellent yoga teacher!”

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Student Experiments with Teaching Yoga to Kids

As part of Denver’s Axis Yoga teacher training program, students engage in final student experiments that incorporate what they have learned in the 3-month training into their daily lives. As someone who works with at-risk youth, this student chose to bring her knowledge of yoga to the kids she works with. She had to change her expectations and modify the poses to gear the class towards rambunctious elementary school kids. Her account of the experience follows.

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Thoughts on Teaching Yoga to Kids

As I prepare to conclude my yoga teacher training and move out into the world as an instructor I would like to bring yoga to those people who may otherwise not have access or afford to practice yoga. One population in particular, with whom I already work, is inner city youth. In my role as a youth program manager in affordable housing sites around Denver, I’ve been imagining the power and impact that yoga could have with this population.

Inspired by my desire to continue to work with youth and motivated by the final personal experiment, I chose to explore the pedagogy of teaching yoga to youngsters. With my three month Yoga Teacher Training coming to an end, I feel more or less confident with the idea of teaching to a room of compliant adults who generally are quiet and relatively good listeners. In contrast, my day job, working with youth in a chaotic and haphazard manner made me curious about what a class full of rambunctious elementary aged children practicing yoga would look like. I began by researching several books on teaching strategies for working with children, I explored accounts of teachers who interface with kids, and worked to modify my general teaching knowledge to my understanding of youth development methodology.

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Teaching Yoga to Kids: The Class

Armed with these tools I planned and prepared for an hour-long class that I would teach, which looked something like this:

Discussion:

  • Ask the kids: What is yoga? Give additional insight to their answers. 
  • Set Ground Rules including:
  1. Stay on your mat 2.Try everything 3. Everyone is different so it’s impossible to be good or bad and you shouldn’t compare yourself.
  • Belly Breathing

Asana:

Name              Sanskrit                                  Additional items

Cat                   Marjaryasana                         Meow

Cow                 Bitilasana                                 Moo

Butterfly          Baddha Konasana               Ask what noises butterflies make?

Down dog        Adho Mukha Svanasana      Bark

Mountain        Tadasana                                 Be a tall, strong mountain

Tree                 Vrksasana                                Trees are rooted into the earth but their branches sway, can you

                                                                               sway without falling?

Frog                 Bhekasana                               Do leap frog

Warrior II        Virabhadrasana II           Partner Warrior, explain that we can be peaceful warriors, not

                                                                               sway without falling?

Boat                 Navasana                                Can you also try to row your boat?

Corpse Pose    Savasana                              Change the name to sleeping pose

Meditate on your favorite place, go there and remember how that happiness made you feel.

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Reflections on Teaching Yoga to Kids

After teaching the class I reflected quite a bit on my experience and what I struggled with, what I would change, and what worked well. While I certainly did some things well, I was confronted with more challenges than anything else. First, I struggled with my ability to discipline. I am fully aware that a yoga class with kids will not be quite or calm and probably shouldn’t be. However, should I reprimand or discipline children for any of their behavior, particularly when nothing about discipline feels yogic? Second, the kids that I work with rarely are acknowledged for their effort or good work and I work hard at reinforcing positive behavior. Yet, should I tell someone their down dog looks good or they are doing such a good job trying to balance in tree pose, when it merely is feeding their ego? Third, Many of the youngsters had taken yoga before in school, and were knowledgeable enough to request poses or wanted to teach me various asana. This behavior required me to be humble and learn from my students, totally shattering my vision of what a student, teacher relationship should look like. Fourth, adapting some of the poses to kids, like turning a relatively static Bhekasana into leap frog, or an Adho Mukha Svanasana into a barking dog, seems trivial and far from the calm and serene idea that I have of yoga.

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