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.”