**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.”