Hi :
Thanks to all for answering my previous questions under “Yoga Questions”.
Please suggest me some must do asanas and their sequence if one has only 20-30 minutes ( excluding savasan). Please tell me their benefits also.
Thanks!
The best person to give you a practice is someone who can see if you know how to do the asana postures properly and then design practice that will empower the strengths you have and prevent any damage. The teacher would need to know many things; the most basic being how old you are, what you do for a living, and what your physical and mental fitness levels are. If that is not possible, would you be comfortable sharing this information for anyone who might want to help?
Also, there are no must-do asana-s. There are only asana-s which help facilitate growth towards a destination. What is your destination? Mental clarity, physical strength, weight loss, union with the divine? If we know where you want to go, perhaps some of us can suggest ways to get there.
Surydaya, could you expand on the point about asking one what they do for a living and how this might influence their asana sequence? How would one telling you their profession lead you to design an asana practice for them? Would it depend on how their body is “used” during the day for their job?
amz155: If you truly want someone to benefit from having their own home yoga practice, it is important to know how that practice fits into the scheme of that person’s life. The more information you have, the more you can help them. If your student is a dancer and is flexible, strong and light, then you could give them a course designed to enhance what they have or to help them prevent wear and tear on their body from their occupation. If your student sits hunched over a desk for eight hours per day, they are going to have specific needs that are related to the posture that they sit in and the tension from the stress of the work that they do. And it doesn’t have to be about the physical, because a busy, stressed-out housewife and mother may not work, but it doesn’t mean she has time to do a practice. She might benefit from an extremely short yoga practice that gives her energy, stability and leaves her with a clear mind to handle the rest of the day with a positive outlook. She may be capable of doing advanced postures but her course doesn’t have to contain anything more difficult that an uttanasana.
None of this tailoring is required to give benefits from a practice, but if the course is suited to their needs and their lifestyle, they will be more likely to practice it and will be able to overcome more barriers.
Hi guys:
I am over 35. Perfect health. Work in IT field.
Play lots of soccer. My goal is to increase stamina and strengh of knee and leg. Another goal is a balanced and quiet mind.
Great. Thank you for such clarity. It makes my reply so much easier to generate.
An example of energizing might be a certain sort of nutritional plan or food combinations. Typically if one feels fatigued after eating they have not made the best choices for their body at that time.
An example of energy conservation would be avoiding engagements or discourse that are draining AND that don’t serve a purpose. Talking about other people behind their back - gossip, etcetera. A huge drain on stamina that most don’t even realize.
(beginner) Postures that would assist in the stated purpose of strength in knee and leg would be:
Dandasna
Purvottasana
Tadasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Trikonasana
Parsvakonasana
Virabhadrasana I/II
Vrksasana
Ardha Chandrasana
Prasarita Padotanasana
Supta Padangusthasana (parsva and parivrrta)
Virasana
Eka Pada Supta Virasana
Salabhasana
Dhanurasana
Bhujangasana
Setu Bandha
However I should be clear in stating that it is the actions IN poses not the poses themselves which get you there. A sloppy pose that one flops into from flexibility generates about as much nectar as a shriveled orange.
And there are no such thing as “must do” poses. Only those poses that serve the doer.