Hi, I was wondering when I do my practice at home. Should I pay any attention to the order in which I do the asana?s. By this I mean should I do the standing asana?s before sitting asana?s, inversions before backbends, etc. As I read somewhere that you should do the Halasana/ Plough Pose before the Chakrasana/The Wheel Pose, this is due to a tightening of the spine. So I was wondering what are your views on this matter of the sequence of your asana?s. As sometimes in a class you might not realise why the teacher selects certain asana?s in this order.
If you could always realize why your teacher does this or that, you would not need him/her.
Why not ask him/her about the order ?
when i attend teacher training teacher told me asanas should be arranged according to student’s level
beginner - asanas starting from sitting / lying poses, finished with standing poses
Advance - starting from standing , finished with sitting/lying
YY,
it would be helpful to know what practice you are engaging and how long you’ve been at it. Sharing yoga with a raw beginner is quite a bit different than sharing it with an intermediate.
Generally speaking, a skilled teacher presents yoga to students in such a way as to facilitate their home practice. If you’ve been attending class for a while then you’ve already been told that backbends and twists follow inversions as the inverted poses release invertebral muscles for the actions in those poses to follow.
Additionally you’ve been told that headstand should come before shoulderstand, and backbends follow twists.
There is no “tightening of the spine” that I am aware of but that may just be a semantic issue with wording. Halasana is not for beginning students nor is it for students with very tight, short, hamstrings. Nor is it for students with a neck issue of any sort. But I’m hopeful your teacher has shared this with you already.
Developing a home practice takes some time. Spend the first few minutes getting grounded and moving away from the other parts of your day - the chats, the lists, the conflicts. Following that, begin warming the body gradually in whatever ways the practice you have chosen teaches such things. After that Sura Namaskar may be appropriate assuming you are not pregnant. From that point, standing poses, inversions, backbends, twists, and savasana is a nice GENERAL sequence.
gordon
To begin I’ve been performing yoga for a couple of years now, and used to go to a yoga class. But due to various reasons, I no longer able to attend any yoga class. But I have kept up my home practice, and my level of flexibility varies in different area of my body. However, I would like to think that I am at an intermediate level. For some part are flexible while other are not as flexible. When I practice I normally start at the top of my body and work downwards. Rather than as you say, classified by the effects of the asana’s. Also I don’t do the Sura Namaskar/salute to the sun. As it seems strange to me that you do these deep asana’s/postures before you have even warmed up. And also I personally do not like the religious connotation to the ‘salute to the sun’. So I normally start with some light/gentle poses to warm up my body, before going to the deeper stretches.
But any advice is welcomed. Also when would you put in any breathing exercises/Pranayama into a session? Or is this question, another ‘thread’ all by itself.
Thanks for your reply’s
You are quite welcome for the replies YY.
I can respond further, based on what you’ve added here, however I can only offer what it is I have to offer. I’ll trust your comment “…any advice is welcomed” as being from the heart. Unfortunately I am unable to offer advice. I can only share yoga. For now hopefully that will do until some one comes along with advice.
Since yoga is not asana (but there is asana in yoga) and since it is not a performance (as that is a show) but rather an experience, it is challenging to craft a response that meets your needs. Having said these two things it becomes clear that one’s level of flexibility has very, very little to do with what level of yoga student they are. I have seen very supple, mobile people with no yoga in their lives at all. Likewise I have sen very stiff students who live an amazing yogic life.
If beginning your practice from head to toe works well for you and your life (progress as a human being rather than human doing) then continue on in that fashion.
Some clarifications on Surya Namakar, if I may. In the classical version there are 10 or 11 poses. None of them, to my knowledge, are “deep”. In fact the entire sequence is a slow, mindful, present series AND that series follows a complete warm up of the entire body. I’m curious which poses in Surya Namaskar you consider deep?
Of greater importance however is the misperception of the series itself. It is, sadly, far too common. Surya Namaskar is not a salute to the Sun but rather a welcoming of the illumination of one’s consciousness represented by the light of the sun. Furthermore there are no religious requisites in Yoga despite the fact that it was practiced by a multitude of religious peoples, including, but not limited to Hindus.
However, if you feel in your heart that there’s a religious context then there is. Whether you’re right or wrong…you’re right. If it is a conflict for you then forego it as there is not space in yoga for conflict.
Pranayama has two basic positions and for students who do not have an alignment-based practice, are not yet aligned within that practice, or have no idea what I just said - they are best served by pranayma in the supine position. Pranayama is a powerful tool and it is best for neophytes to begin with safe, gentle pranayama (and a teacher of course) and only do a few minutes at a time until they build to longer durations. Since this is a calming time it is best for it to follow the asana practice but precede savasana and there should be NO disturbances whatsoever.
Hope this is helpful.
gordon
So as I understand it yoga adapts to you rather, than yoga shapes you. From you comments that [I]‘human-being rather than human-doing’. [/I]
Back to Surya Namaskar, while I do the asana’s in the salutation signally rather than in the sequence, for better or worse for me. But I have seen some variations in the S/N. Doing ‘deep’ poses, for example I have seen people doing the ‘Urdhva Mukha Svanasana’/Upward dog, instead of the cobra. And doing the Chaturanga Dandasana/4 limb staff pose, rather than the plank. While back to your comment that yoga is a personal voyage, and some people can do these movements straight off the bat, before warming up. I am not fortunate enough to have this flexibility. That why I normally have to start off slowly and get the blood flowing, before I would even dream of performing these poses. So maybe the problem lies in my interpretation of the study of yoga. So I am sorry if I came over as someone who thinks they knows it all, and so they miss out the most important bits, because they don?t understand them.
Still thank for your wise words Gordon.
[QUOTE=yoga-yoda;21500]So as I understand it yoga adapts to you rather, than yoga shapes you. From you comments that [I]‘human-being rather than human-doing’. [/I]
Back to Surya Namaskar, while I do the asana’s in the salutation signally rather than in the sequence, for better or worse for me. But I have seen some variations in the S/N. Doing ‘deep’ poses, for example I have seen people doing the ‘Urdhva Mukha Svanasana’/Upward dog, instead of the cobra. And doing the Chaturanga Dandasana/4 limb staff pose, rather than the plank.[B] While back to your comment that yoga is a personal voyage, and some people can do these movements straight off the bat, before warming up. I am not fortunate enough to have this flexibility. That why I normally have to start off slowly and get the blood flowing, before I would even dream of performing these poses.[/B] So maybe the problem lies in my interpretation of the study of yoga. So I am sorry if I came over as someone who thinks they knows it all, and so they miss out the most important bits, because they don?t understand them.
Still thank for your wise words Gordon.[/QUOTE]
sometimes we have to step it up a notch, i don’t think that from your few years of Yoga that your body can not do but rather it’s your mind, sometimes we have to give it a try, some times we have to ignore our pain, we have to teach our body of our limitations, than hopefully at the end we also can.
Sorry i’m just sharing my opinion on the Bold text, Namaste.
In classical Surya Namaskar there is no Chaturanga and there is no Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. I cannot speak for the other practices and their rationale for doing these poses in SN or where they do them and how often. So it is correct to say that some of the poses in Surya Namaskar can be “deep” and also correct to say that no poses in Surya Namaskar are deep at all 
Welcome to yoga!
It is neither fortunate nor unfortunate that you can’t do these movements straight off the bat. And it would not be fortunate or unfortunate if you could. It is completely appropriate to warm the body in a physical practice and to do that warming with integrity and mindfulness. Completely appropriate.
The other side of the coin is that most of us live in a state where our mind is master rather than servant and the mind can play tricks - very good tricks - that result in holding back, staying behind fear, living in shadow(s). The duality of yoga mandates that we consider both. “Am I being run by my fear?” and “is it the right time to backbend in this way?” are questions that must be held and examined simultaneously.
And “yes” it does appear as though asana should be malleable to the human being rather than the human being being malleable to asana.
[QUOTE=yogivid;21521]sometimes we have to step it up a notch, i don’t think that from your few years of Yoga that your body can not do but rather it’s your mind, sometimes we have to give it a try, some times we have to ignore our pain, we have to teach our body of our limitations, than hopefully at the end we also can.
Sorry i’m just sharing my opinion on the Bold text, Namaste.[/QUOTE]
Back to your posting Yogivid. You said sometime you have to push the envelope and go into the unknown, and also as ‘InnerAthlete’ said a similar idea, as I understand it ([I]sorry if I have interpreted anything written wrong in advance[/I]). However, I thought that one of the core concepts of yoga was that the body dictates how far things go. As opposite to other forms of exercises, where you might say I am going to do so many moves/reps before I stop, no matter what my body say’s to me. To me it is more satisfying to just go with the flow, and not have any pressure to complete the set/number. An in addition to this sometimes I have on an off days with my practice. This is best summed up by the quote from [I]“The Big Lebowski”[/I] film [I]“A wiser fellow then myself once said, sometime you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar, well, he eats you.”[/I]. But in my defence I do try to do some more difficult asana’s, when I feel able to. And furthermore I also feel that sometimes yoga becomes a competition to do more and more challenging asana’s. Rather than to spend time really working on a posture.
Still all comment are welcomed.
As far as order. Most schools of yoga start with standing then move through to seated postures, back bends, twists and , inversions. None of this is written in stone though. A skilled teacher can move things around depending on what they are trying to accomplish. Do a search on Amazon and Google to see if you can find some teacher training manuals.
Also there are many websites were you can download full length yoga classes and you can follow these or use the flow to inspire you. Yogawithles.com is a great one and you get a free 30 minute download to start.
Also, search the Yoga Journal site. They have example sequences and information on formulating a home practice. The Yoga Journal Magazine also features a sequence every month that you can try at home.
You need to pay attention to the fact that whichever order you do asana you should do a counter pose for that asana to keep balance in body. For your specific asana program you should consult your teacher.
[QUOTE=yoga-yoda;21400]Hi, I was wondering when I do my practice at home. Should I pay any attention to the order in which I do the asana?s. By this I mean should I do the standing asana?s before sitting asana?s, inversions before backbends, etc. As I read somewhere that you should do the Halasana/ Plough Pose before the Chakrasana/The Wheel Pose, this is due to a tightening of the spine. So I was wondering what are your views on this matter of the sequence of your asana?s. As sometimes in a class you might not realise why the teacher selects certain asana?s in this order.[/QUOTE]
i think it is advisable to start with some rounds of Surya Namaskar. if you dont like to salute the sun then forget about that aspect of it and appreciate it as a very good way of warming and stretching the body before the asanas. One is not doing deep asanas during Surya Namaskar, rather warming up. Each part of Surya Namaskar is not to be exagerrated to make them deep stretches, rather they should be light and fluid. Depending on what system you have been taught i would stick to what order the teacher showed you. In a system like sivananda for example there are good reasons why asanas are done in a particular way and that order should not be changed. With the best will in the world, if we do home practice with not enough input from a teacher we are going to be left with questions in our heads.
[QUOTE=asdblb;22016]You need to pay attention to the fact that whichever order you do asana you should do a counter pose for that asana to keep balance in body. For your specific asana program you should consult your teacher.[/QUOTE]
In my view one should practice asana in such a way that in beginning twisting/stretching is minimum and gradually goes to the highest level. Since there are lot of possible permutation combination, a complete practice can include, pawanmuktasana series of asana (as preparatory practice) followed by “tadasana, tiryaka tadasana and trikonasana” followed by suryanamaskara followed by shavasana. I guess this combination is a complete practice in itself for general practitioner and once can be sure of physical health with combination of yogasanas.
In my vinyasa yoga teacher training, we were taught to sequence classes with asanas in the following order:
- Surya Namaskar
- Standing poses / arm balances
- Inversions
- Back bends
- Seated poses & twists / hip openers
- Shoulder stand + plow
- Savasana
Hope this helps!