At the end of each week, I post the sequence that I’ve been teaching that week during my classes in Seattle. For more sequences from other weeks, click here. And if you would like to see these sequences in action, come join me for a class!

Grouding and Warm Up

Flow 1 – 5x (Sun Salutation A)

Flow 1 – 3x (Sun Salutation B Variation)

Flow 3 – 2x

Standing Poses

Seated Poses and Inversion

At the end of each week, I post the sequence that I’ve been teaching that week during my classes in Seattle. For more sequences from other weeks, click here. And if you would like to see these sequences in action, come join me for a class!

Grouding and Warm Up

Flow 1 – 4x

Standing Poses

Seated Poses and Inversion

At the end of each week, I post the sequence that I’ve been teaching that week during my classes in Seattle. For more sequences from other weeks, click here. And if you would like to see these sequences in action, come join me for a class!

Grouding and Warm Up

Flow 1 – 2x

Flow 2 – 2x

Standing Poses

Seated Poses and Inversion

At the end of each week, I post the sequence that I’ve been teaching that week during my classes in Seattle. For more sequences from other weeks, click here. And if you would like to see these sequences in action, come join me for a class!

Grouding and Warm Up

Flow 1 – 3x

Standing Poses

Seated Poses and Inversion

At the end of each week, I post the sequence that I’ve been teaching that week during my classes in Seattle. For more sequences from other weeks, click here. And if you would like to see these sequences in action, come join me for a class!

Grouding and Warm Up

Flow 1 – 2x

Flow 2 – 2x

Standing Poses

Seated Poses and Inversion

Fire Log Pose (sometimes called double pigeon) is a deep outer hip stretch that for many requires a lot of modifications to hold comfortably. The good news is that the modifications are relatively straight forward and once you get comfortably set up, it can be deeply rewarding.

To start, sit down and extend the legs out to the side. Bend the left leg and bring the left foot as far to the right of the center line as the knee is to the left. Ideally, the shin is parallel to the front of the mat, though bringing the foot closer to the hips will help release the stretch if needed. Next, bend the right leg and place the right shin on top of the left. The right foot should be directly over the left knee (if the shins are parallel), or over the left thigh (if the feet are closer to the hips). The right knee will then be directly over the left foot or over the left thigh. Another way to release the stretch is to bring the knees further apart. The feet would then rest on the shins to the inside of the knees. If the shins don’t stack comfortably and/or the left knee doesn’t rest on the floor, you can take a blanket and place it underneath either knee to provide some support.

This can be plenty, just sitting upright and breathing into the pose. For those that want to go deeper, inhale to lengthen the spine, then lean forward from the hips and fold over the shins. As you come forward try to actively roll the thighs outward (you can take your thumbs to the inner hip crease to assist with this if you like). Reach forward from the belly button, then the sternum and walk the hands forward on the mat. Once you have found your edge bending forward with a straight spine, feel free to round the back a bit and relax into the pose.

Stay for as long as you like, then repeat for the same amount of time on the second side.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Upward Facing Dog is often done as part of a flow sequence, but it can also be beneficial all on its own. It is similar to Cobra, but with only the tops of the feet and the hands touching the floor, creating a more active pose.

Start in Chaturanga with weight distributed evenly across the entire hand. On an inhale, roll forward over the toes, reach the chest through the shoulders and straighten the arms. As you move the sternum forward, try to keep the lower ribs from sticking out too far in front. The elbows should stay in by the sides of the torso (with the inner creases of the elbows facing as forward as possible while still keeping weight on the inside of the hands). The shoulders should be pulled back and down, but take care not to tighten the upper back. Gaze forward or a little bit up but don’t compress the back of the neck.

Lightly tuck the tailbone and narrow the hip bones by rolling the upper thighs lightly inward. The quads should be active and the kneecaps stable. The glutes will be engaged but try not to clench them.

You want to find a back bend that is equally distributed between the lower, middle, and upper back. You can assist this action by pulling the hands lightly back toward the waist. You should feel a lengthening of the spine and not compression of the low back. As you extend the spine, engage the deeper muscles of the back while preventing the lats and other more surface muscles from hardening and inhibiting the movement and opening of the spine and ribs.

You can stay in the pose for as long as you like.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Usually, Ardha Hanumanasana is done in combination with low lunge. This makes sense as they are the two halves of full Hanumanasana (ardha hanumanasana focusing on the action of the front hamstring and low lunge on the back thigh)

To begin with, find low lunge with the left leg forward. On an exhale, lean forward and bring the hands to the floor or to a pair of blocks. Inhale and straighten the left leg, lifting the hips up and back and flexing the left foot to draw the toes back toward the torso. Adjust the distance of the front foot until the hips are directly over the back knee and the back leg is perpendicular to the floor. Draw the inner left groin back until the hip bones are even. Keep the right foot pointed straight back and the thighs rotating slightly inward.

Once the hips are square and the lower half of the body is steady, inhale to lengthen the spine and reach the belly button forward over the left leg (bending at the hips). Once you have found your limit with a straight spine, then go ahead and bend at the waist and let the head come toward the shin. The left quad should be engaged so the kneecap is pulled up toward the hips.

Breath into the pose, then repeat on the second side.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

From Tadasana, swing the right leg back about 3 feet (Give or take. Generally a shorter stance is a bit eaasier). Turn the left toes out 90 degrees and turn the right foot forward about 45 to 60 degrees. Swivel to face the front so that the hip bones point straight forward to the front of the mat. Be sure to stay grounded through the outer right foot as you rotate the hips. The left knee should point straight forward and the quads should be engaged to keep the kneecaps stable. Squeeze the outer thighs lightly together toward the center line.

Take the left hand to the hip and reach the right arm overhead. Fold forward from the hips and extend the right arm as far out in front of you as you can to lengthen the spine, then place the right hand to the outside of the left foot with the fingers pointed forward. If this proves difficult, you can place the hand on the inside of the leg or place a block to the outside of the left foot and bring the hand to that.

Lengthen the spine, reaching the crown of the head forward. Broaden the front of the chest and bring the shoulder blades together as you twist to the left, reaching the left arm overhead. The arms and shoulders should create a straight line. Pull the left inner left groin up into the hips and press into the ball of the left foot to draw the hip back. If you feel stable enough here, look up toward the extended left hand.

Just as in Parsvottanasana, you want the hips to be both square to the front of the mat as well as at the same height. Bringing more weight into either foot lifts the hip on that side so bring enough weight into the outside of the back foot to keep the hips level. Being level and even can be a difficult thing to feel in the body. It can help to have somebody take a look at your hips here and make adjustments until you develop the sense for what being even feels like.

For those that don’t have the flexibility at the hips to come very far forward in the pose, the idea of twisting to extend the left hand up toward the ceiling will be a stretch to say the least. In this case, the left hand can rest on the sacrum and the focus should be on keeping the spine long. Don’t force the twist if it destroys the integrity of the pose. Have patience and breath. This is not an easy pose for beginners.

Stay as long as you can comfortably maintain steadiness in the breath, then repeat for the same amount of time on the second side.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!

Dhanurasana is a prone backbend that can be challenging for beginners but also deeply rewarding. Take it slowly and honor any pain that comes up by backing out until you can maintain the pose comfortably.

Lay down on your belly with the hands by the waist. Bend the knees and bring the feet toward the hips. Reach back and take the outside of the ankles in the hands. Bring the thighs together enough that the knees are about hip width apart and tuck the tailbone under. On an inhale, press the feet back strongly into the hands (engage the quads) and lift the thighs and torso off the floor. Engage the intrinsic back muscles and finally the glutes to aid in the lift.

Keep the shoulders back (though you actually want to elevate the shoulders slightly in addition to bringing them back to prevent excess strain on the front of the shoulder joint) and lift up through the sternum. Make sure the thighs haven’t moved any wider than hip width distance apart. Let the neck continue the line of the spine and try and keep the upper back relaxed. Try to get the bend spread relatively evenly along the length of the spine so there is no crunching or compression in any one area.

Only come up as far as is comfortable. Because you are externally supporting your backbend with the arms, it is possible to push too far into the pose. Find a level of elevation that is comfortable and fill the back of the rib cage with each inhale. You may notice that the body tends to rock forward and back with the breath and that the breath becomes a little bit faster. This is fine, just focus on steady, even breathing.

Stay here as long as you can comfortably maintain your breath, then slowly release and spend a few moments with the head turned to one side, breathing into the back of the torso. Often this pose is repeated several times. You can end by finding Child’s Pose, rounding the back to counter the pose.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you or see you at one of my classes!