20 Minute Yoga Sequence
The following practice is appropriate for all students. Unless otherwise indicated, hold each pose for five breaths. You will need a strap, a block, a blanket and an eye pillow.
Begin on your back in savasana.
Practice diaphragmatic breathing for a couple of minutes.
Bring your knees to your chest and circle them a few times in each direction.
Place a strap around your right foot and lengthen your leg toward the ceiling, gently pulling the leg toward your head. Keep the other leg active. Switch to the other leg.
Move into supported bridge pose by bending your knees and placing your feet hip distance apart from each other. Inhale as you lift your hips toward the ceiling and place a block under your sacrum.
Lower hips and bring knees to chest again.
Roll to your side and move onto hands and knees.
Move into cat on your exhale and cow on your inhale. Repeat four times.
Stay on your knees and walk your arms forward until your chest is closer to the floor. You can rest your forehead on a block if your forehead doesn’t reach the floor.
Come back onto hands and knees. Reach the right arm out to the side and up toward the ceiling and then thread the arm under the opposite arm. Repeat four times and then rest right shoulder on the mat for 5 breaths. Switch to the other arm.
Press into downward facing dog, and walk out your feet by alternately lifting each heel.
Walk feet up to hands into forward fold like a rag doll.
Slowly unroll all the way up to mountain pose.
Reach arms overhead and use right hand to grasp left wrist as you laterally stretch your body to the right. Switch sides.
Practice balancing by coming into tree pose by bringing weight onto your left foot and turning your right leg out, bending the knee and placing your foot in one of three positions (from easiest to most challenging): Ball of foot on the floor with heel on the ankle, entire foot on the lower leg, or entire foot on the upper leg. Avoid placing your foot on your knee. Switch sides.
Clasp hands behind back and fold forward, reaching arms overhead toward the floor.
Step feet back into table and move into child pose.
Press into downward facing dog.
Move forward to plank and lower to your belly. (If you want to make it more challenging, hold plank for as long as you comfortably can without your hips sagging or lifting.)
Roll onto your back and bring the knees to the chest.
Place feet on the mat, open arms to the side, shift hips to the right and lower your knees to the left. Switch sides.
Bring knees to the chest and grasp behind knees, outside edges of feet, or big toes and move into happy baby pose.
End with a 5 minute savasana. Place a blanket over your body and an eye pillow on your eyes if you wish.
Namaste’
