Once the holiday is over, it’s time to reassess your health. Perhaps all those Lebaran sweets and cookies have given way to a little bulge on your belly, and those coconut milk-laden dishes have jacked up your cholesterol level.
How about some yoga practice then?
In this issue, I created a dynamic sequence of yoga practice that is geared towards strengthening and reinvigorating the body. You can keep it dynamic especially in the standing poses part of the sequence by flowing gracefully from one pose to another, and by linking your breath to the movement in the technique known as vinyasa.
Use the Ujayi breath, the warming breath in which you contract the back part of your throat or your epiglottis to produce a soft hissing sound when you inhale and exhale. Try to keep your breath deep, but more importantly steady and flowing freely throughout the practice.
Pay attention to your breath, your own body and back away from the pose if you feel too much strain. If you have tight hamstrings or a spinal condition, you may use a couple of yoga blocks or thick books, or a strap for when you bend forward.
If you feel dizzy at anytime, come up from the pose and sit, or go into the child pose, by kneeling on the floor with your knees opened wider than the hips, bringing the hips towards the heels, resting the forehead to the floor and extending the arms forward.
Try to stay in all the poses for at least five or more breaths, except for the inversion and Savasana, when you can stay longer.
Start the practice by warming up with five or more rounds of sun salutations. If you’re not familiar with the sun salutation, just do a gentle warm-up by rotating neck, shoulders, wrists, knees and ankles.
Solar sequence:
Tadasana (mountain pose): stand with your feet together or slightly separated, arms extended down towards the floor, chest lifted and shoulders down and relax. Tuck your belly in to lengthen your spine and take a few breaths.
Virabhadrasana 1 (warrior 1): Step your right foot back, so that your feet are about one meter apart. Rotate the back foot outward 30 degrees, now twist your right hip inward so your hips are square and your torso facing forward. Inhale and raise both arms up, and exhale bend the left knee to a 90-degree angle. Hold the position.
Virabhadrasana 2 (warrior 2): From Warrior 1, open your arms to the side, and adjust the back foot by rotating outward to a 90 degrees angle so your torso and hips face the side. Keep the front knee bend and stretch your fingers away from you, keeping the chest area open, and turn your head towards the left hand. Hold.
Trikonasana (triangle): From Warrior 2, inhale and straighten your left leg and as you exhale lean over to the left stretching as far away to the side as you can then place your hands on your shin or ankle, preferably under your shoulder. Twist your torso towards the right so your chest opens to face the side.
Stretch your right arm upward and lift upward so you won’t press your weight down. Look up towards your upper hand. Hold.
Parivrita parsvakonasana (standing twist): From Triangle, inhale to come up and exhale turn to face forward, placing your right knee to the floor into a low lunge. Now inhale, raise your right arm up and lengthen your spine and exhale twist to the left, bringing your right elbow to the outside of the left knee.
Place the palms of the hands together and press your elbow to the knee to lift your torso away from the thigh and to twist further. Bring the outer side of the thumbs at the heart center with your left elbow pointing upward. Feel the expansion of your back as you twist deeper into the pose. If you’re up for it, you can lift the back knee of the floor to come into the full expression of the pose. Hold.
Now inhale and untwist, and exhale come all the way up to standing. Step the right foot forward and the left foot back to the same distance and do the same sequence on the left side.
Prasarita padotanasana (wide-legged forward bend): Step to right side again with feet about the 1.5 meter apart and toes parallel. Place your hands on your hips and inhale to lengthen your spine, lifting the chest upward, and exhale to fold towards the floor.
Place both hands on the floor, or if you can’t reach the floor, place them on couple of yoga blocks or thick books of the same size. Inhale give your spine another lengthening and push the chest forward, inhale and release your head down towards the floor. Hold.
To come out, inhale and with the hands still on the floor, lengthen the spine forward again, exhale place the hands on the hips. Inhale come all the way up, and exhale release the hands and step both feet together again.
Janusirsana (seated head to knee): Sit on your mat and extend the left leg forward, the right foot placed on the inner thigh. Twist your torso forward so your navel is facing the front foot. Inhale and raise the arms, lifting the chest, exhale and fold. You can grab your foot or the side of your left leg, or, if you have a very rounded back, use a strap around the left foot and extend your arms so you feel the lengthening on your spine.
Modified urdhva dhanurasana (wheel): Lie on your back and bend your knees, with the feet open about hip-width apart. Try to grab your ankles if you can, and on the inhale raise your hips up all the way.
There should be no force here and no compression on the lower back. Hold. On the exhale release.
Salamba sarvangasana (shoulderstand) or Viparita Karani (legs up the wall): Close the sequence by going into your favorite inversion either in shoulderstand or legs up the wall. If you’ve never done the shoulderstand without the guidance of a qualified instructor, try the latter. Lie on your back and rest your legs the wall. Close your eyes and hold for a moment.
Savasana (corpse): Lie on the floor, letting the feet and the arms relaxed. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and let out with a sigh. Now come back to your natural breathing and stay for at least five minutes.
This practice will hopefully leave you invigorated and refreshed again to return to your normal activities. Namaste.
— Photos by JP/P.J. Leo
