Yoga tunes up the body and mind and is a way to healthy living. Yoga combines deep breathing, physical postures, and relaxation. Maybe you have visited a yoga class or might have seen a YouTube video. You must have noticed that people always do the yoga exercises in a particular order. While there Are many types of yoga practices all of them follow yoga sequencing ideas to reap the best outcome.
What is a yoga sequence?
Yoga sequencing ideas demonstrate ways of placing different yoga poses in a particular order. It ensures a logical flow of yoga practices and focuses on a specific outcome. Different yoga classes have different yoga sequence ideas for teachers to teach and the students to practice. Some of the modern yoga practices happen to be linear. One can start practicing with a basic pose and then gradually move to other poses seamlessly. They also include cooling and relaxing postures. These poses are done in sequence and, if required, the teacher suggests alternative sequences for the best results. It involves several components that work as the foundation.
- Developing theme: around a particular niche, like stretching a specific part of the body. It also helps to understand the end goals.
- Establishing flow: It ensures seamless transitions for moving forward from one step to another.
- Ensuring safety: It helps to warm up the body for doing various yoga steps.
- Opening: It covers breathing exercises, and relaxation, and further makes one aware of the goal.
- Preparation: It includes the flow of different postures with berthing coordination for transiting to the next posture.
- Peak pose: It prepares one for doing the most challenging pose.
- Balancing: It involves balancing postures that make the core stronger and also stimulate the body.
- Calming: It involves floor work to calm the body down with prone poses.
- Relaxation: It is the last step of the yoga sequence and involves lying on the back, on the ground, for perfect relaxation.
Factors affecting Yoga sequencing ideas
Yoga helps one to explore and discover the self. It involves individual experiences with different expressions. Because of this reason, one can apply a yoga class sequence template to all types of yoga practices. However, the sequence depends on the teacher, ethnicity, age, gender, convenience, and practice level.
Why use yoga sequencing ideas
When one follows an intelligent sequence while practicing yoga, the body receives a hoard of positive effects. Usually, a yoga sequence starts from a sitting to a standing position. It also makes one safe by loosening muscles, ligaments, and tendons before one starts standing yoga positions. Yoga sequences further improve the balance by combining certain poses involving the spine. Yoga sequencing lesson plans focus on coordinating different poses to deliver a classic experience. They help the body for subsequent moves with ease and safety. They help both yoga teachers and students. For teachers, yoga sequences make yoga classes interesting and yoga students also get benefit from following them.
Principles of Yoga sequencing ideas
A yoga sequence gives one the road map for yoga classes. In absence of free yoga sequencing, the focus and momentum are lost. Energizing and relaxing are the two main pillars of the principle of Yoga sequencing ideas. Not two individuals are equal and one might have a low energy level. It works like a bell curve and starts by stimulating the body, reaching the peak, and then entering into a state of relaxation. While a teacher may get creative, these basic principles will always follow.
Importance of yoga sequence
Many yoga teachers like to follow traditional sequences. But others have different visions and they prefer to bring those into the yoga classes. There are many yoga sequencing builder apps that give the user the flexibility to structure their sequencing by simple drag and drop options. These are ideal for Yoga teachers and students as well.
Structuring yoga sequence
Sometimes it becomes necessary to explore a different approach for yoga sequencing for mature students, expecting moms, and individuals with movement restrictions. Remember, the peak pose need not be a tough acrobatic pose or any other daring feat. But with a long time of practice, people may fall short of accessible peak poses. The following steps will help to structure the sequence without any new pose.
- Repetition of posses: You can repeat all poses twice and you can make slight changes while doing it for the second time. For this, you may go deep or add some variations. Yoga has provisions to do each pose in more than one way and doing it a bit differently will potentially change the experience.
- Break into several accessible poses: Whether you are a yoga teacher or yoga student, one is likely to get fatigued at some point. Involving several accessible poses, pose for some time, and repeat several times. While following short sequences one may focus on the spine. During the second time, one may focus on the feet and legs being mindful of the spine. One can also focus on the pelvis and lower back during the third time.
- Retrace steps: It involves going down the path instead of moving to the peak. And when you reach the last step you can retrace back in the reverse order. Repetition of poses in the reverse order helps to change the perspective.
- Club posses: Clubbing standing and seating poses together delivers a new experience. Yoga teachers can structure yoga classes that make them more enjoyable by transiting down to a seated position and then to a standing position. When one practices by clubbing poses, it delivers a new and enjoyable experience.
Parting words
Yoga involves different posses for stimulating physical energy and maintaining inner peace. When done in the right sequence, it enhances the flow and fluidity of the practice. Now that you know about the yoga sequencing ideas, follow them while you practice yoga. They will ensure safety and deliver a much better feeling.
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