If you have been practicing at home with DVDs or audio practices, you may be considering putting together your own practice. Creating your own sequences, set to the music you choose, is a great way to tailor your practice to your current needs and fitness level.
Creating your own sequences often makes people nervous, but once you understand some basic principles, you can create your own practice to suit your changing needs. There is no single way to sequence the asanas, which you probably know from taking classes with different teachers and using a variety of yoga DVDs.
Just as you’ve noticed some differences in the sequences of various teachers, you have likely also noticed some similarities, or general principles, of sequencing applied in your different yoga classes or DVD practices.
All yoga classes have a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is devoted to setting an intention, possibly a short meditation and warming up the body with some basic warm up movements. How this is done can vary, but there should be a warming up period to get started.
After the warm up, a flowing sequence, such as one of the sun salutations variations is a good way to get the body warmed up and moving. This is often followed by a few different types of strength and balance poses. For example, you can include some standing poses and inversions.
These are usually followed by seated poses and then some gentle reclined poses. These seated and reclined poses help to begin to cool down the body, release tension and prepare for final relaxation.
The specific standing, inversions, seated and reclined poses you choose are up to you. Just be sure to include a few of each for a nice, well rounded practice. This can also change according to the day, time of day or your energy level on a specific day. Take it easy and listen to your body and what you need at the time.
Although the type of asanas you choose for the seated and standing poses can vary, the final pose should remain the same. All practices, regardless of the type or level, should end with relaxation in savasana or corpse pose. At least a few full minutes should be devoted to completely relaxing the body and mind.