Sadhana: the practice for day three

Finally, sun patterns on the studio walls, about 6:05 on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday, day two, was shoulder stand variations and forward bends.

It was interesting to see which standing poses were echoed in the variations.

For some reason I had never seen quite so clearly before how Eka Pada Sarvangasana (shoulder stand with one leg descending) relates to Parsvottanasana (intense side stretch pose) – with a concave spine, instead of the full forward bend.

As part of the preparation for centering and the invocation today, we sat in Virasana and brought our arms into Parvattasana (fingers interlocked, palms to the ceiling, arms straight).

So when the Virasana cycle came up later in the practice, I skipped over it, to leave more time for Malasana (garland pose).

On Wednesday, we’re back to the standing poses and back bends.

This practice isn’t exactly the same as Monday’s.

Most notably, the standing poses end with  Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, forward and to the side (extended hand to big toe pose). And they are followed by Supta Padangusthasana 1 and 2 (lying down big toe pose).

Mind you, unlike the Yoga Journal model in the link to Supta Padangusthasana, we work with straight arms.

Day 3: Wednesday

Sitting/ Invocation 5 to 10 minutes

Child’s pose 1 minute

Dog pose 2 minutes

Arm balance (or preparations) 3 – 5 minutes

Headstand (or preparations) 3 – 5 minutes

Standing poses: 30 seconds per side:

Tadasana (mountain pose)

Parvatasana (fingers interlaced, palms out, arms up)

Utthita Trikonasanana (triangle pose)

Utthita Parsvakonasana (side angle pose)

Vira 2, Vira 1, Vira 3 (warrior 1, 2, 3)

Ardha chandrasana (halfmoon pose)

Parivritta Trikonasana (rotated triangle)

Parsvottanasana (intense side stretch pose)

Prasarita Padottanasana (wide-leg forward bend)

Padangusthasana (uttanasana, feet hip distance, holding big toes)

Uttanasana (standing forward bend)

Adho Mukha Svanasana 1 minute

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, forward and to the side

Supta Padangusthasana 1, 2

Supta Baddhakonasana

Shoulder stand – 5 minutes

Halasana (plow pose) – 2 minutes

Setu Bandha, on brick, feet to wall 2 to 3 minutes

Back bends: 2 times, 30 seconds each

Salabhasana (locust pose)

Dhanurasana (bow pose)

Urdva Mukha Svanasana (upward facing dog pose)

Setu Bhanda Sarvangasana (bridge pose) OR

Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward facing bow)

Twists: 30 seconds to 1 minute each side

Bharadvajasana 1 (Bharadvaja’s pose)

Bharadvajasana 2

Ardha Matsyendrasana (half Lord of the Fishes pose)

Paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)

Savasana 5 to 10 minutes

Don’t have time for a full practice? You’ll find some doable help for tight hamstrings in these posts:

Roll your feet on a tennis ball to loosen your hamstrings

Stretching hamstrings one leg at a time

Kitchen counter series, part one