Sugar Bowl Yoga Flow
This 15-minute yoga class is part 1 of a 4-part 60-minute yoga class at SportHaus at Sugar Bowl. Part 1 is focused on grounding, meditating, and gentle stretching to prepare the mind, body, and spirit for the deeper stretches later in the class. The practice begins with a gratitude meditation focusing on people, places, and experiences. The practice ends with Sun Salutation A (Surya Namaskar) with affirmations to link the mind to the body and the spirit or breath. The full sequence of poses is listed below along with a YouTube video to follow along.
Logic
Yoga yokes mind, body and spirit. The following sections of the yoga class illustrate the various combinations.
Gratitude mediation - mind and spirit
Body scan with massage - mind and body
Warm-up stretch - body and spirit
Sun salutation (Surya Namaskar) with affirmations - mind, body, and spirit
Mindful control of the breath (pranayama) allows us to clear the mind and calm the body.
Class Outline
Gratitude mediation
- Easy cross-legged pose (sukhasana)
- Deep breaths
- Gratitude meditation
- person - palms up
- place - middle fingers to thumbs (akash mudra)
- experience - palms at heart center (anjali mudra)
Body scan with massage
- Staff pose (dandasana) to seated forward bend pose (paschimottanasana)
- Butterfly or cobbler’s pose (baddha konasana)
- Lower body scan + massage
- Soles of feet, toes, ankles
- Calfs and knees
- Quads and hamstrings
Lower Body and Spine Warm-up Stretch
- Seated windshield wiper pose (upavistha jathara parivartanasana)
- Hero’s pose (virasana) with toes and wrist stretches
- Lizard flow (left then right)
- Table top pose (bharmanasana) to
- One leg extended toes (bharmanasana uttana eka pada prapadaih)
- One leg hip rotation (bharmanasana eka pada shroni chakra)
- Modified lizard pose (utthan pristhasana)
- Half split (ardha hanumanasana)
- Lizard pose (utthan pristhasana)
- Malasana flow x 3
- Squat (malasana)
- Mountain pose (tadasana)
- Standing forward bend (uttanasana)
- Half lift (ardha uttanasana)
Lizard (utthan pristhasana) and and squat (malasana) strengthen and stretch the lower body including hips, knees, ankles, glutes, and core. Thes poses improve range of motion and flexibility while also releasing stress, tension, anxiety, and pain.
Sun salutation (Surya Namaskar) with affirmations
- Mountain pose (tadasana)
- Sun Salutation A (surya namaskar) with affirmations
- Begin in mountain pose (tadasana)
- Inhale arms up (urdhva hastasana):
I am filled with light and love - Exhale forward bend (uttanasana):
I am present and connected - Inhale half lift (ardha uttanasana):
I embrace challenges - Exhale four-limbed staff pose (chaturanga dandasana):
I am strong and resilient - Inhale upward-facing dog (urdhva mukha svanasana):
My heart is open - Exhale downward-facing dog (adho mukha svanasana):
I am compassionate and forgiving - Inhale forward bend half lift (ardha uttanasana):
I am capable of transformation - Forward bend (uttanasana):
I trust the journey and the process - Mountain pose arms up (urdhva hastasana):
I am worthy of good things - Mountain pose palms at heart center (tadasana with anjali mudra):
Namaste - End in mountain pose (tadasana)
(Image sources: https://pranayoga.co.in/asana/surya-namaskar-a-ashtanga-yoga/ and https://www.mondaycampaigns.org/destress-monday/sun-salutation)