I rolled out my yoga mat… now what?

Personal Yoga Practice: Sequencing

Sequencing - or “what do I do now?” - is where the rubber hits the road in a physical yoga asana practice. What do you do when you roll out the mat? How about right after that? When do you know you’re done? Do you just pose - pose - pose - pose, like you’re voguing in a club???

Yes to the flow and intuitive part, no to the performance part of voguing, and by “flow” I don’t mean that you stay in motion the whole time or have to base your practices on Sun Salutations. Only that after you’ve set up some markers - either intellectually or on paper - one of the awesome things about Personal Yoga Practice (PYP) is that you get stop, stay, veer and explore as much as you feel, instead of synching with someone else’s cadence or notion of “what comes next.” That’s part of the magic of PYP: you get to explore that cool insight or sensation, rather than tucking it away for later or letting it pass by.

In PYP, we want to observe the yamas and niyamas, the first two “limbs,” or principles, of yoga. The Eight Limbs from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras define yoga. Rolf Gates translates yama and niyama as “stop doing what hurts, start doing what helps.” There are 10 yamas and niyamas in total and like the 10 commandments they are basic values. We’ll focus on 3: tapas (dedication to practice), brahmacharya (boundaries) and ahimsa (non-harming).

Asana and pranayama - yoga posture and breath observation - are the 3rd and 4th limbs of yoga practice, after yama and niyama, and they are the “what” of physical yoga practice. The final four limbs arise from the first four like knowledge arises from study - effortlessly, once the effort for the foundation is underway. The final four limbs are pratyahara (sense mastery), dharana (focus), dhyana (concentration) and samadhi (being in flow, union, “enlightenment”).

So, with kindness, clarity and dedication (ahimsa, brahmacharya and tapas), we want to establish a few markers to start with. Answer each of these questions right now, then read on for some guidelines to turn your answers into poses.

• How long will this PYP be? 15 minutes, 30, 60…? It’s easy to get lost, so having a guide is really helpful, especially for sustainability.

• What time of day? This will help guide the intensity and even how you approach the asana.

• What time of year? In general, each 2 month Ayurvedic season there are certain predictable environmental factors having to do with light, heat and moisture that make certain classes of posture and certain ways of practicing more helpful, all else being equal.

• What brings you to the mat in general and specifically, today?

  • In general: is this part of your self-care, stress management, exercise, healing something specific, spiritual connection? Knowing your motivation - which we discussed in a previous article - can be supportive in not only starting and maintaining your PYP, but also knowing what and how you’re going to practice on a given day. It’s a good idea to revisit this cyclically - on moons, seasonally or even yearly, for your birthday or new year.

  • Specifically today: does your knee hurt? Did you overdo it yesterday on that hike or even in your practice? Does your tummy hurt or are you celebrating a triumph or grieving a loss? Each of these can guide the poses you choose as guideposts for your practice and how you engage with them.

• What poses do you remember from previous classes or PYPs that intrigue you today or make you feel the way you want to feel?

With your answers and a little practice, you’ll be able to imagine or draw or write out some guideposts for your practice. You may want to do this weekly or daily or monthly. With practice, you’ll be able to roll out your mat and use your first few breaths, as you become present and check in with yourself, to tap into these principles and guide your spontaneous practice.

1. Beginning and end are very standard and sedate.

   1. Beginning is standing, laying down or seated, tuning into your breath, gathering your attention and feeling your body.

   2. End is Savasanahhhh! 10% of your practice time. Most important pose: final relaxation. Can be preceded by Bridge and Final Spinal Twist.

2. Imagine an arc, like a story or a ritual, building to pinnacle and then resolving the forces explored to that point.

3. Pick a Focus Pose: this can be one you return to and explore the elements of again and again throughout the practice, or the most challenging pose of the practice, or both.

   1. Challenging: like Dancer, maybe. This pose would be toward the middle or just after. Poses before would prepare - like Tree, Warrior I and Cobra. Poses after would resolve - like Hand to Foot, Forward Fold.

   2. Exploration: like Mountain, exploring equality of stance, sides of body, attention in other poses.

4. Counterpose: along the way, each pose will be followed closely by its opposite, creating a zig zag energy. Sun Salutations follow this principle. This is crucial to the neurological, circulatory and lymphatic benefits peculiar to yoga. Backbends followed by Forward (and visa versa) or Twists. Twists are their own counter. Inversions followed by seated or restful. Prone are usually countered by twists or forward folds. Savasanahhh is the ultimate counter pose.

You can draw this out, write it or just imagine it.

You could explore using this sample journal page for the feeling (motivation), arc, counterpose:

A page from the Personal Yoga Practice Journal focused on imagining or drawing your yoga practice arc, fueled by counterpose.