There are many schools of yoga and each has their own way. These videos represent the Karuna Way. I hope you find them useful.
Please read The 'Important Notice' at the beginning. It is only lasts for 40 seconds and is for your safety, and highlights any contraindications you may need to be aware of before doing the yoga poses.
Main Points:~ Upward Facing Dog/Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
Roll your inner heels towards the mid-line and lengthen your legs.
Draw your tail-bone downwards so that you lengthen your lumbar spine.
Tighten your Quadriceps and draw your knees up so that the muscles feel as though they are hugging onto the bones.
Maintain this engagement as you push up into Upward Facing Dog. This will help avoid compression of the lumbar vertebrae.
Make sure that you roll your shoulders back away from your ears and move your elbows in towards the sides of your body this will engage your Latissimus Dorsi, Trapezius and Rhomboid muscles so that when you push up into Upward Facing Dog the weight of your body is evenly distributed throughout the whole pose and not just in your wrists.
Main Points:~ Downward Facing Dog/Adho Mukha Svanasana
With your feet along the outer edge of your yoga mat, pressing down with the four corners of each foot will lift the inner arches of your feet, your shin bones and your knees avoiding wear and tear of the cartilage at the back of the patella and misalignment of the lateral and medial ligaments whose job it is to help stabilise the knee joint
In the second foot position do your best to avoid collapsing the inner arches of your feet. Keep the lift in the inner arches, shins and knees
During all three foot positions as you stretch downwards through your calves and heels you also want to maintain a lift in your hamstrings and sitting bones
Main Points:~ Shoulder Bridge/Setu Bhandasana
Make sure that the outer edges of your feet are straight and that you also press down with the four corners of each foot before even thinking about lifting your pelvis.
Keeping your feet engaged while you lengthen your lumbar spine will help to support your Sacro-Illiac joints as you lift up into Shoulder Bridge Pose
Main Points:~ Triangle Pose/Trikonasana
Organise your foundation first making sure that you draw the inner arches of your feet up, lift your shin bones and thigh muscles to keep your knees stable.
Tilting your pelvis keeps your back straight so that you are able to lengthen out through the crown of your head
Remember to maintain an alignment of your bones. If you keep this in mind when doing two footed poses, your single leg balances will be much more stable
Main Points:~ Warrior One/Virabhadrasana I
Make sure that you have your feet where you are also able to turn your pelvis completely to face the short side of your mat
Extend through the back leg, rooting down through the back heel
Make sure that your feet are wide enough apart so that as you bend your front leg, your front knee is over the heel and doesn't fall towards the mid-line. Actively engage your outer thigh, hip and gluteal muscles to maintain stability
Before bending your front knee to go into the pose draw your tail-bone down and your lower abdominal muscles inwards and upwards. Maintain this engagement as you go into the pose to avoid compressing your lumbar spine
Main Points:~ Warrior Two/Virabhadrasana II
For stability avoid sticking your bottom out and leaning forward. Make sure that you tuck your tail-bone under first, draw the belly up and maintain this engagement as you go into the pose
There is a tendency among beginners to lean forward over the front leg but actually you want to keep your Inner Body lifted as you sit down evenly between your feet
Main Points:~ Warrior Three/ Virabhadrasana III
As I always say to my students "it's too late to organise your balance once you're in the pose, balance before you go" ... To balance - press down with the four corners of your feet, lift your inner arches and shin bones, align your thigh bone over shin bone and lift your pelvic floor up and then you're good to go
The other frequently experienced issue is in the pelvis. Once your back leg is lifted you want to roll that hip down and the standing leg hip back so that your sacrum is flat
And as always lengthen out through your back leg keeping both knees firm
Main Points:~ Extended Side Angle Pose/Parsvakonasana
We often go straight from Warrior Two into Extended Side Angle Pose because the foundation is the same.
However once your get into the pose make sure you are 'holding the pose up with your Core' and not sinking down into the bottom arm.
So it's lengthening back through the back leg, tail-bone down, belly up, keep the engagement and lift your underside waist, open your chest to the ceiling
Keeping your feet and core engaged will make this pose a joy
Main Points:~ Bow Pose/Dhanurasana
The main thing to remember with all back-bends is the lengthening of the lumbar spine. For Dhanurasana it's also important to press your ankles into your hands to maintain the engagement.
Flexing your feet stabilises the knee joints
Exhaling as you go into the pose draws the back muscles around the spinal vertebrae inwards to make the back-bend stronger and safer
Main Points:~ Seated Head to Knee Pose/Janu Sirsasana
I have lost count of the tales of lower back injuries due to over zealous incorrect forward bending.
The lifting of the pelvis up and over the thigh bones applies to all forward bends
This action engages the Quadratus Lumborum among other muscles that help to support the natural curve of the lumbar spine while keeping your inter-vertebral discs in place during your forward bends
The other issue is with the neck and head. Avoid jutting the chin forward in an effort to go deeper. The going deeper comes from lengthening the hamstrings, tilting the pelvis forward, keeping the front of the pose open
Main Points:~ Seated Wide Angle Pose/Upavista Konasana
Avoid hyper-extending the knee joints, keep your heels on the ground, draw your thigh muscles (Quadriceps) up, extend out through your inner heels
Make sure you are sitting upright on your sitting bones as you turn your navel toward the straight leg and keep your spine lengthening up
Main Points:~ Headstand/Sirsasana
After checking that you don't have any of the contraindications proceed with confidence.
Remember the strength is in your arms, keep the shoulders lifting up away from the ground and continue to extend up through the inner legs and feet
Always rest in either Child Pose or Downward Facing Dog after coming down out of Headstand
Dawn Smith Yoga 500hrs RYT
Registered Yoga School. Established since 2008
Accredited Member of The Independent Yoga Network
