Vinyasa Sequence from the Heart

This week has been a difficult one. Problems in my personal life coupled with pressure at work to meet multiple deadlines have tested the limits of my stamina. And yet, despite my exhaustion, last night I taught a vinyasa class that came straight from the heart. I thought it might ruin the organic magic of the flow to write it down, but I received such positive feedback that I wanted to share with my friends and loved ones. Enjoy!

Child’s pose
Side stretches
Table top
Cat/cow flow
Core work (“table top open arm and leg” flow for obliques)
Down dog
Rag doll
Down dog

Low lunge (R)
Half split
Low lunge full expression
Low lunge twist
Standing split (gently)
Forward fold
Chair
Mountain
Plank
Cobra x 3
Vinyasa + repeat (L)

Sun A’s x 4-5

Low crescent/”Runner’s lunge” on tented fingers (R)
Airplane arms
Lightning bolt arms
Crescent lunge
Vinyasa + repeat (L)

Chair
Open arm twist (R)
Open arm twist (L)
Vinyasa

Warrior II (R)
Reverse warrior
Side angle/extended side angle
Warrior II
Low lunge twist (L hand to inside of R foot)
Side plank (L)
Vinyasa

Child’s + thread the needle (or inversion practice)
Dolphin
Down dog

Low crescent/”Runner’s lunge” on tented fingers (R)
Airplane arms
Lightning bolt arms
Crescent lunge
Open arm twist (L fingertips forward)
Open arm twist heart opener (R fingertops down L thigh, reach L fingertips up and back)
Crescent lunge
Warrior II
Dancing warrior (between reverse warrior and side angle)
Triangle
Balancing half moon (R)
Standing split
Forward fold, deepen
Mountain
Vinyasa
Chair pose
Chair twist (R)
Mountain
Tree x 2 (second time around, Standing figure four x 2)
Vinyasa + repeat (L)

Mountain
Laughter (30-45 seconds, out loud)
Vinyasa (with a smile)

Flip dog (R)
Low lunge (R)
Lizard lunge + variations
Lizard lunge twist
Down dog + repeat (L)

Pigeon (R)
Seated twist
Counter half-push-up
Repeat (L)

Bridge x 2
Supine cobbler’s
Waterfall

Svasana

Love After Love

Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

 

further note to clark

Lucille Clifton

do you know how are this is for me?
do you know what you are asking?

what i can promise to be is water,
water plain and direct as Niagara.
unsparing of myself, unsparing of
the cliff i batter, but also unsparing
of you, tourist. the question for me is
how long can i cling to this edge?
the question for you is
what have you ever traveled toward
more than your own safety?

Schedule for the Week of April 24

I feel fortunate to be teaching so much this upcoming week. What a pleasure to share this practice with so many people.

April 24 @ 10:30am // YINyasa at Source Yoga
April 24 @ 12:00pm // Power-Vinyasa at Source Yoa
April 25 @ 6:00pm // Vinyasa Open Level at Source Yoga
April 26 @ 5:30pm // Slow Flow at Yoga Roots
April 26 @ 8:00pm // Yin at Source Yoga
April 28 @ 8:00pm // Vinyasa Open Level at Yoga Roots
April 29 @ 6:00pm // Vinyasa Open Level at Yoga Roots
April 30 @ 4:45pm // Slow Flow at Yoga Roots

If not now, when?