April 16th, 2018
Life has it’s moments that make it hard to get to Meraki for a yoga class. Whether its a planned trip, getting sick, or a dinner date, we all have those times that we can’t seem to get into the studio. Having a simple flow in your back pocket can give you the time to slow down and reset both physically and mentally. Coming up with your own flow may seem like quite the task when life happens. Here is a great sequence to flow through on your next Sunday (or any day you don’t make it in to Meraki).
Childs Pose
Bring your knees wide to your mat and your big toes to touch. Sink your hips down to your heels as you melt your forehead to your mat and extend your arms to the front of your mat. Start to deepen your breath, lengthening your inhales and exhales. Settle inward.
With an exhale walk your hands right, lifting your forehead off of your mat, feel a side body stretch through the left side. Inhale back through center, exhaling your hands left lifting your forehead off of your mat, feel a side body stretch through your right side.
Table Top
Lift your hips and stack your shoulders over your wrists, knees over your hips.
Cat/Cow
With your breath in, cow pose, drop your belly, pull your heart through as the heels of your wrists pull back towards your knees.
With your exhale tuck your chin to your chest and arch through the back, hands press into the mat.
Downward Dog
From your neutral table top, tuck your toes an lift your hips up and back for downward facing dog. Hands are about shoulder distance apart or wider . Spread your fingertips and firm your arms bones in towards one another as you melt your heart to your thighs. Reach your heals to your mat.
Rag doll
Walk your feet to your hands. Feet are about hip distance apart or wider. Grab opposite elbows, feel a really nice stretch through the hamstrings. Let your head be below your heart. If your hamstrings are super tight, or you are feeling this in the low back, bend your knees.
Half Lift
Release hands to the mat, Inhale halfway lift. Looking up lengthening the spine, drawing the shoulder blades together and down, tone the belly. Exhale to fold forward.
Extended Mountain Pose
Keeping your feet hip distance apart, inhale to bend the knees, tone the belly and rise, stacking your shoulders over hips, hips over knees, knees over ankles. Arms will frame your face.
Back Bend
Exhale to cactus the arms, lift the heart up towards the sky, thighs reach forward. Inhale extended mountain pose. Exhale to fold forward.
High Plank
After your third time through step back to high plank. Stacking shoulders over wrists an puffing up the space in between the shoulders. Feel a straight line of energy running from the crown all the way to the heels.
Cobra Pose
Lower all the way down to the belly nice and slow, elbows drawing in to ribs. Heals of the hands come to the tops of the ribs. Inhale to peal your heart away form your mat, pinning your toes and lifting through the knee caps. Gaze down at the top of your space. Exhale to lower chin to the mat. inhale tuck your toes, exhale downward facing dog.
Chair Pose
Low Crescent Lunge
Step your left foot back, drop your back knee down. Inhale low crescent lunge, stack your shoulders over your hips, arms will frame your face. If you want more of a stretch through the let hip flexor, toe heel the right toes forward, then hinge the hips forward. Exhale hands to your mat, downward facing dog.
Standing L
From downward facing dog, inhale your left leg high, exhale step your left foot next to your left thumb, standing L. Right toes float off the mat, hold here, dial the right hip down in line with the left, draw your heart away from your thigh. With your exhale, fold forward, right foot meets left forward fold. Work into the other side.
Supine Twist
Come to lying on your back, hug both knees in to your chest. Extend your left leg long, hug your right knee in to your right rib cage. Exhale knee across the body, bring your arms to a T and gaze in the opposite direction. Keep rooting shoulder blades into your mat. Find center, go into the other side.
Full Happy Baby
Hugging knees in to your chest, reach though the legs, grab the outside edges of the feet and work your knees down to your mat, imagine stamping foot prints to the sky with your feet. Keep rooting your tailbone down, head heavy on your mat. Feel this stretch through your aductors (inner thighs).
Savasana
Let your legs go long, arms frame your low body. Slight tuck of the chin to your chest to lengthen through your spine. Soften through every part of your body. Stay here for several rounds of breath.
NAMASTE
Check out the blog next week for an extended 30 minute flow by Chelsey. Continue to cultivate your practice at home with these well-rounded and accessible sequences.
Written by Meraki Teacher Chelsey Peacock
Join Chelsey on Mondays for Vinyasa 1 at 5.45pm, Vinyasa Flow 2 Hip-hop at 8.15pm and Wednesdays for Power Vinyasa Flow at 5.45pm