Yoga - How to Structure Your Practice

Excerpted from
The Little Yoga Book
By Erika Dillman

Elements of Practice

In order to maximize yoga's benefits, practice regularly and design an all-body routine that improves balance, flexibility, stamina, and strength. A well-rounded practice includes the following types of poses: abdominal strengtheners, backward and forward bends, balancing, spinal twists, and poses that stretch and strengthen the legs, hips, arms, shoulders, neck, and back.

When I practice yoga at home, I tend to do my favorite poses every day, in no specific order. Once a week I attend a class so that I can break out of my rut and try new poses. I find that the poses I avoid practicing at home because they are too challenging are exactly the exercises my body most needs to do.

Begin your yoga practice with a few minutes of breathing exercises and warm-up exercises. In The Complete Toga Book by James Hewitt, he recommends practicing poses in the following order: standing, sitting, kneeling, supine, prone, inverted, and relaxing. My teacher usually has us practice inverted poses after standing poses or at the end of class, just before the final relaxing pose. Every yoga teacher has her own interpretation s of and variations on the poses, so you might find that your teacher follows a different pose sequence, focuses on just a few types of poses each class, or practices breathing exercises after poses. The important thing to remember is to do what feels right for you.

The Sun Salute series can be a complete workout in itself, so you might want to practice it at a separate time, after warming up.

While you practice, keep in mind that yoga's benefits are gained through slow, deliberate movements and breathing, as well as resting. Take a min ate to rest in between poses to allow your body to balance itself. If you're like most people, used to hurrying to your next appointment, jumping around in aerobics classes, and running lips around a track, slowing down will be a challenge.

The best way to stay disciplined about practicing is to set aside ten to thirty minutes each day or night for yoga. Some people prefer practicing in the early evening or before sunrise. I like to practice yoga between nine and ten a.m. because it helps me wake up, or at the end of the day to counteract all the hours I've spent sitting in front of my computer. Find a time and place that works for you.

I have listed the poses by category for organizational purposes, but to create a well-rounded routine, you will not necessarily practice them in the order in which they are listed. After completing your breathing 2nd warm-up exercises, you can select a 5-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-30, or 30-40 minute workout on pages 168-70. You can also make up your own routines using the criteria I mentioned at the top of the page.

In the back of the book, I have also listed poses that will help prepare you for different physical activities and sports, as well as poses to practice for different health conditions and poses that benefit specific areas of the body.

Benefits of Poses

The chart below explains the general benefits of different types of yoga poses.

What Different Actions Do for the Body

Abdominal

Poses that strengthen the abdominal and lower back muscles help keep the pelvis in its neutral position, improving posture. Poses that massage the abdomen improve digestion and the absorption of nutrients in the digestive system.

Backward Bends and Forward Bends

Backward bends are energizing poses that increase flexibility in the lower spine, open up the front of the body, and increase circulation and respiration.

Forward bends are relaxing poses that help tone and massage the internal organs, strengthen and stretch the spine, and calm the mind.

Head Alignment

Maintaining correct spinal alignment involves the top of the spine, as well as the tailbone area (and in between). If you put your hand on the back of your neck and tilt your head backward and forward, you can feel how the back of your neck arches and straightens. The goal is to have your upper spine come straight out of your shoulder area and into the base of your head, with your head resting at the top, eyes looking straight ahead. If you visualize someone pulling up on a string that runs through your spine and out the top of your head, you can experience what proper head alignment feels like. Your chin won't jut out or be perfectly parallel to the floor, but slightly tucked. As you practice head alignment, you can feel the back of your neck straighten and your head tilt into its optimal position.

Hips aligned

Maintaining pelvic alignment means that when you move, you want both of your hips to be in line with each other on horizontal and vertical planes. For example, when you do the Tree pose, you will be bending one leg while balancing on the other. The trick to maintaining that balance is to have your body in optimal alignment. You want both hips facing forward, aligned with your torso and shoulders, and the same distance from the floor. (That means that one hip isn't cocked higher than the other.) The same is true in the Cat pose Variation. As you extend your arm and leg, trying to maintain balance, make sure that you are not twisting your pelvis around to hold up your leg. Both hips should be facing the floor, and the same distance from the floor. My friend reminds herself to maintain hip alignment by thinking of her hips as car headlights (i.e., the beams never cross each other, but always remain parallel.)