Intermediate Practice: Toning the Front, the Back and the Sides (Strength Poses)

Disclaimer

Intermediate practices are for those who have been attending classes regularly for two years or more, who have a consistent and regular home practice, and who have familiarity with the basic standing poses, floor poses and with supported shoulder stand. In these practices, the information becomes a little more technical as the poses become more challenging and other inversions are introduced. Always seek out the guidance of a qualified teacher before you attempt new poses, especially inversions and Head Stand, so that they may instruct you in the safest way to approach them. There is no substitute for instruction from a seasoned teacher.

About The Practice

This practice beings with a sequence on the ropes that stretches out the torso, lengthening and widening the back while strengthening and integrating the legs. The poses that follow go around the torso creating strength and length, including a cycle focusing expressly on the strengthening and opening the upper body before focusing on the abdomen as a preparation for inversions.

Practice Tips

• Connect your sitting bones to your pubic bone, to your navel while still lengthening your sitting bones away from your head.
• Connect your sternum to your navel while still keeping your chest wide and the sides of your torso lengthening towards your head.
• Narrow and lengthen the sides of your waist towards your head while keeping your whole back wide.

Sequence

Rope Cycle:

1. Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) on ropes
2. Uttanasana (Intense Stretch Pose) on ropes
3. Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) on ropes
4. Urdhva Mukha Pashchimottanasana (Upward Facing Intense West Stretch Pose) on ropes
5. Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) on ropes
6. Uttanasana (Intense Stretch Pose) on ropes

Shalabhasana (Locust Pose) feet at wall, variation 1

• Lie on your belly with your toes turned under and your feet pressing against the wall.
• With your arms alongside head, place your hands on a pair of blocks. Press press your hands down to lift your head and chest as you reach your legs back.

Shalabhasana (Locust Pose) feet at wall, variation 1

• With the above set-up, bring your arms down by your sides, palms up, and place the blocks on your hands. Press up into the blocks to lift up into the pose as you reach your legs back.

Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)

Uttanasana (Intense Stretch Pose) hands on blocks

Plank Pose on forearms with block between palms

Vashisthasana (Vashistha’s Pose) on forearms with block between palms

Vashisthasana (Vashistha’s Pose)

Purvottanasana (Intense East Stretch Pose) hands on blocks, legs bent

Purvottanasana (Intense East Stretch Pose) hands on blocks, legs straight

Back Bend over bolster with foam blocks on hands

• Lie back across a bolster withe your head on a block and two foam blocks on your hands as you reach your arms overhead.

Supta Padangusthasana 1 (Reclined Big Toe Pose 1) foot at wall

Supta Padangusthasana 1 (Reclined Big Toe Pose 1) foot at wall

Urdhva Prasarita Padasana (Upward Extended Feet Pose)

Salamba Shirshasana (Head Stand) preparation

• Place one block at its tallest height close to the wall and two blocks on top at their lowest height pointing lengthwise out and resting against the wall.
• Place your palms against the bottom block, your forearms on the floor and lift up into a headless head stand preparation, walking in to rest your upper back against the blocks.
• Hold for two or three minutes, allowing your neck to ease and lengthen evenly around its circumference, and your head to ease towards the floor as you press your forearms down and lift your upper arms.
• Widen your chest and upper back evenly.

Salamba Shirshasana 1 (Head Stand 1) [1 to 5 min]

Sarvangasana Cycle [3 to 5 min total]:

1. Salamba Sarvangasana 2 (Shoulder Stand 2) arms parallel and wrists belted
2. Salamba Sarvangasana 1 (Shoulder Stand 1)
3. Salamba Sarvangasana 2 (Shoulder Stand 2)
4. Halasana (Plough Pose) with arm variations

Shavasana (Corpse Pose) bolster under knees, blanket under head

About Yoga: Art+Science

This post originally appeared on my former blog, Yoga: Art+Science, a passion project that I ran from 2004 to 2014 that accumulated more than 1000 posts and articles. It appears here as part of a project to revisit all that material and update it to make it fresh and relevant to a modern yoga practice.

If you enjoyed this practice, I’d love to share my approach to yoga with you. I hold weekly classes online and new students are very welcome. Hope to see you there!