Usually we call the Plank Pose >Chaturanga >Up Dog>Down Dog Pose sequence our “vinyasa flow” but vinyasa means a gradual progression that systematically takes you from one point and safely lands them at the next point. This specific one is part of the Sun Salutation flow and is great way to warm up the body for the rest of the section.

Sequencing a Flow: Keep these points in mind when you are planning 

1. Think about which muscles need to be stretched. If your workout was shoulder or hip heavy, for example, make sure you are doing postures aimed to open these muscles. Here are a few examples:

• Shoulders: downward dog, cat/cows, cobra, child’s pose, prone twisting shoulder stretch, *yoga straps
• Hips/Hip Flexors: Butterfly, seated twist, bridge, runner’s lunge, triangle pose, pigeon, stretches with the yoga straps, warrior one and two
• Hamstrings: forward fold, down dog, triangle pose, head-to-knee forward bend(pike or single leg) yoga straps stretch, wide leg forward fold
• Chest: cat/cows, cobra/up dog, t-arm chest opener, side-angle/triangle pose, warrior 1 & 2, yoga straps
• Back: cat/cows, forward fold, cobra/up dog, down dog, seated twisting pose, standing half forward bend, child’s pose

These are a few examples, and I’ve posted a link at the bottom with a full library of yoga poses categorized by what they stretch for you to reference. You should notice that a lot of our stretches overlap what they are stretching and hit multiple muscle groups.

2. Vary the sequence: Think about moving and stretching through the different planes of motion: Sagittal (front/back), Frontal (lateral or side-to-side movement) and Transverse (twisting around the trunk of your body). Examples:

• Right runner’s lunge>twisting side angle>lower into pigeon pose or lizard lunge
• Warrior I>Warrior II>Reverse Warrior>Triangle>Twisting Side Angle>Wide leg forward fold>Side 2 Warrior I (repeat)

3. Transitions are smooth: Make sure each sequence is a natural progression from one stretch to the next.  This should be a calming time to reconnect their mind to their body, and you don’t want to have to readjust from one posture to the next.  

Example: Instead of moving straight from your seat to child pose  (depending on how the mats are positioned), have them roll to their back into savasana and pause, roll to your right side with right arm over head, press down with left hand to lift up and sink into child’s pose.

4. Connect breath to the movement: Vinyasa is sometimes described as the “breathing system,” or the union of breath and movement that make up the steps.  Create a sequence that correlates with your breathing. You want to inhale as you lengthen muscles and exhale and you shorten or contract them.

Example: Inhale arms over head>exhale to swan dive into forward fold>inhale to half forward bend>exhale to forward fold>inhale lift upward salute

Yoga stretching puts an emphasis on your breath and your body position, and that’s why I love ending our workout with it as opposed to a regular stretch cool down. This emphasis on body alignment exercises the smaller stabilizing muscles around the main muscle group that is being worked, to give a more inclusive stretch to the body. It requires core stabilization, so we truly are giving a “60 minute core workout.”