Day 42 : SEATED : Badha konasana subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

I mentioned in the previous post that credited working on Upavishta konasana (Day 41) with a much improved badha konasana allowing me to bring me feet closer to the perineum and the knees to the mat. As it's a favourite posture I sometimes like to include some of the hand/arm variations we find in the tadasana sequence as well as Day 41's Upavishta konasana.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS


To get deeper into badha konasana prepare with extended stays in paschimottanasana and upavishtas konasana.

Sit up tall lifting up out of the pelvis

sit as far forward as possible on the sit bones

As you bring your feet closer towards the perineum, keep a little space between your feet to allow the turn outwards as if opening a book, turning your soles up to face you.

To allow this to happen there is a rotation in the hip joint, this should not be forced but something that will come over time as you work with hip opening postures like those in the Seated and Asymmetric particularly the janu sirsasanas.

Mula bhandasana
In this version you lift up and sit on the heels holding onto the feet (there is another advanced posture where you roll your feet over so that your heels face forwards and your toes point backwards before sitting on your heels), engage Mula, Uddiyana and Jalandhara bandha

Padmasana will be looked at in more detail in Lotus subroutines

Gomukhasana has too different versions, one where you sit on the heel and the one shown here practiced in Vinyasa krama where you sit between the heels.

Day 41 : SEATED : Upavishta konasana ( seated angle stretch)subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

Upavishta konasana is one of those seemingly straight forward postures that we take for granted. I must have practiced it everyday for a couple of years before I gave it a second thought.

Vinyasa Krama often helps you to see some of the seemingly straight forward postures as if for the first time. It's the Vinyasas entering and exiting the posture on the breath, going in a little deeper each time. It's the long stays, elongating the exhalations and engaging the bandhas and it's the subtle variations on the key pose, the different hand variations, the twists, lifts and counters.

Try building a practice around this one routine, give yourself a lot of time, a LOT of time.

I credit this subroutine with improving my lotus, making it more comfortable and allowing me to stay longer, I credit it with helping me to get my knees to the mat in badha konasana and for getting my leg down below my neck and onto my shoulders in kapilasana  a deep leg behind head posture.

TIPS/HINTS/SUGGESTIONS

The usual tips apply for this as for all the forward bends. Lift up high out of the pelvis, shift your backside back, remember to fold from the hip rather than form the back and work your way into the pose, you have time here, nine variations, there's no rush.

On the side bend, leaning over to the right for example, I like to take my right hand and hold on to my left hip and twist in a little. Now reach over your head with your left arm and fold inside your hip. laying along the thigh to grab your right foot with your left arm. NOW bring the right arm around parallel to the mat and take the inside of the right foot and finally twist in and up between your arms.

Use one of the hip raises like table pose as a counterpose.

Day 40 : navasana ( boat ) and urdhwa paschimpotasana (up looking posterior stretch ) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

Nice example of the taking rest principle in Vinyasa Krama. Navasana is a challenging posture that can get the breath and heart rate going, if it does Ramaswami encourages us to take a short rest.

The first posture (pic 2) is salambasana navasana, supported boat pose. If you find full Navasana challenging then you might want to stick with the supported version or do a mixture of the two, a few breaths in Salambasana navasana then an attempt at navasana before returning to a few more breaths in the supported version.

TIPS/HINTS/SUGGESTIONS
In Navasana let physics do some of the work.  Raise your legs but then pivot backwards on your backside as a counterweight to your legs which will bring your legs a little higher.

Stretch through the legs does a better job of straightening the legs than trying to lift from the feet.

The same goes for the back stretch through the back as in so many other postures in Vinyasa Krama, stretching/lifting out of the pelvis, try to flatten the small of the back as in yesterdays table pose.

If like me you have a pronounced coccyx then navasana is particularly challenging, try to avoid settling on the tip of the coccyx. I have to be a little above mine which means I need to place greater emphasis on straightening my back.

For the final posture  Urdhwa pachimottanasana you might find it easier to begin with gripping the ankles and finding your balance then as you fold closer to your legs shuffle your hands up you your heels.

Day 39 : SEATED : Chatushpadapeetam ( table pose) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

I find these a hip raises a nice counter to the forward bends for 'straightening' the spine out.

Plus the activate all the muscles that cross the knee thus developing more support for the knee in postures where the knee is exposed, On one leg postures, Lotus, Vajrasana etc.

the focus on raising the hip is helpful for working on advanced backbends like Kapotasana where we want to get the hips as far forward as possible.

Reminder 
There is a little 'nudge' to the lower back, as Ramaswami puts it, at the end of the raising of the leg which stretches the small of the back and lifts the leg a little higher.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS
I find it helps to think o fit e raising of the leg as coming from the hip rather than thinking of raising the other end, the foot, the leg

Rather than thinking about straightening the leg think more of stretching through the leg which helps to straighten it.

Leg raises come up in some of the other sequences.

Leg raise, Inversion sequence

Leg raise, Supine sequence

leg raise, supine sequence

leg raise from urdhva danurasana

Sometimes in my shorter evening practice I like to focus the leg raising vinyasas. Here's a link to a video of some of those found in Vinyasa Krama http://youtu.be/dsHWEHRaIAs

Day 38 : Purva tanasana (anterior stretch) and Vashitasana (after the sage) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

These postures make excellent counter postures to the long pashimottanasana, kurmasana and konasana subroutines from the seated sequence.

Stay in each purvatanasana  for three breaths but vashitasana for three to six breaths,

The challenge is to raise the hip(s) a little further on each exhalation.

As well as exercising the full range of the motion of the hip (along with the forward bending postures subroutines above) these postures are excellent for exercising the front back and side muscles of the legs that cross the knee joint. Exercising these muscles will give more support to the knee in the On one leg subroutines but also to advanced postures in which the knees are heavily involved.

VASHITASANA SEQUENCE
Towards the end of Ramaswami's Complete book of Vinyasa yoga there is a chapter tittled Visesha Vinyasa Kramas, the sun salutation sequence with mantras is found here along with some other dynamic sequences. One of these sequence based on Vashitasana incorporates purvotanasana and vashitasana above but also the ardha-baddha padma vasitasana or Kashyapasana from Asymmetric. I thought it might be interesting to look at the full sequence here and especially at the last eight postures that pass back and forth between purvatanasana and vashitasana, it's a mini sequence I like to practice after the above postures.

Here's a link to a video of the short vasishtasana sequence http://youtu.be/fA4FHPTxSlg

And here's the full sequence. We are encouraged to stay at each stage for three breaths, it's a tapas sequence that I find makes a nice short evening practice to burn off a few of the days rajas before settling down to some pranayama and meditation.

VIDEO LINK

Day 37 : Kurmasana (turtle pose) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

On the Video link above Kurmasana is at the end of the paschimottanasana video beginning at 6:55

Also in the video I enter kurmasana via Dwi pada sirsasana (both legs behind head) this is an advanced entry to the posture that allows you to get deeper into the pose. 

Before attempting the Dwi pada entry be sure that your comfortable with eka pada sirsasana (one leg behind head) from the Asymmetric and Supine sequences as well as perhaps Yoga nidra from the Supine sequence.

In the video I also raise my heels off the mat this too is an advanced version of Kurmasana. To be able to raise the heels the legs need to be high up above the elbow. Push the backside back engage the bandhas and stretch the legs which should cause them to straighten and the heels to lift. this gives an intense stretch to the hamstrings so they need to be nicely warmed up before hand with for example a long five minute Paschimottanasana or uttanasana.

It is sufficient to enter the posture from the mat, keep the heels down and focus on the breath as in paschimottanasana, short inhalations and long slow exhalations.

TIPS/HINTS/SUGGESTIONS

To get the legs over the head in akuncha kurmasana (pic 3) from the mat one trick is to shuffle the left foot as far over to the right as possible so it meets the right foot. Use the outside of the top half of the right foot to lever the heel up and over the left foot to hook them together, then you can move both feet to the center of the mat and curl your head in. here's a link to a post and video from my blog. 

http://tinyurl.com/cqfynlu

Here's the video of the shuffle.

Day 36 : Paschimottanasana (posterior stretch) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

Paschimatanasana is one of the 4 Key Vinyasa Krama Asana that Ramaswami recommends we spend a considerable time in every day, the other three are Maha mudra ( day ) Sarvangasana ( shoulder stand) and sirsasana ( headstand).


' Yoga texts recommend vaseth, which means one should stay in this posture for for a long time. Even a stay of five minutes has a tonic effect on the posterior muscles, the abdominal muscles and the pelvic organs, because of the rectal and abdominal locks'.
Srivatsa Ramaswami Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga p 75


Paschimatanasana is one of only two asana that I remember Ramaswami giving hands on adjustment, he would push forward our sacrum as we folded forward into the posture (the other adjustment was in tadasana where he would grip the pelvis and lift and hold up while we would do the hand arm variations).

Tips/Hints/Suggestions

In dandasana (pic 1) stretch fully as in standing tadasana, lifting up out of the pelvis, fold forward from the pelvis, imagine pushing your backside back as when we practiced uttanasana (standing forward bend).

The slight bend you may find in the knees is GOOD, this is protecting your hamstrings, eventually, over time your legs will be able to stay flat.

It took me about a year before my legs would stay flat on the mat, there was always a slight bend of my knees.

Caution
Forcing the legs to flatten could damage your hamstrings, this is not fun and even a tweak of the hamstrings will take weeks if not months to pass completely. It's the pelvis we're most interested in working anyway in this posture, be kind to your hamstrings.

As you become more comfortable in the posture, a gentle way to work towards getting your legs a little flatter ( not necessarily all the way) is to spend a minute or so in the posture then shuffle your sit bones backwards this will gently lengthen your hamstrings and allow them to flat them a little more. Settle for another minute and then shuffle back a little further.

Engaging mula bandha ( drawing up the anus ) helps to protect your hamstrings, it seems to activate the gluteus maximus taking some of the stress off the hamstrings.

Engaging uddiyana bandha, sucking in the belly creates space for you to deepen your forward bend.

In Vinyasa Krama, in an extended stay in paschimattanasana we may lengthen the exhale and even hold the breath at the end of the exhalation and engage the bandhas strongly.

Inhalation 3-5 seconds, exhalation 5-10 or even 15 seconds.

In vinyasa Krama the chin is tilted to the chest and in an extended stay we may engage jalandhara bandha, the throat lock more strongly.

Occasionally I find tatkamudra a useful pre paschimottanasana posture, here's a link to a post concerning this http://tinyurl.com/6egyxoy  Here's the gist of the post.

The other week, while practicing Primary series I was trying to settle into paschimottanasana but was feeling a little stiff. I laid back on the mat for a moment and figured while I was there I'd get my bandhas warmed up, better to engage them in the forward bend ( I tend to spend five to ten minutes in paschimottanasana, Vinyasa Krama style). So I raised my arms over my head for tatakamudra stretched and at the end of my exhale stopped the breath and drew up and back mula bandha, connected it to uddiyana, drawing my abdominal muscles inward and backward and bringing the small of my back onto the mat. A few long slow breaths and I went back to paschimottanasana, low and behold, the stiffness was gone and paschi felt comfortable enough for a long deep stay.

20/20/20 Upavishta konasana (seated angle pose )

I've got this idea, offering an hour lesson, 20 minutes Asana, 20 minutes Pranayama and 20 minutes meditation. 20/20/20 nice and simple idea, actually it's not my idea, it's Krishnamacharya's.

An hour, that's a lunch break, you could take it to the offices, do group lessons for the office workers. You could subcontract it out, come up with a fancy name and take it to the Dragon's Den, one could become rich.

Unfortunately I'm not that motivated to become rich and you just know the office workers would take forever to get themselves settled, an hour would become forty minutes, there'd be questions, loo breaks, people having to leave early to grab coffee....it would never work, shame.

I've been playing with this idea in my evening practice but now I'm practicing Ashtanga in the mornings again I want to pin this down, organise it a little better. It's the asana section that's the problem the rest is fine

PRANAYAMA
5 minutes kapalabhati
15 minutes Viloma Ujaii nadi shodana

MEDITATION
5 minutes Pratyahara
15 minutes meditation practice.

The meditation practice might be japa mantra meditation, going round the mala beads a couple of times chanting my mantra

...or some mahamudra vipassana meditation exercises

....chanting perhaps.

The meditation section coming at the end can of course be longer depending on what I have on but 20 minutes minimum.

But as I said the asana section is the problem. I'm used to doing a long asana practice, I struggle to keep it down to under half an hour. So I'm planning a series of posts, the blog will keep an eye on me and give me the discipline  I need.

Now I'm covering the bases in my morning practice, doing a long paschimottanasana and longer than the usual ashtanga inversions, I also tend to slip in maha mudra too so I'm covered on the key 'daily' recommendations. In the evening I can explore the different subroutines.......

I asked S. last week if she had any suggestions and she mentioned Upavishta Konasana the seated angle pose. It's her Birthday today so Happy Birthday S. sure you would have preferred flowers but this is the best I can do.

Upavishta konasan comes near the end of the Ashtanga primary series and at the end of the Vinyasa Krama seated sequence so I'm used to doing it with some warm up.

This evenings 20 min, Vinyasa Krama asana practice

A few tadasana arm stretches, forward bends in particular.
A couple of triangle postures (not all the vinyasas you see in the video, just a couple)...
Utthita trikonasana
Prasaritta padottanasana
A sun salutation
Paschimottanasana

....then into the Upavishta konasana subroutine (p81-83 in Ramaswami's book) which is where the video below picks up.

I've gone through this subroutine quicker than normal because I was filming it for S. on another day I might do less vinyasas and stay in the ones I do do longer.

The whole asana section came out at about 25 minutes, not bad, close enough.

I have a couple of nice Upavishta  Konasana tips/hints

1. Apply that stretch from Ramaswami's tadasana sequence, really lifting out of the pelvis and trying to stay lifted as much as possible before folding into the forward bend.

2. Engage uddiyana bandha, if your not familiar with the bandhas has don't worry, just suck in your belly, this should create more space for the deep forward bend.

3 Once your seated and have your legs spread, lift up your backside tilt your coccyx up and sit further forward on your sit bones or shuffle your backside back until your right on the edge of your sit bones
( that from Dharma Mittra found it on a youTube clip for getting deeper into paschimottanasana but it works for UK too, will try to find it.).

4. Take it easy, start with your legs less wide or your knees slightly bent or just don't fold in as deep right away, go easy on the hamstrings.

Vinyasa Krama Seated-angle pose subroutine addition to primary

In the previous post I mentioned how I'm using Vinyasa Krama to adapt my Primary and Intermediate series. The Sequences in Ramaswami's Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga are made up of subroutines built around a key pose, often it's variations. The video below is of the Seated-angle pose ( Upavishta Konasana ) Subroutine that I've been slipping into my Primary between Kukkatasana and Badha Konasana. It would probably go well before Kumasana too if you want the extra bit of hip opening before the Leg behind head entry to Supta Kumasana.

Does it disrupt the flow of Primary? It's a little different, five minutes without a jump back but then primary goes a little weird after badha konasana anyway. If I slipped it into Primary earlier in the sequence it might be disruptive but by the time I get to Kukkutasana I'm pretty settled into the rhythm of the practice, it becomes a welcome change of pace, refreshing to work yourself deeper and deeper into a pose.

The other Vinyasa Krama additions I've made have tended to be the odd pose or Mudra here and there. I'm being careful not to overbalance the series. If I wanted to do an inverted Subroutine in headstands, say, then I would probably drop this one and do the inverted instead. So far it's been working out well, practice has been excellent this week.

Taking a rest day today as I think I might be going down with something. Woke up dizzy yesterday, kept veering to the right and banging into things. Standing was quite comical, it was as if I was practicing on a boat in rough seas. Managed to get through the practice but was feeling nauseous through all the forward bends. I checked and I haven't taken a rest day since 31st march, must force myself to take one a week, perhaps just some extended Pranayama and meditation later today and leave it at that.

Adapted Bow and Seated sequence.

I'm so taken with the seated sequence at the moment that I wanted to try adding it to all the other sequences this week. This morning I thought it would work as a nice counterpose sequence to Bow/Backbends.

This is how it turned out, bit more than I intended but I was having such a good time and things seemed to flow into each other and make sense that I got a bit carried away. There tend to be jump backs and though only between the subroutines. It took a little over 90 minutes. Some sections like seated and Asymmetric were slow with extra, long steady breathes, other sections were more ashtanga like, quite enjoyed altering the pace.

Loved this so much that I wanted to print it out and do it again.....and again. Seeing as I'm typing it out anyway I might as well put it here and post it.

I'm thinking the bow/seated combination might make a nice framework for a daily practice. One day add more Lotus poses another day less Lotus and more Asymmetric or a stronger Inverted posture focus. That way I wont end up trying to add everything all in one go. I want to be ending up with a shorter practice, an hour maximum, and thus more time for Pranayama and meditation rather than allowing it to creep up to two hours of asana.

STANDING

Tadasana

Surya Namaskara A

Surya Namaskara B

Padangushtasana

Padahastasana

Utthita Trikonasana

Parivritta Trikonasana

Utthita Parshvakonasana

Parivritta Parshvakonasana

Prasarita Padottanasana A

Prasarita Padottanasana B

Prasarita Padottanasana C

Parshvottanasana

Utthita Hasta Padangushtasana (inc. lower to squat then head to knee)

Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana

Vatayanasana

Utkatanasana

Virabhadrasana (A & B)

Natajarasana

BOW/BACKBENDS

Bhujangasana

Shalabhasana

Bhekasana

Viparita Shalabhasana

Ganda Bherundasana

Dhanurasana

Parshva Dhanurasana

Dhanurasana

Ustrasana

Laghu Vajrasana

Kapotasana A

Kapotasana B

Eka Pada Raja kapotasana

Hanumanasana

Urdhva Danurasana/Dropbacks

SEATED

Paschimattanasana (3 types)

Purvatanasana

ASYMMETRIC

Tiriangmukhaikapada Paschimattanasana

Mahamudra

Janu Shirshasana A

Janu Shirshasana C

Ardha Matsyendrasana

Akarna Dhanurasana A

Akarna Dhanurasana B

Eka Pada Shirshasana

Kashyapasana (or Kashyabasana)

Chakorasana

SEATED

Upavishta Konasana Subroutine (from Vinyasa Krama)

Kurmasana

Dwi Pada Shirshasana

Supta kurmasana

Garbha Pindasana

Baddha Konasana A B C

Mula Bandhasana

Padmasana

Bhadrasana

ARM BALANCES

Urdhva Kukkutasana B and C

Padma Sirsasana

Karandavasana

Urdhva Kukkutasana

Padma mayurasana

FINISHING

Sarvangasana

Halasana

Karnapidasana

Urdhva Padmasana

Pindasana

Matsyasana

Uttana Padasana

Shirshasana

Baddha Padmasana

Padmasana

Uth Pluthi

Vinyasa Krama Seated Sequence Speeded up x4

Another run through of a sequence from Ramaswami's Complete book of Vinyasa krama. Just a guide as it can be difficult to get an overview of the VK sequences from the book. There are a couple of places I get it wrong, (can you get something wrong in Vinyasa krama?) or at least drift away from the sequence as it's laid out, mainly by forgetting what comes next.

I tend to start my practice with some Tadasana (mountain) poses followed by a few Sury's A and B and usually at least one chanted (with the itouch ). A standing sequence, lately that's pretty much been the 'On one leg' sequence' before the lead in to seated. The video takes it up at the lead in Straight leg jump through. The video ends with a jump back legs uncrossed. From there I go into a pretty much standard Ashtanga finishing sequence of Shoulder stand variations, headstand and Padmasana before settling into some Pranayama.

And here's a list of how the video differs from the Sequence laid out in the book.

0.06 Where I lay down at the beginning, after the lead in, my arms should be stretched out over my head. To get the shot I had to move back too close to the wall. Had to just lower after Supta kurmasana rather than jump back for the same reason.

0.50 I do a full wrist bind here, in the book the fingers are linked behind the feet. In the Paschi's the head position changes throughout the variations from forehead to knee to face, chin and then eyes to toes.

2.03 I do a leg behind head, dwi pada sirsasana entry to Supta Kurmasana (turtle in shell) that I picked up in Ashtanga 2nd. In VK the hands appear to be clasped lower, around the backside rather than the back.

4.38 There should be a couple of reverse twists through the arms after the forward twists.

4.43 I should go into a side splits subroutine here, Samakonasana. Not gonna to happen.

5.12 I slip in a lame mulabhandasa here just because it seems an appropriate place and it's something I want to work on.

5.40 There are no lotus variations in the book just padmasana for twelve breaths but it's a short sequence so I tend to do a couple.

6.30 Yoganarasimbasana pose (lion-man) I should have my arm outstretched in frount of me, palms down, arms resting on my knees just behind the elbows.

Slowed down X4 if you speed it back up it's about 27 minutes.

I tend to slip in a couple of extra jump backs in between the different sub routines.

I'm taking three breaths in each pose because I'm making the video. Usually I take between five and ten. The forward bends tend to have a shorter inhale but a long slow exhale that I tend to retain while I engage the bandhas.

Vinyasa Krama Seated Sequence.

For the next couple of months I'm working at improving familiarity with the different VK sequences by spending a week or two on each sequence. Last time I approached Vinyasa Krama, I was alternating the sequences through the the week but by the time the following week came around I was still having to stop and check the book. Hopefully, this way, I'll manage to get the sequences fixed in my head and in a month or so I can go back to alternating the sequences without the need to keep checking.

This week has been the Seated Sequence. As I'm still getting used to the transition from Ashtanga I've kept most of the Standing and Finishing sequences the same as I'm familiar with, basically the Sury's, a couple of Triangle sequence sub-routines and 'On one leg' subroutines for Standing and Sarvangasana and Lotus Subroutines for Finishing Later I'll get around to alternating the subroutines. Besides the Ashtanga Standing sequence is ideal for the Seated sequence, if aint not broke, don't fix it.

Seated appears to be a straight forward Sequence, a Jump Through into Paschimatanasana, no change there from Ashtanga's Primary. As with Primary you repeat the posture, this is something that comes up a lot in Vinyasa Krama. However, where in primary you do Paschi four times, A, B, C and D in VK's Seated there's also E, F, G, H and I ('though they aren't called that). These include crossing the arms, crossing the arms and twisting forward and then back, Paschi without support, IE. your hands just resting beside your feet and then a kind of Paschi version of Parasarita C with your arms out stretched behind you and then finally in reverse prayer position.

That's a lot of Paschimatanasana, and yet somehow it works. The breath is the real focus here, I aim at a five second inhalation, ten seconds exhalation and five seconds holding the exhale bahya kumbhaka while engaging mula and uddiyana bandhas (I don't engage the bandhas in the twists). I do ten rounds/breaths in each Paschi. It's hard to keep the breath steady and smooth when your bent double like that getting deeper and deeper into the pose each time but it also feels quite powerful, profound even as they build upon eachother.

Next is Kurmasana. In VK you tend to have a Jump Back and Through at the beginning of the sequence as well as at the end, VK calls it a lead in . I'm used to more so tend to fit one in between each of the sub-routines, It seems to be a nice balance. Akunchita Kurmasana I approach as usual via Dwi pada Sirsasana (legs behind head and lower down into it) I also exit via Titibhasana and Bakasana, again it's just what I'm used to and doesn't require much effort for me, so doesn't disturb my breath.

Purvatanasana is up next but there's also the side version on one arm, Vasishtasana. Then your on into Chatushpadapeetam, table pose with leg raises. Then it's Navasana, I do five with a lift in between, there's no lifting up here in VK but again I'm used to it and I want to keep some of the strength and fitness I've developed, I still throw in a couple of handstands in the Sury's too. Urdhwa Paschimotanasana finishes off this little sub routine and there's a rest in VK here where you lay back in corpse for a couple of minutes to settle the breath and the heartbeat. In VK you would take one of these whenever you felt the need. Steady breath is everything in Vinyasa Krama and remember your aiming at these long slow exhales and retentions with bandhas which make the poses deeper somehow.

After your little rest your back with more forward bends Upavishta Konasana, seated angle pose. As with Paschi there are eight versions of this and they take a similar form, supported and unsupported, hand variations and twists. Each time your getting deeper and your doing the same thing with the breath, short inhales, long steady exhales with retention and bandhas.

Side splits is next, Samkonasana, I'm still miles off being able to do that, I'm working on hanumanasana but I tend to give this one a pass.

The sequence finsishes off with Badha Konasana, Mula bhandasana, Padmasana, Siddhasana and Gomukhasana in each of these your basically doing Pranayama, long slow steady inhalation and exhalation, retention after both inhale and exhale and strongly engaging Mula, Udiyana and Jalahandra bandhas. I do about ten breaths in each 1-2 breaths a minute.

And then your on into finishing and the long Sarvangasana and Sirsasana via UD and Drop back's

Seated is a pretty straight forward sequence and easy enough to remember so I'll most likely move onto the Lotus Sequence Next week, this was my favourite sequence last time around so I'm looking forward to it.

On a side note, I've started using the Paranayama App at work. Found a quite room and am doing twenty minutes on my lunch break. Had a really tricky Sax yesterday but managed to stay patient with it all day, perhaps the Pranayama helped.

Leg behind head sub-routine from Vinyasa Krama's Asymmetric seated sequence

Love this sub-routine, it's from this mornings Asymmetric Seated sequence. It comes up half way through and follows a number of Marichiyasana vinyasa's. The Last two asanas come from the 'On one leg sequence' but I find it easier to practice them here.

And here's the video of the above. I kept it to about three long breaths rather than five or six for the recording. Still not completely familiar with the sequence which shows up in some hesitation here and there. Gets a bit raggedy towards the end, the breath especially which is very un VK.

Savasana looks bloody ridiculous from that angle