Alternate Vinyasa Sequences: Part One; Kneeling Poses with Mild Weight Bearing on Hands, Wrists and Shoulders

I have been waiting for a while to set this up. This is the first part of a series of postings on alternate vinyasa sequences. There will be a few more postings that will be photos of postures. And then there will be a dialogue. The subject is: things you can do instead of Chataranga, Upward Facing Dog and Downward Facing Dog in a Vinyasa class or in your own practice. The original dialogue was initiated by a vinyasa practitioner who has a repetitive stress injury and needs not to bear weight on her shoulder but loves the effects of a flowing style of practice where you continue to do repetitive movements with your breath throughout practice to help your body open. After the some of the ideas for things you could do in place of Chataranga-Up Dog, Down Dog, I will post the dialogue.

I want to be clear, this in no way even comes close to exhausting thing possibilities for alternative vinyasa sequences. But hopefully it will help practitioner’s think and practice creatively and open new doorways in your practice.

The first posture is a posture that can be done on an inhale and is on the hands and knees. It could replace straight armed plank or upward facing dog.

These two postures are also poses that can be done on an inhale and are on the hands and knees. They could also replace straight armed plank or upward facing dog.

These are two postures that can be done on an inhale where you are standing on your knees. They could also replace straight armed plank or upward facing dog.

These are two postures that can be done on an inhale, where you are lying on your stomach. They could also replace straight armed plank or upward facing dog.

These are two photos of postures you could do on an exhale to replace chataranga (the low push up position) or downward facing dog. I forgot to take pictures of the variations where you are on your hands and knees and rounding and bringing your knee into your chest while looking at your knee. You can do that with both hands on the ground or while bringing one hand into your chest as well.

Any of these variations could be held to replace the holding of downward facing dog in a vinyasa sequence as well. They could be held to replace plank, chataranga and up dog as well. The idea of this is being open to trying new things; and if you are, you will find yourself coming up with all sorts of variations that you like.

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Go to Part Two
Go to Part Three
Go to Part Four
Go to Part Five
Go to Part Six
Go to Part Seven
Go to Part Eight

Forward Bends: Uttanasana and Pascimottanasana: Stretching the Lower Back to Release Tension

Either of these forward bends, if applied appropriately, can help stretch and reduce tension in your lower back and your entire spine. Releasing tension in your lower back and the rest of your spine can often help the health of your spine in general, but you do not want to over do this kind of work. Either of these postures, done in a way that is inappropriate for a practitioner, could create problems for the health of the practitioner's spine. When practicing these postures, if you begin to feel any part of your spine, your neck or your shoulders start to tighten up, it is an indication that you are either going too far or doing something that is not quite right for your current needs.

I think these photos can stand for themselves but one of the things I really like about these photos, again, is that combination of strength with relaxedness. I am working but I am not struggling. That is what you are looking for. I am not going any farther than I can comfortably.








































In this last photo I have separated my feet a little so I can get my face in between my legs and move just a little deeper. Note that in all variations, my arms are working but they are not gripping and my neck and shoulders are nice and relaxed. There is no unwanted tension.