In this class we’ll be going through a series of shoulder-opening standing and seated forward bends.
Begin in Supta Virasana with the head supported by a block. This will help you activate the shoulder, neck, and upper back area even before you start on the actual warm up. You will then shift into Virasana Forward before sitting up for the invocation. As you sit here in the cross-legged position, focus on the hip and the hip crease: where is the tightness? do the hips feel equally open on both sides?
Then, stand up and fold forward into Uttanasana. Feel the spine lengthen as you let gravity pull you down through the crown of your head. Straighten up, stand tall in Tadasana. Bring your hands up into Urdhva Hastasana; broaden your shoulders, feel them spread.
Next comes Adho Mukha Svanasana. Spread across the collarbones and then shift smoothly into Virasana Forward, bringing your sternum forwards.
Make your way back up into Tadasana. This is a bit of a theme in this half of the session: we will constantly be returning to Tadasana but doing something different with the arms each time. This time, bring your arms up into Urdhva Baddanguliyasana and see what this action brings to the shoulder area. Then, bring your arms down and interlock them at the elbows into Garudasana arms. This pose will create major shoulder and upper back opening. Also, notice what happens to the ribs: do they lift? do they shift? in what ways do they do this?
Next come the heating inversions: Adho Mukha Vrksasana comes first and is followed by Pincha Mayurasana. You can do these to the wall or freebalancing. If they are too much, you can substitute these poses with Bridge Pose. Once we’re done with these two inversions, we come down into Virasana Forward to spread the heat around the body more evenly.
Now stand up for Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana 2 to the wall. Remember, this is a session dedicated to spreading across the collarbones and shoulders so, in this pose, we’ll aim for symmetry with the arms: reach one arm out so that you can hold on to your outstretched foot and, once steady, reach out the other arm and extend it outwards so that the arms form a straight line. Focus on achieving an equal stretch through both arms.
We move on to some more standing poses. First, Trikonasana. After this, lift yourself up into Ardha Chandrasana. Finally, go into Prasarita Padottanasana and focus on spreading your navel as you walk your hands further and further back as you deepen into the fold.
Stand up in Tadasana and interlock your hands behind your head in preparation for Sirsasana. As you stand, envision the inversion you are about to perform. Try to activate the parts of your upper body that will be involved in the pose, try to mimic the subtle actions. Then, go into Sirsasana. We cool down in Virasana Forward.
Now comes the second half of the session. Here, we will be more focused on sitting poses. As warm up for this section, we will do Supta Padangusthasana 2. As you perform this pose, think back on the Utthita Padangusthasana 2 that you did earlier in the class.
Then, sit up in Dandasana. Here, begin by lifting your arms up to open up the shoulders once more. Feel the heat building in the upper body as you sit here for a few breaths. Then come Janu Sirsasana, Triang Mukha Eka Pada Paschimottanasana, Paschimottanasana, and Baddha Konasana, both static and twisting to give you the chance to release the hips and lift the sternum. After this, we will fold forward into our final forward bend: Upavistha Konasana. See if you can combine all the lessons of this class as you reach deeper and deeper into this forward bend. It will be interesting if you can see how even in this pose, which feels much more related to hip opening, you can find a way to shift your attention to shoulder opening. We will do the twisting and side bend variations of this pose as well.
To finish, sit up in Bharadvajasana. Then, get onto your back for Chatushpadasana. Lift into Sarvangasana, come down into Halasana, then spread your legs for Supta Konasana, bring your legs to your ears in Krounchasana. Fold forward into Virasana Forward and then lie down in Savasana for your final meditation.
Video stills from this sequence
