Standing poses help us to build a strong and healthy foundation both for our practice and our daily lives. They strengthen leg muscles, stabilise the core, improving overall balance, help stretch out various muscle groups and improve flexibility, promote postural alignment, and encourage mental focus and concentration.
In this class for advanced students, we will go through a multitude of different standing poses, making sure that we reap as many of the above-listed benefits. We will spend longer exploring certain poses so as to get a better understanding of the subtler actions involved. We will also try out several modifications of some of the poses: for example, Virabhadrasana 1 with and without wall support and with varying levels of wall support. Throughout this session, Pixie will be giving useful tips and detailed instructions.
We will start with a brief warm-up, going through several repetitions of Adho Mukha Svanasana to Virasana Forward. Then, we’ll stand in Tadasana and perform some shoulder-opening exercises like Urdhva Baddanguliyasana, Garudasana Arms, Paschima Namaskar, and Urdhva Namaskarasana. Having warmed up our shoulders, we will move on to some inversions, namely Adho Mukha Vrksasana and Pincha Mayurasana.
After the inversions come the standing poses. The sequence is as follows: Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana 1 and 2, Vrksasana, Tadasana, Utthita Trikonasana, Utthita Parsvakonasana, Virabhadrasana 1, Ardha Chandrasana, Uttanasana, Parsvottanasana, and finally Prasarita Padottanasana.
This time, we’ve left Sirsasana until the end. We will do some variations in Sirsasana before settling down into the usual cool-down sequence of Sarvangasana, Halasana, and Savasana.
Video stills from this sequence
