HATHA YOGA PROGRAMME

1. Centering (10 mins)

Commentary

• Hello, my name is Janet Ollason
• We are going to concentrate on the spine. A strong flexible spine is fundamental to good health. The spine is the backbone of the body, supporting the rest of the skeleton and important muscles. Our focus today will be on forward and backwards bends of the spine
• Do only what feels right for you and your body, this is your yoga session, never mind what anyone else does

• Lie on your back, close your eyes
• Check that you are lying symmetrically
• Rotate your legs in, let them fall out, feet open
• Do the same to the arms, have them away from the body, palms up, fingers loose
• Move your head from side to side to centre it, keep the back of the neck long
• Stretch yourself out, so that the spine rests on the floor, shoulders down
• Let gravity embrace you, feel your weight pulling you deeper into relaxation, melting your body into the floor

• Breathe normally, just let it happen
• Observe your breathing, notice the length of the in-breath and the out-breath, notice any natural pauses between breaths
• Make each breath smooth, soft and rhythmic, of similar volume
• As you breathe, relax your mind: clear your mind of any worries, leave them outside the room, instead, concentrate on your inner self
• Centre your awareness inside yourself, observe what your body is doing and think how it feels
• Notice how the breathing becomes slower and deeper, the air is taken further down into the lungs

• Now take control of the breath, deepen your breathing, without straining
• Keeping the breathing slow and deep, make it continuous, in and out with no pauses (saturation breathing), so as to energise the body with oxygen prior to the exercises

2. Limbers (30 minutes)

• Sit any way that is comfortable e.g. easy
• Close eyes
• Head down and up x 3, left and right x 3
• Circle head left 3 times, right 3 times

• Lift left shoulder, then let it fall x 3
• Same to right x 3, then both x 3

• Keep head still
• Eyes up and down x 3, left and right x 3
• Circles eyes left 3 times, then right 3 times

• Look near, then far 5 times

• Rubs palms together to warm them
• Place palms over eyes, rub gently
• Rub face and head and ears and neck

• Now stand up and shake out the legs and arms
• Stand tall but relaxed with your feet a little apart, weight evenly distributed on both feet
• Raise your right arm to shoulder height, twist palm up and raise arm to vertical, fingers pointing upwards and palm facing left
• Reach up with your arm, feel the stretch in the legs, abdomen, chest, shoulders, back, arms, fingers
• With each in-breath stretch a little further
• But make sure that you relax any muscles that are not involved in the exercise e.g. the face and neck, the left side of the body
• Take three more breaths
• Relax from fingers downwards and on out breath lower the arm, turning palm down at shoulder height
• In yoga, what is done on one side of the body is also done on the other side, to maintain symmetry: so repeat the exercise with the left arm
• As you stretch your left side, think how it feels compared with the right – can you stretch further on one side than the other?
• Repeat with both arms parallel
• Repeat with arms in prayer position
• Put your arms down and relax your muscles, let your breathing return to normal

• Now do the same stretch again, starting with the right arm up
• Stretch the entire right side of the body upwards
• On an out-breath, bend from the waist, sliding the left arm down the left thigh
• Bend down as far as you can to the left without letting the body come forwards – this is a side stretch, feel the right side of the body opening up, feel the skin taught
• Take three more breaths
• On an in breath slowly return to the vertical and lower arm
• Repeat with the left arm up
• Then put your arm down and relax, allowing time for the breathing to recover

• Raise both arms above the head, upper arms next to ears
• Interlock the hands
• Keep legs, hips, waist still
• Rotate upper torso and arms clockwise 3 times, then anti-clockwise 3 times
• Lower the arms
• Shake out the arms and legs, allow breathing to recover

• Interlink hands behind head, elbows out to sides
• Twist as far as possible to right, twisting down to waist, even hips, legs
• Then twist left
• Repeat 3 times

• Bend your arms and place your fingers on the tops of your shoulders
• Rotate your elbows in one direction so as to move your arms in their sockets, breathing in as the arms move up, and breathing out as they move down
• Rotate the arms so as to get the full range of movement at the shoulder joint
• Then rotate in the opposite direction, still breathing up-in and down-out
• By exercising like this, the joints are being lubricated with synovial fluid and any roughness is being gently smoothed, so increasing flexibility

• Lie semi-supine
• Bring right knee to chest, make cycling movement with foot, first in one direction, then in the other
• Repeat with left leg
• Then repeat all, resting on elbows
• This strengthens the abdominals

• Lie down in Savasana
• Bring legs together, arms at sides, palms down
• Raise right leg to vertical, hold, then lower leg to 60, then 30 degrees
• left, then both
• Repeat this sequence 3 times
• Repeat, circling feet clockwise, then anti-clockwise, to move legs in sockets

• Put arms out from sides of body in a T shape, palms down
• Bend knees, feet on floor near buttocks, about a hip width apart
• On an out breath, lower knees to the floor on the right of the body and turn head to the left – hold for 3 breaths
• On an in breath, raise knees back to chest and bring head back to centre
• Repeat to left
• Do 3 cycles
• On an out breath, return legs to floor

3. Asanas (50 minutes)

• We are now going to do some yoga postures, or asanas
• Start by lying on your back and we’ll do some leg curls
• Bend your right leg as you breathe in, and bring the thigh onto the chest, keeping the left leg straight
• Place both hands on the right knee, clasp it and raise head towards knee as you breathe out
• Lower the head and hands as you breathe in
• Straighten the right leg and return it to the floor as you breathe out
• Repeat but bending both legs
• Repeat but bending the left leg
• Continue with the cycle – right-both-left
• Maintain breathing co-ordinated with movement bend-in, clasp-out, unclasp-in, straighten-out
• This is a dynamic posture: the abdominal organs, especially the colon, are massaged when the knees are clasped
• The abdominal muscles are also strengthened
• Do three more cycles, then relax

• Come to a semi-supine posture, knees bent
• Place palms on thighs
• On an out-breath, slide palms up thighs, fingers beyond knees, raise head, push and hold
• Come down on an in-breath
• Repeat five times

• Sit in Dandasana
• Keeping back straight, on out breath, tilt trunk back, raise straight arms (palms facing) and raise straight legs, balancing on sitting bones
• Repeat 3 times

• We are now going to do the cat which flexes the whole spine backwards and forwards (dorso-ventrally)
• If you have any knee problems, put a pad under your knees
• If you have wrist problems, put knuckles on floor instead of palms
• Come up onto all fours, with the hands shoulder-width apart and the knees hip-width apart
• Keep the thighs and arms vertical, point the hands forwards, the feet backwards
• Breathing in, hold the spine and the head in a straight line (the ‘neutral’ position)
• Breathing out, raise the middle of the back, opening out the dorsal spines at the back of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, so letting the inter-vertebral discs expand at the back
• Contract the abdomen, keep the head down with the chin on the chest, contract the buttocks and lock the anus, bring the shoulders and hips towards each other
• Hold for a count of 3
• Breathe in and return to neutral
• Breathe out and hollow the back, head up, tail up
• Stretch the throat, open the chest, stretch the abdomen, squeeze the lumbar region
• Hold for a count of 3
• Repeat this cycle three times with the breathing
• Visualise your spine flexing backwards and forwards, becoming more flexible

• Next time you raise the back, breathing out, also bring the right knee and the head closer to each other
• Return the knee to the floor as you breathe in
• As you hollow the back, breathing out, also raise and straighten the right leg behind you, keeping the pelvis level, head up
• Return the leg to the floor as you breathe in
• Then do the same with the left leg
• Repeat the full cycle three times
• Then do 3 cycles with twist of shoulder girdle
• When you have finished, rest sitting back on your heels

• Lie prone, forehead on floor, elbows bent with palms on floor and fingertips level with shoulders
• Do unsupported cobra in stages, breathing freely
• Repeat 3 times
• Supported starts same as above, at end use arms to push trunk up, with legs, buttocks, back relaxed, hold for 3 breaths – do once only

• Lie prone, chin on floor, throat stretched
• Arms straight beside body, either palms down or fists
• Raise right leg left side body relaxed – x 3
• Raise left leg right side body relaxed – x 3
• Raise both legs (arms may be under body)

• Kneel, thighs vertical, hip width apart, tail in
• Raise right arm, put left on left heel, push hips forward, breathe freely
• Repeat push 3 times
• Repeat to left
• Do with both arms, holding for 3 breaths

• Kneel, thighs vertical, tail in, hands in prayer position
• On in-breath, stretch out right leg to side while raising arms to shoulder height
• On next in-breath, turn right leg and foot out and stretch left arm vertical
• Then turn palms and tilt body to side, left arm over head, right sliding down leg, look up to left arm, breathe freely
• Repeat to left

• Curl your toes under, push with your hands on your thighs and come into a standing position
• Place the feet parallel and close together, spread the toes, distribute your weight evenly on both feet
• Let the arms hang at your sides, palms facing thighs
• Stand tall, tuck the tail in, keep the spine vertical, shoulders back, chin in and eyes level
• Breathe freely
• Tadasana is the starting position for many standing asanas

• Stand firmly, feet about a foot apart
• Starting from the head, bend forward relaxing the body slowly and smoothly, letting the upper body hang forwards from the pelvis
• Let the head drop, the shoulders droop, the arms hang loosely, curve the back and the waist
• As your muscles relax (e.g. the hamstrings at the back of the thighs), you will be able to stretch them a little further and go down a little lower
• A stretched muscle has the blood squeezed out of it, so that when the stretch is released, the blood flows quickly in again, bringing fresh blood to the muscle – this is why it is beneficial to stretch gradually, rather than jerkily
• Stay hanging loosely down, breathing easily and let gravity bring your hands nearer to the floor

• To come up, reverse the process, slowly
• Then sit down and relax

• Lie semi-supine, arms at side of body, palms down
• Lift bent legs, lift trunk, support back with hands
• Straighten legs up to vertical, hold 3 to 10 breaths
• Breathe freely, keep face relaxed
• Keeping legs relaxed, lower one to floor keeping other vertical, then repeat to other side

• From shoulder stand, lower straight legs behind head, soles vertical
• Have arms back, then forwards
• Have legs together, then apart
• To recover, lower trunk to floor, slide straight legs past face, allow head to come up as tail comes to floor,bend legs and return to floor in semi-supine position

• Bend the knees, place the feet flat on the floor close to the buttocks, a hip-width apart
• Place your arms at your sides with palms down
• Tuck your tail in and tilt the pelvis so that the small of the back is flat on the floor
• On an in-breath, slowly raise the seat
• Breathe freely, on each in breath, push the seat up higher
• On an out-breath, slowly lower the seat, put the vertebrae down on the floor one by one
• This exercise flexes the back, especially the lumbar vertebrae and sacrum and is a counter posture to the shoulder stand and plough. It strengthens the muscles of the back, abdomen and thighs
• Repeat until back has fully relaxed
• Lie back, straighten the legs and relax in Savasana

• Counter posture to shoulder stand and plough, opens up throat, brings blood to thyroid
• Arms at sides, palms down
• Bend elbows and arch back, lift head, place crown on floor
• Push chest upwards, open throat, hold, breathing freely
• Then place hands in prayer position and hold
• Then bring soles of feet together and hold
• To recover, push down on elbows, raise upper body and lie back in Savasana

• Lie back, bend knees over chest
• Rock from side to side on lower back to massage the spine and back muscles
• Relax in corpse until breathing returns to normal

4. Breathing (10 minutes)

• We are going to sit in the easy posture and do some breathing, before relaxation
• This will help remove any excess lactic acid that may have built up in the muscles
• Put on extra clothing so that you will be warm
• Sit in Dandasana
• Bend the legs and cross one shin over the other
• Rest the hands on the knees
• Keep the spine upright
• Be sure you are comfortable – if this posture is not comfortable for you, try sitting on your heels, or stay in Dandasana with your legs out straight

• Breathing is called Pranayama
• Prana = life force or vital energy, essential to life
• Close your eyes
• Lengthen the back of your neck and let the chin drop a little
• Breathe normally, until fully recovered from postures

• Bend index and middle fingers of right hand
• Exhale, close right nostril with thumb, inhale left
• Close left with ring finger, exhale right
• Inhale right
• Close right, exhale left
• Continue with circular breathing: in-left, out-right, in-right, out-left
• Try to take the same time (e.g. 4 secs) for each stage
• Imagine the flow of breath cleansing and balancing the energy channels (nadi)
• Concentrate on your breathing for a few minutes

5. Relaxation (10 minutes)

• Lie on your back in Savasana, legs slightly apart, feet falling open, arms a little away from your sides, palms facing upwards, fingers loose, head centred, spine lengthened
• Or if you prefer, lie semi-supine, with your knees bent up
• Close your eyes
• Relax and breathe normally

• Let your body settle into your mat, feel where you are in contact with the floor, supported by it
• Feel the weight of your body, allow gravity to help you relax, melting your body into the mat
• Say to yourself, ‘I am calm and relaxed’

• Now go through all the parts of the body, creating an awareness of each part
• Take your awareness to your right big toe . . hip, buttock, left big toe . . hip, buttock, abdomen . . back, right thumb . . shoulder, left thumb . . shoulder, neck, ears, jaws . . top of head
• The whole body feels heavy and relaxed, imagine the heaviness in all parts of your body

• Now leave the feeling of heaviness – become aware of lightness and rejuvenation
• Your body feels rested and refreshed
• Become aware of your body supported by your mat
• Become aware of this room and the other people in it
• Slowly begin to move and stretch
• When you are ready, roll over onto your side, open your eyes and sit up