HATHA YOGA PROGRAMME

1. Centering (10 mins)

Commentary

• Hello, my name is Janet Ollason
• We are going to be working 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.
• 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 (15 minutes)

• This limber stretches all the parts of the body and co-ordinates the movement with the breathing
• Come to your feet, feet together, arms at sides
• Inhaling, step sideways to the right while raising arms to horizontal
• Exhaling, lower arms and interlock fingers with square wrists
• Inhaling, raise clasp above head and look up
• Exhaling, lower arms to waist level
• Inhaling, bend elbows and press palms together
• Exhaling, push hands away, make fists and place in small of back while doing a back bend
• Inhaling, straighten up and swing arms to front in forward facing clasp
• Exhaling, bend from waist and lower clasp to floor
• Inhaling, straighten up and reverse clasp, swing arms above head
• Exhaling, lateral bend to left with straight arm clasp over head
• Inhaling, return to upright
• Exhaling, lateral bend to right
• Inhaling, return to upright
• Exhaling, squat with spine upright, arms up
• Inhaling, return to upright, palms touching in front at shoulder height
• Exhaling, swing arms horizontally left allowing right palm to slide over left arm, go into full twist
• Inhale to center, then repeat to right
• Repeat to left and right
• Inhale with arms clasped above head
• Exhaling, lower arms sideways and step back to center
• Repeat for 6 cycles, then rest

3. Vinyasas and 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

• Put arms out from sides of body in a T shape, palms down
• Cross one ankle over the other
• On an out breath, twist feet, legs and hips to the right and turn head to the left hold for 3 breaths
• On in breath, return to centre
• Repeat to left
• Do 2 more cycles
• Now 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

• 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 up with your legs out straight in front of you, feet at right-angles to legs, toes pulled towards your face
• Keep the back straight. Imagine the vertebrae of the spine stacked one on top of the other
• Keep the abdomen firm, the chest out, the chin in
• Place the hands on the floor on either side of the hips, fingers pointing towards the legs
• Breathe slowly and deeply
• This is an example of a static posture
• It is the starting position for many sitting asanas

• 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

• Now sit in a comfortable cross-legged position and we’ll exercise the hip joints
• Bend your right leg and cradle it with both arms, move the leg from side to side and back to front, to get the full movement of the hip joint
• Make circles with the knee, first in one direction, then the other
• By exercising like this, the joints are being lubricated with synovial fluid and any roughness is being gently smoothed, so increasing flexibility
• Now repeat with the other leg
• When you have finished, lie back and relax

• Start in Dandasana
• On an in-breath, raise your arms above your head and stretch up
• As you breathe out, bend forwards from the hips, keeping the back straight
• Breathe freely in and out, and on each out-breath try to bend from the hips a little more, letting gravity bring the body closer to the legs
• When you have gone as far as you can, drop the arms down to the legs and take hold of the shins or feet, wherever you can reach
• Let the head drop towards the knees
• On each out-breath, let the body come closer to the legs, let the elbows sink towards the floor
• Take three more breaths, then on an in-breath come up slowly to the starting position

• Sit on your heels in the thunderbolt
• Keep the back straight, head and eyes level
• If you can, your knees should be together, toes touching, with heels apart
• But if you are not comfortable sitting on your heels like this, you can put a pad behind your knees, or separate the knees, for the next few exercises
• Rest your palms on your thighs
• Relax and breathe for a few minutes

• Stay sitting on your heels and put your forehead on the floor
• Stretch your arms straight out in front of you, parallel to each other, palms on the floor
• Press your shoulders down close to the floor
• Hold and relax, breathe freely

• Lie prone, supported on elbows with palms flat on floor, fingers pointing away
• Push on the hands and straighten the arms, relax the back, breathe freely
• Return to the floor
• Repeat 3 times

• Lie prone, forehead on floor, elbows bent with palms on floor and fingertips level with shoulders
• Do unsupported cobra in stages, breathing freely:
• Tilt the head, extend the neck, stretch the throat, skim the nose then the chin past the floor
• When the head is as far forward as possible, start to raise the head, then the shoulders without pushing on the hands
• Raise the upper body as far as possible, hold and breathe freely
• To lower, reverse the process
• Repeat 3 times
• Supported starts same as above, when as high as possible only then use arms to push trunk up, with legs, buttocks, back relaxed, hold for 3 breaths – do once only

• Kneel sitting on heels with knees a hip width apart, let hands drop to sides
• Inhaling, slowly come to an upward kneeling position, keeping the back straight
• Exhale as you go down
• Go up and down slowly three times
• This strengthens and firms the muscles of the thighs

• 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, rotate arms so that palms face up
• Raise left arm to vertical, right hand rests lightly on right leg
• Take three breaths, then return to the start

• Tilt body to side bending from hip, left arm over head, right sliding down leg, look up to left arm
• Take three breaths, then return to the start

• Bend upper body to left, arm over head, bring palms closer together, head dropped to side
• Take three breaths, then return to the start

• Repeat to left
• Return to thunderbolt

• 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

• On an in-breath, step with the right leg about 3 feet to the side, feet parallel, and raise the arms sideways to shoulder level, palms down
• On the next in-breath, turn the right foot 90 degrees out and the left foot 15 degrees in
• Keep the hips facing forwards, but move them a little to the left
• Tilt the trunk and arms sideways down to the right, place the right hand on the leg or the floor behind the leg, and look up at the left hand which has palm facing forwards
• Breathe freely and hold for three breaths
• On an in-breath, raise the trunk, lower the arms and return to centre
• Repeat twice to right
• Repeat to the left side, then return to Tadasana

• Sit back on your heels, rest your forehead on the floor, place your arms palms up on the floor beside your legs – this is the child pose, a relaxation posture
• Feel your shoulder blades relaxing, moving closer to floor
• Rest in this position, breathing freely

• Yoga is well known for its inverted postures, such as the headstand and shoulder stand: we are going to do some preparatory postures
• But if you are taking medication for high blood pressure or a heart condition, remain resting in the child or the swan posture
• Inverted postures rest the veins, and bring blood to the head and neck, oxygenating the brain and thyroid and parathyroid glands in the neck
• Place the crown of your head on the floor just in front of your knees

• Place your hands on your shins/ankles
• On an in-breath, raise your seat, breathe freely
• Get used to the feel of the weight on the head
• Lower the seat

• Interlock your fingers behind your back
• On an in breath, raise your seat and move your hands upwards away from your back, keeping your head on the floor
• This puts more weight on the head, but is very stable
• Hold and breathe freely
• On an out-breath, return to child pose

• 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

• 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

• 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
• Observe your breathing, notice the length of the in-breath and the out-breath, notice any natural pauses between breaths
• Make each breath smooth, even, of similar volume

• Now introduce a deliberate holding of the breath, of the same length as the in breath
• Hold the breath between the in and out breaths, and between the out and in breaths
• Imagine a square being drawn on a board – draw the first side of the square as you breathe in, second = hold, third = out, fourth = hold
• Keep going round the square, watch it being drawn
• Introduce colours if you like
• Concentrate on your square 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