FamilyHistoryFiles.com - Mike's Daily Yoga Practice & Asana Field Guide

These yoga pages are intended for my personal use only. As a visually-oriented person, it helps me to write things down, to see things written down, and to view images as well as text. This page is meant as a kind of personal guide to the ideal yoga & workout session -- something to strive for. Something I am striving for.

In the three nested layers to follow, the first lists the eleven main elements. The second breaks things down in greater detail. The third gives greater detail still, and serves as a kind of field manual for them all -- something to be printed, bound, studied, and taken with me, and intended exclusively for my personal use.

Daily Yoga Practice

I.	Warmups	Ø	Goal: 90 minutes daily
II.	Sun Salutations
III.	Forward Bending	Ø	Most asanas at least one minute
IV.	Backward Bending
V.	Inversions & Twists	Ø	Core 15 minutes daily
VI.	Balance & Standing
VII.	Core	Ø	Ball rolling 10 minutes daily
VIII.	Ball Rolling
IX.	Weights	Ø	Weights 20 minutes every 2-3 days
X.	Karate
XI.	Play	Ø	Breathe and relax — remain aware

I. Warmups

II. Sun Salutations

III. Forward Bending

a. Extended triangle (Utthita Trikonasana)

b. Revolved triangle (Parivrtta Trikonasana)

c. Standing flank stretch (Parsvottanasana)

d. Warrior (Virabhadrasana I, II, III)

e. Revolving lateral angle (Parivrtta Parsvakonasana)

f. Standing splits (Prasarita Padottanasana)

g. Revolved splits (Hanumanasana)

h. Foot and toe catch (Padangusthasana)

i. Seated splits (Upavistha Konasana)

j. One-leg seated forward bend (Janu Sirsasana)

k. 2-leg seated forward bend (Triang Mukhaikapada Paschimottanasana)

l. Twisted seated forward bend (Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana)

m. Lotus (Padmasana)

n. Knee-to-chest & foot-over-head (Eka Pada Sirsasana)

o. Turtle (Kurmasana)

p. C O R P S E (Savasana)

IV. Backward Bending

a. Cobra (Bhujangasana)

b. Locust (Salabhasana)

c. Crocodile (Makarasana)

d. Bow (Dhanurasana)

e. Sideways bow (Parsva Dhanurasana)

f. Seated warrior (Virasana)

g. Lying-down warrior (Supta Virasana)

h. Camel (Ustrasana)

i. Frog (Bhekasana)

j. Dove (Kapotasana)

k. Cobra—down dog (Bhujangasana—Adho Mukha Svanasana)

l. C O R P S E

V. Inversions & Twists

a. Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana I)

b. Revolved leg headstand (Parivrttaika Pada Sirsasana)

c. Shoulder stand (Salamba Sarvangasana)

d. Plough (Halasana)

e. Scorpion (Vrschikasana)

f. Seated spine twists (Ardha Matsyendrasana)

g. Belly turn (Jatara Parivartanasana)

h. Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana)

i. C O R P S E

VI. Balance & Standing

a. Dance (Natarajasana)

b. Tree (Vrksasana)

c. Half-bound lotus (Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana)

d. Standing foot hold (Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana)

e. C O R P S E

VII. Core

a. Belly crunches & variations (Paripurna & Ardha Navasana)

b. Leg lifts & variations (Urdhva Prasarita Padasana)

c. Pilates

VIII. Ball Rolling

a. Neck & shoulders

b. Spine & erectors

c. Hips & glutes

IX. Weights

a. Standing curls

b. Supine butterflies

c. Presses

d. Pushups & variations

X. Karate

a. Horse stance, punches, blocks

b. Front kick

c. Roundhouse

d. Side kick

e. Whip kick

f. Tornado kick

g. Forms

XI. Play

a. The goal — hours of daily play with this and more

Asana Field Guide

All photographs and quoted text from B. K. S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga (New York: Schocken Books, 1965).

II. Sun Salutations

At least three sets

III. Forward Bending

a. Extended triangle (Utthita Trikonasana)

"The back of the legs, the back of the chest and the hips should be in a line. . . . Keep the right knee locked tight by pulling up the kneecap and keep the right knee facing the toes." (p. 62)

b. Revolved triangle (Parivrtta Trikonasana)

"Keep the knees tight. Do not lift the toes of the right foot from the floor. Remember to rest the outer side of the left foot well on the floor." (p. 63)

c. Standing flank stretch (Parsvottanasana)

"Tighten both legs by pulling the knee caps up. Stay in this pose from 20 seconds to half a minute with normal breathing. Then slowly move the head and trunk toward the left knee by swinging the trunk around the hips. At the same time turn the left foot 90 degrees toward the left and the right foot 75 to 80 degrees to the left. Now raise the trunk and head as far back as you can, without bending the right leg. This movement should be done in one inhalation. Exhale, bend the trunk forward, rest the head on the left knee and gradually extend the chin beyond the left knee by stretching the neck . . . "

d. Warrior (Virabhadrasana I, II, III)

( I )