So after the last few weeks of learning basic postures, lets have a go at a short sequence today. This flow will move us up from the floor to standing and give us our first taste of a Vinyasa, to prepare for the longer practice of Suriya Namaskar, coming up in a few weeks time.

As we start to build sequences that move fluidly from one posture to another, we need to find a deeper understanding of the body, the breath and the postures themselves and develop the stamina to move continuously for longer periods of time, so the sequences may see long and difficult at first, but as you practice and practice more regularly they will become easier to perform and you will feel more graceful whilst doing them.

I often use this particular sequence as a warm up practice.

Start on all fours to begin our cat and cow.

Inhale as you move the chest forward through the arms and allow the spine to dip lower than the hips. Keep the hips still.

Exhale as you round the spine up, drawing the bellybutton in and back up.

This will begin to gently articulate the spine and stretch the back muscles).

Repeat 5 times with the breath, in and out.

Tuck the toes under and push back through the arms, creating a straight line from the finger tips to the hips, chest working towards the thighs and keep the knees gently bent in baby dog. Legs are neat and parallel and the arms are strong.  Inhale as you move up and exhale as you settle into the posture.

Take the weight up into the shoulders and upper back and not grounding down into the wrists.

Inhale and come up to tiptoes.

Exhale drop the right heel to the floor and bend the left knee.

Alternate sides for about 6 breaths working the hamstrings of each leg and until both legs feel evenly stretched, inhaling and exhaling with each movement.

Come to your full down facing dog and hold for 3 breaths.

Walk the hands back towards the feet.

Ending up in standing forward bend and hold with legs straight and head down with the hands on the floor, behind the heels or clasping round behind the leg.

Take 3 breaths.

Inhale as you bend the knees and roll up through the spine, vertebrae by vertebrae until you are standing in your correct Tadasana posture. 

You can try this little sequence every day this week, spend the first few days just getting used to the movements and then as that becomes easy you can start to pay more attention to the breath, following the instructions given. Happy practicing!