Vinyasa Yoga Class, lesson plan Class 16: Side Crow/ Parsva Bakasana, core work and twist

by | Feb 19, 2019 | Yoga, Yoga Nanaimo

“The body tells its story. The mind supports and questions and encourage. The mind has to agree to be the compassionate listener without judgement or expectation. We want to find a deeper meaning in the asanas, to take us to a higher level of consciousness, expect depth, reflection, clarity and support for the Light within.”

I’ve been teaching yoga since 2004. Over the year my teaching style has changed a lot. I used to plan and then just improvise, have an idea for a series or peak poses. Sometime I thought I had just taught an amazing class but did not write it down and then would not be able to repeat it. I’ve also spend lot of time, researching, reading, preparing and know how much can go into planing the “perfect” class. I’ve decided to share with you some of the classes program, class 3,  I prepared for the Yoga teacher training. There are 18 lessons plans that build on each other. The first few classes are more gentle classes, until we move toward more advanced poses and sequencing. Where ever you are on your journey its important to remind yourself that it’s more important to have awareness than to do an asana perfectly. I hope you enjoy me sharing theses with you and would appreciate your feedback to keep improving them. I’ve used 2 books to help me build theses classes, they are the Golden Present book by Sri Swami Satchidananda and the Hidden Language of Hatha Yoga by Swami Sivananda Radha.

“In Hatha Yoga we confront our fears as well as our potentials by balancing attention between the body and the mind. Because human beings are so complex, various branches of yoga must be practised in proper combination to help people become harmonious being. Asanas are a discipline of the body, but they are not without an effect on the mind, and in turn the mind affects the body. We create an intuitive space for deepening our understanding about ourselves, uncovering our obstacles and potential. We are the masters of our own destiny.”

You can also have access to the recording of the classes and sequence with the Vinyasa Flow Yoga online classes bundle.

Class 16: Side Crow/ Parsva Bakasana, core work and twist

Kundalini cross legged sitting twist with breath of fire

Skull Radiance or Breath of Fire/Kapalabhati/

This rapid style of pranayama creates an internal rhythmic massage, stimulating the circulation of cerebral fluid and influencing the compression and decompression in the spine and brain. The stimulation pumps the diaphragm and lungs, improving the heart and blood circulation, which helps wash out waste gasses. It heats the nasal passages and sinuses, clearing away excess mucus, helping build up resistance to colds and respiratory disorders. It improves constipation and digestion, helps stimulate a sluggish system by accelerating the metabolic rate and strengthening the nervous system, helps normalize the adrenal glands, and increases physical vitality while bestowing clarity of mind. It takes short, quick, exhales that use diaphragm. The exhale is active and inhale is passive, like a quiet cough.

  • Sun salutation A & B

Round 1

  • Chair/Utkatasana to lie on your back
  • Bicycle
  • Boat/Navasana, hold for 5 breaths, to cross legs, lift butt off floor, 1 breath
  • Boat/ Navasana twisting, 5-breath hold, other side
  • Chair/Utkatasana to standing forward fold/Uttanasana
  • 1 leg dog to Plank exhale, twist 3X
  • Downward Dog/Adho Mukha Svanasana
  • Lunge forward
  • Warrior 2/ Virabhadrasana
  • Side angle pose/ Utthita Parsvakonasana
  • Vinyasa, Repeat other side

Round 2: after Warrior 2 add

  • Triangle/Trikonasana with little crunch
  • Windmill arms, standing twisted Crescent lunge/ Parivrtta Ashtachandrasana
  • Bring one arm behind back other reach up
  • Low twisting Prayer Lunge/ Parivṛtta Aṅjaneyāsana
  • Step forward, leg forward into twisting Chair/Parivṛtta Utkaṭāsana
  • Side Crow/ Parsva Bakasana
  • Vinyasa, Repeat other side

Round 3: Repeat flow until twisting Prayer Chair

  • Grab feet stand tall into revolved hand to big toe
  • Standing split/ Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana, handstand hop, standing split
  • Vinyasa, Repeat other side
  • Pigeon pose/Kapotasana

Train your eyes to see the bright side of everything

“As you think, so you become.” Think well, you will be well. Think ill, you will be ill. It’s all your thought. Sometime your might not be thinking ill of yourself, but you are thinking ill of others. That is still thinking ill. Whether it is about you or somebody else, that is what you are thinking. . In our lives we should always think well. Train your eyes to see the bright side of everything. Life should have challenges. Without challenges it would be boring. It’s only in challenging situations that you can really learn. If the mind is strong, anything can be archived.

Your beliefs become your thought, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values your values become your destiny.

ONG NAMO Mantra

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo
I bow to the Creative Wisdom, I bow to the Divine Teacher within.

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo (or the Adi Mantra) are the words we chant more than any other at each Sat Nam Fest. More than just a way to start our practice, the Adi Mantra connects us to the universal insights of the community of Kundalini teachers and students – otherwise known as the golden chain. When explaining the purpose of chanting the Adi Mantra to new students, I say it is like plugging in to the amazing electrical grid of Kundalini yogis – taking that power from across infinite time and space, and applying it to your practice at this moment and place in time. It is a mantra that both protects us and connects us to the highest source of wisdom. There are many ways to translate it, but one is, “I bow to the All-That-Is. I bow to the Divine Wisdom within myself.” By chanting this mantra you have the support and wisdom of generations of yogis, but it also reinforces the depth of the inner wisdom within each of us. By chanting the Adi Mantra every time you practice, you remind yourself that you are your own greatest teacher. What empowering words, but they are often so hard to remember in the midst of stress and routine.

Make sure you check the other lesson classes: