Light Stretchy Yoga Sequence

I like to encourage everyone to try all different types of yoga while allowing their practice to be dictated by what their body wants. For me, I’m sometimes in the mood for an active class that challenges me physically (i.e. makes me sweat profusely) and other times I want something more restorative with big, deep stretches.  The sequence I'm about to share is definitely the latter. It also works great as a warm up or cool down for any form of exercise. I recommend holding each pose for 3-4 breaths. Enjoy!

· Begin in childs pose

· Raise your hips into extended puppy

· Move onto all fours and arch your back upward into cat

· Arch your back downward into cow. I like to slowly move between cat and cow, transitioning with my breath: *inhale*to cow and *exhale*to cat

· Lift up onto the knees, extend your right leg out to the side, and arch over to your right into gate

·  Return back to the knees extend your left leg out to the side, and arch over to your left into gate

·  Move onto all fours and lift your hips into downward dog

·  Bring your right foot up in between your hands, release  your left knee down to the floor, and lift your upper body up to low lunge

·  Bring your palms back down to the mat and move your right foot next to your left hip, coming into one-legged king pigeon

·  Step both feet back into plank

·  Life your hips into downward dog

·  Bring your left foot up in between your hands, release your right knee down to the floor, and lift your upper body up to low lunge

·  Bring your palms back down to the mat and move your left foot next to your right hip, coming into one-legged king pigeon

·  Step both feet back to plank

·  Step both feet up to your hands and sit down on the mat, extending your legs in front of you into staff pose

·  Fold your chest over your legs into seated forward bend

·  Roll up through your spine, bend your right knee and twist your upper body toward the right into marichyasana III

·  Return to center, bend your left knee and twist your upper body toward the left into marichyasana III

·  Lay all the way down on your back, pull your elbows next to your torso, arch your upper back, and release the crown of your head to the floor coming into fish pose

·  Relax back onto the ground, pull your legs together, and raise them up toward the ceiling into legs up the wall pose (they can definitely be supported by a wall if you like!)

·  Bring the soles of your feet together, bend your knees, and allow them to release down to the floor into reclining bound angle