Pranayama – Deep Breathing

 

You are training your lungs to breath slowly and deeply, taking 6 full seconds on the inhale and 6 full seconds on the exhale.  The movement of your arms and head should synchronize with the breath.

 

TIP: During the inhalation, if you are looking at yourself in the mirror and your head is still –waiting- for your arms/elbows to reach their highest point, you have moved your head too quickly.  Slow down the movement of the head, aiming for fluid synchronization.

 

 

Ardha-Chandrasana – Half Moon Pose

 

As muscles tire it is common to collapse forward toward the mirror, in this posture.

 

TIP: Keep lifting the tilting the chest up toward the ceiling, keeping the stomach in tight.

 

 

Backward Bending

 

Backbends can initially make you feel a little dizzy.  It is tempting to close your eyes to combat those dizzy sensations, but it is important that you keep your eyes open; your head will automatically incline toward the direction you are looking.

 

TIP: Focus your eyes throughout, taking note of the furthest point behind you that you can see and challenge yourself to see a little further in the second set.

 

 

Pada-Hastasana – Hands to Feet Pose

 

The palm of the hand must grip and cup the heel fully, with the thumbs alongside the hands tightly.  You are stepping on all five fingers of each hand.

 

TIP: Do not crush your fingertips with the full weight of your body.  Bring your body weight more forward onto the balls of the foot.

 

 

Utkatasana – Awkward Pose – 1st part. 

 

Sitting the hips down low (as if sitting in a chair) with both feet pressing flat into the floor is awkward indeed, but work till the underside of the thighs are parallel to the floor.

 

TIP: Press all your body weight into you heels, while bending the knees as deeply as possible.

 

 

Utkatasana – Awkward Pose: - 2nd part

 

This part of the posture is tremendous for building strength in the leg muscles.  Come up as high on your toes as possible.  Increased flexibility in the toe joints will develop with regular practice.

 

TIP: Concentrate on pressing down on the balls of the feet, while pressing the heels toward the mirror.

 

 

Utkatasana – Awkward Pose: - 3rd part

 

This pose obviously builds tremendous strength in the major muscle groups of the arms and legs, but it also tones abdominals and back muscles.  Keeping the stomach pulled in hard and the spine straight are the keys to developing those areas.

 

TIP: Keep the chest lifted and the shoulders directly over the hips; spine perfectly straight.

 

 

Garurasana – Eagle Pose

 

This posture is excellent for helping open and stretch back muscles as well as opening all the joints in the body.

 

TIP: Constantly pull the elbows toward the floor, working the tips of the fingers below the nose.

 

 

Dandayamana Janushirasana – Standing Head to Knee Pose

 

This posture is one of the longest in the series.  It involves a protracted forward bend.  The abdominal muscles must obviously be contracted (by pulling the belly button into the spine), but engaging all of the abdominal muscles will further protect your lower back.

 

TIP: Keep the abdominal muscles contracted AND the abdominal wall compressed (with a bearing down type pressure).

 

 

Dandayamana Dhanurasana – Standing Bow Pulling Pose

 

Tremendous concentration is required in all balancing postures.

 

TIP: Keep the eyes ahead, steady and focused on one point throughout the posture.  Never look down at the floor.

 

 

Tulandandasana – Balancing Stick Pose

 

In its fullest expression, the arms, head, body & one leg, are perfectly parallel to the floor, forming a capital letter T.  It is common to see a slight slant in the whole body, which comes from an upward rotation of one hip.

 

TIP: Drop the hip of the lifted leg down towards the floor a couple of inches to achieve the best possible alignment.

 

 

Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimotthanasana – Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose

 

The knees must be locked in this posture, but avoiding pushing them so far back, that the body weight is fully on the heels, bowing the legs backward like a banana.

 

TIP: Keep as much weight forward onto the balls of the feet as possible; pressing the big toes down into the floor.

 

 

Trikanasana – Triangle Pose

 

All the muscle groups need to be active in this, the master posture of the standing series. Very often concentration is so focused on the big muscles of the legs and arms that those in the neck are neglected and the head hangs back at an awkward angle.  Ensure your neck muscles are fully engaged, doing their fair share of the work.

 

TIP: Have the chin tucked in slightly and actually touching the shoulder, close to the armpit.

 

 

Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Janushirasana – Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose

 

This posture involves a deep front side compression, stimulating the endocrine system. The spine should be rounded not flat.

 

TIP: Keep your chin tucked in hard and your eyes glued onto your stomach; compressing the thyroid gland.

 

 

Tadasana – Tree Pose

 

Every practitioner enjoys tree pose in its fullest expression, with hands in Namaskar.  Be certain you are not bringing up the hands too soon, ignoring hip and shoulder alignment.

 

TIP: Ensure you are not on automatic pilot; be tuned in to the instructions.  Use the mirror and don’t let go of the foot you are holding until the teacher tells you to and both shoulders and hips are in one straight line.

 

 

Padagustasana – Toe Stand Pose

 

Like Tree pose, Toe Stand is a hip opening posture.  Before entry into the posture both hips are contracted forward while the knee of the bending leg is pushing down and back, with the goal of having two knees in one line.

 

TIP: When seated hip to heel, have a peek in the mirror to ‘measure’ your knees; working to get both knees aligned, parallel to the floor.

 

 

Savasana – Corpse Pose

 

Although this is a relaxing pose, it is not meant to be break time.  There is a strict form for this, as in every other posture.  Head to the mirrors, back on the floor, feet toward the back wall, eyes open, heels touch, toes fall aside, palms facing up, arms close to the body.

 

TIP: Practice getting into Savasana as quickly as possible, without making a habit of having a water break, perfecting the arrangement of your mat & towel, wiping off, etc.

 

 

Sit-Up

 

It is all too easy to fling your arms forward and let your heels jump off the floor slightly, using rather more momentum than abdominal strength.

 

TIP: Try keeping the arms with the head continually and never let the heels come away from the floor.

 

 

Pavanamuktasana – Wind Removing Pose

 

Post Triangle, Tree and Toe Stand, this is an important hip opening posture and a wonderful opportunity to gain further hip flexibility; keeping the joint lubricated and healthy.  Pull the knee out a little, completely avoiding the rib cage.

 

TIP: Make sure you pull to very edge of your flexibility, in other words, until you feel a pinch in your hip joint.

 

 

Bhugangasana – Cobra Pose

 

As you stretch your elbows down towards your hips, your trapezius muscles should become visible to the teacher.  They are not visible to you though, as your eyes are stretching up to the ceiling!

 

TIP: Identify a point on the ceiling or back wall in the first set and try to see a little further back in the second set.

 

 

Salabhasana – Locust Pose 

 

In the single leg lift portion of this posture, the stationary leg will reflexively contract to assist the rising leg.  Bikram tells us to relax the muscles of the stationary leg while contracting the muscles lifting leg.

 

TIP: Focus your attention on identifying and engaging just those muscles in the lifting leg.  Keep the toes of the stationary leg on the floor but avoid pressing them pressing them into the floor, in order to keep that leg relaxing.

 

 

Salabhasana – Locust Pose

 

The third section of this posture, when both legs lift off the floor, strengthens the muscles in the upper back.

 

TIP: Face, shoulders, chest and arms should all be pressing into the floor, trying to bring as much body weight as far forward as possible

 

 

Poorna-Salabhasana – Full Locust Pose

 

Teachers agree that more than any other posture, this is the one practitioners tend to hold their breath in.  Bikram recommends 80/20 breathing here.  Filling the lungs deeply as you lift your body off the floor and then shallow, rapid breath; releasing little sips of air with each sip.

 

TIP: Focus on your breath more than your depth.  Don’t starve you muscles of oxygen at the moment they need it most!

 

 

Dhanurasana – Bow Pose

 

This posture is slightly longer than the three previous postures in the cobra series.  To reach the fullest expression, it is best not to go immediately to the edge of your flexibility but rather evolve into the posture using your breathe.

 

TIP: Go slowly and thoughtfully.  When the posture is nearly at it’s end, give one final further burst upward, before allowing yourself to relax down.

 

 

Supta Vajrasana – Fixed Firm Pose

 

 

The chest, rib cage and abdomen are lifting off the floor into the air, while the shoulder and hip girdle are resting on the floor.  Lifting the chest as high as possible to the ceiling increases the medical benefits of this posture.

 

TIP: Make sure you cannot feel the floor against the middle part of your back.  Creating a human bridge is essential to this posture in its fullest expression.

 

 

Ardha Kurmasana  - Half Tortoise Pose

 

Having the spine long and stretching is the heart of this posture.  Keeping the neck tucked into the chest even slightly curves the neck.

 

TIP: Draw the chin away from the chest and have the tip of the nose, just flirting with the floor

 

 

Ustrasana – Camel Pose

 

This posture stretches, among other things, the muscles in the throat and neck.  Keep the head relaxing back and let gravity and the weight of your head, work together to deepen the stretch.

 

TIP: Have the teeth and lips lightly touching.

 

 

Sasangasana – Rabbit Pose

 

The grip is tricky when sitting upright in the set up to the posture.  Thumbs are outside, fingers inside.  Pulling is essential to getting the tightest possible compression.  A common mistake is to release the grip before exiting; adjusting the towel while in uncurling in preparation for Savasana.

 

TIP: Keep pulling the heels throughout the posture, especially during the exit, resisting the urge to adjust the towel before you are fully upright.

 

 

Janushirasana – Head to Knee

 

In most other forms of athletics sitting in this position indicates a hamstring stretch.  In Bikram’s series this is the final forward compression.  The spine should be rounding with the forhead touching the knee as high along the hairline as possible.

 

TIP: Keeping the stomach pulled in tightly and the chin tucked down firmly throughout will maximize the curvature of the spine

 

 

Paschimothanasana – Stretching Pose

 

This posture presents your last and best opportunity to lengthen your spine.  It requires every muscle, tendon and joint working together, including the flexing of the ankles; while engaging arm strength to pull the toes back.

 

TIP: Make sure the feet are pointed in the right direction – toward your face!  Splay your feet, as if standing on the mirror, with the pinky toes flexing back as well.

 

 

Ardha-Matsyendrasana – Spine Twisting Pose

 

One arm is down your back, while the other is over the opposite knee.  This arm, that reaches up and over, grips the knee and acts as a lever that helps drive the twist.

 

TIP: Make sure the elbow is locked and is pushing against the knee.

 

 

Kapalbhati in Vajrasana – Blowing in Firm Pose

 

No Dizzy Gillespie lips or loud mouth noises are necessary in this posture. The lips are slightly parted and the noise emanating from the mouth is the natural passage of air, compelled outward by the force of your abdominal contraction.

 

TIP: Try not be moving the lips, jaw or cheeks to puff air in or out.

 

 

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