Make Your Yoga Practice More Effective with Yoga Sequences & Routines

In this era of yogic trends, we all are familiar with yoga and its myriad benefits. You might have seen video tutorials on yoga or, read a lot about yoga postures on Google. If you wish to start your own yoga practice, it can be difficult and confusing. From choosing poses, to thinking about where to get started with, which pose to begin with and which pose to end with, which ones should be preparatory poses and which should be the follow-up poses, the task can be daunting. In such scenario, consider building specific yoga sequence for your home practice. Yoga sequences can make your yoga practice effective, smooth, and consistent too.

Yoga sequences are specific sequences of yoga postures in which one pose follows another pose in a logical step-by-step direction, from less challenging to more challenging and, vice versa. Yoga sequences open with simple preparatory warm-up poses, setting a theme for the practice to more challenging postures, and then towards cooling postures while ending with relaxation and sleep. Practicing yoga on a regular basis becomes difficult without yoga sequences. Be it a novice or a seasoned practitioner, most of us easily get distracted and drift away from our regular practice. A yoga sequence helps to stay focused and continue yoga practice on a regular basis. It is a great way to reap maximum benefits of yoga postures and commit to your daily yoga practices. A yoga sequence helps to practice yoga postures consistently and provides grounding, openness, and a greater sense of stability in all aspects of life. There are various sequences of yoga for beginners and for advanced level practitioners, morning yoga sequences, evening yoga sequences, etc. can be availed. But if you want to build your own yoga sequence, here are some tips on how to build a yoga sequence.

1. Follow a theme: Every yoga class follows a specific theme. You need to build a particular theme for your sequence. Whether it is hip-opening, flexibility improvising or spiritually invigorating, theme needs to be decided in the beginning. You can incorporate elements of meditation, pranayama or even reading a quote to make the sequence cohesive and inspiring.

1. Poses: The poses you choose for your sequence depends on the theme. If your aim of the yoga practice is weight loss, then focus on the postures that are highly effective for weight loss. To build all-around fitness, you can include poses from each category: twists, seated poses, backbends, standing poses, inversions, restorative and relaxing poses, etc. Decide the most challenging poses of your sequence first. Once you do so, you can choose suitable preparatory and follow-up poses accordingly.
2. Timing: Timing is very important in yoga sequences. You need to give sufficient time to each element. Start your yoga sequence with 10 minutes of breathing exercises and gentle floor stretching. Next 10-20 minutes should be allotted to dynamic yoga flow postures. Spend at least 5 minutes on peak pose. Give next few minutes to cool-down postures. Also, manage minimum 10 minutes for relaxing poses, like Savasana which are essential to effectively end yoga sequence.
3. Flow: A good yoga sequence should have a logical flow in it. Go from low poses to high poses and, then again to low poses. When you plan a yoga sequence, always think about the transitions. Moving from one pose to other is as important as the postures themselves.
4. Safety: No matter how challenging poses you have incorporated into your sequence, always listen to your body first. Never force your body to fit in a yoga sequence.
5. Counter poses: Always include counter poses in your yoga sequence to maintain the balance. Balance is the main element in a proper yoga sequence. Counter poses offer required time and space to recover from each pose. For example, if your leg has been bent in a pose for a long time, introduce a counter pose that can straighten it. It applies to all the poses. So, build a proper yoga sequence and bring life into your yoga practices..

The Author is a passionate Yogi, traveler and Yoga Teacher in Delhi. He loves writing and reading the books related to yoga, health, nature and the Himalayas.