June 21st Sun Salutation is canceled due to family matters.

Summer 2009 Yoga Schedule

Sunrise Yoga Session 1

6 AM Tuesday/ Thursday

at

Mobridge Track

June 16,18,23,25,30 and July 2

3 week session

cost: $25

Special June 21^st Sun Salutation Challenge 6am donations welcome, proceeds going to pool.

Sunrise Yoga Session 2

6 AM Tuesday/ Thursday

at

Mobridge Track

July 28, 30 August 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20

4 week session

cost: $30

Legs up the Wall pose is a restorative pose.  You can relax and enjoy this pose.

Alignment Tips:

Lay on your mat, lift both legs up to the sky.  Just like there was an imaginary wall.  Relax your shoulders and keep your gaze upward.  To increase the relaxation of this pose, find a wall and place your bottom close to the wall with your knees bent into your chest.  Lift your legs, resting on the wall and flex your toes toward you.  Adding a towel under your bottom will further increase the enjoyment of the pose.  In fact, I like to do a simple version of this pose on the sofa when I am watching TV.

Pose Benefits:

Calming

Relieves swollen or cramped legs

Gentle stretch

Sequence Suggestions:

This pose can be done right before final relaxation.

Legs up the wall as ab work

Alignment Tips:

Lay your back on your mat and lift your legs up pointing your toes.  You can choose to lift your arms straight up as in the picture, or you can place your hand behind your head to support your neck.  Lift your head and chest off the mat.  Crunching upward toward the ceiling.

Benefits:

You may feel the burn in your abs withing 10-20 crunches.

Sequence Suggestions:

This is used in our ab work section of yoga.  In yoga it is very important to have a strong core.  That is why each 60 minute class I teach we focus on your core.

You can do  legs up the wall crunch 10 – 20 times, repeating 3 times.

Variations of the pose would include:

1.  lowering the legs down about 45 degrees and crunching

2.  lowering the legs to hover over the mat and then bring them up the wall again.

3. scissoring your legs to each side (Right/Left)

4. while your legs are up the wall, spreading your legs slightly apart and circling your legs.

Take note to listen to your lower back.  It is always better to do less than more and if this pose, when used as ab work, does not feel good to your back-STOP.

Moon Salutation

Mountain

Mountain Crescent Moon 2x

Moonflower

5 pointed star

Triangle (Right Side)

Pyramid (Right Side)

Runner’s Lunge (Right Side)

Extended Leg Squat (Right Side)

Prayer Squat

Extended Leg Squat (Left Side)

Runner’s Lunge (Left Side)

Pyramid (Left Side)

Triangle (Left Side)

5 pointed Star

Moonflower

Mountain Crescent Moons 2x

Mountain

Yoga Moods CD

1. Aureole ~ Jens Gad Prsents

2. Swan ~ Altea W.

3. Staraja Ladoga ~ Achillea

4. Cape Porcupine ~ Achillea

5. Odin’s Hill ~ Achillea

6. Casino Lounge ~ Peter Mergener

7. In For The Night (Buddha Edit) ~ The Moontrane Conductors

8. The Orbiting Suns ~ Jens Gad Presents

9. Bhajya Sahita ~ Hands Upon Black Earth

10. Silver Star ~ Jens Gad Presents

11. Les Eaux Verts ~ Jens Gad Presents

12. Chanson Pour Une Femme ~ Althea W.

13. Zen Garden, Part 1 (Savasana Edit)

The last week in April we did several Warrior I poses.

Alignment Tips:

Feet/Legs: The goal is to have both feet facing forward.  Keeping that in mind, let’s talk about the front leg  That is the leg that has the bent knee.  You should be able to look over the knee and see your big toe.  Notice how the knee is in line with the ankle.  It is not bending/extending past the ankle.  Your hips should be squarely aligned to the front.  (facing in the same directions as your front toes) Moving on to discuss the back leg.  The back heel should form an imaginary straight line from the front heel.  In possible, have the back heel on the mat.  If your heel doesn’t want to lay flat on the mat.  Try shortening your stance.

Arms: Your arms are overhead.  Think about protecting your ears with your arms.  Palms are facing toward each other.  Your gaze should be straight ahead.

Feel strong in this pose.  After all it is called Warrior I.  As your back foot remains grounded into the floor,  feel your spine lengthen when your hands are lifting up to the sky.

Pose Benefits:

This is a standing pose so not only does the pose benefit you as a stretching pose, but it aslo is a strengthening pose.   Good for the hips, thighs, calves and ankles, shoulders, arms and back, plus your abs, chest and neck.

Sequence Suggestions:

Mountain

Warrior I

Pyramid

Warrior I

Warrior II

Reverse Warrior II

Side Angle

Triangle

Warrior II

Warrior I

Mountain

Repeat with the opposite leg forward.  Holding each pose for a minimum of 3 breaths.

Guru Ram Das                      Singh Kaur

Chance                                   Ken Block

Shooting Star                      Wideawake

Rain King                              Counting Crows

Batida De Coco                   Brazilian Electronica

Brazilian Relaxation        Brazilian Electronica

I will add more playlist soon.  I am trying to figure out how to link itunes to the songs so it will be easier for you to find them, if you enjoyed them in class.

This week in class we did Airplane Pose.

Alignment Tips

In this pose it is best to start in Mountain Pose, inhale  as you lift your arms over head.  Exhale as you bend forward, hinging at the hips, stopping half way down. Palms face the floor and your shoulder blades should press toward the spine.  Knees should remain soft.  It is ok to bend the knees, like in chair pose,to help keep the lower back safe. Your gaze should be on the floor.

When you are in this pose you may think about how there is an energy moving from your head, through your spine and to your finger tips.  I like to say, “Pick your destination, you are preparing for a graceful flight.”

Pose Benefits:

This pose is most beneficial for strengthening your back muscles  and stretching your hamstrings.

Sequences Suggestions:

In class we went from Mountain Pose to Airplanes, repeating 4 times and holding the pose for 3-5 breaths.

We also did a fun sequence starting with:

Mountain Pose

Warrior I

Warrior II

Triangle

Warrior II

Widestance  Mountain

Widestance Airplane

Widestance Forward Fold

Widestance FF walking our hands from center to left and right foot

Warrior II

Warrior I

Chair

Mountain

Repeat placing the opposite foot in front.  You may hold the poses as long as you like.  Remembering to breath in and out through your nose.

Music:

See my Playlists for music suggestions.

I am back to using my faithful and extremely motivating calorie counting tool called Diet Power.  If you do not pay attention to what you eat you can underestimate what you eat by 50%.  Diet Power tracks what I eat, breaks it down into nutritional categories and gives me a grade for the day.  It may seem weird but I am soooooooo motivated to get an A everyday.  I log in my workouts, but try not to use the calories banked from the workout as “eating” calories.  After 30 days of using the program and faithfully logging all my foods in I have a good estimate of what my metabolic rate is.  Diet Power is a faithful and powerful friend to me.  It helped me loose 80 pounds in the past and it is helping me to drop my weight now.  I have lost almost 8 pounds since starting Diet Power 4 weeks ago.  I have 14 more pounds to loose.  Let’s see how long it will take me.  I have a goal  to loose 5 pounds every 4 weeks.  Making the 14 pound loss to take around 12 weeks—–July 9th, 2009.  I hope to keep you posted on the progress.

If you are interested in using Diet Power you can click on this link.

http://my.dietpower.com/MichelleJerome

You can try the program for 15 days for free and if you like it, mention my name:  Michelle Jerome to receive a $5 discount.

There are many programs out there, this is the one that worked for me.  Try it, you might find that it is the program that will motivate you too.

1. Child Pose

This is a relaxing pose.  Allow your forehead to rest on your mat.  Place your arms above your head.  For a deeper stretch, try crawling your fingers farther out on your mat. Inhale.  Exhale while entering Gentle Plank.

2. Gentle Plank

This pose is very similar to plank pose used in the Sun Salutation below.  Your fingers are spread out like a starfish.  Your knees are on the mat and your feet are resting on the mat.  Inhale as you as go into Gentle Croc.

3.  Gentle Croc

This picture is not totally correct for Gentle Croc pose.  You are on your knees in Gentle Plank Pose, bend at the elbows, keeping your elbows close to your side. Keep your feet flat on the mat. NOTE:  in picture she has her feet up with toes bent.  Exhale as you move into Cobra.

4.  Cobra

Your body is resting totally on the mat with your arms at your side.  Inhale as you move into Upward Facing Dog.

5.  Upward Facing Dog

Enjoy this powerful, confident pose.  Roll your chest upward, lengthening your spine as you straighten your arms and lift your head up and look toward the sky.  Try and lift your hips off the mat.  Fingers are widespread. Exhale as you lower back into Child Pose.

6.  Child Pose

As pose as number one.  Relax a moment and begin again.

How many times should you do this?

Do at least 3-5 times.  This is meant to warm-up your body.  Try to complete 108 before our first class.  And feel free to to this on days we do not have class.

I am asking that you practice doing this Sun Salutation before we begin classes and on days that we do not have classes.  Count the number of times you do it, a count of 1 would be after you have completed the Salutation on both the right and left leg. Try keeping track of the number you do until you hit 108 times. Let me know when you get to 108. Good luck, enjoy, read the alignment tips and always remember to BREATHE.

If any pose seems confusing ask me about it before or after class.  Listen to your body, if a pose seems uncomfortable–stop–your body is telling you something, listen to it.

Side note:  The alignment of this blog—-pictures matching up to the pose tips, may be off some.  I just can’t get this post to want to line up right.  Ever have one of those days????

All pictures are from yoga journal online.

1.  Mountain Pose

Stand with your feet together, shoulders relaxed, heart/chest raised “up to the sun”.  Inhale as you raise your arms up to the ceiling.  Exhale as you go into the next pose, Forward Fold.

2.  Forward Fold

Exhaling from Mountain Pose, hinge at the hips, relaxing your shoulders and head and bend forward to the best of your ability.  It takes time to be able to bend like she is doing in the picture and for some of us, the ability to be that limber is not in our genes.

Inhale as you lift your chest up and bring your left leg to the back of you mat, entering into pose number 3, High Lunge.

3.  High Lunge

In this pose check that your right bent knee is at a right angle.  You should be able to look over the knee and see your toes.  Your back leg is straight.  Your back is aligned because your chest is “facing up to the sun.”  Your hands might be touching your mat, or maybe your finger tips are touching the mat. To lengthen this pose, exhale and inhale and lengthen/extend your back/neck/ head  out—trying to “reach for the sun”.  Exhale as you enter Downward Facing Dog.

4. Downward Facing Dog

Your fingers should be widespread, starfish like.  Think about lifting your “buns to the sun”, draw your head threw your arms to allow a nice lengthening stretch.  Your heels do not need to touch the floor.  That may come later.  Heels to the floor is not the focus—”buns to the sun” and head threw the arms are the things to strive for. Inhale as you go into plank.

5.  Plank

Lower your bun and form a straight line, using your abs to hold the pose. Exhale as you lower to Croc Pose.

6.  Croc

While you are exhaling, bend your elbows, keeping them tuck tight by your side.  This is like a push-up pose.  Inhale as you lower to Cobra.

7. Cobra

This picture is slightly different than the Cobra pose I teach. This is a relaxing pose, rather than lifting your head and chest upward, allow your head and chest to rest on your mat along with your arms. Roll your toes so that they lay flat on your mat. Keep your toes that way as you Exhale into Upward Facing Dog.

8. Upward Facing Dog

Keep your hips off the mat if possible. Use your shoulders to help lift and lengthen your spine as you lift your head up high, looking upward. Heart/chest is in full view of the “sun”. Inhale into Down Dog.

9. Downward Facing Dog

Your fingers should be widespread, starfish like.  Think about lifting that “bun to the sun”, draw your head threw your arms to allow a nice lengthening stretch.  Your heels do not need to touch the floor.  That may come later.  Heels to the floor is not the focus—”buns to the sun” and head threw the arms are the things to strive for. Exhale as you go into High Lunge.

10.  High Lunge

In this pose check that your right bent knee is at a right angle.  You should be able to look over the knee and see your toes.  Your back leg is straight.  Your back is aligned because your chest is “facing up to the sun.”  Your hands might be touching your mat, or maybe your finger tips are touching the mat. To lengthen this pose, exhale and inhale and lengthen/extend your back/neck/ head  out—trying to “reach for the sun”.  Inhale as you hop your back leg to meet you front leg and go into Forward Fold.

11.  Forward Fold

Keep your shoulders and neck relaxed.  It takes time to be able to bend like she is doing in the picture and for some of us, the ability to be that limber is not in our genes.

Exhale as you lift your chest up and enter Mountain Pose.

12. Mountain Pose

Stand with your feet together, shoulders relaxed, heart/chest raised “up to the sun”.  Inhale as you raise your arms up to the ceiling.  Exhale as you go into the next pose, Chair.

13. Chair

Bend your knees and think that you are about to sit on a chair. Raise your arms above your head, arms covering your ears or place your arms out in front of your chest. Inhale/Exhale as you enter Mountain Pose.

14. Mountain Pose

Stand with your feet together, shoulders relaxed, heart/chest raised “up to the sun”.  Inhale as you raise your arms up to the ceiling.  Exhale as you go start the sequence all over again, but place your right leg back for the high lunge, left leg forward.

You may be asking, “How long should I hold each pose?”

While you are learning the poses and learning the proper alignment for each pose, hold the pose for 3-5 breathes. Feel the pose, check you body, enjoy the pose, and then move on to the next pose in the Sun Salutation Sequence.

Once you feel comfortable with each pose, start moving faster in your flow. A sun salutations purpose is to help heat up your body.