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TRAINING MANUAL
Please approach all learning with an open heart and mind. If you happen upon
something that doesn’t resonate with your current belief structure, take a moment
to step back and explore the potential of all that exists, with an understanding that
there is no one way to expanding awareness. Many paths lead to the truth and it is
our joy and privilege to allow whatever arises for us to be new and fresh. Since our
perception creates our reality, let us be flexible in perception, just as we aim to be
in our bodies through the path and practice of yoga.
Hatha Yoga is the scientific Yoga Path that includes Yoga Poses, or Asanas, as a key
element to the attainment of liberation. Hatha Yoga is a multifaceted science for
healing the body, creating health and vitality, and restoring the natural flow of prana
(life force) to practitioners.
This manual is created both for yoga practitioners and teachers seeking to create
a personal home practice that can serve them wherever you may be. It is also a
perfect manual to follow in order to create sequences to teach yoga students. The
sequences in this manual are simple enough to learn and remember easily, while
being powerful enough to create considerable health benefits on all levels.
Yoga practice is best done when warmed up. So if it is winter or you are in a place
with a low temperature, you may have to generate some heat with your own
effort, energy and movement. In this case, feel free to move more quickly for a few
rounds of sun salutations to get the energy flowing, heat rising and your breath
moving through you.
Things to consider:
Turn off your phone and find a quiet place free from
distraction that is both comfortable and inspiring with plenty
of room to move freely.
Sun Salutations
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9
4
5
6
for several rounds and can be done as a warm
up or by itself as a complete practice.
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1.
Mountain Pose. Starting with feet
grounded into the earth, spread your
toes, lift your arches and root down
through the soles of your feet. Spine
long, crown of the head lifted to the sky.
Tilt your chin down slightly and tilt your
tailbone down toward the earth. Pull in
your lower belly and close your eyes.
2.
Inhale reach your arms toward the
sky, palms together above your head,
interlace your fingers, drop your
shoulders down and back and lift your
heart (chest) to the sky. Gently arch back
while maintaining the routed foundation
at your feet as with mountain pose.
3.
Exhale forward bend, palms
reaching toward the earth,
neck is relaxed, crown of the
head toward the floor. Knees
straight as possible.
4.
Inhale step back into a low lunge. Placing
your left knee to the earth, shift your hips
forward, pull in your lower belly, tuck in
your front ribs and interlace your fingers
above your head. Gently arch back to
lengthen the hip flexors.
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5.
Exhale forward bend, both palms
to the earth on either side of
your front foot. Shift your hips
back, straighten your front knee
and reach toward your front foot.
Flexing the toes in toward your
face, pull the outer edge of your
foot toward you to stretch the
hamstrings, IT band and lengthen
the spine. Relax your neck and
breath. Step your right foot back
into plank position.
*Quad stretch with spinal twist
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6.
Plank position, both palms are
directly under your shoulders,
spine straight, like mountain
pose horizontal. Engage your
core and as you exhale, lower
your body to the floor.
7.
Inhale press firmly into both palms,
drop your shoulders down and
back and engage your triceps, lifting
your chest into cobra pose. Gaze
is either directly forward or slightly
up if your neck and back flexibility
allow.
8.
Exhale press back to downward
facing dog. Palms pressing firmly and
evenly into the earth, fingers spread
wide, root down through the base
of the hand where the thumb and
the index meet at the wrist. Relax
your neck, allowing the crown of
your head to fall toward the earth.
Tailbone tilted toward the sky,
heals pressing into the earth. Knees
straight, lower belly engaged. Tuck in
your front ribs and breath.
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9.
Inhale step your left foot forward
between your hands (either lower
the knee or keep the back kneed
lifted for strength and power).
Either flat palms or finger tips
to the earth on either side of
the front food. Lengthen your
spine, pull in lower belly and
look forward. Tilt your tailbone
down and lift the crown of your
heard to the sky. Leading with
your heart, lengthen the right
hip extensors by lifting your back
knee a little higher.
*Extended forward
bend
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10.
Exhale standing forward bend.
1.
Standing with arms spread out in a
T position, you have 2 options:
Full 360 rotation or modified
version which I refer to as the
‘Sprinkler”. If you have a tendency
toward dizziness, opt for the
modified version to start.
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2.
Starting in downward facing dog
3.
Starting in a ‘Staff ” position. Seated with legs
straight, tailbone tiled down perpendicular
to the floor, spine straight, crown of the
head lifted, lower belly engaged, feet flexed.
Palms pressing on either side of your hips,
drop your shoulders down and back and
use the strength in your triceps, core and
quadricips to sit straight and tall.
4.
Inhale -‐ Starting lying flat on your back, stretch
your arms straight behind your back, point your
toes away from you and lengthen your spine.
5.
Starting kneeling with knees and shins
hip distance apart, lower your chin
toward your chest and relax your
neck. Tailbone tilted down, long spine,
balanced and grounded into your shins.
1.
Warrior 2 – engage core,
ground down through the
feet. Pressing the back leg
straight, bend your front
knee 90 degrees. Sink you
pelvis toward the earth
and tilt your tailbone
down. Engage your core
and lengthen your spine.
Look forward and broaden
through the front of your
body, stretching your arms
out in either direction.
2.
Dancing(reverse) Warrior-‐
From Warrior 1, slide your
back arm down the back
leg and lengthen the side of
your body as you extend
the front arm up and over
your head, reaching toward
the wall behind you. Sink
the hips down and open the
back inner thigh while you
strengthen the front leg and
breath deeply.
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3.
Side Angle Pose (modified version)-‐
Starting with wariior 2 leg positioning, place
your front forearm on the front thigh near
your knee, engage your core and square
your front shoulder perpendicular to the
floor. Extend your top arm over your heard
and stretch the side of your body.
1.
Starting in plank
position, please
remember to engage
your core and pull your
belly button toward
your spin
2.
Ground into your palms and
draw your right knee into
your chest. Chin in toward
your knee, engage your core
and pull your navel to your
spine. Lift the back of your
spine toward the sky and
tilt your sacrum toward the
earth. Take 5 breaths.
VARIATION
Knee to the outer
edge of your right
tricep to work the
obliques (outer abs).
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3.
Side Plank Sequence
– strengthens your
shoulders, obliques,
core, and lats.
Star Pose
Vasisthasana
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4.
Bicycle Abs Sequence
Repeat 20 times.
Grounded into the lower back, bend both knees and
interlace your fingers behind your head to support the
weight of your head. Lift your chest and shoulders off
the ground and with each exhale, revolve your torso,
pressing your armpit toward the opposite knees and
they come in toward each other and extend through
the opposte leg and foot. Move with control and
contract the core, pulling your naval to your spine with
each repetition.
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5.
Toe Touch, Sit and Reach Sequence.
1.
Starting in a standing forward bend,
interlace your fingers behind your
head and draw your face in toward
your shins. Relax your neck and allow
the back of the neck muscles and all
the way down into the upper back to
stretch and release tension.
Take 5 breaths at least.
2.
Seated in a comfortable posiiton, place
your hands on either knee and round your
spine, pressing your back toward the wall
behind you and drawing your chin in toward
your chest. Spread through the upper back,
shoulders forward becoming concave in
the front of your chest to allow the muscles
between the shoulder blades to stretch
away from the thoracic spine. Pressing your
palms into your knees will create stability
for you to press deeper and stretch further.
Take a 5 breaths.
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3.
From that same seated position, sukasana (easy
sitting pose) interlace your fingers behind your
back, making a fist with your hands. Drop your
shoulders down and back and squeeze your
shoulder blades together behind you. Sit up
straight and lengthen your spine. Pull in your
lower belly to engage the strength of your
core as you sit, this will provide stability. Lower
your right ear toward your right shoulder and
lengthen the left side of your neck. Press the
left shoulder down toward the floor while you
use the right hand to pull the left arm down
and back, to go deeper into the stretch. Lift
the chin toward the sky to stretch through the
front and side deeper.
VARIATION 1, repeat on the other side VARIATION 2– Using your left hand, press your
and lower the chin to stretch deeper head to the left shoulder as you use the right
through the back and side of the neck. hand to press the right shoulder down and
toward the floor. Take 5 breaths.
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4.
Sitting with legs apart (or back in easy pose if this is not comfortable) lower your elbows to the
floor (or using a block or something if you can’t bend this far). Prop your elbows on the floor and
press your thumbs into the muscles between your jaw bone and throat. This is where we store a lot
of tension built up in the neck and head. Just allow the weight of the head to sink into the thumbs,
called acupressure. Allow gravity to do the work and just breath through the tension and/or pain.
Walk the thumbs along this ridge of the chin and repeat this all the way from the tip of the chin to
where the jaw meets the skull near your ears.
5.
Sitting in easy pose, place your
left hand behind your back on
the floor near your sacrum
(tailbone), elbow straight. Press
the right hand into the right Other seated variation to open the hips.
knee and twist to the left. Look
over your right shoulder, sit up
straight and exhale as you twist
with a long straight spine.
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6.
Starting in Rabbit Pose, Kneeling on
knees and shins, place the crown
of your head to the earth and roll
along the top of your skull, liftin your
hips into the air. Placing your elbows
flat on either side of your head to
stabalize, use your hands to knead
your shoulders in a massage to release
tension from the shoulders while the
neck muscles stretch. Try at least 5
breaths.
Side view.
Counter pose, seated on shins
and keens, press your palms into
the floor and lift your heart to
the sky. Drop the shoulders down
and back. Allow your head to
lay back and stretch through the
front of your neck.
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7.
Sphynx pose is great for strengthening your lower back,
while creating flexibility in the mid and upper back and
neck. Keep the shoulders soft, while lifting through he
chest. Keep the lower body flat and ground through
the hips and pelvis to stabilize. Press into the palms and
forearms to lift the chest higher.
Scorpion Variations
Forearm Wheel
Bound Camel
Sage’s Pose
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Dancer’s Pose