Namaste Yoga Episode Guide

Beginner: As you learn the sequence, focus on how the movements feel, not on how they look. The body will begin to move where the breath will afford to take you and no further. The breath body link is called heart opening link and will help develop strength in muscles we do not typically use - can you feel the tension in your ankles and hip rotators? Be sure to keep your feet parallel to one another. On the inhale breath focus on the expansion in the chest. On the exhale focus on the contraction, your chin tucked in slightly to elongate your spine.

Advanced: Focus on applying the bandhas on the exhale, allowing yourself to deepen into each pose. On the inhale focus on a long waist and a lifted chest, feeling your energy rising up. Gently guide your mind back to your practice if it wanders. The breath body link is called heart opening link. Once you are comfortable opening and closing your arms with breath, begin to focus on your energy. When you inhale extend energy out from your core, letting your tension leave. When you exhale return your hands to heart's centre with fresh energy. Feel revitalized and open, ready to begin again.

Beginner: For now focus on becoming familiar with the physical expression of the pose. Check your alignment - is your bent knee directly over your foot? Is your back leg straight? Are your feet in one line? Drop your shoulders and reach with your fingertips. Feel your body's length.

Advanced: Your muscles now know where to take you on the mat. Turn your focus to deepening into the pose. Sink into your hips, opening them slowly by keeping your upper body completely still as you move in and out of the posture. Can you feel your front hip open to allow for this movement? Feel the power of the exhale breath; core is tight; eyes are focused.

Beginner: The way that we flow in and out of the Exalted Warrior posture is perfect for a beginning student to learn how to move gracefuly with breath. Focus on keeping your legs stable, feet grounding into the earth as you move only your upper body. To move from Warrior II to Exalted Warrior, reach out through your finger tips with a weightless arm; lift your gaze and focus on your front fingers.

Advanced: You now have no trouble keeping a steady base with your legs as your upper body moves into Exalted Warrior. Instead, focus on opposing lines of energy in your arms. While one arm reaches out above your head, the other reaches behind you. Feel all of the muscles in your arms activated as you pull your arms away from center, stretching against one another.

Beginner: Lateral Angle is a great posture for developing strength in your ankles and leg muscles. If it is difficult to bring your hand all the way to the floor, keep your elbow resting on the thigh - but try not to lean to heavily on the thigh; instead, keep lifting from your core by squeezing your abdominal muscles. Once you feel comfortable here, try it with your hand on the floor or on a block for support. Remember to keep your knee directly above your ankle to avoid pressure on this delicate joint.

Advanced: Now that your hand is planted firmly on the ground, focus on shifting the weight to be evenly spead between your hand and your two feet. Can you push out from each section of your back foot while you push down into your front foot and hand? Squeeze your legs towards one another to relieve pressure from the ankle joints. Reach with your top arm, chin tucked into armpit, gaze lifted. Feel one smooth line of energy from the tips of your top fingers all the way down to the edge of your back foot.

Beginner: Triangle will help you build strength in your legs and ankles while improving your balance and concentration. If straightening your front leg creates an uncomfortable stretch in your hamstring, keep that knee bent while you press through your back leg, super straight. We deepen in triangle by shifting our focus from the earth to our top hand. Careful! It is easy to lose balance here.

Advanced: To deepen your expression of triangle, focus on bringing your chest parallel to the floor as you reach out from center. Squeeze your leg muscles to pull energy through the legs into center. Concentrate on extending the spine parallel to the floor and keeping your shoulders away from your ears. Your fingers are glued together and your chest, open.

Beginner: This sequence brings awareness of balance and extends your flexibility. Be aware of your limitations and resist the urge to compete with yourself. The Sun Moon breath body link will call you to take control of your oppositional forces - strength in the legs and feet as you stretch your arms and spine. Be mindful of your spinal alignment as you inhale and reach to the sun - tuck your tailbone under and focus on pulling your belly and chest up to follow your arms. On the exhale, contract your belly and use the strength of your arms to bring the calm energy of the moon back to you.

Advanced: Sun Moon blends strengthening postures with balancing poses to create equilibrium throughout the body and mind. Focus on keeping your breath steady as you make the most of all the opposites in this practice, being mindful of strengthening, lengthening, lifting and contracting all at once. Upon exhalation in the sun-moon breath body link, feel the earth energy rising through you, lifting with the bandhas. On the inhale, stretch your arms and upper body outward and up as the lower body reaches down to the earth.

Beginner: Concentrate on turning your toes in slightly. Begin to use the entire surface of your foot to ground and balance your body; this is challenging as we seldom try to control different parts of our feet. Give it a try in this strengthening pose. Hand placement should be even with your shoulders but do not worry if your hands do not touch the ground with straight legs. Bend your knees deeply for now and be patient with the tight muscles at the back of the thigh.

Advanced: Balance is not a problem as you sink into forward fold. Focus on improving the flow of oppositional energy in this pose. Lift from your tail bone so the spine can release down. Use the grounding force of your legs to push your tail higher, as you sink your head lower. Ground down with your palms and, if you are comfortable, you can bend your elbows deeply.

Beginner: Begin with an awareness of your alignment. Your front knee should bend to be in line with your foot and go no further. This protects the knee from injury. Keep your hips and shoulders even. Is your back leg completely straight? Is your weight evenly distributed across both legs? You should feel all points of your foot pressing into the ground.

Advanced: As an advanced practitioner, Warrior I is a strong and confident pose for you. Bring your focus to your tail bone, dropping it down and tucking it under as you lift your chest and shoulders up and back. Feel the energy from your core extend through the sides of your waist and straight up through your arms to your fingertips. Take your gaze up to the fingers, feeling the power of your focus.

Beginner: Monkey pose is an excellent posture for beginners to strengthen the leg and abdominal muscles. Alignment of the front knee over the foot is very important, you need to create a strong base to rise from as you lift your chest. Uncurl the back toes and feel the weight and length of the back leg sinking as you lift your body up and into the pose.

Advanced: Once you are comfortable in this pose, begin to deepen by rolling your shoulders back and down. Lift the chest up as the shoulder blades squeeze together. Be mindful to keep your weight evenly distributed across the whole of your front foot and back shin as you deepen into the pose. Your chin is lifted slightly, gaze slightly lifted, arms reaching back.

Beginner: The hamstring stretch is a wonderful way to lengthen and stretch the spine and all the muscles down the back of your leg. The hamstrings are often the tightest muscles for beginning students. Keep your shoulders and hips square as you stretch your body back and down. The top of your back foot should lie along the floor, while your front toes should point upward. For now, do not worry if it is enough of a stretch without bending forward - the placement of the legs is a wonderful stretch by itself!

Advanced: To deepen your hamstring stretch, concentrate on making your back flat as you settle your shoulders back and down. Lengthen your neck and really flex your front foot. Feel your whole front leg super straight, super activated. Tuck your chin in and really reach towards your toes with the top of your head.

Beginner: Needle is an exciting and beautiful pose for beginners. It is a challenging pose that strengthens your legs and elongates your spine. Focus on dropping the weight of the head down to counterbalance the lift of the leg. Use your hands for balance and make sure to keep your weight evenly distributed across your hands and all of your fingers. Remember: however high you lift your leg is fine.

Advanced: To deepen into needle pose, use the energy of the standing leg. Send energy down through that leg by pressing into the ground with the whole foot. Now pull power up through the arms and all the way up to the lifting toes. Keep the weight of the head dropping down and the lifting leg rising up.

Beginner: Firebird is great for learning to keep the mind focused and not wandering. The pace is faster than most other practices. Try to keep up, but if you do fall behind, come back to center for the breath-body link when you are ready. The breath-body link is Earth-Rain. The link pulls grounding energy from the earth while showering the mind and body with positive energy flow. Elbows seal as you lift your hands on the inhale. Drop shoulders and release tension on the exhale breath. Keep your weight balanced on both legs and feel grounded in your feet through the link.

Advanced: Firebird is a fun sequence for advanced yogis. The practice mixes spinal stretches with hip opening poses to relax the mind and relieve tension in the body. Enjoy flowing smoothly and quickly from one pose to the next, being mindful of proper alignment and never retaining the breath. The link is Earth-Rain. Focus on creating energy in the palms of the hands and as the forearms and elbows connect on the inhale lift. Drop the chin and lift from the head as your arms rain down on the exhalation. Feel grounded in your feet and tuck your tailbone gently under.

Beginner: Beginners benefit greatly from forward fold, as it stretches the leg muscles where we most commonly hold on to tightness. Feel the weight of the head as you fold forward. Be mindful of your body. Do you feel any pain behind the knees or near the tail bone? If so, bend your knees deeply until that tension is relieved. Only go to your limit. That is your perfect expression of the pose.

Advanced: Advanced practicioners can continue to benefit from this posture. To deepen your fold, lay your chest on the thighs as you deeply bend the knees. Now, as you straighten your legs, keep your chest glued to the thighs - the strength here comes from your abdominals and hip flexors. Engage mula bandha as you stretch your upper body towards the earth and your tail towards the sky - feel the expression of perfect opposition.

Beginner: Child's pose is a relaxing and comforting pose for beginners. However, do not be fooled by its apparent symplicity! This posture will deeply stretch the quadriceps and hips. If it is not comfortable to rest your belly on your thighs, try placing a block or towel between the buttocks and the feet, this will lessen the stretch in the hips. If you have any tension in your neck, try making fists with your hands and placing them one on top of another - rest your head on your hands.

Advanced: Advanced yogis enjoy the calming and restorative benefits of child's pose. You can deepen into the pose by stretching your arms forward as you press your tail towards the earth. To increase the stretch in the hips, separate the legs, making room for the buttocks between the feet instead of on top of the feet. Keep a steady, even breath.

Beginner: Beginners can develop strength and flexibility in the shoulders, chest, and abdominal muscles in upward-facing dog. As you look up, be careful not to pinch the back of the neck or spine, instead focus on lengthening and stretching from the crown of the head. Keep your hands firmly grounded, weight spread evenly between all of your fingers.

Advanced: Upward-facing dog is a joyous pose for those who are more advanced in their yoga practice. Feel the fluidity of the spine as you move smoothly into the pose. With weight evenly distributed across your hands and fingers, use super-straight arms to press upwards, while keeping your shoulders down and back as your neck lengthens. Be careful to keep the arms fully engaged, preventing the elbow joints from locking. The strength of the posture comes from the muscles, relieving pressure on the joints.

Beginner: Beginners benefit from downward facing dog as it stretches the muscles of the upper back, shoulders, hamstrings, calves, right down to the arches of your feet! Don't worry if you cannot straighten your legs in this pose, it will come with time. For now, focus on keeping the back super flat and your knees deeply bent. Begin to push the legs straight while the back stays flat, opening into the tight hamstring muscles. If you have wrist problems, be very mindful of any pain you feel in this posture.

Advanced: To deepen in downward facing dog, the advanced practitioner can focus on sinking into the heels and lifting the tail bone. Keep your arms super-straight and energize the palms of the hands and fingers.

Beginner: Swan pose can be challenging for the beginning yogi as it is a deep hip opening pose. Be gentle with yourself, and go no further than your hip and groin muscles can afford. While you are learning this posture, you can put a block or towel under the hip of the front leg. The aim is to keep the hips even so give your body the support it needs to express the pose.

Advanced: Swan pose is a graceful and elegant posture for the advanced yogi. Tuck your tail slightly and lift the chest. Keep lifting from the back of the head and the shoulders. Your hips are level - beautiful. Now, can you pull belly to spine on the exhale? Focus on lifting the chest, not compressing the spine. Arms are straight, gaze is lifted slightly. Feel the serenity of this pose.

Beginner: Gate Opening is a graceful practice that works your abdominal muscles and upper body, while improving your balance and increasing fluidity in the movement of your joints. Focus on moving smoothly from one pose to the next and never holding your breath. The Earth-Rain breath-body link pulls grounding energy from the earth while showering the mind and body with positive energy flow. Elbows seal as you lift your hands on the inhale. Drop shoulders and release tension on the exhale breath. Keep your weight balanced on both legs and feel grounded in your feet through the link.

Advanced: This is an uplifting sequence with movements that are expansive and fluid, allowing for full extension and deepening into a range of poses that work the entire body. Pay close attention to your alignment and tune into grounding your body while stretching up and outward with raised arms and legs. The link is Earth-Rain. Focus on creating energy in the palms of the hands and as the forearms and elbows connect on the inhale, lift. Drop the chin and lift from the head as your arms rain down on the exhalation. Feel grounded in your feet and tuck your tailbone gently under.

Beginner: Beginners benefit greatly from forward fold, as it stretches the leg muscles where we most commonly hold on to tightness. Feel the weight of the head as you fold forward. Be mindful of your body. Do you feel any pain behind the knees or near the tail bone? If so, bend your knees deeply until that tension is relieved. Only go to your limit. That is your perfect expression of the pose.

Advanced: Advanced practicioners can continue to benefit from this posture. To deepen your fold, lay your chest on the thighs as you deeply bend the knees. Now, as you straighten your legs, keep your chest glued to the thighs - the strength here comes from your abdominals and hip flexors. Engage mula bandha as you stretch your upper body towards the earth and your tail towards the sky - feel the expression of perfect opposition.

Beginner: Plank is a fantastic pose for beginners to strengthen their abdominal muscles and spine, as well as arms and wrists. Make sure to distribute your weight evenly across your hands and energize the abdominal muscles. If it is too much at first, you can bring your knees to the floor.

Advanced: Advanced yogis can enhance the benefits of plank pose by continuing to widen across the collarbones and pulling the shoulders away from the ears. Check your alignment: is your spine really straight? Is the core engaged?

Beginner: Beginners benefit from downward facing dog as it stretches the muscles of the upper back, shoulders, hamstrings, calves, right down to the arches of your feet! Don't worry if you cannot straighten your legs in this pose, it will come with time. For now, focus on keeping the back super flat and your knees deeply bent. Begin to push the legs straight while the back stays flat, opening into the tight hamstring muscles. If you have wrist problems, be very mindful of any pain you feel in this posture.

Advanced: To deepen in downward facing dog, the advanced practitioner can focus on sinking into the heels and lifting the tail bone. Keep your arms super-straight and feel all the way around each finger. Focus on the energy that is coming down the outside of your arms, activating your triceps.

Beginner: Sunbird is a wonderful pose for beginners to help stretch and strengthen the arms, chest and core. The grounded knee should be parallel with the hip, and hips stay level as the opposing leg lifts skyward. For the bow, keep elbows tucking into the body and rest your head along the floor. If this posture is hard on your knees, try adding an extra mat or placing your knees on a blanket.

Advanced: To deepen into sunbird lift, advanced yogis can expand and widen in the collarbone area while pushing outward with the insides of the arms. Squeeze your shoulder blades together but keep your shoulders relaxing away from your ears. In Sunbird bow, keep the head hovering gently above the floor, building immense strength in the shoulders and arms. Your abdominal muscles are super engaged, super energized.

Beginner: Gate Pose can be a challenge for beginners as you test your balance and strength in your arms. Try to push the outside of the top foot into the mat to steady yourself. Keep your abdominals energized and feel very long in the waist. If you lose balance, do not worry, falling is part of the practice.

Advanced: When you are comfortable in Gate Pose, become invested in the full expression of the posture. Focus on your chest stretching and lifting, following the direction of your head. Circle your arm in a fluid, complete motion, and really stretch into the extension. Push your grounding arm down. Are your shoulders away from your ears? Remember to lengthen through the neck and keep the gaze focused on a drishti point for balance.

Beginner: This sequence will build confidence and improve flexibility in the tight muscles of the back, hamstrings and calves. Make sure your bent knees never over reach your ankle in any of the positions and really stretch your arms and lengthening your upper body in each pose. The heart opening breath body link will help develop strength in muscles we do not typically use. Be sure to keep your feet parallel to one another. On the inhale focus on the expansion in the chest. On the exhale focus on the contraction, your chin tucked in slightly to elongate your spine.

Advanced: This is an inspiring practice that restores balance and energy to the body. Focus on lengthening all points of the body, like the rays of the sun stretching endlessly into space. Keep your chest open and spine aligned as you move through the poses. The breath body link is called heart opening link. Once you are comfortable opening and closing your arms with breath, begin to focus on your energy. When you inhale extend energy out from your core, releasing tension. When you exhale return your hands to heart's center with fresh energy. Feel revitalized and ready to begin the sequence.

Beginner: A wonderfully confident pose for a beginner, Warrior II strengthens legs and ankles. The pose also helps open the hips, chest and shoulders. Are your arms perfectly straight and parallel to the earth? Watch your knee placement, it should not extend beyond your ankle.

Advanced: Advanced yogis love Warrior II for the confident strength it awakens in the body and mind. Make sure to keep your hips and legs working in opposition: back hip opening to the back, front hip pushing forward. Are your shoulders dropped? Chin slightly tucked in?

Beginner: Lateral Angle is a great posture for developing strength in your ankles and leg muscles. If it is difficult to bring your hand all the way to the floor, keep your elbow resting on the thigh - but try not to lean to heavily on the thigh; instead, keep lifting from your core by squeezing your abdominal muscles. Once you feel comfortable here, try it with your hand on the floor or on a block for support. Remember to keep your knee directly above your ankle to avoid pressure on this delicate joint.

Advanced: Now that your hand is planted firmly on the ground, focus on shifting the weight to be evenly spead between your hand and your two feet. Can you push out from each section of your back foot while you push down into your front foot and hand? Squeeze your legs towards one another to relieve pressure from the ankle joints. Reach with your top arm, chin tucked into armpit, gaze lifted. Feel one smooth line of energy from the tips of your top fingers all the way down to the edge of your back foot.

Beginner: Triangle will help you build strength in your legs and ankles while improving your balance and concentration. If straightening your front leg creates an uncomfortable stretch in your hamstring, keep that knee bent while you press through your back leg, super straight. We deepen in triangle by shifting our focus from the earth to our top hand. Careful! It is easy to lose balance here.

Advanced: To deepen your expression of triangle, focus on bringing your chest parallel to the floor as you reach out from center. Squeeze your leg muscles to pull energy through the legs into center. Concentrate on extending the spine parallel to the floor and keeping your shoulders away from your ears. Your fingers are glued together and your chest, open.

Beginner: Head-to-knee will stretch all of the muscles of the backs of the legs in a beginner. Be very careful not to stretch too far in the pose. If you are at all uncomfortable, walk the back leg in a little so you can straighten the front leg. Keep your chin tucked in and your back lengthened.

Advanced: To deepen in head-to-knee pose, advanced practitioners can focus on really laying their chest on the thigh of the forward leg. Are your hips square? Keep your chin tucked in and lengthen from the base of the spine all the way through the top of the head. Is your weight distributed across the whole surface of your foot?

Beginner: Begin with an awareness of your alignment. Your front knee should bend to be in line with your foot and go no further. This protects the knee from injury. Keep your hips and shoulders even. Is your back leg completely straight? Is your weight evenly distributed across both legs? You should feel all points of your foot pressing into the ground.

Advanced: As an advanced practitioner, Warrior I is a strong and confident pose for you. Bring your focus to your tail bone, dropping it down and tucking it under as you lift your chest and shoulders up and back. Feel the energy from your core extend through the sides of your waist and straight up through your arms to your fingertips. Take your gaze up to the fingers, feeling the power of your focus.

Beginner: A challenging practice that will improve your balance and strengthen your feet, ankles and legs while stretching the spine and backs of the legs. Take care when moving from the low point of Lateral Angle to Center. Narrow your stance if you are uncomfortable. During the sun moon breath body link be mindful of your spinal alignment as you inhale and reach to the sun - tuck your tailbone under and focus on pulling your belly and chest up. On the exhale, contract your belly and use the strength of your arms to bring the calm energy of the moon back to you.

Advanced: The Half Moon Sequence is a blissfully sensual practice that will improve your lateral balance and unite the mind with the body. Focus on really energizing the hands and the feet while moving fluidly from one pose to the next. Enjoy the opposition of the practice, grounding the body while reaching and lengthening up and outward. Upon exhalation in the sun-moon breath body link, feel the earth energy rising through you, lifting with the bandhas. On the inhale, stretch your arms and upper body outward and up as the lower body reaches down to the earth.

Beginner: Begin with an awareness of your alignment. Your front knee should bend to be in line with your foot and go no further. This protects the knee from injury. Keep your hips and shoulders even. Is your back leg completely straight? Is your weight evenly distributed across both legs? You should feel all points of your foot pressing into the ground.

Advanced: As an advanced practitioner, Warrior I is a strong and confident pose for you. Bring your focus to your tail bone, dropping it down and tucking it under as you lift your chest and shoulders up and back. Feel the energy from your core extend through the sides of your waist and straight up through your arms to your fingertips. Take your gaze up to the fingers, feeling the power of your focus.

Beginner: For now focus on becoming familiar with the physical expression of the pose. Check your alignment - is your bent knee directly over your foot? Is your back leg straight? Are your feet in one line? Drop your shoulders and reach with your fingertips. Feel your body's length.

Advanced: Your muscles now know where to take you on the mat. Turn your focus to deepening into the pose. Sink into your hips, opening them slowly by keeping your upper body completely still as you move in and out of the posture. Can you feel your front hip open to allow for this movement? Feel the power of the exhale breath; core is tight; eyes are focused.

Beginner: Lateral Angle is a great posture for developing strength in your ankles and leg muscles. If it is difficult to bring your hand all the way to the floor, keep your elbow resting on the thigh - but try not to lean to heavily on the thigh; instead, keep lifting from your core by squeezing your abdominal muscles. Once you feel comfortable here, try it with your hand on the floor or on a block for support. Remember to keep your knee directly above your ankle to avoid pressure on this delicate joint.

Advanced: Now that your hand is planted firmly on the ground, focus on shifting the weight to be evenly spead between your hand and your two feet. Can you push out from each section of your back foot while you push down into your front foot and hand? Squeeze your legs towards one another to relieve pressure from the ankle joints. Reach with your top arm, chin tucked into armpit, gaze lifted. Feel one smooth line of energy from the tips of your top fingers all the way down to the edge of your back foot.

Beginner: The Half Moon Balance will improve your confidence and strengthen your ankles and legs. If it is too difficult to reach your hand to the ground, use a block to help you attain the posture.

Advanced: You are comfortable enough in the Half Moon Balance to appreciate the elegant grace of the pose. Focus now on grounding down the bottom hand and foot while reaching and extending through the uplifted arm and leg. Is your chest open? For an added challenge, try to shift your gaze upward.

Beginner: Needle is an exciting and beautiful pose for beginners. It is a challenging pose that strengthens your legs and elongates your spine. Focus on dropping the weight of the head down to counterbalance the lift of the leg. Use your hands for balance and make sure to keep your weight evenly distributed across your hands and all of your fingers. Remember: however high you lift your leg is fine.

Advanced: To deepen into needle pose, use the energy of the standing leg. Send energy down through that leg by pressing into the ground with the whole foot. Now pull power up through the arms and all the way up to the lifting toes. Keep the weight of the head dropping down and the lifting leg rising up.

Beginner: In this sequence, you will begin to strengthen your arms, shoulders, back and abdominal muscles while stretching the back, hips and legs. Focus on your breath: inhaling fully and really contracting the abdominals on the exhale breath. In this practice, the heart opening breath body link is done while in hero pose, so focus on keeping your spine and neck long and straight and extending through the arms, hands and fingers fully. On the inhale focus on the expansion in the chest. On the exhale focus on the contraction, your chin tucked in slightly to elongate your spine.

Advanced: Advanced yogis will find the Earth Sequence a wonderfully balancing and restorative practice. Focus on fully expressing each pose and pushing completely through the length of the arms and legs. The breath body link is called heart opening link. Once you are comfortable opening and closing your arms with breath, begin to focus on your energy. When you inhale extend energy out from your core, letting your tension leave with it. When you exhale return your hands to heart's centre with fresh energy. Feel revitalized and open, ready to begin the sequence.

Beginner: Plank is a fantastic pose for beginners to strengthen their abdominal muscles and spine, as well as arms and wrists. Make sure to distribute your weight evenly across your hands and energize the abdominal muscles. If it is too much at first, you can bring your knees to the floor.

Advanced: Advanced yogis can enhance the benefits of plank pose by continuing to widen across the collarbones and pulling the shoulders away from the ears. Check your alignment: is your spine really straight? Is the core engaged?

Beginner: Beginners can develop strength and flexibility in the shoulders, chest, and abdominal muscles in upward-facing dog. As you look up, be careful not to pinch the back of the neck or spine, instead focus on lengthening and stretching from the crown of the head. Keep your hands firmly grounded, weight spread evenly between all of your fingers.

Advanced: Upward-facing dog is a joyous pose for those who are more advanced in their yoga practice. Feel the fluidity of the spine as you move smoothly into the pose. With weight evenly distributed across your hands and fingers, use super-straight arms to press upwards, while keeping your shoulders down and back as your neck lengthens. Be careful to keep the arms fully engaged, preventing the elbow joints from locking. The strength of the posture comes from the muscles, relieving pressure on the joints.

Beginner: Child's pose is a relaxing and comforting pose for beginners. However, do not be fooled by its apparent symplicity! This posture will deeply stretch the quadriceps and hips. If it is not comfortable to rest your belly on your thighs, try placing a block or towel between the buttocks and the feet, this will lessen the stretch in the hips. If you have any tension in your neck, try making fists with your hands and placing them one on top of another - rest your head on your hands.

Advanced: Advanced yogis enjoy the calming and restorative benefits of child's pose. You can deepen into the pose by stretching your arms forward as you press your tail towards the earth. To increase the stretch in the hips, separate the legs, making room for the buttocks between the feet instead of on top of the feet. Keep a steady, even breath.

Beginner: Beginners benefit from downward facing dog as it stretches the muscles of the upper back, shoulders, hamstrings, calves, right down to the arches of your feet! Don't worry if you cannot straighten your legs in this pose, it will come with time. For now, focus on keeping the back super flat and your knees deeply bent. Begin to push the legs straight while the back stays flat, opening into the tight hamstring muscles. If you have wrist problems, be very mindful of any pain you feel in this posture.

Advanced: To deepen in downward facing dog, the advanced practitioner can focus on sinking into the heels and lifting the tail bone. Keep your arms super-straight and energize the palms of the hands and fingers.

Beginner: Locust pose can be a challenging pose for beginners. It will stretch the legs, abdominals and lower back, and uses muscles in the legs, back and arms that we do not often use to attain the posture. If it is too difficult to raise both arms and legs, you may place your arms and hands under the thighs, rest your head on the floor and focus on lifting and extending the legs.

Advanced: Focus on keeping your knees together in Locust pose. Check your spine, is there any compression or feelings of being pinched? You may need to lower your legs, focus on keeping your pelvis flat along the floor. Remember, the extension is outward as much as it is upward.