Round out Your Practice: Balance

Need help in creating a complete home practice? Cyndi Lee's solo sequence is appropriate for yogis of all levels and experience.

By Cyndi Lee

OM: Chant three times.

BALANCING BREATH: Inhale for six counts and exhale for six counts.

WARM-UP VINYASA: Exhale into Cat Pose, inhale into Cow Pose. Exhale Downward-Facing Dog, inhale Plank Pose, exhale Down Dog, inhale knees down, exhale Child's Pose. Repeat four times.

SUN SALUTATION: Mountain Pose, Upward Salute, Standing Forward Bend, Four-Limbed Staff Pose, Upward-Facing Dog, Downward Dog, Standing Forward Bend, Upward Salute. When you return to Downward Dog after the first round, add Warrior Poses I and II, come back to Four-Limbed Staff, and continue the rest of the sequence, ending in Mountain Pose. Repeat the entire series three to five times.

FEATURED SEQUENCE: Move through a balancing sequence of Eagle Pose, Warrior Pose I, Warrior Pose II, Standing Splits, Boat Pose, Scales Pose, Four-Limbed Staff Pose, Upward-Facing Dog Pose, Downward Facing Dog Pose, Side Plank Pose, Half Lord of the Fishes Pose, and Mountain Pose. Perform the sequence twice--once leading with the right leg, then leading with the left.

INVERSION: Practice Handstand by kicking up one leg at a time from Down Dog. Alternating legs, kick each leg up five times and then rest in Child's Pose. For safety's sake, practice with your hands three to six inches away from a wall.

BACKBENDS: Do Locust Pose and Bow Pose three times each. Come into Upward Dog, then Downward Dog, and then jump forward, landing between your hands in a cross-legged position. Stretch your legs forward and roll down onto your back. Push up into Bridge Pose for five breaths.

BACKBEND NEUTRALIZERS: Come into either Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose, keeping the legs at 90 degrees, or Revolved Abdomen Pose with bent knees.

FORWARD BENDS: Practice Bound Angle Pose, Head-to-Knee Pose, and Seated Forward Bend. In between, lift into Scales Pose and step back into Four-Limbed Staff Pose. From there, move through Up Dog to Down Dog, jump into a cross-legged position between your hands, and rearrange your legs for a supported Shoulderstand.

CLOSING POSES: Do a supported Shoulderstand, followed by Plow Pose and a 10-minute Corpse Pose.

MEDITATION

OM: Chant three times.

Cyndi Lee is the founder of OM yoga center in New York City. She is a longtime practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and has been teaching yoga for over 20 years. Cyndi is the author of OM Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice(Chronicle Books) and the upcoming Yoga Body, Buddha Mind (Riverhead Books). For more information, visit www.omyoga.com.

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