Amanda Sides - 108 Themes for Your Yoga Practice
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108 Themes for
Your Yoga Practice
Amanda Sides
Copyright 2016 by Amanda Sides
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Amanda Sides
www.yourbodybest.com
Cover photo and author photo by Erik Stenbakken
Other photos by Andy VanDewater
The information and opinions in this book are meant to supplement and enhance your yoga practice. Not all poses mentioned are suitable for all people. Talk to your doctor before starting any exercise or yoga program.
The poses and breathing techniques that are not illustrated with a photo are explained at www.yourbodybest.com/108-themes
Table of Contents
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Giving your yoga practice a theme or intention in the form of a word, phrase, or idea flavors your time on the mat, giving the practice focus and direction. It anchors your mind to your body, helping you to experience a greater connection throughout your practice. With a theme, you have a thread to tie your practice together from start to finish.
You can choose any theme that's meaningful to you to guide you to a deeper practice. Sometimes similar words or ideas can inspire vastly different yoga practices, and that's why I enjoy exploring my time on the mat from various viewpoints.
It's easy to get stuck in a few themes: love, peace, relaxation. These are wonderful (and they are each explored here), but you'll have richer experiences if you continue to seek other ways of looking at your practice.
I've selected 108 themes for you to play with. Each one includes a few thoughts about what it means to me to practice the theme both on and off the mat, a pose or breathing technique you can include in your session to support the theme, and an affirmation you can use as a mantra during the practice or meditation.
I chose the poses because I felt the name or movement tied in with the theme, or because it activates a chakra that is associated with the theme. These selections help embody the theme for me, but there are many poses that do so; you might find others that resonate more closely with you.
Keep in mind that poses are often known by several different names, depending upon the tradition and the teacher. For most poses, I have given the Sanskrit name (which you might find spelled in various ways elsewhere) and an English name. I used the most common names or those that I learned in my teacher training.
Poses also have a variety of variations. Sometimes, if I feel a certain variation really embraces the theme as I interpret it, I specify it. Feel free to explore these variations on your own, or other poses the theme inspires in you, keeping in mind the capabilities of your own body and the way you feel during the practice. The poses range from very gentle to very challenging, and it's up to you to determine whether or not they're right for you today.
Enjoy your practice.
In yoga, we aim to connect our breath with our movement, a physical way to make the connection between our minds, bodies, and spirits. We can also feel a connection to the earth through our feet and hands. On a larger scale, we aim to experience a connection with each other, with all of life.
Take special notice of the way your hands and feet connect to your mat, and how your breath can serve to link all aspects of your being.
Utthan Pristhasana (lizard)
"I am an important part of a greater whole."
We talk a lot about balance in our lives: balance between work and fun, balance in our relationships, balance in our checking accounts. Our bodies also need a perfect balance to stay healthy and strong: the right balance of nutrients and hormones, exercise and rest.
Yoga offers a lot of opportunities for balance, not only in one-legged poses or while standing on our hands, but in every pose as we find the right balance of up and down, forward and back, expansion and contraction. Even tadasana (mountain pose, also called palm tree pose) gives us the opportunity to balance equally on our right and left feet as well as on the front and back of the foot. As we balance each pose, we're bringing our minds, spirits, and emotions into balance, as well.
Vrksasana (tree pose)
"My mind and body understand balance and are always seeking balance."
Even on the worst days, we can find bits of joy hidden everywhere: a happy memory of a lost loved one, a bright flower poking up through a crack in the sidewalk.
Movement is fun, too! Explore the joy of movement on your mat: how good it feels to stretch and strengthen and breathe. Movement is life.
Breath of Joy
"Joy is my natural state. I am a joyful being having a joyful experience."
The force of habit is strong, and it's easy to pass certain parts of our day on autopilot. As we go through the motions of making coffee, brushing our teeth, and even driving to work, we lose the awareness of what's going on around us. Is it windy outside? Are the birds singing? Are those people in the car beside us arguing or cracking jokes?
We also fall out of touch with what our bodies are doing in any given moment. Are we breathing deeply? Are we sitting tall? Do we feel truly well?
Start your awareness practice by noticing your breath. Consciously deepen and lengthen it, and maintain your awareness of it as you move through the poses. When do you have a tendency to hold the breath? Is there a time when it gets short and shallow?
Dandasana (staff)
"I am tuned in to this moment. I live in the here and now."
There are only two basic emotions: love and fear. Every other emotion is simply a variation of one of those.
We might agree that love is the more powerful of the two. When we practice loving unconditionally, the entire world opens up. We allow people to live as they wish to live, loving them no matter what they do. When they do something that doesn't line up with what we need in our lives, we can choose to move on from them in that same spirit of love.
We can start by loving our bodies unconditionally. No matter what they look like, no matter what they can do, we can love them exactly as they are today. They carry us where we need to go. Every second they perform thousands of functions without asking for help. They simply know what we need, and they give it to us. They keep us well for as long as they possible can, despite the way we thwart their efforts with poor food choices, alcohol, stress, and other unhealthy habits. They love us unconditionally, and we can do the same for them.
Sukhasana, Namaskar Mudra (easy pose, palms together over the heart)
"There is no limit to my capacity to give and receive love."
Even when everything is going wrong, there is still a lot to be grateful for. Maybe it sounds silly until you start listing those things. Your health, your family, your friends, another day to give it your best shot. Warm meals. Fresh water. Running shoes and winter boots. The internet. So, so much. You'll find that actively feeling appreciation for these things boosts your mood and helps you through those challenging times.
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