Sun Salutation Yoga Series with Paul

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  • Sun Salutation Yoga Series with Paul

Premium Course

Easy Intermediate & Advanced

Video/Text

Video/Text

Yoga

6 Classes

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Maybe you have the wrong pillow or an unsupportive mattress. Maybe you slept in a bad position. Whatever it is, you wake up feeling tight. Your joints feel stiff, and trudging to the bathroom makes you feel older than you are.

It may also be that you just had a long, good sleep and your body barely moved. While healthy and vital for us, this long bout of inactivity makes the joints cranky. This is true for any extended period of little or no activity in the few hundred joints. Examples are working at a desk, long commutes, and Netflix binging.

What are we to do?

Get moving.

A long, long time ago folks practiced a series of poses, stretches, and movements called Surya Namaskar, otherwise known as Sun Salutations. They would practice this sequence in the morning as a way to honor the rising sun and stay vital mentally and physically.

It’s a fantastic thing to do first thing in the morning, but a few rounds of the Sun Salutations at any time in the day will be undeniably beneficial.

The transition from pose to pose is facilitated by inhaling or exhaling, so ideally, like the breath, you'll flow through the series in a smooth, rhythmic way.

This course introduces students to the quintessential sequence of postures that open up all the body's major joints. Strengthen your arms and shoulders, prepare your chest for backbends, open the backs of the legs for forward bends, and open and release the hips to remedy the effects of our daily lives.

After taking these sessions, your body will feel open, free, and moveable. The sequence prepares the body for deeper opening, and strengthens all of the major muscles and joints to prepare for inversions and bends.

If you have little experience with Sun Salutations, stay with level one classes until you can modify the movements to fit your needs, and when you can flow through the series with ease.

Sun Salutation Yoga Series with Paul

Premium Course

In this session, participants will learn the basic Sun Salutation sequences. Emphasis is placed on breath and movement as well as repetition to learn the sequence for regular practice. Participants will be given options for different portions of the sequence to modify, and alternate postures when and where appropriate. Poses include mountain, standing forward bend, lunge, low plank, downward dog, cobra, upward facing dog, chair pose, warrior I, and savasana.

Text lesson

Premium Course

In this session, participants will practice a modified version of the Sun Salutation sequences to open up the hamstrings and spine for forward bending. Poses Include: Basic Sun Salutations, standing forward bends, seated forward bends and twists.

Text lesson

Premium Course

In this session, participants will practice a modified version of the Sun Salutation sequences to open up the hip flexors, quadriceps, and torso to prepare for backbending. Poses Include: Sun Salutations, deep lunging, shoulder openers, locust pose, bow pose, and seated twists.

Text lesson

Premium Course

In this session, participants will deepen their understanding of Sun Salutations and open their bodies to perform Sun Salutations with strong positioning, alignment, and integrity. The Sun Salutation sequence will be paused and postures and transitions will be explored with repetition, longer holdings, and refinement. Poses include mountain, standing forward bend, lunge, low plank, downward dog, cobra, upward facing dog, chair pose, warrior I, and savasana.

Text lesson

Premium Course

In this session, participants will practice a modified version of the Sun Salutation sequences to explore deep opening of the hips. Poses Include: Sun Salutations, warrior 1, warrior 2, half pigeon, seated hip openers.

Text lesson

Premium Course

In this session, participants will practice a modified version of the sun salutation sequences to explore balancing postures and balancing transitions

Text lesson

About the instructor

Paul Menard

Director, Karuna Center for Yoga and Healing Arts
Yoga Instructor & Shiatsu Practitioner E-RYT 500, YACEP, AOBTA-CP

Paul Menard began studying yoga in 2002 and has maintained a passionate practice ever since. His background in classical dance gives him profound appreciation for the intricacy of the form that yoga affords. His elegance and grace shines through his postures and the execution of his teaching. Paul’s pursuit of a more spiritual practice led him to Karuna, where he feels blessed to have found such an open and welcoming community. In addition to yoga, Paul has a fervor for education. He completed his master’s degree in Adult Education and Training in early 2011 to complement his career as a workplace learning and development professional. He has completed the 300-hour advanced yoga teacher certification program at Karuna and is seeking other professional credentials as an educator. Paul is excited to connect his love of education and passion for yoga at Karuna.

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