Reading Asana – Sequences

A slightly more elaborate illustation of a sequence for Parsva Uttanasana – Flank Forward Bend:

This illustration says:

• on inhale raise your arms
• on exhale bend forward
• on inhale come back up
• on the exhale lower the arms back down alongside the body.
• repeat this 4 times on one side and then 4 times on the other side (this is an assymetric posture done once with the right foot forward and then with the left foot forward.

A variation of this sequence might look something like:

This illustration says:

• on inhale raise your arms
• on exhale bend forward
• on inhale come back up
• repeat this (just the bending forward and coming up) 4 times
• then, on the 5th exhale lower the arms back down alongside the body.
• repeat this entire sequence once on each side.

This 2nd variation can be more physically intense – because the forward bend is repeated consecutively without returning to a arm-restfing starting position every time. Sometimes, when writing a sequence with no specific person in mind, like I would do for publishing on this website, I will opt to use the first variation – which is more generic. In these cases it is up to the reader/practitioner to choose how to perform the practice.