Freestyle Lateral Warm Up Flow

Here is a short two-minute Vinyasa sequence that is designed to complement a Sun Salutation. The reason why lateral movement is important is to thoroughly warm up the joints within one's body. Sun Salutations provide a great warm up, but they lack lateral movement. When you consider injury prevention, warm ups should work the body thoroughly, slowly, and safely.

Freestyle Lateral Warm Up Flow

This gentle Freestyle Lateral Warm Up Flow will effectively open up and elongate the muscles along the side body. In many different forms of physical conditioning the front and back sides of the body are adequately warmed up, however the large muscles groups along the sides of the torso and the outer legs are often overlooked. This series of gentle Yoga-inspired movements will help to release tension and elongate the muscles along the sides of the body, including the outer arms, side torso and lateral leg muscles.

To begin the practice of the Freestyle Lateral Warm Up Flow, stand in Mountain Pose at the front of your Yoga mat with your hands in Namaskar, or Prayer Position, in front of your heart. With your next exhale, release your hands and gently extend your arms to shoulder height with your hands flexed and your fingers pointing towards the sky. With an inhalation, extend your left arm over your head and rotate your torso comfortably to the left as you gaze under your left arm. Keep your right arm in front of your chest and perpendicular to the floor.

To increase the stretch in this pose, rotate incrementally to the left as you extend your right arm more fully in front of your chest. Hold this lateral side bend for up to 3 breaths, and then release your arms and move slowly and gracefully into a modified lateral lunge by placing your left leg behind your right leg. Keep your left toes slightly flexed, as you balance on the ball of your left foot. Maintain the position of your legs as you gently expand and contract your arms in a diagonal line in front of your heart chakra.

When your bring your arms in towards your body, imagine that you have a pulsating, warm ball of energy between your hands, approximately 8-12 inches in size. Feel the vibration of this energy as you “hold” the ball between your hands. With you next inhale, extend your arms in a diagonal line. With your next exhale; bring your hands in front of your solar plexus as you cradle your imaginary ball. Repeat this arm movement with your breath for a total of 3 repetitions, and then release the position of your arms and legs and come back to Mountain Pose at the top of your Yoga mat.

Repeat this lateral side bend to the right hand side when you are ready. At the conclusion of the 3rd repetition of Lateral Side Bend to the right hand side, gracefully come back to Equal Standing Pose on your Yoga mat with your feet comfortably far apart, and then clasp your hands behind you as you inhale and extend your heart up to the sky. This action will help to release muscular tension in front of the heart chakra, the throat area and the upper arms and shoulders.

With an exhale, release your arms and come back to Mountain Pose at the top of your Yoga mat with your hands in Prayer Position. If you would like to, please feel free to bow your head for a moment and offer a prayer of gratitude for the gift of Yoga. If you have any questions or would like more information about practicing or teaching Yoga, please visit:

www.aurawellnesscenter.com