The Anusara yoga syllabus consists of over 265 poses, including standing poses, backbends, forward bends, twists, hand balancing poses, inversions and restorative poses. The poses are organized into levels one through three, representing not just the difficulty of the poses, but also the progression. Many poses, such as warrior pose, are shown in variation throughout the three levels of Anusara yoga.
About Anusara Yoga
Anusara yoga was founded by John Friend, a student of B.K.S. Iyengar, in 1997. It is a system of hatha yoga based on the Tantric tradition of intrinsic goodness. Often referred to as "heart-centered yoga," Anusara poses are expressed from the inside-out, with special attention to how the pose feels versus how the pose looks. Personalized alignment is encouraged. Like other forms of hatha yoga, class begins with centering, movement is coordinated with breath, and class ends with a final relaxation in corpse pose.
Level One Poses
Level One Anusara yoga poses are the most fundamental and foundational. These poses are traditionally taught in the first year of your practice. Standing poses include mountain, chair and tree poses. Upward dog and cobra are among the backbends. Twists and forward bends include the seated twist called marichyasana I, as well as head to knee pose. Hand-balances and inversions, which are beneficial for circulation and upper body strength development, include crane, plow and shoulder stand. Level One restorative poses include many supine poses, such as bound angle pose and legs up the wall pose.
Level Two Poses
The poses in Anusara Level Two build on the alignment and expertise developed in Level One. Many poses are variations of those in Level One. For example, bound angle pose, first introduced in Level One, is performed with the addition of a forward fold. Binding poses are also introduced, which means your arms bind around your leg or waist to deepen a twist or standing pose, such as standing side angle. This level places greater emphasis on advanced backbends, such as the wheel, and on challenging arm balances.
Level Three Poses
Level Three poses require extensive years of expertise and dedication to your yoga practice. Like Level Two Anusara poses, the poses in Level Three are not necessarily new, but represent a progression to a more challenging expression of the original pose. Standing forward fold is performed with arms wrapped around the legs, making for a deep forward fold. The traditional handstand becomes more challenging when performed with one hand.
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