How To Modify Anusara Poses Video

Never harm self or others. Modifying Anusara yoga poses can increase or decrease challenge. Learn how to modify Anusara poses in this fitness video.

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Never harm self
Modify Warrior one
Lower to knee
Place hands on thigh
Raise hands
Lift knee

About this Author

Cindy Mastry has practiced yoga since the age of eight, and also has a background in Jazz and Ballet. Active in the fitness industry for nearly twenty years, she teaches aerobics, kickboxing, and yoga at many fitness centers in the Tampa Bay area. Cindy trained with 84 year-old Master Yogi Monk, Baba Hari Dass at the Mt. Madonna Center in California and owns/operates "Yoga Etc Studio" in St. Petersburg, Florida. Cindy teaches yoga to people of all ages and experience levels and at very competitive rates.

CINDY MASTRY: Namaste. My name is Cindy Mastry, and in this clip [PH] Faith is going to help me demonstrate how to modify poses. One of the principles of Yoga is Ahimsa, which means non-violence, non-harming to yourself as well as others. So you never want to do anything that harms your body, so you always need to find the pose that works for you and modify to whatever works for. We're going to demonstrate the way you can modify a Warrior One pose, so I'm going to ask Faith to come into Warrior One, good. She's squaring her hips, shooting her knee towards the front, good, inhale, reaching her arms up to the sky. Now, perhaps you're new to Yoga and not ready for Warrior One, a perfect modification to that would be to lower down to your knee. You could take your hands to the top of your thigh and press back so that you could get the long spine. So she can shoot her knee forward, and lengthen her through her spine. Perhaps you are more advanced, and you might want to modify this even a bit more. So I'm going to ask Faith to raise her arms up to the sky, inhale in, and now I'm going to ask Faith to lift her knee by pressing into the top of her foot rather than pressing into the ball of her foot, and that requires a whole lot of strength to hold yourself in this position. Thank you, Faith. So to modify poses, it's important to honor your body and do what you can do today. It may be that you can do advanced poses but your body doesn't want to do that today. So listen to your body, center, always remember to practice Ahimsa, and use your breath.

How to Modify Anusara Poses Video

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