Range · 01

A session of its own · 32 min · Forward and back · After training

Why it works: Chapter 23, Stiff people work harder for every stroke

The routine

1. 1
  Mountain
  Stand tall and find the breath before the clock starts.
Half sun salutations
1. 2
  Upward Salute
  1 min
  Half sun salutations, flowing at your own pace — inhale the arms overhead, exhale fold, inhale halfway lift, exhale fold, inhale rise. Keep going for the whole three minutes; the cards just name the shapes you pass through.
2. 3
  Standing Forward Fold
  1 min
  The fold half of the salutation. Bend the knees as much as you need — the point is the spine lengthening, not straight legs.
3. 4
  Halfway Lift
  1 min
  The flat-back lift between folds. Fingertips to the shins, gaze just past the toes.
1. 5
  Wide-Leg Forward Fold
  2 min
  Feet about a leg’s length apart, toes pointing STRAIGHT forward — that is what puts this in the inner thighs rather than the hamstrings alone. Fold, let the head hang, and stop holding yourself up. Hands to the floor, the shins, or opposite elbows. Remember how far down you get; you come back here at the end.
1. 6
  Low Lunge
  Right · 2 min
  Right foot forward, back knee down on something soft, hands inside the front foot. Sink the hips down and forward and then stop working — the weight of your body is what does this. Forearms to the floor if they reach, hands on books or a chair if they do not.
1. 7
  Low Lunge
  Left · 2 min
  Change sides. The first side is always the harder one and the second usually goes deeper.
1. 8
  Seated Fold
  2 min
  Legs long, knees bent as much as you need, and fold with the spine ROUNDING — the opposite instruction to the halfway lift you do every morning. Hands rest, they never pull. Sit up on a cushion if the pelvis tips back.
1. 9
  Sphinx
  2 min
  Face down, elbows under the shoulders, and let the low back sag rather than holding the chest up. The only extension in the phase, and it comes after all the folding on purpose.
1. 10
  Locust
  1 min
  Stay face down and now LIFT — chest, arms and legs off the floor. The front line you just let sag is the thing holding you up. The one shape in the method you can only do by working; there is no sagging into this. Lift lower and keep lifting rather than dropping halfway.
1. 11
  Hollow Hold
  1 min
  Roll onto your back. Press the low back flat, tuck the chin, lift the head and shoulders clear, knees up over the hips, arms framing your head. The only shape in the practice that asks the neck to work. Come down the moment the low back lifts off the floor.
1. 12
  Bridge
  1 min
  Feet under the knees, press the low back down, then drive through the heels and lift. The front of the hip is long here and the glute is working against it — the other end of the low lunge.
1. 13
  Wide Split
  1 min
  Sit up, legs straight and as wide as they go with the kneecaps pointing at the ceiling. Cushion under you if the pelvis tips back. Now press both heels into the floor and DRAG THEM TOWARD EACH OTHER, hard, without letting either one move. The floor is the resistance. Keep pulling until the timer stops.
1. 14
  Warrior III
  Right · 1 min
  Stand up. On the right leg, hinge forward as the left leg lifts to horizontal. Fingertips on a wall or a chair back. That is what makes a long hold possible, and the whole back line is still doing the work.
1. 15
  Warrior III
  Left · 1 min
  Change sides. Wall again if you need it.
1. 16
  Wide-Leg Forward Fold
  90 s
  Back to where you started. Same stance, same toes-forward feet. You should be lower than you were — go there and stop, rather than chasing it.
1. 17
  Low Lunge
  Right · 90 s
  Right foot forward again. Shorter this time, and deeper. Let the hips down and stop working.
1. 18
  Low Lunge
  Left · 90 s
  Change sides.
1. 19
  Seated Fold
  90 s
  Legs long, spine rounding, hands resting. The hamstrings have been working since you were last here, and that is why this goes further rather than less far.
1. 20
  Sphinx
  90 s
  Face down, elbows under the shoulders, low back sagging. Last shape of the middle; the cooldown starts from here.
1. 21
  Child's Pose
  1 min
  Hips back to the heels, forehead down. Let the low back and hips go.
1. 22
  Hero
  1 min
  Sit between the heels, toes pointed — the quads and the front of the ankles. Block or cushion under the seat if the knees complain.
1. 23
  Butterfly
  1 min
  Soles together, knees wide. Sit on a cushion if the low back rounds, and fold forward as far as is comfortable.
1. 24
  Knees to Chest
  1 min
  Roll down onto your back and draw both knees in. Let the low back round into the floor.
1. 25
  Corpse
  1 min
  Legs long, arms open, feet falling out. Stop steering the breath and stay until the timer ends.