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Description

Yoga- a simple introduction to yoga that can be led by a leader familiar with the practise but not requiring a teacher, for people who've never done Yoga before.

Resources

Normally we'd use yoga mats but that's not going to be practical in a typical self run session, so floor it is. Tell them beforehand to wear clothing they can move about easily in.

Something to play some yoga playlist on would be useful- plenty out there on Spotify or Youtube. Prepare beforehand so you can play it offline and keep your phone in airplane mode during the session (assuming you're playing off a phone!)

Lighting also makes a difference- dimmer and more orange lighting is more relaxing than bright stark "daylight" lamps. This'll need improvisation depending on situation. They're rare now, but if using lights that get hot don't put cloth over them to get nicer light. Unless your next activity involves fire.

Note that the instructions are brief and assume you already know how to do the poses (and how not to do them.) It's not intended to explain everything, just to make it feasible for someone who does yoga to run a basic session if you can't get a yoga teacher to volunteer a session.

Instructions

The risks.

Yoga can cause injury, to self and to others.

When moving quickly it's possible to cause injury by hyperextension of a joint. Therefore everything should be done slowly and under control. No dynamic movements should be performed that require momentum to execute.

When balancing, a fall can cause injury due to hitting the ground, and can also injure others because the faller may push someone else over. So we do no poses that require balance, and make sure people are far enough apart that if someone does lose their balance they're not going to bump into anyone.

Using poses where load is placed on the head can cause cervical spine injury, so no plough pose or anything else that puts load up there.

Yoga is typically done barefoot. Check that there’s nothing on the floor that people could stand on, eg broken glass. For hygiene reasons it’s best to keep socks on but this is a minor risk so if someone’s finding it too slippery they can go barefoot.

"Do as I do." Don't do anything yourself that is more advanced than what you want the group to do, so keep the transitions stepped otherwise there *will* be someone who tries to copy your interesting transition and faceplants.

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The session;
Initially explain what Yoga is, and its origins- Indian culture going back as far as 2500 years, incorporated into Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Explain the breathing and the effect of the breathing on your mind, and the idea of mindfulness.

Explain that although Yoga is very good for you, and very safe when done properly, it's possible to hurt yourself badly if you do it wrong. So it's important to go very slowly and control the movement- not to throw yourself into something or try and use momentum to get you deeper into a position.

Start with wrist warmup
Then cat cows

Then some vinyasas, explaining the poses as we go- first run to explain, second run to try and do smoothly with breathing

Down dog
Plank
Up dog
Down dog

Sun salutations- stepping between poses not doing anything more elaborate.

Down dog
Right leg forward, up into warrior 1
Rotate into warrior 2
Reverse
Windmill into revolved lunge
Hands to floor, plank
Up dog
Down dog
Repeat for other leg, as many sets as you want

Down dog
Right leg forward, up into warrior 1
Rotate into warrior 2
Reverse
Windmill into revolved lunge
Bring back foot forward, chair
Forward fold
Hands to floor, plank
Up dog
Down dog
Repeat for other leg, as many sets as you want

Butterfly
Pike
Wide leg forward fold
Shavasana

Come back to a seated position, explain the meaning of Namaste. Then finish by saying it.

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