Week three closes with the seated yoga sequence. Six poses, 30 seconds each, then the whole set again on the other side, and every one of them starts sitting down. After a week of standing balances and floor flows, this sequence stays low and slow, working the shoulders, spine and hips from a cross-legged seat.
Pose 1 sits cross-legged and reaches both arms straight overhead, palms facing, the spine tall - a lengthening of the whole trunk from the sitting bones up. Pose 2 keeps the seat and folds one arm behind the head, elbow pointing up, the other hand guiding the elbow gently - a triceps and shoulder stretch. Pose 3 turns: one hand on the opposite knee, the other behind you, the torso rotating to look over the shoulder, a seated spinal twist. Pose 4 brings the soles of the feet together in butterfly, knees falling outward, hands holding the feet, the inner thighs and hips opening. Pose 5 returns to cross-legged and folds forward, hands walking out along the floor, the back releasing over the legs. Pose 6 comes into pigeon: one leg folded in front, the other stretched straight back, hips squared and sinking, the front hip's outside stretching deeply. Reach, stretch, twist, open, fold, sink - the sequence works down the body and finishes in the deepest hip position on the card.
Sit on a folded towel if the hips want the help - a taller seat makes the twist and the fold easier. In the triceps stretch, keep the ribs down and the neck long. In the twist, lengthen up before turning and turn from the ribs. In butterfly, let gravity open the knees rather than pressing them. In pigeon, keep the hips level and go as deep as the front hip allows today; a bent front knee and a folded towel under the hip are both fair.
Twenty-one days in and the program spends thirty seconds at a time sitting still, on purpose - which is exactly what three weeks of moving needed.
Make it Harder: Seated stretching does not do harder - the deeper version is a longer breath, so take fewer, slower breaths through each pose and let the shape follow them.
Make it Easier: Sit on a cushion or folded towel throughout and keep the forward fold and pigeon shallow.
