International Yoga Day is celebrated each year on the solstice, June 21.

This week, we practiced the sequence provided by the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India, in all three morning classes at Mindful Yoga Collective. (By the way, the Institute was recognized in India on June 20, 2017, with the Prime Minister’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Promotion and Development of Yoga.)

• Monday, we worked on finding the midline of our limbs, and on focusing our efforts.
• Wednesday, we worked in silence as much as possible.
• Friday, we worked on what I call “the Goldilocks Factor”, which means paying attention to the quality of our effort, and finding the effective amount of effort in our practice. ‘Effort’ refers to the body, mind, and breath. Students were also instructed to pay attention to “when they were ready” to change, to move into or out of a pose.  We finished with pranayama (Viloma 1 and 2, and Ujjayi), and there was a sweetness and fullness to everyone’s voices in the final chanting at the end of class.

Below is the sequence; poses were modified according to students’ needs.

Below the sequence, you’ll find a fun video from Yogi Zain, an Iyengar teacher in California, demonstrating the entire sequence (in time-lapse)!

· Tadasana
· Urdhva Hastasana
· Urdhva Baddhaguliyasana
· Uttanasana
· Utthita Trikonasana
· Ardha Chandrasana
· Virabhadrasana I to Virabhadrasana III
· Parsvottanasana
· Parivrita Trikonasana
· Prasaritta Padotanasana
· Sirsasana
· Parsva Sirsasana
· Upavistha Konasana in Sirsasana or Eka Pada Sirsasana
· Adho Mukha Svanasana
· Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
· Chaturanga Dandasana
· Dandasana
· Navasana
· Ardha Navasana
· Urdhva Prasaritta Padasana
· Supta Padangusthasana
· Parsva Supta Padanguhthasana
· Parivritta Supta Padangusthasana
· Upavistha Konasana
· Parsva Upavistha Konasana
· Sarvangasana
· Eka Pada Sarvangasana
· Halasana
· Supta Konasana
· Parsva Halasana
· Paschimottanasana
· Savasana
· Viloma 1 and 2 Pranayama
· Ujjayi Pranayama
· Savasana