Playing With Prasara Yoga – Part 2

Earlier this year, I posted a quick Prasara Yoga flow that grew out of my regular practice (see part 1 here). Well, I’m at it again, and in the midst of a 31-day long cycle of daily Prasara Yoga in my training program.

I’m actually logging my yoga practice in a journal at the RMAX forums here: 31 Days of Prasara Yoga. Take a peek if you’re interested in some of my daily training tid-bits. I needed a little extra accountability to make sure I was sticking with my routine. Hey! Even coaches need accountability sometimes.

You’ll be hearing more about accountability and a yoga opportunity in the not-so-distant future. But for today, here is a quick flow that I found myself practicing last week. Enjoy!

The Scorpion Skipper Monkey Flow

The main components of this flow are as follows:

Quad squat position, transitions through elevated scorpion, followed by a leg swoop, transitioning through shooter squat into cossack squat, passing through tripod extension, through wheel pose, passing through opposite tripod extension, and rotating around into quad squat again. Repeat on opposite side to complete the flow.

Yes, I know that’s a mouthful, and if you’re not familiar with Scott Sonnon’s Tactical Gymnastics program, then that probably sounds like Pig Latin to you. That’s ok.

The point of tutorials like this is for you to experience a new type of movement – something that makes you feel like a motor moron. Sure, there are conditioning benefits to be received from practicing this flow, and programmed correctly, it could be used for a few different training goals. But the point is that you’re challenging yourself to adapt, to try new things, and to move your body efficiently in new and more challenging ways. These movements are just an outlet for personal growth. They’re not a standard to meet unless you make it so. You get to decide how to use this to help you reach your goals. Yoga is just a tool.

One of my purposes in training is to develop movement freedom (aka the ability to flow in movement). That’s one of the reasons why I devote some of my time to practicing Prasara yoga ala free-expression. It’s less structured, and more play-based. It’s exploratory and necessarily challenging because I seek new movement patterns. But most importantly, I seek the ability to move with freedom. It’s usually during these times that I discover new movement chains while trying to address my needs. That’s just an example of using yoga to complement your purposes.

So, try it out, if you’re feeling brave and can manage each asana. I’d love to hear how it goes for you, and let me know if you find some cool ways to augment it (hint: think tripod extension).