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Hatha Yoga
Healthy Heart
Carla's note
A practice of continuous movement and full breathing, in which the heart rate rises and falls through the sequence. It opens kneeling, sitting on the heels with the hands at the chest, and mobilises the shoulders and spine. The rounds of Surya Namaskar, at a moderate pace, include lunge, Utkatasana and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, alternating phases of greater demand on the legs with phases of recovery. It closes with a twist and a return to the breath, with the eyes closed.Carla Gonçalves
The practice, step by step
- 1Connecting with the breath, shoulder and spine mobility
- 2Sun Salutations at a moderate pace, with lunge, chair and upward dog
- 3Final twist and return to the breath, eyes closed
If it is your first time
The breath sets the pace: if it becomes short, the best thing is to stop in child's pose for one or two breaths and then come back. Knees on the floor in plank and chaturanga.
If you already practise
On the way down, lengthen the breath out to twice the breath in, and use chair pose to draw the abdomen in for five breaths.
What you need
- mat
About Hatha Yoga
Hatha holds the poses for longer, with attention to alignment and breath. It is the foundation of everything else: less rhythm, more listening.
