Sequencing Over A Period Of Time

This is where the art of sequencing can get really juicy. If, like me, you do not take class very often (I take only about 8 weeks of classes in a year) you will find you need some greater sense of direction in your practice, or else you can start to feel lost. The mistake is to think you should be doing a massive practice every day. The body simply is not designed to do that. Even professional athletes are not at their competitive peak all year round. Pushing yourself constantly can quickly lead to exhaustion, burnout and even injury.

To allow for your fluctuating energies, it is important to always include a balance of different energetic levels of practice: active practice, quiet practice and restorative practice.

Active Practice

By an active practice, I mean the kind of sequenced work we have been discussing up to this point in this series. Even though, as yogins, we think of this kind of practice in terms of spiritual discipline, at the mundane level it keeps us fit and healthy as much as going to the gym might. We need to keep our muscles strong and limber, our cardiovascular system toned and our organs functioning properly. This means working in a well-rounded fashion, doing a little bit of everything over a period of time and being respectful of the body when it is tired and sore as much as when it becomes weak and flaccid.

Quiet Practice

By quiet practice, I mean the subtler dimensions of yoga that require a still body and a sharp mind: meditation and pranayama. The quiet practice is where the really deep work of refining awareness and extricating observer from observed can take place. In many ways the active practice is merely a preparation for the quiet practice. The challenge of the quiet practice is that it requires so much stillness and such intense focus. The beauty of the quiet practice is that it requires much preparation and exertion of the physical body. If the body is tired but the mind is still sharp, one can always do a quiet practice.

Restorative Practice

On those days when our bodies and minds are exhausted, infirm or in some other way unable to perform any other practice, restorative work enables us to replenish ourselves. I know some people who become frustrated with restorative work and who fell it is a kind of cop-out. In fact, it is one of the yogin's most powerful tools. It allows the body and mind to interact on the subtle energetic level, supporting the organs and reconfiguring the nervous system.

Practice By The Week

When thinking about our practice over the period of a week, obviously we have to consider our work schedule. Ideally, we should be practicing at some level every day. Even on busy days, it should not be hard to find even ten to fifteen minutes to sit and meditate or do Shavasana (Corpse Pose). An average practice schedule might look like this:

Day 1: class or 90 minute practice
Day 2: Restorative or quiet practice
Day 3: 30 minute practice
Day 4: 30 minute practice
Day 5: 60 minute practice
Day 6: Restorative or quiet practice
Day 7: 30 minute practice

Once you have this established, you can assess how it fits your schedule and build up the practice times accordingly, working your way up to an hour or more every day.

Practice By The Month

Because there are so many types of poses to do, trying to cram them all into a week is unfeasible. The monthly progression at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, the home base of B. K. S. Iyengar in Pune, goes like this:

Week 1: Standing Poses
Week 2: Forward Bends
Week 3: Back Bends
Week 4: Restorative Poses and Pranayama

Taken literally, this might not work so well if you are practicing every day at home. The idea of an entire week of backbends turns me a little green about the gills. The progression does work well as a general guideline, however. If the main thrust of the week's work is according to the Pune progression, you can then balance the week out with a smattering of the other categories. Keep a list in the back of your mind, or in your practice journal (pardon the plug) of what you've done and strive to do a little of everything over the course of a month.

Practice Over A Longer Period Of Time

In order to stave off exhaustion and burnout, it is so important to vary your practice over a period of months. Based on the kind of pacing done by athletes and professional dancers, consider structuring your time in this way:

Preparatory Phase

Lasting 2-4 weeks, you can think of this as a refresher course in the basics. Keep each practice short and simple, not longer than 60 minutes, including mostly Standing Poses, the key Inversions and Shavasana (Corpse Pose).

Consolidation Phase

Lasting 4 weeks, this is the chance to get up to speed with your general level of practice. Carefully work your way through all the usual poses you might do in class that are firmly within your comfort zone, possibly even cycling through twice. Your practices might be a little longer here, perhaps 75 minutes.

Progression Phase

Lasting 4-8 weeks, think of this as your optimum "season" to really go deep into your practice. Take more time, 90 to 120 minutes, including a generous amount of restorative poses to end each session. Here you can begin to work (safely) on the poses that you find more challenging. Be aware of your general energy levels, however. Take necessary breaks with rest and restorative days whenever you become over-taxed. If after many of these you do not feel your energy levels returning move straight to the next phase.

Recovery Phase

2-4 weeks or more. Here you can scale back radically, giving your body/mind a chance to process the information from the previous phases in the cycle. Practice only 3 times a week at the most, though you can do as much restorative as you like. Change your routine and engage in other physical activities. It would be an excellent idea to arrange your practice so that your recovery phase happens over the summer months, allowing for vacations and summer workshops.

You can then cycle through each of these phases endlessly, according to your available time and energy.


Related Posts:
Modes of Sequencing
Sequencing For Balance Within A Practice
Sequencing By Category Of Poses
Sequencing By Progression Deeper Into The Body
Sequencing By Progression According To Pose And Counter-Pose
Sequencing By Energetic Quality
Sequencing By Physiological Quality
Sequencing By Action
Sequencing By Body Part