Ten types of yoga practices to maximize the effect for specific students

This is about moving the spine and most joints through the full range of motion, attending to most body parts without focusing on anything specific, deepening the breath and focusing the mind. The purpose here is to work toward overall balance.

The Sun Salutation sequence is often the base of the flow practice, but it doesn’t have to be. Flow practices tend to be more challenging, mostly because of the pace, and often put repetitive stress on the joints (shoulders, hips, wrists), if not sequenced mindfully.

This is about selecting a more difficult posture and then organizing the entire practice to prepare and compensate for it. The goal posture might work a specific body area, move the energy in a certain way, represent some idea, or challenge the body in a different way.

This addresses a specific part of the body. There can be emphasis on stretching or strengthening the area and sequencing is EXTREMELY important here if we want the practice to be effective and safe.

This is designed either to prepare the body for an activity or compensate for the activity afterwards. These practices involve analyzing the biomechanics of the activity and need to be short and specific.

This is designed to serve a specific group of students. We begin by analyzing the unique challenges of the students in a group and then design yoga practice(s) that meet their needs.

This type of practice is essential if we want to address issues with sleep, stress and energy. Here, breath adaptation and/or pranayama become central, which means that all other elements should be less complex and work to support the main element.

See Also

The role of the inner practices of yoga for working with clients and small therapeutic groups around trauma

This can be an energy-building practice (brhmana) or a practice that will eliminate/reduce excess energy (langhana). Working with breath is central to this type of practice, as is choosing specific yogic elements that have brhmana/langhana qualities.

Integrative practice might include chanting, meditation, visualization, ritual or prayer. Designed skillfully, they have the potential to affect the student in a more profound way, because they reach across multiple levels of the human system.

Since they are mostly created for vulnerable students with serious health challenges, teachers usually require advanced training to be able to design and teach safe and effective therapeutic practices.

Would you like to know how to design these types of practices?

Check out this selection of articles from the Sequence wiz blog!