We begin with Down Dog because it’s a beautiful place to get still. In the pose, we open the back, hips, shoulders, and torso, get the blood flowing to the head, and breathe deeply. It’s wise to take at least 5 slow breaths with awareness in Down Dog to bring your students' whole mind/body/spirit into the present.
Next, we glide forward into the strengthening posture Plank. Here in addition to firing up the arm and core, we begin to place pressure on the wrists.
Cat/Cow then cultivates a soothing and enlivening rhythm as we coordinate breath and spine undulations.
If at this point you notice that your students are unaware of how to best support their wrists when the hands are grounded, you can take a moment and teach the hand energetics to best support the wrists.
After opening the spine, we cultivate stability and strength with cross-body core work. Here we have multiple options offered for yogis at different levels. Students can follow steps 1-5 below or hold any position that feels most appropriate.
After each side, it may be nice to roll out the wrist in preparation for the Vinyasas to come.
Very often as soon as the elbows bend in Plank the core collapses. This may be a nice moment to remind your students to memorize the feeling of their core lifting and ask them to do their best to apply that engagement as they lower into Chaturanga.
Having already applied gentle pressure on the wrists, opened up the spine, and engaged the core, the body is amply primed for its first Vinyasa. Still, Plank, Chaturanga, Up Dog, Down Dog is a tricky flow for beginners and some advanced practitioners too. Scan the room and decide if it’s appropriate to take an extra moment to further explain and practice that flow. Remember some are auditory learners, most are visual but nothing is more effective than experiential learning.