In this blog, I would like to explain the Sunshine Sequence in more detail and how it fits into the Vinyasa Krama yoga system as a whole.
You’ll learn more about the philosophy behind the Sunshine Sequence, its main focal points, and how to practice it as part of the Vinyasa Krama system.
Vinyasa-Based Yoga Sequence
It's first helpful to know that the Sunshine Sequence is similar to what you practice in Ashtanga and Vinyasa yoga. By that, I mean many of the postures and how we actively engage in and work through those poses are similar.
The Sunshine Sequence is a set yoga sequence. So what that means is as you're practicing and learning the sequence over time, you'll get to know the order of the postures and that then lends itself very well that as you practice it more often, it becomes something you can do in self-practice.
So whether that's at home or a self-practice setting in a studio, you can go at your own pace, see what your body needs on that day and adapt the practice to how you're feeling and what you need.
The Vinyasa Krama System
Vinyasa Krama works with many different set sequences, and the Sunshine Sequence is usually one of the first sequences you'll learn. But the idea with Vinyasa Krama is that it's not just about focusing on one sequence but also about seeing how you can balance out, perhaps throughout the week, using one more dynamic sequence and something a little more gentle, easy, and quiet like the Moon Sequence.
So what you'll discover when practicing Vinyasa Krama is that the energy of the sun from sunshine and this kind of dynamic flowing sequence pairs very nicely with just once or twice a week doing a slower, gentle practice that's leaning a little bit more towards focusing on slowing down and maybe moving towards meditation.
The Main Focal Points of the Sunshine Sequence
The overall approach to practicing the Sunshine Sequence is focused on moving at your own pace with your breath and finding variations and postures within that framework of the sequence that fits where you are right now with your body, rather than feeling that you have to do a particular posture a certain way, just because it's part of the sequence.
Warming up
Regarding how the sequence is built up, we'll typically start with some core warm-ups to find some stability in the core that you can use throughout the whole practice.
We'll then move into dynamic Sun Salutations, where we're both warming up the body and also working on opening and stabilising; connecting with our breath is a big aspect of that.
Standing Yoga Poses
As the sequence progresses, you'll move into different standing postures. Much focus is on the hips and hamstrings, working and coordinating with the whole body. as well as quite some stability elements of finding stability and standing balances.
Opening the front of the hip and strengthening around the hip flexes and the hamstrings. So, there are lots of different postures and opportunities there.
Seated Yoga Poses
As we move into the seated part of the practice, we're focusing a bit more on opening through the hamstrings, opening all of the corners of the hips, and working on creating and maintaining heat by building strength through the arms and the core.
Shoulders, Hips and Backbends
As we move further down into the sequence, we'll move to focus both on shoulder stability and shoulder opening.
If needed, you could work on opening and lengthening through the front of the hips and using this, with some more focus on the core, to support you working on a series of backbends and opening through the front of the body, strengthening through your lower back and firming.
Preparing for Relaxation
As you progress further, we start winding the practice down with some inversions, like the Headstand, and then taking some quiet moments to work on Pranayama, a breathing technique and relaxation.
How to Tailor Your Practice
As you probably guessed, this could be a very long practice. If you were to practice the full Sunshine Sequence, it would likely take around two hours.
But it isn't the idea that you do this 2-hour practice every single day, or indeed, for some people, perhaps a 2-hour practice is not the right thing for you, and perhaps you also don't have time for that.
So, within this sequence, many opportunities exist to focus on different areas. That's where I think the self-practice element starts to emerge.
By practicing at your own pace, you can choose to focus on specific sets of postures and areas of the body that you would like to work on or that you feel are necessary to feel good in your body.
You can also shorten the practice and focus more on hips and forward bending one day and then on things like back bending another day.
Origin of the Sunshine Sequence
I'd be remiss not to mention that my teacher, Matthew Sweeney, developed the Sunshine Sequence. He has been practicing yoga since the 1990s and started his more serious journey by practicing with Pattabhi Jois in the Ashtanga yoga system.
Over the last 30 years, Matthew has been working on developing these sequences, seeing what people need and adapting them over time.
I've found these extremely valuable both for my practice and development and when sharing with students and helping them with their journey, whether that's wanting to focus particularly on specific postures, dealing with complaints in the body like back pain, or strengthening around the shoulders. We can start working through this sequence's guidelines to tailor it to the individual.
If you’re interested in learning the Sunshine Sequence, I teach in-person classes at Tula Yoga Studios in Amsterdam and offer private, online classes for individuals. Over the coming months, I will also share short snippets and practices from the Sunshine Sequence on my YouTube channel for you to try at home.
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