How to Use This Book

USING THE SEQUENCES
To ensure that you remain balanced through the joys and challenges of each stage of life, Patricia has put together what we call The Woman's Essential Sequence. These twenty-six poses will take your body through its complete range of motion. They can help balance your endocrine and nervous systems; squeeze stale blood from your organs and flush them with fresh, oxygenated blood; and bring a renewed sense of calm, strength, and focus. They will also remind you to soften and relax your belly as you tone it, because—no matter what the fashion magazines preach—a tight, constricted belly serves no purpose other than to impede circulation.

If you feel healthy and generally fit, you can use The Woman's Essential Sequence as your daily yoga routine or alternate it with The Woman's Energizing Sequence and The Woman's Restorative Sequence. But if your energy feels depleted or if you are menstruating, pregnant, or suffering from any of the health problems we discuss in specific chapters, modify your practice with the appropriate poses and sequences provided in those chapters.

Although the book is divided into life stages, don't limit yourself to the chapters within your stage. Many women in their thirties and forties go through PMS and cramps every month and struggle with eating disorders. Teens and young women may suffer from headaches and backaches. And women of every age need help supporting their immune system from time to time. Browse through all the chapters and find what is applicable and useful for you.

Throughout the chapters, you'll see that we've not only given poses and sequences for each condition, we've listed their anticipated effects. Knowing why we chose a pose will help you create your own routine if you find some of our choices too difficult or too time-consuming. For example, knowing that opening your chest can help relieve deep-seated depression and that forward bends may exacerbate it, you may decide to do a series of gentle backbends and skip poses that involve bending over. When you're pregnant, if you know the focus of your practice should be making space for your baby, you'll choose poses with that principle in mind.

GETTING STARTED
The best way to approach your yoga practice is "open, empty, and bare." That means, come with an open mind, an empty stomach, and bare feet. An open mind allows you to hear what your body has to teach you—clearly and without judging. Yoga challenges you to accept what is, at this moment, while delighting in the changes that inevitably occur over time. Wait at least two to three hours after a large meal and one to two hours after a lighter one before you practice. An empty stomach ensures that you don't overtax your internal organs. Taking off your shoes and socks lets you feel the mat or floor beneath you and keeps you from slipping during standing poses. Your feet will love being active participants in your practice. You can, of course, have a pair of socks handy to wear during Corpse Pose (Savasana) to keep your feet warm.

FINDING TIME
If you can, make a commitment to practice at least a little bit every day. Some women find it easiest to choose a particular hour and stick to that; others must find time whenever they can. It's better to practice even a few minutes a day than to save up and have a two-hour routine only once a week. If you have difficulty finding enough time, begin by committing to three full practices a week, with minisessions in between.

CREATING SPACE
Choose a room where no one will interrupt you and nothing can distract you. You should have enough space around you to stretch out in all directions and an unencumbered wall for support. If you don't have adequate wall space, you can use the back of a closed door. Some women like to practice with instrumental music playing softly in the background, others need the comfort of silence. It's often easier to listen to your body and the rhythm of your breathing if you forgo distractions. Wear comfortable clothing that doesn't bind, ride up, or annoy you. Leotards or yoga clothes are nice, but shorts and a tank top or light sweats work just as well.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED
You'll notice in the photographs and pose descriptions that we use props to modify some of the postures. Although you can substitute items around the house for some of these aids (for example, a firm sofa cushion can work as a bolster), it's much better to make a commitment to have the real thing.

Have everything you need on hand before you begin. Unroll your sticky mat and place your props nearby but off your mat.

Sticky Mat
Invest in a good-quality sticky mat; I like the thicker ones the best. Although you can do yoga on your living room carpet, a sticky mat ensures that your feet won't slip out from under you when you're in a wide-angle stance such as Extended Triangle Pose. It also provides extra cushioning for seated and reclining poses.

Blankets
You will need blankets to support your back and neck in supine poses and your head and neck in inversions, as well as to raise your buttocks in seated poses to help keep your spine straight. Yoga blankets are finely woven wool or cotton, but any flat-weave, slightly stiff blanket will do. Two or three folded blankets can take the place of a bolster.

Bolsters
Yoga bolsters come in various shapes and sizes. They offer the support you need to stretch and relax in restorative poses. You'll want two firm, oblong bolsters, preferably with removable cotton coverings.

Straps
You use straps in seated or reclining poses to stretch your hamstrings and in restorative poses to avoid straining your muscles. You'll need one or two straps. Although you can use a bathrobe belt or a man's necktie for some poses, a real yoga belt with a buckle is better.

Blocks
You can use blocks in myriad ways: to help you balance, to support your hands or head if you can't reach the floor, or to provide a sitting base so you can elongate your spine. Wooden or lighter-weight Styrofoam blocks are available in yoga stores.

Chair
Certain twisting poses, backbends, and modified inversions—such as Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana) and Half-Plough Pose (Ardha Halasana)—call for a chair. This should preferably be a metal folding chair with an open back rest so you can slide your legs through it comfortably and still have something to hold on to. A wooden kitchen chair works, too. Just make sure it is sturdy enough to hold you and can't slip out from under you. When you use a chair, be sure to place it on your sticky mat.

Eye Pillows and Weighted Sandbags
Eye pillows, or eyebags, block out external distractions and help you relax more fully. They are available in a variety of colors and come scented or unscented. Weighted sandbags (generally 10 pounds) apply pressure to specific areas of the body.

GETTING INTO AND OUT OF POSTURES
How you move into and out of a yoga pose is as important as being in the pose itself. Your first concern is your safety and comfort. Move slowly, keeping your eyes open, as you go into and release from the pose. Do standing poses—most of which begin with Mountain Pose (Tadasana)—on one side first, press through your legs to come up, and then slowly reverse sides, before returning to your starting position. From standing or seated forward bends, come up slowly. Once you're fully upright, lift your head. To get out of reclining poses, always roll to one side, take a breath or two on your side, and then carefully push yourself up with your hands. After Headstand (Sirsasana), you should rest in Child's Pose (Adho Mukha Virasana) with your forehead touching the mat for a few breaths. This helps you to adjust after being upside down. Sit up slowly, stacking each vertebra on top of the next and lifting your head up last.

Many of the poses give instructions about inhaling and exhaling; most often, you rise up on the inhalation and bend or move on the exhalation. Don't worry too much about whether you're breathing properly. When in doubt, just breathe through your nose (with your mouth closed) as naturally and smoothly as you can.

BODY LANGUAGE AND WARNING SIGNS
Because we created this book to be for every woman, we may have included poses you've never done before or some you think may be much too hard for you. Before you dismiss them, however, try the modifications and variations we've provided. You'll notice we've indicated poses that should be skipped or modified due to health reasons or ability by placing a dagger next to the pose name and an explanatory footnote beneath its description.

Don't do more than your body can handle. You'll learn to distinguish between pain and intensity, but the cardinal rule is: If it hurts, stop! If you feel exhausted, rest for a few moments or modify the pose. Your breath serves as a reliable barometer. If you're working beyond your comfort zone, your breathing will become labored, erratic, or shallow. Ease up a little, modify the pose or substitute another one, or just skip the pose entirely.

Remember, don't get discouraged. Just because you can't do a specific pose one day doesn't mean it's out of reach forever. Even if you exercise regularly, your body may not be used to moving in certain ways. Be patient and listen to what your body and your breath are telling you. You don't practice to be perfect; you practice to feel better.

ROUND BODY TIPS
No one body type is necessary to practice yoga and benefit from it. If you are heavyset, follow Genia Pauli Haddon's tips for round-bodied practitioners: