A Holiday Yoga Practice

Here are the poses for the Twelve Days of Christmas practice that I taught this week.  It’s a nice practice for home and it doesn’t have to take 90 minutes; you can tailor the practice to the time you have. (To make it shorter, skip the repetitions and hold for shorter times.)  I have done this practice several times recently.  It’s a nice well rounded sequence that includes balance poses, core engagement, twists, hip opening, hamstring stretches, back bends and prepares you nicely for the final postures of Dancer’s Pose and Split.

Do this practice if you have trouble getting to your yoga class over the Holidays.  Enjoy!  And let me know how it went in the comments below.

A Partridge in a Pear Tree:
Tree pose – hold for 1 minute on each side.  Try balancing while listening to Cheech and Chong’s Santa Claus and His Old Lady

2 Turtle Doves:
Warrior 2 – hold for 1 minute on each side.

3 French Hens:
Warrior 3 – hold for 5 breaths on each side.

4 Calling Birds:
Plank – hold for 1 minute.

5 Golden Rings:
Boat – 5 times, holding for 5 breaths each time.  Cross your legs and lift up after each one.

6 Geese a Laying:
Pigeon – hold for 2 minutes each side.

7 Swans a Swimming:
Bow – 3 times, 5 breaths each time.  Roll to the right and left for added benefit.

8 Maids a Milking:
Cow Face Pose – hold for 1 minute each side.

9 Drummers Drumming:
Revolved Side Angle Pose – 3 times, knee down with hands in prayer the first time, knee up hands in prayer the second time, full pose with arms (if possible) for the last one.

10 Pipers Piping:
Standing Split against the wall – 3 times.  Start in Down Dog with your heels 1 foot away from the wall.  Take your right leg up, right foot on the wall in Down Dog Split, hold for 5 breaths,  change legs.  Repeat 2 more time getting closer and closer to the wall each time, if you can.

11 Ladies Dancing:
Dancer’s Pose – Use a belt to hold your foot with your arms over head.  Or, simply reach back and do Baby Dancer’s Pose.  5 breaths each side, or until you lose balance – whichever comes first.

12 Lords a Leaping:
Split – 3 times, 5 breaths each side.

I used to teach this sequence in typical "12 Days" fashion: pose 1, pose 2 - 1, pose 3 - 2 - 1, pose 4 - 3 - 2 - 1, ...  It was hard and sweaty and extremely repetitious.  Plus, form suffered!  So I changed it to do 12 poses inspired by the song without counting down each time.

Happy Holidays!