As you very well know, many students struggle with stepping their foot forward to the front of the mat from downward dog. While it is certainly possible to teach yoga without ever doing that movement, it is also nice to have several options to help students step forward! I’ll be sharing a few other ways in the coming weeks; have a look at this first option and let me know what you think!
30 Responses to “{video} Alternate Step Forward Option- Kneeling”
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Love this sequence. Thank you for sharing it.
You are so welcome Robin!
Thank you for this! I actually had a student last week who had this problem and honestly I wasn’t sure how to teach it differently!
Okay… perfect timing! It is so common for students to struggle with this movement, and I don’t see teachers talking about it enough. I have another Step Forward Option I’ll share in a few weeks! Stay tuned.
Beautiful sequence, Francesca! Definitely sharing this with my students. Thank you!
Wonderful Barbara, you are so welcome!
Thank you for this sequence Francesca. It addresses the lunge challenge many students have and offers a beautiful alternative with fluidity, balance and breathing challenges. I’d enjoy and appreciate additional video instruction just like this.
Oh, you are so welcome Julia! I am so happy you found this helpful. I have lots of videos like this planned…stay tuned for more. <3
Very nice and so helpful. I have a new student who def needs practice at bringing ANYTHING forward. Great flow
Thanks so much Betsey! I’m happy to help! 🙂
Taught this to a private client this week. The flow is beautiful. Will use in my group class today as well. Thanks!
That is great to hear Shani! Let me know how it goes in your group class!
This is a great sequence. I work with in psychiatric hospitals and people have no experience with yoga. I never do downward facing dog or any inversions that would be too much stress for them. So using your sequence to help them with a lunge which is so beneficial for them is a really good idea. I love the way you move your arms in sequence with the lunges. It’s a definite flow for beginners. Please keep sharing ways of doing gentle postures. This would really help me in my teaching. I also teach to the older adult population which so often goes unrecognized in yoga. So anything you can come up with that is more gentle, yet effective and somewhat challenging would be appreciated. Your podcasts and everything you are doing to help teachers become better teachers is super fantastic. I am learning a lot from you. Namaste
Amritari! Thank you so much for sharing this. 🙂 Your students are very lucky to have you! And yes– lots of people have been requesting more videos like this, so I’m going to keep offering them! Stay tuned for more. <3
This is so incredibly helpful. I’m going to use it in tomorrow’s class. Thank you Francesca for this informative, gentle, and effective ideas.
You are so welcome! I hope your lovely Saturday students enjoyed it!
Beautifully done, It sure gives the student confidence for movement .Love the flow.
Thank You so much
You are so welcome! I’m so happy you like it. If you try this with your students let me know how it goes! 🙂
Beautiful sequence! So helpful. Thanks.
I’m so glad this was helpful Christine!
Lovely, gentle sequence — and youre so easy to watch.
Oh, that is so nice of you to say Cheryl! <3
Love this! Thank you. I definitely have a few students that will find this useful!
Excellent! Please report back after you’ve tried it with them. I want to hear how it goes!
Hello Francesca. This sequence is wonderful! Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I am so thankful to have found you through Yoga Alliance! I need a years worth of time to read, listen to and watch all of your stuff!!
I’m so glad this was helpful for you Susan! I’m glad we found each other also!
Thank you for sharing this. I plan to offer this in a class I teach this week. I am looking forward to watching the other alternatives you spoke about.
Fantastic Karen! Let us know how it goes!
Hi Francesca! Thanks for sharing this. I really like it! I used it in two of my classes today and my students liked it too. It’s in a class that focuses a bit extra on the hips and low back so the lunges were quite nice to stretch the quads and hip flexors while also getting the benefits of the side bend and twist for the whole back. I then created a standing flow that followed the same theme. Sitting on the heels = tadasana, low lunge = high lunge/anjaneyasana and then I added a warrior three from there + moved on to some other stuff. Students liked the flow, the moves and that they knew the pattern. They found it really nice and also a way to strengthen the balance. It was really cool! I added a bolster to sit on as an option to sitting on your feet but that’s it! Super nice flow that I’ll try to remember and use more times! Thanks!
I’m so glad you and your students liked it and I love the version you came up with as well!