In this post, I am so excited to be bringing you guys my very own YOGA flow – created by me and designed/beautifully brought to life by my good friend Ruth Delahunty. Ruth is a very experienced yoga teacher and a graphic designer – she is the woman behind Yogaru. Yogaru 108 Asana cards are about simplifying sequencing and bridging the gap between studio classes and home practice, making yoga accessible everywhere, and ensuring we get the most out of the time we spend on our mat. Over the last 6 months, I have been slowly learning to trust myself on my yoga mat – flying solo if you will, without YouTube, which is how I started out! I have been using Ruth’s Asana cards and her website for quite a while now to flow at home, and she is a very good friend of mine too. I asked her to help me bring to life a yoga flow I’ve been doing at home for the past few weeks (since the start of 2020 really). It’s a short little sequence that I’ve personally found really nourishing and comforting, whether that’s in the morning, before bed, or in the middle of a day off. I wanted to share it with you guys and hopefully inspire you to give yoga a try.

The Irish Balance Flow by Ruth Delahunty (www.yogaru.ie)

Navigating the sequence (by Ruth Delahunty)

This sequence is built to soothe and move you through this difficult period. Start by spending some time simply following your breath and notice the calming effect this has on your body and mind. Move slowly through the sequence and bring your full attention to what you are doing on your mat. The slower you allow yourself to move the more calming it will feel. Be led by how you feel energetically and emotionally when you step on your mat. If you are feeling tired and overwhelmed, concentrate on just the warm up poses and consider skipping the Vinyasas or one of the standing sequences. Spend plenty of time in child’s pose between mini flows. If you are feeling a bit of cabin fever add more Vinyasas into the sequence and repeat one or two of the standing mini flows. Press strongly into your foundation and feel the strength of your whole body as you reach through the tip of your crown. Done with intention even Tadasana/Mountain Pose is an incredibly strong pose.

The arrowed lines in the sequence indicate a mini flow. Start with your right side first then repeat the poses between the arrows on the left side e.g right foot forward, then left foot forward. The ‘+’ and ‘-’ symbols will help you move with your breath, take long deep breaths to expand and nourish your lungs. For the linked poses with a ‘x3’ or ‘x5’, do 3 or 5 rounds of these two poses linking them with the breath. On row three there are five poses linked together with a dotted line, this is called a ‘Vinyasa’. These five poses are repeated before the two standing sequences on row four. You will find most of the poses at www.yogaru.ie/asana for alignment cues of the poses you are unsure of.

If you try this flow out, do let myself and Ruth know what you think! You’ll find me @theirishbalance and Ruth @yogaru_ireland . Thank you for flowing with us and we hope you love this as much as we do!

Ciara 🙂 x