The 7 Poses of Yoga That Include ALL The Others

Everyone can touch their toes, right?

Bend forward, bend your knees, touch your toes. That's 1.

What about backwards?

No, with the hands going straight up and over the shoulders. Elbows can't go outwards. Ahh! Not so easy to touch your toes bending backwards. That's 2.

Stand tall. Hands by sides. Reach down your left leg with your left hand. Try to touch your toes. No bending forward or backwards. That's 3 & 4.

Lift your left leg and extend it forward. Take your right arm backwards and keep going. Keep going with it straight around, until it touches the extended left foot. Sigh. No the other way. That's 5 & 6.

Finally, reach up with your hands, and down with your feet. Keep reaching until they go around the whole universe and touch each other. That's 7.

Congratulations! 

You just did ALL of yoga.

ALL yoga is just 7 ways of touching your toes, J.

P.S. I kinda wanna call them something cool like "John's 7 Master Poses of Yoga". Then maybe give each one a cool name, a la yin yoga style. And then make them into a system with a cool name like Gurju Yoga.

...and there's only 7 poses... but they do everything.

They are the most economical of yoga poses. And that's all we do for the whole hour and a half. The 7 poses.

Hey, do you reckon that means they'll be held longer than yin? If so, does that mean this system has fewer poses, that are held for longer than yin? I think so.  <fist pump> "Yeah".

This new yoga system is soooo cooooler than yin.
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(sigh) There's an eighth.
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I put it down here for all you smarties out there.

Yep. It's when your hands touch your toes by compression. Weird.

But you knew that didn't you?





























Oooooo... You freakin' SMART ass!





You made it all the way down here.

Even though I didn't leave any breadcrumbs.

Smart, smart, smart.

Ok. They are kinda "true movements" that measure true flexibility. Corny, I know, but I don't have a better name ATM.

Here's a couple for the road:

Ok, this first one is a variation on 5 & 6, only we are using the floor as the measuring tool (can use a wall as well)...

Lie down on the floor. Take your left knee across your body, to the right, and touch it on the ground at hip height (so your left knee is on your right hand side).

Now take your left arm out to the left hand side, at shoulder height and touch it on the ground.

So are you touching the knee and elbow to the ground at the same time? Probably not. True movement. This is how you measure flexibility. That's 1.

Ok. Lie on your back. Interlace your fingers behind your head. Keep the elbows at shoulder height. Push the elbows into the ground.

Can you push the elbows into the ground so hard, that the spinal bone exactly at shoulder height leaves the ground? No.

Push harder through the elbows. True movement. That's how you measure flexibility. That's 2.

You prolly worked out from that last one, that they also measure strength. Anyway.

You're smart. You get the idea. You can do it with hips and legs and stuff. Have fun. True movements...I'm such a dickhead (true dat!).