Asanaverse

Yoga Sequence

Attuning to the Bigger Picture

Practice for intuition and the third eye

This sequence works with the third eye, the place we turn to when we need to know how to go on. The drishti does not stay at the front of the mat. It travels once around it, so the gaze keeps finding new directions and the practice stays slightly unfamiliar.

70 min · Level 2

When it helps

Something did not work out and you are still turning it over. Frustration, disappointment, maybe anger. You have to take a different route than the one you planned, and you would rather trust it than fight it.

Energetic effect

The practice gathers attention at Ajna, the third eye. Instead of reaching outward for an answer, the gaze turns in and the sense of what to do next gets room to surface on its own.

Physical effect

Long standing sequences with repeated sun salutations build heat and steadiness. The hips open through lunges and wide legged folds, and the shoulders stay mobile through the vinyasa transitions.

Mental effect

The wandering drishti is the point. Practising with your gaze in an unfamiliar direction trains the willingness to keep going when things do not look the way you expected.

1. Arriving

Easy PoseSukhasana
Cat PoseMarjaryasana
Cow PoseBitilasana

2. Mobilization

Upward Plank PosePurvottanasana
04
0.5 min

Upward Plank Pose

Learn more about Purvottanasana
Downward-Facing DogAdhomukha Shvanasana
Knees to Chest PoseApanasana
06
5 breaths

Knees to Chest Pose

Learn more about Apanasana
Four-Limbed Staff PoseChaturanga Dandasana
07
5 breaths

Four-Limbed Staff Pose

Learn more about Chaturanga Dandasana
High Cobra PoseBhujangasana
08
5 breaths

High Cobra Pose

Learn more about Bhujangasana
Downward-Facing DogAdhomukha Shvanasana
Half Standing Forward BendArdha Uttanasana
10
5 breaths

Half Standing Forward Bend

Learn more about Ardha Uttanasana
Standing Forward BendUttanasana
11
5 breaths

Standing Forward Bend

Learn more about Uttanasana
Mountain PoseTadasana
12
5 breaths

Mountain Pose

Learn more about Tadasana
Four-Limbed Staff PoseChaturanga Dandasana
13
5 breaths

Four-Limbed Staff Pose

Learn more about Chaturanga Dandasana
High Cobra PoseBhujangasana
14
5 breaths

High Cobra Pose

Learn more about Bhujangasana
Downward-Facing DogAdhomukha Shvanasana
Half Standing Forward BendArdha Uttanasana
16
5 breaths

Half Standing Forward Bend

Learn more about Ardha Uttanasana
Standing Forward BendUttanasana
17
5 breaths

Standing Forward Bend

Learn more about Uttanasana
Mountain PoseTadasana
18
5 breaths

Mountain Pose

Learn more about Tadasana

4. Strengthening

High LungeAnjaneyasana
Warrior IIVirabhadrasana II
Wide-Legged Standing Forward BendPrasarita Padottanasana
21
3 min

Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend

Learn more about Prasarita Padottanasana
Warrior IIVirabhadrasana II
Four-Limbed Staff PoseChaturanga Dandasana
23
5 breaths

Four-Limbed Staff Pose

Learn more about Chaturanga Dandasana
High Cobra PoseBhujangasana
24
5 breaths

High Cobra Pose

Learn more about Bhujangasana
Downward-Facing DogAdhomukha Shvanasana
Wide-Legged Standing Forward BendPrasarita Padottanasana
26
1 min

Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend

Learn more about Prasarita Padottanasana
Revolved Wide-Legged Forward BendParivrtta Prasarita Padottanasana
27
2 min

Revolved Wide-Legged Forward Bend

Learn more about Parivrtta Prasarita Padottanasana
Revolved Wide-Legged Forward BendParivrtta Prasarita Padottanasana
28
2 min

Revolved Wide-Legged Forward Bend

Learn more about Parivrtta Prasarita Padottanasana
Downward-Facing DogAdhomukha Shvanasana

PP

Forearm StandPincha Mayurasana
Child's PoseBalasana
31
Garland PoseMalasana
32
Garland PoseMalasana
33
5 breaths

Garland Pose

Learn more about Malasana
Crow PoseBakasana

5. Stretching

Staff PoseDandasana
Seated Forward BendPashimottanasana
36
2 min

Seated Forward Bend

Learn more about Pashimottanasana
Reclining Belly TwistJathara Parivartanasana
Reclining Belly TwistJathara Parivartanasana
Knees to Chest PoseApanasana
39
2 min

Knees to Chest Pose

Learn more about Apanasana
Corpse PoseSavasana

Integration

The Bhagavad Gita puts it plainly in the sixth chapter. Practise with determination and patience, and do not lose heart when success takes its time. Most of us know the other version. Something falls through, and the first response is frustration. Then comes the forced detour, the route we did not choose. And often enough, months later, the detour turns out to have been the better road. This sequence is built around that turn. The drishti keeps moving because the practice is not meant to feel settled. You look towards the back of the mat, towards the side, into directions you would not have picked yourself. Staying with it while it feels odd is the whole exercise. Nothing here promises clarity by the end of ninety minutes. What it does offer is practice at trusting a process while you are still inside it, which is a different skill from understanding it afterwards. If one thing carries over into the week, let it be that. The discomfort of an unfamiliar direction is not evidence that you have gone wrong.

Manish Rana

The teacher behind this sequence

Manish Rana

Founder & Author

Registered Experienced Yoga Teacher, E-RYT 500
View profile