Phase 1 · Two Weeks, and a Number to Beat

Part of the 8-Week Yoga Program for Strength and Independence

30-Minute Yoga Sequence for Strength and Everyday Movement

Weeks one and two. The four movements a day is made of, learned properly before they get harder.

This program is about four things: getting up, bending down, turning around, and carrying something. Not about being flexible, and not about balance, which has its own guide. The first two weeks teach the four patterns at a size that works, with a chair for anything upright.

30 min · Level 1

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When it helps

For the first two weeks, twice a week. Thirty minutes. A chair and a blanket. A chair within reach for anything standing. This is a strength and everyday movement program rather than a balance program: if fear of falling is the main thing, the balance guide is the better starting point. With osteoporosis, fold from the hip crease with a long spine and keep twists moderate. A recent fracture, a joint replacement, spinal surgery, or unstable heart disease all need a doctor first.

Getting up

The chair stand is the most measured outcome in this whole research area and the one that changes an ordinary day most.

Leg strength

Lower limb strength is one of only two outcomes where yoga stayed ahead of active exercise comparisons rather than only ahead of doing nothing.

Bending and turning

Hinging at the hip and rotating from the ribs. Both go quietly and both come back with practice.

Standing

Fifteen minutes upright. A chair within reach throughout, and sitting down is always available.

Tadasana

3 min

Mountain Pose

Feet hip width, weight even, standing tall. Notice how much of your weight sits in the heels and how much in the front of the foot.

Where you carry your weight standing still is where you will carry it walking. It costs nothing to notice and it changes what follows.

Learn more about Tadasana

Urdhva Hastasana

2 min

Upward Salute

Both arms overhead as far as they go. Wider is fine if the shoulders are tight. This is reaching a top shelf.

Overhead reach is not measured in any of these trials and it is the first thing people notice going. Two minutes twice a week keeps it.

Learn more about Urdhva Hastasana

Virabhadrasana II

1 min each side

Warrior II

Wide stance, front knee bent over the ankle, arms out. Hand on a chair back if you want it. This is carrying shopping in one hand.

A wide stance with the legs holding the weight. That is what carrying something one sided actually asks for.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana II

Uttanasana

2 min

Standing Forward Bend

Knees soft, folding from the hip crease with the back long, hands to the shins or a chair seat. This is picking something off the floor.

Hinging at the hip rather than curling the spine is what makes bending sustainable, and it matters more if bone density is low.

Learn more about Uttanasana

Utkatasana

1 min, five times

Chair Pose

Stand in front of the chair. Sit down slowly to a count of three, stand back up to a count of three. Five times, hands on the chair arms if you need them.

The chair stand. It is the single most useful movement here and it appears in every session of this program.

Learn more about Utkatasana

On the floor

Ten minutes down low. Getting down and back up is one of the movements this program is about, not an interruption to it.

Marjaryasana

3 min

Cat Pose

On hands and knees, rounding the back on the out breath. A blanket under the knees if they complain.

The transition to the floor, and the movement that reintroduces the spine once you are there.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

2 min

Cow Pose

Chest forward on the in breath, moving slowly between the two.

Extension. A day contains a great deal of rounding forward and almost none of this.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Balasana

2 min

Child's Pose

Knees wide, sitting back towards the heels, forehead on a cushion or a block. Come out slowly.

A rest, and a rehearsal for getting up off the floor from a low position.

Learn more about Balasana

Finishing

Five minutes, and a deliberate way back onto your feet.

Apanasana

2 min

Knees to Chest Pose

On your back, knees towards the chest.

A small shape on the way to the end.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

3 min

Corpse Pose

Lying flat, cushion under the knees. To get up: roll to your side, push up to sitting, then stand with a hand on the chair.

Getting off a floor is a skill that disappears if nothing asks for it, and three minutes lying down gives you a reason to practise it.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 2

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Two Weeks, and a Number to Beat, the first phase of the 8-Week Yoga Program for Strength and Independence. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Twice a week for the first two weeks, plus the ten-minute version on a third day. In week one, count how many times you can stand up from a chair in thirty seconds and write it down. You will do it again in week eight.

The teacher behind this sequence

Gründer & Autor

Manish Rana

Gründer von Asanaverse.de. Manish schreibt über Yoga, Ayurveda und Meditation und verdankt seine tiefe Verbindung zum Yoga seinen indischen Wurzeln. Mit über 1000 Stunden Yoga Alliance Teacher Training gibt er sein Wissen an die Community weiter.

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Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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Make it yours

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