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Foundations of a Lifelong Practice: Learning the Basics

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Course Overview

Develop the skills you need to establish a sustainable yoga practice with this customizable basics program.

In Foundations of a Lifelong Practice: Learning the Basics, yoga teacher Nam Chanterrwyn shares foundational practices to help you gain body awareness and feel more at ease on the mat. You’ll learn basic poses and sequences, such as sun salutations, backbends, forward bends, and hip openers. At each step of the way, Nam offers you suggestions for how to adapt the poses so they are right for your body and so you can progress through the sequences at a pace that’s best for you. And, you’ll learn how to use props to enhance your experience and feel key pose action.

The classes in the program are: Sun Salutation Basics, Upper Back Basics, Lower Back Basics, Back of the Leg Basics, Front of the Leg Basics, Shoulder Basics, and Full Class: Putting the Basics Together.

In each exploration, you’ll warm up with exercises to help you activate specific parts of your body before moving on to an integrative sequence of poses. And, you’ll learn movement nuances that can enhance your embodiment of basic postures—for example, how reaching up through your ring fingers in a lunge can help you cultivate a sense of more space in your body.

So roll out your mat, grab blocks, a blanket, and a strap, and enjoy this inspirational journey!

Certificate of completion

3 CEU’s Upon Completion

Self Paced Learning

Course Outline

2hrs to complete

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Section 1
  • Nam welcomes you to the program and explains why learning the basics is so important for building a lifelong practice.
Section 2
  • Learn the nuts and bolts of the sun salute in this beginners’ class where Nam breaks down each pose and helps you customize them for your body. Along the way, you’ll also learn how to coordinate your breath with movement and how to use props for support. Enjoy this thorough exploration of one of the most popular sequences in yoga.
Section 3
  • In this alignment-focused practice, you’ll explore mobilizing your upper back in simple yoga poses. The class begins standing at the wall for upper back isolations. After that you’ll move on to stretches from hands and knees, down dog, lunges, foundational standing poses, and more—paying special attention to your upper back as you go. Then, at the end, you’ll wind down with a relaxing supine chest-opener. Have a pencil on hand for some of the isolation exercises.
Section 4
  • Mobilize your lower back in this breath-focused class. You’ll begin with isolated lower back movement from supine and hands and knees. After that you’ll practice a range of common poses—cobra, crescent lunges, warrior ll, extended side angle pose, dynamic bridge, and more—all while working to find space and freedom of movement in your lower back. Enjoy the comfortable pace of this nuanced exploration. Have one rolled-up paper towel or an eraser on hand for this class.
Section 5
  • In this back-of-the-leg fundamentals practice, you’ll pay particular attention to strengthening your hamstrings. You’ll do a few rounds of blanket slides, followed by standing forward bend variations, a strengthening lunge to cobra sequence, a long hold in a seated forward bend variation, and more. Then, once you’re done, give your legs a rest in supta baddha konasana (reclined bound angle pose). Have a book handy for one of the blanket-slide practices.
Section 6
  • Props: blocks, blanket Strengthen and stabilize the front of your legs with this alignment-focused class. You’ll do blanket-slide lunges, locust pose, sun salutations, warrior ll, and more before concluding in hero pose where you’ll stretch the fronts of your legs, rest quietly, and experience your breath.
Section 7
  • Props: blocks, strap Stretch and strengthen your shoulders in this shoulder basics class. You’ll begin with a seated warm-up before practicing a sequence that includes dynamic shoulder-opening work in lunges, arm-strengthening movements in locust, and shoulder stretches in warrior ll. Wind down at the end with a shoulder- and side-body-focused child’s pose variation, then rest in regular child’s pose for several breaths.
Section 8
  • Props: blocks Join Nam for this breath-focused fundamentals flow. You’ll warm up with sun salutes before moving on to shoulder-opening lunge variations, locust variations, a side angle to reverse warrior sequence, a hamstring-strengthening bridge pose, and more. Wind down at the end with easy reclined twists followed by savasana, where Nam offers some inspirational words for your yoga journey.
Section 9
  • Nam thanks you for joining him and offers you suggestions for how to grow your practice.

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Meet Your Teacher

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Nam Chanterrwyn
Nam is an E-RYT500 & YACEP teacher who has trained under Jason Crandell. As a student of yoga and functional... Read more

Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely, you can include this course in your Yoga Alliance training hours, with each hour equivalent to one continuing education credit.
This course is entirely self- paced, allowing you to learn at your convenience.There are no imposed deadlines or time constraints for Course completion.
No prerequisites are required; this course is open to anyone interested in deepening their knowledge and practice.
No, the course is accessible to all individuals interested in enriching their understanding and practice of yoga.Yoga teaching certification is not a prerequisite.

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