with Tracey

Have you ever dedicated a practice to just one asana? Spending your time on the mat discovering every nuance of a single posture, such as how you get in to and out of a pose, are things so seemingly simple that they are done unconsciously. The entry and exit movements are not only essential, but each motion hopefully carries the same importance and attention. Is it possible for you to find a new vantage point for a pose you practice on a regular basis? After all, every asana is a sum of many moving parts.

When you develop a focused practice of this kind, which could be once a week or once a month, you create the ability to discover tiny micro-movements that can change your entire understanding of an asana and the way you approach it forever. A focused single-pose practice is also a way to build strength or stamina in a posture. Having laser attention can lead you to find related or adjacent poses you had previously not thought of which will enlighten your building of sequences. Choosing a pose that eludes you or frustrates you is often the perfect pose to study in-depth.

Depending on the posture you choose, preparing for a single asana practice may require some time for physically warming up or winding down afterwards with counter poses, but this too will assist in your building of sequences. An intuitive flow practice is another way to find an asana that would relish your deeper attention, squirreling it away to come back to with deeper investigation another day.

A single asana study can be a practice of fifteen minutes or much longer. Often the best approach is the guidance of your breath. Keeping your awareness on your strength and stamina is also key so that you do not get sloppy with repetition. Finally, your powers of interest, observation, and investigation will serve as excellent guides.