The Warmup

When working out, it is vitally important that you warm up properly in order to prevent injuries. When you begin yoga stretches, the body should be physically warm to get the most out of the stretch while preventing any tears in the muscles or fasciae. A proper warmup will get the blood flowing and produce that heat. In yoga, the center of the body is considered the body's furnace, equivalent to the metabolism, so it makes sense to warm up the center of the body. This is why Pilates classes begin with The Hundred, an exercise designed to warm the body by working the core. In yoga, the reason for this is that the center of the subtle body (the body's energy system of prana, chakras, and nadis) contains the agni, or fire of the belly, and the Third Chakra which is again related to heat and fire.

The following 5 minute video shows the basic warmup I do at the beginning of yoga class. It is designed to loosen the muscles, warm the core, and get you thinking about good alignment and moving with the breath. Do this or a similar warmup before getting into more difficult poses. Usually in my classes we warm up, then do Sun Salutations to get the heart rate up before moving on to strengthening poses and deep stretches.