Today’s quote: “Victory and defeat are a part of life, which are to be viewed with equanimity.”

– Atal Bihari Vajpayee

---

In respect of International Yoga Day, I’ve created a yoga flow. Out of a fondness for volleyball, I’ve embedded a focus on some of the movements of the sport into the flow.

For all the volleyball players out there, and for those who can enjoy the flow regardless of your stance on volleyball, please follow along and enjoy.

Key to prompts

I = Inhale

E = Exhale

[Brackets] indicate a sequence

---

Volleyball Yoga Flow

[Mountain pose

I: Reach up

E: Hands to heart]

Repeat sequence

[E: Forward fold

Full breath

I: Half-way lift]

Repeat sequence

E: Forward fold, hands to mat

I: Walk feet to downward dog

Pedal out downward dog for 5 full breaths

E: Drop knees and lower to child’s pose

Stay for 5 full breaths

I: Tabletop

Circle your shoulders above your wrists, one way a few times and then the other way a few times

Barrel roll your torso a few times in each direction

Return to a neutral tabletop

[I: Cow pose

E: Cat pose]

Repeat sequence 5 times

Return to a neutral tabletop

[I: Right hand up

E: Thread the needle

Circle right wrist 5 times in each direction

Full breath: Return to tabletop]

Repeat sequence on the left side

Full breath: Puppy / Melting heart pose

Stay for 5 breaths

E: Push back to child’s pose, resting arms along the sides of the body

Stay 3 breaths

Come up to sit on heels with toes untucked

Neck rolls a few times both directions

Tuck toes and shift weight to knees (use padding if necessary) to prepare for camel pose

Camel pose with hands on heels for 3 full breaths

Untuck toes and sit on heels for 5 recovery breaths

[Camel pose – volleyball variation: Arch back like normal but lift arms to the sky, preparing to attack the ball. Keep non-spiking hand lifted to flow through a swing motion, exaggerating hip-shoulder separation on spiking side of the body.

Untuck toes and sit on heels for 5 recovery breaths]

Repeat sequence on dominant side or on the other side if you’d like

Extend legs in front of you

I: Sit up straight and reach arms to the sky

E: Forward fold

[I: Straighten your back a little

E: Grab a spot on your legs, ankles, or feet to pull yourself further into the stretch]

Repeat sequence 2 times

[I: Sit up straight

E: Bend and cross your left leg over your right, which is left extended in front of you

I: Reach both arms up and sit tall

E: Hook your right arm over your left knee for a twist

I: Extend your left arm behind you, placing fingertips on the map to help keep your spine vertical

E: Spin further into the twist

Keep the twist for 5 full breaths

Come out of the twist on an exhale]

Repeat sequence on the other side

Lay down on your back

I: Bridge pose

Hold for 10 breaths

E: Release bridge pose

Reclined pigeon for 10 breaths on both sides

I: Bridge pose

Hold for 15 breaths

E: Release bridge pose

[(This sequence is for right-hand dominant spikers. If you are left-hand dominant, follow prompts on opposite sides.) Cross right leg over the left in eagle fashion

E: Let your knees fall to the ground to your left

I: Lift arms straight above your head to lie flat on the ground

E: Focus on hip-shoulder separation

I: Cactus your right arm to begin your swinging motion

E: Slide your right arm through your spike motion, keeping your arms on the ground above your head

Perform 4 more “spikes”

I: Knees to center

E: Untwist legs]

Repeat sequence on the other side (non-dominant) with 2 fewer spikes at the end

Prepare for deep quad stretch (in the same position just before bridge pose)

[With your left hand, reach under your left leg to grab your right foot

Bring your right heel to rest just below your left glute

E: Tighten your core to the desired intensity of the stretch, going up until the point that your lower back is flush against the mat if that is within your practice

Hold for 5 full breaths

E: Release your hold on your right foot and return to pre-bridge position]

Repeat sequence on the other side

I: Hug your knees to your chest

E: Rock side to side several times

I: Happy baby

Hold (and rock, if you wish) for 10 breaths

Full breath: Reclined butterfly

[I: Extend arms along the ground above your head

E: Cactus arms on the ground and arch back, keeping feet in reclined butterfly]

Repeat sequence 5 times

I: Come out of reclined butterfly by lifting knees and putting them together

E: Sit up

Full breath to set up for reverse tabletop

I: Reverse tabletop

Hold for 5 breaths

E: Lower to seated

I: Boat pose

Hold for 10 breaths

Tuck your feet beneath you and lift to yogi squat

Hold for 10 breaths. Option to flex fingertips (for stronger sets in volleyball) and place them on the mat as you shift side to side in yogi squat.

E: Lift hips to stand in forward fold, shuffling your feet to parallel and ensuring they’re hip’s width apart

I: Halfway lift

E: Forward fold

I: Lift to stand, sweeping hands above your head

E: Hands to heart

I: Hold the pose and rest

[E: Mountain pose

I: Sweep hands up above your head

E: Cactus arms

I: Raise arms above your head]

Repeat sequence 2 times

[E: Run through a spike motion, dropping attack hand, twisting your core

I: Pause at the “bottom” of your motion and hold your twist, focusing on hip-shoulder separation

E: Swing through your attack motion, including follow-through and drop of guiding / aiming / non-dominant arm

I: Raise your arms above your head (and visualize your jump motion)]

Repeat sequence 5 – 10 times

E: Mountain pose

I: Sweep your arms up

E: Forward fold

I: Chair pose

Hold for 5 breaths

E: Forward fold

I: Chair pose

Come up on your toes and hold chair pose for 3 breaths

E: Forward fold

I: Halfway lift

E: Forward fold, hands to mat, step or jump to plank

I: Hold plank pose

E: Shift weight forward and go through chaturanga

I: Upward dog

E: Downward dog

Hold for 3 breaths (and pedal out your legs if you’d like)

[(This sequence is for right-hand dominant spikers. If you are left-hand dominant, follow prompts on opposite sides.)

I: Lift right leg for 3-legged downward dog

E: Step your right leg through to runner’s lunge

I: Lift your torso and sweep your arms up for high lunge

Hold for 3 breaths

E: Lower arms and clasp hands behind your back

I: Pull your arms closer together behind you to puff up your chest

E: Bend forward to bring your right shoulder close to your right knee

Hold for 3 breaths

I: Come back up to high lunge

E: Release hands

I: Raise arms above your head to prepare for a spike motion

E: Right arm swings through the attack

Repeat attack swing as many times as you’d like

I: Step left foot up to meet the right at the top of the mat

E: Mountain pose

I: Sweep arms up

E: Forward fold

I: Halfway lift

E: Forward fold, hands to mat, step or jump to plank

I: Hold plank pose

E: Shift weight forward and go through chaturanga

I: Upward dog

E: Downward dog

Hold for 3 breaths (and pedal out your legs if you’d like)]

Repeat sequence on the other side, holding the lunge for the same amount of time but with the option of spiking with dominant or non-dominant arm

I: From downward dog, step or hop your feet to the top of the mat

E: Forward fold

I: Halfway lift

E: Forward fold, hands to mat, step or jump to plank

I: Hold plank pose

E: Shift weight forward and go through chaturanga

I: Upward dog

E: Downward dog

I: From downward dog, step or hop your feet to the top of the mat

Stay in forward fold for 5 breaths, then stand up tall

[I: Sweep hands above your head

E: Hands to heart]

Repeat sequence 2 times

Optional mountain pose mediation

---

Namaste

---

Riddle:

Though a soldier I’m not,

I stand firm and proud.

Quiet save for breath,

Grounded, I’m loud.

What am I?