My first Iyengar teacher was extremely creative and unconventional in her approach to sequencing. She has a poetic way of sequencing that is both logical and intuitive, but she very much does not toe the line in terms of the way she sequences a class (bless her), so I never really got the hang of the classic Iyengar sequencing at that stage. Unfortunately, a subsequent disastrous and inadequate teacher training did very little to fill that gap. I have, of late, been studying with Donald Moyer in Berkeley, as regular readers will know. Donald is also extremely innovative and creative, while remaining intuitive and logical in his approach, but in some ways he is very old school when it comes to his sequencing. I've been teaching and practicing in his manner quite a lot lately, and it has been a wonderful exercise in getting inside the classical Iyengar mentality. Sometimes the method gets accused of being dry and repetitive, but there is an elegance to the sequencing. I offer you here my limited understanding of the form.

Here follows a breakdown of the major pose categories and where they fit in the scheme. This first chart is not an actual way of practicing. Think of it as a diagram of a hypothetical sequence including all the different possibilities:

This would break down into the following practice sequences for each of the four major categories. Obviously there are other types of poses -- arm balances, abdominals and such. Each of these has their own rationale, but think about how you are practicing them. How do they relate to standing poses, to twists, back bends or forward bends? This might give you an idea of where a pose such as Parshva Bakasana (Side Crow Pose) might go.

Tags: Twists, Forward Bends, Back Bends

Rope Shirshasana (Head Stand on ropes)
Alternate Pose: Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclined Bound Angle Pose)

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana 2 (Extended Hand and Big Toe Pose 2)
• Leg to the side
• Foot on ledge

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana 1 (Extended Hand and Big Toe Pose 1)
• Leg to the front
• Foot on ledge

Parivrtta Hasta Padangusthasana (Revolved Hand and Big Toe Pose )
• Foot on ledge

Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)

Utthita Trikonasana (Extended Triangle Pose)

Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose)

Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana (Revolved Half Moon Pose)

Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose)

Adho Mukha Vrkshasana (Hand Stand)

Shirshasana (Head Stand)
• Parshva Shirshasana (Revolved Head Stand)
• Parivrttaikapada Parshvakonasana (Single Leg Revolved Head Stand)

Marichyasana 3 (Marichi's Pose 3)

Marichyasana 6 (Marichi's Pose 6)
• Also known as Marichyasana F in the Ashtanga Vinyasa system

Eka Pada Shirshasana (One Leg Behind the Head Pose) Preparation
• Come into Janu Shirshasana (Head of the Knee Pose) with bent leg heel on a block level with the opposite knee

Eka Pada Shirshasana (One Leg Behind the Head Pose)
• Once this is mastered proceed to Marichyasana 8/H

Ardha Matsyensdrasana 1 (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose 1)

Pashasana (Noose Pose)

Parshva Bakasana (Side Crow Pose)

Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand)

Halasana (Plough Pose)

Shavasana (Corpse Pose)

Tags: Advanced, Twists