ASCLEPIUS FITNESS

  
Triangle
With an exhalation, step or lightly jump your feet apart. Raise your arms parallel to the floor and reach them actively out to the sides, shoulder blades wide, palms down. 
Turn your left foot in slightly to the right and your right foot out to the right 90 degrees. Align the right heel with the left heel. Firm your thighs and turn your right thigh outward, so that the center of the right knee cap is in line with the center of the right ankle. 
 Exhale and extend your torso to the right directly over the right leg, bending from the hip not the waist. Strengthening the left leg and press the outer heel firmly to the floor. Rotate the torso to the left.  Let the left hip come slightly forward and lengthen the tailbone toward the back heel.
Rest your right hand on your shin, ankle, or the floor outside your right foot, where ever possible. Stretch your left arm toward the ceiling, in line with the tops of your shoulders. Keep your head in a neutral position or turn it to the left, look at the left thumb.
Stay in this pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Inhale to come up, strongly pressing the back heel into the floor and reaching the top arm toward the ceiling. Reverse the feet and repeat for the same length of time to the left.

Downward Facing Dog  
Come onto the floor on your hands and knees. Set your knees directly below your hips and your hands slightly forward of your shoulders.
Spread your palms, index fingers parallel or slightly turned out, and turn your toes under.
Exhale and lift your knees away from the floor. At first keep the knees slightly bent and the heels lifted away from the floor. 
Lift the sitting bones toward the ceiling, and from your inner ankles draw the inner legs up into the groins.
When with an exhalation, push your top thighs back and stretch your heels onto or down toward the floor.
Straighten your knees but be sure not to lock them.
Firm the outer thighs and roll the upper thighs inward slightly. Narrow the front of the pelvis. 
Firm the outer arms and press the bases of the index fingers actively into the floor. 
From these two points lift along your inner arms from the wrists to the tops of the shoulders. 
Firm your shoulder blades against your back then widen them and draw them toward the tailbone. 
Keep the head between the upper arms; don't let it hang.

Warrior I

From Downward Facing Dog bring the right foot forward to the right hand.
Pivote on the ball of the left foot and drop the left heel on to the floor with the toes turned out about 45 degrees  from the heel.
Bend the right knee directly over the right ankle, so that the right angle if formed by the dcalf and thigh.
Draw the right hip back and the left hip forward, so that the hips are squared to the front.
Bring the arms out to the side and up make your palms touch ans gaze up toward the thumbs, making a slight backbend.
Slide the shoulder blades down ans back.
Repeat on the left side.

Warrior II
From Warrior I, open the arms out, bringing the right arm in front of you and the left arm behind. Open the left hip back.  
Keep the right knee bent and the right thigh parallel to the floor. Draw the belly in slightly and bring the shoulders directly over the hips. 
Reach out through both finger tips.
The gaze is forward over the right hand.
Engage the triceps to support the arms, and the quadriceps to support the legs. 
Repeat on the left side. Make sure the right knee stays tracked over the middle toe of the right foot. Don’t allow the knee to drift over to the left.

Childs Pose
Kneel on the floor. Touch your big toes together and sit on your heels, then separate your knees about as wide as your hips.
Exhale and lay your torso down between your thighs. Broaden your sacrum across the back of your pelvis and narrow your hip points toward the navel, so that they nestle down onto the inner thighs. Lengthen your tailbone away from the back of the pelvis while you lift the base of your skull away from the back of your neck.
Lay your hands on the floor alongside your torso, palms up, and release the fronts of your shoulders toward the floor. Feel how the weight of the front shoulders pulls the shoulder blades wide across your back.
This is a resting pose. Stay anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes.


Twist
 Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Shift over onto your right buttock, bend your knees, and swing your legs to the left. Lay your feet on the floor outside your left hip, with the left ankle resting in the right arch.
Inhale and lift through the top of the sternum to lengthen the front torso. Then exhale and twist your torso to the right, keeping the left buttock on or very close to the floor. Lengthen your tailbone toward the floor to keep the lower back long. Soften the belly
Tuck your left hand under your right knee and bring your right hand to the floor just beside your right buttock. Pull your left shoulder back slightly, pressing your shoulder blades firmly against your back even as you continue to twist the chest to the right.
You can turn your head in one of two directions: continue the twist of the torso by turning it to the right; or counter the twist of the torso by turning it left and looking over the left shoulder at your feet.
With every inhalation lift a little more through the sternum, using the push of the fingers on the floor to help; with every exhalation twist a little more. Stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then release with an exhalation, return to the starting position, and repeat to the left for the same length of time

Bridge Pose
  Lie on your back on the floor, and if necessary, place a thickly folded blanket under your shoulders to protect your neck. Bend your knees and set your feet on the floor, heels as close to the sitting bones as possible.
Exhale and, pressing your inner feet and arms actively into the floor, push your tailbone upward toward the pubis, firming (but not hardening) the buttocks, and lift the buttocks off the floor. Keep your thighs and inner feet parallel. Clasp the hands below your pelvis and extend through the arms to help you stay on the tops of your shoulders.
Lift your buttocks until the thighs are about parallel to the floor. Keep your knees directly over the heels, but push them forward, away from the hips, and lengthen the tailbone toward the backs of the knees. Lift the pubis toward the navel.
Lift your chin slightly away from the sternum and, firming the shoulder blades against your back, press the top of the sternum toward the chin. Firm the outer arms, broaden the shoulder blades, and try to lift the space between them at the base of the neck (where it's resting on the blanket) up into the torso.
Stay in the pose anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. Release with an exhalation, rolling the spine slowly down onto the floor.


Forward Bend
Sit on the floor with your buttocks supported on a folded blanket and your legs straight in front of you. Press actively through your heels. Rock slightly onto your left buttock, and pull your right sitting bone away from the heel with your right hand. Repeat on the other side. Turn the top thighs in slightly and press them down into the floor. Press through your palms or finger tips on the floor beside your hips and lift the top of the sternum toward the ceiling as the top thighs descend.
Draw the inner groins deep into the pelvis. Inhale, and keeping the front torso long, lean forward from the hip joints, not the waist. Lengthen the tailbone away from the back of your pelvis. If possible take the sides of the feet with your hands, thumbs on the soles, elbows fully extended; if this isn't possible, loop a strap around the foot soles, and hold the strap firmly. Be sure your elbows are straight, not bent.
When you are ready to go further, don't forcefully pull yourself into the forward bend, whether your hands are on the feet or holding the strap. Always lengthen the front torso into the pose, keeping your head raised. If you are holding the feet, bend the elbows out to the sides and lift them away from the floor; if holding the strap, lighten your grip and walk the hands forward, keeping the arms long. The lower belly should touch the thighs first, and then the upper belly, then the ribs, and the head last.
With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso just slightly; with each exhalation release a little more fully into the forward bend. In this way the torso oscillates and lengthens almost imperceptibly with the breath. Eventually you may be able to stretch the arms out beyond the feet on the floor.
Stay in the pose anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes. To come up, first lift the torso away from the thighs and straighten the elbows again if they are bent. Then inhale and lift the torso up by pulling the tailbone down and into the pelvis.