The Yoga Week
Five practices across the week — short flows midweek, hips and balance in the middle, one full 60-minute practice on Saturday.
- GOAL
- Mobility & Yoga
- LEVEL
- Beginner
- LENGTH
- 1 week
- SESSIONS
- 5 per week
Five practices that build from short to long across the week. Monday and Wednesday are brief, so the week starts as something easy to say yes to. Tuesday's hip and hamstring work and Friday's balance practice are the two that ask most of your attention. Saturday's full 60-minute practice is the longest and sits where you are most likely to have the time for it. Nothing here requires prior flexibility — positions are held for time and adjusted with blocks and a strap rather than forced. Consistency across the week matters more than depth in any single posture.
- →New to yoga, or returning after a long gap
- →Wants a repeatable weekly structure rather than dropping into random classes
- →Sits for long stretches and wants regular movement through the hips and spine
- →Has 20–60 minutes available depending on the day
- →Can get to the floor and back up without assistance
- →Can hold a hands-and-knees position without wrist pain, or is willing to work on forearms
- →Has a mat, two blocks and a strap
Move the hips, spine and shoulders through their available range five times a week, building from short practices to one long one.
- MondayMorning FlowTwenty minutes to open the week. Short on purpose.
- TuesdayHips and HamstringsLonger holds. Strap around the foot rather than reaching for it.
- WednesdaySun Salutation PracticeMove at a pace where the breath sets the rhythm, not the count.
- ThursdayRest, or an easy 20–30 min walk
- FridayBalance and FocusPractise near a wall. Coming out of a shape and back into it is the work.
- SaturdayFull PracticeThe longest practice of the week. Take the full rest at the end.
- SundayRest
PROGRESSIONWork to the first point of resistance and breathe there, not past it. Use a block under the hand or hip any time the shape changes to reach the floor.
- →Run this same week again next week. The five practices stay fixed for at least four weeks — familiarity is what lets the practice deepen.
- →Progress by holding shapes longer, not by going further: add five breaths to each held posture per week before changing anything else.
- →Remove one block or lower it one height only when the shape holds for the full count with steady breathing.
- →If a shape produces sharp or nerve-like sensation, come out of it. Substitute the version done seated or against a wall and stay there for the whole block.
- →Once the Saturday full practice feels routine, swap Monday's morning flow for the strength-yoga practice, keeping everything else the same.
- →A missed day is a missed day. Do not double up two practices to make it back.
- →Sit-and-reach distance, measured the same way each time
- →Single-leg stance duration on each side, eyes open
- →Overhead reach against a wall with the lower back flat
- →Deep squat hold: time held with heels down