Counting Led Primary–The Seated Postures, First Half

Mar 31

It’s been almost a year since I posted about how to learn to count the standing poses of Led Primary. I hope you have memorized them all by now. Only joking, but I am hoping that if you do decide to learn the counts, my instructions will prove helpful. If you have a moment, look back at the June 2025 Moon Mailing and read the introductory remarks.

In some ways, the seated postures are easier to learn. After Purvottanasana, all the poses until Marichasana C have the same counts.

First, a review of counting in Sanskrit:

Let's go over Adha Baddha Padma Paschimattanasana (Half Bound Lotus Western Intense Stretch or Forward Fold Pose).

If you were to do a full Vinyasa Led Primary, you would do a Surya Namaskar at the beginning of every pose. You know the counts for this:

Ekam inhale arms up
Dwe exhale fold
Trini inhale head up
Catvari exhale jump back
Pancha inhale
Sat exhale

Therefore jumping through each time into a seated pose is Sapta. If the pose has a right and left side, then Sapta is the R side. Seven counts later, or Caturdasa, jumping through sit down straight legs is the start of the pose on the left side. For this set of postures, I actually have many anchors.

To review, an anchor point is part of the Vinyasa that corresponds to a count that I always remember that helps me get back on count in case I lose track.

My anchors for the poses of led primary with right and left sides:

Jump through sit down straight legs: Sapta, Chaturdasa
Exhale fold forward: Ashtau, Panchadasa
Inhale lift up: Dasa, Saptadasa
Exhale jump back: Ekadasa Catvari, Ashtadasa Catvari NB: Catvari is the count of Caturagna Dandasana in the sun salute, so this is Catvari position
Inhale (up dog), exhale (down dog): on R dwadasa, trayodasa; on L: ekonovimshatihi, vimshatihi

SEATED POSES

Anchors are bolded

Pashchimattanasana Eastern Intense Stretch Pose

Sapta Jump-thru Straight-legs sit down
Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Ashtau Take-toes Inhale Look-up
Nava Exhale
Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Dasa Inhale Look-up
Ashtau Take Wrist Inhale Look-up
Nava Exhale
Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Dasa Inhale Look-up
Exhale
Hands on the floor
Ekadasa Inhale Lift-up
Dwadasa Catvari Jump-back
Trayodasa Inhale
Caturdasa Exhale

Purvattanasana Eastern Intense Stretch Pose

Sapta Jump-thru Straight-legs sit down
Take your hands one-foot back
Ashtau Inhale Lift-up
Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Nava Exhale Come-down
Dasa Inhale Lift-up
Ekadasa Catvari Jump-back
Dwadasa Inhale
Trayodasa Exhale

Ardha Baddha Padma Pashchimattanasana Half Bound Lotus Western Intense Stretch Pose

[NOTE: The counting for this posture is the same all the way through Marichyasana B so I will list the poses but not the counts under each pose]

Sapta Jump-thru Straight-legs sit down, take right side
Ashtau Exhale
Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Nava Inhale Head up Exhale
Dasa Inhale Lift Up
Ekadasa Catvari Jump-back
Dwadasa Inhale
Trayodasa Exhale

Caturdasa Jump through second side
Pancadasa Exhale
Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Shodasa Inhale Head up
(Exhale)
Saptadasa Inhale Lift Up
Ashtadasa Catvari Jump back
Ekonovimshatihi Inhale
Vimshatihi Exhale

Tirianga Mukha Ekapada Pashchimattanasana Three Limbs Facing One Foot Western Intense Stretch Pose

Janu Sirsasana A B C Knee Head Pose

Marichyasana A B Sage Marichi’s Pose

Marichyasana C D Counts are different!!

Sapta Jump-thru Take right side Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
(Exhale)
Ashtau Inhale Lift-up
Nava Catvari Jump-back
Dasa Inhale
Ekadasa Exhale
Dwadasa Jump-thru Take Left-side Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Trayodasa Inhale Lift-up
Caturdasa Catvari Jump-back
Pancadasa Inhale
Shodasa Exhale

Navasana Boat Pose

Sapta Jump-thru Straight-legs Navasana
Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Ashtau Inhale Lift-up
Exhale Come-down
Sapta again...
Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Ashtau Inhale Lift-up
Exhale Come-down
Sapta again (Repeat total of 5 x)..
Come-down Last one
Breathe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Ashtau Inhale Lift-up
Nava Catvari Jump-back
Dasa Inhale
Ekadasa Exhale

So that’s it! The first half of primary seated poses! Even if you don’t memorize the counts, just knowing they exist and knowing you now have a reference to someday memorize the counts can be helpful. And when you do learn them, you can snicker quietly to yourself every time your teacher messes up, because we all do, every time.

Practice with Didi

Didi von Deck

When Didi von Deck first started Ashtanga yoga, three weeks after her third child was born, she recognized that Ashtanga is not like any yoga she had ever done before.

After her first class, she found herself trying to get more yoga into her life. Despite the challenges of raising her family and her busy orthopedic practice, she eventually started a daily practice under Kate O’Donnell and she has studied with David Swenson, Nancy Gilgoff, David Williams, and Richard Freeman. She completed both 200 and 300 hour teacher trainings with Rolf Gates in order to further her understanding of how yoga works its magic. She travels to India frequently to study Ashtanga yoga with the Jois family, and is authorized by Saraswathi. While in India, she continues her studies of Sanskrit, chanting, and yoga philosophy, and she takes time to work with the Odanadi Seva Trust, an organization that works to rescue, rehabilitate, reintegrate and empower trafficked and sexually exploited women and children (Yoga Stops Traffick).