Yoga Sess 03.13.24

In this yoga practice, the instructor encourages participants to be mindful of their surroundings and to stay safe. The practice begins with a seated position and focuses on breath and body awareness. Various poses and movements are done, including twists, stretches, and plank positions. The practice ends with downward dog and a resting posture. The instructor emphasizes the importance of breath and finding ease in the poses. And we can start. Thank you for joining me today. As I always say, I encourage you to stay mindful of the space you're practicing in. You can see, for example, just stay mindful of what's around you and moving with care to stay safe, as I wish I could be there with each and every one of you to help with hands-on adjustments. But unfortunately, we are practicing in this setting. So when you're all set with your mat on the floor, we can start in a cross-legged position. Hands either facing down if you're searching for a sense of grounding or up if you're ready and open to receive. You can close your eyes for a second and physically, mentally arrive onto your mat. Letting go of the mat. Returning your attention to your breath. Taking a second to feel your breath. So what's moving in your body as you take an inhale? Is there an expansion happening in your lower ribs? How does your exhale feel? Can you lengthen your inhale and gently lengthen your exhale? I invite you to set a dedication for this practice into someone or something you believe the energy we will create together will benefit from. Beautiful. Envision it as complete so you can open your eyes and bring your hands to the side, up and overhead. Take a deep breath in. Do this two more times. Exhale, hands down. Inhale, look up. Drawing a line through your center. Exhale, inhale. Deep breath in. Beautiful. Let's send that right arm across that left leg and gently take a twist looking past your left shoulder, really envisioning that you're pressing away from that leg. On each inhale, lengthening that spine up. And each exhale, sinking even deeper. Strong spine, long spine. Take a twist to the other side, so left arm behind that right knee, right thigh. Take a gentle twist looking past that right shoulder and begin to activate your deep core muscles. As you inhale and exhale, sense how your belly button can come closer to your spine. Beautiful. Come back to neutral. Deep breath in. And come through center. Let's transition first into a child's pose for a brief moment. Either sending those knees out long, out long is what I want to say, alongside the edges of your mat, or they can be whipped one against the other as you take a stretch in child's pose before we start our practice. Maybe massage your forehead and the space between your eyebrows on the mat. Releasing any tension in your temples or if you have congestion, just envision, imagine what it would be like to release any pressure from your sinuses. Beautiful. And let's take a prayer position here to stretch those upper arm muscles. So from here, we'll keep those elbows on the mat and just come, I don't know if anyone does Yoga with Adrienne, but she calls this a shark fin. So let's just take a second here. Really stretching those triceps into the serratus muscle in our armpit. Beautiful. Your next exhale, release that and we'll transition into tabletop position. If it feels comfortable, you can tuck your toes if you take some cats and towels or you can keep the tops of the feet flat on the mat. Take a second to look up. Gently go into towel and exhale into cat. And I invite you to find some inner sensations. So how does that breath impact how the muscles deep inside feel today? Move at your own pace from towel to cat. Let's meet in cat here. So we're really pressing away from the earth. So we have our shoulders stacked on top of our elbows on top of our wrists and I should see the reflection. If it looks a little trippy, it's because I have a mirror behind me. We'll tuck those toes and lift those knees into a floating tabletop so I'm a centimeter off that mat. Let's take three collective breaths here. Breathe in and exhale. Deep breath in. Last one. Inhale and exhale. Release into our first downward dog. Let's take a moment for a brief body scan as we're here. So feel what it's like to have your soles of the feet on the mat in downward dog. How your palms feel touching the mat. How you're spreading your fingers and your ten toes. Sensing that length in your spine. So as we're here in downward dog we're sending that tailbone really up towards the side and pressing your weight from your arms and imagine that energy traveling from your spine all the way past your tailbone. So maybe that invites a deeper stretch in your hamstrings. Beautiful. When you're ready, let's bring that knee to touch the nose. So keep the touch behind us and let's lift that right leg up into a three-legged dog. Put some gentle ankle circles to the right and to the left. Beautiful. When you're ready, let's bring that knee to touch the nose. Two more. Exhale, three-legged dog. And last one. And send that leg forward. So lunge with that right leg in front. Left knee can be on the mat if that feels good. If you want a challenge, you can keep that knee up and off the mat. Let's take a relaxing exhale. Send those hips forward. And as you find your breath, connecting that breath to your deep core muscles as we started the class. And bring your hands up above your head. Maybe interlace those fingers into a steeple grip. And just taking a second to really give yourself the time to stretch the muscles at the front of the left leg and activate those muscles in that right leg. If you want a challenge, send your chin up to the sky and your gaze back for a gentle back bend. You can release those arms so they're in the right position by your side. Nice. And let's come back to lunge. Touch those back toes. And send that right leg back into plank position. Stay here for three connected breaths in. Breathe in. And exhale. Spreading those toes. Inhale. And exhale. Deep breath in. On that exhale, send those elbows to Chaturanga. Imagine long legs starting from your belly button. And you can either take a cobra or upward facing dog. Moving gently and slowly as this might be your first deep back bend of the day. And when you're ready, let's meet in downward dog. Let's walk our dog a little bit this time. So I bend that left knee and I bend that right knee. You're hearing the cracking through the screen. It's me. The cracks are good. And when you're ready and you feel strong, zip those legs together behind you. Send that left leg up into three-legged dog. Some gentle ankle circles to the left and to the right. Really finding that stretch in the back of that right leg. Encouraging that right heel to really press into the mat if it's available to you. And when you're ready, exhale. Bring that left knee to nose. Up to three-legged dog. Two more. Knee to nose. Really imagine you're emptying out your lungs all the way when you bring that knee to nose. And after you've done three, come forward with that left leg in front to Anjani Asana. Lunge with that right knee on the mat and gently send those hips forward. Sensing the deep stretch in the center right thigh, the activation of the muscles in the left leg. And here let's still find the awareness of our breath connecting and giving us the power, the stability. Maybe with each exhale you can imagine your shoulder blades melting down your back. You can release any tension in your neck and shoulders. If you took that back bend on the right side, you can do it here. So send that deep back, long arms. Maybe open those arms side to side and come back. Send that left leg back. Let's take three breaths here. Strong arms. Exhale. Inhale. Release. Last breath in. And come upward facing dog. And downward dog. Wonderful. Let's really find length in the space underneath our arms. So as we press away from the earth with our palms, we can feel how that energy is translated through our cells and our spine all the way down to our heels. We're going to take a similar flow, add a little bit to it, maybe move a little faster. So let's put those legs together. Bring that right leg up. Three-legged dog. This time let's bring right knee to right elbow and left elbow. And come back up. Three-legged dog. Two more. Exhale. Right knee to right elbow and left elbow. And back. Three-legged dog. One more time. Right elbow, left elbow. And this time I invite you to keep that back left leg on knee off the mat. And we'll take a twist, opening to the right side. Right arm long. Up overhead. Maybe wiggle those fingertips. And if it's available to you, imagine dropping your weight, sinking into gravity as you stretch, feel that oppositional force of arm up overhead and hips sinking into the earth. Beautiful. And come back to lunge. And we're going to take a variation by sending those elbows down to the mat. Just gently rock back and forth. My body already is in stretching. Rock back and forth on that left leg. And then when you're ready, come back up. Palms on the mat. Send that right leg into plank. Send those elbows tight around the mat. Upward facing dog. Imagine you're smelling flowers. And downward dog. Take a second here. Maybe you're in stillness. Maybe you're bending one knee and the other. If you practice often, they say that downward dog is a resting posture. In general, some people disagree. The longer you practice, the more you can find a sense of ease. Not only in downward dog, but in all of your optimized poses. So when you're ready, let's bring those legs to touch. Sit behind us. Lift gently that left leg. And pause for a second here. We know what's coming. Allow that experience to unfold with a sense of curiosity. Even though you know what's coming. Knee to left elbow and right elbow. And exhale. Knee to left elbow and right elbow. Last one. Left elbow and right elbow. And from forward into lunge, left leg in front. We'll take a gentle twist to that left side. So again, finding a sense of oppositional forces. So you're sending the weight of your hips down. You're also sending those left fingers up towards the sky. Maybe a smile comes on your face. Great. And let's come back. Send those elbows onto the mat in your lunge. Lizard posture. Rock if it's comfortable for you on that back. Switch. Stretching those toes. Really inviting a sense of relief in the front of those hips. Beautiful. Press up onto your palms. Left leg back to plank. And those elbows try to roll up. And downward dog. Great job. I feel the warmth, so I know we're all feeling it too. Let's walk your hands into a forward fold. You can hop if you want. Forward fold, grabbing gently opposite elbows. And let's rock side to side. If you want to open your stance, feel free. Feel the weight of your head. You can rock from one side to the other here. Let's roll up onto your palms. Take a flat back up. Bellybutton to spine. Release into forward fold. And let's roll up here into mountain as you exhale. Deep breath in as you bend those knees. Mid back. Upper back. All the way to your cervical spine. Standing strong and tall. Finding awareness in mountains. Where is your weight position? Towards your heels. Maybe you notice that your hip is more to the left than to the right. It's making you feel like you have weight more on one side than the other. Just finding, discovering what it is to stand in our bodies today. Take a breath in, bringing those arms up overhead. If you want you can bring those feet to touch and we're going to go into the chair posture. Spread those toes, widen those toes. Energy passes through the fingertips and gently send those knees forward and those hips back. Breathe in, bringing those palms to prayer position. And come back up into mountain. Let's do that one more time. Deep breath in. Bellybutton to spine as you get ready to send those hips back. Arms come to prayer position. Knees. We're gently going forward but we're making sure those heels stay deeply rooted into the earth no matter how far down your hips go. And release, come up into mountain. And last time. Bellybutton to spine. Bring awareness in our breath as you send those hips down and back. Maybe just out of curiosity, is there tension around the ankles or the knees? Can you imagine it melting away? Beautiful, come back up. Let the head know you have here. Really feel what it's like to shake your head one side to the other. And nod your head yes, welcoming all the goodness that's coming your way. And if available to you, plant those arms and palms on the mat. You can hop back if you wish or you can step back into plank. And bend those elbows. Upward facing dog. Look to your left toe. I feel a deep stretch in my solar muscle on the right when I take that breath. And look to your right toe. And let's come back into a child's pose however feels good. Either knees touching or as wide as a mat. Taking a second to sense what might be coming up. Your mind or the body. Does your physical body feel any different? Any other sensations coming up that weren't there in our first child's pose? Maybe coming back to the intention of your practice here. And on your next exhale, gracefully come into a seated position. Legs stretched out in front of us. Sending those heels out. So we're imagining that from our hips we're sending energy all the way past those heels. Maybe you spread your toes, send those arms up, press in. We're going to take a seated forward fold. Reaching as far as you can go. Imagine that you're creating space. You're going up and over something. So you're protecting that lower back. Deep breath in. Maybe taking a look up. And coming back down. Beautiful. Gently roll up. And let's take a diamond shape with our legs. So bring both of the feet together. Take a breath in. A deeper stretch closer to your hips is how you can keep that diamond wide. Breath in. And when you're ready, just send your upper body forward. If you would like, you can use your elbows to press your knees down towards the earth. Releasing the weight of your head. Relaxing your jaw. Letting your lower jaw just exist and droop down. One more breath here. Breathe in. And gently roll up. You can meet in a cross-legged position. If you feel comfortable, you can close your eyes. Placing those palms either in a heart or a prayer position. Or facing down on your knees, whatever feels good. Returning to where we began. Breathing in. And out. Welcoming any new information that we're receiving. Maybe your body feels a little lighter. We're noticing our face in a new way. Move your shoulders.