Yoga Sess 03.29.24

In this information, the speaker advises to be mindful of the space when practicing yoga. They encourage taking breaks if anything feels uncomfortable and remind that yoga should be fun and safe. The practice starts in child's pose and moves into plank, face pose, and floating tabletop. They emphasize connecting to breath and creating space in the body. The practice also includes downward dog, forward fold, and a sequence of movements to stretch and strengthen the body. The speaker encourages setting intentions and concludes with a collective breath in downward dog. only thing I say is when we're getting started to be mindful of the space that you're practicing in. I wish I could be there with each and every one of you to offer hands-on adjustments or support but unfortunately we are in a virtual setting so I just always invite you to be mindful and just if anything feels uncomfortable always feel free to get out of a pose or go into a child's pose because this practice is meant to be fun and safe for everyone. So with that being said we are going to get started today in child's pose. You can spread your knees as wide as your mat bringing your big toes to touch at the center of your mat and just reach those fingertips all the way to the front relaxing the forehead on the mat. Maybe giving your forehead a light massage just rocking from one side to the other. Maybe you take that rock all the way and you rotate your head so you rest your temple on one side and on the other and as you're doing so begin to connect to your breath. Envision how the breath is moving you. Where do you feel that movement? Is it an expansion side to side in your ribs? Do you feel maybe your lower back, the vertebrae of your lower back extending as you exhale? Maybe you feel your chest rising up and down? Beautiful. When you're ready we're going to take one more deep breath in and let's actually roll out. So come on to your elbows, shift your weight up onto your arms and we are going to extend the left leg and extend the right leg and magically get into plank and we'll take three collective breaths here together. Breathing in, release. Breathing in and out. One more deep breath in and out. Let's release the weight of the hips onto the mat and come into face pose just as we start to warm our bodies up creating a straight line. Imagine your middle finger really right in the middle of your lower arm bones feeding into your elbows, elbows underneath your shoulders. Maybe you look up towards the side feeling a deep stretch in your core muscles but also extending and creating space in between the vertebrae of our spine. And let's release that exhale. Bring that right ear on the mat. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Just rotate left ear on the mat. Breathing in and out. Nice. So when you're ready we are going to transition from here into a tabletop position. So just come back up onto your knees and let's begin to take some circles of the hips to the left. And notice here how although we're focusing on the hips, we are shifting weight from our knees towards our arms and our hands. So how are we supporting ourselves? Can we stretch our fingers, widen those palms and when you're ready at your own pace just circle to the right. Nice. Let's take one collective breath here. Breathing in, maybe lifting your cheekbones. Then exhale, draw your belly button to spine. Tuck those back toes. And we're going to play around in floating tabletop today. So we're going to take a deep breath in. On your exhale, belly button goes all the way to your spine that it lifts those knees just a centimeter or inch off the mat. And let's take three breaths here. Breathing in and out. Deep breath in, extending that spine from your crown all the way to your tail. One more. Maybe you're shaking like me. That's beautiful. Breathing in and exhale. Extend those legs behind you and we're going to come into our first Downward Dog. Maybe your first Downward Dog of the day. Really straighten those arms and imagine your palms are glued to the mat. Fingers are spreading wide but you're pressing so much so away that you can send your upper body towards your legs and send weight into both of your heels. Breathing in. On your exhale, we're going to bend the knees and come back. Maybe you need to adjust your stance. However that feels good. Maybe you bring those arms closer to you and we'll come back into a floating tabletop. And we're going to explore what it's like to lift that left foot off the mat and then the right. So how stable can you keep your spine? So we are creating a line from the crown to our tail. Let's do three more. One, two, and three. And let's extend. Deep exhale back to relax in Downward Dog. We're going to come back there and play around with our hands. Deep breath in. And on that exhale, come back gently into this floating tabletop. And if it's available to you, begin to tap opposite shoulders with your hands. Maybe you've done this in Plank, but what if we explore the awareness of our body here? So maybe you're activating your lower abs to keep some stability. Three more. Two, and three. When you're ready, relax back into that Downward Dog. Bend that right knee. And switch. Bending that left. And if you want to come to stillness for a cycle of breath in your Downward Dog, feel free. Breathing in. And out. Walk those feet down the center of your mat, coming into a Forward Fold. If it's available to you, grasp opposite elbows and gently release the weight of your head. Rocking side to side. Really relaxing the top part of your spine that connects to your head. And when you're ready, we're going to take a flat back. So either fingertips on the mat or hands on your legs. Come into a flat back. Release. Let's roll up today. So drop the weight on the head. Bend those knees generously. And then begin to roll up vertebrae by vertebrae. Make some Mountain Pose. Deep breath in. Bring those arms up overhead. And let them drop into prayer position. The hands are in prayer position right by my solar plexus. And if you feel you'd like to set a dedication and some counsel for this process, which the energy we are creating will go to, I invite you to do so now. Beautiful. When you're ready, look up. Open those eyes. If they're closed, bring those arms up. Release those palms, imagining your dedication is going out and it's going to be completed. And on your next exhale, swan dive down. Flat back up. And either set or hop to the back of your mat. And let's bend those elbows into our first Chaturanga. Coming either into a Sphinx Pose or Upward Facing Dog, whatever floats your boat today. Releasing the weight of your hips down into the earth. Breathing in and out. And let's meet in Downward Dog. Breathing in, finding awareness in that breath. When you're ready, let's bring the soles of the feet to touch behind us in Downward Dog. Lift that right leg up and meet there. Really sense a stretch in the back of that left leg. That back line is you are in Three-Legged Dog. Take some ankle circles to the right. That right leg. And ankle circles to the left. Beautiful. Bend that knee to stretch the psoas on your right side. In Three-Legged Dog, let's actually release that weight and come into the Wild Thing. So you can release that weight onto the mat and breathe in. Hips to the sky. Maybe you smile. Sensing the power in that left arm. And let's do two more. Breathe out. Gently rest those hips on the mat. Breathe in. Stretch. Feel how yummy that stretch can feel. Exhale, hips onto the mat. Last one. Deep breath in. And on your exhale, come back to that Three-Legged Dog. Right leg up in the air. Bend that knee, imagining you can touch your knee to your nose as you transition into a lunge. Let's start by placing the left knee on the mat. Just stretching out the front of our left leg. Synchronizing our breath to our movement. If you feel ready, you can lift those arms up overhead. Deep breath in. And on that exhale, send your hips not only forward and down, but really think of the three-dimensionality of your movement as maybe you arch your back, send your gaze up towards the back, lengthening your torso. Beautiful. When you're ready, release those hands onto the mat. And lift up that left knee and we'll take a twist. So left arm's on the mat, right arm is creating a straight line from my middle finger down to my left wrist. Breathe in. And out. When you're ready, bring both arms onto the mat. Let's take a couple knocks here. So I'm sending the weight from my back foot to my front foot here. I know this might be a little funny, but it's an active form of stretching. And when you're ready, send that right leg, either if you want to take a one-legged chaturanga, or come to a normal one, to upward-facing dog. And we'll meet in downward dog. Maybe walk your dog. Bend one knee and the other. Let's take three collective breaths here. And when I say collective, I encourage you to imagine that we're all breathing together, even if we're not physically in the same room. Long inhale. Long exhale. What is the temperature of that breath feel like as you breathe in? And out. Maybe on this next one, imagine your favorite scent. And sniff. Breathe in. And breathe out. Beautiful. Bring those toes of the feet to touch the toes like this. Lift that left leg, the three-legged dog, and really send your weight into that back right heel so you feel a stretch on the back side of that right leg. Maybe even the hip flexors of that left leg as you take ankle circles to the left of that free leg, that left leg. And ankle circles to the right. And bend that left knee. And before we go into wild thing, really sense a stretch in the front of that left hip, the psoas muscle, which is a deep core muscle that helps us bend our knees. You can often get into a tight holding pattern if we're sitting down a long time. And on your exhale, let the weight of that left leg bring you down into wild thing. If you'd like, rest those hips on the mat. On your inhale, breathe in. And lift those hips up to the sky, really pressing away from your right hand. Sense that power. Your leg, your right arm, release down. Hips on the mat. And two more. Deep breath in. And out. What if this next one, imagine you're painting something with this left arm and hand? A big breath in. What does that look like? What does that look like? What does that change the quality of your movement? And when you're ready, we're going to flip that into sitting like a dog, left leg up in the air. As we transition, bend that knee. Imagine touching your nose to your knee. And we'll come to Anjani Asana, lunge with that left leg in front, right knee on the mat, bringing your hands maybe to rest on that left leg, left thigh. Sinking that weight into the earth. So as we sink the weight, we still want to connect our belly button to our spine. And when I say that, it's to activate the deep core. So in yoga, we don't really focus on the six-pack abs, it's about using your muscles in such a way that you can stretch and strengthen. So let's find mobility all at the same time. So breathe in, bring those arms up overhead. Maybe you send your gaze, your drishti up to the sky as you really press your weight forward. Maybe also thinking about your left hip still rotating in towards you. Beautiful. Exhale, bring that right arm to the mat, untuck your right toes and take a twist. Lensing that left arm up to the sky, creating a straight line from that left middle finger to that right wrist. Maybe still sinking that weight. So feel that push and pull in the body, those hips sink into the earth but you feel that reach of that left palm, left middle finger up towards the sky. Beautiful. When you're ready, come back. Both palms on the mat. Let's come back to that dynamic stretch. So I'm sending weight to that front foot and back foot. This feels like when you see fighters prep their footwork for a match. And you can either come back into a plank or a one-legged chaturanga if that feels good. Let's come back to this. Coming up into upward facing dog. Let's actually go back into child's pose for a brief moment. You can either keep those knees zipped together or as wide as the mat, sending your forehead onto the earth. Sensing how the body might feel new or different than the first time we were here. And maybe the place that we feel the breath is moving us, maybe we identify a new place. And I invite you to envision a sense of peace and relaxation. Maybe you take yourself to your favorite beach in your imagination. Your favorite place as a kid. On your next exhale, we are going to, for a brief moment, come back into downward dog. So stretch the backs of those legs, sending your weight into your heels as much as you're stretching and widening those toes. Spreading those fingers. Still envisioning and imagining that you are in that place of safety and peace. Beautiful. From here, we are going to do a fun transition of sending our weight into those palms and just roll that spine. So let's take that slowly. We are going to come to lay flat on the mat. But before we do that, come onto your tippy toes and really activate belly button to spine and think of rolling through your spine as much as you can, isolating vertebrae by vertebrae. Bend those elbows to lay flat on the mat. So lay flat on the mat and we are just going to send one arm underneath to come to lay flat on your back. Let's bring those palms and soles of the feet on the mat. So my knees are bent. On your exhale, first deep breath in. And exhale, press into those palms, press into the soles of the feet so much that you can roll those hips up. Imagining creating space between your chin and your collarbone as if you are holding a soft tennis ball. And release down. We'll do two more, pressing strongly, confidently into that mat. And as you do so, you can peel those hips up to the sky. Exhale, release. One more. Breathing in. Pressing away firmly from this mat. And here, if you wish, you can interlace those arms, those fingers behind you and really stretch the front parts of your hips. So I'm really thinking of length between the front of my hip joints and my bottom ribs as you create that beautiful arc in your body. And relax down. Bring that right ankle to cross over into a figure four stretch. Bring those arms behind your left leg. Sending your right knee to the side, maybe using your right elbow to really widen that angle. And release down. If you want to stay longer in these stretches, feel free. Let me keep moving in this class. Come to the other side, so cross that left ankle over that right thigh. Spreading those arms through that window to come behind your right leg. You can press gently with your left elbow into your left thigh to open that leg. Feel a deep stretch in your glutes. Feel a deep stretch in your glutes. But also use your arms to bring those legs gently towards you. Nice. And just release down. Send those knees, both of your knees, to your right. Arms can be up overhead. Just in a relaxed posture, whatever that means for you. And your intention is sending that left shoulder blade towards the earth. And come back to neutral. Rock those knees to the left. Sending your gaze to the right shoulder blade on that mat. And come back into Shavasana. You can either place your palms facing up towards the sky, laying flat on the mat, or your palms can rest on your torso to feel your breath. Relaxing that jaw, creating space between your upper and lower jaws. If you wish, you can stay here as long as you'd like. If you need to continue on with your day, I invite you to come back to your dedication, if you set one or you're still in Kalkal, and really envision it and feel it to be complete. You can rub your palms together. Bring those thumbs to touch your forehead, your third eye, to your lips, to your center, or your heart. Thank you all for joining me today. It's always a great time being able to share this space together. So if you want to stay laying down for free, I will close this meeting. But otherwise, have a wonderful weekend. We're celebrating Easter. Happy Easter. Thank you so much.