Welcome to your practice today.
We will be doing a short but dynamic and energizing practice that can be modified to your needs.
Always listen to your body first and allow yourself to rest in child's pose whenever you need it.
Yoga is a practice of discovery and it deepens with your willingness and ability to stay open and present and to soften into the breath.
Please find a comfortable seat.
Resting your hands onto your knees,
Sitting nice and tall.
And then gently closing your eyes.
And then just deepening your breath.
As you lengthen the spine,
Keeping your face soft and the shoulders relaxed.
Letting go of any thoughts in your mind,
Just staying with your breath.
Without trying to control it or manipulate it.
Put your hands into prayer.
And maybe set an intention for your practice.
And then open the eyes,
Release your hands,
Inhale,
Reach the arms over your head.
Reaching out through the fingertips and softening the shoulders down.
In here.
As you exhale,
Take your arms to the right,
Left hand on the outside of your right knee.
Breathing and then with your next inhalation or down through the sit bones.
And take the arms all the way up into the sky.
On your exhale,
Twist to the left.
Right hand to the outset of your left knee.
Breathe.
And then inhale,
Take the arms back up and exhale,
Release.
Come onto your hands and knees.
Spreading your fingers wide.
Bringing the knees underneath the hips,
Tuck your toes and then take it up into your first down dog.
Walk your feet in place.
Bend you.
Right knee,
And then reach through the left here.
And then switch and bend your left knee and reach to the right here,
Stretching your back nice and long,
Rooting through the hands.
And then bending both knees.
Bring your belly towards your thighs.
And then straighten the legs and reach both thighs back.
Face is soft.
Inhale,
Float the right leg up.
Exhale,
The knee to the chest.
Inhale taking it back up,
Exhale knee to your left elbow.
And heading back up.
Exhale,
Right elbow.
Inhale,
Float the leg up.
Now exhale,
Step the right foot forward.
Lifting your height Bring your left fingertips to the floor and then take your right hand to the hips.
And float your right arm up into the sky.
Keep reaching your right hip back.
Keep reaching through the left here.
Exhale release,
Step your right foot back Lift your left leg up.
Exhale,
Left knee to the chest.
Inhaling back up.
Exhale,
Take your left knee to the right elbow.
Inhaling up,
Exhale,
Left elbow.
Inhaling up,
Exhale step your foot forward.
This time right fingertips to the floor.
And then take your left hip back and float your left arm all the way up into the sky.
And breathe here.
Keep your leg active.
Exhale,
Hands to the floor and step your right foot forward.
On your next exhale,
Just fold over your legs,
Take hold of the elbows and shake out your head,
Yes and no.
And release the arms.
Take your hands to your waist,
Press into your feet,
Come up to stand.
Open the feet hip distance.
Inhale,
Float the arms up.
Grab your right wrist,
Stretch your body long and lean over to the left.
Breathing into the right side.
And then inhale,
Come all the way up to stand,
Switch,
Grab your left wrist.
Stretch the arms all the way up,
Lengthen your left side,
And then take it over to the right side.
And with your next inhale,
Come all the way back up.
And then exhale,
Take your hands to your heart.
Sun Salute.
Inhale,
Float the arms up.
As you exhale with the long back,
Fold forward and downward to Nasana.
Inhale lengthen,
Exhale walk or step back.
Take it forwards into plank pose and lower down Chaturanga.
Inhale,
Forward and up.
Exhale roll over your toes,
Downward facing dog.
Stay here,
Breathing deeply.
Let your face be soft,
Keep rooting through the hands.
Is a spread white.
And then bend the knees,
Walk a step forward.
Inhale,
Lifting the heart.
Exhale,
Forward.
Inhale,
Take the arms out and up over your head,
Looking up.
Exhale,
Hands in Namaste.
Inhale,
Take the arms up.
Exhale,
Fold forward and down,
Uttanasana.
Inhale it.
Exhale walk or step back.
Come forward,
Draw the shoulders together,
Chaturanga,
Lower down.
Inhaling forward and up,
Shoulders above the wrist.
And exhale back into downward facing dog.
Breathing deeply.
It's always a good pose to check in with your breasts and you really want to keep rooting through the hands.
And then bend the knees,
Walk,
Step,
Or jump forward.
Looking up.
Exhale fold.
Inhale,
Take the arms out and up,
Standing tall.
Exhale,
Hands to the heart.
One more time.
Inhale,
Float the arms up,
Standing tall.
And exhale,
Fold forward and down,
Uttanasana.
And your lips.
Exhale walk or step back Move through the vinyasa,
Lower down,
Chaturanga.
Inhaling forward and up into upward facing dog.
And really be sure that your shoulders are above the wrist.
And your legs are engaged.
Exhale,
Back down with dog.
Stretch out your legs.
Again,
Breathing deeply.
And then bend the knees,
Walk,
Step,
Or jump forward.
Inhale,
Looking up.
Exhale,
Fold.
Inhale,
Take the arms out and up,
Standing tall.
Exhale,
Namaste.
Bend the knees,
Float the arms up,
Coming into a chair pose,
Utkatasana.
On the exhale,
Hands to your heart,
Squeeze the knees and take it to the right,
Left elbow.
Against the knee if you like.
You can also take your left hand to the floor and float your right arm up into the sky.
Keep the chest nice and open.
Draw the belly in.
Keep rooting through the feet.
And then as you inhale,
Come back up,
And exhale,
Fold over your legs.
Bend the knees,
Inhale,
Take it back into chair pose.
Hands together on the axial twist to the left.
And again,
Either stay here with your hands together or bring your right palm to the outside and your left arm up into the sky.
Keep squeezing the legs,
Breathe.
And then release.
Inhaling up.
Exhale,
Fold deeply.
Inhale,
Lift onto the fingertips.
Exhale,
Step your right foot back.
Heel is rooting down.
Take the arms up for warrior one.
Bend the front knee deeply.
Reaching out through the fingertips.
And then as you exhale Open the arms into warrior two.
Let the shoulders be soft,
Knees above the ankle,
Feet are rooting down.
And then releasing your right hand onto your back leg,
Turn your left palm up and back,
Proud warrior.
So the feet are rooting down,
The upper body is lifting up.
As you Amen.
Come all the way back up,
Exhale,
Hands to the floor,
Step back.
Vinyasa.
And you can always skip the vinyasa and just do knees,
Chest,
Chin,
Or rest in child's pose or downward facing dog.
And then step your right foot forward,
Take your left heel down,
Float the arms up for warrior one.
Strong legs.
As you exhale.
Open the arms into warrior two.
And let the shoulders soften.
Really be aware of drawing the shoulder blades together on your back.
No tension in your neck.
Gazing over your fingertips.
And then from here,
Take your right arm up,
Left hand drops down and breathe into your right side.
Your next inhalation,
Go down through the feet,
Come up,
Exhale,
Hands to the floor.
Come forward and move through the vinyasa.
Chaturanga,
Inhaling into up dog.
And exhaling back,
Downward facing dog.
Breathing here.
Bend the knees,
Walk or step forward.
In here looking up.
Exhale and fold.
Inhale,
Take the arms out and up.
Exhale,
Hands to the heart.
Inhale,
Take the arms up.
Exhale,
Fold forward.
Inhale,
Lengthen.
Exhale,
Right foot steps back.
And then cartwheel the arms up into warrior two.
Sink a little deeper into the legs,
Straighten the front leg.
And then reach forward coming into Trikonasana,
Triangle Pose.
And if you like,
You can extend the arm over your head,
Reaching the pinky finger towards the floor.
Make sure you're breathing,
Face is soft.
And then from here,
Take your hand onto your waist,
Bring your left fingertips forward,
Press into your left foot,
And lift the right leg up,
Ardha Chandrasana.
Photos engaged and flagged.
Very nice.
Breathing here.
And then take it back,
Press into the feet,
Lift up.
And come back in to warrior two.
Inhale,
Take your arm back.
Exhale,
Cartwheel your hands to the floor and step back.
Come forward and lower down Chaturanga.
Inhaling out,
Dog.
Exhaling,
Downward facing dog.
Step your right foot forward,
Left heel reaches down,
Take the arms up into warrior one.
And then on the exhale,
Open into warrior two.
Straighten the front leg,
Reach forward and take it into Trikonasana.
Hand can be either on the shin or reach to the floor.
And then reach your left fingertips all the way up into the sky.
And you can choose to either leave your arm reaching straight up Or you can decide to take it again into.
.
.
Extension,
Extended version.
I'm taking the arm over your head.
Again,
Little fingers pointing towards the floor.
And then take your left hand onto your waist.
Look at your right fingertips.
And then go down through the right foot and lift your left leg up.
And flex the foot.
Take your left arm up into the sky.
Breathing here.
Mending the knee,
Slowly take it back into warrior two.
Very nice.
Inhale,
Take your right arm up,
Exhale,
Cartwheel your hands to the floor and move through your vinyasa.
Breathe in downward dog,
Face is soft.
And then again,
Bend your knees.
This time walk or step your feet outside of your hands and then come down into a squat.
Malasana,
Bringing your palms together in front of your heart.
And as you press down into the hands,
Find more length in your spine.
The arms are pressing out against the knees.
Just breathing.
And then you can choose to stay here.
Or you can decide to take it into crow pose,
Our first arm balance.
For crow pose,
Place your hands,
Roll down through the fingers and bring your knees all the way up.
Onto the upper arms,
Draw the belly in,
It's a lot about the core and then spread the toes and lift up.
Keep looking forward.
And then slowly come back down.
Very nice.
In here,
Lifting the heart.
Exhale,
Fold deeply.
Inhale,
Float the arms all the way up.
Exhale,
Hands to your heart.
And open your legs wide.
Coming into Parvata,
Parasvottanasana.
And take the toes out to the side,
Inhale your arms up,
Bend the knees,
Right arm underneath your left arm,
Press your palms together.
And with every breath,
Drop a little deeper into the pose,
Keeping the knees over the little toes.
And the arms squeezing together.
And then press into your feet,
Inhale,
Stretch your legs.
Exhale,
Bend the knees,
This time your left arm is underneath your right.
Keep pressing into your palms,
Keep lifting from the belly and drop down.
Your tailbone down.
Keep rotating through the feet and here lifting up.
And exhale,
Hands onto your waist.
Standing nice and tall,
We'll dance with the feet.
Lift the shoulders up and back.
As you exhale,
Fold forward.
Your fingertips,
First two fingers around the big toes.
Press your heels and toes down onto the floor,
Lift your chest.
And then exhale,
Fold deeply.
And draw the shoulders.
Away from your ears and the shoulder blades towards each other on your back to take it a little deeper.
Into your forward fold.
Keep pressing into the heels.
Bring a little more weight into the toes to open the back of the legs.
And then release your toes.
Inhale,
Looking up.
And then take your hands behind your back.
Inhale,
Lift up.
And exhale,
Fold forward.
And again,
Drawing the shoulder blades towards each other,
Keep rooting through the feet.
Face is soft.
Let every breath go a little bit deeper.
And then come halfway up,
Release your hands,
Take your left hand to your right ankle,
And float your right arm up into the sky.
Nice easy twist.
And then switch.
Take your right hand to the left ankle.
Lift from your heart.
Inhale,
Float your left arm up.
And then on your next exhale,
Release your hands.
Inhale,
Lift onto the fingertips.
Hands onto the waist,
Exhale,
Come all the way up to stand and walk your feet forward.
Inhale,
Float the arms over your head.
As you exhale,
Fold forward.
Inhale it.
And exhale,
Take it back into Chaturanga Dandasana.
Inhaling upward facing dog.
Exhaling back,
Adho Mukha Svanasana,
Downward Facing Dog.
From here,
Bend your knees and then walk forward and come to sit.
Keep your knees bent,
Sit nice and tall,
Reach your arms forward,
Take the shoulders back,
Coming into boat pose,
Navasana.
Draw the belly in.
Straighten the legs if you can.
Otherwise,
Keep your knees bent.
Keep breathing here,
Soften your face,
Your jaw.
Feel the muscles of your body working.
Inhaling,
Come up.
Stretch it out,
Reaching the heart towards your knees,
Sitting nice and tall.
And then second round,
Take your shoulders back.
Straighten the legs and then take your legs to the left and your arms to the right.
Inhale to the middle,
Exhale,
Switch legs to the right arms to the left,
Palms pressing together.
One more time,
Each side,
Take it over.
To the left with your legs.
And back to the middle and to the right with your legs,
Arms to the left.
One more breath.
Release.
Sitting nice and tall.
Take your right knee above your left knee,
Bring your feet to the side.
Find the length in your spine first.
And then walk your fingertips forward and bring your chin to your knees.
Let the elbows rest on the floor.
And sink deeper with each breath.
So you will feel this one in your hips.
It's a very nice hip stretch.
Keep breathing into the sensations in your body.
Going deeper with each breath.
And coming back.
Press into your fingertips and now turn to the left.
All the way to the other side and now your left knee is on top of your right knee.
Feet are next to your hips.
Again,
Sitting nice and tall in here.
And then as you exhale,
Walk your hands forward and feel the difference on this side and again.
Deepen with your breathing.
The face is soft.
And release,
Come all the way back.
And then straighten your legs out in front of you.
Take the flesh out from your sit bones.
Keep your feet flexed.
Engage your legs.
Inhale,
Float the arms up.
As you exhale,
Come forward into Paschimottanasana.
Lift from your heart,
Draw the belly in,
Bend the elbows out to the side.
And then again,
Surrender into the breath.
And with each breath,
Go a little deeper.
Maybe you can rest your head.
On your legs.
Very nice.
Stay with your breath.
And then with your next inhale,
Come all the way back up.
Amen.
Turn around and prepare for shishasana headstand.
Make sure you create a good foundation.
Elbows underneath your shoulders,
Interlace your fingers.
And then press your head against your hands onto the floor.
Walk your feet in.
Hips above your shoulders.
First take your knees to your chest.
Use the abdominis to straighten your legs.
All the way up into the sky.
Remember,
We're working with two energies.
One energy is rooting down,
And then you keep lifting up.
From your legs.
And find a nice steady breath here.
Very nice.
And to come out,
Bend the knees to your chest.
And then open the knees wide and sit back.
And child's pose.
And really allow yourself to rest here.
Take the arms next to your body.
Breathe and release your shoulders.
Couple more breaths here.
And then we'll reserve all the way back up to safety.
Let's take it into a twist.
So take your right foot to the outside of your left knee.
Bring your right hand behind your back,
First hugging the knee into your chest and then inhale your left arm up.
Twist from your belly and take your left elbow outside of your right knee.
Sitting nice and tall.
And draw the belly in,
Really feel the twist coming from your organs,
Not just from your shoulder.
Keep breathing.
And then if you like to take it into a bind,
You can bring your left arm underneath and your right arm behind the leg.
Try to keep your spine nice and long.
As you go into the bind.
And then release.
Switch legs,
Take your left foot outside of your right knee.
Sitting nice and tall.
Take your left arm behind and float the right arm up into the sky as you exhale elbow outside of your left knee and twist.
Breathing deeply here.
Soften into the twist.
You want to do the bind,
Bring your right arm underneath your thigh and bring your left arm behind.
And then again,
Try to sit nice and tall.
Or just stay where you are.
And then release the bind,
Release your hands,
Come back to the front.
And straighten your legs.
To lie on your back and hug your knees into your chest.
I'm making little circuits,
Massaging the lower back.
Slide down the mat a little bit and swing your legs over your head coming into Sarvangasana,
Shoulder stand.
Press the toes down into the floor.
And really engage your thighs.
Keep a little curve in your neck.
Face is looking straight up and breathe.
Hands onto your lower back.
And then when you're ready,
Bend the knees and float your legs all the way up into shoulder stand.
And the same principle here,
You want to root down into the shoulders,
But at the same time lift your legs.
Spread the toes nice and wide.
Keeping the legs energized.
As a variation,
You can take the soles of your feet together and the knees out to the side.
Keep reaching your tailbone up into the sky.
And then inhale,
Straighten your legs back up.
As you exhale,
Take your right foot behind your head,
Keep reaching the left leg up.
And then switch,
Inhaling your right leg up,
Exhaling your left foot over your head.
The next inhale.
Bring your left leg back up.
And then bend the knees and release your knees next to your ears.
And then begin to roll yourself all the way back down.
Come to lie on your back,
Stretch your legs out.
We're going to take it into fish pose.
So the legs are on the floor,
Bend the elbows.
And then bring your hands underneath your sit bones,
Lift your chest and come onto the top of your head.
Keep your legs active,
Reaching through the toes.
Keep breathing into the heart.
This is a counter pose for shoulder stand.
Very nice.
Few more breaths.
And then slowly release.
And then again,
Hug your knees into your chest.
Rolling back and forth,
Lift your forehead and make yourself very,
Very small,
Hugging your knees in.
You're just fine.
And then release.
And straighten your left leg to the floor.
Keep your right knee hugged in.
And then stretch your right leg up into the sky and place your hands behind your thigh and keep pressing the leg into the hands and the hands into your leg.
And then walk your hands all the way up towards your ankle.
Lift your chest and your head.
Go for a nice stretch here.
And then release.
Hugging the knee in.
Exhale,
Straighten.
Take your left knee to your chest.
And then straighten your leg all the way up into the sky.
And again,
Really press.
The leg into the hands and the hands into the leg.
And then walk your hands up.
Lifting up,
Nice deep stretch,
Breathe here.
And then slowly release.
One more breath,
Hug the knee in.
Exhale,
Straightening your legs to the floor.
And you're ready to come into Shavasana.
And just let your feet fall open.
Palms facing up.
Take another deep breath in.
And exhale completely.
And enjoy your Shavasana.
Slowly deepen your breathing,
Wiggle your toes.
Hold your fingers.
And stretch your arms long over your head.
And serve a good stretch.
And bend your knees,
Roll onto your right side.
And then rest here for a few breaths.
And you can use your right arm as a pillow.
Keeping the eyes closed.
And when you're ready,
Use your hands to come back up into a comfortable seat.
Crossing your legs.
Sitting nice and tall,
Let your hands rest back onto your knees,
Keeping the eyes closed for a few more moments.
And then just sit here and notice anything that might have opened or shifted in your practice.
Take a moment of gratitude to yourself for choosing to practice today.
And then please take your hands into prayer in front of your heart.
Thank you very much for your practice today.
Namaste.