Earth Day

1:11:29

1:11:29

Earth Day

by Cheryl Chaffee

Type

guided

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Experienced

Plays

1

Happy Earth Day! In today's class, we connect to and honor the Earth element. Poses include: Warm ups, Sun Salutations, Warrior 2, Goddess Warrior, Triangle, Half-Moon, handstand prep, Ardha Matsyendrasana, Badda Konasana variations, and more. Recommended props: a blanket, 2 blocks, and a wall

Grounding Yoga Ujjayi Pranayama Earth Element Relaxation Grounding Techniques Earth Element Focus Shavasana

Meet your Teacher

Bradenton, FL, USA

Meet your Teacher

Bradenton, FL, USA

Transcript

All right, So welcome, Everybody, And it's Earth Day. Yay! Yay! So I thought we would do an Earth-centered type of class, Which for me is grounding. Hip opening and just being feeling that connection to all of everything, You know, Being in that place of yoga. So it's not, You know, It's not just a physical practice. As we know, We've all been practicing yoga for years. And yes, There are definitely physical aspects and physical benefits to it. But even the word yoga itself means unity. And it's like, How do we connect with everything in the world? And on a day like Earth Day, You know, It feels really good. It feels like, Oh, Yeah, I'm part of this big planet. And, You know, We need to take care of the earth and be good stewards of the earth and honor our place. In the ecosystem. So that makes me think of the five elements, Which as you know, I love to teach about. And the first one is earth element. So let's start with our comfortable seated posture. So inner rotate your thigh bones. Just turn them in so you feel that broadening across the pelvis and you get your low back curve. And then reach down to your tailbone. And let's join the index fingers with the thumbs on each hand. Place your palm. Face down on your lap. Or that downward feel of being. Grounded and connected. To their earth. Close your eyes. Feel the physical sensations in your body. Notice what's going on in your body this morning. Do you have any pain or discomfort? What feels good in your body. Even just sense. Physical sensation like the way your your shirt touches the skin of your shoulders or the hardness of the floor underneath your ankles like whatever you can sense with that sense of touch or feel Earth element is solid. It's tactile, It's like. . . There's that like word. Physical. It's like something physical, Something real. You can touch it. You can smell it. You can taste it. Use your senses. To experience Earth. We think about Earth and the vastness of it. It's big. We're part of this bigger something. Bigger energy. We all come from the earth. Like the atoms and molecules of the Earth are the same atoms and molecules. That make up our physical body. We take in food, Nutrients from the earth like it. You know, It. Contributes to who we are and what we can do. Start to observe your breath now. And to make the breath a little more earthy, Heavier, A little more tactile, Let's add the ujjayi pranayama. So lightly engage the muscles at the base of your throat. Start to hear the sound of the breath. And feel the sensation. It feels like a scraping action as the breath crosses over. The back of your throat. Both your inhalations and your exhalation. Even though the earth is constantly changing, There's always something new happening on the earth. There's something growing. We think of Earth as being. . . And stable and steady. Reliable, You know it's always there. It's not going anywhere. Feel how that resonates in your body and in your mind. And yes, The earth is changing. And, You know, Being humans here on the earth, Our existence. To the change happening. In the world. On many levels. So on Earth Day, Let's consider our place in the ecosystem, Both of the natural world and of. . . The societal world and our relationships. With the planet and with others. And commit to. . . Being a force for good. With each inhalation bring in that sense of commitment. With each exhalation, Just send a wave of your goodness from your heart out into the world. Bring hands together at the heart center. Take a deep breath and we'll chant an OM. Bow your head to your heart. And as you're ready, Lift your chin, Open your eyes, Offer a gentle bow. To everyone who's here today. And let's get moving. So we'll begin on the mat. In table pose today. And as you come into table pose, Consider how you place your hands. On Earth. To set a clear foundation, The center of your wrist. Line up with the outer edge of your shoulders. And the creases of your wrists will point straight across from one hand to the other. So they're not turned out. They're not turned in. They're just neutral. And then create an even spread through your fingers and your thumbs so that you can see about the same amount of matte between each finger and even between your index finger and your thumb. That one's going to be a little bit bigger than the other fingers, But you don't want to overstretch the thumbs into the shape of an L with your index finger. You want it more like the shape of the letter J. I'm going to create a nice steady foundation. And then firm your arms. When we hug muscles to bones, It's like creating more of that cohesive, Earth, Steady element. And keeping that, Lift your sitting bones. Arch the back, Look forward, Look up into your cow stretch. And with your exhalation, Come into cat. And flow between. Cow and cat. Back and forth. With a steadiness. Rhythm yesterday we were talking about finding your own rhythm Maybe that was Monday. It's all a blur. But find your own slow birth rhythm. Pay attention to all the physical sensations along. The vertebrae of your spine. Movement in the pelvis. The way your shoulder blades slide around on the back ribs. Just get into it. This may be the only part of your day where you really focus on how your body moves. And what it feels like. And usually it feels good. So enjoy. Come into a neutral spine now. And step your right foot forward. You can bring it to the outside of your hands, So the sole of the foot is on the floor. You can come up to the fingers here, Or if you need more space, You can put blocks under your hands. We're going to make hip circle. So take that slow, Again, Like just slow rhythm. We're not in a hurry. The earth is patient. Been here millions of years. It's going to deal however it does with our 21st century existence here. But I don't think the Earth itself is going anywhere. So just be in that kind of slow knife-over rhythm here as you circle around. Maybe think of how the earth orbits. The sun. And isn't it interesting that we think of the Earth as still in study, But, You know, It's hurtling through space and spinning really fast. I always get a kick out of that idea. All right, Pause and go the other way. Good, And then come into the place in the middle. You can walk your hands a little farther out to your left. Bend your elbows and. . . If you can get your elbows to the mat, That's cool. If they don't quite reach, Put blocks under your forearms. Or you could stay up on the palms if you have a black handy, But. . . We like the torso to stretch down. Notice how this really opens up that right hip. Your right hip is going to want to stick out to the right. So let's bring a little more steady earth element to it. Scoop that right hip under your body more. And yeah, You're going to feel that tones. All right. Bye. Be with your breath here. And your next inhalation come on back up. And return to table. Take a breath in a cow, Lift your sitting bones, Lift your chest, And then let's come into downward dog. So lifting these up. And stretch. You can bend your legs one at a time and walk your feet in place. Stretch through the back of your legs. Open up the shoulders. Observe the sensations. In your body And check your hands. Make sure you've still got that good. Solid, Well-aligned foundation in the hand. Let's bring the knees down. And step your left foot up to the outside. We'll come back to hip circles here. Go around. Nice and slowly. Mindfully. And pause. Go the other direction. Then come to the place in the middle. Block the hands out a little bit to the right. Melt your heart down, Bend your arms, Bring the forearms down or it's fine to stay on the palms, But reach your torso down towards the ground. Get closer to the earth. Let gravity pull you. Closer to the earth. And then you'll notice your thighs go way back here. So with that commitment, Scoop your left sitting bone under. Oh yeah. Feel the sensations in your leg, Your hip. Keep the heart soft. Keep your breath steady. On your next inhalation, Come back to your hands. Bring that left knee back around, And let's take another downward dog. Let your knees lift your hips up. And this time just keep the legs mostly straight. Put a little bend in your knees so that you can lift your sitting bones and then scoop your tailbone, Pull your ribs in. And push from your heart into the earth. Push down into your hands. Push back into your feet. Heels might come all the way to the floor, But they don't need to. But you're reaching down into the earth. So you get more connected. Then look forward at your hands and walk your feet up to the front of the mat. Once you're there, Rise to the fingertips. Spread your toes, Root down into the legs. Inhale, Sweep your arms out. Reach up to the sky. And then release for your hands. Into your heart. All right, And we'll move into some salutes to the sun next. Come on up to the front of your Feet are now your foundation. So, Line up the center of the ankles with the front hip bones. Feet parallel to one another. Lift and spread your toes. And notice how that helps the muscles around the shins. And even up into the thighs, Engaged, They hug in, Hug muscles onto bones. Keep that as you bring the toes back to the earth. The top of the thighs back, Tailbone in. And then bring your hands to your heart center. And recommit. To being a good citizen of the earth. However that. . . Shows up for you. Whatever images that comes to mind brings to mind for you. How can you be a force for good? We've all got our own ways that we do it. From your pelvis, Root down into your feet, And then stretch up through the spine. Inhale, Reach your arms up to the sky. And as you exhale, We'll hinge forward and bring your fingertips back down to the mat. Take a breath, Look up. And then step your left foot back. Come into lunge. And then with the steadiness of earth, Hug your legs in towards the middle, Root down into the legs, And we'll come up for Warrior I lunge variations. You can keep the back heel. If you need more stability, You can spin the back heel down. But with the back hip up, Or the back heel of the hips will be more square to the front. Exhale, Release your hand. Place your palms down. Step now to plank pose. Feel that earth quality in your arms and in your legs and in your torso. So scoop the tailbone. Get strong through your core. And then bend your arms, Come down. You can bring the knees down first or come down with straight legs. Then lengthen and lift up to small cobra. And then push back to downward facing dog pose. On your next inhalation, Lift your right leg up behind you into your one-legged dog. And then swing your right foot all the way forward. Lean into your left hand, Reach your right arm up, Lunge, Twist. Take your shoulders back, Take your thighs back, And then as we did in that deep lunge earlier, Pull that right hip under your body more. It's gonna feel a little more earthy, Feel a little more grounded. Lean back, Open the throat more. And send your goodness. From your heart into your hands, Out into the world. Sweet. All right, Bring your hand down. Step your left foot to the front of the mat. Breathe down into your feet. Inhale, Rise all the way up. Exhale, Bring your hands to your heart center. And we'll do the other side. Inhale, Reach up. A little back bend if you wish. Exhale, Come forward, Touch down, See the earth. Take a breath, Lift your chest. Lunge the right leg back now. And with commitment, With strength, Hug your legs in, And then come all the way up. Reach your arms and bite your ears. Strong legs. Lift your heart, Reach with the hands, Even look up between your palms. And then exhale and sweep your arms down. Place your hands on the earth. Step back to your plank. Bend your arms, Go through your Chaturanga Dandasana. All the way down to the mat. Point your toes. Get earthy in your legs so firm the muscles around the legs And then lift the chest, Cobra. Good push back downward dog pose. Hips go way up toward the sky, But the heels release down. And then stretch your left leg up behind you. And swing your left leg forward into lunge with the left foot in front. Lean into the right hand and twist. Open to the left. Notice how your hips want to swing out to the left, So pull the left sitting bone under your body more. And get more solid, More secure. More of those. Qualities of Earth elements stable. Step back. You got this. Alright, Bring your left hand down. Step the back foot forward. Bow over your legs. Inhale, Come all the way up. Exhale, Bring your palms into your heart. Inhale, Reach up and back. Exhale, Fold forward, Touch down to the ground. Take a breath, Look up. Slide your left foot back. Let's bring the knee down to the mat, And inhale, Arms up for anjaneyasana. So here, Invite your hips. . . Lower. The earth and then take the upper body up and back. Beautiful. Good. Then exhale, Release hands down. Step back, Come into a table pose now. But shift your hips. No, Don't do that. We're going to go to knees, Chest, Chin, Because I always think of this one as like a little. . . So lift the sitting bones, Knees are down, Get the low back curve. So this is the eight point prone pose. So the eight points that are touching the ground are going to be. Your two feet, Your two knees. Your two hands. Your chest, And your chin, And then everything else is off the earth. So you bend your arms, You bring your heart down between your hands and the chin comes to the floor. Like a caterpillar. And then slide your belly forward, Hips come down. Lift the heart up, Cobra. Okay, We'll practice that again on the other side. All right, Go on back. Downward dog. Right leg up high. Exhale, Step your right foot forward. Now, This time, Let's come into warrior two. So spin the back foot down 90 degrees. Firm your legs, Inhale and come on up. Extend your arms out to the side. With Earth Element, Hug your feet toward each other. And then align. Take your thighs back and scoop the right hip under. Then expand out. Awesome. Cartwheel your hands down. Come into lunge up on the toes of your back. Step your left foot forward, Fold over your leg. Inhale, Come all the way up. Exhale, Come back to the heart center, Hands to heart. Nice. Inhale, Reach up and back. Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale lifts halfway. Take the right leg back now, Knee to the ground. Inhale, Reach your arms up. Lower the hips. Lift the heart. Good. Exhale. Release the arms down. Place your palms. Step the left knee back. And then tilt the pelvis and sitting bones lift. Go to our knees, Chest, Chin. Nothing else touching the floor but toes, Knees, Hands, Chest. Chin, And then slide your belly forward. The hips go down, The heart comes up, Cobra. And then downward dog. Hmm. Lift your left leg high behind you. And swing it forward. Lunge. Spin the back heel down 90 degrees and then come on up. Warrior II. So we're down from your pelvis into the earth through the legs And the pelvis rise up to the heart. Out through your hands. And then cartwheel your arms back down. Lift the back heel step your right foot forward bow over your leg Inhale, Come all the way up. Exhale, Hands into the heart. Great. Let's do one more set. Inhale, Reach up and back. Exhale and fold. Take a breath. Look up. Step the right leg back. Spin the heel down, Bring your right hand to your hip, And then left hand, You can either keep it down on the floor, Or bring your left forearm onto your thigh for side angle pose, Your choice. You could also put a block under the hand, Of course. All right, With steadfastness, With commitment, Hug your legs in towards the middle. Take your thighs back, Scoop the tailbone under, And then lengthen your side ribs, Roll the shoulders back. And stretch your right arm. Over your ear. And then with all the goodness you've got inside of you, Just expand it, Shine it out, Send it into the world. The world needs you. You're here. For it and for each other. We're here for you. We're all in this together. Very cool. Look down at the floor. Bring your hands down. Come back to lunge. Let's go to plank now. Alright and option you can go knees, Chest, Chin or chaturanga. Pause and then release. Hips to the ground. Inhale, Come up into Cobra. Push back, Downward facing dog. Lift your. . . Let's see we did the left leg so lift your left leg up Exhale, Step it forward. Just come into lunge here. And then push off with the back foot. Bow over your legs. Inhale, Rise up. Exhale, Hands to heart. Last one. Here we go. Reach up and back. And then bow forward. Take a breath. Step your left foot back into your lunge. Turn the heel down. Get ready for your side angle pose variation. So decide what you want to do with that right arm. Engage the legs, Align the hips. Align your shoulders. Line your head with the rest of your spine so your head's not hanging. And then expand. We draw in to our commitment so that we can expand back out and take action. And our yoga then is not just. . . For ourselves, Right? It's not just so that I feel better. It's so that I feel better so that I can. . . Make a difference. Come on down to your lunge. Step back to plank. And then again chaturanga or knees, Chest, Chin, Hover your chest off the ground if you're in chaturanga. Hover the hips if you're in knees, Chest, Chin, And then come all the way down. Inhale, Cobra. Exhale, Downward facing dog. Ah. Take your right leg up behind you and then big lunge forward. And step your left foot up. Inhale, Come all the way up. Good. And then release. Bring your arms down by your sides. Pull our hands to heart. And come into Mountain Pose. Just come back to steadiness, Stillness. Again, Feel the sensations in your body. Notice the heat. In your body. Good. And then you can open your eyes if they're closed. All right, So a couple more standing postures today I wanted to do. The goddess warrior. I always think of this one as like the earth goddess. So we'll all become earth goddesses here. Let's take a medium. Stance with your feet. And then turn your toes out 45 degrees. Bend your knees. Right above your ankles. So if your knees go past your ankles, Then you can probably just take your feet a little bit wider. You want to get the shins. Vertical here. So what tends to happen is the knees tend to cave in. So lean forward, Stick your butt out. And then pull your tailbone under and get an outer rotation through your thighs so your knees press out. Then, That's good. Then take the spine upright and bring your arms to cactus. Awesome. All right, So think, Earn. Grounded. Downward rooting, Like root down into the feet. Then lift your heart, Reach up to your head. Squeeze your shoulder blades onto your back. Press your knees wide. Inhale, Reach up, Straighten your legs. Your feet parallel. And then come on down into Prasarita Padottamassana, Wide leg forward bend. You can widen the feet here to get a different stretch in your leg. Rise to the tips of your fingers for a moment so your spine is parallel to the mat. Lengthen the spine. And then melt your heart. Of your shoulder blades on your back. Mmm, That feels. . . That feels good. Okay, Then bend your elbows, Bring your head down, Walk your hands towards your feet. If you can reach your ankles or the outer edges of your feet, Then hold on. And then over a few breaths, Let gravity Four. Your head closer to the earth. Take some deep breaths. Push down from the pelvis into your feet. Extend through your spine. Maybe the head even comes down to touch the floor. If it does and you feel like you could stretch more, Walk your feet closer to each other. So that the floor doesn't stop you from getting a stretch. You Good. And then lift your gaze forward. Bring your hands to the mat underneath your shoulders. Bring your feet in a little bit closer to each other. And we'll come on up. You can do hands to hips and roots to eyes. Stuff your legs, Man. All right, So I'd like to do one more set of standing poses inspired by. Photos from Artemis to the. . . The moon mission. So we're gonna do half moon pose. So you might want to block for this. We'll go triangle first and then Ardha Chandrasana. And I posted on my Facebook. Page today, Picture. Of like you can see You can see like half the moon and then the Earth. It's like, Oh, That's so cool for Earth Day. So take a wide stance with your feet. Open the right foot out. Block if you want it is to the outside of the right foot. Tone your legs, Reach your arms up. Hinge out to the right and bring your right hand down to the outside of the foot. Start with the left hand at the waist. So we can get the legs really solid. Okay, So foundation of the feet. You want to make sure you've got all four corners. Of your right foot especially grounded. The big toe. . . Corner of the foot tends to get a little bit light here. So really push down into the mound of the big toe. Take your thighs back, Scoop your tailbone under. Shoulders back and then reach your left hand up and enjoy. Trikonasana here, Just expand out. Send your goodness. Here. You And then for Ardha Chandrasana, We're going to come into it. You can bring the top hand to the hip. Bend your right knee. Slide your left foot forward. Move your right hand forward about 12 inches. Keep the hand to the outside of the foot, And then come on up. And engage the lifted leg with that leg really strong, Really earthy, Even though it's not on the earth anymore. Thighs go back scoop the right hip under that's going to help lift the left hip up And then left arm can reach up. Yeah. Keep a micro bend in your standing leg. And expand out from your center. You're doing great. Keep breathing. All right, And then to come down, Bring your left hand down, Turn the hips, Come into that standing split. So take your left leg up high. You fold your forehead towards the right shin. And then bring your lifted leg down the floor to come into Uttanasana. If you use the block, Grab it so you can take it with you. And inhale, Come on up. Nice. All right, Let's do the other side. So come back to your wide stance. Open the left toes out to the left, Firm your legs, Reach up with your arms, Hinge out to the left. And come on down into triangle pose first. Align the hips and lunge shoulders. You Lengthen down into the feet. Push down to the big toe side of that front foot. And out through your spine, Your head. Some good vibes from your heart. Move your hands into the world. You All right, And then here we go. Top hand to hip. Bend the left leg. Step in. Move your left hand forward. And then when you come up, You've got to really root down into the left foot, The left hand, The right leg is going to lift up. And engage the legs. So use. Earth element to hug muscles to bones to get steady. And then you can lift the top hand once you're steady in the legs. Nice. You got it. You come out, You just go back in. You got it. Hmm. One more breath. And then look down at the floor, Bring your hands down, Turn the hips a little bit to face down. So if you can lift that right leg higher as you bring your forehead closer to the left shin. And then breathe. The lifted leg down to the ground. Bow over your legs. Inhale, Come all the way up. And then bring your hands to your heart. Awesome. All right, So hope you're feeling good. Yay. We're going to do our inversion. So you can bring your mat over to a wall space if you have one, If you don't have a good wall space. Um, Then, Yeah, We'll think of something else for you to do. But if you can bring the short edge of your mat up to a wall or even a door, Only a space that you really need. Oh oui! That do a wall space, We're going to come into kneeling posture, Table pose, Either on the forearms, As I'm going to do, Or on your palms if you prefer to work on your handstand prep. Or you're going to take downward dog away from the wall if you don't have the wall safe. And then we're going to lengthen the side ribs, Melt the heart down. And then with that. Confidence and conviction. Pull your tailbone down, Pull your ribs in, So you've got straw in your center. And your body just feels more solid, More earthy, Less watery, More strength. Okay, Lift your knees and hips up. And then root from your heart down into your foundation. Lift the sitting bones higher and you can walk the feet up on the wall, Come into your L shape. Or if you're not at the wall, Then take one-legged dog. And bend the knee and go into the twist there. You're a wild dog. Good. And then if you are at the wall, You can take one leg up. And then the other leg up. And then come down. And everyone come down and rest in child's pose. And for child's pose, Surrender to the earth. Let gravity pull you. There's a great quote. I think it's from Sri Aurobindo. That says gravity. Is the earth pulling you towards it with love. Something like that. It's like the earth lovingly pulling you towards it. I love that It's like the earth adores you and wants you to be close. That's why we have gravity. Super cool. All right, Good. Come on up. And then we're gonna go again. So if you're doing wild dog, You're gonna do the other side. If you're doing This way at the wall, We're going to go up again, Do the same thing. Or if you want to turn around You can kick up into either your dolphin inversion or your handstand or your pinched lyrus. So just one more inversion. Choose one and make it good. Enjoy it. Remember that you are strong and powerful and these poses help us build our strength, Build our confidence. Remind us that we are capable and that we can do really cool stuff So firm your arms, Melt your heart, Engage your core. Lift the knees up. And then step in, Swing up, Step your feet up, Whatever it is that you're doing. Go for it. Then once you're up, Hug to the middle. Good. Root from the heart down into your foundation. Your heart extend up into the hips. Into your feet, Yeah. No. Looking good. Yay, Meta. Good job. I love how you used the bolster. It's so great. Alright awesome and come on down everybody And again, You can come into child's pose and rest. All right, And then come on up and we're going to come. To the floor and we'll do some seated poses. So a blanket to sit on can be helpful. Especially if. . . Your knees don't tend to like to come all the way down to the ground. All right, So just fold your blanket. We'll sit on it. We're going to start with bound angle pose. So get the sitting bones up on your blanket, Bend your knees, Bring the soles of the feet together, And the knees go wide. And then you can either support Your knees with your hands. You could wedge blocks under the shins, Or you can hold your ankles. So which one do you choose? If the knees are up high, Then it's good to give yourself the support, Either with the blocks or just with your hands. And that extra support helps the thighs not tense up so much. So if you need that, Please support yourself. If the knees are at the height of your waist or lower, And it doesn't feel like too much strain in the inner thighs, Then holding the ankles is fine, And it's actually kind of nice because it lets you really lift your heart. Which is a little bit harder to do when you're using your arms here. So choose your arm variation and how much support you need in the legs. And then the sensation of your feet, The soles of your feet touching each other. I think that feels so nice. It's very grounding, Right? It's earthy. So bring your awareness into. . . That threshold, That connection. Between the soles of your feet. And if you wiggle your toes a little bit, You can really feel it. It feels so good. Send energy from your pelvis down into the earth. From the center of your body, Expand out through your knees. So think of widening the knees rather than bringing them. Think of expanding out. And then from the pelvis, Rise up through the spine. To the heart. The head. Maybe even think of yourself like a little. . . Little plant growing out of the earth. The lower body is the roots of the plant. You root down. And then the upper body. What's it called? Seedling that's the word I'm looking for a little seedling coming up out of the ground Feel your breath flowing through your body. Enjoy this study. Rhythm of your breath The earthy feel, The sound of the ujjayas. Come back to our ujjayas if you've forgotten. This idea of forgetting. We forget. We forget about the Earth. I mean, Even though we're here on it all the time, We're not always thinking about it, Right? We forget that we're part of the ecosystem. We forget how important and strong and beautiful we are. So it's great when we can remember. We have this holiday, Earth Day, Like to really think about it, Contemplate the Earth. We have our yoga practice. Our consistent practice helps remind us of our strength and our power and our beauty. Let's take the hands now to the knees if you're holding the feet or ankles. And gradually draw your knees in. Ooh. Okay. Good. And then hug your arms around the legs. Give yourself a gentle squeeze. All right, Terrific. Let's take. . . Ardha Matsyandrasana. So if you're sitting on a blanket, Turn it so that you're sitting on the corner of the blanket. And let's see, Take the left ankle and fold it under your right hip. So your knee is forward. And then step the right foot across. And if it doesn't come to the outside, You can just keep it in front, Which is fine. But if you can get the foot over to the outside of the front leg, That's fine. Going to make a deeper twist for you. All right. And then hold on to your shin and take a breath. Lift your heart. I'm going to twist. So bring your right hand around behind your back. And then as you exhale, Pull against the right knee and turn your chest to the right. You can turn your head, Lift over the right shoulder. And then root down into the hips. Again, Like sending. Your energy down to connect to the earth. The lower body, Then the upper body, Lift your chest, Lift your head. And then if you want to take the elbow across the knee. Can come in to Abaya Mudra here. With the hands. Palm facing out. And remember abaya means Fearlessness. So no fear. Or fear less, Right? We know. We know. There's always going to be some fear. We remember our strength, The fear. It takes the back seat. It's good. All right keep twisting each exhalation go a little little more Each inhalation lifts up. Like your shoulder blades on your back. Yeah, Especially the right one. Good, And then as you inhale, Unwind your twist, Lengthen up. Alright, And then lean back, Uncross your legs. It goes to the other side. Right ankle comes under the left hip. Step the left foot across. Get all four corners of that left foot on the ground if you can. Sometimes you're more on the outer edge of the foot. But you're going to anchor that big toe side down towards the floor if it doesn't quite reach. And hold your shin. Take a breath. Lift up. And then exhale, Twist to your left. Bring your left hand around. You can continue to hold the leg with your hand, Or you can cross your elbow. Turn your head, Look. To your left. Each inhalation rise up through the spine. Each exhalation. Take your twist, Another. Millimeter. Just deepen it a little bit at a time. Hug the left shoulder blade in towards your spine. Remembering heart. And on your next inhalation. Unwind your twist, Come back to the middle. Good. Lean back and uncross your legs. Seek them out in front. And you just lean back on the hands and log roll your legs back and forth at any time. Good. Then take Omega Pose. So bend your knees, Come back to bound angle, But instead of having the feet enclosed, You're going to bring them out in front. So your legs make more of a square or diamond shape. Then take a breath, Lift your heart. Hinge forward and then slide the hands toward the tops of your feet now. Your forearms may rest on the shins. And you can bow your head, Look down. At the earth or at your feet. Hold and breathe. Feel the gentle stretch through your spine. The shape of your back here is like child's pose, Nice, Even, Rounded. Shape. Good. And lift your head. Walk your hands in. Come on up. And once again, Bring the knees. Together. All right. So I'd like for us to take a pigeon pose. And you can do this more as like a. . . Forward, Bendy, More relaxing pigeon. You could even use a bolster for your pigeon today. So we're not going to do it as a big backbend, But also just as another way to get. . . Closer to the earth. So if you have a bolster, You can use that, Or you can stack some blankets up. And put your props lengthwise along your mat. And we'll bring that right knee. Up by your right wrist and the right foot somewhere in the middle. And then you're going to lay down. So you're either on your forearms on the floor, Or if you've got blankets or a bolster, You can rest your head and your chest. All the blankets. So more of a restorative type pigeon here. That's interesting with your belly up on something your hips might not be totally level to the ground and we're going to let that be okay today. So. I invite you to. . . Again, Feel that pulling downward, That force of gravity. Feel the love of the earth. The love that you have for the earth and the love that the earth As for you. I'm going to hold this for about two minutes. As you hold. Focus on your breath. You can also consider. How do you want to show up in the world? Today. This week. This summer. How can you bring forth your unique So. . . To serve. The world. It doesn't have to be like a chore. Usually, The things that you love to do are the things. . . That the world needs more of. It can be easy. Like, Oh, Yeah, I love to garden, Right? Get out there. Plant some more beauty. Let's bring palms to the floor. Lift your head. And curl your left toes under, Slide your right knee back. Come to table And then we'll go to the other side. So left knee comes forward. Bring your torso down. Turn your head. Rest on the forearms or rest your chest onto. Your bolster, Your blanket. Enjoy the slow, Steady rhythm of your breath. You can also start to slow that breath rhythm down. Make your exhalations longer. Alright, Come again, Bring your palms to the mat. Push down into your hands, Lift your head up. Slide your knee back. And let's come down onto your back. You can move the props out of the way. Take your arms out to your side. Stretch your left leg down the floor and shift your hips out to the right a few inches. And then come over into a twist. So bring the right knee across. You can hold onto it with your left hand. Turn your head out to the right. Mr. On a quick twist we'll just hold for a few breaths. And come on back to center. And adjust. Adjust your hips, Stretch the right leg down. Shift your hips out to the left. And then twist the legs, Go to the right. Turn your head. So look out over your left hand. Three breaths on this side. And come back to the middle. Center your hips on the mat. And let's take one last. Symmetric stretch, You can do either knees to chest or happy baby. Maybe you can rock a little bit. Side to side if that feels good in your body. And then bring your legs down and we'll take a few minutes for Shavasana. So surrender your body to the earth. Let the legs come down, Arms down by your sides, Turn your palms. To face up. And let go. Rest on the earth now. Feel how it supports you from beneath and behind your back. Remember that the earth has your back. It's here to support you. You're here to support it. Just rest now in this beautiful. . . Union. You remember your connection to the bigger energy not just of the earth but of the entire universe. Bring your attention. The sensations in your body. Feel the pulsation of your breath. Start to take longer, Deeper inhalation. Start to move and stretch. Your arms and legs. And as you're ready, Bend your knees into your chest and roll to your side. Just like stay close to the earth as long as you can. And then gently come on up to a comfortable seated position. Bring your palms together in front of your heart. Send a wave of gratitude out to the earth. It's nurturance, It's support, It's steadiness. And if you choose to. You can commit. To. . . Using your energy to help support the earth or the world. You do it all the time anyway. On a day like Earth Day, We just want to go that extra little step. Maybe think of one thing, One small thing you can do. Today or this week. To help even a little bit more. With gratitude for our practice of yoga and for the support of our community. Let's chant OM together. Take a full breath in The light in my heart honors and bows to the light in you. Namaste.