Holistic Approach To Health + Wellness : Michigan Slow Flow

Alright yogis,

We are going to begin on the back today and we're going to be down there for a bit here in the beginning of practice so if you want a little extra cushion you can always bring your blanket with you.

We're going to lower down onto the back and at first just find a comfy position that works for your body.

A bent knee or leg straight.

Finding a place for the arms,

The hands,

The head to rest.

Just beginning together with that deep nourishing breath all the way in and all the way out.

A lot of times during this season when it gets a little bit colder we find that people are getting a little sick or under the weather and our health isn't reliant just upon the physical,

Physical body right?

How our body is responding to the world.

It has to do with our mind and our hearts and our energy.

It's a holistic,

It's a holistic thing.

It encompasses all of the pieces and the beautiful thing about our yoga practice is that our yoga practice is holistic and when we come into this room and we gather together and we roll out our mats it has a little peace for the body.

It has a little peace for the heart.

It has a little peace for the mind and our energy,

Our spirit,

Our soul.

It's a holistic approach to balancing things out within ourselves.

It's a really beautiful thing.

It's like taking vitamin yoga,

Our little dose of medicine today.

And so being here on the floor I want you to soak it up because we know that just as much as movement and exercise and mobility is important for the wellness and health of ourselves,

Of our being,

Rest is too.

And so we take a few moments here just to rest our bodies against the floor to maybe rest the mind,

Especially if you've been feeling overwhelmed or overworked or there's a lot going on up in that sweet brain of yours and that nervous system.

We allow it to have this pause,

This break in all of the doingness.

Let your eyes rest in whatever way feels best.

It might be a soft gaze or eyes actually closed.

Let your jaw rest,

Your fingers and your toes.

We don't need to hold tension in the body at all.

Instead,

Let it be really restful.

Sometimes this pause is the most challenging part of our healing.

Sometimes we want to become so active on the path to wellness that we forget to take a pause.

We forget to integrate this place of rest.

So be here just a few more breaths,

Just a few more breaths.

And listen,

Yogis,

In that familiar way,

We're going to start to bring ourselves awake,

Wakeful enough that we can take a big stretch in the body.

So just depending on how you're situated on your mat,

You'll take your time to stretch the arms up over top of the head and lengthen the legs a bit.

You might bring the legs really close together,

Stretching top to bottom,

Pulling apart the ribs,

Getting a little extra stretch on the ankles,

The shins.

Beautiful.

And then we're going to gather the knees,

Both of them,

In toward the chest.

So as you kind of backpedal the feet or just bend the knees and draw them upward,

Go ahead and take your arms and give a good wrap around there.

So hands around the shins or reaching toward your ankles or knees.

Let's get a little rock,

Just a little bit.

Right,

Left,

Right,

Left,

Right,

Left.

Since the back was still against the floor,

Have this opportunity or use this opportunity to shift the weight and feel that sensation of shifting the weight in your backside.

And slowing that rock down until you're in the center.

Yogis,

I want you to keep your right knee drawn in toward your chest,

Toward your belly,

But then lengthen the left leg down along your mat.

So the left heel kind of pulls and presses away from the body.

Give it just an extra breath here this first time and then we're just going to change sides.

So left knee is going to pull in and then right leg lengthen along your mat.

Again,

A little extra breath this first time.

And then I just want you to do alternate knee squeezes in.

So bringing the right knee in,

Lengthening the left leg,

Bringing the left knee in,

Lengthening the right,

And just kind of go back and forth at your own pace,

At your own rhythm.

And then the next time that you have that right knee pulled back in toward chest and belly,

Guys keep the knee pulled in,

Keep the left leg lengthened on the ground and get a little extra movement here in the ankle,

The right ankle and the toes.

You can kind of roll it around,

Point flex.

You might even take that right knee and do a couple circles if that feels good,

Just building some mobility in the hip and that knee and the ankle.

And after a couple of movements,

When it feels right,

When the transition feels right,

We're going to take it right into a twist.

We're going to use the left hand to guide that right knee across the body.

Right arm can open up behind you or it's kind of beside you,

Keeping the chest open toward the ceiling as we tug that right knee over.

We balance out that practice of body,

Mind,

Breath,

Spirit and within that physical practice we balance out the movements of the spine,

The movements of the hips,

The strengthening and the stretching,

The effort and the effortlessness.

When we start to come back through center,

We're going to come back to a fallen tree pose.

So we're going to roll on the back and keep the right knee bent as you tilt it open,

Right foot to inner left thigh,

Everything supported here by the floor.

If you need to wedge a block underneath of that right knee,

You can do that.

A blanket can always work as a prop as well.

Otherwise,

Being in this really relaxed position,

Just like the beginning of class,

Let the floor hold you,

Let the floor support you.

Now very often from this posture we lengthen out the right leg,

But instead of doing that,

Yogis,

I mean,

Let's see if we can get the right ankle or the outer right ankle to go on top of our left thigh.

And you can use your hands to adjust this or just the strength of your legs to make that happen.

As you do that,

Start to bend the left knee so that the left foot slides into the floor,

Left heel sliding closer into the body until we're kind of prepped for that reclined pigeon.

And reclined pigeon starts here and it might stay here,

But you're also welcome to weave your hands through and around to pull that left foot up off of the floor.

So right hand weaves between that little triangle,

Left hand around the outer edge of that left thigh,

And then they join it behind that left thigh to pull the bundle of those legs right in toward your chest.

And keep the head and shoulders relaxed on the floor here,

Let there be softness in the jaw.

And then if that left foot is lifted up off of the floor,

Let's gently guide it back down.

From there,

Yogis,

I'm just gonna have you take your right leg straight up into the air.

So right foot up toward the ceiling,

Right leg lengthening,

And you might place your hands behind the thigh or the knee or the calf muscle and kind of give a sweet and tender tug in toward your body,

Just a little extra stretch on the back side of that right leg.

And then we're gonna bend the right knee and bring right foot down next to left,

But put about hip distance gap between those feet.

Drop both arms by your side,

Maybe turning palms down,

And let's come on into bridge pose.

So pressing through the feet,

We're gonna lift the back away from the floor,

Create some space underneath of you,

Both feet pressing down,

Maybe both shoulders wiggling underneath.

And then slowly lowering,

Let's lower from the top to the bottom.

So the top of the spine to the bottom,

Little tuck of the tailbone as you come down.

Draw both of the knees in toward your chest,

Give them a squeeze here at first,

And if you need some extra mobility,

If you need to kind of create a little circular motion with the knees,

Pull them apart,

Bring them together,

You can do that for just a moment.

And then we're gonna go back into those alternate knee squeezes,

Yogis.

So after you've had your movement,

Go ahead and lengthen out your right leg,

But keep your left knee tugged in,

And then just change sides.

Go ahead and pull in the right knee,

Lengthen out the left leg against the floor,

One side and then the other,

Nice and slow and steady.

And the next time that that left knee is tugged in toward your chest,

Keep it there,

Lengthen out the right leg,

Let it rest on the ground.

Get a little extra time here to move the left foot around,

So point flex that left foot and the left toes,

Or roll them around into a circle.

Nice,

And then we're bringing it into a twist,

So using the right hand to guide that left knee across the body over to the right side.

Let's keep the chest open here as you take the left arm and maybe open it out to the side,

Fully extended,

Or maybe a little cactus arm.

You could even do kind of left hand to left hip or arm above the head.

Know that you have some options,

But creating this twist,

Sinking into it,

And most importantly using the breath to anchor us into this experience.

And then when we start to come back through center,

When you're rolling onto your back,

Let's let that left knee open up,

Fallen tree pose.

So left knee opens up,

Left foot to inner right thigh.

If you need a block or a bolster underneath of that left knee,

If it kind of hangs out above the floor and you want some support,

You can always place it under that left knee or the back side of the left thigh.

Just relax the head and the shoulders and the hands and the arms.

Let this be a relaxing posture.

And then instead of lengthening out the left leg,

Let's try to set up for that reclined pigeon.

So taking the outer left ankle and trying to place it on top of the right thigh.

We'll keep that left knee tilted out,

But then start to bend the right knee so that the right foot goes down into the floor.

It kind of slides a little closer in toward your glutes.

You can stay exactly where you are.

You can keep that right foot down in the ground or down into the ground or even place it onto a block if you need a little extra height.

Otherwise you might weave your hands through and around,

Left hand going through that triangle that you've built between the thighs,

Right arm around the outer edge of that right thigh.

Join them behind and give a little tug.

As you tug with the hands and the arms,

Become just a little active.

Yogis,

Try to keep the head and the shoulders less active.

Let them rest against the floor and let the breath stay steady.

Now if the right foot is lifted,

Let's lower it all the way down to the ground,

All the way down to the floor.

Take the left leg and straighten it upward toward the ceiling like a one-leg-up-the-wall pose.

When you get there,

When that left leg lengthens,

You might grab a hold of the backside of the leg,

The thigh,

The knee,

The calf muscle.

Just give it a little sweet tug in toward the body.

Nice yogis.

And then let's bend the left knee and let left foot come down next to right,

But create that hip distance gap between the feet so you have a good structure.

Arms drop alongside the body,

Let's turn the palms down.

Pressing through the feet,

Go ahead and lift the backside of your body up off of the ground,

Tucking the shoulders underneath of you as you get there.

And then lowering the back all the way down to the floor.

This time,

Yogis,

As you get to the bottom,

I want you to create a little extra gap between the feet and instead of tugging the knees in,

Let's windshield wiper them a bit side to side.

So we just stretch out the hips,

Internal-external rotation,

Stretching the inner thighs,

Maybe a little bit of the outer thighs.

And then once you've had this movement a bit side to side,

When the knees tip over to that right side,

I just want you to curl up onto the right side.

So all the weight going into the right shoulder and right hip,

You can bring left hand over to meet right hand,

Left knee to meet right.

Take a little pause.

And then pressing all the way up to a seat,

All the way up to our seated position.

Yogis,

Take your time.

As you get up there,

We're going to stay in this seat for another moment or two.

Guys,

To take a forward fold,

So I want you to take the legs straight,

But take them wide apart.

Let's create that big wide gap,

So a wide V in between the legs and the thighs.

And then walking into a forward fold,

Let the chest drop,

Maybe chin toward chest,

Hands walking forward.

You could absolutely use a block or a bolster or even a blanket here to bring yourself forward in a supportive way.

Those knees were bent for a bit on the floor,

On the ground,

And so giving us an opportunity to stretch the back side of the legs,

To stretch into the back,

To let the chin come toward the chest.

It was down against the floor for a while.

And then slowly rolling your body up to a seated position.

We're just going to bend the knees and crisscross ankles,

That simple easy pose.

We're going to use this posture,

Yogis,

To create just a really simple side bend.

So if it works,

Go ahead and set your right hand down beside you on the floor on your mat to the right side.

And if you need a little extra height,

Grab a block and put your hand in the block instead.

Lean into it and lift the left arm up and over.

Keep the chest nice and open toward the front of the room.

And then coming through center,

Same thing other side.

Take your time to set the left hand down into the floor on your mat or maybe even a block,

And then lean into that left hand as we reach right arm up and over.

And if it'll work,

Yogis,

Come back through center.

Let the arms drop alongside the body.

One time,

Pull the shoulders up toward the ears,

Give a tight squeeze,

And then let them roll down the back.

Let's take a big breath together,

A big inhale.

Long exhale.

And then from the seated position,

I want you to just take a deep breath in,

And I want you to take your time to work into hands and knees position or that tabletop pose,

So rolling over or around the legs.

Palms to the front or toward the front of the mat,

And they're underneath of your shoulders,

And then as you work your knees back,

They go underneath of the hips,

So a little space between palms and a little space between knees.

Let's use the breath to create some movement here,

So tuning into the breath.

The next time that you inhale,

Let's go cow posture,

Lifting chin and tailbone,

Letting the belly drop a bit,

Opening up through the chest.

And then on an exhale,

Round through the spine,

Tuck those two ends under,

Give a little squish,

A little squeeze.

Keep moving with the breath,

So that cow posture that pulls open the chest makes some space in the throat,

Maybe looking up,

And then rounding through the spine,

Squeezing those two ends under,

Pressing through the palms.

Keep it going just like this,

So finding some space here in the belly and the back and the shoulders and the hips and the chest and the throat.

And then before we come into our first downward facing dog yogis,

Let's go into child's pose and just give that opportunity for a restful position.

We not only take it,

But it's an opportunity to remind ourselves that it is always available to take.

If you feel a little overwhelmed by your practice,

If you feel a little overwhelmed in your mind,

If you're feeling like there's a little too much effort put into your physical body,

Then this place is a great place to return to.

Let's pull up once again,

Yogi's tabletop pose.

Hands in knees position,

And let that lead you into your first downward facing dog,

So that bigger posture that has the hips lifting and toes tucking,

There's length through the arms,

The heels press down so we have that calf stretch and the chest presses back a bit toward the thighs,

A little stretch in the shoulders and the underarms.

You might even wiggle or turn your head a bit side to side for some stretching in the neck.

And we're going to take a really slow journey to the top of the mat,

So listen carefully.

I want you to rise up onto tippy toes and take just a baby step toward your hands,

Both feet moving a little closer to the hands,

And then try to sink back through the heels as much as you can.

And then let's do that again,

Yogi's,

Kind of rising up onto toes,

Take a little step toward your hands,

And then sink your heels down toward the floor.

And then do that as many more times as you need to in order to get to the top of the mat,

So feet moving really slow,

All the way up,

All the way up until you find yourself in that forward fold,

All the way up toward the hands.

Once we all arrive,

Let's take a halfway lift,

Peek out and breathe in.

And then fold back in and exhale.

Nice.

Press through the feet and roll your body up to standing.

As you come up to standing,

Let's circle the arms out around the body,

Connect the palms above the head.

Bring the hands down that midline,

So bend the elbows,

Bring them down,

Down,

Down,

And drop the arms by your side.

Let's do that two more times.

Arms circle out around the body,

Inhale.

Palms connect above the head.

On the exhale,

Moving them down the midline of the body,

Dropping them by your side.

Beautiful.

One more time.

Big circle,

Sun circle around the body.

Using the inhale,

Exhale to bring the hands through that midline all the way down by your side.

And then just like we did when you were seated,

Go ahead and tug the shoulders up toward the ears,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

And then let them roll down your back.

Nice yogis.

Fourth time reaching up,

Fingertips reach toward the ceiling,

Big stretch,

And then go ahead and drop them down toward your toes,

Forward fold,

Hinge at the hips,

Chest toward your thighs.

Take a halfway lift,

Peek out and breathe in,

And then just stay here,

Fold back in toward those thighs.

Give a couple breaths.

Like a half version of a sun salutation,

Eh?

Let's go again.

So pressing through the feet,

Rolling your body nice and slow all the way up to standing,

Circling the arms out around the body until you can connect the palms above the head.

Bring them down through the middle of the body and then drop them by your side.

And try that two times on your own,

So you're moving at the rhythm of your own breath.

The inhale takes the arms out and up,

And the exhale brings them down through center.

We'll meet with arms dropped alongside the body,

Or that mountain pose.

Nice work,

Yogis.

And then once you're there,

Pulling the shoulders,

Tugging them up toward your ears,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

And letting them drop down your back.

Arms go up again,

Inhale,

Fingertips reaching toward the ceiling,

Lengthen out the body,

And then take that forward fold,

Fingertips down toward your toes,

Chest toward thighs.

Take a halfway lift,

Maybe hands to shins,

Peek out,

Breathe in,

And then fold back in and exhale.

Nice.

Hang out here for a moment,

Maybe with a pretty big bend into the knees.

We're going to go one more time through this half version of a sun salutation A.

So feeling that contact of feet into the floor,

Press down to lift up,

Let's rise.

Coming up to standing,

Taking that big sun breath around the body.

We get it three times,

So coming up using your own breath to guide you through,

Arms go out around,

And then down through center and side.

Three full circles.

We'll meet once again with arms dropped alongside the body into that mountain pose.

Beautiful,

Yogis.

And then on that fourth time,

Reaching straight up toward the ceiling,

Big reach,

Big lift,

Lengthening through the body.

Go ahead and forward fold,

Hinge at the hips,

Bringing the fingertips down toward the feet.

This time,

Go ahead and take that halfway lift,

Peek out to breathe in,

But then come into downward facing dog,

Right where we left off.

Hands here and feet go to the back,

Hips up high.

If you need to come down into tabletop or even come down into the belly or child's pose,

You can also do that.

Beautiful,

Yogis.

And then I want you to rise up onto tippy toes and gently guide the knees down onto the mat,

Tabletop.

As you get there,

Just one time,

Take a cow posture,

Lift the chin and tailbone,

But let the belly drop a bit.

Hold,

Pause,

Breathe.

And then listen,

Let the release of that posture be child's pose.

So it's almost like you're rounding through the spine a bit as you sink your hips back toward the heels.

Shift the weight,

Lower the chest.

Forward,

Yogis.

And then pulling up hands and knees once again to kind of wiggle ourselves into space.

If the knees feel a little tender,

You might put a blanket underneath.

Once you find that space of tabletop and it feels stable,

I want you to send your right leg back behind you so toes are up off the ground,

Off of the floor.

Pause there for a moment so we feel that part of our practice,

The practice that's engaging,

That is strengthening in the body,

Especially in the core.

And then let's step the right foot all the way up between the palms for a lunge.

So as the right foot comes up between the palms,

The left knee is already down,

Yogis.

You are more than welcome to lift the arms up into the air for a supported crescent if that feels good and nourishing and stable.

Otherwise your hands might stay down either on the floor or on a block or you might come down onto your forearms if you're feeling really stretchy.

You can do that inside of that right foot,

But I want you to find a version that feels okay for the next three to five breaths.

So make sure that it's sustainable for those three to five breaths.

Let that breath circulate,

Let it enter and leave out of the nose if possible.

And then listen,

Yogis,

We're going to take this lunge right into half splits.

So the hands are going to come down if they're lifted or if you happen to be on forearms pressing to palms,

Lengthening out that right leg will take a little fold.

Now as the right toes pull up off of the floor,

You might find some mobility there.

You might kind of wiggle them side to side or point and flex,

Point and flex,

Almost like you're pressing onto a gas pedal and then relieving that gas pedal.

Now we're going to try to get one big standing posture here in our practice today.

We're going to come up for a Warrior A and because it's a big standing posture,

I really want you to take your time.

I want you to start to bend the right knee and walk the hands forward.

See if we can plant the back foot nice and flat and then you're going to rise up to standing.

You're coming up and hands can be on your right thigh or hands can be on the hips or a block or the floor to press all the way up and you might even lengthen out your right leg to re-bend that right knee if coming up with a bent knee is a little challenging or too much for the body.

Yogis,

As you get up there and the hips turn square and the chest is square toward the front of the room,

Bend deeply into that right knee,

Press through both feet.

Let's lift the arms or see if they can lift up into the air and if it feels like too much,

If it's exhausting for the shoulders or the chest,

Go ahead and take hands to hips or hands to heart instead.

Just stay for a few breaths.

Beautiful.

And then bigger transition here.

Again,

Take your time.

We're going to go from this Warrior A all the way into Downward Facing Dog.

So take a breath and then slowly lower the hands down around that right foot almost like you're coming back into a lunge.

If you need to drop the left knee first and pass through a tabletop,

You can do that.

Otherwise,

You might turn onto your back toes and just step straight back,

Right foot next to left.

Give it a little wiggle here in this position,

A pedal of the feet or a sway of the hips.

This is our most active part of the practice.

You might feel that in your heart,

In your breath,

In your body.

Yogis,

From this Down Dog,

Let's come down to tabletop or that hands and knees.

So lowering the knees down to the floor and then just give yourself a little break into Child's Pose,

Letting the hips sink back and taking the weight off of the hands for a bit.

You might turn the palms up or even take the hands backward toward the heels.

Just give it a couple breaths.

And then if you need Child's Pose longer,

I encourage you to stay and just meet up with us as we go.

Otherwise,

Hands and knees,

Tabletop,

Come on up.

As you get to that table,

Left leg goes behind you.

Make sure the table is stable and then send that left leg back and let's see if we can pull the left toes up off of the floor.

Again,

It's that effortful part of the practice where we feel the engagement,

Where we might feel the strengthening,

Where we might feel a little fatigue or a little shaking.

We notice these deep happenings of the body.

And then let's do this,

Yogis.

Let's step the left foot all the way up between the palms into a lunge.

So as that left foot comes up,

Right knee is already down for support.

You can absolutely rise up and lift the hands and arms up into the air like a supported crescent,

But feel free to also keep your hands down or bring forearms down inside of that left foot or even use a block or some blocks as support.

Give it a few breaths.

And then all together headed to that half split.

So if the hands are up,

They come down and if you're really far down,

You press up.

Left leg lengthens and it's a folding over top of that left thigh.

As you fold forward,

That left toe or those left toes rather might pull up off of the ground and you may have some space to explore.

You could point flex the toes or move them a little bit side to side,

A little extra stretching.

And then listen,

Yogi,

Is the last little part of our most active piece,

Right?

Our most active section of the class.

We're headed to that Warrior A.

Take your time.

Left knee bends.

Again,

The hands walk forward.

Go ahead and pivot and plant the back foot flat.

We're rising straight up,

Squaring the hips toward the front of the room.

Chest squares toward the front of the room as well and arms can go straight up into the air.

It's challenging but worth the breath.

Keep your breath there.

It's a practice and we practice staying here in this Warrior A,

One more full round of breath yogis.

And then a little bit longer transition to bring ourselves all the way down to Downward Facing Dog.

So the hands come down around that left foot but take your time to lower,

Almost like a lunge.

And then right knee might drop to come to hands and knees first or you might just turn onto the right toes to step that left foot back.

But let's try to lift the hips one last time into this Upside Down V.

So lots of space between hands and feet and then that shoulder width between the hands and maybe hip distance between the feet.

Beautiful.

And then do this yogis.

Rise up onto tippy toes and slowly bring the knees all the way down onto the mat.

We're in that tabletop.

Instead of sinking into Child's Pose as that resting piece yogis,

We're going to go all the way down onto the belly.

And so you might just come into kind of that supported Plank Pose and then lower all the way down.

If you just want to scoot yourself down in another way,

In a supportive way,

You can do that as well.

But come down and then let there be just that resting on the belly for a moment.

So cheek might turn down toward the floor or forehead or chin but let the upper body really rest here.

And then from this belly position,

Going for a back bend into Sphinx Pose.

We're going to prop ourselves up onto forearms,

Elbows and palms so that we're peeling the chest away from the floor but we're peeling it away with the support of that solid structure.

Our forearms are kind of the size of our feet from our toes to our heels and so we have a lot of support here to lift away.

And at first,

As we all prop up into the Sphinx Pose,

Guys let's find a little movement with the head.

So let's go right ear toward right shoulder and then bring it through center,

Left ear toward left shoulder.

And bring it through center.

Try to drop your chin toward your chest but keep the chest lifted.

And then just the opposite.

Go ahead and start to lift the chin,

Not too much.

Drop the head back a little bit but not so much that you're crunching in on that cervical vertebrae.

Just make a little extra space in the throat.

And then head comes to neutral.

Two more breaths.

And then lowering chest and belly and head and everything all the way down into your mat.

Let it be super restorative in the upper portion of the body,

Yogis.

We don't want a lot of activity.

We're going to come into what we sometimes call Inside-Out Pigeon or kind of like a One-Leg Frog Pose.

We're going to bend into the right knee and slide inner right thigh and inner right ankle against the floor.

The right knee bends outward so almost outward of the ribs or the hip or kind of up to the outer edge of your underarm in that direction.

We all have different mobility so take your time.

Beautiful.

Letting the upper body relax.

Taking those soothing,

Maybe longer and deeper breaths in and out.

And then from this place,

We're just going to change sides,

Yogis.

So start to lengthen that right leg back behind you.

If you need to sway the hips a bit to get things resettled and feeling centered or balanced,

Do that.

And then bend the left knee,

Bend it outward.

Inner left thigh and inner left ankle,

They slide against the floor so nothing is kind of picked up but it's all supported by the floor and the mat,

Maybe a block if you need it or a blanket.

Let the chest and the head and the shoulders relax.

And then same thing as before.

Take your time,

Lengthen up that left leg back behind you.

You might resettle the hips by shifting the weight side to side.

You could absolutely bend the knees to make that happen as well.

Yogis,

Let things feel like they're centered,

Evenly spaced between right side,

Left side.

And then we're just going to press back into Child's Pose for a moment.

So bending the knees,

Sinking hips back toward heels,

Just letting it feel good to bend into those knees and maybe stretch the underarms a bit.

And from this Child's Pose,

We're going to pull up to hands and knees but only to bring us into a seated position.

So pulling up tabletop to roll over or around those legs.

We'll set up onto a seated position with legs stretched straight out from the body.

So instead of legs long and wide,

Go ahead and take them long and straight out in front of you.

Heels down and toes up.

Another place where you can use a block or a bolster on the thighs or even between the thighs a little bit,

Guys,

For support if you need to.

Otherwise,

Sliding the hands down the legs,

Reaching them toward the shins or the ankles or the toes or the feet.

And then slowly,

Slowly start to bring yourself up to a seat.

Just to enter onto our back,

Yogis,

We're going to take a quick reclined bound angle and that requires us to bend both knees outward and just slide the soles of the feet together.

We're not going to be in this posture very long but it just kind of opens up the legs and allows us to scoot the hips forward toward the heels and lower all the way down onto the back.

Take your time.

Let it be really restful as you get there.

This not only helps to open up the hips and the inner thighs and bend the knees since the legs were straight but it also gives us the opportunity to take the counter pose which is turning the feet down into the floor.

Yogis,

Keep your knees bent,

Point them up and then lean them together as you wiggle the feet really wide.

And then just like we did in the beginning of class,

I want you to windshield wiper those knees side to side to side.

So letting both knees go right and letting both knees go left and both knees go right and both knees go left.

And this time we're going to stay and stretch a bit.

So the next time that the knees are over to that right side,

Go ahead and tip them in that direction and take a little pause.

And for some of you,

You might want to take the outer right ankle and rest it on the outer edge of your left knee.

It kind of works as a little weightedness to pull that left knee down further.

But do that only if it feels good on the hip and the knee and the ankle,

Your entire body.

And then if you're using that ankle as that weightedness,

Go ahead and remove the ankle from the knee.

Bring the knees back through center and tilt them all the way over to that left side to take a little pause,

To take a little hold.

Again,

If you want a little bit of extra pull of right knee toward the floor,

You can use your outer left ankle.

Kind of lift it up and place it on the outer edge of your right knee.

And then if you're using that ankle on knee,

Just go ahead and slide it off.

And we're going to keep our left knee open.

We're just going to peel right knee away from left knee.

And once again,

Slide the soles of the feet together.

Just take a baby pause there.

Feel that opening.

And then turn your feet down into the floor.

Let the knees point up.

Gather those knees.

Grab them in toward your chest and belly.

Give them a good squeeze.

Maybe even a little rock side to side to side.

And then listen,

Yogis,

From this place,

From this knee squeeze in,

We're going to take ourselves into Shavasana.

And so it might happen that after a squeeze,

Maybe after a rock,

You just lengthen everything down onto the floor.

Legs lengthen.

Big distance between the feet and hands away from the hips.

But it also might happen that you need to shift where you land.

It might happen that you need to use a bolster or a block or some other prop for support.

And I want you to take that extra time to settle into that resting space,

That last and final posture of our practice.

And as you arrive,

As you invite this stillness into the body,

This practice of stillness that is so important to that holistic view of health,

Wellness,

And our yoga practice in this room.

Yogis,

Go ahead and take a deep breath all the way in and all the way out.

Sometimes we climb onto our mat to just physically move the body.

Sometimes we come into this room to clear our head or to help our heart through the process of grief or healing.

Sometimes it's for our soul or energy that we come into this room.

But I want you to notice something here at the end of practice.

I want you to notice how much yoga and this practice together in this room touches all of those parts of ourselves.

It does the physical,

The breath,

The mind,

The heart,

The beingness,

Our soul,

Our spirit.

It's a holistic practice,

Such a well-rounded approach to our health and wellness.

Feel that.

And then from this space on the back or from wherever you are,

Wherever you decided to Shavasana,

Yogis,

I want you to start to take little baby,

Tiny movements.

And that might be as simple as opening and closing the eyes if the eyes were closed,

Or shifting the jaw,

Or moving the fingers inward and outward,

Or moving the toes.

It might become a deepening of breath and then maybe a movement of the arms and the legs and the shoulders and the elbows and the knees and the hips.

And we just start to come awake in the body in a way that feels good,

Especially dependent upon how you had your body in Shavasana.

So let it just feel good to stretch and bend and wake up here on your mat.

And although I know when it's a restorative,

Slow practice,

One of the most challenging things we can do is end.

So I really want you to take your time to bring yourself up,

Maybe in the next three or five breaths,

To a seated position at the front of your mat.

And this will be the place that we seal in practice together.

Go ahead and join the palms right there in front of the heart.

That heart space is such a great place to be and absolutely a great place to pause.

If there's an intention that you need to set for the rest of your day,

Maybe it's set here.

And then taking one last nourishing breath all the way in.

All the way out.

From my heart directly to yours.

Namaste.