Hi,
Welcome to your practice today.
My name is Alicia,
If you've not met before.
And I'm going to be guiding you through an all-rounder,
All-levels vinyasa flow.
We're going to be moving to the front of the back,
To the side,
To the back of the mat.
So if we get mixed up with left and right,
It doesn't matter,
Just join them back in when you can.
We're going to be focusing on the heart,
The hamstrings,
The hips,
A little bit of that side body too.
And as always in my classes,
I like to offer different layers depending on how you are feeling in this very moment in your practice today.
So there will be opportunities for arm balances if you want to take them.
If not,
There's different layers of working up to those types of postures.
If you have a playlist and you would like to listen along and start in that playlist in three,
Two,
One.
And then whenever you are ready,
We're going to take it all the way down to the mat to begin.
So just making your way there over these next few breaths.
And for your practice today,
You might want to grab a couple of blocks.
Just before we take it down.
Maybe plug in one at the top of the mat and one at the back.
And then when you're ready,
Making your way down to the mats.
Taking any position here with the legs,
They could be extended out long,
They could be in constructive rest,
Soles of the feet towards the outer edges of the mat,
Knees falling in towards the centre.
Same with the hands,
They could be connecting with the body,
They could be palms facing up to call in that energy if you feel like you're a little bit depleted today.
There's no rush to arrive here straight away.
Just taking your time.
Might even take any little bits of movement that you need here,
Maybe it's a rock of the head on the mat side to side.
Reach the arms up overhead.
Just getting out that energy of the day if you're practicing with me at the end of your day.
Maybe you're just walking up and this is the first bit of movement that you're doing so just easing yourself here to begin.
And then just whenever you're ready,
That movement might get smaller,
More and more subtle.
As you begin to arrive into some form of stillness.
And from here,
We'll take a nice collective breath in together through the nose.
And a big exhale out of the mouth.
One more cleanse and breath in.
And a big ground and sigh out of the mouth.
Just take in your time to check in with yourself.
Notice how it is that you have arrived on the mat today.
No need to label anything good or bad,
Just simply being aware.
And that might be how you've shown up in the physical body.
Maybe it's a mental.
The emotional body.
We're just making space for it all.
We roll out the masks each time.
We feel a little bit different.
Our practice might look different.
Things might shift.
Things might creep back in.
And that's just the essence of our practice,
Just respecting where we're at in this very moment.
And as you pause here,
We're bringing that awareness to the breath if it's not there already.
And not changing anything to begin,
Just noticing how it feels,
How it flows in and out of the body.
Maybe any little areas or pockets where it might pause on that inner and outer retention.
Or Kumbhaka as it's known in Sanskrit.
And from here,
We'll gently begin to deepen the breath,
Seeing if you can take the breath in and out of the nose.
Which allows our prana energy,
That life force within the body to flow nice and freely.
And as you continue to.
.
.
Extend your inhales and your exhales.
You might begin to count them.
And that could be for a count of three,
Four,
Five,
Whatever feels comfortable in the body today.
We're just making that exhale of the same length.
Coming into our Summer of Riddhi Pranayama,
Our box breath.
And you might continue through a few rounds of that in your own time,
Your own breath.
And after a few rounds you might add in little pauses just at the inner and outer retention.
Also of the same length as the breath.
Just continuing for a few rounds here.
Just knowing that this breath is here whenever you need it,
Whenever you need to call on it.
Whether that's to keep you grounded,
To keep you present if the practice feels a little challenging or the mind begins to wander.
Or if you're calling on the prana,
That energy to carry you through.
We all have this tool,
This anchor within us that we can constantly come back to again and again,
No matter how many times that we need it in our practice.
Let's take in two more rounds.
Whether you end it on your hold or your exhale.
Just gently releasing that breath work,
Bringing it back to your natural breath.
From here,
Flow in the left hand to the heart,
Right hand to the belly.
And taking a moment here to pause,
Noticing any sensations,
Whether it's the beating of the heart underneath the hand in the chest.
With the rise and fall of the belly as you breathe.
And it might feel right for you today to connect with an intention for your practice.
And that could be anything that you're working on,
Anything that you want to call in,
You want to embody throughout our flow.
That intention might be different to,
If you rolled out your mic yesterday,
That intention you may have set then.
What do you need in this moment for your practice today?
More and more breath with that intention,
Whatever it is.
And then nice and slowly as we invite gentle movement back into the body,
Float the knees in towards the chest.
We'll take a hug up the knees,
The shins and just having a very gentle rock side to side.
And then from here,
Land on the left sole of the foot down onto the mat.
Will extend the right sole of the foot up towards the sky.
You might allow this to just hang in space,
Flexing into the right toes,
Maybe catch the hands behind the thigh.
And just lengthening through that leg any amount,
So it's still quite early in our practice,
So maybe there's a gentle bend into the knee.
You might gradually begin to walk the hands of the leg,
Knee in the calf,
The ankle,
Whatever it is.
And then slowly release crossing the ankle over the left thigh coming into our figure four position with the legs You might stay here with the left foot grounded or you've got the option to thread the arms through,
Maybe catching the back of the thigh.
It might even be the shin if you feel like you've got that space today.
But wherever you land,
Pause in here,
Keep driving the right knee out,
Flexing into your right foot.
Seeing if you can keep the shoulder blades grounded,
The head grounded.
We'll just be here for a few breaths.
And then gently release that bind if you have it.
Taking the left sole of the foot back down onto the mat.
Keep that figure four position with the legs.
We're going to cross the right knee over the top of the right foot.
Send the hips towards the right as you gently allow the knees to drop over to the left hand side.
So we're taking a twist here with a bind.
If that bind doesn't feel comfortable in the body today,
You can always release the knees,
Stack them on top of each other.
Wherever you are see if you can keep the shoulder blades grounded and your options with the arms here if you've got that space you might take them all the way out wide you might cactus them maybe even reaching the arms up overhead That's the option to take your gaze,
Your drishti over that right shoulder,
Just feeling that twist right from there.
Base of the neck all the way down to the bottom of the spine.
I'll be here for one more.
And then nice and slowly release,
Coming back through center,
Unravel the legs,
Planting both soles of the feet back down onto the mat.
From here,
Right foot stays grounded,
Lift the left leg up towards the sky,
Flexing into the toes.
And again,
Maybe you catch the back of the thigh to begin.
Just pause in here.
Maybe you can take that bend into the knee,
However you need.
And then for these last few breaths,
Maybe you're walking the hands up the calf.
Maybe meet in the ankle.
Drawing the lego in.
And then gently release.
Cross the ankle over the top of the thigh,
Coming into that figure four position.
On the left side so again you've got the option to stay here right foot grounded or you're threading the hand through maybe catching the back of the thigh or the shin.
Again wherever you land keep drawing that left knee out flexing into the left foot.
I'll take a few more breaths.
Your next exhale releasing that binder if you have it right sole of the foot back down towards the mat Keeping that figure four position with the legs,
We'll cross the left knee over the right.
Send the hips to the left this time and allowing the knees to gently fall over to the right hand side.
Again your choice with the arms,
Maybe you mirror what you did on the other side.
Option to take the gaze over the left hand side this time.
And just imagine this twist is wringing out all that stagnant energy that you don't need for your practice today.
Activating our acne,
That fire in the belly.
You've got one more breath.
And then nice and slowly unravel from your twist.
Coming back through center,
Center the hip.
Bring the knees back in towards the chest.
And we'll take the hands behind the knees,
Finding some rocks up and down the spine.
So it might be one,
It might be a few together.
And when you arrive,
See if you can balance on the sit bones.
Pause in hyanavasana,
Bowed pose.
Maybe you release the hands.
If you need a little bit more grounding today,
You can always take your fingertips behind you.
Wherever you are,
Keeping the crown of the head nice and tall.
Pause in here just for two.
And then release.
Gently cross the ankles,
Roll over the shins.
We'll make our way into our tabletop position.
So from tabletop,
Hands under shoulders,
Knees under hips.
We'll begin with a few rounds of our cat cow.
Drop in the belly,
Lifting the gaze on your inhale.
Push the matter away around into the spine on your exhale.
Gaze goes forward,
Breath in,
Nice slow controlled movement.
Bringing the chin towards the chest on your breath out.
Gays for Lips.
And then rounding through the spine,
Really pressing the mat away.
Allow the shoulder blades to protract,
Melt away from each other.
Keep moving through that in your own time,
Your own breath.
You've got the option to add in any additional movements that you might need here.
Whether that's the sway of the body side to side,
If I go right.
Movement back and forward.
Moving in your own way.
You might even close down the eyes.
Really turn that focus,
That gaze inwards.
Allowing your intuition to guide you.
You've got just two more breaths here.
And then coming back through center.
We'll take some small circles over the wrists,
So moving in a clockwise direction to begin.
That sometimes our wrists often get.
Little forgotten about,
A little lost.
So just working into these spaces.
That movement might start small,
Maybe you get.
.
.
A little bigger,
A little bit more exaggerated over time.
And then moving in the opposite direction.
And then we'll take the hands as you come back through the centre,
Fingertips out towards the outer edges.
And take little movements side to side.
Just as far as you can go.
Nice and gentle.
And then release.
This time we're taking our fingertips towards The knees,
You can do this one at a time.
Or both hands at the same time depending how it feels and just taking some little rocks back and forward releasing the heel of the palm off the mat but seeing if you can keep the fingertips grounded Again,
Just going as far as feels comfortable for you today.
And if you're a bit hypermobile like me,
You might need to take a little bit of a deeper bend into the elbows here to prevent locking out through the arms.
Swapping sides if you're doing one hand.
We'll take one more breath.
And then gently releasing the hands one at a time.
Coming back to your neutral spine,
Tabletop position.
We'll sweep the right arm up towards the sky,
Take in a breath in.
Thread the needle on your breath out.
We'll keep the head and the shoulder lifted for these first few rounds.
So I end it on hi.
Thread the needle breath out.
One more time inhale.
Thread the needle on your exhale,
This time landing the shoulder,
The side of the head down onto the mat.
Pause in here to see how this feels.
Maybe you want to add in any extra layers,
Whether that's an extension of the left hand,
Maybe it's a wrap around the back for a bind.
If you want to add in that left leg today,
You've always got the option to extend through that leg.
Maybe even floating the toes off the mat.
And if you feel steady,
You're really pressing into that right shoulder.
You might bend into that back knee.
Maybe you're reaching for the toes.
Catch it in a bind.
Wherever you are pausing for two.
Gently release,
Left hand comes underneath the shoulder,
Tuck that back knee in if it's extended.
We'll send the right arm up towards the sky.
Take a breath in.
From here,
Pivot to the right long edge of the mat.
So left toes go to nine o'clock.
We'll extend through the right leg,
Facing the right long edge.
Going into your modified side plank,
Option two,
Pause here.
You can keep that foot grounded.
Or maybe you're lifting the right toes off the mat.
Last option to take that dressage is to gaze up towards the sky.
And after a few breaths,
You might even bend into that top knee,
Catching the foot in the hand and really kicking that foot away or right up through the chest space,
Through the shoulder.
We'll just take a few more breaths.
And then when you're ready,
Releasing that bind if you have it.
If the foot is grounded,
Picking the foot up off the mat,
We're taking a big step to the top of the mat,
Landing the foot on the outside of the right hand.
So pivot on that back knee.
Coming into our lizard lunge.
So toes slightly out,
Heel is slightly in.
I'm just going to find a little bit of movement here to begin.
So again,
Moving with that intuition,
You've always got the option to take a block underneath the hand here.
If you're taking a gentle press out of the knee with the palm.
However you're moving,
You've got a few more reps.
And then coming back to your center into that lizard lunge.
Extending through the front leg.
Pivot the chest down towards the mat.
Find a half split variation.
And then as you bend into that front knee,
Bring in the hand,
Cactus it in the sky,
Open up the chest,
Sink deep into the hips.
Pivot the chest forward,
Extend through that front arm,
Breath in,
Maybe fingertips meet the mat.
And then cactus and open.
Right arm in the sky.
One more time.
And then inhale.
Tactus and open on your exhale.
Next time that you listen.
We'll pause here.
So always that option to bring the block underneath the hands here,
Just to bring the ground a little bit closer to you.
Any setting that feels better.
You might even begin to roll the toes up towards the right hand side.
See how that changes the stretch here.
I got you.
And then gently rebending to that front knee.
We'll replant the hands,
Tuck the back toes,
Lifting the back knee.
Step that left foot to the top of the mat,
Malasana,
Yogi squat.
Sinking the hips down.
Nice and low.
Option to take the peace fingers around the big toes.
We'll lengthen on our inhale,
Find on a halfway length.
Sink the hips,
Exhale.
Lengthen,
Inhale.
Yogi squat,
Exhale.
One more time,
Breathe in.
Lower on your breath out.
From here,
Releasing that bind,
Maybe planting the fingers as you heel toe the feet through center.
Bend into the knees,
Sweep the arms up towards the sky.
And hands into heart center on that exhale.
I want to say that coming into our time test,
I might have to post top of the match.
Just grounding down through the feet here for a brief second.
Noticing any subtle movements of the body maybe a roll of the shoulders down and back One more breath.
And then when you're ready,
Sweep the arms up towards the sky on your inhale.
Forward fold,
Uttanasana on your exhale,
Belly to thigh.
Halfway lift,
Flatten the back breath in.
And then we'll plant the palms,
Step it back to your high plank,
Shoulders over ribs.
Option for our knees,
Chest,
Chin,
Chaturanga on your exhale.
Finding off his backbend,
That might be your baby Cobra to begin.
Hands under the shoulders,
Lifting the gaze,
Lifting the chest.
Engaging the glutes,
Pressing the tops of the feet into the mat.
Option to stay with the hands grounded.
Or maybe you're releasing the palms off the mat.
Last breath.
Taking the hands back under shoulders,
Proceed through tabletop.
Through Child's Pose,
Meet and end your first Downward Facing Dog.
From downward facing dog you might have a little pedal out the feet to sway the hips side to side along the heels any little rituals that you like to take as you begin to warm up through the body.
One more breath in your downward facing dog.
And then gently lower the knees back down to the mat.
So reach us in the hands,
Reach us in the knees if you need to.
We'll take that into the opposite side.
So left arm reaches up towards the sky,
Breath in.
Thread the needle on your breath out.
Keep the head and shoulder lifted.
Goes high in health.
Thread the needle on your exhale.
One more breath in.
Thread the needle on that breath.
At this time,
Landing the shoulder,
The side of the head down onto the mat.
Again,
Maybe just pause in here for a breath.
See how this feels on this side.
Then if you want to layer up,
Walking out the hand,
Wrapping the arm around the back.
Taking it there,
Always that option to extend through that back leg,
Maybe lifting the toes,
Maybe it's a bind with that back foot.
So you know those different layers.
Just taking it.
At your own pace,
Your own time.
And whenever you land,
Whatever variation that you're taking,
We'll pause here.
Focusing on the breath.
When you are ready,
Gently releasing any binds,
We'll walk that right hand back in.
Sweeping the left arm up towards the sky.
And we're going to pivot to the left long side of the mat.
So I need to take that front hand slightly forward,
Right toes to the floor.
Three o'clock this time,
Reaching the left arm up towards the sky.
Option to pause here,
Floating the toes,
Back toes off the mat.
You've got the last option to bend into that lifted leg.
Maybe you're reaching back for a bind,
Kicking the foot into the hand.
Towards the sky.
You've got two more.
Pressing the ground away with that right palm.
One more breath.
And then very gently release that bind if you have it pick the toes up if they're grounded we're stepping to that lizard lunge top of the mat with control toes out heels in when you arrive,
Finding that little bit of free movement.
Little circles of the hips.
General press out of.
The knee with the palm.
However you move in,
You've got one more breath.
And then when you are ready,
Extending through the front leg,
Reaching the arms forward.
And as you bend into the left knee,
Bringing the hand behind the head,
Cactus.
Lengthen,
Inhale,
Pivot the chest.
Practice on your exhale.
One more time,
Breath in.
Cactus on your breath out.
And we'll pause here as you lengthen.
Maybe turning the left toes out towards the side.
Lon Marlborough.
And then as you re-bend into that front knee,
Turn the back toes,
Lift the back knee,
We'll step the right foot to the top of the mat,
Finding our Malasana,
Our yogi squat.
This time we'll just pause here in stillness.
Bringing the hands into heart centre,
Using the elbows to drive out the knees.
Towards the outer edges of the mat and see if you can grow tall through the crown of the head.
Maybe you're rocking the weight slightly back.
Option to close down the eyes just for these last two.
And then when you are ready,
Release the hands,
Heel to the feet and we'll sweep the arms up towards the sky on your inhale.
And center on your exhale.
Sweep the arms high,
Breath in.
Maybe a slight backbend when you rise and hips forward against the glutes Forward Fold Uttanasana on your breath out.
Halfway left,
Flatten the back on your inhale.
Plant the palms down,
Maybe it's a jump back to your high plank this time Option for knees,
Chest,
Chin,
Or your full Chaturanga.
If you're taking your full Chaturanga,
Lower down halfway,
Chaturanga Dandasana.
Flip over the toes,
Extend through the arms,
Pull the hips forward.
So if you're coming into up dog,
Thighs are lifted,
Pressing the tops of the feet into the mat.
And then roll over the toes and the hips high.
Going into your downward facing dog.
So just having a little pedal out again,
Or maybe you stay in stillness,
Whatever you prefer.
But we are gradually going to meet in stillness if you're not there already.
Take in two more breaths.
And then meeting in stillness in your downward facing dog.
So really gripping the fingertips into the mat,
Your Hasta Bandha,
That energy law.
Always the option to find softness in the knees to drive the chest through the arms,
Lengthening through the tailbone.
We'll be here for two.
And then when you are ready,
Lifting your right leg towards the sky,
Three-legged dog on your inhale.
Bend the knee,
Stack the hip split dog on your exhale.
So draw the heel towards the bum,
Knee towards the sky.
Pause in here see if you can square the shoulders down towards the mat if that right armpit starts to lift You might even begin to see the toes underneath that left armpit if you have a little glance.
That's how stacked we want the knees and the hips to be.
One more breath.
And then when you are ready,
Step the foot on the outside of your right hand.
Or lizard lunge.
So toes slightly out,
Heel is slightly in.
And we'll gently lower the back knee down.
Right arm reaches towards the sky,
Lunging to the hips.
Take a breath in.
Take the hand behind the head,
Catching the weight of the head into the hand.
We'll draw the elbow through centre.
On your breath out.
Lengthen on your inhale gaze goes high through centre exhale One more time,
Elbow towards the sky,
Breath in.
Lower on your breath out.
This time as you take the elbow up towards the sky,
Release the hand.
So you've got the option to stay here,
Staying in your twisted lizard,
Or maybe you're sending the hand towards the back of the mat.
Last option here is to bend into the back knee,
Catching the back foot and if you do have the foot in the hand here See if you can kick the foot into the hand,
Maybe rolling onto the knife edge of the right foot,
Allowing the head to relax.
Gaze goes up towards the sky.
So it doesn't matter what variation you're taking here,
Just holding it in your twist.
I'll be here for one more breath.
And then nice and slowly release.
Wimble the hand forward,
Plant it on the inside of the foot.
We'll take the back toes,
Lift the back knee and gently pivot towards the left long edge of your mat.
So coming into our Skandhasana.
Lowering down into the right knee.
So it doesn't matter if this heel is lifted,
If it is lowered.
Just extending through the left leg,
Flexing into the left toes.
Fingertips might come down to the ground or they might come to heart center.
Pause in here.
And then when you're ready,
Using hands or without,
We're taking it to our extended side angle at the back of the mat.
So your hand might come on the inside of the foot or if you need to bring the ground a little bit closer to you for these first few rounds,
Taking the hand down to a block.
We'll sweep the top arm.
Up and overhead,
Meeting in our extended side angle.
Keep grounding down through the knife edge of the back foot.
Pause in here.
Keeping that bend into the front knee,
Sweep the arm back,
Palm towards the sky.
And then we'll lengthen through the front leg.
As you reach the hand forward,
Pivot the chest down.
Sweep the arm back,
Lunge into your left knee.
And a pivot on that exhale.
One more time,
Breath in.
Pivot the chest on your breath,
Out lengthen through that left leg.
Take it back one more time.
And then keep your lunge extended side angle.
Nice and slowly as you come up,
Release that left hand.
We'll pivot on the back foot to our high lunge.
Taking a breath in.
Pyramid fold on your breath as a straighten through that front leg option to keep the back heel lifted it's completely up to you whether you want to ground that foot 45 degrees I'll just take a variation keeping leg lifted.
Maybe use the support of your blocks here as you fall forward over the front leg.
Plug the left headband.
One more breath.
And then walk in either the blocks or the fingertips forward,
Take it into your standing split.
Folding over your standing leg,
Allowing the head to become heavy.
Just seeing if you can square the hips down towards the mat.
And then finding your height from there.
Pointing through the extended toes.
And once you've found your balance,
You might even begin to release the hands,
The left hand to the calf.
Maybe it's the right too.
Holes in here for two.
For a while.
And then maybe you ground the fingertips as you take a big step back.
Coming straight into our reverse trikonasana,
Reverse triangle.
So back foot is parallel with the back edge of the mat,
Straighten through your front leg.
Maybe you're even giving yourself a self-adjust with left wrist into the right hand.
Find and lengthen that side body.
Juan Marlborough.
And as you restack the toes,
So pivot the feet towards the long edge of the mat.
Pigeon toe the feet.
We'll take a breath in.
Folding on your breath out,
Coming into our prasarita fold.
And as you fold,
Maybe for this round,
You're walking the hand through.
In between or in line of the feet.
Bend in the elbows,
Think chaturanga arms back towards the right lung edge of the mat.
From here,
See if you can transfer the weight into the balls of the feet a little bit further,
See how that changes the stretch for you.
And then focusing on the breath Again,
Try not to force anything.
Allowing the breath to naturally flow.
You've got one more.
And then release,
Finding your halfway lift,
Flatten the back on your inhale.
Walking hands to the top of the mat,
Runner's lunge.
From runner's lunge,
Plant the left hand down.
Shiva's twist pivot on the outer edges of the feet sweeping that right hand towards the back of the mat lower the hips lower the hands if this is too much on your IT bands then you can wiggle that right foot halfway down the mat.
And then sweep that hand forward,
Plant the palm,
Step it back,
High plank on your breath,
In shoulders over wrists.
Work through your vinyasa on your breath out.
So synchronizing the movement with the breath.
And we'll meet back in our downward facing dog.
From downward facing dog,
Left leg lifts,
Inhale.
Lid dog on your exhale.
Pause in here for a few breaths again.
Stack in the hips,
Heel towards above,
Knee towards the sky.
Maybe you can see the left toes this time underneath the right armpit.
And then gently set the foot on the outside of the left hand,
Toes out,
Heels in.
And lower the back knee down.
Sending the left arm up towards the sky.
Take the hand behind the head,
Taking the weight of the head into the hand,
Pressing it through the elbow towards the sky.
Activate in that side body and then bring it through center,
Exhale.
Elbow goes high,
Breath in.
Lower exhale.
One more time,
Inhale.
Through center on your exhale.
This time as you send the elbow high,
Release the hand,
Take a breath in.
Option to stay or you know your different options.
When rolling the hand back you might catch the back foot with the hand bending to the back knee.
Pause in here wherever you are and again if you do have that bind see if you can sink a little bit further into the hips,
Relax the head back,
Open the chest towards the sky as you kick the hand away.
Wherever you are,
You've got two breaths.
And then gently release the hand,
Plant the hand on the inside of the foot,
Tuck the back toes,
Lift in the back knee,
Pivot to your Skandhasana at the top of the mat.
So again you might bring the hands into hot center,
Keep extending through the right leg,
Flexing into the right toes.
And you might notice a difference in your scandesana side to side.
On my last side,
My heel was lifted.
This time I can grab my heel.
So it really just changes your flexibility,
Your anatomy side to side.
So just again,
Respecting your body's boundaries and where it's at today.
One more breath.
And moving with hands or without taking it to the top of the mat.
Or the back of the mat for your extended side angle.
Again,
Option to take that hand down to a block.
Reaching the top arm up and over so keep rolling the top shoulder back pressing down through the knife edge of that back foot and when you're ready take that arm in the sky back keep the palm up towards the sky breath in Pivot the chest down,
Take the arm forward,
Extend through the front leg,
Breath out.
Rebend,
Open the chest,
Inhale.
Pivot on your exhale.
One more time,
Breath in.
Pivot on your breath out.
Take the arm back,
We bend into your front knee.
And then we'll meet back in our extended side angle.
Then gently releasing that block or prop if you have used it.
We'll pivot on the back foot,
Sweep the arms up towards the sky,
Finding your high lunge,
Maybe you adjust that back foot if you need to,
Breath in.
Pyramid fold on your bicep,
Lengthen through the front leg.
Taking it to your standing splits,
Walking the fingertips forward.
Reaching the left toes towards the sky,
We'll pause here.
Right hand to the calf if we want to challenge our balance.
Maybe it's both.
We'll be here for two more breaths.
And then when you're ready,
With control,
Big step back.
We're taking it into that reverse Trikonasana,
Option four.
That is safe.
Left hand on the right wrist.
And then restock the torso,
Pivot the feet,
Reach the arms up towards the sky,
Taking a deep breath in.
This time as you fold,
Maybe you clasp the hands behind the back Drawing the hands over head,
Just allowing the hands to fall away from the body as much as you can.
If this doesn't feel comfortable,
Always the option to release catching either elbows.
Finding your variation over this next few.
Coming back to the breath.
Or maybe even that intention you set at the beginning of class.
Again,
For these last few,
You might rock the weight into the balls of the feet.
And then slowly release,
Finding your halfway lift,
Release the hand And then walking the hands to the top of the mat for that runner's lunge.
Light hand goes down,
Pivot on the outer edges of the feet,
Shivers twist,
Lower the hips,
Lower the hand.
And then with another hand forward step it back to your high plank and vinyasa on your breath out So synchronizing the movement with the breath,
Going in your own time,
Your own pace.
Shoulders down and back on that back bend.
And then we'll meet in a downward facing dog.
From downward facing dog,
Lower the knees down to the mats and the hips back.
Finding Charles Post.
Hips back towards the heels.
Relaxing the forearms down to the mat if you want something a little bit more passive today if you want something more active Maybe extending through the arms,
Coming onto tended fingers.
So we'll be here for.
.
.
Around 5 or so breaths.
But really using this time to regulate the breath.
If you need to give any exhales,
Any sighs out of the mouth to release a little bit of heat,
A little bit of agony,
That you've built up.
And to that,
Nicko.
Don't be afraid of the breath.
Eventually you might begin to make your exhales longer than your inhales.
Just finding that little bit of down regulation.
We'll take three more breaths and up our last natural child's pose.
And then feel free to linger here a little bit longer if that's what you need to do.
If not we'll meet back in our downward facing dog.
When you arrive in downward facing dog,
Take in a nice deep breath in through the nose.
Big breath out of the mouth.
Take in one more deep breath in.
Big sigh out of the mouth.
Lifting your right leg to the sky,
Three-legged inhale.
Bend the knees,
Tuck the hips,
Split dog on your exhale.
This time in our split dog rather than squaring the shoulders off down to the mat as we do in our classic variation maybe you're opening the chest towards the right hand side taking the gaze underneath that right armpit So you've got the option to stay here.
Maybe that's you today.
If you want to step that top foot up and over for your wild thing.
Lowering down that right foot with control.
Peeling the chest open towards the sky and reaching your right arm up and overhead.
So opening up through the chest space,
Opening up through the throat space.
Leg on the mat is straight,
Leg off the mat is bent if you want one added challenge here to take it a little bit further you might even begin to release the right toes off the mat.
Just for two.
4-1 And then release.
Rebound that right palm,
Sweep the right leg up towards the sky,
Three-legged dog on your inhale.
Step the foot on the outside of your right hand.
Lizard lunge on your exhale.
Lower the back knee down.
This time we'll send this arm straight up towards the sky on your breath in.
Wimble that hand back,
Twisted lizard on,
Your breath out.
So you know your different variations here.
If you want to catch the bind on this side.
For these next few rounds.
This time rather than kick the hand away see if you can bring the heel towards the bum.
So feeling the difference in the stretch here.
Maybe you feel it a bit more across the quads.
See if you can still sink a little bit deeper into that right hip.
Option for the knife edge of that right foot.
One more breath.
And then very gently release.
We'll plant the hand on the inside of the foot,
Take the back toes,
Lift the back knee,
Skandhasana towards the top of the mat.
This time you might take the arms out wide.
Right arm on the inside of the knee,
Left arm reaches towards the sky.
Keep flexing into the left toes,
Extending through the left leg.
You've just got one more breath here.
And then release the hands,
Travelling towards the back of the mat for our extended side angle.
So moving with hands or without.
So this time you might take that front arm to the side.
Always that option to lower the bottom arm on the inside of the foot or if you play with around with any binds and you want to take that today threading the bottom arm underneath top arm around the back You might meet at the fingertips,
You might meet with the wrist.
Rolling your top shoulder back.
So this is a really nice place to stay wherever you are in our extended side angle or if you want to take the gaze to the top foot.
Taking it to our birds of paradise.
That might be one big step with that right foot to meet the left at the top of the mat.
It might be for you little ones.
So traveling there now.
And then ground it down through that rafter.
Nice and slow,
Raise that transition up.
Press down through the standing leg.
Light on your left toes.
And then taking it up to standing.
Now we might find some little wobbles here and if we wobble out just join them back in.
Last option to extend through that left leg.
Wherever you are.
We've just got a few more breaths.
If you're up,
Thinking about coming back down nice and slow the way that you came in.
And we'll all meet in.
.
.
That extended side angle.
Pivot on the back foot,
Reach the arms up towards the sky,
High lunge both end.
Pyramid fold on your breath out.
Maybe you bring the toes towards the face.
Take it to your standing splits,
Walk the fingertips forward.
Right.
Foot reaches towards the sky.
You've got the option to stay here maybe you're playing around with your balance again on this side Option to bend into the right knee.
Maybe you're catching the outside of the foot.
With the left hand,
Finding your bind.
Just run that knee up towards the sky as much as you can.
If you want to take it into your baby grasshopper.
Extending your right leg out towards the left hand side,
Keeping that hand on the outer edge of the foot,
Taking the palm on top of the foot.
Right hand goes underneath the shoulder or just slightly out towards the side,
Then chaturanga arm as you lower the chest down towards the mat.
Extend through that leg,
Keeping the bind.
So wherever you are.
We'll be here for a few more.
If you're in that baby grasshopper.
Pressing down through the left foot.
The right hand meeting back in our standing split and a big step back into our reverse trikonasana straight into that front leg Left arm reaches,
Breath in.
Coming back to your center for a press re-default on your breath out.
Lengthen,
Inhale.
We'll fold on our exhale.
Nice pause in here.
If you'd like to take a different arm variation,
Maybe taking peace fingers around the big toes this time.
Do halfway.
And on that exhale,
Draw the elbows out towards the side.
Again,
Keeping that weight into the balls of the feet as much as you can.
We'll pause here.
You have one more breath.
And then gently release that bind halfway,
Let's flatten the back on your inhale.
Walking hands to the top of the mat,
Coming straight into that Shiva's twist on your exhale.
Sweep the arm forward,
Step it back to your high plank.
Maybe you keep that right leg lifted,
Breath in.
Your Vinyasa,
Breath out.
Your backbend on your inhale.
Downward facing dog on your exhale.
Pausing in downward facing dog,
We'll take a breath in to reset.
And a breath out.
Left leg lifts on your inhale.
Split dog,
Exhale.
Option to peel the chest open towards the left hand side or taking that foot up and over for your wild thing.
Moving with control.
Peeling the chest open.
We'll be here for two.
For one.
And then release.
Plant the left palm,
Sweep the leg up,
Three-legged inhale.
Step to your lizard lunge on the left on your exhale.
Lower the back knee down.
We'll reach the arm up towards the sky,
Take a breath in.
Option to stay or finding your twisted lizard,
Your variation on your breath out.
Remember if you do have that bind for this round,
Bringing the heel in towards the bum.
4,
Then 4,
2 and then release.
Plant the hand on the inside of the foot,
Skandasana,
Towards the top of the mat.
Option to open out through the arms.
If you check that variation on the other side.
While I'm awry.
And then release.
Taking it to the back of the mat,
Extended side angle,
Your variation.
So you know your options with your arms,
You can lower that bottom arm down,
You can take a bind.
Maybe you're taking it into your birds of paradise on the opposite side.
Moving with control.
If you're staying here in extended side angle with me,
Keep pressing down through the knife edge of that left foot.
Feeling that energy through the navel edge right through to your fingertips.
Keep rolling the top shoulder back.
Light in that bottom arm if the arm is on the side.
If you're in that bit of paradise,
Coming back down the way that you came in.
We'll meet in our extended side angle over this next breath.
When you are ready.
Pivot to your high lunge.
On your inhale,
Pyramid fold on your exhale.
Standing split,
Taking it forward.
All right,
So you've got the option to stay here,
Maybe you're catching that bind right hand on the left foot this time.
Or we want to take it to that baby grasshopper on this opposite side,
Then lowering back down.
We've got three more breaths.
Maybe even in that baby grasshopper scene,
If you can come back the way you came in.
Pressing down through the foot,
The hand.
And then release,
Meeting back in,
Or standing split.
Big step back in two.
Watch the bubbles.
Revez Chaganeshteh.
Inhale.
Coming back to centre,
Press the reader folds on your exhale.
This is our last round of our presserita fold so if you want to explore any of the arm variation that we have previously taken Then exploring that now,
See how it feels.
After a few rounds,
Maybe you created a bit more space in the body.
If you would like to infer.
Taking the head down towards the mat.
And just take in any variation that feels comfortable for you.
I know personally,
I prefer to take my interlace headstand rather than tripod.
Or feel free to take your tripod.
Remember you're in the driver's seat of your practice.
Lowering the head down.
See if you can enter into your headstand.
From the straddle position.
Take in the feats.
Nice and slowly up towards the sky Remember to breathe.
If you're in headstand.
Taking the food back out wide.
And nice and slowly hinge the hips back.
As you bring the feet back down to the mat with control.
Meeting back in awful.
Halfway lift on your inhale.
We're going to head back to the top of the mat,
Straight into that Shiva's twist.
Lower the hips,
Lower the hands.
Exhale.
From here plant the palm,
Take it back to maybe your one-legged high plank,
Breath in Vinyasa Vratham.
Your backbend on your inhale,
Up dog or cobra.
Downward facing dog on your exhale from here gently lower the knees down to the mat send the hips back finding your child's pose Again,
Using this time to regulate your breath.
Maybe you take a nice passive variation this time.
And if you're practicing in this heatwave like I am,
Maybe you grab a drink of towel or Whatever it is,
Just meeting back whenever you're ready in that child's pose.
Remember you can sigh it out the mouth to release that heat.
Let it all out.
I'm going to take around three more breaths.
And then whenever you feel ready,
Meeting me back in a downward facing dog,
We're going to begin to slow it down a little bit now.
So maybe like that over these next few breaths or staying in a child's pose a little bit longer and joining in when you can.
From downward facing dog taking a nice deep breath in through the nose.
Collective sigh out of the mouth.
Deep breath in.
Big sigh out.
Right leg lifts on your inhale.
Split dog on your exhale.
This time we'll bring the right knee to the right wrist.
Come into our pigeon pose.
Lower the foot.
This is Shane.
The knee down to the mat.
I'm walking up like I'm just checking it's in alignment.
You've got your blocks here,
Option to pop a block underneath that right hip if it's lifted.
We're seeing if we can take that front shin as parallel to the top edge of the mat as you can.
I know Mike comes on,
Bit of a 45 degree angle and it stays there,
That's completely fine.
That block is nice to help us keep our hips square so we're not rolling onto one side or the other.
And you might stay up right here in your pigeon for a few breaths.
If you want to windmill that left hand back,
You can.
Maybe you're catching that back foot,
Maybe even bringing the foot into the elbow crease.
Option for your Mermaid Bind if you want to take it there today.
If you're ready,
Just to take you straight into your sleeping swan.
Walking the hands forward,
Creating a little pillow for the forehead,
Relaxing the forehead down.
Few more breaths if you are upright.
And then just whenever you are ready,
Gently release,
Taking it all the way down,
Meeting me in this sleeping swan.
Maybe you're noticing the mind is starting to get a little bit busy as we're slowing things down.
Seeing if you can come back to the breath using that breath as a tool and anchor to keep you grounded.
Releasing the head,
Walking the hands back.
Meeting in that pigeon pose.
Removing the blockage underneath the hips.
We're going to gently bring that weight into the right hip and sweep that back leg around.
Now see if you can keep that leg lifted.
Going into our Heron Posture.
Hands on the outer edges of the foot and you can keep a bend into that knee if that feels best for you today.
Maybe you're lengthening through that leg.
So we have been working on our hamstrings.
As well as the other target areas today in class,
And maybe this.
Feels quite nice to lengthen through the leg.
Wherever you are,
Keeping the crown of the head nice and tall.
We'll pause here.
Releasing the hands,
Take that foot on the outside or the inside of the right knee.
We're going to find a twist to the left hand side.
So left hand goes behind us,
Right arm reaches up towards the sky.
Take a breath in.
Finding your twist on your breath as you can hug that knee in you can hook the elbow over the knee finding your twist you might stay here if you do have a bind you might thread that right arm through the leg left hand around the back maybe you catch the fingertips here we're just holding that twist just being light on the back hand wherever you are going tall through the crown of the head with every breath in maybe you're twisting that a little bit deeper on at your breath out I'll take two more breaths.
And then very gently release.
Taking the hands to the opposite side for a little counter twist,
Bow down towards the mat.
And as you bow down take the weight into the hands,
Pressing down through the outer edges of the feet or pivot towards the back of the mat,
Landing in our Malasana.
If you unravel in a little bit of a different way,
Then just join it back in on my left snuff face in the back of the mat and have a little wiggle.
We're going to walk the hands into our downward facing dog so walking the hands forward and stepping it back.
Same on the opposite side,
Left leg lifts,
Breath in.
Split dog breath out.
Taking it to our patron on the opposite side.
Walking that back leg out.
Remember you've always got the option to take that block underneath the left hip option to stay here upright you might even take it down sleeping swan straight away or if you want a little bit of play whilst we're upright sweep in that right hand back Bend into that back foot.
Again,
Option for a bind here.
Maybe it's the foot in the elbow crease.
Maybe you're finding that mermaid bind.
Lifting that left hand behind the head,
Catching a hold of the fingertips of the right hand.
Wherever you are,
Two more breaths.
And if you're upright,
Release nice and slowly,
Taking it into that sleeping swan.
If you're not there already.
Pause in here.
Again,
Notice where the mind shifts to.
And you bring it back just for these last few moments of our class.
Whether that's bringing it back to your intention,
Your breath and mantra,
Whatever you like to practice with.
Whatever holds that focus.
Dharana,
That focus concentration.
One more breath.
Walking the hands back.
Coming back to our pigeon removing that block if it's underneath the hip take that weight into the left side we'll gently bring right leg out in front,
Catching our heron posture.
This might feel very different on this side so just notice how it feels here.
Maybe you've got more of a bend in the knee,
Maybe you're extending a little bit further through that right leg.
We'll have you all crown of the head nice and tall.
See if you can bring the belly towards the thigh.
Last breath.
And then release planting the foot on the inside or the outside of that left knee this time we're taking the right fingertips behind us left hand reaches breath in finding your twist on your breath out so again your option with the arms here if you want to take that bind I know for me a bind is a tiny bit easier on this side than it is the left So maybe you're just giving it a go,
See how it feels on this side.
Again,
Option to move with the breath.
We've got two more.
And then release.
Taking our hands to the opposite side,
Little bow down towards the mat.
And then gently release.
From here,
Just keep facing the back of the mat.
We'll extend through the legs.
Finding our Paschimottanasana,
So you can bend into the knees as much as you need here but lengthening through the spine,
Take a deep breath in Drop the belly,
Lift the chest as you fold on that breath out.
So the hands might land on the shins,
Either side of the calves.
Maybe you've got access to the feet here.
If you do have that bend into the knees you might stay there or you might gently begin to wiggle the heels forward.
Again,
We're looking for that belly to thigh connection.
Gaze towards the big toes or just beyond.
We're going to be here for a few more breaths.
You can keep it here in stillness or maybe you're rippling the chest up and then folding a little bit deeper on that exhale.
And then nice and slowly release.
We're stacking the spine one vertebrae at a time.
Head is the last thing that.
.
.
Fingertips go behind us.
Plant the soles of the feet onto the mat.
We'll lift the hips up towards the sky.
Reverse tabletop.
Take a breath in.
Relaxing the head if that feels comfortable for you.
Warmer breath.
And then gently lower the hips down.
As you lower the hips,
Release the feet.
One last little bit of effort.
Arms out in front.
We're slowly going to lower all the way down to the mat.
Maybe you're coming through your low boat,
Hovering there.
Keeping the shoulders lifted for two.
For one.
And then release.
From here,
Soles of the feet down onto the mat.
Going to give you the option if you do have your blocks today.
Maybe you're taking a nice restorative version of your bridge.
Taking the block on any setting,
Just underneath the sacrum,
Arms either side of the body or connecting with the body.
This is a really nice way to end your practice,
Feeling that opening through the chest space and just having a little hangout here just for these next few rounds if you don't want to go through a few rounds of your bridge or one round of bridge,
One round of wheel.
If you're going through those two rounds.
All set up for our bridge,
So heels underneath the knees,
Arms either side of the body.
And then when you are ready,
Lifting the hips up towards the sky.
Rolling up one vertebrae at a time Pressing the hips up and keeping the thighs and the knees nice and parallel.
Try not to splay out towards the outer edges of the mat.
Because imagine you've got an imaginary block in between them.
Engaging the glutes,
Can you send the hips higher for these last few breaths?
And then gently release.
So rolling back down,
Upper back,
Middle back,
Lower back.
And when you arrive,
Taking the knees left to right.
If you've got that block underneath the sacrum,
Underneath the hips,
Just stay in there.
No need to move.
Unless you're ready to come down.
And then we'll set up for round two.
If you'd like to take another round of your bridge,
You've got the option to.
This time interlace the hands down the mat underneath the mat.
Wiggle the shoulders in,
Keep pressing the hips up towards the sky.
So that's your option for round two of your bridge.
If you're coming into a round of your wheel.
Taking the hands either side of the face,
Fingertips facing towards the shoulders.
Again,
Try not to allow the elbows and the knees to fall out towards this side.
See if you can keep them nice and magnetized.
Pressing down through the palms,
Pressing down through the feet.
You may come on to the top of the head to begin,
Maybe.
You've got the strength to press the chest up and towards the back of the room if you're comfortable in that wheel.
Keep pressing the chest forward.
Option two.
Take a leg up towards the sky if you want a little play around.
Maybe it's both.
Obviously not at the same time.
And just whenever you're ready.
Nice and slowly.
Chin to chest as you lower it down,
This time bringing the knees in towards the chest,
Having a little rock side to side.
And from here,
You've got the option to take any final posture that the body feels called to take.
Maybe something that you're still craving from your practice today,
It could be just happy babies.
Hands on the outer edges of the feet,
Really drawing the knees in towards the armpits.
Maybe a pause here,
You might have a rock at your side,
Maybe extend through one leg,
The other.
Anything,
Any other posture that you'd like to take to personally close your practice.
You're in the driver's seat one last time.
I'm just here to guide you.
If it's a headstand,
Feel free to take a headstand.
You've got around five more breaths,
So just making sure you switch sides if you're doing something Making sure that you're nice and even.
You've got two more breaths.
And then just whenever you feel ready we're going to take it down to the mat for our final resting posture,
Our Shavasana.
Adding on any extra layers that you might need.
Maybe you're adding in your eye pillow.
Any other props.
Just making yourself as comfortable as possible for this final resting posture,
This moment of integration with our practice today.
Your choice of the legs,
The hands.
Again there's no rush to arrive we've got all that time Just once you feel like you have settled,
You're starting to land here,
Now take a collective breath in together through the nose.
Big exhale out of the mouth.
Deep breath in.
Big sigh.
We'll take one more like that,
Inhale.
Releasing your practice on your exhale.
Finding softness in the face,
Maybe on front of the brows,
On the forehead.
Maybe a little wiggle of the jaws side to side.
Adding softness in the body.
Maybe it's in the shoulders.
Loosen the glutes,
The thighs.
If you allow the hands to just gently curl in towards the palm.
Find a softness in your breath.
Just allowing your body to fully surrender down to the mat for your Shavasana.
You can stay here for as long as you need.
If you feel ready.
Gently bringing a bit of awareness back into the body,
Maybe wiggle of the fingers and the toes.
Rock of the heads,
I decide.
Circles of the ankles and the wrists.
Option two,
Reach the arms up overhead for a nice full body stretch.
Around any little cracks any noises.
And then nice and slowly bring the knees in towards the chest.
Taking one final hug of the body here,
Just showing.
Yourself lots of love,
Lots of gratitude for.
.
.
Your body will carry you through your practice today.
And then nice and slowly when you feel ready either by rocking through your favourite side or a very gentle rock straight up or meet at the top of the mat keeping the eyes closed or fixing your heavy gates.
Just bringing the hands into hot center when you arrive.
Anjali Mudra,
Just to seal in our practice today.
Again,
Just showing yourself thanks and gratitude for rolling out the mat today,
Dedicating time to you and your practice.
We'll take a bow of our hands and our hearts.
Lovely,
Thank you so much everyone.
