Welcome to class.
Go ahead and find a comfortable seated or lying down position and we will begin with some breath work.
As you close your eyes,
Relax your shoulders,
Unhinge your jaw,
And turn your attention inward.
Take a deep breath in.
And then empty out every last bit of air.
Do this twice more.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
One more time.
And exhale.
Now,
As you breathe,
Seal your lips.
Breathe only through your nose,
But attempt to make a sound on both inhales and exhales.
This is called ocean breath,
Because it makes a sound similar to the ocean waves.
As you breathe in,
Toning the throat,
Lengthening the inhale.
And as you breathe out,
Through your nostrils,
Keeping the throat toned,
You'll hear a hissing sound or a sound like ocean waves.
Wait until you're ready and breathe again.
As you breathe in through your nose,
Audible breath in and audible breath out.
This form of breathing helps to aerate the lungs.
It slows down our respiratory rate.
And for this practice,
It connects us to the transformative waters of the ocean,
Allowing us to connect to our flowing and fluid nature.
This class is themed on the Svadhisthana chakra,
Which is the second chakra of our system.
Its energy is fluid,
Water,
Dynamic and flowing.
It helps to connect us to our emotions,
Our ability to express our emotions,
Our creativity and to our power to manifest.
So I'll invite you to step into the flow state,
To move,
To feel,
To accept,
Change,
To create.
Bring your palms together in front of your heart and drop your awareness to the region of the pelvis,
The home of the Svadhisthana chakra.
Its color is orange,
Like when the sun is early in its rising stage or late in its setting stage.
Connect that color,
Location to the fluidity of your breath and ask,
How are you feeling?
What do you want to bring into creation today?
What brings you joy?
And here on the mat,
When you find yourself getting into a tight place or you start to feel constricted,
Take a deep breath and remember the tides are always turning.
Have faith in the changing tides of your life and learn to go with the flow.
Opening up the eyes,
Come into Baddha Konasana.
Bring the soles of your feet together,
Shake your legs out like you did in your kindergarten days.
The hips are the biggest joints in the body and so the muscles around the hips are a storehouse of energy.
As you take an inhale,
Lift your chest and as you exhale,
Just lean forward into a fold.
You can walk your hands out,
You can keep your hands at your feet or your knees,
Whatever feels best to you.
Allow your head to drop down and take just a couple deep breaths as we wake up the energy in the hips and pelvis.
Breathe in.
Open your mouth for this one.
Letting go.
During your class,
Any time you feel like you've come up against some tight energy,
Open up your mouth and exhale and let some of it go.
Begin to walk your hands back in.
Shift forward over your knees.
Find tabletop pose and we'll begin to move into some cat and cows.
On an inhale,
Lift your heart and your gaze and your tailbone.
Let your belly slope down and then as you breathe out,
Press the floor away into cat pose,
Rounding your back,
Breathing all of your air out completely.
Inhale for cow.
Exhale for cat.
Inhale for cow.
Exhale for cat.
Find your breath here as you inhale for cow,
Breathe through your nose,
Make that ocean wave sound.
And then when you're ready,
Exhale,
Round your back into cat,
Exhaling with sound.
Inhale with sound.
Exhale with sound.
Inhale for cow.
Look forward and up.
As you exhale,
Go to cat pose,
Round your back,
But at the same time,
Move your hips towards your heels.
Then inhale,
Look forward and round up into your cow pose again and exhale back and down.
As you move like this,
You become a wave.
You become like the tide.
You become watery and fluid,
Connecting to our Svadhisthana Chakra,
The chakra of feeling and flowing,
Connecting to emotions and our passions,
Finding our joy.
Take a few more breaths through these wave-like cat and cows and feel free to move in your own unique ways as well.
Feel free to scribble through the body.
Maybe your movements turn into barrel rolls of your chest.
Maybe you circle the head.
Maybe you sway out the hips.
Be your own unique wave here for one more round.
Big inhale.
And exhale.
Find your way back to your hands and your knees from wherever you went.
And from your hands and knees,
Tuck your toes under for a downward dog.
Bring your hips up and back.
Start to reach your heels towards the yoga mat as you press your chest back towards your toes.
Let your head just hang.
Press into both hands and fingertips and reach the right leg up.
As the right leg comes up,
Roll out the ankle.
Then bend the knee,
Opening up the hip.
Take some big hip circles here.
Re-extend your right leg and lower it next to the left.
You're back in a downward-facing dog and repeating those movements for the other side.
The left leg goes up.
Roll out the ankle.
Bend the knee.
Circle the hip.
And find downward-facing dog.
From your down dog,
Take one last breath in and out.
And then reach your right leg up again,
Breathe in.
And step forward between your thumbs.
As you come into a lunge pose,
Move your hips around,
Up,
Down,
Side to side,
Forward,
Backward,
Feeling into the hips,
Into the hip sockets,
Into the low back.
And then bring both hands to the inside of your right foot and come into side angle pose.
Your back heel pivots down.
Heel to arch alignment as your left arm flies up towards the sky,
Open up across your chest.
If you need to modify this pose,
You can have your right hand on a block.
You could even place your right forearm on the top of your right thigh.
Take another huge breath in.
Lower both hands back down.
Both hands are still inside that right foot as you come to the floor.
From here,
Lean into your left hand.
Come onto the back toes and reach your right arm to the sky for a lunging twist.
Gazing up at the top hand,
Taking a few breaths here.
Feel free to roll out the right wrist.
Open up the chest.
Big inhale.
And big exhale.
Let both hands come down to the inside of the right foot.
Drop your back knee down to the floor.
You might need to move your left knee back a few inches.
Then,
Grab for the outside of your right ankle by putting your right arm under your right leg.
You might clasp your hands around the ankle if you can come to your forearms.
If you're not able to come to your forearms,
You'll plant the palm just outside the right foot,
Making sure that your right arm is under and behind the right leg.
If you're feeling like you can go a little bit deeper,
Tuck your chin towards your chest,
And imagine that someday you might be able to tuck your head behind the right calf.
Don't force anything.
It will come when it's ready.
Listen to your body and just go as far as it feels good today.
Wherever you've gone in your body,
Take a big breath in.
And out.
Unravel yourself from that pose.
Plant the hands to the floor under the shoulders and take your right foot back into downward-facing dog.
Move it around,
Let it flow,
Releasing any tension,
Static energy,
And then switching sides.
Take your left leg up to the sky,
Breathe in,
And step your left foot through.
Move around,
Pulse into the lunge a few times,
Wake up the hips.
Keep your back leg strong,
And bring both hands to the inside of your left foot.
Spin your back heel down and take your right arm to the sky,
Side-angle pose.
Couple breaths here.
As you dial your left hip under and back,
Squeeze your right thigh,
Lift your kneecap,
And try to get the entire bottom of your right foot planted.
Parachute the soles of your feet up away from the earth,
As in sucking up energy through the bottoms of your feet,
Pulling it up your shins,
Up your thighs,
And into your pelvic center.
From here,
Lower your right palm down and reach your left arm to the sky,
Twisting,
Rinsing out,
Pressing out old blood,
Metabolic waste,
And toxins.
Maybe taking the gaze all the way up to the top hand,
Big breath in,
And then lower the left hand back down.
Drop your right knee down,
Maybe moving your right knee back a few inches.
Take your left arm under and behind the left leg,
Maybe grabbing for the outside of your left ankle,
Lowering to your left elbow.
If that's not going to happen,
Stay on your palm.
Maybe your right hand also grabs your left ankle so that both forearms are down.
You're welcome to tuck the back toes and pick up the back knee if that's helpful,
Chin towards chest,
And tucking the head behind the calf.
Find a place that works for you.
There's always going to be a deeper variation.
It's just up to you whether or not you take it.
One more breath where you are.
Inhale,
And exhale.
Unravel yourself from the shape.
Bring both hands to the floor and step into a down dog.
As you get back into your downward facing dog,
Come up onto your tippy toes and start to walk your feet forward.
Take your time,
Arriving at the top of your mat in a forward bend.
Halfway lift,
Fingertips on the shins or on the floor,
And forward fold.
Inhale to rise,
To stand.
Look up and watch your palms seal.
Bring your hands to your heart.
A few rounds of sun salutation A,
Warming up the whole body,
Syncing up breath and body.
Also,
It's said that through the sun salutations,
We get to burn away our toxins,
Both physical toxins and mental toxins,
And our emotional toxins,
Any toxins that reside in the energy body.
Hold that intention,
Reach the arms up,
Look up,
Breathe in,
And exhale,
Forward fold.
Halfway lifting on an in-breath.
As you exhale,
Step back into plank pose and lower down.
Breathing in through cobra or into an upward dog,
Straightening the arms,
Your choice.
Downward facing dogs,
Press back.
Look forward,
Breathe in,
And step or jump to the top.
Halfway lift,
In-breath.
Forward fold,
Out-breath.
Reach the arms high,
In-breath.
Hands to the heart,
Exhale.
Two more rounds like that.
Breathe in,
Reach high.
Swan dive forward,
Exhale.
Flat back,
Breathe in.
Plank pose,
Lower down.
You can hover in chaturanga or land,
Your call.
Up dog cobra,
Breathe in,
And downward dog,
Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Look forward,
And step,
Jump,
Or hop to the top.
Halfway lift when you get there,
And forward fold,
Breathing out.
Reach the arms to the sky,
Big breath in.
Hands to the heart,
Exhale.
Final round,
Reach the arms up,
Breathe in,
And forward fold,
Breathing out.
Flatten out the back with an in-breath,
And then step into plank and lower down,
Elbows tucked into the side waist.
Cobra or upward dog,
Your choice,
And downward facing dog.
Hold this down dog,
Breathe.
Smooth out your breath.
Take your right leg to the sky,
Open the hip,
Bend the knee.
Stay here,
Or shift your weight forward so your shoulders arrive over your wrists.
Your right toes are still pointing to the ceiling,
Your right knee is bent.
And then drop the right toes behind you,
Keeping the left leg straight and strong,
Pressing the knife edge of that left foot,
And lift your hips and open your heart,
Wild thing.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Unravel right leg up to the sky,
Breathe in.
Step forward between your thumbs,
Breathe out.
Bring your right hand to the inside of your right foot,
Spin your back heel down,
Side angle pose,
Reaching up.
As you exhale,
Warrior two.
Stay here,
Breathe in.
And settle three inches deeper into the pose,
Breathe out.
Inhale for reverse warrior.
Reach up,
Reach back.
As you exhale,
Go right into a twisting lunge.
The left hand plants to the inside of the right foot,
And the right arm is up to the sky.
From this twisting lunge,
We'll go into a lounging lunge.
You'll roll onto the outer edges of both feet.
Roll the right toes out to about a 45 degree angle first,
Flex the right foot,
And let the outer knee fall to the floor as you roll to the pinky toe side.
Do the same on the back foot too.
You're on the knife edge of that left foot,
Flexing the feet.
Let your hips sink down now towards the floor as you reach your right arm towards the back of the room.
And then inhale and reach your right arm back up to the sky and try to straighten out your legs.
Just reach and stretch up as far as you can.
Then lower the hips down.
You might even touch the floor with the hips as you reach your right arm back.
Inhale,
Reach up,
Breathe in.
Straighten out the legs.
And exhale back into the twist,
Into the lounging twist.
And then circle your right arm up,
Around,
And forward.
Find your way into a lunge.
Reach your right leg up to the sky with a breath in.
And set your right shin up behind your wrist into pigeon pose.
As your right shin lowers and your left leg extends back,
Rise up onto your fingertips and take a deep breath in.
As you exhale,
Bend your elbows and lower your chest and your forehead down.
Breathe out.
Inhale,
Rise up,
Proud pigeon.
Exhale,
Fold in.
Inhale,
Rise,
Proud pigeon.
Exhale,
Fold in.
Inhale,
Rise to proud pigeon.
Pause.
Plant your hands on the floor in front of the shin.
Tuck your back toes under.
And with an exhale,
Pull your right knee to your nose in plank.
From right knee to nose,
Kick your right leg to the left side of the room for a fallen triangle variation.
As the right leg straightens to the left,
You want to have your toes the same height as your wrists or fingertips.
The back heel is down,
The hips are lifting,
And you're reaching up through the top arm.
Take an inhale here.
And as you exhale,
Lower the left hand down,
Pull the right knee towards the chest,
And hover it back in a three-legged plank.
If this is hard for you,
You're welcome to set both sets of toes down.
Lower halfway,
Either hovering the right leg or not.
And then press into cobra or up dog.
You can let both of the feet reach out to the floor,
Toes pointed.
Downward facing dogs,
Exhale.
Other side.
Left leg up,
Bend the knee,
Open the hip.
Stay here.
Shift forward now.
Shoulders over the wrists.
And drop the left toes behind you,
Keeping the right leg straight.
Press your hip points up to the sky.
Roll your heart open.
Big,
Huge breath in.
And as you exhale,
Unravel and step the left foot forward between the thumbs.
Back heel down,
Heel to arch alignment.
Left hand to the inside of the left foot and the right arm to the sky.
Side angle pose.
Smooth out your breath,
Open up your heart.
Dial that outer left hip under and back.
Squeeze your right thigh.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Inhale to warrior two.
Reach the arms wide and settle your gaze over your fingertips.
Take a deep breath in.
And settle three inches deeper.
Lift your left palm.
And reverse your warrior,
Reaching up,
Reaching back.
As you exhale,
Right palm to the floor inside the left foot.
Twisting lunge.
Left arm goes up to the sky.
Lounging lunge.
Roll into the outer edges of both feet.
Reach your left hand back and let your hips melt down.
As you inhale,
Press to the feet.
Reach the top arm high.
Attempt to straighten the legs a little bit more.
Exhale,
Reach back as you melt your hips down.
Inhale,
Reach up and open.
Exhale,
Melt down.
Inhale,
Lift up.
Lower the left hand.
Take the left leg to the sky,
Three-legged dog.
Bring your left shin forward and find a pigeon pose on this side.
Feel free to modify the angle of your left shin.
Square your hips and reach your right leg back in space.
Come up to your fingertips.
Take a huge breath in in proud pigeon.
And as you exhale,
Lead with your heart.
Bend the elbows and lower down.
Breathe in,
Float back up.
Breathe out,
Lean in lower.
Breathe in,
Lift and open.
And breathe out,
Lean in lower.
Breathe in,
Lift and open.
Plant the palms.
From planting the palms,
Tuck the back toes and bring the left knee to the nose.
Extend the left leg back into a three-legged plank.
Lower halfway,
Chaturanga.
You can let the tops of both feet land as you open for an upward-facing dog.
And then flow back into your downward-facing dog.
In your down dog,
Take a couple of breaths.
Breathe audibly in and out through your nose.
Look forward and jump or step to the top of your mat.
As you arrive here,
Slowly begin to roll up to stand.
Take your time,
Stacking one vertebra on top of the other.
When you stand,
Reach the arms out and up and lean back.
Open up your chest.
Hands to the heart,
Exhale.
Step your feet together.
Sit low and reach those arms high.
As you exhale,
Bring your right arm under your left arm for eagle wrap.
Take your right leg over your left leg.
Maybe wrap the ankle behind the calf if that works for you.
We're going to open right up into a half moon.
Let your left hand come down.
As you lift your right leg off your left leg,
Kick it back and hover it.
Open up across your chest.
Maybe bend the right knee.
Reach back and catch the foot.
Take one more breath here.
Gently release both feet down,
Both hands down,
Forward fold.
Take an inhale.
Open the mouth,
Let it go.
Slowly rise,
Taking your time,
One vertebra at a time.
Roll the shoulders back and down.
Reach the arms up to the sky,
Big breath in.
Left arm under the right arm,
Eagle wrap.
Left leg over the right leg if you wish.
Square your hips forward,
Tone to the belly and breathe.
Remember,
It's not about how well you hold the balance.
It's about who you are when you're here in these challenging moments.
Are you showing up for yourself?
Half moon pose.
Unraveling,
Taking your left leg back,
Left arm up.
Kicking out through that back foot.
Reach out through your heart,
Reach out wide across your chest.
If you'd like to bind,
You can bend the back knee.
Catch the foot,
Chapasana.
Take another breath.
And forward fold.
Drape your body down over your legs.
Take a nice fluid breath in and out.
The second chakra located just below the navel,
Directly affecting the hips,
The pelvis,
The lower lumbar spine.
Feel into those places here.
Turn your toes out for malasana squat.
Bring your elbows to the insides of your knees.
Place your hands together at your heart center.
Lift your chest,
Anchor your tailbone down.
And then reach your arms forward and slowly sit your hips onto the floor and lower all the way onto your back.
Take your time,
Nice and slow.
And as you arrive on your back body,
Bring your knees in.
Give yourself a big,
Well-deserved squeeze,
Thanking yourself for making this time to be on your yoga mat,
For this time to address the health of your second chakra.
And when you're ready,
Release into savasana.
As you release into savasana,
Close your eyes down.
Align your body up just so,
So it feels very comfortable and relaxed.
The energy of this chakra allows you to let go and to move and feel change and transformation occurring within your body without resistance.
It's all about surrender.
It allows you to experience the moment as it is in its own fullness and beauty.
And so feel that now as you drop back.
Trust the process.
Open and be receptive.
Connect to the sound of your breath.
You can release ocean-sounding breath,
But continue to watch the way the breath comes and goes.
This time here on your mat has been specifically carved out just for you.
So continue to relax here.
The sound of my voice will delicately guide you out of savasana in just a few minutes.
So without any further ado,
Drop deep into a state of ease.
Relax your whole body,
Your whole being.
Surrender completely and let go.
Begin to notice your breath.
Bring your awareness back to your body.
When you feel ready to,
Reach your arms overhead for a full body stretch.
Arch the back up off the floor,
Point the toes,
Flex the feet.
Open and close the hands,
Roll the wrists.
And as you feel ready to,
Just roll over onto your right side.
Rest your head on your forearm for a couple of breaths.
And then very slowly begin to rise.
Take it nice and slow as you pad your hands on the floor and bring yourself up.
As you come to sit,
Close your eyes and bring your hands to relax at your knees.
Feel the earth beneath you and ground your sitting bones firmly down.
And while you are earth,
You are also water.
Everything ebbs and flows and drips and drops and pours and splatters and trickles and ripples and soaks and splashes.
Everything is nourished by water.
And so as you sit here,
Rest your hands in your lap,
Close your eyes,
Connect to the rise and fall of your breaths.
Imagine that you are sitting on a small raft or a canoe.
Each inhale that arrives,
Feeling that sensation of buoyancy floating atop the water.
With each exhale,
You are drifting further and further from the shore.
Feeling the vastness of the ocean.
Think of the waves of life.
Some of them have lulled you with their gentleness,
Their consistency and their comfort.
While others have rocked you,
Been giant,
Dragged down tsunamis that nearly drown you.
But all have been integrated into this big ocean of life.
You are each wave.
But you are also the entire ocean.
And honor all that has brought you here.
Bring your palms together.
And ask,
Do I give myself permission to feel the fullness of all my feelings in any given moment?
Think of what you may have stuffed inside or shoved away.
What part of your emotional landscape is waiting to be acknowledged and seen?
What parts of the past are you clinging to?
And what are you ready to let go of?
And as you pose the questions,
Don't expect a clear-cut answer to come surfacing through.
Just be open and receptive as you move through the remainder of your day for clarity on topics that help you to balance this chakra.
I'd like to thank you so much for taking the time to be on your mat and to do this deeper work.
May this practice serve you.
Namaste.
