Moving Meditation - Gentle Yoga Hip Opening Flow

Alright,

Well,

We're gonna start on our backs this morning.

So I know that's dangerous this time of day.

Try not to fall back asleep.

But go ahead and just arrive here when you're ready.

Allow your arms to rest alongside your body palms face up.

When we relax completely here on our backs,

There's that little external rotation in the hip so the toes should angle toward the corners of the room.

And then guide your shoulders down your back.

If you haven't paid special attention to them yet,

Go ahead,

Give them a little wiggle,

Relax them away from your ears.

And then close your eyes.

Let's all take a nice full inhalation through the nose.

And a nice slow exhale out the nose or mouth.

Again,

Inhale through the nose fill up expanding through belly,

Chest and ribs.

Exhale nice and slow.

Let that air release.

Big breath in,

Fill up.

Expand through every corner of your lungs and a nice slow exhale.

Release the breath.

Now let's take a few deep breaths at your own pace.

I'd like you to take this time to just challenge yourself a little bit.

Taking the biggest breaths you've taken yet today.

And being mindful that you're not just dumping the air out you're very slowly releasing it out the nose or mouth.

If you would like to begin at this time to cultivate your Ujjayi breath you're welcome to.

That's the little audible catch in the throat on the exhale when you exhale out your nose.

It's a little constriction creates that little Darth Vader sound.

You're also welcome to continue exhaling out the mouth that's going to help calm your nervous system.

So whatever is appropriate for you.

Let's allow this breath to continue moving at your nice natural pace inhaling and exhaling.

And then as you breathe,

This is your opportunity to identify your intention for your practice this morning.

Maybe it's an intention for the rest of your day ahead.

Maybe it's something you've been working on for a long time.

Maybe this is an intention that you keep coming back to time and time again,

Just continuing to build,

Continuing to reinforce.

What is it that you need to gain today?

Or perhaps what is it that you need to let go of?

Let's take three more deep breaths together.

One more inhale.

Big exhale.

Now bring your right hand to your belly.

Allow your left hand to rest on top of your right hand.

So both hands are on your belly.

We're going to meet at the bottom of our next exhale.

And then we're going to take a big breath in through the nose and fill up the belly.

Nice big belly breath.

Just feel the abdomen rise beneath your hands.

And as you exhale,

Slowly release.

Another nice big inhale into the abdomen.

Feeling it expand like a balloon beneath your hands and exhale.

Let it go.

One more breath like that.

Inhale into the belly.

And exhale.

Release.

Now keep your right hand on your belly.

Let's draw the left hand up and over the heart space.

So right hand is on the belly,

Left hand is on the heart.

We're going to go ahead and we're going to inhale into the belly,

The chest and the ribs all the way up to the top of the lungs.

Feel the entire chest expand beneath your hands and exhale.

Slowly release.

Big breath in,

Belly,

Chest and ribs fill all the way up,

Expand.

Exhale.

Let it go.

And one more time,

Big breath in,

Fill up belly,

Chest and ribs.

Exhale,

Nice and slow.

Release.

Go ahead and relax your arms alongside your body,

Palms face up.

And then we're going to draw the right knee up and into the chest.

So take your time,

I'm going to mirror you guys,

Draw the right knee up and in,

Interlace your fingers behind that thigh.

And then let's pay attention to the right foot or the left foot,

Excuse me,

That left foot,

The one that's on the earth,

The one that's nice and long.

That foot is flexed,

Toes point up to the ceiling.

Great job.

And if your lower back is tender,

Feel free to bend that left knee and plant the foot instead.

So let's focus now on gently guiding the right knee up and into the chest on the next breath in.

And then as you exhale,

Focus on releasing your low back.

On your next inhale,

Draw the crown of your head toward the wall behind you.

So just get super long through your neck.

And then as you exhale,

Relax your shoulders a little bit more down your back.

Another big breath in through the crown of the head.

And this time,

Send the breath all the way down the length of the spine,

Focusing on that low back.

Let's take two more deep breaths here at your own pace.

One more inhale.

Big exhale.

Now bring your left hand to your right knee,

Take a big breath in.

And on your exhale,

Draw that knee across your left side body.

And take your right arm out at your side,

Your palm faces up,

And you can turn your head to look over your shoulder.

Now we have plenty of space in the studio today.

If you'd like to bend the elbow for goalpost instead,

Feel free.

If you're in your home practice and you're tight on space,

Just bend the elbow of that right arm,

Allow the palm to face up and gaze over that right shoulder.

Close your eyes here.

And let's take three deep breaths.

Inhaling through the crown of the head getting long.

And see if you can exhale a little deeper into your twist.

Two more breaths at your own pace.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Now inhale,

Draw that right knee back to center.

Interlace your fingers again behind your thigh,

And then send your right leg straight up toward the ceiling.

You're probably still a little tight this morning,

We're just getting started.

So it's okay if there's a little bend in your right knee.

Let's focus on drawing the foot into the same plane as the ceiling and the floor.

Perfect,

Ladies.

Excellent.

Now inhale,

Press the foot up toward the ceiling a little higher.

Exhale,

Relax down the hamstring.

Again,

Inhale,

Press that foot gently up.

Exhale,

Soften.

Inhaling to all this length in your leg,

Feel it growing a little longer.

Exhale,

Release.

And we're going to take two more breaths.

Inhale,

Lengthen a little more.

This time as you exhale,

Focus on drawing your toes a little more toward your forehead as you get a little longer through the leg.

And let's do one more breath in.

Big breath out.

Now keep your fingers interlaced behind your thigh.

Anchor your belly down toward your spine.

And we're going to inhale,

Peel head,

Neck and shoulders up off the mat.

Just draw the nose toward the knee.

Awesome.

Wake up that belly a little bit this morning.

Perfect.

If you want to,

If you have the space,

You're welcome to walk your hands up your leg.

That's up to you.

Or keep them here behind your thigh.

Let's take two more deep breaths.

Great job.

Making sure that even if you're walking your hands up your leg,

You're not pulling with the hands,

You're lifting from your belly.

Let's do one more inhale.

And then nice and slow,

Lower head,

Neck and shoulders all the way down to the mat.

Keep your right hand behind your right thigh.

Bend your knee back into your chest and angle your knee over toward your shoulder.

So take that knee nice and wide.

Yes,

Right knee over toward the right shoulder,

Right hand behind the thigh.

Head and the neck are releasing to the mat.

And then your left hand can either press down on your left thigh,

Or take it out to your side,

Maybe bend your elbow again,

In your goalpost shape.

Close your eyes.

Let's see what's arising in this right hip.

Inhaling from that left foot all the way up through the crown of the head.

And exhaling to find a little more softness in the right hip.

Two more deep breaths.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Now go ahead and draw the right knee back in towards center and draw the left knee up to meet it.

So both knees are hugging in at your chest.

Take both arms out at your side now in your goalpost or straight.

And we're going to draw some circles on the ceiling with the D's.

So keep the knees together.

And let's just slowly start to draw some nice circles massaging out the low back,

The tailbone.

And again,

Just noticing what's arising in the physical body.

If there's any unexpected tension or tightness,

You're welcome to keep working through it,

Just pausing in your circle.

And then reverse this motion when you're ready.

Let's circle in the opposite direction.

Nice and slow.

So if you feel like you're just whipping your knees around real fast,

I challenge you to slow it down.

Sometimes going slow is the most challenging thing that we can do.

We're always racing around all day.

One more circle here.

And then bring both knees into your chest.

Interlace your fingers behind your left thigh.

And we're going to send the right leg forward and long.

And if it's better for you,

You can just plant the right foot on the mat if that's better for your low back.

Gently flex through your right foot.

Let's check in,

Make sure the shoulders are soft down the back.

And then let's close our eyes,

Eliminating any visual distractions around us.

Breathing in through the crown of the head.

And sending the exhalation down the spine through the low back,

Let it release.

Two more deep breaths.

Inhale.

Exhale.

One more inhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Now bring the right hand,

Excuse me,

To the left knee.

Gently draw that knee across the right side body.

And take your left arm out at your side,

Palm faces up.

Turn your gaze over that left shoulder.

Feel free to bend the elbow in a goalpost.

If that feels a little bit nicer.

Yeah,

Excellent.

Just releasing here.

Close your eyes.

Perfect.

Maybe you feel it a little bit in the outside edge of the hip as well,

Maybe in that IT band.

So just exhale wherever you're feeling sensation.

Let's do one more breath here.

Exhaling through your maximum twist.

And then inhale,

Draw that knee back to center.

Interlace your fingers behind the thigh.

And we're going to send the left leg straight up.

So sometimes we actually get a little dependent on the strap when we use the strap here.

So I really want you to focus on pressing the foot up toward the ceiling.

That's what creates this length and not pressing the knee back.

And then relaxing down that hamstring down that long left leg.

Every inhale,

You press it up a little higher to the ceiling.

And every exhale,

You relax a little more.

Let's take three more breaths.

Inhale,

Gently press up.

Exhale,

Deepen a little more.

Inhale through the nose.

Exhale,

See if you can angle your toes toward your forehead.

It's okay if it's not visible.

Just see if you can feel it.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Now with your fingers interlaced behind your thigh,

Inhale,

Gently peel head,

Neck and shoulders up.

Draw the nose toward the knee.

And then if you'd like to,

You can walk your hands up to your calf.

Just don't press behind the knee.

Or keep your hands behind your thigh.

Let's take two more breaths from that belly button,

Peeling up a little higher.

Holding that lift as you exhale.

Let's do one more inhale.

Great job.

And as you exhale,

Slowly lower head,

Neck and shoulders down.

Let's re-bend the left knee into the chest.

Bend the right knee,

Draw it up to meet the left.

And then bring both hands,

One on each knee.

We're going to do our hip circles.

So we're going to inhale,

Open the knees wide like a book.

Exhale,

Circle them down,

Away and back together.

Yes.

Inhale,

Draw them up and open them wide.

Exhale,

Circle down.

One more in this direction.

Just creating a little space in the hips here.

And then reverse.

So with the knees away from you,

Open them wide,

And then circle them up and into your chest.

Guide them away on your inhale,

Open them wide.

Exhale,

Circle them up and back together.

And let's do one more of these.

And don't worry about what it looks like.

Or if you're perfectly in sync with me just move through another circle.

And then let's meet here at center.

Knees together at your chest.

Go ahead and take your arms out in goalposts or straight at your sides.

We're going to do one more nice recline twist here.

So take a big breath in at center.

And I'm teasing you a little bit because we're going to exhale,

Lower the knees over to your left,

But don't let them touch the earth and keep your right shoulder rooted down.

Inhale,

Lift your knees to center.

Exhale,

Lower them to the right and let them hover.

Use your core.

Inhale knees to center.

Exhale,

Relax them over to your left and hover.

Inhale,

Draw them back to center.

And exhale over to the right.

Anchor your belly down.

Hover those knees.

Inhale to center.

And this time we will relax into the twist.

Exhale,

Lower the knees over to your left.

Turn your head over your right shoulder.

And then close your eyes.

Slightly deeper twist now.

Coming back to your breath.

Let's take three more breaths,

Just relaxing completely down the length of the spine,

Envisioning that we're wringing it out gently like a little dishrag.

Everything you brought with you into the practice today that you need to let go of,

I want you to just envision it melting away in your twist.

One more inhale.

Big exhale.

Now gently bring your head to center.

Draw your knees up to center.

Inhale.

And then exhale with control.

Don't just flop over.

Lower your knees over to the right.

Turn your head.

Look over your left shoulder.

Come back to your breath.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Exhale down your spine.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Now draw both knees up and into your chest.

We're going to root both feet down into the mat.

And then lower our arms down alongside our body.

Now I'm not going to cue a supported bridge today.

If you would like to take one,

Maybe Bob on Zoom,

You want to do a supported version,

Feel free to use a block.

But we're going to do a full version this morning.

So root your palms down into the mat.

Walk your heels up a little closer to your sits bones.

And make sure your gaze is at the ceiling.

We don't turn our head in bridge pose.

On your next breath in,

We're going to inhale,

Lift the hips,

Lift the heart,

And arrive in bridge.

You can keep pressing your palms down into the mat,

Or make a little fist underneath your tail.

And send your fist toward your heels to open your shoulders a little more.

And lift your heart a little closer to the chin.

Perfect,

Everybody.

Great job.

We also don't have the block in between the thighs today.

So pretend it's there.

Yeah.

Pretend you're hugging in towards center.

We're going to do two more breaths.

This looks fantastic.

Inhale,

Lift a little higher.

You've got this.

Hold the lift for your exhale.

One more big inhale,

Hips to ceiling,

Chest to chin.

And as you exhale,

If you have a fist,

Release it.

Let's lower one vertebra at a time,

All the way down the length of your spine.

Slow controlled descent.

Allow your tailbone to reach the mat.

Take a big breath in.

And then walk the soles of your feet together and open your knees wide like a book.

We're moving into reclined cobblers.

This is our nice neutral position for the low back.

Bring your right hand to your belly and your left hand to your heart.

After that nice deep backbend,

Let's just take a couple of breaths in neutral here.

So focus on inhaling all the way up the length of the spine.

And then send your exhale down through your pelvis.

Release through your hips.

Again,

Inhale.

Exhale.

One more breath in here.

Exhale.

Let's actually take one more breath.

I realized we skipped that hip opener on the other side a little earlier.

So let's let these hips release.

And then go ahead and bring your hands to the outside edges of your thighs.

Draw your knees in together to touch.

And we're going to move to our counter pose.

So we're going to come into staff pose.

If you want,

You can draw your knees in,

Hands behind your thighs.

And we can take a few little rocks front to back on the spine.

Perfect.

See if you can do three rocks.

Use your core for control.

If this is not accessible,

Just roll to one side and press yourself up.

Send your legs forward.

Excellent.

Shake the knees out a little bit.

And then let's gently flex the feet.

Press the palms under the shoulders.

And right away before we fold,

We're going to find this nice alignment.

So the big toes press forward.

The pinky toes are gently pulling back.

So take a big inhale now from your pelvic floor through the crown of your head.

Sit up tall.

And let's exhale.

Hinge from the hips.

Walk the fingers forward and start to fold over the legs.

Great job.

Go ahead and bow when your body allows you to.

Relax your head and your neck.

And then your hands can frame your legs,

Or they can come to shins,

Ankles,

Or the feet.

So see what feels best in your body.

Close your eyes once you arrive.

And we're going to inhale crown of the head toward the toes.

So get a little longer through the spine.

Exhale,

Let the belly soften toward your thighs.

Again,

Inhale,

Think of sending the crown of the head toward the toes.

Exhale,

Relax a little deeper in your fold.

These are all just little micro movements.

One more time.

Inhale,

Lengthen.

And exhale,

Soften.

Engage your belly,

Lead with your heart,

Slowly rise up.

We're going to go ahead and we're either going to cross the ankles and roll over our seat or we're going to swing the feet to one side and move into tabletop.

So find your hands and knees position.

Bring the knees underneath the hips.

Great job.

I got it.

Yeah,

Hands a little forward of the shoulders.

Yep.

And grab your knee pad if you're using one.

Excellent.

Shake the feet out a little bit and then anchor the tops of the feet down into the mat.

Let's inhale,

Drop the belly,

Lift the heart,

Lift the tail,

Open.

Lovely.

Exhale,

Pull up from that belly.

Pull up between the shoulders,

Get round.

Inhale,

Belly drops,

Heart and tail lift.

Open up.

Exhale,

Pull up from center,

Round through the spine.

Inhale,

Open.

Again,

Resisting the urge to rush.

Breathe through this nice and slow.

Exhale,

Round.

One vertebra follows the next.

Let's do two more.

Inhale,

Make this one a little bigger.

Exhale,

Pulling up from the belly,

Get a little rounder.

And one more time.

Inhale,

Open.

And exhale,

Round.

Go ahead and find your nice neutral spine.

If you would like to come to child's pose now,

You can.

Or let's walk the palms forward,

Curl the toes under and take our first downward dog.

Send the hips up and back.

And then go ahead and just pedal through the feet a little bit once you arrive.

Bend the knees,

Press the heels down.

And again,

If you'd rather take a child's pose,

Just bring your hips to your heels and take a little rest.

Once you feel like you're available to settle into a little bit of stillness,

Let's go ahead and do so in our down dog.

Heels gently rooting down,

Or moving down rather,

Little soft bend in your knees.

Great job,

Everybody.

Perfect rooting through your palms.

Sending those hips nice and high.

Yes,

Excellent.

And remember,

It's okay that the heels don't reach the mat.

As long as you're working toward it,

You're finding that current of energy.

That inhalation from the fingertips,

All the way up through the hips.

And that exhalation.

Great job,

Juanita.

From the hips all the way down through the heels.

And when you're looking at your heels,

They should be right behind your toes.

So if they're splaying out to the sides,

Go ahead and adjust that alignment.

We've been here for a few breaths.

I know,

Keep breathing through it.

Let's do one more inhale.

Big exhale.

And then go ahead and just find some nice soft knees,

Look up to your hands,

We're going to walk the feet up.

And we're going to take a nice standing forward fold.

So if you were in child's pose,

Move into your down dog,

Walk your feet up and grab your opposite elbows.

Let's hang nice and heavy here finding a little swaying motion.

We're letting the low back release.

Noticing if you're crunching your head forward,

That's very common here.

Let's completely relax through the neck,

Crown of the head moving toward the earth.

And then we're going to find the four corners of your feet.

So envision a little rectangle on the sole of your foot.

From that little rectangle,

Think of inhaling from your feet all the way up through the hips.

And then exhaling to soften the belly closer to the thighs.

Yeah,

Let's take two more breaths.

Just breathing into these currents of energy,

Inhaling hips a little higher to the ceiling.

Exhale,

Belly softer to the thighs.

Really letting these hamstrings wake up.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Now release your opposite elbows,

Hands to shins,

Ankles to the earth.

We're going to find a gentle bend in the knees.

Look forward a little so the spine is long.

Inhale,

Arms to the sides and overhead come all the way up.

And then exhale,

Gently release the arms like you're moving through water.

Nice and slow.

Perfect.

Fine mountain pose.

Take a breath in.

Shoulders down the back.

Big breath out.

Perfect.

We're going to move through a few slow sun salutations.

We're going to take it nice and slow.

Inhale,

Arms to the sides and overhead.

Exhale,

Hinge from the hips,

Fold through center all the way down.

Now inhale,

Let your hands come up to your thighs.

Find a nice tabletop back,

Long spine.

Exhale,

Take that length in your spine back down into your fold.

Bend your knees gently.

Plant your palms.

Step back.

We're going to take plank on the knees or the toes.

Either one,

Whatever's best for you.

Take a big breath in.

And then nice and slow,

Lower to your belly.

See how slowly you can lower down.

Tops of the feet release to the mat.

Shoulders down the back.

Inhale,

Lift your heart for Cobra.

Fill up with breath and exhale,

Slowly lower down.

Inhale,

Let's all gently lift plank to the knees for this first one.

And then pull up from your belly.

As you exhale,

Curl your toes under behind you round through the spine,

Hips to heels,

And then lift the hips up and back for downward dog.

So that's our first variation.

You're welcome to continue moving through that with me.

Let's take three breaths here.

And this time,

We're going to inhale through the nose.

Exhale out the mouth.

Inhale.

Exhale.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Find a little bend in your knees.

Look up to your hands.

Take a slow walk up.

Standing forward fold.

Let's take a breath here.

Hold here.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Nice soft knees.

Lead up to the mat.

Breathe with your heart.

Inhale,

Arms to the sides and overhead.

Exhale,

Release.

Inhale,

Lift up.

Fill up the lungs and exhale,

Hinge from the hips,

Fold through center.

Great job.

Big breath in,

Hands to thighs,

Lengthen out,

Flat back.

Exhale,

Soften back down into your fold.

Nice soft knees.

Plant your palms.

Step back.

Plank knees or toes.

Take a breath in your plank pose.

Great job.

Exhale,

Slowly lower to your belly.

Tops of the feet release.

Inhale,

Lift your heart for Cobra.

Fill up the lungs.

Exhale,

Slowly lower down.

Now,

Inhale,

Plank to the knees or you can do plank to the toes.

And then we're going to exhale to downward dog.

Perfect.

So if you're on plank on your toes,

Just pull from your belly up and back.

And if you were on your knees,

Just move through that nice slow journey,

Arriving here together in downward dog.

Inhale through the nose.

Exhale out the mouth.

Inhale through the nose.

Out the mouth.

Envision your intention as you inhale.

Seal it in as you exhale.

Nice soft knees.

Look up to your hands.

Slow walk up.

Standing forward fold.

Let's take an extra breath here.

Just take a big inhale.

Hold a little deeper as you exhale.

And then nice soft knees.

Lead with your heart.

Inhale,

Arms to the sides and overhead.

Exhale,

Release your arms.

We're going to do one more of these.

Here we go.

Inhale,

Lift up.

Exhale,

Fold through center.

Big breath in.

Hands to thighs.

Get nice and long through the spine.

Exhale,

Fold back down into your legs.

Gentle bend in your knees.

Plant your palms.

Step back.

Plank knees or toes.

Breathe in.

Exhale,

Lower to your belly.

Tops of the feet release.

Inhale,

Lift your heart for cobra.

Exhale,

Slowly lower down.

Inhale,

Plank knees or toes.

Exhale,

Downward facing dog.

Inhale,

Lift up.

Exhale,

Lower down.

Inhale,

Lift up.

Exhale,

Lower down.

Inhale,

Lift up.

Exhale,

Lower down.

Arrive.

Dog pose is a resting posture.

Come back to your breath.

One more inhale.

Hold as you exhale.

And then go ahead.

We're going to inhale from the belly button.

We're going to slowly ripple forward.

So we're in a plank on our toes.

Just roll out your spine.

Come into a plank on your toes.

And then lower your knees down to the mat.

Pull up from the belly button.

Round through your spine.

Bring your knees wide like a book.

Big toes touch in the back.

And come into an extended child's pose with nice wide knees.

Let your forehead rest on the mat.

If it doesn't comfortably reach the mat,

You guys know you can grab a block.

If you're in your home practice,

You're welcome to grab a cushion,

A pillow,

Anything that you need.

And then let's relax through the shoulders.

So think of inching the fingers forward a little more toward the top of your mat and then relaxing completely down the shoulders,

Completely down the side body.

And that little pressure on the third eye,

That space between the brows helps to calm our nervous system.

So let's keep taking some nice deep breaths,

Maybe even exhaling again out your mouth.

Let's take one more breath in.

Big breath out.

And then engage your belly.

Gently lift from your belly.

Come up to tabletop.

So bring the knees back in underneath the hips if they are wide.

And then we're going to take the right leg.

I'm going to mirror you guys.

And we're going to send it straight back behind us.

Toes point down.

So peek back.

Make sure those toes don't splay out to the side.

Toes point down.

Yeah,

There we go.

And then return to all this length in your spine.

Crown of the head in line with the tail.

So gaze should be down.

And then let's go ahead and just gently pulse through this leg.

So just gently lift and lower from the heel.

Just waking all these muscles up,

Firing up those glutes.

Two more deep breaths.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

And then very slowly,

We're going to draw the right knee over toward the elbow.

And then we're going to send that leg straight out at the side.

So the toes point forward.

We're on our hands.

Go ahead and just rock front to back a little bit through this hip.

Yeah,

And you've all got your knee pads under your knee.

That's perfect.

If you're at home and you don't have one,

You can just grab a towel or a blanket.

Let's take one more breath.

Just gently rocking this out.

And then come to stillness,

And we're going to lower down.

So if it's available to you,

You don't have to.

You can stay on your hands.

I might stay here today.

You're welcome to lower to your forearms if you like.

Maybe grabbing a block.

Lowering forearms to a block or forearms to the earth.

See what feels good.

Or some of you know the half dog variation here.

You're welcome to take that as well.

I know,

Juanita,

You've done that one before.

Or you just walk your palms forward and let your heart and your forehead melt down to the earth.

So see what's available in your body this morning,

What feels nice.

And all of our exhalations,

Yeah,

Move through this right hip.

Let's take two more breaths.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Now take your time.

You're going to want to press up with your hands.

So see if you can engage your belly button first.

Try to lift from your belly.

Come back onto your hands.

And then let's heel toe this right foot all the way forward.

So just keep walking it forward.

We're going to come into a nice low lunge.

So if you're using blocks,

If you're here in the studio with me,

We can grab our blocks.

If you don't have blocks at home,

Don't worry about it.

You can just frame the foot with your hands.

Or you're welcome to grab some books or pillows to lift yourself up a little under your hands if you need to.

Breathe in through your nice long spine.

Exhale.

Soften through the hips.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Now we're going to grow our lunge.

Bring your hands to your front thigh first.

Find your balance.

Front heel,

Back knee hug toward one another.

And then lift your arms up when you're ready.

Relax your shoulders.

Perfect.

Steady your gaze or close your eyes if you can.

And then just keep sending those exhalations through the hips,

Letting them release.

Keeping your core nice and strong,

Supporting your spine.

And be very mindful that you're not squeezing shoulders.

You're not lifting from the shoulders.

The shoulders are soft.

Let's take two more deep breaths.

We're going to add a nice twist while we're here.

So go ahead,

Wiggle your right fingers.

Lower your right arm and reach it around.

Maybe it comes to your low back.

Maybe you can reach it all the way outside your left thigh.

And then gently twist from your belly toward this right knee,

Reaching through those left fingertips and keeping that left shoulder soft.

Let's take two more deep breaths.

Inhale,

Lift your right arm up to meet your left.

Perfect.

Exhale,

Lower both hands down.

Frame the foot.

Let's take a little half split.

Pull up from Mula Bandha,

Your pelvic floor.

Gently rock back,

Left hip over knee.

Inch your right foot forward so that leg is nice and long.

Curl the toes up and back.

Breathe into your long spine.

And exhale,

Fold over your leg.

You're welcome to set the blocks aside or lower them.

Hands can come to the earth if that's more appropriate.

And then remember to find those opposing currents of energy.

Pull back from the heel through the hip to help lengthen the hamstring.

And keep inhaling the crown of your head toward your toes,

Softening your belly toward your thigh.

They're like two puzzle pieces that fit together,

Stacking one on top of the other.

Take a couple more breaths.

Looks great,

Everybody.

Last breath here.

And then just slowly move back forward to your low lunge.

Heel,

Toe your right foot over to the outside edge of your mat.

Toes angle off.

Let's take a nice lizard pose.

So both hands come inside the foot on the earth or on your blocks.

Take a nice breath in.

And then when you're ready,

Lower down.

You can lower forearms to your block,

Or maybe they reach all the way to the mat.

Or maybe you just stay on your hands and hands can be on blocks or on the earth.

Feel free to rock to the outside edge of the foot if you want to open the hip a little more.

Let's just be present with what's arising.

Close your eyes.

Let's see if we can breathe through it.

We're going to take three more breaths.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Now again,

Gently draw your belly toward your spine slowly.

Lift yourself up rather than pressing yourself up.

Bring the sole of the right foot back to the mat if you rocked over to the outside edge.

And let's just heel,

Toe that foot back behind us.

Bring the knee underneath the hip.

Set your blocks aside if you're using them.

Tabletop.

Perfect.

Walk your palms forward.

Shift your weight forward.

Shoulders over wrist.

Plank on your knees.

Breathe in.

Exhale.

Lower all the way to your belly.

Shoulders down your back.

Inhale.

Lift your heart.

Cobra.

Exhale.

Lower down.

And then inhale.

Plank knees or toes.

Exhale.

Down Dog or Child's Pose.

You pick.

Whatever feels good in your practice this morning.

Perfect.

We're going to take three breaths.

Come back to your intention.

Repeat it to yourself as you breathe.

One more inhale.

Big exhale.

Now with control,

Slowly start to lower your knees down to the mat.

Take your time.

Finding your tabletop position.

Perfect.

Set your knee pad up if you need it.

Yeah.

If anybody needs to,

Just make a few circles with the wrists if they're feeling a little tight.

And you can always press little fists down into the mat if that feels better.

Send the left leg back on your next inhale.

Hold for your exhale.

And then start to gently pulse through that leg.

Let's just bring a little awareness into it.

Small little movements here.

Keeping the toes down.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

And then on your next inhale,

Draw the knee over toward your left elbow this time.

And then send the legs straight out in line with your hip.

Plant the foot so the toes point forward.

And then staying on your hands,

Just rock front to back a moment.

Notice if there's any tightness,

Crunchiness,

Stiffness in the hip.

You're welcome to keep rocking.

Or when you're ready,

We're going to come to stillness and maybe lower down to the forearms.

Maybe extend the arms in that half dog variation if you like that.

Yeah,

Perfect.

Great job.

But wherever you are,

Let's see if we can resist,

Excuse me,

That little turtle shell that we often create in the upper back.

Yeah.

Trying to keep that spine long.

You're welcome to bow your head as long as you don't introduce roundness into the upper back if that makes sense.

So keep the shoulders down the back.

You're welcome to bow the head.

Let's just not create a little balloon between the shoulders.

Let's take one more breath here.

Big breath out.

And then gently draw the belly toward the spine.

Slowly lift back to your hands if you aren't there already.

And then we're going to heel toe this left foot forward.

So giving the hip a room,

Just little heel toe motions,

Bring the foot forward.

We're going to find our low lunge.

You can either frame the foot with your fingertips or grab your blocks or any supports you might have at home.

Let's inhale,

Get long through the spine.

And exhale,

Get soft through the hips.

Two more breaths.

Inhale.

Exhale.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Now bring your hands to your front thigh.

Let's make sure that knee is right over that ankle.

Yeah,

Great adjustment.

Perfect.

Excellent.

Relax through the hips.

Find that foundation,

Front heel,

Back knee.

Gently hug in.

It doesn't have to be a firm pulling.

It can just be that gentle hugging in.

And then lift your arms when you're ready.

Soften your shoulders.

Steady your gaze.

Maybe if you can balance and close your eyes,

I always encourage that.

Eliminating any distractions around us.

Especially if you're in a home practice,

There's always distractions.

Let's take two more breaths.

And then slowly as you exhale,

Lower your hands down.

And we're going to heel toe the left foot over to the left edge of the mat.

Let the toes angle off.

Bring the hands inside the foot.

Hands can rest on the earth or on blocks.

And then go ahead,

If you want to rock the hips a moment,

You can.

See how that feels.

And then when you're ready,

We're going to lower down.

So if you want to stay on the hands,

That's fine.

If you want to lower to the forearms,

Maybe they come down to a block.

Maybe they come all the way down to the earth.

Maybe if you're at home and you don't have blocks,

You want to grab a pillow or a support.

And then feel free to play with the left hip by rocking out to the edge of the left foot,

Opening it a little more.

Rocking back.

Just feel free.

Let's breathe through it.

Three more breaths.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Bring the sole of the foot back to the mat.

If you rock to the outside edge,

Engage your belly.

Gently lift back up onto your hands.

And we're going to walk the foot back.

So heel toe it back.

Bring the knee back underneath the hip.

If you're using blocks,

Set them aside.

Just come to your tabletop.

And then one more time,

We're going to walk the palms forward.

Send the hips forward.

Shift shoulders over wrists.

Breathe in.

Exhale.

Make the descent last the length of your exhale.

Lower all the way to your belly.

Shoulders down the back.

Inhale.

Lift your heart.

Cobra.

Great job,

Everybody.

Exhale again.

Slowly lower down.

And then inhale.

Lift.

Plank knees or toes.

Exhale.

Down Dog or move to Child's Pose.

This is your last Down Dog.

If you're taking a Down Dog today,

Let's breathe in through the nose.

Breathe out through the mouth.

Inhale.

Exhale.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Engage your belly.

If you're in Down Dog,

Slowly lower your knees to the mat.

If you're in Child's Pose,

Meet us here in tabletop.

We're all going to swing the feet to one side or the other and send the legs straight forward.

Coming into our Staff Pose.

Bring your feet toward the top of the mat.

And we're going to move through Deer Pose or Pigeon Pose.

So our deeper hip opener now.

Let's all start in Deer Pose.

So go ahead and swing both feet to your right.

I'm mirroring you guys.

Bring your left shin in front.

Bring it roughly parallel to the short edge and then just bend the right knee to the outside.

And then if you guys know you want to take Pigeon Pose instead,

Feel free to take the right leg and just send it straight back.

So see what feels good this morning?

Same stretch.

Big breath in.

Get long through your spine.

And let's exhale,

Fold forward over your left shin.

Whether you're in Deer Pose or Pigeon,

You're going to feel this in the outside edge of the left hip.

You're welcome to use a block underneath your third eye or underneath your forearms.

But let's close our eyes.

See if you can eliminate if you're creating a little turtle shell in that upper back.

Let's get long.

Crown of the head toward the mirror.

So toward the front of the room.

Yeah.

Great adjustments.

Perfect.

I'll stop blabbering here.

Let's take four more deep breaths.

Just relax through your hip.

We started a couple minutes late today,

So I might go a couple over if that's okay for everybody.

Okay.

One more inhale.

Exhale.

Now engage your belly,

Support your low back,

Lead with your heart,

Slowly rise up.

Plant the hands under your shoulders.

And this is a little core strengthener.

So see if you can move with control as you slowly send your legs forward.

And then swing them over to your right.

That was great.

Over to your left.

Excuse me.

Sorry.

Right shin is in front.

We're either in Deer Pose or we're moving the leg all the way back for our full Pigeon.

Whatever's in your practice.

Big breath in.

Sit up tall.

Exhale.

Fold forward.

You can stay on the hands,

Lower to the forearms.

Maybe forehead goes all the way to the earth.

Close your eyes wherever you arrive.

We're going to take five deep breaths.

Last breath in here.

Big exhale.

And then engage your belly slowly lead with your heart rise up.

Again,

Plant your hands under your shoulders and then use your core to gently lift your knees and slide your feet forward for Staff Pose.

Awesome.

And we're going to lower all the way onto our back.

So bring your feet to the top of your mat if they aren't there already.

Reach your arms forward.

Make sure you have enough space behind you.

Big inhale.

And then exhale.

Take your time.

One more core strengthener.

Slowly lower down the length of your spine.

Once you arrive on your back,

Reach your arms up and overhead.

Point through your toes.

Take a nice full body stretch.

And then go ahead and just lower your arms down.

Bring your right hand to your belly,

Your left hand to your heart.

Let your feet gently relax.

Toes toward the corners of the room.

So that relaxation initiates in the hips and it moves all the way down to the toes.

Close your eyes.

We're going to do a few rounds of our box breathing and then we're going to relax into our Shavasana.

So let's go ahead from this nice reclined shape.

We're going to meet at the bottom of an exhale.

And then take a nice big inhale through the nose to the count of one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Hold it in for one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Pause for one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Inhale one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

To the top.

Hold it in one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Slow exhale one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Pause for one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Inhale one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Hold it in one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Exhale one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Pause here one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Take a big inhale at your own pace.

As you exhale,

Relax your arms alongside your body.

On your next inhale,

Make little fists with your hands.

Point through your toes.

Squeeze every muscle in toward the bones.

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

Squeeze.

And exhale completely release.

Arriving now in your final relaxation.

So just close your eyes.

Find your natural breath.

And be present here for a few moments.

This is the most important pose of the practice.

So let's make the most of it here.

All right,

I know we could stay here longer,

But let's start to wiggle fingers and toes.

Maybe rock your head side to side if that feels nice.

Circle wrists,

Circle ankles.

And then plant the palms alongside your body.

Bend your knees,

Plant your feet on the mat.

Softly rock the knees side to side.

Massage your tailbone.

Next time your knees rock to the left.

Let's roll all the way on to our left side,

The side of your heart.

Take a breath in.

Take a breath out.

And then use that right hand for support to help gently lift you up.

And we're moving into our Sukhasana seat.

We actually haven't been here yet today.

So find your comfortable seat.

If you need to sit up on some blocks,

Yeah,

Go ahead,

Get situated.

We're going to bring the backs of the hands on the knees,

Thumbs to forefingers,

Close your eyes.

With your eyes closed,

Let's feel that spine.

Shoulders over hips,

Ears over shoulders.

Sit up nice and tall.

Take a big breath into your third eye,

Recalling your intention for today.

Seal it in as you exhale.

And then bring both palms in front of your heart.

Anjali Mudra.

One more big breath in together.

And exhale,

Gently bow forward.

Thank you for joining me.

Namaste.