Hello,
My greetings to you as you enter into this practice today.
We'll begin this practice by entering into Supta Baddha Konasana,
Or Reclined Butterfly Pose.
Making your way gently to the earth,
Lying on your back with your torso facing the sky.
You may use a yoga mat,
Or simply lay on the floor or the earth,
Whatever ground surface is available to you.
Planting your feet on the earth with your knees bent towards the sky.
From here,
Allow your knees to fall gently open and the bottoms of the feet to come together to touch.
I invite you to place your hands in a position where they are most comfortable,
Either at your sides,
Pressing down on the tops of your thighs,
Or even inviting one palm to stack over your belly and the other to stack over your heart.
As you rest on the earth,
Begin to turn your awareness to your breath.
Facing your inhalations and your exhalations as you hold this posture.
And as we enter further into this practice,
I want to ask that you honor yourself and your body,
Acknowledging that our bodies may have limitations in this present moment,
And not press past any of those limitations,
But accepting them without judgment.
The intention behind this practice today is to use movement to release any emotional currents that we may be holding,
Opening and releasing the sacral space,
The home of the second chakra,
And nurture what comes forth.
Begin to fine-tune your awareness a little deeper and tune into the sounds of both the inhalation and the exhalation.
And as you are listening to the cadence of your breath,
I invite you to begin to visualize the ocean with the sound of the inhale breath.
See and sense the ocean waves drawing away from the shore into itself,
Just as you draw the breath into your body.
And with the sound of the exhale breath,
See and sense the ocean waves falling upon the shore,
Releasing its waters to the earth,
Just as you are releasing your breath.
With every inhale hearing and seeing,
The ocean waves recede from the shore.
And with every exhale,
The waves returning to land.
And as we continue to hold Reclined Butterfly Pose,
Begin to sense any emotional tension as your hips open,
Sensing any feelings or thoughts that may bubble up to the surface,
The hip space houses the energy of our emotions.
And as you open and release the space,
Allow any emotions to also open and release without judgment,
Noticing whether you feel any tension in your jaw as you hold this posture,
And allow that tension to soften.
Breathing into this space,
Inviting in release,
Inviting in acceptance.
And we'll release Sita Baddha Konasana by gently drawing your knees back up to the sky,
Planting the bottoms of your feet back on the earth,
Walking your feet out just slightly wider than hip width distance apart.
From here,
Allow your knees to fall together,
Making a pyramid-like shape with your knees for a gentle counter pose to that hip stretch that we started with.
Sending your awareness back into your breath,
Hearing the sounds of the breath as the waves of it wash in and out of the body.
And notice the release this pose brings to your low back,
Softening the space to the earth.
Breathing to breathe in and breathe out,
Nourishing our bodies with our breath.
Allow your arms to come out on either side of you,
Entering into a T-like position on the earth,
With our feet still planted a little wider than hip width distance.
With an inhale breath,
Allow your knees to pull away from each other,
Drawing them back up straight to the sky.
With your next exhale breath,
Allow your knees to fall gently over to the right side of the earth,
Right knee falling down,
Pulling the left knee with it.
With an inhale breath,
Return those knees back up to center,
Pointed towards the sky.
Exhale and allow the left knee to fall to the side of the earth,
Pulling the right knee with it.
Inhale and return the knees back to center.
With your next exhale breath,
Falling back over to the opposite right side.
And inhale,
Knees back to center.
And continue this back and forth motion with your breath as we begin to warm up our lower back,
Allowing the speed of the breath to guide the movement,
Not allowing the speed of the movement to guide the breath,
Allowing the movement to be as slow as the breath.
And as you allow the knees to fall to each side,
Give yourself permission for the movement to be as fluidic as possible,
Smooth and liquid,
As we further open up this sacral space.
Continuing with one more repetition on each side.
Inhale as the knees return to center,
And exhale as they fall over to one side.
Inhale back to center,
And exhale as the knees fall back down to the opposite side.
And once your knees have returned back to center,
Keeping your arms in that T position on the earth,
Draw your feet off the ground and stack your knees over your chest.
Allow your knees to fall open hip width distance apart,
And guide your right knee down to the earth,
Pulling that left knee with it down to the right.
Inhale,
Keeping both knees hip width distance apart as you return to center.
And exhale both knees to the left.
Inhale return them to center.
Exhale allow them to fall back to the right.
Inhale return to center.
And exhale to the left,
And continue this flowing movement on either side dynamically with your breath as we begin to warm up our mid spine,
Allowing the movement to continue to be guided by the breath.
Even if you have allowed that ocean visualization with your breath to release,
I invite you to call it back in,
With every inhale hear and see the ocean as it draws into itself,
And every exhale the ocean as it releases upon the shore.
Continuing with one more repetition on each side.
Once your knees are back stacked above your torso,
Allow your feet to return to the earth and your knees extended up to the sky.
We'll begin to move into Satubandhasana,
Or bridge pose,
Gently walking your feet back towards your sit bones so that your shins are perpendicular to the earth,
Drawing both arms down alongside your torso on the earth with your fingers pointed towards your toes.
With your next inhale breath,
Begin to lift your hips off the earth towards the sky,
Rolling your spine off the earth.
And with an exhale breath,
Gently roll your spine down to the earth,
Hips planted on the ground.
Inhale extending your hips back up to the sky.
And exhale as you roll your spine and hips back to the earth.
And continue this motion with your breath,
Continuing to allow the motion to flow with each breath as we lift the seat of our motions to the sky and roll it back down to the earth,
Extending and releasing this space,
Being aware of the sensations both in our physical body and our emotional body as we roll our spine up to the sky and release back to the earth.
Starting with that visualization of the ebb and flow of the ocean's waters with every breath.
Allowing one more repetition with your breath.
Once your back has returned to the earth,
Rolling over to one side and use your upper arm to press into the ground as you make your way into a tabletop position.
Your hands and wrists on the earth beneath your shoulders,
Your knees stacked beneath your hips,
Drawing your navel in towards your spine.
From table moving into cat cow,
With an inhale breath arching your spine,
Lifting your chin up to the sky.
Exhale rounding your spine,
Pressing down through your palms and the backs of your feet.
Inhale arching your spine,
Gaze ascends,
And exhale rounding,
Gaze at the navel.
And continue with this back and forth motion with your breath,
Inhaling as you lift your gaze in your heart,
And exhale pressing against the earth and rounding the spine.
And as you continue this back and forth motion with your breath,
Begin to turn your awareness to where you feel this movement originating from.
Perhaps each movement begins from your heart space,
Or perhaps it begins from your solar plexus,
Or maybe even your tailbone.
And as you notice where this arching and rounding motion in cat cow starts,
Perhaps invite in a shift and allow the movement to start from that space below your navel,
That space close to your tailbone,
Further nurturing and opening the space.
Allowing each movement to be graceful,
Allowing each movement to be a flow from one to the next.
Moving one more motion in each direction with your breath.
With the next inhale breath,
Return to a neutral tabletop position,
Moving into a lateral cat cow.
From table exhale,
Sending your right shoulder back towards your hip,
Hip drawing towards your shoulder.
Then inhale,
Returning to center.
Exhale sending your left shoulder back towards your hip,
Hip drawing towards the shoulder.
Inhale return to center.
Exhale back to the opposite side,
Right shoulder and hip together,
Making that crescent shape with your side body.
Inhale return to center.
And exhale repeat on the opposite side with your left shoulder and hip.
And continue this lateral stretch on each side of your body with your breath,
Flowing with every breath.
And as you flow with this movement,
Allow the stretch to nourish and create space in the side body.
Now the next time you return to that neutral tabletop position,
With your exhale,
Make your way into downward facing dog,
Keeping your palms planted on the earth as you lift your hips up to the sky,
Drawing your shoulders away from your ears.
Allow yourself to take a few breaths here in this space,
Perhaps stretching your legs by bending one knee and then the other.
Nodding your head yes and no.
Imagine this pose a little more fluid.
With your next exhale breath,
Begin walking your feet forward on the earth to meet your palms into Uttanasana,
Forward fold.
Allow your torso to fold down towards your thighs,
Your head and arms drawing down to the earth.
And invite a gentle bend into your knees,
Allowing your head,
Neck and arms to be heavy.
And gently shift your weight first into one foot and then the next,
Very gently swaying your body side to side,
Keeping the movement graceful as you float side to side.
Turning your awareness back to your breath if you have allowed it to release,
Calling back in the visualization of the ocean waters with every breath.
Gradually making your way into stillness,
With your next inhale lift your torso just halfway,
Palms on your shins and your back flat and parallel to the earth.
And exhale,
Fold towards the earth,
Forward fold.
Transitioning to standing by rolling up one vertebra at a time with intention as you stand on the earth.
Entering into Tadasana,
Mountain pose.
Pressing all four corners of your feet into the earth.
As resting against your sides,
Palms facing out and away from your body and rolling your shoulders down and away from your ears.
Drawing your navel towards your spine and just witness the sensations within your body.
With your next inhale breath,
Inhale your arms up to the sky.
Allow your fingers to clasp,
Index fingers extended.
With your exhale breath tip your clasped palms and torso to the right,
Creating a lateral bend,
Crescent moon shape in your side body.
Inhale back to center,
Arms still raised overhead.
And exhale to the left,
Tipping your torso and arms to the left.
Inhale returning back to center.
And exhale tipping back over to the right.
Inhale return to center.
And exhale to the left.
Inhale as you return to center.
And next exhale your arms down on either side of your thighs.
Tadasana,
Mountain pose.
With your next inhale breath,
Lift and spread your toes,
Placing them back into the earth.
Exhale bending your knees and lowering the pelvis to the earth as if sitting in a chair.
Keeping your spine long and straight,
Tilt slightly forward,
Arms raised to the sky for utkatasana,
Chair pose.
And breathe,
Sensing the ebb and flow of your breath.
Seeing the sensations in your body and allow yourself to steady the breath.
With the next inhale breath,
Straightening your torso and legs,
Returning to tadasana,
Mountain pose.
Returning into virabhadrasana one or warrior one by stepping your right foot back and planting it behind you at about a 45 degree angle,
Being conscious to protect the knee,
Not overextending it or twisting it.
Bend into your front knee.
Take a moment to ensure that your knee is stuck directly over your ankle,
Widening your stance if needed.
Rooting down into the earth with both feet and then lifting your arms overhead to the sky,
Warrior one.
Bringing steadiness to your breath as you feel your body filled with vitality in this asana.
And if you have allowed that ocean visualization with your breath to release,
Perhaps invite it back in.
Inhaling as the ocean waters recede from the shore,
Drawing the waters into itself and exhale as its waters are returned to the shore.
We will begin to transition into goddess pose.
With your next inhale,
Straightening your front leg and exhale turning your front foot and torso open to the right,
Turning both feet out to 45 degree angles,
Arms raised out to either side,
Parallel to the earth and stacked over both feet.
With an exhale breath,
Grounding down through the feet as you begin to bend your knees,
Allowing your pelvis to lower down to the earth,
Sitting into your hips.
Bending your elbows at a 90 degree angle,
Cactusing your arms,
Balancing strength with softness.
And continue to breathe as you hold this pose,
Sensing the flowing of the breath and activating that sacral space.
With your next inhale,
Straightening your legs and then bring your palms in front of you to touch,
Holding them in front of your heart space in Anjali Mudra or prayer hands,
Elbows drawn out to the side and walking your feet just a little bit closer but still keeping them slightly wider than hip width distance apart.
Transitioning into Malasana or yogic squat.
By keeping your torso straight and gently bend your knees as you lower your hips down closer to the earth,
Being conscious to move slowly and with awareness,
Noticing any tightness in the hip or knee joints and not pressing past any areas of tightness.
If your body allows in this moment to continue descending down to the earth into Malasana,
Plant the elbows on the inside of the knees as you stop,
Floating your sit bones about a foot off the earth in a yogic squat and hold,
Sending the breath to your hip space,
Sensing any waves of emotion that well up from within.
And allow yourself to feel them,
Allowing them to wash over you and release,
Letting go of what you may have been holding on to yet no longer need in this space,
In this moment,
Or even in this body.
Exhale breath throughout your body.
And to come out of this pose with your next exhale breath,
Tip forward to press your palms into the earth and inhale as you begin to straighten your legs,
Lifting your hips to the sky.
Taking an exhale breath here and inhale as you hinge your torso at the waist,
Keeping your spine long as you make your way to standing.
With your feet wider than hip width distance apart,
Begin to turn your torso and the front foot back to the left,
Returning to Warrior I pose.
Taking a moment to widen your stance if needed,
Keeping your back foot turned out into that 45 degree angle,
Bending into your front knee,
Stacking the knee over the front angle,
And grounding all four corners down into the earth and then lifting the arms to the sky.
And breathe,
Sensing the opposing energies in this pose,
Grounding and lifting all at once.
Holding Warrior I pose,
Release your arms back down to the earth and draw them behind your back,
Allowing the fingers of each hand to clasp behind your back.
Draw your clasped hands down towards your sit bones,
Pulling your shoulders down away from your ears,
Hinging forward from your hips,
Drawing your torso down towards the front bent knee,
Arms clasped above the sit bones.
When you have entered your best stretch in this space,
Begin to explore a deeper stretch by perhaps lifting those clasped hands away from your sit bones,
Extending them straight up towards the sky.
And breathe,
Grounding into your feet,
Releasing any tension in the muscles of your face.
With your next exhale,
Release the arms back down to the sit bones.
Inhale lifting your torso back up to the sky,
Straightening your spine,
And release your arms on either side.
Stepping your back right foot forward to the front of the mat,
The front of the earth,
Coming into Tadasana,
Mountain Pose.
Your arms on either side of your thighs,
Palms and the inside of your elbows turning outwards to the front,
Rooting down through all the corners of your feet,
Just as you extend the crown of your head to the sky,
And call your awareness to your breath,
Noticing the tempo of the breath,
Noticing it without judgment.
And if you have allowed it to release,
Perhaps call in that ocean-like visualization with every inhalation and exhalation,
Continuing to breathe in the space as we nourish our body with our breath.
We'll begin to balance the opposite side of the body.
With your next inhale breath,
Lift and spread your toes,
And then plant them back down into the earth.
Exhale,
Bending your knees and lowering the pelvis to the earth,
As if sitting in that chair.
Keeping your spine long and straight,
Tilt slightly forward,
Arms raised to the sky.
Utkatasana,
Chair Pose.
Continue to breathe,
Sensing the ebb and flow of your breath,
Feeling the sensations in your body.
And with the next inhale breath,
Straightening your torso and legs,
Returning to Tadasana,
Arms fall on either side of your legs.
Transitioning into Warrior I by stepping your left foot back and planting it behind you at about a 45 degree angle,
Again being conscious to protect that back knee.
Bending into your front knee,
Taking a moment to ensure that your knee is stacked directly over your front ankle and widening your stance if needed.
Rooting down into the earth with both feet and then lifting your arms overhead to the sky,
Virabhadrasana I.
Bringing steadiness to your breath and filling your body with vitality.
Keeping your awareness on the tides of the breath,
The fluid nature of the breath.
Moving down into the earth with your feet as you also extend your arms into the sky.
Beginning to transition into Goddess Pose,
With your next inhale straighten your front leg and exhale turning your front foot and torso open to the left,
Turning both feet out to 45 degree angles.
Arms raised out to either side,
Parallel to the earth and stacked over both feet.
And with your next exhale breath,
Grounding down through your feet as you begin to bend your knees,
Allowing your pelvis to lower down to the earth,
Sitting into your hips.
Bending your elbows at a 90 degree angle,
Cactusing your arms.
Then bringing balance to this pose by balancing the strength in this posture with softness in your body.
Continuing to breathe as you hold this pose,
Sensing the flow of the breath.
With your next inhale straightening your legs,
Standing in a four pointed star like shape and then bring your palms to the front of your torso to meet together and touch,
Holding them in front of your heart space in Anjali Mudra.
Elbows drawn out to the side,
Walking your feet just a little bit closer,
But still keeping them slightly wider than hip width distance apart.
We'll begin to make our way into Malasana.
Keeping your torso straight,
Gently bend your knees as you lower your hips down closer to the earth.
Being conscious to move slowly and within tension and not pressing past any areas of tightness in your hips or knees.
Noticing where you feel your greatest stretch.
If your body allows in this moment to continue descending down to the earth,
Plant the elbows on the insides of the knees as you stop,
Floating your sit bones about a foot off the earth in a yogic squat.
And hold,
Sending the breath to our hip space.
Again,
Sensing any waves of emotion that well up from within and allow yourself to feel them.
Allow them to wash over you as they release.
Letting go of what you may have been holding onto,
Yet no longer need.
And steadying the breath.
And to come out of this pose with your next exhale breath,
Tip forward to press your palms into the earth and inhale as you begin to straighten your legs,
Lifting your hips to the sky.
Taking an exhale breath here and inhale as you hinge your torso at the waist,
Keeping your spine long as you make your way to standing.
With your feet wider than hip width distance apart,
Begin to turn your torso and the front foot back to the right,
Returning to warrior one pose.
Taking a moment to widen your stance if needed,
Keeping your back foot turned out into that 45 degree angle.
Bending into your front knee and stacking the knee over the front ankle.
Grounding all four corners of your feet down into the earth and then lifting the arms to the sky.
And breathe.
Feeling any sensations that arise as you hold the pose.
Holding warrior one pose,
Release your arms down to the earth and draw them behind your back,
Allowing the fingers of each hand to clasp behind your back.
Draw your clasped hands down toward your sit bones,
Pulling your shoulders down away from your ears.
And hinging forward from your hips,
Drawing your torso down towards that front bent knee,
Arms clasped above the sit bones.
Begin to explore a deeper stretch by lifting those clasped palms away from your sit bones,
Moving them straight up toward the sky.
And breathe,
Grounding into your feet while releasing any tension in the muscles of your face.
With your next exhale,
Release the arms back down to the sit bones.
And inhale,
Lifting your torso back up to the sky,
Straightening your spine,
And release your arms on either side.
Stepping your back left foot forward to the front of the mat,
Returning to Tadasana,
Mountain pose.
Releasing your arms to the side of your thighs,
Palms in the inside of your elbows turning outwards to the front,
Rooting down through all the corners of your feet.
And again,
Call your awareness back to your breath.
Again noticing the tempo of the breath without judgment,
Just witnessing.
And if you have allowed it to release,
Perhaps call in that ocean-like visualization with every inhalation and exhalation,
Nourishing your body with your breath.
From Tadasana,
We'll begin to make our way down to the earth,
With an exhale breath hinging forward from the hips,
Keeping your spine long as you allow your torso to bend down towards your feet.
Forward fold.
Inhale halfway lift,
Lifting your torso parallel to the earth,
Palms on your shins.
And exhale,
Release your torso,
Forward fold.
Planting your palms on the earth,
Bending your knees,
And make your way into table pose,
Wrists beneath your shoulders and knees beneath your hips.
From table,
Tuck your toes onto the earth with your ankles extended to the sky.
Tucking your palms back from table to directly in front of your knees,
We'll begin to enter into a modification of Malasana,
A balancing yogic squat.
Keeping your knees pressed together,
Spine is long and palms pressing into the earth,
With an inhale begin to lift your knees off the earth,
Raising your thighs until they are parallel to the earth,
Almost as if you could balance a plate on your thighs.
Begin to explore releasing your hands from the earth and straightening your spine,
Bringing your palms back into your heart center with Anjali Mudra,
Balancing your thighs off the earth with your toes tucked to the ground.
Releasing your awareness on the flow of the inhalations and the exhalations of your breath.
Gently releasing your knees back down to the earth,
Palms planted on the earth,
And sitting back on your heels to swing your legs out in front of you,
Feet planted on the earth with the knees extended up to the sky.
From here allow yourself to roll your spine down to the earth,
Drawing your knees to stack over your chest,
Placing your hands on the tops of your knees,
And begin to gently rock side to side,
Massaging your spine against the earth.
Keeping your palms on the tops of your knees with your next inhale breath,
Allow your knees to fall away from your torso,
And exhale,
Drawing them back in.
Inhale allowing your knees to fall away,
And exhale,
Drawing them back in.
And continue this back and forth motion with your knees,
With your breath.
For a variation of Apanasana.
Continuing this motion for one or two more repetitions,
Before making your way into the final resting posture of Shavasana.
Extending your legs out in front of you on the earth,
Allowing your arms to fall down on either side of your torso,
And gently rolling your palms towards the sky,
Allowing your feet to fall slightly open,
And then finally allowing your eyes to gently close.
Taking one final scan of your body for any residual areas of tension,
And inviting in release,
Scanning the space between your brow,
The corner of your eyes,
Your jaw,
And soften.
And as you are laying on the earth,
Begin to sense all of the spaces where your body comes into contact with the ground.
And as you notice these spaces against the earth,
Shift your awareness to all of the spaces that are perhaps raised slightly above the earth,
The areas of spaciousness.
Gently and ever so slightly tilt your chin back towards the sky and begin to envision that you are floating on water,
Calling in the complete softness and relaxation your body needs to lift you to the top layer of the water to keep you afloat.
Allow all of your muscles to soften,
Imagining each muscle to smile,
Lifting you up.
Now allow yourself to release your head back down into a comfortable position.
Imagine the sensation of warm water lapping gently against the sides of your body as it is just you in the water,
Floating in complete and utter peace.
Bring your attention back to your breath,
Noticing the currents of the breath,
Both your inhalation and your exhalation,
And calling forth that image of ocean waves,
Visualizing the inhale as the ocean water is being pulled from the shore and the exhale as the ocean waves return to land.
Notice how there is also similarity between the emotions of ourselves and the expression of the world's waters.
From waters that are calm and peaceful to playful and bubbly to turbulent and uncontrolled,
Acknowledge that you may have experienced all of these emotions in your life and maybe more,
Surges of joy,
Sorrow,
Pleasure,
Pain.
Our emotions ebb and flow just like the earth's waters.
Allow yourself to visualize those times when you have held these emotions and allowing any moments that bring you emotional discomfort to bubble forth from within and witness them without judgment and then allow them to release,
To wash away.
These have been a facet of who you are,
But they do not have to define you.
I ask that you accept who you are and I ask that you repeat the following affirmation in your mind.
I feel.
I need to relearn.
