Aruna Yoga Class Of One Hour

This is a full Aruna Yoga-based practice. Aruna Yoga is developed by Nicki Forman and is a malgamation of kundalini yoga, hatha, vinyasa. It uses mudra and mantra and self-inquiry. Dive in!

Be love, Dorinda

Transcript

Today I'm going to teach an Aruna class of about an hour. Aruna is a lot based on Kundalini Yoga. And so we're going to do some repetitive poses. If you feel dizzy or nauseous or anything, Give yourself a break. You don't have to do everything I ask you to do. Listen to your body. Okay? Let's just start by sitting with a straight spine. Shoulders drop away from the ears. Roll to the front of the sit bones. Lift the heart. I want you to take a deep inhale and just sweep the arms up sideways and the exhale bring the hand palms down to the heart. We usually tune in at the beginning of a class with a mantra. The mantra is Aum Namo Gurudev Namo. And I just want you to Think it or repeat it with me three times. Om Namo Gurudev Namo. Om Namo Gurudev Namo. Om Namo Gurudev Namo. And the intention of that mantra. Is to open yourself up to the world. A higher teacher, To something wiser than your ego, To insights, Ways. Solutions that maybe you didn't have access to before. Today I'm going to work on a series that has a lot to do with your kidneys, That has a lot to do with fear. About turning fear into courage. And so using the energy to redirect it. From the fear. Into the courage. And into the possibility to grow. We're going to interlace your fingers, But keep the index fingers pointing up. If you're a male, I want your left thumb on top, And if you're a female, I want your right. I said it wrong. If you're a male, I want your right thumb on top. And if you're a female, I want your left thumb on top. Now we're going to inhale and take the arms up over your head. This is an inhale and the exhale as if you're chopping wood. Come down. So it's quite quick. You're going to inhale up. Exhale down. Inhale up. Exhale down. Inhale up. Exhale down. Keep going. Sound in the back of the throat. This is going to increase the fire a little bit. Keep going. Nice. If you have some music going on with you, Keep you in the rhythm, Keep you in the beat. Go at your own pace. Inhaling up, Exhaling down. Opening up the energy into the shoulders, Into the arms, Energy lines into the heart. Keep going. Being courageous doesn't mean you're not afraid. It means that the love is bigger than the fear. Keep going. This is what we're doing. Inhale up, Exhale down. Opening up the energy line into the heart. Creating more love So that fear doesn't win. Almost there! Three. Two. One, Arms up, Hold the breath in. And as you exhale, Release the hands back down. Rest the hands on the knees. If you have high blood pressure, You don't hold the breath in. You just do long, Deep breathing. Melt into the energy, Whatever you feel. Relax the face. If you're sitting on a block, You may want to come off. So you're sitting on the sit bones. Hands are on the knees. And we're going to start to do a big circle. But as you do this circle, I want you to roll to the front of the sit bones so the spine stays long. So you inhale forward and exhale back. Inhale forward and exhale back. Keep going. Getting into that kidney energy a little bit into the back as we lean forward, Reaching, Lengthening. The belly forward, Stretching the back as we go. Through the circles. Keep going. Move the body to move the stuck energy. Things that stay. Still tend to. . . Yeah, Dis-ease turns to disease. So I want you to keep the body moving. Don't allow the energy to get stuck. Keep moving. All right, Inhale, Come back to the center and pause. Reverse the direction. Inhale forward, Exhale back. Feels a little different. Leaning into any stuck edges. Keep going. Melt into the energy, Keep going. Three. Two. Beautiful. Last one. Back to the center. Inhale. Hold the breath. Lengthen the spine. Lift the heart. Hold the breath in. Arch the heart up. And exhale, Reverse the curve in the back. And then inhale back up to the center again, Shoulders away from the ears, And just start a few shoulder rolls here, Just. Letting the shoulders roll up and back. And then the other direction. Nice. Back to the center. Pause. Just shake the head no for a few breaths. Inhale left, Exhale right. Inhale left, Exhale right. Inhale left, Exhale right. Inhale left, Exhale right. Three, Two, One. Back to the center. You can be a little dizzy. Stay here. Inhale through the nose, Exhale through the mouth. Get to the end of the exhale with the mouth open. Do that very slowly. Inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Get all the way to the end of the exhale. Do that a few more times. Beautiful, Last one. We're gonna inhale the arms up onto the shoulders. Fingers forward, Thumb back. Shoulders reach open, Elbows up. We're gonna twist again, But this time the head stays still. And the lower body twists. Inhale to the left, Exhale to the right. Inhale left, Exhale right. Inhale left, Exhale right. Sound in the back of the throat. Still Ujjayi breath. Through breathing through the nose. Almost there. A little further with the twist. See if you can get any more out of it. Don't hurt yourself. Go a little further, A little faster. Three. Two. One. Again, Back to the center. Inhale deep through the nose and exhale through the mouth. You may be dizzy. Get to the end of the exhale. Relax the face, Relax into the energy. And a few times, If you need a break, You take a break. You do what the body needs. Body needs to get used to the movements. Now we're gonna just do a few spinal flexes. Inhaling, Roll to the front of the sit bones. Bring the chest, Belly, And heart forward. Exhale, Roll to the back of the sit bones. The head just follows the spine, So you don't have to tip the head up more than the spine is moving. So just inhale forward, Exhale back. Inhale forward, Exhale back. Keep going. You can go as slow or as fast as it works for you today. If you're still dizzy, Go slow. Inhale forward, Exhale back. Keep going. Exaggerating that natural curve in the back as you come forward opening lifting the heart three, And last one back to the center straight spine. Relax the face. Now we're going to take the legs out. To the sides. And then we're going to. . . Find your sit bones. Peterflexed! We're gonna inhale the arms up. And as you exhale, You're just going to reach down. Towards your right toes. If you can touch them, Touch them. If not, Just be at the shin or the knee. Be wherever you are. And then you inhale the arms back up. Then exhale Reach for the left toes. Inhale, Back up. This is what we do. Exhale down, Inhale up. Exhale down, Inhale up. Alternating side to side. Exhale down, Inhale up. Little back bend as you come up. So really arch the heart open as you inhale up. Exhale down, Inhale up. Exhale down, Inhale up, Almost there. Go as far as you can. Keep the spine long as you fold forward. Two. And one, Now keep the arms up on the inhale. And as you exhale, Bring the right hand behind you, Left hand comes onto the right knee. You're going to do a little twist here. So you look over the right shoulder, Roll to the front of the sit bones, Lift the heart, Lengthen, And take long deep breaths here. Now we're going to go sideways a little bit here. So what we're gonna do is keep the twist with the left hand on the right knee, But the right arm is gonna lift behind you. And you're gonna lean towards the left, Taking your left shoulder towards your left knee. Right arm reaches up in the air, And I actually want your armpit open a little bit towards the ceiling. And then you inhale, Come back up. Exhale down Inhale up. We're going to continue that action. Now it's a side stretch. So we're really getting into the kidney energy on the right side. Exhale down, Inhale up. The twist opening armpit up towards the ceiling. So it's not a forward bend, It's really a side action here. Now we're going to stay down. Three. Two and then this one stay down keep twisting armpit up towards the ceiling rotating chest actively reach the arm towards or past the foot i don't you don't have to touch the foot it's about opening up that right side line long deep breaths into there look under the armpit up towards the ceiling Keep rotating chest up as much as you can. Lengthen the belly on the front just a little more. Let the breath expand it. Don't hold the breath. Soften the face, Don't fight the pose, Last breath. And on the next inhale, You float up. Slow motion, You're gonna come back to a seated position. Close the eyes and just take a few long, Deep breaths here. Notice any energetic difference. Melt into it. Open the mouth on the exhale if you need just to sigh. The spine long. We're gonna inhale the arms up again. Now we're going to twist the opposite direction. Left hand goes behind you, Right hand onto left knee. Roll to the front of the sit bones, Lift the chest, Lengthen, Look over the shoulder, Take a few deep breaths here first. And then we start sideways. Raising the left arm, Leaning with your right shoulder towards your right knee. This is an exhale and an inhale back up. Exhale down. Inhale up. Keep going. Keep the side stretch going. Try not to lean forward. It's really side. Getting into that left side lower back, Left side waist. Exhale down, Inhale up. Nice. Just a few more. Three. Two. One, Next time I want you to stay down, Taking right shoulder towards right knee, Left arm reaches up and past, Rotate your chest up towards the ceiling, Roll to the front of the sit bones, Make the belly longer, Lengthen the spine, Deep breath. Don't fight the pose. Relax the face. Reach a little further. It's not about touching your toes. It's about opening the whole left side. So rotate the chest up towards the ceiling as much as you can as you do this. Open the mouth on the exhale. If you need. To release a little more. Expand by breathing deeper, Not by pushing harder. One more deep breath. Melt, And on the next inhale, Come up slowly, Back to the center. Bring the legs back together. Lengthen the spine. We're going to reach the arms out in front of you. Hand palms face each other. Curl your fingers in and let your thumbs face up. Now what you're gonna do is roll to the front of the sit bones. And try and reach your hands. Towards your toes, But not down. You're going straight parallel out. So you're just going straight out in a forward bend and then come back to the center. So exhale forward, Inhale back. Exhale forward, Inhale back. Keep the arms up, Don't touch the toes. Thumbs forward. You can look at your thumbs or past them. And connect the breath with the movements. Shoulders stay away from the ears. Keep the arms up. Almost there. Three. Too. And last one, Come back to the center. Open the mouth on the exhale. You're going to bend the knees, Roll back onto your back, Feet are on the floor. Rest the head back down. And if you can touch your hands to the back of your ankles, Just see if you can do that. You don't have to, But it's just sort of a try and get your feet a little closer if you can. And you can. . . Touch the ankles if you like or just rest the hands beside it's up to you wherever you are. And just find your breath again. On the next inhale, You're going to lift the hips into the air, But I want you to pay a little bit of attention to your alignment here, Because when you lift your hips in the air, I want your weight on your heels and your ankles pushing out to the sides. So you're actively, You can even lift the toes a little bit if you want, And then exhale we're going to come back down. So we're not going real fast to start with. I want the weight on the heels, Ankles pushing out to the sides as you lift. Inhale up. Exhale down. Keep going. Inhale up. Exhale down. Inhale up. Exhale down. Keep going. At your own breath pace. You can go faster if you prefer. Keep the weight on the heels, Ankles pushing out to the side, So it's active in the lower leg as well. Keep going. Three. Now I want you to stay up on the next one and just stay in the bridge pose, Long deep breaths. Keep the length in the spine. Heart, You can roll the shoulders a little bit closer together here. Weight on the heels, Ankles pushing out to the sides. Stay up. Three. Two and last one. Come back down slowly. Nice, Nice, Nice hips come on the ground. Let's let the feet, Soles, Touch and the knees out to the sides for a few breaths. Belly rises on the inhale, Blows up like a balloon. Belly pulls back down on the exhale. Just a few breaths here. Good, We're gonna bring the knees up together. Roll off to one side, Don't sit straight up. Roll off to your side and come up. To sitting on your heels. Up to sitting on your heels. If that's difficult, You can also sit on a block, But see where you are. And we're going to wrap the fingers together behind your back. Wrap the fingers together behind your back. And you're going to lift. The arms from the back here inhale lengthen up open the chest lift the arms as high as you can and the exhale is going to be fold down take your forehead to the ground And inhale. Come back up. Exhale. In it all. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale Inhale. Now this time I want you to stay down and long deep breaths. If you know breath of fire, You're also allowed to do breath of fire here. Otherwise, Just stay with long, Deep breaths. Especially if you're dizzy just. Allow the breath to calm here. If you're feeling like it can use a little more, You can Add a breath of fire. Keep lifting the arms. And now just breath is normal again, Even if you're doing long, Deep breath. And I want you to tiptoe. Your arms to the right as you look over your left shoulder. Then come back to the center. Tip the arms to the left as you look over your right shoulder. And then back to the center, We're gonna release the hands down and just take a few long, Deep breaths, Resting here in Child's Pose. On an inhale, Bring the hands under the shoulders again. Up onto the hands and knees we're going to do a few cat cows here. Drop the belly down. Inhale, Look up. Exhale, Head goes down, Spine goes up. And here we go. Inhale, Exhale. Inhale, Exhale. Inhale, Exhale. Exhale. Keep going. You can go faster if you want. Just getting there. Energy in the spine running. Stretching the belly as you look up, Opening chest, Exhaling. 3. . . Back to a neutral back. Long, Deep breaths. You can always take a child's pose if you like. We're going to shift into Down Facing Dog. Bring the toes up in the back, Hips in the air, Shoulders away from the ears. Make sure your hands are wide enough so the shoulders can relax. Heels towards the ground, Hips in the air. Just take some deep breaths here. Release the neck. Spread the weight equally over the hands. Stay here. And then we're gonna walk towards the front of the mat, Stay in a forward bend, Bending the knees, Let the belly touch the thigh, And then scoop the chest up so that you have the natural curve back in the back. Exhale fold back down again we're going to come up to standing on the next inhale float the arms up And exhale, Hands to the heart. Nice. We're gonna wrap the fingers together again behind your back. Done this before sitting down but now we're going to lift the arms up from the back standing try not to lean forward here you're going to lift the chest even more lengthen so that we really open the heart here long deep breaths or if you know breath of fire and you are don't have high blood pressure, You have no inflammation in your body, And you're not in the first three days of your menstruation, You can do breath of fire, If not long deep breaths. The fire is a forced exhale through the nose, But the sound is in the back of the throat to keep going. Keep lifting the arms. Keep lifting the arms as high as you can. If there's tension in the head, Shake the head no. If there's tension in the neck, Shake the head no. Lift. Keep going. Long, Deep breaths if you're dizzy. Do not push harder. And if you want breath of fire, You're doing breath of fire. Arms are opening, Lifting even higher. Keep going. Keep going. Lift the arms higher. Almost there. Breath of fire or long deep breath. Your choice. Keep going. Lift, Lift. Three. One, Let the arms out to the sides and the energy may hold your arms up. Just close the eyes for a second and let the energy hold your arm. Long deep breaths. Maybe the arms are floating out to the side. Let them be there. Maybe they come down, Let them do that as well, Whatever works, But connect to the energy as much as you can. Let it support you. Let it carry you. Melt into it. And eventually let the arms float down, Rest down beside the hip. On the next inhale, The arms come up again. Exhale, Float forward, Folding, Bending the knees, Fingertips to the ground. Inhale, Flat back, Halfway up again. Exhale, Step back, Chaturanga, Low plank. Go into a plank, Elbows go back. Inhale to up dog, Stay in upper dog, Shoulders away from the ears. If this hurts the back, Take the hands out further in front of you, But stretch the belly in the front. Stick the tongue out, Roll the eyes up back into the head, And do a lion's breath, Taking the forehead to the ground. Looks like this. And then push back up. Push back up. Come to the height that works for you. There's no pain in the lower back. Stretch the belly in the front to alleviate that. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Keep going. Two more. Last one. Now rest down with your head on your hands or head resting to the side. Long deep breaths. Now resting here. I want you to lift your right leg as high as you can. Exhale, Place it down. Then lift left leg as high as you can. And exhale place it down. If there's pain on either side you may even have a disc issue pushing on a nerve. It's also one way To alleviate that is to pull with the elbows and stretch the belly as much as you can so that we create length for the disc to go back in place. So I really want you to stretch the front of the belly as you do this. And if there was any pain, See if you can lengthen even more. And then lift right leg. Exhale, Place it down, Stretch the belly more. Lift left leg. Stretch the belly more. Keep going. Stretching the front as much as possible. Alternatively, Lifting right leg. From the hip. Left leg from the hip. Just a few more. If there's pain, You need to adjust. Inhale. Stretching the front of the belly as you do this. Strengthening the back at the same time. If it's weak, It's not easy. It's not my strongest pose. Just a few more. Keep stretching the belly on the front as you do this. Three two And last one. Come back down and rest again. You can push back into a child's pose if you like and let the back go the other direction for a few breaths. Just to get a little stretch into that lower back before we go into the kidneys you're going to walk your hands off to the right left arm is reaching further away shift the left hip back to the left so you feel the whole stretch along that side long deep breaths here And walk the hands back to the center. To the opposite direction. Reach right arm a little further away. Shift right hip back to the right take long deep breaths into that whole right side waist Lower back. Expand it by breathing deeper, Not by pushing harder. Beautiful. Three, Two, One. Too. One back to the center. I want you to make your way onto your back. We're gonna come on to your back. And I want you to lie flat again. Hands on the belly if you like. I want you to take your legs and arms up in the air. Just have your arms and legs straight up in the air and just be here for a few long deep breaths. And the last pose we're gonna do, We're gonna get the energy running in the arms and the legs. So I want you just to start to shake your arms and legs. Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake. You can even kick your buttocks. Shake and punch. Shake your arms, Shake your legs. Kick, Kick, Kick, Shake, Shake, Shake. Make everything jiggle shake everything Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake. You can do this for about a minute. Shake everything you can. Kick, Punch. We want the energy lines to open up. That's why you're doing it. And then we're going to go into relaxation after this. So shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake. Shaking is important. Get everything. Moving that's stuck. Shake, Almost there, Go 30 seconds. Shake even more wild! Everything out. Three. To And one. I want you to land back. Into Shavasana, Into the relaxation. Notice the energy. Melt into it, Let it expand. Your job now. Is to observe the energy. Stay lying down. Relax the face. The eyes, The jaw. And just melts into the energy. Thank you very much. Closing the eyes. Expanding out. The deeper you relax, The better the energy flows. Melt out. Melt out. Feel the solid body melting with every wave of energy. Until it melts out. And connects to all other energy. And just rest there. If you prefer to stay lying, You may, But as you're ready. You're eventually going to come back slowly. Preserve this feeling. Stay connected to it. Emotions can come up. Body can release tension. It's good. Expand into it. As you wake up, You slowly Move your hands, Your feet, Eventually bending the elbows, The knees. Rolling off to one side. And come up slowly again. To a seated position. You still watch the energy. And to close, I want you to just bring your hand palms together. And the yogis say that the sound of Aum is the sound of life. That connects us all. That sound. Of the energy. And so maybe you want to join me. To close with. One Aum. Take a deep breath in. Next he'll just release it. And then join me. Here we go. Om. Thank you. See you next time. Sat Naam.