Grounding Earth Day Yoga | Deep Forward Folds to Full Splits

Happy Earth Day! I’m so excited to guide you through today’s 75-minute yoga flow.

Today’s class focuses heavily on grounding and deep forward bends to help stimulate the vagus nerve, shift our nervous system into a deeply relaxed state, and safely prepare the body for our peak pose: Hanumanasana (the full splits).

I draw from several styles of yoga, but I particularly love Iyengar yoga for its focus on precise alignment cues. Because of that, this class is highly educational and entirely verbally guided with no background music. Please feel free to play your favorite relaxing playlist on your end! Get ready to deeply learn the mechanics of these poses, connect with the earth beneath you, and discover exactly what you should be feeling in your body.

Props Needed for Today's Flow:

2 Yoga Blocks
1 Yoga Strap
1 Yoga Blanket

Transcript

Hey guys, It's Lindsay here. We are going to be doing a grounding Earth Day yoga practice that's going to focus on forward bending and eventually full split. So we'll be working into our peak pose of Hanumasana today. A lot of hamstring openers in front of the hips. So I've got two yoga blocks, A yoga strap and a yoga blanket. So if you don't have those exact things, Find some things in your house that will work in replacement. And we're going to get started laying down on our back and let's have our yoga strap and also have the blocks nearby because we'll end up using them before we sit up again. So let's lay it all the way down. We've got that yoga strap. And we're going to start with Supta Padangusthasana. So let's take the strap and place it around the ball of the left foot. Straighten your left leg up to the sky. And straighten your right leg on the mat. So I want you to think of both legs being active here. So starting from the feet up, The feet are flexed. The toes are spread. And we're firming both sides. Firming the thighs helps to lengthen the hamstrings, So that's gonna be really important for class today. So begin to find some full breaths in. Through your nose. Letting the belly rise up. And then again, Exhale through your mouth and let the belly sink down. Maybe as we start class, You're a little tired. Feel free to keep your eyes closed here. And focus your energy and attention inwards to any sensations you're feeling in the body. Where can you create space and where can you let go? Think of your right heel and the top of your head stretching apart from each other. Getting longer and longer in the entire video. Body. And then let's gently release the left leg. And we're going to now put the right foot into the yoga strap. So right at the ball of the foot. We'll reach the right leg up. And the left leg is straight on the mat. Both legs are parallel, So we're just careful not to turn the legs out. You want to think of rolling your inner thighs. Towards each other. Good, Reaching out through the heel and in the opposite direction, Reaching out through the crown of your head. Working to find that engagement of the right thigh. If you find that your knee is really bent and you're pulling your leg really close to your body, We're losing a lot of the stretch here. So in. Substitution of that, Press the thigh away from you so we find more length in the hamstring. And tilt your glutes down into the mat, Which will allow the lower back to slightly rise up. Creating a neutral position in your spine. Just as we're warming up physically, We're also warming the breath up here. So the breath is hopefully, Really has to be always moving to keep us alive, But we don't pay a lot of attention to it. So by warming up the breathing, I'm meaning you're bringing the focus to it. And it is much more active than it would typically be. Alright, Let's release the yoga strap. And we're going to grab onto our block. So a couple options here. If you are deeper in your practice, You may be taking the yoga blocks up higher, So I'll give you different options. So a flat yoga block would be where you would start. So it's flat, It's horizontal. You'll bridge your hips up and you'll sit your lower back on the block. If that doesn't create a lot of intensity for you, You can bring that block to the medium setting. So it's still horizontal, So it's width-wise longer, So it can support your sacrum. But it's a little higher up. Okay, Everyone's gonna straighten their left leg long away from you with your toes pointed. We have a neutral spine. And then bring your right knee to your chest. And give it some pressure in by hugging it in with the arms. Now I want you to think of your right knee. And your left toes moving in opposite directions. This is beginning to gently wake up the front of your left hip. This is what we need to open up for the back leg in our split. So lots of times we just think hamstrings for splits, But actually the front of the hip indeed has to open up as well. Now just take your right knee a little wider to the outside of the body and continue to pull it in. Resist with your hips, So try to keep that natural arch in your lower back. So that the stretch has a little bit of opposition to it. Alright, Let's release the right leg. Straighten it on the mat and point your toes. Knee is facing straight up to the ceiling and draw the left knee in. Shoulders slide down, Neck is long, And then pull the left knee in as you stretch your right leg energetically away from you. This should pretty immediately give you a stretch in the front of the pelvis. If you're finding that this is way too much, You can flatten the block or you can remove the block. To find the stretch that suits you best. Now take the left leg a little wider, So it's to the left. Side of the body and then hug it in. And reach your right leg away from you. Continue to firm the right quad so the leg is long. Good, And then gently release, And we'll plant the feet on the floor, Lift the hips, And shake the block out. Let's bring our knees to our chest, Gently roll up and bring it all the way around to an all fours position. So meet me on your hands and your knees. Take your hands as wide as the mat and turn your fingers out so they point to the right and left walls. Press the toenail sides of your feet into the floor. Glide your shoulders down, Pull your chest through the fronts of your arms, And lift your hips up. Lengthening through the core. Exhale, Push the floor away with your palms and the tops of your feet. Lift your spine up towards the sky. Inhale, Draw your heart through your arms and lift your hips up to the ceiling. And then exhale, Ground down through your shins and the entire palm. Lift your ribs. Your belly and your heart into the back body. Inhale to arc. Creates space in the collarbone. And then exhale to round, Create space through the upper back. Final one here. Breathe in to arch. And breathe out to round. Let's find a flat back and then turn your fingers so they point to the front right and left corners of the room instead of the sides of the room. They're a little bit more forward, Hands spread wide. Put a micro bend in your elbows and turn your elbows toward your thighs. Tuck your toes, Let's find our first downward dog, And press the heels into the earth. If you find that your heels are suspended in space, Walk your feet as wide as your mat. And drop the heels into the floor. If your heels are still up, Take the blanket that I mentioned to grab earlier and put it underneath your heels so you can stand on it. Lift your hip creases up. And allow the top of your head to descend towards the floor. As your shoulders draw up the spine towards the sky. Look forward between the hands. And then walk your feet to the front of the mat. Take your feet wide for our first forward bend. Grab opposite elbow, Opposite hand. And let's have a little free sway, Right and left. Letting the torso just drape over the legs and the upper body be really heavy. Good, Bring yourself through center, Release your hands. Put a micro-bend in your knees, Send your tailbone to the floor, Roll the spine up, Restack, And take a big breath in. Urdhva Hastasana. Lift the whole body up. And then exhale, Arms come down. Awesome. We're going to get into some half Surya Namaskars. So I want you to grab your yoga blocks. And we're going to start on the high setting. So we have one high block in each hand. Draw your back muscles together and take a micro-bend in the knees. Then you're gonna hinge forward for Ardha Uttanasana. Place the blocks under the shoulders. And lengthen your back. So move the base of your shoulder blades, Like the tips of your shoulder blades, Into your body. This should send the top of your chest further forward, As if it's looking over the front edge of your mat. In opposition, Pull your hips back behind your heels. Creating length in the spine and this should give you a nice stretch in the hamstrings. Make sure there is that bend in the knee here. From here, Let's take Uttanasana. Start to bend your elbows, Lowering your chest down, Aiming your chest for the floor, Right in between the blocks. And then allow your head to hang and lift your hips up to the ceiling. Still keeping that bend in the knees so we can find more extension through the lower back. Inhale, Ardha uttanasana. Halfway lift, Grow a spine. XO, Keep the length in the spine, Bend your elbows as if you're doing a chaturanga, And lower your chest towards the floor rather than towards the legs. Allow the head to drop. And lift your hip creases higher up. Inhale, We lengthen, Ardha Uttanasana. Firm the quads, Lift the tailbone. Exhale dropping the head. Good. Final one here. Inhale, Finding the length. And exhale to fold. Roll up through the spine. Inhale, Urdhva Hastasana. Ground down through your feet and lift up through the sides of your back. Gaze Up. Exhale. Forward bend, Hands to the block. Drop the head. Inhale halfway. Exhale. Fold. Step your right leg back, Toes tucked, And let the right knee drop down. Walk the blocks next to your side. We're still in that high setting. Press the blocks into the floor and lift your heart up. On Janay Asana Low Lunge. Good, Making sure we're curling through the tailbone and lifting through the belly. Walking the blocks forward. Plant the hands, Step your right foot to meet the left, And forward bend. Inhale, Halfway lift, Long spine. And exhale, Fold. Set the left leg back, Toes are tucked. And lower the left knee down. Walk the blocks next to your sides. Lift off the blocks and scoop the pelvis. Then lift the heart towards the ceiling as you come into maybe a back bend. This is opening up the front of your left hip. Taking a big inhale. And then exhale, Re-stacking the back, Walking the blocks forward, Left foot steps forward to meet right, And we forward fold. Inhale, Halfway lift. Exhale, Fold. If you're ready, Lower the blocks to a medium or flat setting. As long as your hands can still press into the blocks, Then you can take them a little bit lower. Bend the knees, Roll all the way up. Inhale, Stretch up. Exhale, Forward bend, Hands to the blocks. Inhale, Halfway lift. Exhale, Fold. Step the right foot back, Lower the right knee down, Low lunge, Walk the blocks in. Lift the heart up. Good, This time pull the hips back and let's find our Half Splits. Straightening the left leg. This one you may want to bring the blocks higher. So our real goal here is not this, Where our head is touching our knee and our back is really rounded. Our goal is to find the natural curve in the lower back. So you want to think of pulling your hip creases back. This left hip is going back and also down. Checking that your right hip is over your right knee. So you don't want your right hip out to the right side of you. You have to firm in through that outer right hip and bring it over the right knee. Awesome, Big opening in the back of this left leg. Flex the foot, Spread the toes, And find that quad engagement we began class with. It should feel like the muscle is hugging to the thigh bone. And we're going to flow this, So walk the blocks forward. Drop the hip. Inhale, Low lunge, Option to sweep the arms up. Exhale, Hands to the blocks, Pull the hips back, And elongate your leg and your spine. Shifting it forward. Inhale, Sweep the arms up. Exhale, Hands to the block. Pull the hips back for the Half Splits. Let's take that one more time, Shifting forward. Anjaneyaasana, Low lunge, Find the lift. And then find the back bend. Exhale, Shift it forward, Pull the left hip back. Finding our half split. Let's step onto the right foot, Walk the blocks forward, Maybe flatten them and find Uttanasana, Stepping yourself to the front of the mat. Inhale, Halfway lift. Lengthen your sternum through your palms. And exhale, Fold. And he'll rise. Reach the arms tall. Exhale, Forward bend, Hands to the blocks. Inhale, Halfway lift. Exhale, Fold. Stepping the left foot back in space. Lower the left knee down. So maybe bringing those blocks up a little higher again and walking them towards your sides. Lift your heart up. And then we're going to find our half splits by straightening the right leg. Flexing the foot, And looking at this left hip, Draw it in over the left knee. The right hip is drawing back and also sinking down. So you want to think of creating space along the side of your body. And you want to feel that your lower back is not pushing out. Into your pants. You want your lower back to be moving into your body. That is the natural curve we're going for. Extend the spine. Not only will this feel like your back is getting longer, But it should also feel like the core muscles are lengthening here. Feeling that firming quad sensation. Okay, We're gonna flow this. So you're going to walk the blocks forward. Option to stay on the blocks for the backbend or lift the arms up. Good, Drive down through your back shin and your front foot. On Janai Asana Low Lunch. Exhale, Find the block. And straighten the front leg. Finding our deep hamstring stretch. Could shift it forward. Find your pelvic wheel, So less curvature in the low back, Different than the half splits. Inhale, Sweep up and lift. Exhale, Hands to the blocks. This is where we want the natural curve and we think more of kind of like sticking our tush out. Good, Shift it forward, Low lunge, Big breath in. And then coming all the way back, Half splits. Okay, Let's walk this to the front of the mat. Stepping the left foot to meet the right. Lowering the blocks down or perhaps you're feeling like you can plant the hands on the floor. Good, Drop your head and lift the shoulders off the mat. With the tailbone to the sky. Inhale to the fingertips, Halfway lift. From the thighs towards the hamstrings and pull the sternum forward. Exhale, Fold. Bend your knees, Roll up, Inhale. Urdhva Hastasana. We're going to take a vinyasa here. Exhale, Fold, Plant the hand. Inhale, Halfway lift. Exhale, Plant the hands, Step back, Find downward facing dog. Root your heels and lift your hip creases. Allow your head to hang free. Good, Look forward in between your hands and step your right foot in between your hands. Step your left foot further left slightly, So you're at least hips distance, And slightly angle the toes to the front left corner. Grab your yoga blocks. And we're going to find Pyramid's Pose. So we're about four feet tall. Distance in the stance. Half the blocks on the high setting, Outside of the right. Foot on each side. And firm the right thigh. Like we've done with the Ardha Uttanasana position, The flat back, Lengthen your spine. Pull your chest forward, Slide your shoulders back. Good, You can take a peek at your position of your hips. So if you were wearing a belt, You would want it to be a straight across your hips and not kind of slanted. As you root down through your feet, Draw up through your quadriceps. Press down through your heels. Starting to bend your elbows, Aim your chest for your right foot rather than the right leg to maintain the length as you start to fold. And then allow the head to drop freely. Maybe the hands are ready to come to the floor. And let's take three deep breaths here. Really exaggerating the exhale. Good, Inhale, Looking forward. Let's step both feet to the front of the mat. Forward fold. Inhale, Halfway lift. Exhale to fold. Inhale to rise, Urdhva Hastasana. Exhale, Folding down. Inhale, Halfway lift. Exhale, Plant the hands and step back, Find downward facing dog. Bringing the feet closer together if the heels can sink. Firming the quads and lifting the hip creases up. Let the head be free. And looking forward and between the hands. Step your left foot forward. And turn your right toes out so they're on a slight diagonal. And you'll be stepping that right foot in a little bit. So we're at about a four foot distance between the front and the back foot. Grabbing the tall yoga blocks. Square the pelvis. You want to roll your right inner thigh to the back wall. Lift up through the lower belly. And draw the left hip crease back in space. Good, Now stretch. Your sternum and your navel forward. Okay, Use your gaze, Look at your hips, And even out your pelvis. Make any adjustments that you see in order to keep your right and left hip bones in one horizontal line across your hips. Feel the whole sole of the foot widen into the earth. That's your stability. Rooting there and then lengthening. Through the torso. OK, So as you're ready, We're going to start to fold. We're just gonna bend the elbows like we've done in Ardha Uttanasana. Open up across the collarbone. And let the upper body start to descend. Then freely let the head hang. And once we find the forward bend, We again wash, Rinse, Repeat. Lengthen, So it's like you're trying to bring your chest further down the front of your left leg. Maybe you're finding that you feel like your hands can be on the floor. Push the earth forward to send the body into the left leg. And then looking forward and step to the front of the mat. Finding your forward bend. Good feeling that we've started to really create some opening in the back of the legs here. What do you say? Inhale, Halfway lift. And exhale, We fold. Bend the knees and gently roll up, Restack the spine. You guys are doing great. We're going to move into a little bit of balancing using our yoga strap. So grab your yoga strap and let's just move the blocks kind of out of the way because we don't want to trip. So this is called Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. It's another one that really opens up the back of the legs. It's basically what we started with laying on our backs. But this is another level, Because we're doing it standing. So we're going to take the strap. And put it around the bottom of the left foot. Now I want you to make sure your right foot is pointing straight forward. Bottom of the left foot is going in the yoga strap. And then you'll send your left leg straight forward. And we just want it at hip level. So we're not looking to get it up here. So you're at hip level. We're hips distance apart in the legs. Draw your back muscles together and think of the top of the head going towards the sky. And sink your left hip crease down. So you want to feel like you're creating space along the left waistline. Kind of like that belt idea. You want the belt to be level and not lifting up on one side. Strengthen your standing foot and drive the sole of that right foot through the earth. Grow taller. Let's find three deep breaths here. Filling up into the belly. And drawing in through the core. Good, One more breath. Awesome. And then on your exhale, Bend the knee. And step it to the ground. So let's take PSY 2. So, Like I said, The left leg, The standing foot, We want it pointing straight forward. And then we'll put the right foot in the yoga strap. So at the ball of the foot right below the toes. And I'm having some distance between my hands and my foot so that my back does not look like this. So you want to be able to draw your back muscles together so your chest opens. The top of the head is going up, Shoulders are sliding down. And then we're thinking about that right hip. So as if someone's thumb is at your right hip crease and it's heavy, It's pulling the right hip down. But firm your inner thighs into each other. Lift up through the core. And strongly press down through the left foot. Lift up. Good, And maybe peek at your hips, Make sure they're level. And let's find those three deep breaths here. See if you can keep your face. And your jaw and your teeth all relaxed while we're trying to do something challenging like this kind of balance. Good, Final breath, Big inhale. And a deep exhale. Good, And then gently release. And we'll put the strap down. Okay, We're gonna do our forward bend, Uttanasana, With a lot of props. We're gonna take the blocks, You're gonna have a flat block and a tall block. Tall block is on top of the flat block. And you're going to grab your blanket. The blanket is going to go into your hip creases to create some more space to really help us move and lift the tailbone up. The blocks are going to be for the head to support the head. If your head doesn't touch the blocks, Bring them up higher or put your head on a couch. Just lift it up so your head can have support. The police are coming for us. They heard we were doing Earth Day yoga. And then if it's too high, Just lower the blocks, Okay? So let's take the blanket. It's in the hip creases. Okay, Put a bend in your knees and I want you to think of like pulling your abdomen up and over the blanket. Then take the blocks and place the top of your head, Not the forehead, But the top of the head on the blocks. For me, This setting is a little bit too high, So I'm going to bring the top block down to the medium for now. And as things release, I'll continue to lower the blocks. Okay, So feet are hips distance. The blanket is wedged up in the hip creases, Which is lifting the hip creases up. And it's creating more space in your abdominal wall. So you want to think of your navel, Kind of like pulling it out from underneath. Your navel's going towards your chest. So we should be really feeling this opening in the back of the legs here. Now I want you to look at your feet and spread your toes apart and then press all of your toes flat into the ground. That drive the sole of your foot down as you lift your quads up. If you're feeling the release and you can go lower, You can always flatten the blocks Just go one step at a time, Not to rush it. And you want your head to go down into the block. As your hip Lift up to the ceiling. Think of your lower body not rounding out but moving into the back. Let's take three deep breaths here. Good, And then you're going to put a little bend in your knees. Halfway lift, Look forward. Hands to the blankets so it doesn't fall. And then slowly roll it up bone by bone. Awesome, Okay, So we're gonna take a couple seated forward bends Just continue to get deeper and deeper into the back of the legs. So we're going to have the blanket behind us. We're going to be sitting on the blanket. This is what's going to help us come out of this in our lower back and create more of that natural curve. Now I'm going to have us use all the props for the next couple moves, So get them all. And take a seat on the blanket. Let's use the, Put the blocks to the right for a second. So we'll go left leg straight forward and right leg to butterfly. So this is called Janu Sirsasana. So it's going to be to stretch for our left hamstring. Put the strap around the bottom of the left foot and then put both edges of the strap in the left hand. Now we're doing what we did with the blocks. But we're gonna let the forehead instead of the top of the head be on the blocks. So first things first, Lift up and find length at your lower belly. Pull up, Like your torso's coming out of your hips. Then pull against the strap, Draw the shoulder blades to the spine, And come forward. Then land your head on the block. If your head doesn't touch, You can bring the blocks up super high. And you can spot the blocks. Okay, And then as things release, You lower the blocks down. Maybe you only need one. Whatever you need, You adjust for. Okay, You're walking your hand down the strap. Forehead releasing to the block. If you have the ability, Both hands can grab the foot. Pull against the foot to move the torso further down the leg. See if we can keep this active by firming through the front of the thigh, Grounding the back of that left leg towards the floor. Then let's let our eyes close and try to soften. Soften by. Working and balancing effort in ease. So there is still some effort here, But not to the point that it's causing any negative tension in the body. Other options for going deeper with this is not necessarily just bringing the block lower, But moving it further out. This is gonna stretch the body more and more. As well as lowering the block. So you can always try that. Good, And then let's gently release this side and roll it up. Okay, We're going to take Janu Sirsasana on the right leg. So we'll switch legs. Bring your left leg to the butterfly. Her right leg is straight out. Your left sole of the foot touches your right inner thigh. And let's make sure the right leg is not lazy. Like, I know we're sitting down now, But this is still very active. And the more active you stay with these seated postures, We're building heat, Which is going to let those muscles release. Even more and help us get into Hanumasana. Okay, So strap the sole, The bottom of the foot, And put both straps to the right. Grab your yoga block setting. Remember, This could be different. It's a different leg. It's a different beast. It might be higher or lower. And we are going to lift up really, Really tall. Draw your back muscles together, Take a small twist of your waist to the right, And then start to hinge forward. Remember, Slow and steady wins the race. It's not a rush to be in the pose. We are looking for the head support though, So if it is too tight, Bring the block up. And as things release, The block can go further out. And the block can go further down. Now, If you're able to crawl the hands down the strap, You'll do that. And if you're able, Maybe the hands grab the foot. Now, Once you've grabbed the foot, Watch your upper back muscles. So we want to relax those traps. You're going to pull them down. And you're gonna send your chest. Forward. Good, And as we're breathing here. Inhale, Lengthen the spine. Exhale, Sink deeper into the pose. Continue to refine those actions as we hold the forward bend. And then let's allow our eyes to close. And focus on our belly breathing. So you feel the abdomen expand as you inhale. And then you feel your abdomen soften as you exhale. And we're trying to grow the spine down the leg. So it's like the top of your head, Your chest are moving closer and closer to that right foot. Let's take one more breath, And. . . And one more breath out. Coming back up to a C, We'll take Paschimottanasana with all the props. So we've got. . . Both of our yoga blocks and our straps. So you're going to be taking your legs probably about hips distance because we're going to have the blocks in between the legs. And you are just going to find the setting that works. So stack the blocks until the forehead can rest. And we have the yoga strap. So kind of toss that yoga strap over and get it around the bottoms of your feet. Then move your legs into the blocks and hug your inner thighs into the blocks. Watch that your knees are not relaxed and turning out. Roll the inner knee towards the blocks, Hug in on it. And then we're lifting up tall. Pull against the straps we hinge and the forehead can land on the blocks and then you can adjust you know If you over shot it you can remove a block If you have the ability, You can grab lower on the strap. Or potentially grab the feet. But remember, Form is first. So if you go to grab your feet, Your knees are rolling back, Your head's up, Your back's really rounded. You know, You want to back off a bit and maintain the form. Form first, Then advance the posture. And like the last pose, You can move the block further out rather than just down to increase the stretch here. And I really like that for the hamstring lengthening because we've been talking about not really wanting the back to be rounded. So by moving the block further towards your feet, It's gonna help you get into a more flat back position. And as you ground your thighs towards the floor, Lift your navel and extend your spine towards your feet. Create that space here. You So whether you're holding the strap or your feet, Use the arms, Pull into the strap or the feet, And then pull the shoulders down your back. And lift the top of your chest towards your face. Let's take three more breaths here. Good, Final breath. And then on your exhale, You're gonna release and walk it up. Okay, So we'll be coming into plow pose. So this is an inversion. And it's also a big opener for the back of the legs and the lower back. Continuing our path, Our journey to these splits. So, What we're gonna do for this. . . Is we'll be using the blanket. And the block. And you need space behind you. So I'm going to be facing this direction. My legs are going overhead. So you're going to have the blanket and it's maybe like an inch thick. So once I lay down, My neck will be behind the blanket, Okay? So the blanket will just be right here at the tops of the shoulders and down my back a bit. And then we're going to make a long horizontal line with the blocks. The blocks are flat, Connected on the short end, And horizontally across the mat. Our goal is to get our feet on the blocks. We'll see what happens, Right? We may have to adjust because it really depends on your leg length. So we're laying down. You're going to move yourself so the blanket touches you right before the neck begins. This is going to help keep some more space in the neck. So it gets less pressure and hopefully this feels better. So like I said, We're gonna bring the legs overhead and hopefully the toes can tuck under on the blocks, But if we need to readjust, That's okay. So bring your legs up into tabletop. Tighten your core and on your exhale, Roll your hips up, Flex your feet and see if you can get the ball of your feet on the blocks. Okay, I got lucky today. They landed. But if you've just tried it and it's too close or too far, Just adjust and peek at me. This is what we're looking for. So toes tucked under. I'll move this up a little bit. Heels push out. Now as your heels are going to the imaginary wall behind you, Your tailbone is going to the wall in front of you. This is giving us more lift and lengthening through the back. Okay, Option to interlace your fingers. Wiggle your upper arms behind your spine. And firm your quads like crazy. So your goal is to not let the knees bend. Press the thighs to the sky and lift the hip creases up. Option to lift the right leg up. And you want to level your pelvis here. So think of your left hip crease lifting. So it's just as high as the right. Left quad is firmed. And then taking the tucked right toes back to the block, Stand on the right toes, Firm the right quad, Left thigh sweeps up. Lift the right hip crease. Lift the lower back higher and higher up towards the sky. Ground down through your upper back and the right foot. Good, And then both feet back to the blocks. Unwrap your hands, Take a soft bend in your knees and start to just melt your spine back down. Once you land, Hug your knees to your chest, Close your eyes, And take a resetting breath. And then give it an audible exhale. And let's go. Roll on up. To our seat. Okay, Friends. We are going to attempt the splits. Hopefully we're feeling nice and warm. I certainly am. So I'm gonna show this using all sorts of props. So let's have the blanket kind of behind us. This will be to pad the back knee so it's more comfortable. I'm gonna do this on two flat stacked yoga blocks. If you're not able to sit on this, You can take it to a flat and a medium so it's a little higher. And if you still aren't, I would grab pillows and stack it on the block so it's higher up so that you can do this stretch. As things get looser, You lower the setting down. Okay, So I'm starting right here, Two flat blocks. So place the blocks horizontally to the left. The right knee is on the blanket. If you have it, It's just more comfortable. And then you'll step your left foot over the blocks. Put the blocks right underneath your left tush. Okay, So let's talk about the back leg. We want the back knee almost think of turning in. So roll the inner thigh back and the outer right thigh forward. And then you'll start to walk your right leg out in front of you. Now, Before your goal of your leg getting super straight, So we're going from the back leg forward, So we got that internal rotation, And now your hips. So you don't want to be like open to the right wall. You want to draw the right hip forward and the left hip back. You want to kind of slide this left leg back in space, Which you might even have to adjust the blocks for there. Then press the left quad down and lift the torso up. Reach the arms up. I took a big breath in. Okay, Keep that length and then hinge forward. Maybe the hands frame the left leg and go forward with the chest. I'm not going to tell you how great this video will be before I go to bed. Continue to focus on that deep breathing. And then walk the hands back in and we'll step off the blocks. Too. The blanket. So we'll be taking quite a few variations of this. So this is our first one. So don't rush it and really set the alignment up. That's got to be what protects you from injury and really does get you into the full pose, The full expression of it. And it looks great. It looks pretty when it's done nicely. So shift the blocks right. Left knee on the blanket, Right foot steps over. And you're gonna place your right hip on the block. Okay, So check this back leg. Roll the outer hip forward. Turn the inner side backwards. So you can feel why we needed to open up the psoas, Right? Gets that back leg. Then you're going to straighten your right leg and I just kind of take a peek at my hips and make sure everything is lined up. Firming down through the right quad. And lifting the torso out of the pelvis. Inhale, Reach the arms upward, Vahastasana. Lift, Lift, Lift. So when we start to come forward, Really keep this length. We're going to hinge forward and frame the leg. And so we're maintaining that neutral spine. And we're resisting hunching. So if you hunt, You may just want to stay right here and keep the lift, Or maybe you have like books or more blocks. Maybe you have got like 10 blocks at your house and you can use them so that you can push down into the hands and create that length through the spine. Coming back up, Let's step the right leg in. And we'll come back to kneeling. So for me for today, I'll probably stay on these two blocks unless I really start to feel looser, Who knows. But if we want to go down from here. You take one away and you flip the other into medium, And then you'd finally go flat. So I think I'll stay here, But we'll see it. We'll see. So this next one's going to be a back bend variation. So we'll be stepping the left leg over. And so everything we've set up for the first one, I want you to find for the following ones. But I want to move through these variations, So I'm not going to. Set it up each and every time, Okay? So turn your back leg in, Well I said that and then I wanna cue it again. Left leg straight and strong. Okay, So option to come up into Urdhva Hastasana, Or option to come further into a back bend. So hips are tucked, Heart is lifted, And then the hands are gonna find the floor. Good. You want to not lean into the hands, But rather lift off of them. Feel free to release the neck. This is intense, You can always put the blocks here under the hands to help you come into the backbend. Good. On your exhale, Tuck your chin, Restack the spine. We'll be taking a twist, So you're going to turn toward your front leg. Twisting left. Right hand to the outside of the thigh. Left hand can reach for your lower back or the outside of the right thigh. Drop the shoulders, Lift the chest, And then rotate through your ribs. Good, Wringing out that spine. Deep breaths into the entire body. Release the twist, Plant the hands, And step to kneeling. Okay, So moving the blocks to the right. We'll take the right leg over the block. And we'll square the hip. Just checking your alignment. Flex the front foot. When we do the back bend, We want to keep it more in the upper back and less in the lower back. So I know we've done a lot of neutral. This is not neutral that we're going for. It's more of a posterior tilt of the pelvis. So getting rid of the lower back curve a little bit. Lift up, Grow tall, And then start to hinge back. Fingertips to the mat. If you have the space, You could also take that into palms flat. Gaze can be slightly up. Or the neck can release back. Lift the ribs, Lift the sternum. Draw your back muscles together. This should be creating a huge stretch. In your back leg split. Of the split. And then as you're ready we're going to exhale back to neutral and we'll be taking a twist so working to keep the hips Pointing forward, Turn at your ribs to the right, Left hand to the outside of the right leg. Right hand can go to the lower back, Or it can walk to the left outer thigh. Roll the right shoulder off your chest. Row the slide. And then turn through the waist. Deeply breathe into your abdomen. Your ribs and your chest. And come back through center, Hands to the mat. And pull your right leg back to you. Okay, We're gonna keep moving along. So I'll be sliding the same block setting over. You know how to adjust if you need to bring it up or bring it down. And we'll find our split on the left. So left hip on the block. Right leg slightly turning in. And left leg is flexed. So this one is going to be our quad variation. So we'll be bending the right foot in. Now the right knee is really going to want to turn out here. So you have to turn the right thigh in and bring the right side of the body forward. Okay, So option to stay here or option to hinge forward, Bringing the left hand to the mat. Gently pulling that right heel closer to your body as the right quad releases. Gently release your back leg as you come up and stay put. So fix your back thigh, Turn it in, Because like I said, It likes to turn out. We'll do a variation on that one. Frog pose, But half frog in a split. So right arm reaches behind you, Your thumb is up, Your palm is out. Bend the right foot and grab the inside of the foot this time. Now pull the heel in and slide your palm over the foot so your right fingers are pointing to the right and your elbow is pointing to the left towards the camera. If you have the ability, You're going to slide the foot up to the elbow crease. Continue to square forward. So you're drawing the left side back, Right side forward, And you're pulling the foot in. Lift up tall through the torso. If this is not possible, That's fine. Stick with the last variation. This is also going to be a shoulder opener. And the right shoulder. Gently slide the foot out. And release it. Okay, So hands to the mat. We'll step that left foot in and we'll move the blocks over to the right. Okay, So we'll take our quad variations on this side. So step. The right leg over. And find a seat on the block. Flexing the front foot and squaring that back hip. Okay, So nice and slow, Bend the left foot in and the knee is going to start to turn out, So you're going to turn it back in. For this one, The hand's grabbing the outside of the foot and the palm faces the foot. And just gently start to pull the heel in. And take your time. One side could feel tighter than the other. This definitely feels tighter for me. You can also hinge forward when you feel ready. And you can put your hand on your leg or the hand on the mat. And then creating that balance between effort and relaxation. Gently bringing yourself up and release the back leg for a second. So go for the. . . Half frog pose variation. So reset the hips and the back knee. You're going to reach back with your left palm facing out, Thumb up. And you're going to grab the inside of your left foot. You can already see the knee wants to turn out, So trying to fix that. And you can also stay right here. So this might be your level, Because this can be a big stretch for the front of the shoulder. Bend the foot end. And if it feels doable, You're going to take your hand and point your fingers to the left. Maybe the foot slides up to the elbow crease. Then we're going to draw the left side of the body forward, The side that is doing the quad stretch, And pulling the right side of the body back. Good. Relax through the shoulders and lift through the top of your chest. Gently we're going to slide the arm out and release the leg back. Good, Then hands down. Step in, And to kneeling. Okay, Guys, We're gonna take a final round, And this one's going to be a forward bend, So a full release. So adjust your blocks if you feel like you want to go up or down. So if you're feeling really fatigued, I would just bring the blocks a little higher. If you're feeling more open, You could try a block. So see what's working for you today. And it can be different every day. So if you did this a couple days ago and you're like, Why can't I do it the same way? It's normal. There's so many different factors that affect our flexibility and it's just different every day. So honor where you're at and that will keep you safe and being able to do this for a long time. So let's take this to the left. Okay, So we're gonna find our full expression of this split and we'll be a little bit more relaxed about it. So square off. And then start to fold forward. Folding over that front leg and just allow the body to drape and release. Maybe your head relaxes on the thigh. I invite you to close your eyes. And create a just kind of calm environment for your mind. So we did a lot of focusing on form and positions today, And hopefully that held your attention and kind of took you from. . . All of your to-do lists and busyness of life. To more of an inward space. And now that we're going to get a bit quieter, See if you can also just maintain focus on your inner world. As you're ready, We'll lift up. Slowly bring the left leg back to you. And come to kneeling. So let's find our Hanumasana on the right. Take the right leg over the block. And we'll take a seat on the block. And we're going to just allow the body to fold and relax. And allow the eyes to be soft. And just take note if you are biting your teeth. Or there is kind of tightness in your lips. Or around your eyes. Use the breath to help you. Relax that space. So as you take those deep exhales, Allow any tension in that space to just drip away from your body. Walk your hands in. And slide your right leg back to you. And we're going to take a seat on the tops of your feet for Virasana. If you are tight in your knees, You're going to place a block between your ankles. And if you're still tight, You could take that second block and stack it so that you're able to sit here and have a stretch in the front of your thighs, But not something that feels uncomfortable. Okay, So for me, I'm pretty comfortable in this position, So I'm going to do it without any blocks, But know that you have the option of having the blocks. So I'm going to sit directly on the heels with the toes untucked. Lower back is going down, Lower belly is lifting up. I invite you to walk your hands back behind you or maybe even come down onto the forearms. Or possibly you lay all the way down for this. Making sure the knees do not lift, So your shins should be completely down on the floor. And this is creating an opening in the front of the body. So today was largely on deep forward bends. And now we're going to be going through a couple counters so that when we finish class today, Our body feels balanced. When we open the front of the body, It gives a lot of space to the abdomen. So think about being really expressive with your breathing here, Especially that inhalation. Invite the breath deep down into your belly. And then just freely let the breath flow back out. Let's take one final breath here. Okay, So gently if you're all the way back. Engage your core, Draw your elbows in, And bring yourself up to a seat. And then come through to all fours. Stretch your left leg back, Tuck your toes, Press your heel back, And find some length through the back of your knee. Draw the knee in and let's take it to the other side. Tuck the right toes, Press the heel back and stretch through the back of the knee. Bring the knee in and we'll take a seat. Okay, So we'll be laying down on our backs, And we're gonna come into a twist. You can move your blanket out of the way. And we'll lay all the way down. Okay, So I'm going to straighten my left leg on the mat. Bring the right knee to the chest. Foot is flexed. Both feet are flexed. Take your left hand to the outside of your right thigh. And reach your right arm out to the right side of the room, Shoulder height. Keeping the right shoulder down, You'll bring the right leg across the body to the left. And then you'll stop before the right shoulder lifts. And if you want to go further, Actively turn your chest to the right. So lift your back up and twist at your waist to turn your chest more right as your hips go to the left. Take a couple deep breaths into your right side body, Your right hip. Your right ribs. As you exhale, The next time we'll come back through center. And we'll take this twist on the other side. So straighten the right leg on the mat. And bring your left leg into your chest. Both feet are flexed. Grab the outside of the left leg with your right hand and reach your left arm to the left with the palm up. Okay, So we'll keep the left shoulder on the ground as we turn the hips. To the right. Lift your chest and twist it further left. Maybe you'll get a nice fine adjustment here. Directing the breath along the left waistline and the left ribs. And coming back through center. And we're gonna come into a backbend now, A supported backbend. So let's find our yoga blocks. And we'll set them up here. First option would be to have the yoga blocks. Flat and horizontal. This is about like a medium level. If you are really tight in your chest and you feel neck strain, Your head block can be higher. So bring it up to medium or even tall. This is really about you, What feels best. If you want to go deeper with this backbend, Which is what I'm going to do, I'm going to have a flat block for my head and I'm going to do a medium block for my shoulder blades. So know you can adjust this, You can rewind what I just said and make it perfect for whatever you're feeling today. Turning away from the blocks that are behind you. The first block will be at your shoulder blades. Then you're going to wiggle your shoulder blades down and drop your head towards the head block. Then take the arms into a goal post position. And create space across the sternum. Inviting in a deep exhale and a deep inhale. Just letting the back of the arms melt towards the floor. As the block assists the lift of the chest towards the sky. If you find that you want to take this even deeper, There is also the option of removing the head block. So that block's going to go away. And the head will come towards the earth. Now if you find that your head's just hanging in the restrain there, Put the head block back in. We're going to be here for a couple moments, So just get comfortable. Close your eyes. And relax. You can take your legs into a butterfly position or straighten them out long if that's a more comfortable option. Completely letting go here. Letting the earth and the blocks support you. Making sure you chose a position that you don't feel like you have to hold yourself up. As you're ready, We're going to protect the neck by holding our head as if we were doing a crunch, Lifting ourselves up, Use your core and bring yourself down. To a seat. We're going to take a seat on our blanket. So grabbing the blanket. We'll sit on the blanket and we'll cross the ankles. And let's just find a nice tall seat. Now we're going to relax the back of the hands on the knees and close the eyes. So today's practice focused largely on forward bending. Forward bending is known to be the more moon energy, Kind of like the downgrading, The relaxing energy, Whereas a backbend is known to invigorate and be more of the sun energy. And since today's class was focused on grounding, It is Earth Day. We focused on those forward bends. So take a moment here and just Observe any changes or shifts that you feel. Physically in your body, But also mentally. I feel yoga is magic and it's Very wild how much it can shift you. So perhaps you started this class. And maybe you're feeling a lot of anxiety, This would be definitely the class for you. Grounding classes are good for when you're feeling too up. Hey, Backbend classes are good for when you're feeling too down. Typically we use the opposite to cure. So with whatever you're observing right now. . . Use that information for yourself in the future. So if you happen to feel anxious again, And you do feel like this helped, You know that you can come back to this class. And use this class. To help kind of remedy the situation naturally. Maybe you're just simply feeling that your lower back feels so much better. Hallelujah. And next time you're feeling any lower back tension. You'll know that this class is here. And so on the next inhale, Let's breathe. Reach your arms up and lift the energy up. Bring the palms to press and spread the fingers wide. Keeping the spine tall, You'll bring your hands to your heart so your thumb presses into the center of your chest and the forefingers point out to the world around you. This is signaling this connection between ourselves. And everyone else in our environment. So while keeping your heart lifted, Bow your chin. Sealing our practice in today. We say something namaste. Namaste means the light in me honors the light in you. Namaste. Namaste, You guys. Thank you so much for practicing with me today. There's just something about yoga and doing it outside. It is so peaceful. And this just felt like the right place to be for an Earth Day yoga class. Thank you for practicing with me. If I've never met you before, I really would love to meet you. So let me know where you are flowing from in the comments. I do love to travel too. So if you have any places that you recommend traveling to do some yoga, Please let me know. Have a wonderful rest of your day. Happy Earth Day. And I hope to see you on another practice. Bye guys.