For today's practice,
You may need two blocks,
A folded blanket,
And a chair at the end of our practice.
Find a cozy,
Quiet corner and let's settle down into Balasana,
Child's Pose.
Balasana is a great pose to begin the morning practice,
Starting off nice and slow and close to the ground.
Coming down to kneel on your shins,
Allow your hips to settle down onto your heels.
Feel the deep folding at the thighs.
Chest lands on the thighs.
Place your folded blanket under your forehead if that makes you feel more comfortable.
From here,
Feel the elongation of the back body.
Feel the broadness of the back body.
Nice,
Slow,
Long inhales and exhales.
Let the pose be a quiet place.
Let the brain drop.
Let the eyes soften.
Let the tongue soften.
And continue with inhales and exhales.
Slowly,
Step the hands under the shoulders.
Press the hands down.
Roll up to a sit on the shin bones.
So we are kneeling here on our shin bones.
Coming into Bound Hands Pose.
Interlace your fingers and stretch your arms overhead.
Lengthen your spine.
Your chin is parallel to the floor.
Now lift through the sides of your waist.
Connect to your center.
Engage your core.
And now lean to the right,
Offering the left side of your body a stretch.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Return to center.
Another long inhale through the nose,
And an exhale through your mouth.
And now lean to the left,
Offering the right side of the body a stretch.
Breath in and a breath out.
Return to center and release your interlaced fingers.
Leaning forward,
Come to all fours.
Knees under your hips and palms under your shoulders.
We'll move into Cat-Cow from here.
A gentle warm-up to bring flexibility and movement to the spine.
As we inhale,
Belly descends,
Sit bones lift,
Chest broadens,
The chin lifts slightly.
Exhaling,
And let's take another inhale.
And on the exhale,
We'll transition into Cat,
Moving the belly toward the spine,
The back rounds towards the ceiling,
And arches like a cat.
Take a breath in,
And we'll take another inhale and exhale.
On your next inhale,
We'll come into Cow,
Spinal flexion,
Where the belly descends.
Exhale into Cat,
Spinal extension,
Back arches and rounds.
Inhale,
Cow.
Exhale,
Cat.
And let's do a few more of those on your own,
Connecting the breath to the movement.
So inhaling,
Flexion,
And exhaling,
Extension.
We'll return to a neutral or a flat spine.
And from here,
Let's meet in Sukhasana,
Easy cross-legged sit.
Sit on a block to raise your hips if that is more comfortable for you.
Yoga should empower you to do what feels good for you.
So just a reminder that this is your practice,
And do what feels good in your body.
From here,
We will practice a connection breath.
So fingertips on either side of your hips.
Inhale,
Arms up,
Palms touch overhead.
Exhale,
Thumbs on breastbone.
Inhale,
Arms spread wide open,
The chest lifts.
Exhale,
Arms return,
Thumbs landing on breastbone.
Inhale from heart to sky,
And exhaling,
Sky to earth,
Fingertips landing on either side of your hips.
Again,
Inhale from the earth to the sky.
Exhaling to heart center,
Prayer pose.
Inhale to open,
Arms wide,
And exhale,
Returning to heart center.
Inhale from the heart to the sky,
And exhale,
Sky to earth.
We'll do that one more time.
Inhaling from the earth to the sky.
Exhale to heart center,
Prayer pose.
Inhale to open,
Arms wide,
Giving what you can.
Exhale,
Returning to heart center,
Receiving what serves you.
Inhale from the heart to the sky,
And exhale,
Sky to earth.
Close your eyes.
Welcome yourself to your practice.
And notice how you have moved from your sleep to this practice of movement and awareness.
From here,
We'll move to our hands and knees,
And we're going to move into balancing table pose.
This pose strengthens the core,
Hips,
Lower back,
And the spine.
And this also is going to warm up our core for our Warrior 3 practice,
Which we will do at the end.
So palms under shoulders,
Knees under hips.
And we will alternate between lifting the opposite arm and leg,
Challenging our balance,
But with a stable base.
So from tabletop,
Inhale slowly,
And extend back your left leg parallel to the ground.
Lifting the opposite right arm stretches out in front,
Spreading the fingers,
Elongating the spine,
Neck relaxed,
Gaze slightly forward and down.
Core is engaged,
Belly towards the spine.
Exhale,
And lower the arm and leg.
Inhaling here,
We'll lift the right leg and left arm is extended now,
Parallel to the ground.
And the arm reaches forward,
Fingers spread.
Exhale,
Release the arm and the leg.
We'll do a few more here.
Inhaling,
Lifting arm and opposite leg.
Exhaling,
Releasing.
Inhaling,
Lifting.
Exhaling,
Releasing.
Alternating between the sides.
Inhale,
Lift.
Exhaling,
Release.
Elongating the spine and our core,
Working hard,
A strong center.
Inhaling,
Lifting.
Exhaling,
Releasing.
And let's do one more each side.
And releasing.
And from here,
We'll meet in downward facing dog with bent knees.
So our head will come in between our arms,
Ears approximately lined up with the inside of your elbows.
Knees are bent.
Let's take a breath in and a sigh out through the mouth.
Ah.
Inhale,
Lift your sit bones.
And exhale,
Slowly lower your heels toward the floor,
Either one at a time or both together.
Your choice.
Inhale,
In our downward facing dog,
Belly expands.
And exhale,
Belly retracts.
Another breath in.
Inhale,
Belly widens.
And exhale,
Belly towards your spine.
And again,
Your heels are just reaching for the floor.
They do not need to touch the floor.
Let's walk our feet to meet our hands at the top of our mat.
Releasing for a moment,
Stepping your feet wide,
And just releasing from the hips,
Releasing the weight of your mind towards the mat.
Knees are relaxed.
From here,
Let's sweep our arms out,
Torso lifting.
And we'll meet in Tadasana,
Mountain Pose,
For a brief series of half sun salutations.
So standing now in your Mountain Pose,
Feet are approximately hip-width apart.
And for this moment,
Let's just lift all of our toes and then letting them fall down.
Inhaling,
Lifting your toes.
And exhale,
Letting the toes fall down.
Just notice all the support that all of our toes give us with our balance in Tadasana.
Let's place our hands together in prayer.
So resting your thumbs on your sternum.
And we'll just take a few breaths here,
Inhaling and exhaling.
On your next inhale,
Sweep your arms out to the side and overhead.
Gently,
If comfortable,
Arch your back just a bit and gaze towards the sky.
And then we're going to come into Uttanasana.
Exhale as you fold forward from the hips,
Bending your knees if necessary.
Rest your hands beside your feet and bring your nose to your knees if comfortable.
And then we're going to inhale into Ardha Uttanasana,
Halfway standing lift.
So inhaling as you lift your torso halfway,
Lengthening your spine forward so your back is flat.
Your torso should be parallel to the floor,
Keeping your fingertips on the floor or bring them to your shins,
Whichever is more comfortable for you.
And releasing that and then we're going to inhale and we're going to come all the way back up into Mountain Pose.
So palms coming up overhead and then we'll release into Prayer Pose,
Thumbs landing on breastbone.
Let's take a nice inhale here and then exhale a sigh through the mouth.
Inhaling one more time as you sweep your arms out to the side and overhead,
Little back bend if you like,
And exhale folding forward from the hips,
Bending your knees if necessary,
Resting your hands beside your feet and bringing your nose to your knees or not.
Coming into Ardha Uttanasana,
Inhale as you lift your torso halfway,
Lengthening your spine forward,
Your back is flat.
Keep your fingertips on the floor or bring them to your shins and letting that go and inhale,
Sweeping your arms out wide and lifting all the way up into Mountain Pose.
And from here,
We're going to pause for a moment,
Hands on breastbone,
Nice long inhale and then exhale through your mouth.
Warrior III is a balance pose and it will work a lot of your core and your legs in a very powerful way.
There are variations for arms and shoulders should you not be able to extend arms overhead.
Warrior III is a great reminder of our inner strength,
Allowing us to find places to lift and places to ground within ourselves.
Please have your blocks and a chair nearby should you require it.
So from your Tadasana,
Your Mountain Pose,
Let's step your right foot back and your left foot remains forward.
Hips face forward,
Chest faces forward and do a little tip toe with your back foot here,
Engaging your core,
Hinge slightly forward,
Back toes lift away from the floor or not.
Take the arms alongside body,
So airplane arms,
Nice gentle bend in your grounded bottom legs,
Knee.
From here,
As your torso lowers and your back leg rises,
Land your hands on your blocks in tall position or rest your hands on the back of a chair for stability.
Or extend your arms out in front,
Palms face one another,
Or you can bring them to Anjali Mudra.
Remember to breathe.
Core is strong and engaged,
Hips are squared and all the toes on that grounded foot are working very hard.
On an exhale,
Exit Warrior III slowly.
The torso rises upright and your back leg lowers and foot lands on the mat alongside your front leg.
Let's take a nice long inhale,
Sweeping your arms out and up and exhaling,
Release.
And we'll repeat on our next side.
So,
Let's take a nice inhale and stepping your left foot back now,
Hips face forward,
Chest faces forward.
Do a little tip toe with that back foot here,
So your tip toes are on the mat still.
Engage your core,
Hinge slightly forward as the back toes lift away from the floor.
Take the arms alongside body,
Nice gentle bend in that back knee,
Sorry,
Nice gentle bend in your supported leg that's on the ground.
And from here,
As your torso lowers,
Your back leg rises,
And you can put your hands on your blocks in the tall position or rest on the back of a chair or extend the arms out in front,
Palms face one another,
And it feels like you're flying.
Core is strong and engaged,
Hips are squared.
Remember to breathe here.
All of the toes on that grounded foot are working hard to support you.
And let's exhale for your three slowly,
Torso coming upright,
Back leg lowers,
Foot lands on the mat alongside your front leg.
Take a nice long inhale,
Letting go,
And exhaling,
Releasing your hands to Anjali Mudra.
From here,
We're going to do one more pose,
And this is a nice pose to wind down before we end the practice.
So come on down to your mat and lie on your back.
Place the soles of your feet near your sit bones.
So your heels are close to your sit bones,
Soles flat on the mat,
And arms can come alongside your body,
Palms facing up to receive or palms facing down to ground.
From here,
We're going to move into bridge pose.
So bridge pose is where we will raise our hips,
Lower back,
Mid back,
And upper back toward the ceiling,
One vertebrae by vertebrae at a time.
So inhaling,
Nice flat back.
Exhaling,
Slowly lifting your hips,
Lower back,
Mid back,
Upper back.
And exhaling,
Lowering slowly down to flat back on your mat.
Inhaling,
Lifting vertebrae by vertebrae.
Exhale,
Slow and winding back down,
Flat back to the mat.
Inhaling,
Lifting.
And exhaling,
Releasing.
One more time.
Inhale,
Lifting to the ceiling.
And exhale,
Vertebrae by vertebrae back down to land on your mat.
From here,
Let your knees fall toward one another.
Place your left palm on your heart and your right palm on your belly.
Close your eyes if that's comfortable for you.
Inhale,
Lift your left hand up to the ceiling.
Exhale,
Lift your right hand up to the ceiling.
Inhale,
Lift your left hand up to the ceiling.
Exhale,
Lift your right hand up to the ceiling.
Inhale,
Lift your left hand up to the ceiling.
Exhale,
Lift your right hand up to the ceiling.
Namaste.
