Goa Sessions - Hatha With Vinyasa Yoga
This 90-minute hatha with vinyasa yoga class was recorded in Goa at a retreat center. The class presents an atmospheric platform of being in your own yoga retreat at home. This session is a general all-around encompassing many of the familiar yoga postures we all know and love. Faint background noises of birds and monkeys transport you to a tropical haven whilst you are guided by the teacher. The instruction is clear and directive and the level is general. Absorb the class and the atmosphere and complete all 3 classes to encompass a fully rounded practice.
Transcript
Okay,
So come to the back of your mat,
And sit on your heels,
With your feet stretched out behind you.
Hands onto your knees.
Lengthen your spine.
Bring your hands together in front of your chest.
So your thumbs are touching your sternum,
Your heart centre,
And the other four fingers are moving away.
Hands in and out.
Take a few moments to centre yourself.
We're going to begin by chanting one Om together.
With the sound of Om,
We let go of all thoughts,
Past and future.
Coming into Beginner's Mind,
Being open to receive all that this time has to offer.
If you want to join me in chanting,
Take a breath in.
Om.
Chanting.
Bring your hands down onto the tops of your thighs,
Thumb and forefinger together.
Keep your chin down towards your chest.
Open up your chest,
Rolling your shoulders back.
And then begin to connect to your breath.
Let's start some long breaths,
In and out,
Through the nose and in.
Just beginning to feel the breath moving into the bottom of the lungs,
The sides and the top.
Long inhale,
Followed by a long exhale.
Also remember,
With your next inhale,
You can start to connect to this valve at the back of the throat.
Coming into Ujjayi Breathing.
It sounds like you're sighing the breath in and long sigh out.
You're slightly trapping the air at the back of the throat.
This helps to control the breath in and out.
When you breathe in,
You're also drawing in your lower stomach muscles.
It feels as though you're drawing your navel back towards the spine.
This is your Uddiyana Bandha.
And with an exhale,
Draw up the Mula Bandha.
This is the muscles around the pelvic floor,
Around the perineum.
And as we continue through our practice,
We're going to continue to use the breath.
And try and keep those areas,
The Bandhas,
Uddiyana Bandha and the Mula Bandha,
Try and keep an awareness in those areas.
Let's just have two more of these breaths.
Okay,
With your next exhale,
Come onto your hands and knees.
Take your knees apart,
Hip width apart,
Hands shoulder width apart.
And then continue your breath,
Inhaling into your lower back.
Roll back your shoulders,
Look up towards the ceiling.
And exhale to bring your chin in towards your chest,
Taking your spine up.
And then again,
Inhale.
So move through the full length of the spine,
Dipping into your lower back.
And then exhale,
Chin in,
Taking your spine upwards.
Continue with this breath.
So the breath is flowing through you as your spine is moving one way or the other.
So just do two more of these cat-cow poses.
Inhaling into the cow and exhaling into the cat.
Next exhale,
Turn the toes under and then step back into downward facing dog.
So your feet are facing forward,
Your heels moving down towards the floor.
Keep the fingers spread wide,
Middle finger facing forward.
So your wrists are in line with the front edge of the mat.
And then again,
We can move around in this posture as well.
So you can bend your right knee coming onto the ball of the right foot.
Take your chest towards your thigh,
Keep your hands pressed into the floor.
And then straighten your right leg and bend your left leg.
And then again,
Just move in between each leg,
Dipping in between each leg.
And using your breath to move.
So now we're going to walk back to the front of the mat.
Slow walk forward,
Take a small step in with an inhale.
And then exhale,
Fold into your legs.
Inhale,
Step forward a little bit.
Exhale,
Fold.
Inhale,
Step forward.
Get back to the front of the mat with the feet together.
Exhale,
Fold down towards your legs.
Inhale,
Stretch it up.
Rolling back up to standing.
Hands by the sides of your legs.
Okay,
So we're going to do sun salutations.
So you're going to start with A and B from the Ashtanga series.
We'll do the first one,
I'll give you the options for the first one and then whatever it is you want to carry on with the next.
Okay,
So feet together,
Toes together,
Ankles touching.
Inner knees towards each other.
Remember your Bandhas.
So Uddiyana Bandha,
Lower stomach is in.
Malabandha is also lifted.
Lengthen through the spine.
Take a long inhale,
Stretch your arms up.
Palms of the hands together,
Look up.
Exhale,
Keep the thighs lifted.
Fold down towards your legs.
Hands onto the floor or if you can't reach the floor,
Bring your hands onto your legs.
Inhale,
Look forward,
Extend.
Exhale,
You're either going to jump or step back into a half plank pose.
And then from here,
You have options again.
If you want,
You can bring your knees down and then your chest down between your hands.
Or you can lower down into Chaturanga Dandasana,
Hovering off the floor.
And then inhale,
Push through into an Upward Dog.
Shoulders back.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
And look back towards your feet.
And now stay here for five breaths.
So feet hip width apart,
Hands shoulder width apart.
Hips moving up towards the ceiling.
Hands and feet pressed firmly down into the floor.
Lengthen your spine.
So this is also a point that you can think about your Bandhas.
As you draw in your Uddiyana Bandha,
Your back lengthens slightly.
Okay,
So when we come forward,
Look at the space between your hands and you can either jump or step back to the front.
Take an inhale,
Lift the buttocks up,
Get your feet together,
Extend your body away from your legs.
Exhale,
Fold down towards your legs.
Inhale,
Now both your legs together,
Stretch up,
Reach up.
Palms and hands together,
Look past the thumbs.
Exhale,
Look forward,
Hands to the sides.
Okay,
So let's start again.
Inhale,
Reach up for a taller.
Exhale.
Using your breath,
Fold in towards your leg.
Inhale,
Extend your body forward,
Look forward.
Exhale,
Jump back.
Lower down to the floor.
Then inhale,
Push through,
Roll onto the top of the feet,
Look up,
Turn the toes under.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
Five breaths.
Keep with your deep breathing.
And then look at the space between your hands.
Take an inhale,
Jump back again to the front,
Get your feet together,
Extend your body away from your legs.
Exhale,
Fold down.
Inhale,
Reach up.
Exhale,
Hands to the side.
Okay,
Let's start again.
Inhale.
Reaching up,
Bring your hands together,
Look up.
Exhale,
Follow your gaze down towards your legs.
Inhale,
Extend forward and look forward.
Exhale,
Jump back.
Exhale,
Jump back.
Come down towards the floor.
Inhale,
Push through,
Shoulders back,
Looking up.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
Remember to keep your thighs engaged.
It might help you stretch your hamstrings so you're getting your heels down towards the floor.
Exhale.
Also trying to find this softness in between the shoulder blades.
So you've got to roll the tops of the arms outwards and the lower arms in.
Okay,
Looking forward again.
Take an inhale,
Jump back again to the front.
Feet together,
Extend forward.
Exhale,
Fold down.
Inhale,
Reach up.
Exhale.
Inhale,
Stretch up.
Exhale,
Folding.
Inhale,
Look forward.
Exhale,
Jump back,
Come down.
If you need to bring your knees down and hum,
Inhale,
Push through,
Elbows into the sides,
Roll back the shoulders,
Look up.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
Looking forward again.
Inhale,
Lift up the buttocks,
Come back to the front.
So try and keep your bottom up.
And then exhale,
Fold down.
Inhale,
Stretch up.
Exhale,
Hands to the side.
So we're going to do one more A.
Inhale,
Reach up,
Grow taller.
Exhale,
Keep your thighs lifted and fold into your legs.
Inhale,
Extend your body forward.
Exhale,
Jump back,
Lower down to the floor.
Inhale,
Push through,
Take the shoulders back and look up.
So remember to use your banders as well.
As you jump forward,
Think about using your muller bander.
Take an inhale,
Lift up.
Jump back to the front,
Get your bottom up,
Look forward.
Exhale,
Fold.
Inhale,
Stretch up.
Inhale.
So let's do C and then let's try a B.
Feet together again.
Inhale,
Bend your knees,
Bottom down,
Sweep the fingers along the floor,
Hands up together.
Exhale,
Fold in towards your legs,
Straighten your legs.
Inhale,
Look forward.
Exhale,
Jump back and come down to the floor.
Inhale,
Push through again,
Roll back the shoulders,
Look up.
Exhale,
Look down towards your feet.
Inhale,
Step your right foot between your hands,
Left heel turned on the floor,
Right knee bent,
Hands up,
Berber Dressen at number one.
Exhale,
Hands down to the floor,
Step back and lower down.
Try and use one breath.
And lower down,
Try and use one breath.
Inhale,
Push through,
Upward Dog.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Inhale,
Left foot forward,
Right heel on the floor,
Left knee bent,
Hands up.
Exhale,
Hands down,
Step back and lower down.
Inhale,
Push through,
Front of the feet,
Shoulders back.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
So catch your breath again.
Looking back towards your feet.
And then look back to the space between your hands,
Take an inhale,
Jump back again to the front.
Feet together,
Extend forward,
Straight legs.
Exhale,
Fold.
And then to finish off with Utkatasana,
Knees bent,
Bottom down,
Hands up.
Straighten the legs,
Exhale,
Hands down.
Okay,
Let's do that one again.
Inhale,
Knees bent,
Fingers brush the floor,
Hands up.
Exhale,
Fold down towards your legs.
Inhale,
Look forward.
Exhale,
Jump back,
Lower down to the floor.
Inhale,
Push through,
Shoulders back.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Inhale,
Right foot forward,
Left heel on the floor,
Hands up together.
Exhale,
Hands down,
Step back.
Lower yourself down towards the floor.
Inhale,
Push through,
Look up.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Inhale,
Left foot forward,
Right heel on the floor,
Hands up.
Top of the inhale,
Then exhale,
Hands down.
So as soon as you finish that inhale,
Your exhale is to come down.
Push through with an inhale.
Exhale,
Downward Dog again,
Good.
Exhale,
Downward Dog again,
Good.
So obviously there's a bit more to do with Surya Namaskara B,
Which is important,
Why we get the breath long and even.
Okay,
Come down onto your knees and sit back onto your heels.
So we're gonna do Advaita Shashasana,
Dolphin Pose,
Headstand Preparation Posture.
If you're here for any other part of the week,
We'll probably do some headstands as well.
But today we're just preparing the posture.
You're gonna interlock your fingers,
Keeping the heels of the hands apart,
And then bring your arms down onto the floor.
So you're creating a triangle on the floor.
So make sure that when you bring your hands down,
The little finger that is on the outside,
That comes in.
So you can bring that inside the palms of your hands.
And then we test out the distance in between the elbows.
So you should be able to let go of your hands and take one hand and bring it over your forearm,
That's the right distance.
Interlock your fingers again,
Bring your knees together,
Turn your toes under.
Turn your toes under.
So we're gonna keep the head off the floor in this posture.
Turn your toes under,
Push your arms into the floor,
Lift up your hips off the floor,
Straight legs.
Keep your head lifted.
And then stay for five breaths.
We're just coming into the Dolphin Pose today.
You can do a headstand a little bit.
Feet together.
Feet together.
Walk your feet away a little bit.
That's it,
Stay lifted.
Get your head off the floor.
Okay,
So come down onto your knees and have a rest in a Child's Pose.
Bring your head down onto the floor,
Sweep your hands back by the sides of your body.
Okay,
So the next one,
Dolphin Number Two,
This time we're gonna move with the posture.
So remember,
We're keeping the head off the floor with this posture and the thumbs up.
So I'll just show you one to start with.
This time,
We're keeping the thumbs up,
Lifting up onto the balls of the feet,
Head off the floor.
Take an inhale and then exhale.
You're gonna bring your chin towards your thumbs.
Inhale back,
Exhale forward.
Inhale back,
Exhale forward.
We're gonna do that five times.
Okay.
So coming back into your posture,
Keep your legs straight.
Lift up,
Thumbs up as well.
Take an inhale and then exhale.
So you're just hinging into your arms.
Your legs and your torso stay straight.
Do that five times.
Inhale forward,
Exhale back.
Okay,
We're losing a bit of time.
Use your breath again.
Once you've done the five times,
You can come down and have a rest.
Child's Pose again.
Forehead onto the floor,
Knees down.
Buttocks coming down towards your heels.
Okay,
Sweep your hands forward again.
And let's step back into Downward Facing Dog.
Get back into your breath.
Looking back towards your feet.
Ujjayi breathing.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Ujjayi breathing.
Take an inhale.
Step your right foot between your hands.
Turn your left heel so that it's on the floor.
And then bend your right knee,
Bring your hands up into Virabhadrasana number one.
So let's stay here for five breaths.
Left heel on the floor,
Right knee bent.
Look up past your fingers.
Arms and hands together.
Your torso is upright but your right knee is bent.
And you're looking up.
Okay,
Inhale,
Straighten your right leg.
Exhale,
Take your arms out to the side then bring them back behind you.
Palms of the hands together into Namaste.
Turn them inside out in between your shoulder blades.
Take an inhale,
Hinge back,
Open up the chest.
Exhale,
Both legs straight and then hinge down towards your right leg into Parsvottanasana.
So hips level with the floor,
Shoulders level with the floor,
Towards your right leg.
If you find it difficult to bring your hands into Namaste,
You can just hold onto your elbows instead.
Yeah,
Just from here,
Hold on like this.
Okay,
With your next inhale,
Release your hands down onto the floor.
Exhale,
Step back,
Lower down,
Chaturanga Dandasana.
Inhale,
Push through,
Urdhva Mukha.
Exhale,
Adho Mukha Svanasana.
Inhale,
Step your left foot forward,
Right heel on the floor.
Left knee bent,
Right leg straight.
Hands up,
Palms of the hands together.
So your right heel is pushing down towards the floor to keep you anchored into the floor.
Enjoy your breathing.
Inhale,
Straighten your left leg.
Exhale,
Take your arms out to the side,
Palms of the hands together,
Anjali Mudra.
Turn the palms of the hands inside out or hold onto your elbows.
Inhale,
Arch back,
Open up the chest.
Both legs straight,
Exhale,
Folding towards your left leg.
So keep your right leg extending back,
Heel into the floor.
That's gonna help you with your balance.
Lovely,
Shoulders level with the floor,
Hips level with the floor.
Okay,
Inhale,
Release your hands down onto the floor.
Exhale,
Step back,
Lower down.
Inhale,
Push through,
Shoulders back,
Urdhva Mukha.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
Inhale,
Jump back again to the front,
Feet together,
Extend forward.
Exhale,
Fold down.
Inhale,
Stretch up.
Reach up,
Hands together.
Exhale,
Hands to the side.
Okay,
Let's keep going with our Vinyasa.
Inhale,
Stretch up.
Exhale,
Fold.
Inhale,
Forward.
Exhale,
Jump back,
Coming down to the floor.
Inhale,
Push through,
Shoulders back.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
Inhale,
Right foot between your hands.
Turn your left foot around now,
Parallel to the back edge of the mat.
Hips facing to the side,
Right knee bent.
Sweep your left hand up from back.
Take your arms out wide,
We're at Vajrasana number two,
Warrior Pose.
Turn to look along your right fingers.
So your left foot is planted into the floor.
Your right knee is about a 90 degree angle.
90 degree angle.
Palms of the hands pushing down to the floor,
But lifting underneath your armpits.
Okay,
Next inhale.
Bring your right elbow onto your right thigh and take your left arm over your left ear.
Vajrasana.
Turn the chest,
Look underneath your left armpit.
Those of you who can go a bit further can bring the right hand down onto the floor by the little toe side of the right foot.
But try and keep that alignment.
Left hand in line with your torso,
In line with your left leg.
Okay,
Next inhale.
Bring both your hands down onto the floor and exhale,
Step back,
Lower down to the floor.
Inhale,
Push through,
Upward Dog.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Inhale,
Left foot forward.
Right foot turned around,
Parallel to the edge of the mat,
Left knee bent.
Right hand sweeps back.
Point your middle fingers away from you to get your arms straight.
So let that left leg bend,
But don't collapse into your left leg.
You're going to still feel this lift underneath the left thigh.
Shoulders soft,
But your arms are dynamic.
Okay,
Inhale,
Bring your left elbow onto your thigh and take your right arm over your right ear.
Turn your chest so you're looking underneath your armpit.
And then if you're going further,
You can slide your left hand down onto the floor.
If you've got your hand down on the floor,
Try and make it flat on the floor.
And then keeping your right arm now in line with your torso,
With your waist,
And with your right leg.
Good,
One more breath.
And then inhale,
Both hands down onto the floor.
Exhale,
Step back,
Lower down to the floor.
Inhale,
Upward Dog.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Inhale,
Jump back again to the front,
Get your feet together,
Extend forward.
Exhale,
Fold down.
Inhale,
Legs together,
Stretch up.
Exhale.
And again,
Inhale.
Exhale,
Fold down.
Inhale,
Look forward.
Exhale,
Jump back and come down.
Inhale,
Push through,
Front of the feet,
Look up.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Inhale,
Step your right foot between your hands,
Left foot turned around again.
This time,
Right leg straight and slide the right hand onto your right leg.
Left arm up,
Trikonasana.
So palm of the hand facing towards the side.
Keep your shoulders dropping away from your ears.
Keep working that side,
That's it.
So just hold it,
Two more breaths.
Next,
Exhale,
Bring your hands down onto the floor,
Step back and lower down.
Inhale,
Push through,
Look up.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Inhale,
Left foot forward,
Right foot turned around.
Right foot parallel to the edge of the mat.
Turn the chest,
Look up towards your right thumb.
So you're extending into your right waist,
But at the same time,
Make sure your shoulders stay away from your ears,
Your torso stays in line with your front leg.
Two more breaths.
Next,
Exhale,
Hands down onto the floor.
Step back and lower down.
Inhale,
Push through,
Look up.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Inhale,
Jump back again to the front,
Get your feet together,
Extend forward.
Exhale,
Forward.
Inhale,
Reach your hands up,
Palms together.
Exhale,
Hands to the side.
Okay,
Let's do a tree posture,
Vrksasana.
So we're going to be finding this point to look at on the floor in front of you,
Either on the floor or on the wall,
And keeping your eyes focused,
But also quite soft.
Bring your hands onto your hips and your legs together.
Yeah,
So if you know you feel a little bit unstable,
You can go towards the wall.
And then we're going to bring the right foot onto the inside of the left thigh.
Keep your left thigh working.
So once your foot is there and you've got your balance,
Bring your hands together in front of your chest,
And then take your arms up.
Past your nose,
Lift your arms up.
Past your nose,
Lift your arms up.
Stretch up.
So your right heel is moving forward slightly and your left toe's back.
That helps to open up the hips.
Good.
Keep the palms of the hands together as well,
Stretching up,
Lengthening through the body.
Let's just hold it,
Two more breaths.
If you come out of it,
Don't worry.
You just come back into it again.
And then bring your hands down and release your foot.
So hands back on the hips again,
Let's do the left side.
Both the thighs engaged,
Lift your left foot onto the inside of the right thigh.
Palms of the hands together.
Get your balance,
Keep your right leg working.
Lift your hands up.
Find your focus and stay there.
And then coming out of it,
Bring your hands down first and then release your foot.
Okay,
Good,
Feet together again.
Close to the mat.
Take an inhale,
Stretch your arms up.
Exhale,
Fall down towards your legs.
Inhale,
Extend forward.
Exhale,
Jump back,
Lower down.
Inhale,
Push through,
Upward Dog.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Exhale,
Downward Dog.
Inhale,
Jump back again to the front.
Get your feet together,
Knees together.
Keep your knees bent,
Bottom down and then sweep your hands up into Utkatasana.
Palms of the hands together,
Fierce posture.
Looking up past your thumbs.
Keep your stomach in,
Uddiyana Bandha engaged.
Try not to go too deeply into your lower back.
Good,
Keep your breathing.
Then inhale,
Straighten your legs and exhale,
Fold down toward your legs.
So you're going to keep your feet together and hands either side of your feet into Uttanasana.
If your hands don't come to the floor,
You can hold onto the top of one arm above the elbow.
Thread the other arm through and just hang the body down.
So we're still working into the thighs.
If your hands come to the floor,
You can lean flat on the floor.
So if your hands are by the sides of your body,
You're using the floor to help you to move deeper into your legs.
And if your hands are interlocked,
Or your elbows are interlocked,
Then you're just using the weight of the body to help to get deeper into the posture.
Okay,
Inhale.
Bring your head up,
Extend forward.
And then take your feet hip width apart.
See if you can hold onto your big toes.
Two fingers in between your big toe and your second toe.
Inhale,
Extend forward.
So legs straight,
Arms straight.
And then move in between your shoulder blades.
You're trying to find this dip in between your shoulders.
Keep your thighs working.
Then with an exhale,
Let your elbows come out to the sides and fold in towards your legs.
Still holding onto your toes.
So this is thigh work.
Keep working into your quadricep muscles.
Letting your buttocks move up towards the ceiling.
Sitting bones moving up.
Inhale,
Extend forward again,
Still holding onto your toes.
So you're either going to stay holding onto your toes,
Or if you can go a little bit deeper,
You can bring your palms of your hands underneath your feet into Padahastasana.
So the soles of the feet are on the palms of the hands.
Only do this if you know you can really go that far.
Inhale,
Extend forward again.
Exhale,
Fold.
So you're trying to get your toes all the way towards your wrists.
This also helps to give your wrists a bit of a massage.
Okay,
Release your feet.
Take an inhale,
Extend forward again.
Hands onto the floor or hands onto your legs.
Exhale,
Jump back.
I'm going to stay in this half plank pose.
So your arms are straight,
Your shoulders directly over your wrists.
Your torso,
Buttocks and legs all in one line.
And look down towards the floor.
So keep your stomach working.
Keep your thighs working.
Kick back into your heels.
So you can either stay here for the next three breaths.
For those of you that can do Chaturanga Dandasana,
You can lower down and hover off the floor for three breaths.
If you're doing that one.
And then inhale,
Push through,
Upward dog,
Look up.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
Okay,
So just walk your feet in towards your hands and come down into a squat position.
So we're going to try Bakasana,
Crow pose.
Don't worry about this if you can't do it.
It takes a little bit of practice.
It's an arm balance.
So you're going to take your knees and your feet apart and bring your hands down in between your legs.
Palms of the hands onto the floor.
Shoulder width,
Hands onto the floor.
And then come up onto the balls of your feet.
So you're in a high squat position.
So a lot of this is really just trial and error.
You're going to lift your buttocks up.
Try and get your knees towards the tops of your arms.
And then your elbows come out to the sides a little bit.
Then we just lean forward.
If you want,
You can just try one foot at a time,
Lifting one foot at a time up.
Or you bring your feet together.
Look towards the floor.
So your elbows will bend and come out to the sides a bit and your knees will come up onto the backs of the arms.
So just give it a try.
Yeah,
You've got to get your knees here and your elbows move almost out like that.
Yeah,
Okay.
And then lean forward.
That's it.
And then you're going to weight your body on it.
Yes,
Good.
Just try one leg at a time and then see if you can bring both feet up together.
Well done.
Feet together.
So it's just a question of balance.
Yeah,
You're pushing in front of your head is a nice safety,
Yeah.
Okay,
Good.
That's it.
Then you've just got to get the confidence to go,
Yeah.
Okay,
Just give it a couple of tries.
Have a play around with it.
Something you can do on the beach because the sun does stop.
But you might get a mouthful of sun.
Yeah,
That's it.
Bring your feet together now,
I think.
Yes,
Good,
Good.
Okay,
Good.
Step back,
Downward facing dog.
So now we're going to jump back to the front of the mat but to sitting.
So come onto the balls of the feet.
Look at the space between your hands.
Dip your knees.
Take an inhale.
Jump forward across the legs.
And then bring your feet out in front into Dandasana.
So lengthen your legs out.
That was almost dramatic.
Okay,
So backs of the legs onto the floor.
Move the buttock flesh out to the side so you're sitting on the front of your sitting bones.
Toes coming back towards your face.
Hands either side of your hips.
Draw in your Uddiyana Bandha.
So remember this area around the lower stomach.
Lengthen your spine.
Take your shoulders back.
Toes coming back towards your face.
So although we're only sitting,
We're still using the thighs.
Keeping all your core muscles in.
And then bring your chin down towards your chest.
Let your shoulder blades come back and down.
So as with this sitting posture and also forward bends,
We're going to be moving the front of the body forward.
The back of the body always comes back,
The front of the body forward.
So let's move into Paschimottanasana.
Take an inhale,
Lift your arms up.
Lengthen up as far as you can go.
Then exhale,
Reach forward.
First,
Let's just hold onto the big toes.
Two fingers around the big toe,
Between the big toe and the second toe.
Then lengthen the spine again.
Take your shoulders back.
Let's stay looking forward.
Lift up your torso.
Remove your shoulders away from your ears.
So first one,
We're just going to keep with arms straight.
This is also a good place to start because you're reminding yourself to use your thighs,
To draw in your stomach,
And to move the back of your body back.
Shoulder blades come back.
Chest comes forward.
Okay,
Now we can go a little bit deeper.
Take an inhale,
Lengthen.
Exhale,
See if you can reach around the sides of the feet.
Thumbs onto the front.
And then we're going to continue lengthening the torso with an inhale and exhaling to fold down.
If you can go even further,
You can reach your hands further around your feet.
Stay looking forward.
So use your belt.
If you can't reach your feet,
Then you can use your belt.
So still looking beyond your feet.
Even if your chest is all the way down,
You can bring your chin onto your chest but keep your gaze looking upwards.
Let's just have two more breaths.
Okay,
And then inhale,
Come back up again.
So we're going to take a vinyasa from here.
Fingertips onto the floor.
Just trying to use one breath with each posture.
Inhale,
Lift your legs up.
Exhale,
Cross your legs,
Roll forward,
Hands to the floor,
Jump back,
Lower down.
Inhale,
Push through,
Shoulders back,
Look up.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
Okay,
And then inhale.
Let's jump back again to the front.
Cross your legs as you jump forward and then take your feet out in front.
So when we come back into this position,
We're always coming back into dandasana.
Okay,
Let's do upavistha konasana,
So wide angle stretch.
Take your legs out wide.
Move your buttock flesh back so you're sitting on the front of your sitting bones.
Thighs engaged,
Toes coming back towards the face.
Okay,
We're also going to be rolling back behind us so make sure there's nothing in the way when you roll back.
We've got lots of room.
I don't think you're going to hit anyone.
I don't think you're going to hit anyone.
Okay,
So inhale,
Lift up,
Lengthen.
So again,
Lifting up high as you can.
First,
Push the backs of the legs into the floor.
Exhale,
Reach for your big toes.
So if you're holding onto your big toes,
Then you lengthen again and exhale to fall down.
If you can't quite reach your big toes,
You can bring your hands onto the floor and push your hands onto the floor.
Keep your hands shoulder width apart.
Hands a bit wider now,
Okay?
Inhale,
Lengthen the spine.
Exhale to fall forward.
So you pull your hands along the floor to bring your chest forward.
That's it,
Bring your hands onto the floor.
I think you can just move your feet a bit closer.
So the work is the same whether your hands are on the floor or hands are on your feet.
You're still moving the front of the body forward and hinging down with the hips tilting forward.
Okay,
Inhale,
Come back up.
So we're now going to do this balance,
Holding onto the big toes again.
Take an inhale,
Lift your feet up off the floor.
So find your balance.
You're rolling back a little bit behind your sitting bones.
If you can get your legs straight and keep your balance,
Straighten your legs.
If that's difficult to keep your balance,
Keep your knees bent.
Lengthen your spine,
Take your shoulders back and look up.
Okay,
So here's the fun bit.
Take an inhale and then as you exhale,
Roll back,
Take your feet back behind you.
Lift your bottom up.
If you don't do it the first time,
Maybe roll back up and do it again.
Good.
Now watch your back,
See if you can keep your feet apart.
Okay,
Now we're going to roll back up and balance again.
Take an inhale,
Roll up,
Get your legs straight,
Lift up again.
Almost.
Okay,
Just a couple of breaths,
Lengthening into the spine,
Looking up.
So we're going to go straight into our vinyasana.
So we're going to go straight into our vinyasana.
So we're going to go straight into our vinyasana from here.
Inhale,
Bring your legs together,
Hands onto the floor.
Exhale,
Cross the legs over,
Roll forward,
Jump back.
And then lower yourself down to the floor.
Elbows into the sides.
Inhale,
Push through.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
So coming back to sitting again,
Balls of the feet,
Look forward,
Spring back to the front.
I missed that,
Didn't see if anybody did that or not.
Take your feet forward,
Sitting back in dandasana.
Okay,
So marichyasana number one.
You're going to take your right foot,
Bend your right knee,
Bring your right foot onto the floor.
And you need about hand distance in between your foot and your inner thigh.
And then make sure your toes are facing forward.
Some of you will need a belt with this one.
Left hand onto the floor by the side of your left hip.
And then roll your right arm forward around the front of your right shin.
Then you bend your elbow,
Take your hand back,
Reach back wide up with your left hand.
See if you can hold onto your fingers or your wrist.
Then keeping the chest forward,
Take an inhale,
Exhale,
Fold down towards your left leg.
Good,
So if you can't quite meet your hands,
You can use a belt to hold on.
Keep working your left leg,
So left foot coming back towards your face.
The left leg is your anchor.
Okay,
Take an inhale,
Come back up again.
So we're going to twist now into marichyasana number three.
Bring your right hand back behind you,
Hand onto the floor,
As close in towards your back as possible.
Left hand onto your right leg.
Inhale,
Lift up,
Lengthen the spine,
And exhale,
Twist to the right.
Then take your left elbow over your right leg.
So you're using your elbow into your leg to help you twist,
And your hand behind you to help you lengthen your spine.
Keep your left leg working,
Turn towards the right.
So those of you that can go further,
You can roll your shoulder forward,
Your left shoulder forward,
Reach your left hand back,
Right hand back,
And bind your fingers.
Left elbow.
No,
You can just stay here.
Just keep that hand on the floor.
Leave it facing here.
Right shoulder back,
And look over towards the right.
Keep breathing,
Not so that it's onto yourself,
It can be.
Okay,
Take an inhale,
Come back again to the centre,
Take your feet out in front.
Let's just go straight into the left side.
So left leg bent,
Left toes forward,
Right hand into the floor.
Take your left arm up,
Roll the shoulder forward,
So you're trying to get your armpit as close in towards this left leg as possible.
And then reach your left hand back,
Right hand comes back behind you,
Hold onto your fingers or your wrists.
Inhale,
Lengthen the spine.
Exhale,
Fold down towards your right leg.
And then stay looking forwards.
So look beyond your toes.
Yeah,
Use your belt.
So once you're in the belt,
That's exactly it,
Michael.
So once you use the belt,
Then you're just using the belt as a tool to help you to find your hands.
Okay,
Take an inhale,
Come back up again.
So now we're going to twist towards the left.
Left hand behind you into the floor.
Use your left hand,
Push it into the floor,
Lengthen the spine up,
And then hold onto your right,
Your left leg,
And twist towards the left.
Then you can hook your elbow over the top of that left knee.
So if you're going to go for the bind,
You have to also roll your shoulder forward,
Your right shoulder forward,
Like we did for the last one.
And then reach back with your left hand.
You have it,
You're there.
Too much?
It's fine to look over your left shoulder.
I'm going to bend it to the side.
Just hold it,
One more breath.
And then inhale,
Release that side.
Bring your feet back to the front with an exhale.
Fingertips to the floor.
Let's take our vinyasa.
Inhale,
Lift the legs up.
Exhale,
Cross the legs,
Roll forward,
Jump back,
Lower down.
Inhale,
Push through,
Look up.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
Okay,
Jump back again to the front,
Take an inhale,
Jump forward,
Cross the legs,
And then take your feet out in front.
Legs forward.
Move the buttock flesh out to the side.
Let's do another twist.
So I'm going to take the feet towards the left for Bharadvajasana.
So,
Both your feet go towards the left.
Your left leg stays on top of your right foot.
Left leg on top of the right.
Yeah,
You're going to bend both your knees.
And then the left toes point back behind you.
Other leg.
Yeah.
So your feet towards.
.
.
Oh,
Hang on a minute,
Who's doing it now?
Oh,
Nobody,
It's me.
Yeah,
You're right.
Yeah,
Okay.
Those of you a little bit more experienced,
You might want to bring your right foot on top of your left thigh into Lotus.
So that's the more experienced posture.
So if you're doing this with your foot in Lotus,
You reach around with your right hand and hold onto your foot.
Now,
If you're doing this with your foot underneath,
Your right foot comes,
Your right hand comes back behind you.
This is where it starts to get confusing,
Twists,
Always happens.
Right hand behind you.
Left hand underneath the right knee.
Palm of the hand underneath.
Hand into the floor,
Lift up.
And exhale,
Twist towards the right.
Yes.
Other leg.
Yeah,
So that one back.
That one on the top.
This hand comes round.
Hold onto your toes if that's what you do.
Yeah,
And then that hand underneath.
Put the palm of the hand open.
So it's like you're rolling on your fingers.
Good.
Roll back your right shoulder.
This hand back.
Onto the floor.
This hand this way.
Underneath.
And this leg is on top of this foot.
So this foot comes out this way.
Yeah.
Don't forget to keep your breathing.
The twists make it a little bit more difficult to breathe.
Okay,
Inhale,
Come back again to the centre.
Take your feet forward.
With an exhale.
Okay,
So we're going to take the feet off towards the right now.
So now the right leg is on top of the left foot.
If you're doing this with Lotus,
Your left foot is on top of the right thigh.
And your toes are pointed back behind you.
So if you're doing this with a Lotus position,
Take your left hand back behind you and hold onto your foot.
Same thing if you're not doing it with Lotus.
Left foot underneath.
Left hand behind.
Right hand,
Palm of the hand open.
Use your hand behind you or use your hand on your foot to lengthen your spine.
And then your hand into your knee to twist towards the left.
So look over your left shoulder.
Okay,
And then inhale,
Come back again to the centre.
Exhale,
Take your feet forward.
So we're going to take a vinyasa again,
Fingertips to the floor.
Inhale,
Lift up your legs.
Exhale,
Cross your legs,
Roll forward,
Jump back and lower down.
Inhale,
Push through,
Look up,
Look at the dog.
Exhale,
Downward dog.
So use your energy,
Use your bandhas to jump forward to sitting.
Lift your buttocks up.
Inhale,
Jump back to the front.
Beautiful,
Take your feet out in front.
So feet are at the ends of the mat.
Palms of the hands facing each other.
Keep the thighs engaged,
Draw the stomach in.
Slowly lower down,
Come to halfway and look at your feet.
Keep your uddiyana bandha in,
Your mula bandha.
Okay,
And then come down towards the floor.
Not quite finished yet.
You sighed there.
Okay,
So we're going to do setu bandhasana,
Bridge posture first.
Feet flat on the floor,
In towards your buttocks.
Just remember if you've got any hair bands in the way of your neck,
Move them out of the way.
Nothing that disturbs the line of your neck.
And then reach back and hold onto the backs of your ankles with your shoulders underneath.
Now if you find it difficult to hold onto your ankles,
You can take a belt and bring it around the front of your shins or you can just place your hands flat on the floor.
Feet hip width apart.
Shoulders underneath.
And then push your feet into the floor and lift your hips up.
So your hips come up high.
You're using your thighs,
You're using your feet flat into the floor.
Balancing on your shoulder blades and the back of your head.
Yeah,
So if you can't quite reach the back of your ankles,
You can always just use a belt.
Something to pull on.
And then get your feet facing forwards.
Let's get as high as we can in between the shoulder blades.
Very good.
Take your feet a bit further apart,
Michael.
Wider,
Wider,
Wider.
Okay,
When we're coming down from this posture,
Come down from the top of the spine.
So slowly lower down from the top of the spine.
Lower all the way down until you get your lower back into the floor.
So we're either going to do this one again,
Or those of you that want to do Urdhva Dandasana,
If you're more experienced,
You can take your hands underneath the shoulders and then lift up,
Straightening your arms into an upward bow posture.
If you're not doing that one,
Do Sati Bandhasana again for ten breaths.
If you're in Urdhva Dandasana,
Try and hold it for ten breaths.
So once you've been in your back bend for ten breaths,
Slowly lower down towards the floor again.
Bring your knees in towards your chest.
Hug your knees towards you.
Have a little rock from side to side.
Try and get your lower back massaged into the floor.
Okay,
So lengthen your legs out along the mat again.
So we're going to come into a shoulder stand.
First coming into the shoulder stand by coming into a plow posture.
So your legs are straight,
Your hands are flat onto the floor.
Bring both your legs up together and take your feet back behind you and then bring your hands onto your back.
So you're going to shuffle onto your shoulder blades until you get onto the tips of your shoulders and then you can lift your legs up,
Supporting your back.
Keep your hand horizontal along your back,
So your middle finger is facing along the spine.
Middle finger meets on the spine.
Feet together.
Flex your feet.
Work into your buttocks.
So you're going to try and lift your tailbone up towards the ceiling.
Make sure also you have a little bit of space underneath your neck.
So if your neck feels like it's flat on the floor,
Try and lift your chin up a little bit.
Good.
Keep your buttocks engaged.
Feet back a little bit more.
Elbows either side of your chest.
Let's just hold it for another five breaths.
So shoulder stand is a cooling posture designed to get the body cooler before we move into our relaxation process.
Also very good for bringing blood and oxygen to the thyroid gland.
Okay,
Take your feet back behind you into a plow pose again.
So your feet are going to come to the floor behind you.
If you can get them to the floor.
If you don't come to the floor easily,
Don't force it.
If you get your feet onto the floor,
You can interlock your fingers back behind you.
Very good.
Now join your fingers together here.
Like this.
Okay,
So coming out of this posture,
We're going to come down from this position.
Bring your hands onto the backs of your legs.
Bring them onto the back of your thighs.
We're going to slowly release the spine down towards the floor.
So lengthen down,
Slowly,
Slowly,
Slowly.
Bring your bottom on the floor with your legs up and then take your arms back behind you.
So it's like you're folding your legs in towards your body.
Release your hands,
Take them back.
Take your legs up and arms back.
Bring your bottom down onto the floor,
Keep your legs up.
Okay,
So now once your bottom is on the floor and your back is on the floor,
Take your legs out wide,
Upadhishtha Pranasana,
Wide angle stretch.
And then legs back together again.
And slowly bring your feet down towards the floor.
Use your stomach and thighs to get your feet down onto the floor.
So we're just going to finish with one last posture,
Matsyasana pose,
Fish pose.
Bring your elbows onto the floor,
Lift your chest up.
Keep your legs stretched out in Dandasana,
Feet coming back towards the torso.
Chest lifted and bring the top of the head onto the floor.
So then if you need to,
You can walk your elbows forward to let your head come down.
Try and keep your hands either side of your body.
That also gives you a chance to release your shoulders there.
Let's get a little bit deeper into the neck.
Let's just hold it,
Two more breaths.
So this releases any tension in the neck from the last posture.
Okay,
So then coming out of this posture,
Slowly lift your head up.
Release your head first and then lower down towards the floor.
Get your spine long and on the floor.
So just to make sure you're getting your lower back into the floor,
Bend your knees again,
Bring your feet onto the floor.
Lift your hips up a little bit off the floor and then curl down from the top of the spine until you get your lower back into the floor.
And then let your legs stretch out along the floor.
Let your feet drop out to the sides.
Palms of the hands facing upwards.
So your hands are about 15,
20 degrees away from the sides of your body.
Your shoulders drop down to the floor.
Feel all your muscles and bones collapse.
Release.
Feel your body getting heavy and sinking into the floor.
Keep your eyes closed.
Feel that the hard floor is supporting the weight of your body.
And your spine sinking into the floor.
Release any tension in the neck and the throat.
Relax all the muscles in the face.
Release your jaw.
Feel your cheeks sliding down to the floor.
Your eyes are deeper into the skull,
Like two small clouds dropping down to the depths of the ocean.
The skin in between your eyebrows is soft.
Breathing soft and gentle.
And for this time as you are lying on the floor observing your body,
Letting go.
You have nothing to do.
Nowhere to go.
Nothing to be.
Feel the weight of your body touching the floor.
And the back of your body.
Remove your fingers and toes.
Gently lock your head from side to side.
Have a stretch.
Keep your arms back over your head.
Stretch all the way down to the tips of your toes.
Now we're going to roll onto the right side of the body.
So bend your left knee.
Keep your right arm outstretched and roll onto the right side.
Your left hand drops to the front.
Your left knee drops down to the floor in front.
Stay in this recovery position for a few more breaths.
And then when you're ready to come up,
You can push your left hand into the floor and come back up to a seated position.
Come up from the side.
And just get into a comfortable position.
I'll just read to you a quote from Eckhart Tolle.
He's written a few books.
You might have heard of them.
The Power of Now and On Your Earth.
Stillness Speaks.
Quite a few.
He said,
Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness.
How do you know this is the experience you need?
Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.
So whatever it is we are feeling,
Whatever it is we're going through now,
In this present moment,
Is exactly what we should be going through.
For us to evolve.
Putting your hands together in front of your chest.
Taking in the left and the right side of the body,
The moon and the sun.
So your thumbs touch your sternum,
Your heart centre.
The other four fingers move away.
So Anjali Mudra.
Anjali means offering.
Finding the centre of your body again.
So if you want to join me,
We'll chant three aums to finish.
Take a breath in.
Aum.
