Energizing Yoga Flow & Breathwork | All Levels

Feel lighter, clearer, and more energized through an all-levels yoga flow designed to balance seasonal heaviness.
In this invigorating practice, Brenda Carey guides you through expansive movements, breathwork, and standing postures that awaken the qualities of air and space, bringing lightness and vitality to body and mind.
The sequence blends strength, fluid movement, and grounding moments to help release stagnant energy while cultivating clarity and balance.
Music by Alan Frijns.

Transcript

Hello, Let's begin. So have your mat long lengthwise, So the same direction as mine. So the long length of the mat is facing the screen. We're gonna start standing with a little bit wider stance, So slightly wider than hip width apart. So really pick up the toes, Spread them and set them down. So even though this is a spring balancing yoga class, And we're gonna be focusing on the lighter elements of air and space, We still want to feel rooted and grounded into the earth for feelings of support. So really feel the soles of your feet, Nestle into the earth, Soft bend in the knees just to not lock them out. Draw the tailbone slightly down, Feel those pelvic floor muscles engage just a bit. Begin to deepen your breath here, Release, Fill up the low belly, Rise it up into the ribcage and the chest, And then a slow exhale out. Couple more times, Feeling also the openness of the heart, The crown of the head rising toward the sky. Feel your connection to the earth. One more deep breath in through the nose. Open mouth, Exhale, Release. This time, If you'd like, Blink the eyes open, Inhale, Sweep the arms out and up, Fill up all that energy, That air around you. Bring the palms together, Draw them down, Hands to heart on an exhale. With our hands at heart center, Breathing in an intention. Maybe it's honoring Mother Earth for all the gifts she gives us or anything else that resonates with you. Exhale it out into the world. And again, Inhale, Sweep the arms out and up. This time, Exhale, Bring the right hand down, Lean over to the right, Equal weight in both feet, And then draw that bottom arm back up. Exhale, Cactus the arms, Squeeze the shoulder blades, Baby back bend. Inhale, Fingertips reach back up. Then opposite side, Left hand reaches down, Leaning over to the left. Inhale, Bottom arm reaches up. And then exhale, Hands to heart center. One more time, Inhale, Sweep the arms up. Exhale, Right hand comes down, Lean right. Bottom arm reaches up. Exhale, Cactus. Inhale, Fingertips reach up. Left arm comes down, Leaning left, Equal weight in both feet. Inhale, Bottom arm reaches up. Exhale, Bring the hands behind you this time. I'm just gonna show you from the back. Either clasp opposite elbows or interlace the fingers, Roll the shoulders back and down, Open up the chest. Maybe the hands move slightly away from the low back. Opening up the heart space with a deep breath in. Cleansing breath out. Then release the hands, Sweep the arms up. Exhale, Cactus. Once again, Hold here. Feel the engagement of the shoulder blades at the back of the heart. This time, Extend the arms long, Palms face up. Breathe in gratitude. And then exhale, Release the hands down. Then we're gonna begin with a breath of joy to increase the air element. So it's gonna be three sips in of air with the arms. So it's going to be an inhale, Inhale, Inhale. And then when you exhale, You're going to fold forward and you can come as much forward as you like. Big exhale and then inhale, Sweeping back up. Let's begin. You can go at your own pace. Inhale, Inhale, Inhale, And an exhale. Inhale, Inhale, Inhale, Exhale. Inhale, Inhale, Inhale. Keep going. Two more times. And then inhale, Rising up. Again, Cactus the arms. Inhale, Fingertips rise up. Exhale, Hands to heart. This time we're gonna move the feet out a little bit wider than hip width apart. Let's bring the toes out, Heels in. So building up some heat and bringing in some air energy with the arms. Inhale, Sweeping the arms up. Your body looks like a big letter X. Then exhale into goddess squat. Bend the knees, Bend the elbows. Settle in here for a breath. Root down through the soles of the feet. Tailbone draws down, Exhale. Inhale, Rise on up, Big letter X. Moving with your breath, Exhale, Goddess. Inhale to rise. Exhale, Goddess. Inhale, Rise. Exhale. As you inhale, Expand, Fill up that whole space. Exhale, Goddess. Inhale, Rise. Two more times, Exhale. Inhale. Exhale, We're gonna hold goddess. Warming up the legs. Option to lift both heels, It's just an option. Take it or leave it. Feeling the warmth in the legs, Draw the tailbone down. Exhale out. One more inhale. This time, Exhale, Land the hands down onto the thighs. We're gonna bend into one knee, Straighten the other. Doesn't matter which side you start on. We're gonna rock like this back and forth. You can pick up the pace if you'd like. Build a little bit of energy. Get the shoulders involved, Rolling one back. Now we're going to add the arms into an infinity symbol. So it's gonna sweep over and then down and up. So think of like a sideways figure eight. Inhale one direction, Exhale out the other. Inhale and exhale. You can make this a more conservative movement if you feel like you need that, Or you could make it very dynamic and very large. We're crossing the energies over. This is so important for our energetic field. So often we move forward, We move back, But we don't crisscross the energies. And this is how our energetic system is designed, To weave back and forth coherently. So inhale, Exhale. One more time in this direction. And then we're gonna reverse. Inhale, Exhale. Keep with this movement. Feel your breath. Feel your heart begin to pump. You are designed to move. Few more times. One more. Now big letter X with your body. Straighten the legs, Straighten the arms. Take up all this space, Because you deserve it. Now warrior two to the right side. So pivot that front foot, Line up the front heel and the back arch. Arms come to a T, Bend into that front knee. Look over the front fingertips, Hold here. Oof. Notice that quick light air energy you've created to balance the heaviness of spring. Exhale it out. Now we're gonna dance the warrior. So inhale, Sweep the arms down and up. Straighten the front leg. Reach up overhead, Back into warrior two. And again, Inhale down, Crisscross. Reach up overhead, Straighten the leg. Warrior two. Now at your own pace, Maybe you want to go this slow. And just feel as if you're kind of like swimming through molasses or something. Maybe you'd prefer to pick up the pace. Just coordinate your breath with your movement. Enjoy your movement. Couple more times at whatever pace you're going. Final time with land in warrior two. Hold here. Exhale it out. Inhale, Sweeping through center. Big letter X with the body. And then warrior two to the other side. Pivot the front foot so the front heel lines up with the back arch. Arms come to a T, Bend into that front knee. Gaze is over the front fingertips. Deep breath in. Cleansing breath out. Now we're gonna do the circle in the opposite direction. So arms go up overhead to begin. Straighten the leg and then down, Bending into the knee. So again, You can keep it at a slower pace if that feels fluid to you. Or you could pick it up. Inhale and exhale. Enjoy your movement. Grateful for a body that can move and breathe. Couple more times, Whatever pace you are going. Let's land in warrior two. Arms come to a T. Exhale it out. On the inhale, Bring the hands together at heart center. Bring the feet parallel. And then from here, Your choice. Hands could come onto the hips if you'd like, Or you can interlace the hands once again, Either elbow to elbow or interlace the fingers. Roll the shoulders back and down. Open the heart. Heart comes toward the sky. Exhale, Forward fold. Crown of the head comes towards the earth. Maybe give it a shake out. Couple deep breaths here. One more breath. Stay for the inhale. Exhale, Lower the hands down to the ground. Now, What I want you to do is bend into one knee and then the other. Now, Depending on your knee health, You may come up onto the top thigh, Bend into one knee and the other, And you're rotating back and forth. If you have healthy knees, Take this into a deeper stand asana squat, Where you lift the opposite toes up, Rotate through center, Opposite toes up on the other side. Again, Take it where is best for you, Either higher up or a little bit deeper. You could also use some blocks here if you would like to help rise up the floor. That's another option. We're rotating side to side, Getting into this inner thigh. Even out both sides, So you've gone to each side equal amount. And then we're gonna heel toe the feet in a little bit wider than hip width apart. Heels in, Toes out, Setting up for yogi squat. So bend the knees, Forearms could come on to the thighs like so. Or again, You could sit on a block and you could sit perched up on the block, Hands come to heart center. You may not need the block, It's just an option. This is a very earth posture, So now we're rooting down into the earth. We've moved the air energy, We've taken up a lot of space with expansive energy. Now we're gonna root down for three more breaths, Balancing air and space, And now coming down to the earth. Exhale. Inhale. One more exhale. From here, Let's land the hands down behind you, Bring the feet out in front of you into a butterfly position, Soles of the feet together. If you'd like, It can be a wider diamond shape or you could draw the heels in if you would prefer. Take your thumbs, We're going to use them to massage out the soles of the feet. This is so good to help us stay grounded. Not only just physically feeling the sensation of the soles of our feet, But also mentally as well, We can draw that scattered energy down with deep breaths as always. Couple more breaths, Massaging out the soles of the feet. This is just such a great thing to do for ourselves. Acknowledges that we do care for the earth and for the care of ourselves as well. All right, Finishing up in butterfly, We're going to come down onto our backs momentarily, Come into a final figure four stretch. So once you are on your back, Start by bringing both knees into the chest, Give it a good squeeze in. If you'd like, You could rock side to side, You could make some little circles. And then keep the right knee in towards the chest, Bring the left sole of the foot down so the left knee is bent. We're going to externally rotate this right hip. So that means the outside of your right ankle is on top of the left thigh. You could stay right here with the left foot planted, Or you could lift it and weave the arms through, Clasping at the left hamstring or shin. A few deep breaths here. Really relax the shoulders and the upper back. Feel the support of your spine against the earth. A couple more full and deep breaths. And your final exhale, Release the hands if you've clasped them, Uncross that right leg. From here, We'll just tick-tock the knees side to side before we go to figure four on the other side. Gather the left knee into the chest, Give it a good squeeze in, And then externally rotate the left hip so the outside of the left ankle is on that right thigh. Option to keep the right foot planted, Or again, Lift up that right foot, Weave the hands through and interlace at the right hamstring or shin. A few deep breaths here. Letting everything else go. And then release the hands, Bring that right foot down if you've lifted it. Extend the legs long. And then a final energy healing technique here. Bring one hand to your thymus gland. Your thymus gland is at the center of your collarbone, Just below that bony notch, And just gently rub. Rub your thymus gland in any direction. Help boost the immune system, Hone the endocrine system, Saying your intention one final time. Deep breath in. Full breath out. And then coming into your Shavasana. You can stay here for as long as you need, Honoring all the work that you have done, Balancing out the spring elements of earth and water, Tapping into air and space, Knowing that you are all those elements. And the light within me honors the light within you. Namaste.