Moon Salutation-Inspired Yoga Flow

Yoga flow for calming the mind and body by connecting with the energy of the moon. This Chandra Namaskar inspired yoga flow is designed to help you slow down, connect, and find balance in both body and mind. Ideal for evening practice, or to wind down and sooth the mind.

Transcript

Hello everyone,

My name is Kate.

Welcome to your evening flow.

This yoga flow is inspired by Chandra Namaskar or our moon salutation with a few variations.

This flow was created as a way to ease you into your evening,

To stretch and release tension and to settle into a space of ease.

Please have your blocks ready for this practice and if possible keep one block at the top of your mat and another at the end of your mat.

When you're ready,

Begin settling into your space,

Standing at the top of your mat in a Tadasana pose,

Finding stillness as we prepare for this grounding lunar inspired practice.

Stand tall at the top of your space with your feet slightly apart,

Grounding through the soles of the feet,

Maybe lifting the kneecaps up gently with a soft tucking of the tailbone.

You can bring your hands to prayer in front of your heart and gently close your eyes for a moment.

Begin to tune into the rhythm of your breath.

Feel the soft rise and fall of your chest,

Maybe there's even a bit of expansion in the belly as you breathe in and out.

Now take a deep inhale through the nose and a long sigh out the mouth.

Maybe two more just like that,

Breathe in nice and deep.

Sigh it out and let that tension go.

One more deep belly inhale,

Really feeling the belly expand,

Maybe even the ribs expand a bit.

Retain that breath for a moment and then a nice loud exhale.

Gently bow chin to chest and take a moment to thank yourself for showing up for your practice today.

Softly open your eyes and we'll begin.

Take a moment to ground down through each corner of your feet,

Gently engaging your thighs and allow your spine to lengthen,

The crown of your head reaching towards the sky and let your arms rest by your sides.

Take another deep breath in,

Feeling the stability of the earth beneath you.

And exhale out nice and long,

Softening into this moment.

On your next inhale,

Gently sweep the arms overhead,

Interlace the hands above your head,

Maybe releasing the index fingers out and then as you exhale,

Gently bend to the left,

Finding length along the right side of your body.

Inhale to come back to center and exhale over to the right,

Stretching through the left side of your body now.

We'll do this two more times on each side.

Inhale to center,

Exhale to the left.

Inhale,

Return back,

Exhale to the right.

One more time,

Flowing with your breath on each side,

Inviting a sense of ease and space into your body.

And no rush to get there,

But after your last round,

Gently stretch the arms up towards the sky,

Interlacing the fingers and pressing the palms upwards.

Gently engage the glutes and the core as you softly,

Very,

Very softly,

Push your hips forward,

Lift your chest up,

Taking a gentle stretch through your spine here.

And slowly return to center.

Now standing firmly on that right leg,

You're going to bring the left knee into chest and then step your feet wide,

Turning your toes out and your heels in.

Now on an exhale,

Bend your knees,

Lowering into a goddess pose,

Taking your arms out to the sides,

Bend at the elbows as you find a kind of cactus shape with arms here.

Now this is an evening flow,

So we don't want too much energy expended here,

But see if you can feel the thighs working a little bit as you sink a little bit lower into those hips,

Tracking the knees over the ankles.

Now for a few moments,

Just breathe here,

Feeling strength and grounding through your legs.

See if you can sink a little bit lower,

Feeling that stretch into the hips,

That activation of the muscles along your legs and thighs.

And then when you're ready,

Inhale and rise into a star pose,

Straightening out your legs and reaching your arms wide,

Spreading through your fingers.

Hold for a moment.

And then as you exhale,

Lower back down gently into your goddess pose.

We'll repeat this a few more times.

Inhale,

Come to star pose.

Exhale,

Sink into goddess.

Let's do this three more times.

Flow at your own pace.

And maybe as you breathe in,

Reach those arms overhead,

Stretching through the spine,

Creating a nice circle with the arms as you come all the way down into goddess.

No need to rush through this.

Take your time and breathe deeply,

Creating a flow with your breath.

And then come to find a space of stillness in a star pose.

Now gently bring your hands over to your hips,

And adjust your feet slightly.

Turn your toes in,

Your heels out.

And on an exhale,

We're going to fold forward.

Stop at the halfway mark and create a tabletop shape with your spine.

Try and keep your back as straight as possible.

And you can even imagine if you were sitting in a chair or a chair with a chair in front of you,

Your spine.

Try and keep your back as straight as possible.

And you can even imagine that if someone were to place a mug full of water on your back,

That it would be still and unmoving.

This is our Prasarita Padottonasana,

Or wide-legged forward fold.

So you might need to adjust your feet here slightly.

If it feels like there is not enough space between the legs,

Just heel toe the feet out slightly.

And if you're coming into a space where you're almost doing side splits,

Heel toe the feet in slightly.

For a basic guideline,

Your feet should be roughly as wide as your arms if they were stretched out to the sides.

Now once you have a comfortable space here,

Release your hands from your hips.

And see if you can interlace your index finger,

Middle finger and thumb around your big toes.

Now if this is not feeling comfortable for you right now,

You can grab your blocks or even just place your hands over your ankles.

Focus more on finding that stretch down the back of the thighs.

And once you're here and in a comfortable space,

Just take a few moments to breathe.

Keep your gaze either on the tip of your nose or on the mat just beneath you.

And we'll hold here for three deep breaths.

Inhale through the nose and out through the nose.

Two more.

Breathe in and out.

And out.

Last breath.

Inhale.

And maybe this time,

Sigh it all the way out.

And now on your next inhalation with a straight spine,

Come to stand back in your star pose.

And once you're here,

Adjust your feet.

We're going to turn the left toes out,

The right toes in as we slowly move into our trikonasana or triangle pose.

So begin to reach forward as far forward as you can with the left hand.

And when you can no longer stretch that left arm forward,

We'll bring the left hand in front of the left ankle.

Your right arm reaches skywards,

Shoulders stacked and aligned.

And we can modify this pose depending on what you need.

If the stretch is feeling too much for you today,

Feel free to grab your block.

Otherwise,

If you want to go a bit deeper,

See if you can interlace index finger,

Middle finger and thumb around the left toes.

We'll stay here for three breaths.

And you can adjust your gaze as you breathe,

Depending on the comfort level in your neck right now.

Either gaze up towards the sky or gaze down at the left toes.

Make sure that there is some comfort in the neck.

And we'll take one final breath here together.

Breathe in.

And slowly let it go.

Inhale to rise back up into your star pose.

And then as you exhale,

Step your back foot in slightly.

Turn your torso over the left thighs.

Reach back with your arms and see if you can take hold of each elbow.

If not,

Hands in prayer in hands in prayer in front of your heart.

Take a breath in,

Open through the spine,

Gaze up.

And as you exhale,

Fold the upper body over the left thigh,

Coming into a pyramid pose.

Let your chest soften over that left leg and keep your spine long and your shoulders relaxed.

Breathe into that sensation along your hamstring and lower back as you settle into this deep stretch.

Feel free to adjust if your balance is feeling off by bringing your hands down onto the mat,

Framing your left foot,

Even using a block if needed.

And now on your next inhale,

We're going to bend the left knee.

Step your right foot back further and lower into a low lunge.

Fingers frame your front foot.

Lengthen through your spine as you inhale.

Breathe your arms overhead,

Creating some space through the torso and sinking a little bit deeper into those hips.

Hold here for three breaths.

Inhale.

Exhale out.

Breathe in.

And breathe out.

Final breath,

Inhale.

And then as you exhale,

Gently bring your hands down onto the mat,

Both hands framing your left foot.

And if you haven't done so already,

Gently lower your back knee onto your mat.

And only if it feels good,

Begin to shift into your Hanumanasana,

Your half split pose or any variation of the splits that you feel comfortable taking today.

Begin to move slowly,

Honoring your body's limits and using blocks or support if needed.

So for that half split pose,

Just straighten out the left leg and see if you can flex the toes back towards you.

Now there's absolutely no reason to fold your chest completely over that left leg,

But rather see if you can keep that spine somewhat straight so that we get a good stretch into the back of our thighs.

Your gaze should be over the left toes.

Now take a moment just to breathe deeply here and find any sort of comfort that you can in this deep stretch.

Begin to invite any softness through any areas that you might be feeling resistance.

We'll hold here for another five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Now carefully begin to transition into your Skandhasana or your side lunge.

Now if you're not familiar with this pose,

It is a little bit of a weird one,

So we're going to keep that right knee bent and tucked in quite nice and close towards the armpit as we straighten out the left leg.

See if you can bring both hands to prayer in front of your heart and shift your weight into your right foot.

This is kind of like a half Malasana pose as we settle the tailbone a little bit closer to the earth.

And if you have tight ankles,

You're really going to be feeling this posture now.

So ideally we want to get the foot flat on the mat,

The right foot flat on the mat,

But if there is a lot of resistance,

If there is a lot of tension,

Stay on the ball of that right foot.

And for a bit more of a challenge,

We're going to flex the left toes back towards us,

So staying on the heel of the left leg.

Your hands can come to prayer in front of your heart,

Or you can even keep the hands resting gently on the mat,

Depending on what is comfortable for you.

And we're going to hold here for another count of five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Slowly come to your Malasana or your Garland pose,

Stepping your left leg in and squatting low.

Heels in,

Toes out.

Bring your hands to a prayer pose in front of your heart and allow your hips to open,

Lengthening through your spine as you sink that tailbone low.

Breathe into this posture,

Softening with each exhale.

Allow your hips to open up here and if needed,

You can come to sit on a block or even just remain on the balls of your feet,

Gently moving the heels a bit closer to the earth.

Take three deep breaths here.

Inhale and exhale.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Last breath,

Inhale and let it go.

We'll now repeat the sequence on the right side in reverse order.

Starting with your Skandhasana,

We're going to slowly bend the left knee and straighten out the right leg,

The toes flexed.

Hands can be on the mat for balance or bring your palms to your heart center if you feel stable.

Begin to breathe deeply and hold for a count of five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Now gently place your hands on the mat and begin to face the right toes.

Walk your hands so that you're able to come onto the left knee as we begin to move into our Hanumanasana or a half splits pose,

Alternatively taking any variation of splits that you feel comfortable with today.

So for that half splits,

You're going to gently lower down onto your left knee and then keeping that right leg straight,

Begin to walk your chest over the right leg,

Flexing the right toes back towards the body.

Move slowly here and honor your body's limits.

Feel free to use blocks for support and hold for a few deep breaths,

Inviting softness into the body and releasing any tension.

We'll hold for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Moving now into our low lunge.

On your next inhale,

We're going to bend into the right knee,

Sinking a bit deeper into the hips.

You can begin to reach the arms overhead,

Lift the chest slightly and take a few deep breaths.

Invite softness into your hips with every breath out and see if you can create some space around the neck and the head.

We'll hold for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Gently place both hands on the mat and prepare for your pyramid pose.

Straighten out that back leg and take a small step forward.

If possible,

Keep both legs straight here and begin to fold the chest over the right leg.

Over the right thigh.

Feel free to use some blocks here or keep that front knee bent if the stretch is feeling a bit too much in your body today.

And when you find a space of comfort in this pose,

Begin to breathe into the sensation along your hamstrings and your lower back.

As we hold for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Prepare for your trikonasana.

So feel free to grab a block here,

Place it in front of the right ankle.

Your right hand can either be placed on the block,

Hands,

Index finger,

Middle finger,

And thumb wrapped around that big toe or you can keep your hand resting gently on your shin as you reach the left arm skywards.

Begin to rotate that left hip out,

Right hip forward.

Lengthen through your spine and take a moment to check in with your neck.

Depending on what is most comfortable for you,

Gaze can either be up towards the sky or down towards your mat and we'll hold here for another five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Keeping your spine nice and straight,

You'll inhale,

Come to rise in a star pose.

Toes in,

Heels out.

Gently bring both hands over to your hips.

Prepare for your wide-legged forward fold.

Take a breath in and open up the chest.

Gaze up towards the sky and on an exhale slowly start to fold forward.

Come to hover in a halfway lift here,

Creating that tabletop shape with your spine.

Take a moment to adjust the feet if needed.

So if you need a bit more space,

Heel toe the feet a bit wider.

If you need a bit less,

Then heel toe the feet in slightly and when you feel comfortable,

When you feel that stretch down the back of the legs,

You can slowly reach the hands to the mat.

Either insulating index finger,

Middle finger,

And thumb around the big toes or just placing the hands gently on the mat in front of you.

Gaze is at the nose or gently down on your mat and we'll hold for three deep breaths.

Inhale and exhale.

This time side out the mouth.

Two more.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Last breath.

Inhale and exhale.

Let it go.

Now on your next breath in,

Gently bring your hands over to your hips and with control and a straight spine,

Come to stand back in your star pose.

Extending the arms out to the sides,

We'll begin to sink into goddess.

Bending the knees,

Tracking the knees over the ankles,

The knees over the ankles,

Sink down a bit deeper into the hips.

Almost like you want to align your hips with your knees here.

Your heels are in,

Your toes are out.

And you can now cactus the arms,

So bending the elbows,

Keeping them in line with your shoulders.

On your breath in,

Begin to straighten out the legs,

Reaching the arms overhead.

And as you breathe out,

Sink back into your goddess pose.

Let's do this another three times,

Flowing with breath.

Inhale,

Rise up,

Arms up.

Exhale,

Sink back into goddess.

Two more.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Last one.

Breathe in,

Arms reach up.

Exhale,

Sink and hold your goddess pose for a moment,

Maybe taking it a little bit deeper as you lower those hips down.

Now when you're ready,

With control,

You're going to step forward to the top of your space,

Coming back into your Tadasana pose,

Your mountain pose.

Feet slightly apart for balance,

Hands in prayer pose.

And then inhale,

Reach the arms overhead.

Interlace the fingers,

Release your index fingers now.

And then on an exhale,

Bend the hips over to the right,

Arms to the left,

As we take this crescent moon shape in the body.

Inhale,

Return to center.

Exhale,

Reach the arms overhead.

Inhale,

Come back to center.

Exhale,

In the opposite direction.

Inhale,

Come back to center,

This time interlacing the fingers,

Pressing the palms skywards as we open through the spine.

Gently press your hips forward.

Lift your chest so that you can take a through your spine.

Inhale,

Come back to center,

Hands to prayer.

And now heel toe your feet just a bit wider than your hips.

Take another breath in.

And as you exhale,

Fold forward,

Hands reach towards the toes.

See if you can interlace index finger,

Middle finger and thumb around the big toes.

Bend the elbows out to the side and gently pull yourself in a bit deeper.

You are welcome to keep a bend in your knees here,

But if the body is protesting a bit too much,

Feel free just to hang loose,

Kind of like a ragdoll.

Soften your neck and head,

Maybe take hold of each elbow and begin to sway from side to side,

Allowing gravity to gently pull you in.

And if it's comfortable,

Close your eyes,

Allowing the body to soften,

To release even more tension as you sway from your hips.

And there is no rush to get here,

But when you're ready,

Gently come to a shavasana pose.

Lying flat on your back and extending each foot to each corner of your mat,

Allowing the feet to flop out to the sides,

Resting your arms down the length of your body,

Palms facing the sky.

Close your eyes and begin to tune in to the rhythm of your breath.

That soft rise and fall of the belly and the chest.

Let go of all thoughts and simply exist in the space of stillness,

Feeling all that space you've created in your body,

Your mind.

Feel free to rest in your shavasana as long as you need.

Take a few moments for yourself and thank yourself for showing up for your practice.

Thank you for joining me on this lunar-inspired flow.