Hip Play - Slow Flow To Explore The Hips As A Mandala

I love to think about the hips as being a mandala with a front side, back side, inner line and outer line, and this class explores the circular nature of our hips through shapes that invite curiosity about how our hips are feeling shape by shape, side by side. A gentle flow designed to awaken our own interoception and expand our self-awareness around an area of our body that often carries a lot of tension and perhaps imbalances. Leave feeling spacious, grounded and calm.

Transcript

Working with the hips this morning. So we're going to be working our way around the hip mandala. And those of you who've practiced with me for the last few months or longer in other places, I tend to think of the hips as being a mandala, A circular tube. And I have an area of the front of the hip that we work into, The inside of the hip that we work into, The outside of the hip or thigh and the back of the leg itself. So a few different muscle groups that work together and against each other to stabilize and support our hip socket. And that's really where the leg fits into the the pelvic bowl area and I'm going to be working with mobilizing that area a little bit and creating a little bit of flexibility and a little bit of strength. So we're going to be putting those different parts of movement together today. We're going to start seated so grab yourself a block or a cushion to put underneath your hips. And then come into a comfortable seat. And if comfortable is not cross legs for you, Know that you can sit on your shins as well. And you can sit just in any position that feels good for you. You can even lie down if that feels better. And let's just take our palms to rest on our legs today. Sitting up as tall as you can, Collarbone a little broad, The heart lifted ever so slightly. Crown of the head lifting up towards the sky. And just draw the chin lightly towards the neck. So there's this feeling of lengthening through the back of the neck here as well. And then with that in place, I want you to just slowly start to close your eyes. See if you can maintain the length that you've created in the spine and this feeling of support around the core. And as you inhale, Just take a moment to allow yourself to arrive into your body, Out of the thinking mind and arrive into your body. Aware of how the body's feeling this morning. This afternoon for some of us is evening for some of us as well. How does your body feel? Notice the areas that feel really, Really good already. Celebrating those little successes throughout the day and then notice the areas that need a little bit of attention. As we begin to flow together. Let the shoulders relax away from the ears and just take a moment as you acknowledge how the body's feeling to let go of everything that you were doing in the moments before this one. Let go of all of the things that you were talking about or thinking about reading. Listening to, Just putting them to one side. And then choosing to let go of everything that might come later in your day. Choosing to let go of everything else. That's still to come. And notice how it feels to be here in this moment. And one of the easiest ways to be present is to just notice the breath. So as we take a breath in, I want you to guide the breath in through the nose. And as you inhale, The breath is gonna work its way down the back of the throat into the lungs. And there's this feeling of expansion of the ribcage around the lungs. Towards the centre of the room, Maybe even you'll notice to the left and right side of your body here as well. And as you exhale, Just notice how it feels to draw all of those areas that expanded, Just slowly coming back to center. Breath leaving the body through the nose if that's manageable for you today, Mouth if not. And with each inhale that you take, Notice that sense of filling yourself up, Completing this drawing of energy from the outside world into the body, This feeling of lengthening the spine, Growing taller and wider with every breath. As energy arrives in and as you exhale. Can you maintain the length that you've created on the inhale and can you just slowly become aware of that energy working its way out again? So there's this constant cycle of energy coming in and energy working its way away. But I want you to really focus on is how it feels to give yourself this simple single focus of the breath, Awareness of it. So keep on working with that awareness just for a couple of more rounds of breath. I'm aware that I'm breathing in. I am aware that I'm breathing out. One more time. When you finished those breaths. With the awareness of them. Just take a moment to notice how you feel, Just a few short moments after we began, But how do you feel? And that simple single focus for the mind usually gives us a sense of having anchored down, Having arrived into the present moment. So anytime your mind wanders away during the practice or maybe later in the day, Just see if you can come back to that breath as a focus. A way to find calmness. And then with the eyes closed, I just want you to ever so slowly just start to draw your left ear towards your left shoulder. A little bit of a release through the side of the neck. And as you're here, Just experiment. How does it feel to tilt the chin downwards? How does it feel to tilt the chin upward? And in between those two points, Notice if there's an area where you really need to be. And then go ahead and arrive there, Just noticing that release. Through the side of the neck and the jaw. And then once you've found a place that feels good to be still, Can you just gently move the jaw from side to side, So a little wiggle of the jaw. Studies are showing now that when we find a little release around the jaw, The fascia line that connects to the pelvic bowl is a little hydrated, A little mobilized so we have less tension around the hips by that simple act of wiggling the jaw. Everything in the body is connected, Remember, And let's just take one more breath in this direction. And then just slowly start to guide the head back up to center. Notice briefly how it feels between left and right side. And when you take your next inhale, Just slowly lowering the opposite ear to opposite shoulder. Play around with that drawing of the chin downward, The feeling of the chin lifting upward. And then find your sweet spot. Find the spot that feels like, Yeah, This is where I need to be to find a little bit of length and release through these muscles. That support and hold our head and our neck. And then little wiggle of the jaw here so the tongue is relaxed away from the roof of the mouth as a softening of the tissues in between the eyebrows around the corners of the eyes and the mouth here. And don't worry about how it looks, Just the feelings. All the way through the practice today, It doesn't matter how it looks, Just what we're feeling. Noticing tension working its way away from the body. One more breath here. And then let's just slowly start to lift the head back up to center. Take another breath as you sit here, Nice and tall. With a little bit more space. Nice and relaxed around the jaw, Knowing that that's created a little space around the pelvic floor. And then gently begin to open the eyes up, Lift the hips, Release whatever you were sitting on, Just place it to the top of the mat and extend your right leg out as wide as you can and then bending the left knee. Okay, So you've got to bend in the left knee, Foot is in towards the groin or the heel is in towards the groin. And toes point back towards you on that right leg, Sitting nice and tall here. We're gonna guide the right hand down the leg, Doesn't matter how far. And then the other hand is gonna reach up to the sky and just slowly side bend. So you're reaching over with the fingers. Doesn't matter how far you go, You might even bend the elbow, Hand on the back of the head or the hand might rest behind the lower back. All options are valid and what I want you to notice is this tissue starting to release the QL area in the lower back. An area that. Want to find a little bit of release in a little hydration here in the thoracolumbar fascia area as well. And the knowledge that psoas muscle sits in and attaches into our lower back vertebrae. So this simple act just creates a little movement and space in the body. Can you lean back a little? Can the shoulder draw back? Your arm might go higher, That's okay. And just notice how that feels. One more breath here. Some of you might be feeling it through that inner thigh as well, Which is perfect. And then slowly guide yourself up to a seat. Keep the spine nice and long. And as you exhale, Just slowly walk the fingers forward. So now the focus is really on the inside of that leg. Nothing too strenuous, Just a little awakening for the inner thigh here. Toes point back towards you so the leg is active. Collarbone stays broad every opportunity we can and we want to remind ourselves of a good posture, This ability to breathe more easily. One more breath just here. And then let's guide ourselves slowly back up to centre now. See if you can take the hands away from the mat. Can you swap the legs without the hands? And if not, Use the hands of course. And then just slowly start to straighten out the left leg. Toes point back towards you, Sitting up nice and tall here. Sliding left hand down the leg and as you exhale right arm reaches up and across and remember you can bend the elbow, Hand on the back of the head, It can even rest on the lower back here. Or the arm can be working its way over. And I want you to draw the top shoulder back. So that you really are finding a little bit more space there and the arm might be straight, It might be bent like mine. And just notice how this feels through your side waist. Notice briefly if one side feels different, Perhaps, To the other. Nice and relaxed around the neck, Gaze can be down, Forwards or up. Nice wide fingers drawing us deeper into our stretch. One more big breath here as you feel the tissue start to awaken in the side of the ribs, Lower back. Nice and then just gently guide yourself up and we're going to keep the spine nice and long, Belly lightly drawn in and on the exhale walking the fingers forward here. And just notice now as you draw the toes back towards center, How it feels through the adductor area, The inner thigh area here. Little bit of freedom starting to arrive into the tissues there. Notice again as we isolate between the two sides of the inner thighs if one side feels more accessible than the other. Often it's a little different from side to side depending on lots of different factors. One more breath. And then just slowly guide yourself back into center. Now pick up the leg without the hand if you can, Bring the knee back down to the floor and let's navigate our way into tabletop position. Okay, Hips above knees, Shoulders above the wrist, Fingers nice and wide. And on the inhale, Let's keep it simple, Chest reaching forward, Belly drawing down, Tailbone naturally lifting up a little. Fingers nice and wide. On the exhale, Rounding through the spine, Chin draws in towards the chest and you're finding this release of the fascia through the back of the body now. Keep on moving with your breath so the inhale opens the front of the body. And the exhale is that pushing away emotion, Rounding and separating on the back of the body. Let's take three more rounds of movement and while we're mobilizing the fascia on the front and the back of the spine, Which is really a good thing to do every day if we can, We're also hydrating into that area of thoracolumbar fascia here, The lower back, The dense area of fascia we have in the body. And we're also creating a little mobility in the area that connects upper and lower body, So the pelvic bowl area. Spine attaching in there. And again, Psoas muscle attaches in here as well. One last movement, One last breath. And when you finish that breath, Simply coming back to neutral. Fingers walk forward a little, Perhaps for some of us. Toes tuck under, Lifting the knees from the ground, Hips to the sky. First downward facing dog. So you're going to start to walk the dog, Lifting one heel, Bending the same knee, Getting a little bit of movement through the back of the legs. And as you do this, I want you to push the ground away from you with the hands. So you're lifting the hips nice and high. So there's this lengthening motion happening for the spine, There's this releasing through the back of the Achilles, The calf and the hamstrings. And just notice how it feels, Doesn't matter how it looks. Often this area feels a little tight and we get confused and think that this is because it is. Super super tight and we want to really welcoming a little strength into this area of the back of the leg. So we'll be focusing on that in a moment. So go ahead and just stop the movement. Pause in stillness. Hands push the ground away. Hips nice and high. Thighs are reaching back. Yeah, So the thighs are reaching towards the back. There's a really nice lengthening. Happening through the back of the legs or a feeling of lengthening. And then just soften those knees, Look to the top of the mat and take tiny little baby steps with your feet towards the fingers. And you'll probably come to fingertips before you get there. And again, Every time we're in this shape, As well as down dog, We're getting this opportunity to release through the back of the legs, As well as the lower back. Head is heavy, Neck is relaxed. And just draw the belly to the spine, Ragdoll like vertebrae by vertebrae. Roll yourself up. Who's standing? And your head is the last thing to come up. Now once you're standing, Take the feet roughly hip width apart. Hands at heart center, Nice and firm, Pressed against each other. Push down through the feet, Inhale, Sweep those arms up to the sky. And as you exhale, Slowly hinge from the hips, Hands come through the heart to the ground, Right foot goes back. Lower the knee, Come onto the top of the foot, Fingers up to the sky. Okay, And rather than kind of going into this really dramatic deep one, I want you to really kind of draw the belly in, Scoop the tailbone downward, And you'll feel a little bit more through that front of the right hip, Even though it feels like you're intuitively wanting to go deeper. And then grip the earth with the feet. So the top of the back foot, Bottom of the front foot. And as you sink down into the hips, I want you to imagine everything from the belly button up is lifting up. And then go ahead and place left hand onto left thigh, Lift up through right finger, So this is lengthening already on the side body, And then lean over to the left with your right hand. So we're lengthening through the tissues on the side body here. Still drawing tailbone down, So there's this feeling of. . . Movement of one end of the psoas muscle from the other. And then this continuation of finding space in the lower back area, Side stomach. And often our movements can be restricted from tightness here, So take a mother breath. And then we're gonna go a little deeper into this. So when that breath finishes, Take right hand down to the ground. Let right hip sink down to the earth this time. And then push into right hand as you twist left hand up to the sky. So left shoulder, Ribs and chest drawing back here. Okay. And just notice how that feels through the front of the hip here. And then I offer you an option. Some of you might take hold of a block. And you might come down onto your right forearm, Adding a twist in here as well, And then picking up right foot. Reach around with left hand taking hold of the foot here. Now a lot of us are not going to reach the foot there, So you can also use the block under your hand to help you to get a little bit closer to the foot. And if your foot and hand still don't connect, Just reach them energetically towards each other, Which gives you a little bit more strength work through the hamstring there. And then sink down into the hips. Some of you might come onto the outside of left ankle or left foot, Knee drawing out to the side, Which then gives you a bit of flavor. Of something, Release a resistance through the inner left thigh as well. So I want you to just explore where does your body go today? Remember, It doesn't need to be the deepest version of anything you've ever practiced. Anywhere you are where you're feeling some release around the hips. Front or inside is gonna be a good thing. We're gonna take another breath here. Can you lean back a little further with left chest and shoulder? Nice and then just slowly release the foot, Hands come back down to the ground, Block is going to come out to the side, Tug the right toes, Lift the knee and let's simply step it back to downward facing dog. Okay, Nice and strong with the hands pushing the earth away, Nice and long through the spine, Thighs reaching back here. And now on the inhale, Can you pick the right leg up? Can you keep the hips in line with each other here? We tend to kind of hoik the leg up as high as we can, But the hips are compromised a little, So keep the hips in line. Lift up through the back of the right leg. And as you do that, Push the ground away with the hands and you won't lift as high as you want to, But know that you're working with a little bit more strength in the back of the leg and a lot more stretch potential through the back of left leg. Take another breath. Thigh rolls in just a little. And then look to the top of the mat, Step the right foot forward, Left knee comes down. Top of the foot to the earth, Fingers to the sky. Okay and then again we're not going into that kind of indulgent bend here, We're drawing the belly in, Drawing ourselves back. So you feel a little bit more through that left hip. Outer hip is engaged, You're gripping the earth with the feet. And it's like the inner thighs are squeezing in towards each other. Hands are nice and strong as if there's an imaginary block in between them that you're gripping. That helps to fire up and stabilize upper back. Sink down a little deeper. But aware of everything from belly button up rising. Notice how this feels. Hold the position with the legs, Right hand to the right thigh, Lift up through left fingers and on the exhale, Just leaning over to the right. So we're lengthening through side body here. Finding that space through the front of the psoas. On the left side. Nice big breath. And then let's gently guide left hand down to the ground, Pushing into left hand, Twisting upper body to face right side of the room. And then again, Right hand reaching up to the sky here. And just stay there for a moment. Really letting left hip drop down to the earth as far as you can, Welcoming that twist in thoracic spine here as well. And then we've already moved our spine in each of the directions that we can. And then go ahead and just slowly bring a block under the left hand. And some of you will use it to give you more space. Some of you are going to come onto your forearm. And introducing that lift of left leg. Reaching around with the right hand, Seeing if you can take hold of the foot. And it's my tighter side so I'm going to come back up onto the block. If with my hand. So if you need to do the same thing, Do. And really lean back. If hand and foot don't connect on this side, Just energetically reaching them towards each other. A lot stronger in the back of the leg, Which is good. Come onto the outside edge of right foot. Knee draws out a little, If that's helpful. And then as and when you find the space, Some of you might navigate back down to forearm or hand to the ground. Keeping it really simple today, Nothing rushed. Slowing down. Breathing in. Leaning back, Right chest, Ribs and shoulder. Take another big breath. And then let's leave the foot, Release it to the ground, Hands to the top of the mat, Block to the side, And tucking left toes under, Lifting the knee, Stepping forwards, Forward fold. So again, We have this opportunity in forward fold, Releasing through the back of the legs and lower back here. Notice how it feels through the front of the hip. Belly drills to the spine. We roll ourselves up nice and slowly. Coming up to a standing position and then once we're there, Hands at heart center. Nice and strong through the feet. Feet as wide as you need them for comfort. Pushing into the earth, Lifting up with the fingers. As we exhale, Hinging from the hips, Hands come back down to the mat. And keep the left foot there. We're gonna take the right foot back. Turn it to a 90 degree angle. And let's inhale up into warrior two this time. So now we've got this feeling of opening through the inside of the legs as opposed to the front. Powerful fingers reaching away from each other. Nice and strong with equal weight through both feet. You can stay high, You can sink down a little deeper, But instead of kind of leaning forward with the torso, Try to keep nice equal length in both sides of the waist. Notice how that feels. Powerful through the back of the legs. If all of the weight or feeling is in the front quad, Fire up those muscles on the buttocks again. And then keep the legs as they are, Flip left palm, Left hand up and back, Right hand travels down, Right leg. And just awareness again, Side body release. And you might wonder, Why does she keep coming back? To side body release, But it just gives us so much freedom here, Which enables so much more movement. In that connection point of upper and lower body. One more breath. And then come back up to standing, Hands at heart center. Straighten out both legs. Turn the feet to face the corners of the mat. And if you can, Sink down into skandhasana. Now you might not go as low as me. My hips are a bit too bendy at the moment. So keep yourself on hands if you need to. Hips can be a little higher from the ground. Left leg is straight. Right, Thank you, Spence. Nice and strong, And if it feels okay for you, You're gonna take right arm in front of right leg, Fingertips to the ground, Exhale, Left hand to the sky. So there's a little twist in there. As optional. WOMOBRA! Nice and then slowly take the hands to the ground if they're not already there, Turn to face. Top of the mat and then simply step it back or sorry bottom of the mat step back to downward facing dog. Okay, Nice and strong here. One big breath, Lengthening through the spine. And then I want you to just slowly lift left leg up for me. Take a moment to push the ground away with the hands. Roll that left thigh in a little. Hips are in line with each other. Just finding a little bit of power and lift here. Notice how it feels to strengthen through the back of that left leg, Lifting and reaching back through the right leg, So you've got the stretch factor there. One more breath. And then I want you to look to the top of the mat, Which is actually the bottom of the mat. Soften your right knee. And I want you to jump right foot between the hands. Land left foot at the back of the mat. And then left foot's at a 90 degree angle, Right hand. Knee has the bend in it. Coming up to warrior two, Second side. Okay, Sink into the hips. You've got this lengthening happening through the side body. Strengthen the upper back as the fingers reach away from each other. Strengthen the glutes as you sink into the hips. So it shouldn't be all about the quad here. Take a moment to check in, How does it feel? Nice and slow with the breath and then sink a little deeper if you want to. Keep the legs as they are, Nice and firm in action. Right hand flips up, Right hand then reaches up and back. Left hand travels down the left leg and notice in this position how it feels to curl through this side body. Nice and light through that left hand, Remember. Can you lean back with right shoulders? Can you reach the fingers a little further? Sinking deeper into the front knee in case you've lost that bend. Last breath. And then guide yourself slowly back up to warrior two, Except hands are at heart center. Straightening out the legs, Adjusting the feet to face towards that top corner of the mat, And then sinking down into the second side of skandhasana. So left leg bent. Right leg straight. Remember hands can be on the ground, Bottom can be much higher than I'm demonstrating here. You've got blocks for hands if you need. Collarbone broad. If this feels manageable, Comfortable for you, You're gonna take left arm in front of left leg, Fingers to the ground, Adding in a twist, Right hand up, Shoulders back. Notice how that feels. One more breath. And then hands to the earth, Turning now to face the top of your man. And you're coming onto the ball of the back foot, Stepping back, Two downward facing dogs. Now hands are pushing the earth away, Hips are nice and high, Thighs are reaching back. Just take a moment to check in. How does it feel in this position compared to the very first one of the practice? Notice those little things. And then let's just slowly lifting right leg to the sky just for a moment. Knee comes towards the nose and then adjusting the shin towards the top of the mat. It's not gonna be parallel to the top of the mat though. And lowering ourselves down into pigeon. So left leg is straight behind us. Chances are there's a gap between right buttock and the floor. In which case you'll take a block or a cushion, Place it underneath. And I'm gonna show an alternative for anyone who's struggling with that in a moment. Shin is gonna be an angle that suits you sensibly. So mine is definitely not parallel to the top of the mat. Sitting tall when you're breathing in. And then your exhale is gonna allow you to fold over that front leg, Making a pillow perhaps with the arms, Head can rest on the forearms. Can rest on the mat. And those of you who find that position not manageable today, You're gonna lie on your back. And you'll cross the ankle over your knee, Flexing the foot. And then you'll lift the leg away from the ground, Wrapping your hands around the back of the leg and just drawing that in towards you. So you've got two options there depending on how your body's feeling. What support and space. Your body needs and we're aiming to feel this through the outer hip. Many of us are going to also feel it through the front of the straight leg if you're in the first shape. And just check in, Tune in, How does it feel to be there? We've worked our way around the front of the hip. Every time we've been in down dog or forward fold, We've worked into the back of the leg. We've worked into the center of the groin with our scandastas and our warriors. And now we conclude the practice with the outer hip flexion. Finding a little bit of space. In those hip stabilizing areas. Glutes and the IT band. Trouble spots for many of us and often we have this misconception that type nurses from from kind of using it a lot, But actually there's a weakness that comes. Around the hips for so many of us. We sit down a lot more than our ancestors used to. And we get this amnesia in some of the muscles. So sometimes they will get tight from underuse. So it's not always about overuse. So we need to balance that out with some strength. Some flexibility rather than just stretching, Stretching, Stretching. If we stretch a weak muscle already. Going to lead towards injury over time. One more breath in. Now, Those of you in the first shape, Come on up to your hands. Those of you in the second shape, Just release the grip of the leg, Foot back to the earth. Tuck your left toes under, Lift the knee, And let's step back to downward facing dog. Those of you in the second shape, Feel free to make your way into second side. Same thing, Just different legs. And those of you in Down Dog with me, Left leg up to the sky this time. Very slowly, Knee towards nose. Adjusting the shin to the angle that suits your body best and then sliding down onto the top of right leg. Okay, Adjusting all of these different body parts as you need for support for you. There's no right or wrong, Just safe and good for you. Any gap between left buttock and the ground, Grab a block or cushion, Rolled up t-shirt works, And then sit tall for a moment as you breathe in. Keep the spine nice and long, Equal length in the sideways if you can, And then begin to fold down. Resting forehead onto hands. Onto the block or your mat itself. And in the first moments of arriving into whichever shape you've chosen, Just notice how it feels around the outer hip. Briefly aware of how it compares between the two sides. And then let go of the comparison, Simply be in the shape instead, Just notice how it feels for you. Slow, Relaxed breathing, Reminding yourself. Of any habits that you might have, Shoulders creeping up towards the ears, That clenching of the jaw or the fists, All of these different things that hold tension in the physical tissues of the body and that stores up over time and we want to try to notice it when we're practicing it on the in the yoga mat, But we also want to try to notice these little habits we have away from the yoga mat as well. Choosing to replace them with calmness. Pause between. Reaction. Or awareness of what we want to think and our reaction to self. Inviting these moments of self-awareness on and off the map. So that we can choose healthier habits for ourselves. Take another breath on this side, Nice and slow, Deep and relaxed. And then those of you lying on your back, Just simply replace the foot down to the ground. Those of you in pigeon shape, Come on up to your hands, Move any blocks or support you've got under the left hip. And we're gonna slowly lean to the left side, Bending the right knee and carrying that leg around to us. So we're now seated facing the top of the mat and we're gonna join the other people on the back. So go ahead and lie yourself down onto your back if you're not already there. Hug the knees in nice and close to the chest, Taking left arm out to left side of the room. We're going to simply draw the knees across the body to the right side of the room. Okay, And this might feel like it's a bit too much for you. So if it is, You're gonna go back to basics and take right leg to be straight, Left leg to be bent. And it doesn't mean it's an easier twist. It just means that different body parts are not in the way. So it just gives us a bit more freedom to move into perhaps for some of us. So go ahead and choose the option that suits you best. You might have a preference for one or the other. Let that be your guiding. Guiding light there. And then your gaze is really wherever feels good for your neck. And we're here to twist through the spine. So can you let the shoulders melt down and relax towards the earth? Many of us are going to continue to feel it through the outer hip here as well, But I really want you to just focus on the breath. Focus on ease, Relaxation, Letting go, Surrendering into this. Close proximity to the ground, This chance to be still. And while you're here, Just notice where you can soften, Where can you relax. And let that be a daily practice of awareness. Where can I soften? Where can I relax? In whatever situation you find yourself in, Letting that be your go-to. Moment to pause and assess. Take another breath here. And when that breath is finished, You'll guide your legs back through to center. You might like to give them a hug and just roll a little side to side. And some of you will be happy to go straight to the second side. So in which case, Right hand out to the right side of the room. Knees draw together or left leg straight, Right leg bent over to left side of the mat here. Shoulders if you can, Relaxing down to the ground and just notice how that feels between one side and the other. I often have the feeling that it's much, Much easier to keep my upper back grounded on one direction than the other. It just gives us a little awareness to explore. Work with as a focus point. Relaxed around the jaw. Softness in between the eyebrows. Center of the forehead relax, The corners of the eyes relax. Take another big breath. And then you'll guide your knees gently back into center, A little hug of the knees perhaps. And then as and when you're ready, Let's relax those legs down to the mat for our final resting pose, Shavasana. If you prefer to take a seated meditation instead of lying down today, Then feel free to come to an upright, Comfortable position. And then whichever option you've chosen, Just closing your eyes, Taking the arms to wherever feels good, Lying down, People, Just relaxing the feet in whichever direction makes sense for you today. And then close your eyes. Add layers if you need to be warmer. And soften the tissues around the eyes, Around the mouth. And those of you who have the time to stay a little longer in Shavasana or meditation, Feel free to. Those of you finishing the practice with me today, Just starting to bring the smallest movements into the fingers and the toes. And gently reaching the arms up overhead, Inviting that full body stretch. And drawing the knees gently in towards your chest, Giving them a little hug as you roll a little from side to side or back and forth. Eventually coming to rest on whichever side feels best. Keeping the hands or keeping the eyes closed, Use your hands to push the ground away, Just gently lifting you up to a comfortable seat. And just take a moment to notice how does your comfortable seat feel compared to when we started the practice? How does your mind feel? Let's see if we can carry this feeling of calmness, This feeling of space, This feeling of freedom. With us into the rest of our day, The rest of this brand new week ahead of us. Bringing our hands together at heart center. And bowing our head to our hands in gratitude for the practice. In gratitude for our health. Namaste.