Half Moon Radiance Yoga & Yoga Nidra

Today's practice is an invitation to step into your inner radiance and bathe in the glow of self-love. As we flow through a series of grounding and empowering poses, culminating in the elegant Half Moon, we'll cultivate a deep sense of appreciation for our bodies and minds.

This practice is more than just physical movement; it's a ritual of self-care and self-discovery. Through gentle stretches and mindful breathing, we'll release tension, open our hearts, and connect with our inner strength. We'll embrace the present moment with gratitude, recognizing the beauty and resilience within us.

As you move through each pose, let the affirmations of self-love wash over you:

"I am enough."
"I am worthy of love and care."
"I choose to nourish my body, mind, and spirit."

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Dee. 23 it is already of 30 days of yoga and yoga nidra. Today we're going to be practicing another 30-40 minutes or so. Self-love and care. And one of my favorite poses, Which is the half moon pose. But before we get there, Let's get ready. Let's get our body started. Come into Tadasana mountain pose. Anchor your feet. Into the floor and then just roll your shoulders. Up and down. Up towards the ears and then down back. Down the back of your back. Then inhale, Shoulders lift. Exhale, Roll the shoulders back. Big inhale through the nose. Big exhale through the mouth. Inhale fresh air. Exhale everything you don't need anymore. And keep those shoulders tacked back and down then take another big deep inhale up Arms overhead and exhale, Lower down. A little bit of wind coming up. Nice breathe Breathing in. Out. So let's come into our first sun salutation. Have your blocks ready if you need them. Inhale lift the arms up exhale bend the knees some maybe come with your hands onto the blocks into your first forward fold And here I just walk on the spot, Mobilizing my ankles and first toe joint a little, And then maybe allow yourself to go deeper. And just surrender. To the stretch. Then take a big inhale through the nose. Lengthen into tabletop and then exhale release once more nice get your blocks out of the way bend the knees some then anchor the fingers the hand on the ground stepping back into plank let's get warmed up here for a second Align your body as if you were still standing, So your ankles, Knees, Hips, Chest and shoulders are in one line, So you're not Hanging North. Spiking. But we're here in one nice long line engaging. The abdomen, Pulling the navel in. And then bend the knees to the floor. Take a big exhale, Lower down. To the floor, Chest on the ground. Shoulders roll back like we did in standing. Inhale lift the chest, Lift the gaze. And exhale, Lower it back down. Inhale, Come onto all fours. Stay here for a second in all fours. We're coming into Cat-Cow just to get the spine mobilized. Inhale, Lower the belly, Lift the chest. And exhale, Engage the belly. Pull the navel in, Rounding the back. That feels great. Inhale, Extend, Chest forward, Nose forward and exhale, Rounding the back as much as you can. So remember spine runs from the crown of your head. To your tailbone. So include. . . Everything in between into that beautiful movement. Up and down of your spine. Another big inhale. Chest lift. Your lungs expand and then exhale rounding and letting everything go. Just self-love remains then come back into plank pose so arms move back forward just for the distance between your hands and your feet and then push back in one go if you can into downward facing dog and right here take a big inhale lift onto your toe mounts And a big exhale and release your heels into the ground. Shall we do that again? Because it feels so good. One big inhale. And exhale, Heels to the floor. Wonderful. Stay here for a second. Just five breaths, Enjoying lengthening the spine. And also noticing your strength. And honoring strength of your body here, Your hands pressing into the floor, Your feet pushing against the mat. Another big inhale. And exhale. Then walk your feet to the center, Inhale, Lift your right leg just as much as you like and then take one big exhale stepping forward into warrior two pose so anchor your back foot 45 degrees ish and then first of all come on to your thigh so while you're here press your back foot into the floor yes it's a great stretch of your calves and then try pressing the outer arch of your back foot into the floor And once you're there, Do the same. With the front leg so both of your legs kind of rotate open. And once you have that, Inhale, Take a lift. Lift the chest, Lift the sternum. Remember to rotate both legs out onto your outer heel, Outer arch and then press the big toe mount into the floor. Try to relax your shoulders. Standing strong in warrior. Another big inhale. Filling the lungs and on your exhale, Rotate your back foot back in and step back into plank. And from here, Push back into downward facing dog. This feels so good. Once more, Inhale, Breathing in, Coming onto your toe mounds and exhale, Release. Nice. Walk your right foot to the center, Lifting the left leg on your next inhale. And step forward, Big exhale. Into lunge pose. So from here anchor your back foot 45 degrees. Maybe this side of your hip is a little bit more open so you can already rotate your foot onto the outer arch of the back leg. Then come onto your thigh with the hands. And rotate that back leg out, Rotate that front leg out onto the outer heel, Outer arch, Big toe mount. And then lift. And once you hear. . . Just honor your strengths. That beautiful and strong warrior pose Pressing the back foot. Rotating both legs out. Opening the hip here. Another deep inhale. And as you exhale, Turn the back foot back in. Hands on the ground, Stepping back into plank and from here push out and back into downward facing dog. So we're coming into triangle pose. And you probably need your block now in a second so get ready to grab your block but first move your left leg into the center. Inhale, Lift the right leg towards the sky and then step forward. Into low lunge, Get your block ready. And now bring your back foot slightly closer to your front foot. So this is triangle pose. We're not as far apart as in warrior. You want to have your right hand outside of your right leg. Now, First of all, Rotate your left arm to the sky or ceiling. Lengthen your back, Your front leg is still bent, That's totally fine. And you want to align your ankle with your knee so that the knee doesn't fall inwards. Great. Now push your heel backwards, Your hip, So the tailbone shoots backwards, The crown of your head shooting forward. And if that's it. . . This. This is it, Then this is triangle pose. Else try stretching your front leg. Just as much as feels comfortable. Maybe hopping a little closer with the block. Wherever you need to have it. So the most important is to keep the spine straight and not to bend the spine towards the floor. So this is more important than having the front leg stretched. All right? Then bend the front knee, Step a little farther back with your back leg, Then press the right Elbow onto your right thigh. We're coming into side angle pose. So lengthen your whole left side from the tips of your fingers all the way into the back of your left foot. This is extended side angle. You can either stay with your elbow on your knee or grab your block. Or if that is available to you, You can even come to the inside of your leg, Press the hand down on the floor. Another deep breath in. And release. Nice. Stay here. Grab both of your blocks that are coming into pyramid pose. So step once again a little closer. And how about coming up first so we get our spine straight. So have your spine straight. Some even like to interlace their fingers behind the back just to open the chest so the spine stays straight. And then take one big inhale open. And on the exhale lean forward and since you have your hands behind your back You can just collapse forward. So this is where we're going. Pyramid pose is also about lengthening the back while we're stretching the hamstrings. And a little bit of balance in here, As you might notice. Take another big inhale. And exhale, Just lower down a little more. Nice, Then get your hands onto your blocks or the floor if you can. Just extend the back a little more. Before we get A little lower. And now bending forward I always like to compare this move to a giraffe feeding. Long legs, Long neck. And then bending everything forward all right big inhale bend the knee get the blocks out of the way hands come down on the floor we are stepping back into plank pose and now push the hips up and back into downward facing dog right now both sides should feel a lot different i feel my right leg to be much lighter. And much more relaxed than my left one. So let's do the other side. Step the right foot to the center, Lift the left leg all the way up and step forward. Get your block ready. We're coming into triangle pose first. So get that foot a little bit closer that back foot and then first of all have your hand on your block nice and steady and then open the right arm towards the sky so like on the other side the most important is to have the back straight and not to fold and bend so open the chest to the side and extend the back from the table bone to the crown of your head. Get the block where you need it and now if that is available to you, Try stretching that front leg a little more. Just a little more. And if it stays a little bent, That's fine. And if you need to adjust your block, Just do so. So that's a big stretch here in the hip and the outside of your legs, The sides. It's nicely lengthening our spine. Take another big inhale. And then slowly come back to the floor. Stepping with your right foot a little further behind you into side angle pose. So we're starting with the elbow on the knee. Anchoring the back foot in the ground, Just as in warrior pose. We're opening our legs here, Then lift the right arm to the sky and come into extended side angle pose. So one line, One length from the tips of your right fingers all the way into the back of your right foot. Lengthen that whole side and if that is more comfy grab the block get your hand on the block or if it's not yet enough come with your hand down on the floor So this is an intense stretch. I love it. And it feels so good doing lots of self-love and care here waking the body up all right come back to center turn the foot back in stepping a little closer into pyramid pose or giraffe feeding pose. So first of all, Lift all the way up to the sky, Then interlace your hands behind your back, Open the chest, Take a big inhale. Oop! And yes, Balanced pose. We're gonna need this for our half moon pose that is coming up. And then bending forward. Just as much as your hamstrings. Allow you to. Keep the chest open, Keep breathing. So we are very. Tempted. To just bend the back forward and use the flexibility of our spine to just you know get our nose closer to our knee but what we all actually working on here is the strength and the length of our spine. So Having a strong spine is so important in any position. So when we're bending forward, We're keeping the spine straight, We're keeping our vertebrae apart. We're letting We're keeping the juice in our spine. And only now we're releasing and you might notice Just a little. . . That breathing gets harder when we bend forward. It feels nice and comfy because we feel protected. It feels safe. And it also releases tension in our spine. So the forward fold has its merits to align the body, To release tension in the whole back line. But we also need the strength in our spine, Right? We also need a strong back. In our life. All right, Then bend that knee, Get your blocks out of the way, Hands firmly on the ground, Stepping back into plank pose and just let Let's honor. The strength here just for a second. Strong core, Strong back, And we're ready for our day. Pressing back into downward facing dog. So let's move to our peak pose, To half moon pose. So we've lengthened, We've strengthened, We've worked already a little bit on balance. So let's work just a little more on balance. So we enter half moon. Then inhale, Lift up. The right leg, Bend the knee step forward with the right foot just underneath your navel. And this is where we start. To lift off. So get your blocks ready. And have your hands on both of your blocks. You don't want to lift the the back leg so it might feel a little bit like you're in gymnastics class. But do you want to shoot? A little forward and lifting the back leg. So you can try that again, Just keep the right foot on the floor. Weight shifts forward, Left leg lifts. And now try to get your back straight. Remember, Length in the back makes a strong back. And maybe you can even lift your hands off the blocks and maybe even open the arms to the sides. Breathe deeply. All right, Number one. Get your hands back down on the ground. Get the back foot back down on the ground. Now move one block to the center. This is going to be our only one for half moon pose. Left arm to your hip and now same thing. Shift the weight forward, Shoulder over the block. Shoulder over the block, Then lifting the left. Lick And now rotate that hip open. Adjust the block so you have your steady stance. And now just keep opening. Just keep rotating. Keep rotating that left shoulder to the sky. Open that hand to the sky or ceiling. You might also keep your hand in your hip. And now extend into half moon. Breathe deeply and focus your eyes on one steady point somewhere. Just enjoy that strength and power for one more deep breath in. And out. Then lower the hands slowly back down, Get the blocks out of the way, Stepping back into plank pose and press back into downward facing dog. Nice. Let's do that on the other side. Step the right foot to the center, Lifting the left leg. Then step forward, Left foot underneath your navel and we're gonna have two blocks first. Two blocks right in front of you, Shift the weight forward, Your shoulders over your blocks and then lift the right leg. That's it. Do that once more. Shift the weight back. Then, Shifting forward, Shoulders over wrists, Over blocks. And the right leg lifts. Wonderful. Now either stay here or lift a little further by stretching that ground leg out, Maybe even open the arms towards the sides. This is a very strong pose, We're in balance here, We're engaging the whole back. Chest opens. Breathing deeply. Just one more deep breath in, You're doing great. And out. There we are. Can get that right block out of the way, Get the left block towards the center, Right hand to your hip. Now we need to rotate. So same thing. First of all, Weight above that left hand, Wrist underneath your shoulder, And then lift that left leg up while you open, While you rotate. And this is balance. So adjust. Your left, Your bottom foot, However you need it. Adjust the position of your block wherever you need it and then focus on opening. Open that right shoulder to the sky. Open that right hip to the sky. There you go. Lengthen. This is our last pose. We're in peak pose. So honor. The practice. You've been very kind to yourself. Giving your body lots of strength and power while doing some release. Big exhale, Hands back on the ground, Coming into child's pose. So just get the knees onto the floor, Open the knees, Mat with a part and then push back and lower your forehead on the ground. Wonderful, Just integrate. All those poses that we just did. Up and down and balance and strength and release. And now you can just be proud of yourself. While integrating What you have, What your body has learned. In this practice. And slowly get back up and shoot your legs forward, Get both of your legs forward we're coming into seated forward fold and if you need to you can sit on a block makes it a little easier. So take a big inhale, Lift the arms, Lift the chest and then folding the navel onto your thighs, The nose to the knee. Breathing deeply. Calming the nervous system as we are approaching Savasana, Relaxation. And then slowly release, Get the block out and lie down on your back. Keep the knees bent. And have your knees Met with a partist. Twisting, The knees back and right. Both knees to the right. Both knees to the left. Just releasing your back, Your lower back. And then slowly come to center. Into Shavasana. Letting your legs fall out, Your palms facing the sky. Lie down in your most comfortable position. Allowing your body to settle. Into relaxation. Your arms rest gently by your side. Palms facing upwards. And your legs are relaxed and slightly falling apart. Close your eyes, Softly. Inviting a sense of peace to wash over your face. And your entire body. Take a deep breath. Cleansing breath in through your nose. And exhale gently through your mouth, Releasing any remaining tension. As we embark on this shavasana. For self-compassion. But your intention. Be to cultivate kindness towards yourself. Especially during. . . Heart. And difficult times. Through this Shavasana practice. I will guide you through. Too little self-care practices. That will help you treat yourself. Now and anytime to come. With kindness. Let's begin. And bring your awareness. To your breath. Notice the natural rhythm of your inhale. And exhales. Feel the gentle rise and fall of your chest. And the gentle rise and fall. Of your abdomen. As you breathe. Then shift your attention. To your whole body. And bring your attention to your toes. Feel the sensation in your toes. And with each exhale. . . Release any tension or discomfort. Move your awareness slowly up into your feet. And breathe through your feet. Let your intention move to your ankles. Breathing in and out. Through your ankles. Moving up to your calves. And knees. To both of your thighs. Your hips. And belly. The chest. Your neck. Your face. And the whole head. Moving down through the back of your head. The neck. Your shoulders. Both shoulder blades. The upper back. Mid back. And your lower back. Then move your attention. Into your fingertips. Right and left. Both hands. Breathing through your wrist. Your forearms and elbows. And gently and lovingly move up. Through your upper arms. Back into your shoulders. And into your chest. Feeling your whole body. And embrace your whole body. With loving awareness. Imagine each breath you take. As a soft warm light. That you're directing towards areas that need love and attention. You can imagine. This warm light. As warmth or as a clear stream of water. Whatever works best for you. To melt away any discomfort. Keep bathing in this. Loving. . . Embrace of your own body. And silently repeat these affirmations to yourself. I am worthy of self-compassion. Especially during difficult times. I acknowledge my struggles. And offer myself kindness. And understanding. I embrace. My imperfections. And treat myself with patience. And love. I am deserving of care. Just as I would care for a dear friend. I am here for myself. Offering love. And support. I am immersed. In the healing light. Of self-compassion. Imagine being enveloped. In a gentle light. That washes over you. Allowing you to heal. To soothe any emotional pain or difficulty. And to comfort you. Stay in this healing light for a few breaths. Letting it fill you with a sense of loving kindness. And slowly. Bring your awareness. Back to your breath. Back to your body. And remember where you are in the room. Slowly begin to wiggle your fingers and toes. And gently move your body. Waking yourself up. And when you're ready. . . Open your eyes and look around. Remember to Treat yourself with kindness. Just as you would, Dear friend. Especially during challenging times. Times. But also during the joyful moments. You are deserving of your own love. And care. Namaste Then, Slowly, Wake yourself back up. Grabbing one knee. Stretching. And then the other. Pulling the other knee towards the chest and then keep that knee with you rowing up towards seated position you might again sit on one block just for a final big inhale sew here. And just notice. How everything seems to have changed. And how much you feel. Better than at the beginning of the practice. So let's take one big inhale, Close your palms, Take that joy with you. Both thumbs to your forehead, To your chin. And your chest. Have a wonderful rest of your day and I'll see you all tomorrow.