Four Count Breath

This is an hour-long Michigan-style slow flow. As with other slow flow practices we start using a little more restorative energy and then build our way up to bigger postures. There is a small period of individual flow during Sun Salutation A otherwise the rest of the practice is completely guided. In this practice we work on a four count breath using the fingers and thumb. The movements are slow and meditative.

Transcript

All right,

Yogis,

We're going to start on the back today.

So you can lower down and you can be in whatever position you need to be in,

But the only requirement I'm going to have for you is to turn your palms up and open.

So you get down,

You settle yourself in,

The palms turn up,

And then we'll all just take a really deep inhale and a big sigh out.

So if you've been practicing yoga for a while,

Or maybe you haven't,

Maybe you do meditation or you just know that the breath is a really powerful tool.

The breath is a really powerful tool to cut through the illusion of the mind.

It becomes a really powerful tool to work our way through challenging experiences.

It becomes a powerful tool in the way that it helps us to soothe our nervous system,

To lull ourselves to sleep,

And it's not only a powerful tool,

But it's just powerful in general because sometimes our breath can kind of work against us and make us really anxious or stressed.

And so there's a little bit of respect factor that needs to be built with the breath because it is powerful.

We build a relationship to our breath and our yoga practice.

So we'll start the beginning of this practice,

Guys.

We'll start here with building a little bit of relationship with the breath,

A little bit of connection with the breath.

The way that we're going to do it today is we're going to use a four-count breath,

And usually we'll count it out together.

We'll kind of count out loud,

But I'm going to have you count to yourself,

And we're going to use the fingers to do so.

So without thinking about the breath,

Without paying too much attention to the breath here at first,

I just want you to focus your attention on your right hand.

I'm going to have you bring your thumb and your pinky finger together.

Just go ahead and let them touch together.

And then bring your thumb and your ring finger together.

And then your thumb and your middle finger together.

And then touch your thumb to your pointer finger,

And let that palm open back up.

And then I want you to shift your attention to the left hand,

And same thing.

Thumb and pinky finger together.

Thumb and ring finger together.

Thumb and middle finger together.

Thumb and pointer finger together.

And then you're just going to open up that hand.

And so we're going to use this tapping,

This touching of thumb to each finger as the four counts.

You'll notice you have four fingers and one thumb,

So it helps.

And your right hand will be your in breath,

And your left hand will be your out breath.

It'll be your exhale.

And we'll try doing the first two rounds together,

But I know we all have sort of a different pace of breath.

But let's just try it,

And then I'll let you go on your own.

Start with a reset breath,

Guys.

So take a big breath in,

And then let it go.

Good.

And when you inhale,

Focus on your right hand,

Thumb and pinky finger together.

Thumb and ring,

Thumb and middle,

Thumb and pointer.

And then exhale,

Move to your left hand,

Thumb and pinky,

Thumb and ring,

Thumb and middle,

Thumb and pointer.

Move to your right hand,

Thumb and pinky,

Thumb and ring,

Thumb and middle,

Thumb and pointer.

Move to your left hand as you exhale,

Thumb and ring,

Or thumb and pinky,

Thumb and ring,

Thumb and middle,

Thumb and pointer.

And then you just continue that rhythm at your own pace.

Right hand as your inhale,

Left hand as your exhale.

Keeping track and connected in this small way with your breath.

And just finishing out this last time,

Wherever you're at in that rhythm.

Once you finish taking your own reset breath,

Guys,

Taking your own deeper breath in and out.

And then just noticing within your own body,

Maybe the inner environment has shifted a bit,

Re-scripted a bit.

Maybe you came in feeling really calm and at peace,

And so it just becomes something that compliments that sensation in your body.

And then just really slow,

Start to get that long body stretch,

Starting to take the arms up over top of the head and pointing the toes,

Lengthening the legs.

Feeling this belly stretch and the ribs sort of open up from one another.

And then starting to get really small,

Guys,

So knees pull in toward the chest,

Arms can wrap around.

You might even draw nose up toward your knees to get that really bundled sensation of pulling yourself in toward yourself.

And then if the head and shoulders are lifted at all,

Guys,

Go ahead and bring it down to the floor and move your hands to the tops of your knees.

We're just going to make some circles here with the knees.

So starting to move the knees in a little circle or a circular motion,

And they might go together.

You might keep the legs together,

They might go opposite of one another,

But choose one way to go here at first,

And you do it a few times,

Letting the lower back kind of roll against the floor.

So it's this nice little massage for the lower back here at the beginning of class.

And then once you've had a few in one direction,

Go ahead and change directions.

Go ahead and shift it the other way.

And then bringing yourself back to neutral,

We'll take the legs straight up into the air,

Legs up the wall pose,

And get some circular motion there with the toes and the feet and the ankles,

Just some shapes.

You can point,

Flex,

You can just get some movement,

Some sensation going all the way down to the tippy toes.

And then allow the feet to be still,

Guys,

Bring it into legs up the wall pose.

So just like a wall was supporting the back sides of your thighs,

Try to keep them straight and then try to keep them together.

And while they're kind of hanging out up there,

Go ahead and stretch your arms the same way.

Take your arms straight up toward the ceiling instead of up and over your head,

And get some movement there in the wrists.

You can open and close the hands,

You can move them one way and then the other.

It might be circles,

But it might be just kind of shapes and flip-flopping those hands around.

And then we're going to take the arms and just open them to a strong T out to the side,

So just bringing them down to the floor.

And if you don't have space,

You'll just bend the elbows a little bit or you could absolutely take them up over top of the head.

And then without using the hands or the arms,

Go ahead and bend the knees,

Start to draw them in toward the chest,

And let them tip over to the right side,

So coming on into a soft twist.

And it's just the beginning of your practice,

Right?

It's just the beginning here,

So taking your time.

In the same way that we watch the sun rise,

Right,

The sun comes up and it's sort of this tender,

Soft color,

It's lacking a little bit of intensity that doesn't build until the middle of the day.

So in the same way,

Let your practice kind of ease in.

No pushing,

No pulling.

And again,

Without using the hands or the arms,

Bring those knees back through center And then drawing the knees back through center.

And this time,

Go ahead and grab a hold,

So wrapping arms around the shins or the hands to the backsides of the thighs,

Give them a tight squeeze.

We're going to rock this time,

Guys,

Forward,

Back,

Forward,

Back,

All the way up to a seated position.

You may have to scoot your hips back or forward in order to get your legs nice and long out in front of you,

So heels down,

Toes up.

I'm going to have you bend into the right knee and bring right foot to inner left thigh as that right knee tilts up to the side.

And then go ahead and take both arms up into the air,

Breathe in,

Fill the lungs,

And exhale forward,

Fold the fingertips toward your left toes.

And start to draw your chest upward off of that thigh,

So come to seated,

And we're going to take it into a supported side plank.

So we want you to take your right hand,

Guys,

Bring it behind you on the yoga mat,

Press through the right palm,

And then turn your left foot down into the floor.

Slide your right knee underneath of you and take this left arm,

Stretch it up and over top of the ear.

So stretching it toward the back of the room,

Toward the back of your yoga mat,

Big,

Long,

Lengthy stretch.

You might notice your breath getting a little bit deeper here with the effort.

See if you can start to circulate that breath in and out of the nose.

And then go ahead and come back down to seated,

Same way you were before,

Just making space,

Making room.

As you come to seated,

You can go ahead and straighten out that right leg to meet left and you might play around with the toes pointing or the hips shifting.

We'll just move to the other side.

So when you're ready,

Left knee bends,

Left foot to inner right thigh,

Left knee is tipping outward.

Arms go up as you inhale,

Reach up toward the ceiling,

And then forward fold,

Reach over,

Over top of that thigh toward your toes.

And then start to slowly roll your upper body to the top.

Same thing other side,

Left hand's gonna sweep behind you now onto the floor,

Onto the mat.

Supported side plank,

You'll pivot and plant the right foot down into the floor,

Slide your left knee underneath of that left hip,

Reach this right arm up and over top.

So get really long through the right side of your body,

Take a few breaths.

Beautiful variations.

Nice guys,

And then coming back down to seated,

Turning toward the front of the room.

Go ahead and lengthen that left leg for a moment to meet right.

Play with the toes or sway or swivel the hips a little bit.

And then we're gonna bend both knees this time and draw the soles of the feet together,

So tipping both knees out.

And right away,

Just go ahead and round through the spine,

Bring your nose down toward your toes just in that direction,

Real soft,

Forward fold.

The breath is a really powerful tool that in order to utilize it,

We have to pay attention.

So we build into this practice of mindfulness.

We build our mindfulness by practicing.

So start to slowly roll up from here,

Yogis.

We're going reverse table when you get to the top.

So now both hands go behind you,

Turn the feet down into the floor,

Wiggle them apart so they're about hip distance,

Then press through the feet and lift up the hips,

Press through the palms,

Lift up the belly button.

Good,

Your head might tip back.

Give it a couple of breaths,

Pressing,

Pressing,

Pressing.

So don't stop pressing.

And before you come down out of this,

Guys,

A little different transition.

We're gonna go from this reverse table into a low yoga squat at the front of your mat.

So as you start to lower the hips,

They might not actually touch down.

You might just start to kind of crab walk your hands toward your feet,

But you might have to kind of bring it down to bring it back up and you find your own version of this low yoga squat front of the mat.

You'll have different bodies and different ways that we showed up today.

Some of you might have already ran five miles for real,

And some of you have maybe been up five minutes.

I saw you,

You were rolling out of bed and getting here.

And so we have to be respectful of how our bodies showed up in that way.

Give it one more breath in here.

And then exhale,

Forward fold.

Let the hips go up high,

Drop the head down low,

Turn the toes forward.

And I want you to just get a little sway here.

So sway a little right,

A little left,

A little right,

A little left.

Then as you begin to steady yourself in the center,

Guys,

Put a big bend into your left knee,

Glue the left hand toward the floor and reach your right arm up into the air.

Come on into a twist.

Think length through the spine here,

Length through that right leg.

So if you can,

Press down through your right heel and then changing sides,

Right hand comes down,

Right knee bends,

Left arm lifts.

Good.

And then left hand comes down.

Let's take a halfway lift.

Breathe in,

Fold in,

Let it out.

Beautiful.

Slow roll all the way up to standing,

Take your time.

And as you come up,

We're going to stretch the arms really wide and tall.

If you're really close to someone,

Just stretch them out in front of you and tall.

And then just spend a moment reaching fingertips up toward the ceiling and pressing your feet down into the floor.

And then turn your palms inward toward one another.

Let them connect,

Bend the elbows and bring hands down in front of your heart.

On an inhale,

Reach fingertips upward again,

Lengthen the arms up toward the ceiling and then forward fold fingertips toward your toes,

Hinge at the hips.

Okay guys,

Take a halfway lift,

Breathe in.

We're going to step to down dog.

So that first down dog of the practice,

Palms here and feet back.

The hips pike high,

The head drops low.

You might get some movement,

Some sway,

Just like you did in that forward fold.

Send your breath into any of the tight spaces in your body.

Like you could actually direct your breath,

Like you could direct traffic.

Send it to those spaces.

Nice guys.

So I want you to rise up onto tippy toes and we're going to go right into that low yoga squat.

So it might be a walk or a step.

Later on you might be hopping hands or feet around the outsides of your hands that sink your hips down toward your heels,

Front of the mat.

Give it at least a breath in here.

When you're flowing on your own,

At least a breath in and then go ahead and bring it into a forward fold.

Lift the hips,

Drop the head,

Turn the toes forward.

So as you go through guys,

I want you to keep this little sway here in your sun-aze today.

So sway a little,

Create a little bit of figure eight with the hands,

With the head or with the shoulders or with the hips.

A little sway,

A little sway.

Then we're going to let that sway turn right into a twist.

So the next time you start to sway to the right,

Bend into your left knee,

Left hand down,

Right arm reaches high up into the air.

And then right hand comes down and you change sides.

Bend into that right knee,

Left arm lifts,

Big twist.

Good,

Left hand comes down,

Take a halfway lift,

Breathe in,

Fold back in and exhale.

Slow rise all the way up to standing.

So take your time,

Reach wide and tall.

This time right away,

Touch the palms together,

Bend the elbows,

Bring them down in front of your heart.

Follow the breath.

Inhale,

Reach long,

So reach up,

Fingertips toward the ceiling and on an exhale,

Forward fold fingertips toward your toes.

Good,

Take a halfway lift,

Breathe in.

We're going to go top of the push-up this time,

So plank pose instead of down dog,

But no you can always step back to down dog.

From the top of the push-up guys,

Lower,

Take your time,

Bend the elbows,

Come all the way down,

Point your toes here and then press through the palms,

Lift your heart,

Cobra,

Roll the shoulders down and back and then right into that downward facing dog.

Tuck the toes,

Root down through the palms to lift the hips.

We start to build intensity,

Little bits by little bits.

Let's go one more time through together guys.

Rise up onto tippy toes,

Low yoga squat,

Top of the mat,

So a step or a hop or a walk,

Feet wider than your hands as you sink down,

At least a breath in here and then a forward fold,

Drop the head and the hands,

Lift the hips,

Little bit of a sway,

Kind of feeling the weight shift from right foot to left foot and then when you're ready,

Right into that twist,

Left knee bends,

Left hand down,

Right arm reaching high,

Right knee bends,

Right hand comes down,

Change sides,

Lift the left arm.

Good,

Left hand comes down and halfway lift right there in the center,

Breathe in,

Fold in,

Exhale.

Lift your weight all the way up to standing,

Big breath in to circle the arms,

Touch the palms,

Use the exhale to bend the elbows and bring hands down in front of your heart.

Finish that exhale before you're ready to stretch up,

So inhale as the arms going up,

Exhale as the hands coming down,

Forward fold.

Make a halfway lift here from the bottom,

Top of the push-up,

That plank position on your palms,

You start to lower,

Bend the elbows,

Lower down and then sweep through into that cobra,

Lift up and open through your heart,

Downward facing dog,

Right back to where you begin.

You give it a breath,

Or two,

Maybe three,

And when you are ready,

You begin again.

You start to make your way to the top of the mat,

Low yoga squat and then a forward fold.

You start to move guys at the rhythm of your breath,

When you come into that fold you get a little sway,

Two twists,

A little twist right,

A little twist left,

And then that halfway lift in the center to forward fold.

And eventually you'll make your way up to standing,

Circle the arms,

Touch the palms,

The hands eventually come down in front of the heart and then go right back up to forward fold.

Breath lift and vinyasa,

So we'll meet up a few more times through yogis,

Rhythm of your breath,

Rhythm of your own breath.

And thespecial usher,

Rupalinios intoclick,

Oh Oh So I want you to take it through one more full-time And then instead of meeting me guys in down dog.

I want you to meet me in child's pose Oh Oh And when you get to that child's pose I want you to try something I want you to try reconnecting with that four count Breath but instead of using your thumb I just want you to use your fingertips pressing down into the floor real soft guys So it'll start on the right side.

You'll go right pinky ring finger middle finger right pointer And you move to the left side as you exhale left pinky left ring finger left middle finger and pointer And just try that a few times Using that connection to breath and connection to your mat To control the rhythm to find that four count breath And then go back And then just take a reset breath so deeper breath in through the nose Let it go sigh it out And then go ahead and pull up into tabletop pose So come on up to hands and knees and I want you to just go right into some cat cows guys right into Lifting the chest and the chin and the tailbone and then rounding it through the spine tucking it and then under And do that a few times before you enter into that next downward facing dog And so eventually you'll tuck the toes lift the hips drop the hand wiggle your way into that upside down V And then from this down dog go ahead and send your right leg up into the air come on into three limb downward dog Do this guys right knee to right elbow go ahead and squeeze it and stay there for a moment and try to bring right knee To left elbow squeeze it in Good it send the right leg up into the air once more and this time bend the right knee and pull right heel toward right Glute and just open up through that right hip so think about shining your right hip over to the right side You kind of open up through that right hand Nice and then lengthen through the right leg one more time just get it nice and straight and we're gonna step it forward right foot up in between the palms supported crescent so the left knee comes down and then the chest lifts as the hips go down the chest goes up Maybe the hands go up Find your deepest breaths yet That yoga practice kind of modeled after The rhythm of the day right we come in soft and tender and then we have this like midday of intensity of intense Sun of some heat Right and then eventually shavasana,

Which is just going to bed pretty much kind of And so let this intensity build let it be that mid a part of your day the mid part of your practice From this supported crescent guys go ahead and bring the hands down around that right foot We're going pyramid pose tuck your back toes under and step in Straighten the legs fold yourself over top of that right thigh real humbly like folding yourself bowing in Toward that right thigh And then from here we're gonna bring it into revolved triangle So left hand stays down and right arm goes up almost in that same way that we did the twist right our left hand was stability and our right hand stays down Right hand and arm reached reached reached And then listen guys instead of coming out of this completely I just want you to take your right hand that's reaching and wrap that right arm around your lower back Root down through your feet you have to get strong through the legs here and feet and get your right hand back So as you lift up to standing you're gonna turn your chest to the right pull your right shoulder back Turn your chin toward your right shoulder and reach your left arm up and over So it's a version of like sky archer,

But turned and twisted the other way Nice takes a little bit of balance here breathe deep balancing takes breath Breathe deep balancing takes breath Now we're all twisted up hence the name DNA pose right you're all twisted up We're gonna untwist guys listen all the way to the back of the mat warrior B So start to untwist right toes turn in left toes turn all the way out bend into that left knee and open up your arms Good,

So you'll be facing the back of the mat and left knee bends deep arms are open nice and wide chest is open We have all this opening,

But maybe the eyes closed.

Maybe you just find that inner drishti that inner focus connecting with the breath Give me a little sky archer here for a moment so straighten out that left leg take your left arm and reach it up and over So you're leaning back toward your right foot a bit keep the left toes pointed toward the back of the mat if you can Okay,

So then come right back into that warrior B a moment let the arms become real steady straight out toward the from the shoulders Bending deep into that left knee Maybe you have a little boost of energy in that left thigh since we gave it a little bit of a break And then do this guys go ahead and bring hands around your lower back interlace the fingers But as you do straighten out your left leg a moment so straighten the left leg pull the hands down open up your chest pull the shoulders back maybe even lift your chin and Then before you fold to go ahead and rebound that left knee and start to dive inside of that left thigh think head Down toward your inner left ankle the hands stay bound as much as they can it might be just for a second Or it might be the entire time Nice Yogi's Give it one more breath in and on the exhale you're gonna bring your hands down so stay low low twisted lunge hands come down around That left foot turn onto your right toes Right hand stays down left arm goes high just get this nice big twist here And then bring the left hand down we're just stepping to down dog so as the left hand comes down left foot goes back You're just gonna stretch out the back side of your body Lengthen through the legs especially that left one you might need to press extra firmly through that left heel and Then go ahead and pull forward top of the push-up so plank pose shoulders stack over top of it Beautiful guys lower down nice and slow bend the elbows lower the hips pull the heart through take your cobra Remember to roll the shoulders down and back And then send it into child's pose a moment so bend the knees sink the hips lower the chest Maybe you come right back to that four count breath with a little bit of texture a little bit of touch of fingertips to your mat And then pull up tabletop pose take those couple of cat cows that are gonna lead you into downward facing dog So a little lift of chin and tailbone little tucking of those ends in and under Nice eventually toes tuck hips lift head dangling in between those shoulders and between the arms And then sending the left leg up into the air come on into that three limb downward dog Press through the palms and then do this left knee toward left elbow give it a squeeze stay there and try to bring it over toward your right elbow for a moment Good three limb down dog left leg lifts and this time pull that left hip open by bending the left knee and kind of drawing left heel toward your left glutes like they could actually touch Good and then lengthen that left leg once more just give it a nice long lengthy lift We're gonna step the left foot all the way up between the palms supported crescent so as the left foot comes up the right knee drops down Lifting the heart lifting the hands maybe lifting the gaze Let the intensity build a little bit give it one more inhale on the exhale hands come down pyramid pose you're gonna tuck the back toes under step in with that back foot So legs go straight and you're bowing in toward your left shin Nice work yogis revolved triangle right hand stays down and left arm goes up high so you're stretching fingertips up up up toward the ceiling and you're turning your chest open to that left side And then instead of coming out of this completely remember we're going to take left arm and wrap it around the lower back we're coming up for dna pose so it's a rooting down of the feet and coming up to standing turning toward your left shoulder right arm goes up and over so you keep pulling your left shoulder back Nice as long as it takes a moment to get all twisted up like that take your time Definitely a lot of balance here keep breathing And then we're going from really twisted guys to untwisted toward the front of the mat warrior b turn turn turn right toes turn toward the front bend into the right knee arms open up chest is open And if it happens that when you moved from that dna to here your feet are really close together give them some space wiggle the right foot forward or wiggle the back foot back Deep steady breath and if you are here right now and you feel like you could do like the hardest math problem ever I want you to bend into your right knee a little bit more and let it be just a little more edgy little edgier Nice work yogis bring it on into that sky archer a moment straighten out the right leg take the right arm up and over you give a little break to that right thigh Right back into that warrior b so arms go front to back bend deep into that right knee so the right thigh super strong here And then start to bind the hands behind the lower back guys but straighten the right leg as you do so we give it a little break so we can really have lots of strength there for ourselves when we fold tug the hands down open the chest pull the chin upward and then when you're ready to fold then re bend the right knee and fold inside of that right thigh head down toward your inner right ankle Hands stay bound as much as you can they kind of naturally fall away from the lower back but stay bound These hands come down low twisted lunge you're going to bring the hands down around that right foot turn onto your back toes send the right arm high when you're ready when that left hand is down for support then you stretch open to the right side Right foot steps back for downward facing dog and then pull forward to plank pose stack shoulders over top of wrists before we take a vinyasa guys stay with me try this right knee tugs in toward your right elbow squeeze send it over toward your left elbow squeeze One more time bring it to your right elbow squeeze said dap it back downward dog just stretch out the shoulders for a moment We have a left side guys pull forward it wouldn't be fair plank pose left knee to left elbow squeeze over toward your right elbow back to your left elbow step it back downward dog go ahead and lift the hips just give that little stretch We just have that five more times I'm just kidding.

Not five.

We just need to pull forward top of the push up lower down through that push up guys bend the elbows pull your heart through catch the Cobra.

Lift the heart lifted the chin roll the shoulders back point your toes lengthen and then child's pose just sink it on back hips toward your heels.

I love that barely anyone complained about the five more times we should have done it.

So as you get into this child's pose you might reacquaint yourself with that for breath count.

You use the fingers maybe you just use the breath.

Maybe there's no counting involved and you just reconnect with that beautiful tool that allows you to bring yourself right back into the moment of experience back into the moment you're experiencing.

Keep this child's pose guys and just crawl your fingertips over to the right side a little bit so creating that little side bend.

And then bring the fingertips through center and let them walk their way all the way over to that left side.

Bring it back through center just give it two to three breaths and regular child's pose.

And then go ahead and pull up tabletop pose so that hands and knees position guys and we're going to take a twist on the belly today so I want you to walk your knees over to the right side of your mat both of them until they come close together go ahead and drop your left hip to the ground so that outer left thigh also comes down.

Yep,

And then lower your chest down to the floor so like a push up bending the elbows and you'll take your arms straight out like the top of a tee or maybe little cactus arms.

And as you get into this twist.

Just be cautious of your neck.

So with the knees to the right you may also turn your chin to the right.

If you want a little more intensity in your twist you can turn your chin,

Sort of backward opposite of those knees as long as it feels okay on the spine.

Just like the beginning of class,

Right when the intensity was not so much when there is a little bit of tenderness and just like at the beginning of your day.

Same here as we move out of that mid day or mid practice intensity,

We come into a little softer or subtler stretching.

Be gentle with your body.

Be patient with your practice.

If the elbows aren't already bent guys put a bend in the elbows,

Palms underneath of your shoulders into the floor to kind of lift up.

It's like a mini push up here,

Lifting the chest away from the floor.

Then we're just going to wiggle the knees to the other side.

Sometimes you can tuck them and kind of just flip flop them over to the left side.

Knees to the left,

Right hip comes down,

Outer right thigh rests on the floor.

You're going to bend the elbows and lower down like a push up until your chest lowers down.

And then again just assessing which direction to put the chin to turn your cheek according to your own body.

All right?

It's on your sheet with the first to read it The time that they're on the scene I can't breathe,

They will not bite You're here to shush tight You know it's wrong to bring your down And you're hiding I should bring those painters away But I'm searching for a new time I'm coming from a party of the house And then once again,

Yogi is bending the elbows Palms underneath of the shoulders to get that little lift of the chest But just lift the chest,

Don't move the knees Instead guys,

Take your right hand and your right arm Weave it behind your left wrist and bring your right shoulder to the ground And just turn onto that right side,

Just pause there So your right shoulder comes down,

You're already down on that right hip And then we're going to use this position to roll onto the back So just rolling onto the back and readjusting your body Because you'll probably be off your mat just a little bit,

So the hips have to scoot And then drawing the knees in toward your chest,

Give them a squeeze Once you give them a squeeze,

Once you kind of go in real tight You might even bring nose toward your knees Then we're going to make those circles,

So hands to the tops of your knees One way,

They might go together Or they might go opposite,

Just depending on what feels good for your body Good,

And then start to circle them the other way So a few circles in the other direction Giving the lower back And we'll take a nice little massage here before we rest And then let it just be neutral Take the legs straight up into the air and that legs up the wah position We already kind of got movement with the toes and the ankles,

So just hold them still Breathe deeply Separate the feet a little bit guys and come on into happy baby One time,

Drawing the hands up toward the outer edges of your feet As you bend the knees,

You're going to draw the knees downward,

Draw them down toward the floor Down toward your underarms Breathing out And then go ahead and take the legs back into the air Legs up the wall,

You're going to drop the arms by your side And then from the legs being straight guys,

We're going to slowly lower them All the way down,

And so you might lower them together if you want a little extra oomph For the belly and back,

Otherwise lowering one At a time until the heels come all the way down to touching the floor And you'll separate the feet at least hip distance Maybe even a little bit further than hip distance and find a comfortable place For the arms Adjust what you need to adjust from your feet all the way up to the top Of your head,

The clothes,

The position Whatever needs to be moved around,

Move around Then I want you to take a nice Big deep breath in And sigh it out Take rest Shavasana And then Take a deep breath in And sigh it out Shavasana And then Take a deep breath in And sigh it out Shavasana And then Take a deep breath in And sigh it out Shavasana And then Take a deep breath in And sigh it out Shavasana And then Take a deep breath in And sigh it out Shavasana And then Take a deep breath in And sigh it out Shavasana And then Take a deep breath in And sigh it out Shavasana And then Take a deep breath in And sigh it out Shavasana So before we move or wake up the body too very much,

I just want you to start slowly coming back to that four count breath using that connection of thumb to fingers,

Thumb to fingertips.

Let the inhale be the right side and the exhale be the left side.

Thumb to pinky,

Ring,

Middle,

And pointer.

Thumb to pinky,

Ring,

Middle,

Pointer.

And then Just taking a deeper breath in And a bigger breath out And just like at the beginning of class yogis,

Take your time and come on into a long body stretch.

So stretching arms up over top of the head and legs lengthening,

Toes pointing.

And then you'll draw the knees in and get really small,

Again wrapping the arms around or between or on the back sides of those thighs.

And instead of making circular motion this time,

Go ahead and get a little sway right to left or a little left to right rock.

And then we're going to have you rock forward back,

Forward back and come all the way up to seated and you can just continue to face this back side of your mat,

So the back of the room.

We'll just draw the hands together in front of the heart,

Bending the elbows,

Centering those thumbs right up against the breastbone.

And allowing this little bit of space,

This little time to honor yourself and to honor yourself for choosing this the last hour of your day.

Sending yourself a little gratitude,

Love,

And compassion and so it can trickle out to everyone else within this room and maybe to everyone that you see or interact with today.

So we'll have one more nourishing breath in and out.

Namaste.