Let The Experience Be The Gateway In
This is a Michigan style Slow Flow practice. We start with a gentle warm-up that prepares our body to move into a Sun Salutation A variation. We do a little bit of holding in bigger postures and then finish up on the back for savasana. The theme of this practice is allowing the experience that we are in to be the gateway of introspection.
Transcript
All right,
Yogis,
So we're going to start on our backs this morning,
And I just want you to get comfortable,
Be in a place that feels good for your body,
And then start as we often do with a deeper breath in through the nose,
And then a sigh out of the mouth.
Just let it go.
So I want you to keep a little term,
A little sentence,
Some words close to your practice today,
Just a few words,
And they are this.
Allow the experience to be the gateway in.
Allow the experience to be the gateway in.
That means allowing this pose here,
Being on the floor,
The experience of moving your body in space,
All the experiences in this room and outside of these walls and doors,
To allow those to be the thing that turns us inward.
Begin by noticing,
Not so much the outside but the inside,
And then do it again.
Yogis,
Draw in a big strong breath through the nose,
And just let it go.
And then in that familiar way,
We're just going to start to stretch the body long.
So here on the back,
I'm going to have you take your arms up over top of the head,
Reach the fingertips toward the back of the room or the back of your room.
Extend the legs,
Point the toes,
Lengthen the body.
And then draw the knees in toward your chest.
Give them a sweet squeeze.
And find what feels good.
That might be squeezing in and rocking a bit.
It might be squeezing in and sort of bowing in,
Nose toward knees.
Give a little squeeze,
A breath or two or three.
And then keep that right knee tugged in toward your chest and lengthen the left leg.
Lengthen it down so that the heel goes to the floor and the left leg goes long.
And then go ahead and switch sides.
Left knee pulls in,
Right leg goes straight.
Let it rest on the floor so we're not using so much belly strength,
Guys.
Switch again and do it a few more times.
A little right,
A little left,
A little right,
A little left.
Nice.
And then the next time that you have that right knee tugged in toward your chest,
I just want you to hold it there.
Keep the left leg on the ground so the left leg is extended and heeled to the floor.
And then go ahead and take a right leg straight up into the air,
Almost like we're scissoring the legs apart.
So right leg goes up like a one leg up the wall pose.
And then give the right foot a little time for movement,
Guys.
Give it a little spin or a little point flex of that foot and the toes.
And then let the foot be still.
Reach the arms up now.
Extend the fingertips straight up toward the ceiling here at first.
And then we're going to work on just a little bit of activation with the core.
I want you to take the arms,
Guys,
The fingertips,
And now point them toward the front of the room.
And as you do,
I want you to lift your head and shoulders up off of the floor.
So pointing the fingertips toward the front of the room and starting to lift up,
Almost like you're creating a little crunch in the body,
Press your lower back against the floor.
So feel that activity.
And then as you're here,
If it feels like it's okay,
Try lifting and hovering that left heel.
Point both sets of toes so that the left toes point toward the front of the room and the right toes point straight up toward the ceiling.
Unclench your jaw.
Breathe deep.
Give it two more breaths.
Nice.
And then slowly lower the left heel if it's lifted.
Lower the head and the shoulders.
Draw the right knee in toward your chest again.
Give it a squeeze.
And then take it across the body,
Guys.
Come on into a twist.
Left hand guiding that right knee across,
Maybe our right arm opening up.
Rotation through the spine.
Relaxation through the body.
If at any point you sort of need to take that extra breath in and out,
Just as a refresher,
As a soothing mechanism or just kind of resetting the nervous system.
And slowly coming back through center.
Draw that right knee in toward your chest again.
Give it a squeeze.
Then we're going to go back to alternating.
So then right leg goes long on the floor,
Left knee tugs in toward your chest.
And then you do it again.
Right knee pulls in,
Left leg long,
Left knee pulls in,
Right leg long.
A few more times side to side.
A little squeeze in,
A little lengthening.
Move as slow or as quickly as you'd like.
And then the next time that the left knee is tugged in toward your chest,
Pause there.
Hold it there.
So left knee pulls in,
Right leg lengthens.
And go ahead and set the right heel down if it's hovering at all.
Then left leg goes straight up toward the ceiling.
Give it some length,
Almost like we're scissoring the legs apart.
Maybe some movement in the left toes or ankle or foot.
And then let the left foot be still.
Take the arms straight up.
Reach the fingertips up toward the ceiling.
Start there.
And then activating the belly and back a bit,
You're going to reach the fingertips toward the front of the room with the leg in between the hands,
In between the arms.
Lift the head and shoulders up off of the floor like you're kind of creating a little crunch in your body.
And then as you're there,
If it feels okay,
Hover the right heel off of the floor.
Try pointing both toes.
So right toes point toward the front of the room,
Left toes toward the ceiling.
Again,
Unclench the jaw.
Find softness in the face as much as you can.
Beautiful.
Guys,
Slowly bring the right heel down.
If it's lifted,
Drop the head and the shoulders.
Draw the left knee in toward your chest.
Give it a squeeze.
And then take it across the body.
Come on into a twist.
So using that right hand to guide the left knee across,
Left arm might open up.
And then slowly coming back through center.
Draw that left knee in toward your chest.
And then this time,
Guys,
Go ahead and bring the right knee up to meet it.
So both knees tugged in,
A little hug around the shins.
And then I want you to take both legs straight up into the air.
So legs up the wall pose,
Or sometimes we call it candlestick pose.
Back flat on the floor as the legs extend upward.
Nice.
And then take the arms up like we did before.
So arms extending,
Fingertips straight up toward the ceiling.
We're going to do that same motion,
Guys.
Fingertips now reaching toward the front of the room where right hand and left hand are on opposite sides or on the outsides of your legs.
Lift your head and shoulders up off of the floor like you're creating a little bit of a crunch or a sit-up action.
You can stay exactly where you are with your lower back pressing into the floor,
Or as you're hovering the head and shoulders off of the floor,
You might start to lower your feet slowly,
Keeping those legs together almost like they're creating one leg.
But what I want you to do is stop the moment you might feel your lower back come off of the floor.
Instead,
Keep that lower back pressing,
Pressing,
Pressing into the floor.
Hover.
Breathe.
Nice.
And then if the feet are lowered at all,
Take them straight up again.
Draw the knees in toward the chest,
Guys.
Give them a squeeze.
Lower the head and shoulders.
Just tug it in.
And then set the feet down into the floor,
Knees pointing up,
Feet about hip distance apart.
Let's create a little bridge pose,
A little back bend.
So arms dropping alongside the body.
Press down through the feet.
Lift the back up off of the floor.
Lift the hips up toward the ceiling.
Nice.
Work the shoulders underneath of the body.
And then slowly lowering the spine all the way down to the floor,
Yogis.
Before you draw your knees in toward your chest,
Just windshield wiper those knees a little side to side.
So a little right-left,
Right-left.
And if you need a little more space for that movement,
You can always wiggle the feet a little bit further apart.
And then drawing the knees,
Gathering them in toward your chest and belly.
Give them a squeeze.
This time,
Guys,
We're going to use it to rock all the way up to seated.
So getting a little rock forward,
Back,
Forward,
Back,
Forward,
Back.
All the way up to just your regular seat.
You can kind of crisscross ankles,
Bend the knees.
Hands come to your knees or maybe to your thighs if that feels best or even your shins.
We're going to go into a little bit of seated cat-cow here.
So I want you to use the breath,
Of course.
Connect with the rhythm of your inhale and exhale.
That sort of propels or guides the movement so that the next time that you inhale,
Lean forward a bit from this position.
Lift your chin.
And then start to tuck the chin in toward the chest,
Round through the spine,
And lean back.
Start to exaggerate that motion a bit.
So leaning forward,
Chest forward,
Chin lifts,
Breath in,
Hips compressed backward.
And then rounding through the spine,
Tucking chin in,
Lengthening the arms.
You might even pull tightly against the knees to stretch the shoulders.
And then do it again.
Inhale to move forward.
Exhale to round through the spine and sort of pull backward.
As we start to move and groove,
You might find a little more space that opens up,
A little more space that's available.
If that happens,
Feel free to move a little side to side or in a circular motion.
I'm stretching out the hips and the shoulders and the head.
Nice.
A few more breaths here.
And then let's say,
Guys,
In the next two,
Maybe three breaths or two to three rounds of that seated cat-cow or whatever motion you're working with,
We're going to meet on hands and knees.
We're going to tumble right over or around the legs and land in that tabletop pose.
Palms down,
Shoulders stacking over wrists,
Hips over top of the knees.
And the knees have been bent a bit,
So we're going to work on lengthening the legs,
But here's how.
I want you to send your right leg back behind you.
So lengthening the right leg,
But tuck your toes against the floor,
Almost like we're going to get a little calf stretch there.
But instead of pressing back too strongly,
Guys,
Lift up the left arm toward the ceiling.
So lift it straight up,
Left fingertips toward the ceiling so it becomes a little bit of a twist.
Good.
And then come back to tabletop.
Left hand comes down,
Right knee next to left,
And we're going to change sides.
So left leg extends back behind you,
Toes tucked against the floor.
Right arm lifts up into the air.
It's like a low twisted lunge on your knee.
And then come back through center and rinse and repeat.
Right leg goes back,
Toes tucked,
Left arm lifts.
So it's opposite arm and opposite leg.
Come back through center,
That tabletop.
I just want you to move with the breath in the same way that you would do Cat-Cows.
Fluidly twist open in the other direction,
Left leg and right hand.
Table,
And then right leg,
Left hand.
A little side-to-side motion.
And then the next time that the right leg is back and the left arm is lifted,
Meet me there.
Pause there.
And this little twist.
Good.
And then I want you to keep this right leg extended,
Guys.
Bring the left hand down and we're going to roll into Supported Side Plank.
So left hand comes down,
You're going to pivot and plant the right foot,
Reach the right arm up into the air.
And we're going to go from this side to the other side in the same way we were just doing with the rhythm of your breath.
So come back to Tabletop Pose,
Hands and knees.
And then lift or extend the left leg back behind you,
Shift the weight into the right hand,
Left arm goes up.
Come back through center.
Tabletop Pose.
Supported Side Plank,
Other side.
Right leg goes back,
The foot gets planted,
Right arm reaches up,
And maybe up and over the hand.
And then through center all the way over to that other side.
A few more times just like this.
A little Supported Side Plank,
One side.
Tabletop,
And then Supported Side Plank,
The other side.
And if it works to move with the breath,
If it works to inhale and open in that Supported Side Plank,
And then exhale through Tabletop,
Great.
And if it doesn't,
Find a rhythm that does.
The next time that you come back into Tabletop Pose,
Go ahead and meet me in Downward Facing Dog.
If you need a cat-cow to get there,
Maybe opening the chest,
Lifting the chin,
Rounding,
Tucking,
Curling.
And if you get here and it's too much weight on the hands or the wrists or the shoulders or the arms,
Feel free to take the feet further apart.
We're gonna work through our Sun Salutation As together today.
We only have four of them,
And they're split up a little side to side.
A little different entryway into our Sun As.
Guys,
We're gonna start with hands walking back toward the feet.
So come on into a Forward Fold at the back side of the mat.
Fingertips walk toward those toes,
And when you get there,
Halfway lift,
Peek out,
Breathe in.
Fold back in and exhale.
Beautiful.
Start to roll your body all the way up to standing.
So arms circle,
Touch the palms together,
And as you do,
Go ahead and bring the hands down in front of your heart,
Bend the elbows.
We're gonna play with a little balance here.
So I want you to shift the weight into your left foot and try to pick your right foot and right knee up off of the ground.
Guys,
Lifting that right knee straight out in front of you.
Sometimes we call it marionette pose.
The arms could go up as well.
Otherwise,
Arms out beside you or hands to hips or maybe hands to heart.
Then take this right foot,
Step it to the center of your yoga mat,
And we're gonna go Warrior C.
So as you step forward,
Shift the weight into that right foot and try to pick up your left leg.
Lean your chest forward.
Nice,
Beautiful variations.
And then left foot is gonna step all the way up to the top of the mat.
So you have to lift your chest a bit to make some space.
Left foot steps to the top and then try to reenter that marionette pose,
Right knee lifting out in front of you.
Lift,
Lift,
Lift.
Do this,
Guys.
Set the right foot down,
Next to left.
Circle the arms out and up.
I want you to grab a hold,
Left hand to right wrist,
And lean on over to your left side so you stretch out the entire right side of your body.
Come back through center.
Take an inhale and exhale.
Forward fold,
Fingertips down toward your toes.
Halfway lift,
Breath in.
Come on into a plank pose.
Palms down,
Feet back,
Top of your push-up position.
Lowering down through that push-up,
Let's catch our first cobra here.
Press through the palms,
Lift the heart up,
Lengthen the arms,
Point your toes.
And then downward facing dog,
Tuck the toes,
Lift the hips,
Drop the head.
Find your breath.
Let the experience be the gateway in,
Right?
Let the experience call you inward,
Over and over again.
Let's take a walk,
Fingertips back toward your toes,
All the way,
All the way to the back of the mat.
Halfway lift,
Breath in.
Fold in and exhale.
Roll your body up to standing,
Circle the arms out and up.
Connect to the palms above the head,
Guys,
Then bring it to your heart center.
This time I want you to shift your weight into your right foot and try to lift your left knee out in front of you like a marionette pose.
If you need to,
Keep the left toes on the ground.
Then we're going to take a step,
Left foot to the middle of your yoga mat,
Warrior C.
So as soon as you step,
Start to shift the weight into that left foot and then leaning forward,
That right leg or right foot tries to pull up off of the ground.
You might even place your hands on the floor if you need a little support.
And then start to come to standing,
Guys,
Just step right foot all the way up to the top of the mat.
Nice and slow and steady step,
Marionette pose again.
Left knee lifted out in front of you or maybe toes to the floor,
Heel lifted.
Then just like before,
Step the left foot down,
Reach the arms out and up.
We're grabbing this time right hand to left wrist,
Leaning on over to that right side.
Open up the side body on the left ribs and the hip.
Come back through center,
Take an inhale,
Maybe even gaze upward and then forward fold,
Fingertips come down toward your toes.
Take a halfway lift,
Breath in.
Good,
Top of your push-up,
Plank pose.
Lowering down,
Nice and slow.
Heart comes through,
Find that cobra and then downward facing dog.
We just have one more time through each side.
So a little right side,
A little left side,
But we're gonna add just a little bit here,
Guys,
So stay with me.
Fingertips start walking backward toward your toes,
Come into that forward fold at the back side of your mat.
Take a halfway lift,
Peek out,
Steady,
Straight spine,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Fold back in.
And then start to roll your body up to standing again,
Arms reach straight up and straight up above you.
Step the feet close together,
Guys,
Don't touch the palms instead.
Feet come together,
Arms are reaching,
And then get a little half chair here.
Bend the knees,
Sink the hips,
Reach the arms back behind you.
As you do that,
Turn the palms inward toward one another if they're not already there.
Beautiful breath.
And then come to regular chair.
So arms reach up,
Biceps by your ears,
Chest shines a little more outward than downward in this posture.
And then come to standing,
Bringing palms together in front of your heart,
Just like we were before.
Shift the weight into the left foot,
Guys,
Right knee lifts out in front of you.
Find your balance,
Marionette.
Feel free to keep your palms together in front of your heart or reach the arms up or out.
Take a step forward,
Halfway,
So right foot steps to the middle of the mat,
Shift the weight,
Warrior C.
It's a little leaning forward as you try to pick up those left toes,
Pick up that left foot.
Beautiful.
And then start to come to standing like you're going to step,
Or like you are,
You're going to step your left foot all the way up to the top of the mat.
And then try to reenter that Marionette pose,
Right knee lifting out in front of you.
Find some balance.
Stay here,
Just pause.
Remember that we practiced leaning on over to that left side,
So I want you to do that again,
But we're going to use the crisscrossing of the ankles.
So see if you can reach the arms straight up into the air from here.
As you do,
Left hand grabs a hold of that right wrist,
And instead of stepping the right foot next to left,
We're going to tuck right ankle behind left.
So right foot steps behind that left foot,
Lean on over to the left side,
Come back through center.
Now you can step right foot next to left,
Reach the arms up,
Maybe gaze up,
And then forward fold,
Fingertips come down toward your toes.
Nice work guys.
Take a halfway lift,
Breath in,
Top of your push-up plank pose.
Slowly lowering down,
Heart through,
Down dog,
Last time through.
Find and feel your breath,
And start walking fingertips backward,
Backward,
Backward.
Hands walk back toward your feet.
Halfway lift,
Breath in,
Fold back in to exhale.
Good.
Roll your body all the way up to standing,
Arms reach up,
Don't touch the palms together,
Instead get the feet a little closer together.
Half chair from here,
So bending the knees,
Sinking the hips,
Sweep the arms back behind you,
Almost like you're skiing down a slope.
And if you've never skied down a slope,
This is sort of like skiing down a slope.
And then keeping the hips low,
We come to chair pose.
So arms reach up,
And again,
Chest shines a little more outward than downward in this posture.
Palms still turned in toward one another.
Beautiful variations guys.
And then coming to standing,
Bringing the palms in front of your heart,
Bending the elbows.
Let's try this other side guys.
Shifting the weight into the right foot,
Go ahead and lift your left knee out in front of you,
Marionette.
We take a slow step halfway forward,
So left foot to the middle of your yoga mat,
Leaning forward warrior.
See,
It's like a little hinge forward shifting the weight.
And then we take that final step,
Right foot all the way up to the top.
So you come up through standing a bit,
Right foot steps slowly to the top,
And then you re-enter marionette,
Left knee lifting out in front of you.
So here's where we combine sort of the foot and the hands for our side bend guys.
Arms go straight up into the air,
Grab a hold,
Right hand to left wrist.
We're going to end up leaning to the right,
So we want to cross left ankle behind right,
Step that left foot out to the right side,
And then lean,
Tug yourself over to that right side.
Open up,
Open up.
Good.
Come back through center.
Now you can step left foot next to right,
Open up the hands,
And then forward fold,
Fingertips down toward your toes.
Take a halfway lift,
Peek out,
Breathe in.
Top of your push-up,
Strong plank pose,
And then start to lower down.
Heart comes through into that cobra,
Guys.
Take a back bend,
Heart opener,
And slide it into child's pose instead of downward facing dog.
Give yourself just a few breaths there,
Allowing this experience of stillness,
This experience of rest to be the gateway in.
Sometimes it's the extremes that turn us inward,
The chaotic events,
The really harsh and sometimes even horrible,
Horrible events in our lives that really make us turn inward,
And sometimes it's the subtlest and most tenderest of things.
Use all of it.
Utilize each experience.
Let's pull up,
Guys.
Hands and knees position,
Tabletop.
Go back into your downward facing dog.
We're going to give it a couple breaths here,
And in our next flow or in our flow today,
We end up in a three limb down dog,
But we don't start there,
So I want you to just feel it out here.
We're going to lift the right leg up into the air.
Come on into three limb down dog.
Just explore that space.
You can bend a knee or kind of open the hip or circle that leg around,
And then setting right foot down next to left,
Do the same thing other side.
So left leg lifts high,
Three limb downward dog,
Left side.
Beautiful,
Yogis.
Left foot comes down next to right,
Just regular down dog,
And then go ahead and rise up onto tippy toes.
Bring the knees down underneath of you,
Tabletop pose.
This is where we will start.
So I want you to extend the right leg back behind you like we did earlier,
Toes tucked against the floor,
And then lift the left arm up into the air,
Fingertips of that left hand straight up toward the ceiling so it becomes that kind of low twisted lunge on the knee.
And just feel that in your spine and the belly and the hips.
And then from this position,
Guys,
We're going to roll right into that supported side plank.
So bring the left hand down,
Pivot and plant that right foot,
Open up to the right side,
Right arm reaching straight up into the air,
And maybe even right fingertips up and over top.
So right fingertips tugging toward the front of the room to get a little more length.
And then from this position,
Three limb table.
I want you to bring the right hand down,
Turn your chest and hips square to the floor,
Keep that right leg extended behind you,
But lift the right toes up off of the ground.
Yeah,
So you use a little bit of core strength here.
One time,
Guys,
We're just going to draw the right knee in toward the nose.
Give it a little squeeze.
Beautiful.
Extend it back behind you,
And then let's get a big step forward.
Right foot all the way up between the palms,
And then I want you to explore.
I want you to find your own lunge here.
So it might be that you come up for a supported crescent.
Maybe that feels great to keep the left knee down and lift the arms.
It might feel great to take that right foot a little wider and bring the hands or forearms inside of your right foot.
You can roll to the outer edge of your right foot and make it that kind of a lunge.
Trust your body here,
Right?
Start to listen to the callings of your hips and your thighs,
Your belly and your back.
Sometimes our body is just whispering,
And we have to be so still and so quiet to listen,
To hear what it's saying.
Sometimes our body speaks really loudly and it's like,
Ouch.
Do not do that.
Listen,
Listen,
Listen.
And then if the hands are up,
We'll bring them down.
And if you're on your forearms,
Guys,
Come up to your palms.
I want you to tuck the back toes under.
So tuck your left toes under and pull your left knee up off of the mat.
So it's just your palms and the left toes tucking.
Here's where we'll enter into that three-limb downward dog.
So big push through the palms,
Take the right leg all the way up into the air,
Lift the hips as well.
And since we already practiced walking backward on our hands,
I want you to do it here.
Keep the right leg lifted and start to walk your fingertips back toward those left toes.
So it ends up being a standing split at the back of the mat.
Keep bowing in toward your left knee as much as you can.
When you practice this transition,
Last week,
If you were with me,
Guys,
Let's go from the standing splits into a low yoga squat.
So I want you to step right foot down next to left,
But take it wider so you can sink your hips toward your heels.
Beautiful breath work.
Let the breath be the experience that turns you inward.
Let that be the gateway.
Let the music be the gateway,
The heat,
The texture of your mat.
Listen,
Yogis,
We're gonna go right back into standing splits.
That means we're lifting the right leg,
Weight goes into your left foot.
Might feel a little unfamiliar,
A little awkward.
That's okay.
It's so good for our bodies to do different transitions and it's even good for our minds.
From this standing splits,
I'm going to have you walk your hands forward,
Almost like you're coming back into that three-limb down dog,
But as soon as the hands get up there,
Step the right foot up in between and come on into warrior A.
Right foot steps all the way up to the top of the mat,
Big bend into your right knee,
Pivot and plant that back foot.
Go ahead and reach the arms straight up into the air and if you can,
Guys,
Bring the hands together.
Interlace all fingers but your first finger and your thumb,
Like you're pointing kind of upward and as you point upward,
Settle the shoulders downward.
Sometimes they want to also tug upward but let them fall down.
Find the rhythm of your breath and then do this,
Guys.
Keep the arms extended up just as they are,
Fingertips bound,
Hands bound and start to turn yourself into a warrior B.
So keeping those arms up as you go,
You're gonna turn the chest and the hips open to the left.
There might be some adjustments in the feet or the legs and then once the heart is open,
Then let the hands come apart and take the hands and the arms,
Extend them front to back,
Warrior B.
Breath in and out of the nose if possible.
Maybe slight constriction in the back of the throat and then listen,
You guys,
We're gonna end up in triangle pose but listen.
I want you to take a sky archer just for a single inhale.
So I want you to lengthen your right leg,
Draw your right arm up and over top of the right ear,
Lean back and then use that to come and extend yourself right into triangle pose,
Right hand downward toward your right foot,
Left arm reaching straight up toward the ceiling.
Legs can stay straight here and you can kind of find where that right hand needs to be,
Whether it's on the floor or your ankle,
The shin or a block.
And then a little tricky transition here,
Guys.
Stay low here and just try to bend the right knee into extended side angle.
As you bend the right knee,
You might take your forearm and kind of slide it up onto that right thigh and then left hand,
Left arm can draw up and over top of the ear so you're extending toward the front of the room.
Nice.
Just a little bit longer and then listen,
Yogis.
Again,
Just for a single breath.
I want you to come up to sky archer,
Lift up,
Lengthen the right leg,
Right arm goes up and over,
Lean toward your left foot and then meet me in half splits.
Hands are gonna cartwheel down around your right foot,
Bend your right knee,
Turn onto your back toes,
Set the left knee down,
Pull that right leg straight.
So pull the hips back so that you're stacking left hip over top of left knee and then I want you to try this.
If you feel comfortable here and a little bit stable,
We're gonna try to twist this half split open,
Guys.
So left hand is gonna stay down and then right arm reaches straight upward toward the ceiling.
You might feel a nice long stretch along the IT band on the outside of your right leg.
If it's too much,
Back off.
If you need a little more intensity,
Pull your right toes in toward your body.
Beautiful work,
Guys.
Right hand comes down.
Go ahead and work your way into that lunge again.
So hands walk forward,
Right knee bends,
Tuck the back toes and we're just gonna step it into plank pose.
So as the hands walk forward,
Tuck those left toes under,
Step the right foot back.
I want you to lower through this push-up position,
So bend the elbows close to the ribs.
Heart comes through,
Catch a cobra,
Inhale and then downward facing dog.
Just take a couple of breaths.
Remember that the flow starts on your knees,
So we'll be here just for a breath,
Two,
Maybe three,
And then rising up onto tiptoes,
Let the knees come down,
Tabletop pose.
Let's start that left side,
Guys.
So left leg going straight back behind you,
Toes tucked against the floor,
And then right arm up into the air.
So we start with a twist on that left side or opening to the right side,
But left leg back behind.
Good.
And then as your right hand comes down,
Rolling into supported side plank,
Right side,
Pivot and plant that left foot,
Left arm goes reaching straight up or maybe up and over,
Your chest turns open to that left side.
And then three limb tabletop.
Bring the left hand down,
Square the hips and chest.
Keep that left leg behind you,
Keep it extended,
But lift up the toes,
So make some space.
Press through the palms,
Strong through the arms,
Strong through the belly and back,
Guys,
And then draw the left knee in toward your nose.
Give it a squeeze.
Beautiful.
Send it back behind you.
Here's where I want you to step the left foot up between the palms and find your own version of a lunge.
If you want to come up really high,
I will not stop you.
If you want to continue to keep this right knee on the ground and then maybe lift the arms or keep the hands low,
You could go forearms to the floor inside of that left foot.
Find something that feels nourishing to your hips,
To your knees,
To your ankles,
To your chest.
Find something that feels nourishing for your life.
And then if the hands are lifted,
We'll bring them down,
But if the forearms are down,
Guys,
Come up onto the palms.
Tuck the right toes under,
Pull your right knee up off of the floor if it's not already up off of the floor,
Guys.
Here's where we go into three limb downward dog.
Press through the palms,
Lift the left leg all the way up into the air,
So big press and lift,
Lift,
Lift.
And then we're going to take a little walk with the hands backward toward your right toes so that you go from three limb down dog into standing splits,
Backside of the mat.
Keep bowing in toward your right knee.
There might be some adjustments that have to be made as you get there.
Lift,
Lift,
Lift,
So feel that activation of lifting the left leg,
Make it active.
And then come on into low yoga squat,
Stepping the left foot down but a little wide so you can sink the hips toward the heels.
Hands might come together in front of the heart or if you have a different variation,
By all means go there.
Beautiful breath work.
And then from this low yoga squat,
Entering back into that standing splits,
Guys,
Left leg is the one that lifts.
You're going to shift the weight into the right foot,
Hands can come down but left toes go high.
Bow in so that nose comes toward that right knee.
Okay,
So then start to take a walk forward,
Hands toward the front of the mat like you're coming into three limb down dog,
But as soon as you get there,
Take a big step forward,
Warrior A.
Left foot steps all the way up to the top of the mat between those palms,
Pivot and plant the back foot.
Let's set it up here,
Guys,
Chest and hips squared toward the front of the room,
Arms reaching upward.
And then as the arms reach up,
Try to bring the hands together,
The palms together,
Interlace the fingers,
All but your first finger and your thumb.
And as you point those two fingers upward toward the ceiling,
Let the shoulders settle down your back.
Let them pull away from your ears or maybe settle away from your ears on a big pull.
Remind yourself to allow this experience to be the gateway inward.
Sometimes we are so conditioned,
So used to taking it outside of ourselves.
We start to feel uncomfortable and we blame the heat,
We blame our clothes,
We blame anything that we can blame instead of turning inward and getting curious about those feelings.
Keep the arms extended straight upward,
Guys.
Start to turn the other parts of your body into a warrior B.
So chest turns to the right,
Hips turn to the right,
Maybe some small adjustments in the feet or the legs.
And then once you're set up,
Then allow the hands to release from one another.
Open up the arms,
Warrior B.
So hands are stretching front to back.
And then from here,
Sky archer just for an inhale.
Lengthen the left leg,
Take the left arm up and over,
Lean toward your right foot,
Triangle pose.
Bring it on down.
Use that similar setup in the body to bring the left hand downward toward your left foot and then right arm,
Right hand upward toward the ceiling.
And then a little bit of an unfamiliar transition,
Guys.
Try to come right into extended side angle from here.
It's a big bend of that left knee.
Feel free to pull your forearm up onto that thigh,
That left thigh for support.
Right arm reaching up and over top of the ear.
So right fingertips toward the front of the room.
Keep the chest open.
And then one more time,
Guys.
Come into that sky archer,
Big breath in just for the inhale.
Lengthen the leg,
Pull yourself up,
Lean toward your right foot,
Left arm up and over.
And then meet me in half splits.
Cartwheel the hands down around your left foot,
Turn onto your back toes.
Left knee bends,
Right knee to the floor,
Left leg goes straight.
So it's all the way down onto the floor.
Right hip stacking over top of that right knee.
And then if you feel stable here,
We're going to try to twist this half splits open.
So right hand to the floor and left hand,
Left arm stretching upward toward the ceiling.
Kind of has somewhat of a similar feel as revolved triangle,
Just with a little extra support here.
So we get that big stretch on the outside of your left leg.
And then bringing your left hand down,
Walking the hands forward,
Rebending the left knee into a little bit of a lunge.
Guys,
Tuck your right toes under,
Step it back,
Plank pose.
Left foot next to right,
Lifting the knees off of the ground.
Unless you need them,
Set them down.
Let's lower down through this push-up.
So bending the elbows close to the ribs,
Heart comes through,
Catch a cobra,
Maybe an extra breath here.
And then downward facing dog just for a couple breaths,
Just for a couple breaths.
And then rise up onto tippy toes,
Bring the knees down underneath of you.
Go ahead and sink it back,
Guys,
Child's pose.
Same thing,
Just for about two to three breaths.
And then pulling up hands and knees.
We'll use that tabletop to get into a seated position.
So rolling over or around those legs.
When you get to seated,
Let's go wide straight legs.
So creating a wide V with the body,
Guys.
So legs go straight but peel foot away from foot to make a V out in front of you.
At first,
Sit tall.
Just become aware of the experience,
Right?
In order to allow it to be a gateway in,
We have to be aware.
Awareness,
Awareness,
Awareness.
Use the hands,
Guys.
Walk them forward as you lean your chest forward.
Come on into a forward fold right in between those thighs.
And then slowly starting to roll yourself up or walk yourself up to a seated position,
Guys.
When you get to the top,
Go ahead and crisscross ankles,
Bend the knees,
Just like our regular seated easy pose.
I want you to take your right hand and set it on the floor beside you on the right side.
Lean into it as you lift your left arm up and over.
Create a little side bend here.
Come back through center.
Left hand goes to the floor beside you on that left side.
Lean into it,
Right arm up and over.
And then come back through center,
Guys.
Both arms straight up into the air.
We've got one more forward fold here.
So as the arms are up into the air,
Try to untangle the legs and to get them straight out in front of you.
So a little shift of the weight onto those sit bones.
Good.
Heels down,
Toes up.
Take an inhale while the arms are extended upward.
And then on an exhale,
Go ahead and forward fold.
Slowly,
Slowly bringing or rolling or walking your upper body up to the top,
Guys.
We're going to wind up on the back.
So I want you to either use the strength of belly and back to just kind of roll yourself down or use the forearms,
Elbows,
Palms,
Whatever you need to get down onto the back.
Go ahead and draw the knees in toward your chest.
Give a squeeze.
And then just like the beginning of class,
We're going to get one bridge pose here.
So I want you to set the feet down.
Knees point upward toward the ceiling.
Arms drop alongside the body.
I want you to press down to lift up.
Press down through the feet.
Start to lift the back up off of the ground,
Up off of the floor.
Unclench the jaw.
Wiggle the shoulders underneath of the body.
Get a little lift.
And then listen,
Guys,
These last three breaths,
I want you to see if you can come up onto your tiptoes.
Lift up up into the toes and just notice how that feels.
So we bring the heels down and then the spine down.
And just like we did before,
Drawing the knees in toward the chest,
Guys,
Give them a little windshield wipering.
Knees go right and left,
Right and left.
If you need more space,
Wiggle the feet further apart.
And then draw the knees.
Gather them up toward your chest,
Toward your belly.
Last little bit here.
Taking a twist,
You can let both knees fall in over to that right side.
Draw the arms open like the top of a T.
Let the head fall where it falls.
Guys,
Take a few conscious breaths.
And then knees coming back through center.
Go ahead and tip them over to the left side,
Maybe some little adjustments with the arms or the chest or the head.
And then knees coming back through center.
Invite a tight squeeze.
Draw your thighs in toward your belly.
Knees in toward your ribs.
Arms wrapping around the shins.
And then relax the body or at least invite relaxation into the body.
Guys,
Legs might extend,
Arms dropped alongside.
You could bend the knees or bring the soles of the feet together or even do legs up the wall pose or something that feels nourishing.
Find that space that you can just settle right into.
Take a deep breath in through the nose and let it go out of the mouth.
Shavasana.
So very often we allow the experiences in our lives to pull us outward.
Although yoga and stepping into this space beckons us inward,
Sometimes we forget to practice the practice of turning inward outside of these walls.
And so I invite us to do that today,
All of us,
In a conversation with someone else,
Our work environment and the way we relationship,
Using those experiences to turn inward,
Allowing them to be the gateway in.
And take a soft breath in and out.
And then just like the beginning of class yogis,
Let's get a big stretch in the body.
So lengthening the arms up over top of the head,
Lengthening the legs,
Pointing the toes,
Taking up a lot of space.
And then drawing the knees in toward the chest,
Giving a squeeze.
If you're feeling like you have a little energy,
You could rock yourself all the way up to seated.
And if you feel like you want to take it a little slower,
Go ahead and turn to one side and eventually press yourself up to that seat.
Let's draw the palms together in front of the heart.
Take a pause for yourself,
For your loved ones,
Friends and family.
And take a pause for strangers,
Maybe the community around you.
And even take a pause for what we might consider your enemies.
This time,
Deeper breath in through the nose,
Letting it go,
Letting it go,
Letting it go.
From my heart directly to yours.
Namaste.
