Mini Slow Flow

This practice is a mini version of the regular hour long Michigan style slow flow practice. We begin in child's pose to connect with the breath but then start moving toward Sun Salutation A right away. There is a little bit of holding in bigger postures, some simple stretching to cool down and then we finish up on the back for savasana. There is no big theme for this practice other than connecting with your breath and the moment.

Transcript

So let's start practice in child's pose.

And as you sink your hips back toward your heels and lengthen the torso,

Lengthen the back and maybe even the arms,

I want you to not only settle into your body but settle into your breath.

Today will be a shorter slow flow practice so we're going to get right into movement here after we kind of settle into this breathing.

So I want you to begin to pay particular attention to the inhale and the exhale.

Feel the air roll into your body.

Let it roll out.

Do this again and again and again and if your attention wavers,

If it pulls away from this moment,

Just bring it back.

Feel your breath.

Let's take a nourishing big inhale so fill the lungs as much as you can in this pose.

And then a cleansing exhale,

Let it all the way out.

I want you to pull up onto your hands and your knees so come on up to tabletop pose.

See the palms,

Knees stuck underneath of the hips.

And then just like a child's pose,

Kind of like a child's pose,

We're going to sink the hips back toward your right heel and then over toward your left heel and then you're going to pull yourself forward toward your left hand and then toward your right hand.

So almost creating a circle and we'll do that a few more times.

So hips sinking back toward your right heel,

Left heel,

Then chest somewhat toward your left wrist,

Right wrist.

Get a couple of times around.

A few times.

These movements can stay really small or you might extend them,

Exaggerate them a bit and then begin to move the other way around.

Left heel,

Right heel,

Right wrist,

Left wrist,

A few circles just like that.

Then bring yourself through center or that neutral position.

Reconnect with the breath if you've already lost that connection.

And then I want you to use the inhale to draw yourself open to cow posture.

Lift your chin and tailbone,

Let the belly drop.

And then round through the spine,

Tuck chin and tailbone under.

Do that a few more times.

Inhale to lift heart,

Lift chin,

Tailbone,

Exhale round through the spine,

Tuck those pieces under.

Move with the rhythm of your breath.

And then tuck the toes,

Lift the hips and come on into downward facing dog.

So that first really big stretch on the backside of your body.

Keep that attentiveness to breath with you.

Focus your attention there.

You may wiggle in this pose a little bit,

Bend one knee and the other,

We call that walking your dog.

You might walk your dog but then find a few breaths in stillness.

Find stillness.

And rise up onto tippy toes and take a nice slow walk all the way up to the top of your mat.

You'll find yourself in a forward fold there.

And then go ahead and take a breath in and come halfway up.

So hands to shins,

Length through the spine and then fold back in,

Chest toward your thighs.

Fold,

Fold,

Fold.

Rise up to standing,

Circle the arms as you go,

Touch the palms above the head.

We're gonna bend the elbows and bring those palms down in front of your heart.

Take a moment to feel your feet rooted down into the floor,

Maybe inner thighs rolling back or tailbone tucking under.

And then almost on a no breath,

After you exhale,

Drop your arms by your side and then catch the inhale,

Ride the inhale,

Arms going up,

Fingertips toward the ceiling.

Forward fold,

Fingertips toward your toes,

Drop it on down.

Take a halfway lift from the bottom,

Breathe in.

And then come into the upper push-up position or plank pose.

So lengthen through the body,

The fingers stay here,

The palms press,

The feet go back.

And either on toes or knees,

Begin to lower down.

Elbows bend close to the ribs,

Close to the body.

You're gonna press through the palms,

Lengthen the arms,

Lift the chest,

Cobra,

Point your toes and then right back into downward dog,

Tuck the toes,

Lift the hips,

Drop the head,

Drop the head.

We're gonna keep with this really simple sun salutation ace today.

So I'm gonna take you through one more time and then I'm gonna have you do a couple on your own.

And if it's challenging for you to do it on your own,

You can always rewind this a bit to go again through some guided versions.

I want you to rise up onto tippy toes.

You can look where you're going,

Gaze up toward your hands and then walk yourself all the way up to the top of the mat.

Take a halfway lift,

So make some space between chest and thighs and then fold back in,

Forward fold,

Forward fold.

Roll up to standing,

Sweep the arms,

Extend the fingers toward the ceiling,

Turn the palms together and then bend the elbows,

Bring the hands down in front of your heart.

Drop the arms by your side,

It's like a no breath and then you ride the inhale as you stretch the arms and fingertips straight up,

Forward fold,

Chest toward thighs,

Fingers toward floor.

Take a halfway lift and then weave in yasa,

Top of the push-up,

Lowering down nice and slow and controlled,

Pulling your heart through,

Cool breath and then downward facing dog.

And you can give yourself a couple of breaths here.

When you're ready,

You'll begin again and take it a few more times through but rhythm of your own breath.

Eyes on to toes,

Get up to the top of the mat,

Half lift and fold in.

Eventually you'll rise up to standing,

Touch the palms,

Touch your heart and then extend again,

Fold,

Half lift and then yasa.

We'll meet up on the other side.

We'll meet up on the other side.

We'll meet up on the other side.

We'll meet up on the other side.

Let's take it two more times through,

Yogis.

Downward dog to downward dog,

Two times and then once you've finished two times through,

We're going to meet in child's pose.

We'll meet up on the other side.

Once again,

Once you've finished the two times through,

Just child's pose,

Child's pose,

Right where we begin class,

Sinking hips back toward heels.

Give it a couple of breaths where you are.

We're going to pull up hands and knees right into that tabletop pose,

Palms down,

Knees underneath hips.

And then I'm going to have you extend your right leg back behind you but lift your right toes up off of the ground so it becomes three-limbed table.

While you're here,

If you feel like you have a stable table,

Left arm out in front of you,

Your palm turns in and your thumb turns up.

So sometimes that left hand wants to get a little wonky,

Almost like you're shaking someone's hand out in front of you.

Keep and create length through the left arm.

And then two times we're going to squeeze knee to elbow,

Elbow to knee.

So squeeze it underneath of the body,

Almost like it's meeting at your belly button and then extend it out.

And try that one more time.

Squeeze it in,

Squeeze it in,

Squeeze it in,

Extend it out.

Now as you're here,

Keep the right leg extended,

Drop the left hand to the floor and this time we're going to go right knee in toward your nose,

Give it a squeeze but pause there.

Tuck your left toes under,

That's the opposite leg,

And then rise up for three-limbed downward dog.

You're going to pull the left knee up off of the floor,

Right leg stretches really,

Really high.

You might get a bend,

A wiggle.

Sometimes it even feels good to get some circular motion with that right leg or you bend the knee and kind of get circular motion with the knee.

And then get like,

Stretch the right leg long and you're going to step it up,

Right foot to the top of the mat,

Warrior A.

So you'll big,

Big,

Put a big bend into your right knee,

Lengthen through the back leg,

Plant the back foot.

Arms reach up.

Find openness in your chest,

Shoulders rolling down the back,

Arms reaching,

Maybe even chin lifting and tilting a bit.

And I want you to keep the structure of Warrior A.

We're just going to bind fingertips behind your lower back,

So bring the hands behind the back,

Interlace the fingers,

Tug the hands downward,

Lift your chin upward,

Open up your heart,

And then forward fold inside of your right thigh so the head comes down toward your right ankle.

Take some strength here,

Maybe a little shake,

Keep breathing.

Pressing through your feet using the leg strength,

Sky Archer,

Come on up,

Straighten out the right leg,

Right arm goes up and over,

Keep your right toes pointed toward the front of your mat.

You're leaning back toward that left foot,

So creating,

Again,

Some side bending on the right side from right toes to right fingertips.

And you're going to re-bend the right knee,

Come on down for extended side angle,

Drop right forearm to your right thigh.

Instead of lifting the left hand straight up,

Take it toward the front of the room,

So take it up and over that left ear.

Then we're going to go low twisted lunge,

You're going to drop the left hand to the floor,

Right hand to the sky,

Turn onto your back toes,

The right knee is already bent,

Just through the spine.

And then bring the right hand down,

Drop the left knee,

Straighten out the right leg for half split,

So you're going to pull the hips back but lean forward.

And sometimes we have to make space for ourselves to lean forward,

So you might have to wiggle that right foot forward or even left knee back.

And then from this half split start to walk the hands forward,

Re-bend your right knee,

Supported crescent,

You'll keep the left knee down,

You'll start to lift your arms just like that warrior A in the beginning.

Fingers fall away from your ears as your chest lifts up and open.

Give it one more breath here,

And then bring the hands down around that right foot.

We're going to come back into a three-limbed table,

Just where we started,

So I want you to take this right foot that's in front,

Wiggle it back behind you,

Extend that right leg,

And then as that right leg is extended,

Go ahead and set the right toes down,

Get a little sweep of the right toes to the left.

So I want you to keep your right leg extended,

And toes on the floor,

Bring the toes of that right foot over to the left and then gaze over your left shoulder so it's a little bit of an opening here on the right side.

And then bring it back through center,

Child's pose,

Just bring right knee in next to left,

Sink the hips back toward the heels.

If you need a little reset breath,

Take the reset breath.

If you need to remind yourself to come back to the experience of your breath,

Remind yourself.

And then let's pull up,

Tabletop pose,

This time working on the left side,

So left leg going back once you're there.

Once you're on hands and knees,

Left leg extends back behind you,

But toes pop up off of the floor,

Get them lifted.

You might just stay there,

But if you can,

Right arm goes out in front of you,

Palm turning in,

Thumb turning up.

And then some stability.

And then we're going to follow the breath here to squeeze in,

Knee to elbow,

Two times.

So bring it in underneath the belly button,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

Squeeze,

Extend,

Extend,

Extend.

Good,

One more time,

Knee to elbow,

Squeeze,

Extend the right leg or right arm and left leg.

So we're going to set the right hand down and then we're going to draw left knee in toward the nose this time.

Tuck it in and under.

Tuck your right toes under and then three limb down dog,

Left leg lifting high.

The left leg might stretch open,

You might just stretch it nice and tall.

You can make some circles,

You could bend the knee and make some circles.

Give it a good stretch.

And then lengthen through the left leg in case it's bent or kind of tucked in toward the body.

Lengthen the left leg and then step the left foot forward for warrior A.

Big bend into the left knee,

Plant the back foot flat,

Get a little lift,

Shoulders stacking over top of hips,

Arms reaching sky high.

Rely on the strength of your core and your legs and your feet and your ankles and your toes,

The muscles of your toes.

And then bring the hands around to the lower back,

Interlace the fingers,

Lengthen the arms to pull the hands down as much as you can,

Lift open through the heart and lift your chin,

Forward fold inside of that left thigh,

Head drops down toward the left ankle.

Try one more breath,

I know it's a challenging pose,

Requires a lot of strength here.

And then press through the feet,

Use the strength of your legs to rise up,

Sky arch or big lift,

Left leg goes straight,

Left arm up and over,

You're leaning back toward that right foot but keep the left toes pointed forward,

Sometimes they want to turn in,

Keep them forward.

And then bend into the left knee,

Come on down,

Extended side angle,

You're going to drop your left forearm to your left thigh or maybe elbow to thigh,

Right arm up and over.

Sometimes we stretch it straight up into the air but take those right fingertips,

Pull them toward the front of the room.

And then head it into that low twisted lunge,

Right hand comes down inside of the left foot,

Turn into your back toes,

Send your left fingertips up toward the ceiling so you're opening up your heart to the left side.

Deep breaths,

Softly slowly you'll gaze,

Bring the left hand down as well as the right knee half splits,

You're creating length through the left leg,

You're straightening out that left leg and folding over top of the left thigh.

Two more breaths.

And then supported crescent,

The left knee bends as you walk the hands forward,

You're in a lunge because the right knee is down and the arms begin to lift if that feels okay.

Think about pressing the hips downward and forward.

And then go ahead and bring the hands down around that left foot,

We're headed to that three limb table,

Same place we started,

This left foot at the front goes all the way back behind you so the left leg extends back behind.

Keep the toes tucked against the floor as you extend that left leg and then slide them as far as you can over to the right side,

Gaze over your right shoulder,

Create a little side bend here,

A little opening for the left side body.

Come back through center in child's pose.

And then from this child's pose go ahead and pull all the way forward to plank pose,

Top of the push-up,

You're gonna consciously lower down,

Elbows close to the ribs and when you come up from the bottom this time,

Sphinx pose,

Forearms,

Elbows and palms propping up the chest.

If you get here and need a little more bend or a little more sensation in the back,

Maybe bending the knees and taking the feet upward.

And then lowering the chest,

Lowering the feet if they're up in the air,

Plant the palms underneath of the chest or underneath of the shoulders,

You're gonna press back to tabletop pose so not all the way to child's pose,

Just table and then you're gonna come to seated so you might crisscross ankles and roll over the legs or sweep them out to the side and then in front.

Come to seated with both legs straight out in front of you first.

Then we're gonna bend the right knee and bring right foot to inner left thigh just like a tree pose on the bottom half of the body,

Arms go up,

Take a big stretch,

Inhale,

Fingertips toward the ceiling and then fingertips toward those left toes,

Fold over top of that left thigh.

And then as you slowly start to roll your chest up and off of that leg,

When you get to seated,

Turn your right foot down into the floor so the right knee points up and we're gonna use this to take a twist,

Right hand behind you,

Left elbow hooking outside of that right knee or maybe it's the arm or the hand that helps you to twist,

Sit tall as you gaze over that right shoulder and pull the right shoulder backward.

Then come back through center and extend the right leg to meet left.

We're gonna go to the other side so left knee bends,

Left foot to inner right thigh so that left knee tips outward like a tree pose.

Arms go up,

Lengthen the spine and the belly,

Reach up and then reach forward,

Fingertips down into the floor so your left knee points up.

We're gonna take a twist here,

Left hand behind you on the floor,

Right elbow hooking outside of that left knee or using your arm or your hand.

Pull the left shoulder back,

Keep sitting tall,

Keep turning that chin toward your left shoulder.

Then turn back through center,

Let the left leg go straight,

Right beside the right.

We're gonna lower all the way down to the back so you might have to sort of inchworm your hips forward bending the knees and then lowering down to the spine.

Go ahead and give the knees and thighs a squeeze in toward chest and belly.

Then I want you to start rocking side to side like you're sort of creating some some de-stimulation,

Some relaxation for your nervous system.

It's a beautiful way to soothe the nervous system and also to kind of quiet the mind that lulls the mind to sleep.

Rock a few more times than you normally would.

So maybe you usually would rock four times each side,

Maybe this time you rock eight.

A little right to left,

A little left to right.

And once you've had a few times each side,

I want you to come back through center,

Give a good squeeze in onto knees,

Maybe your shins,

Pull them tight in toward the body.

And then start to lengthen the body,

Start to lengthen the legs and drop the arms by the side.

As always if there's any other position that feels a little more comforting or invites relaxation a little more than just being on your back,

Take that.

And then let's do this together,

Big nourishing inhale,

Big cleansing exhale.

Shavasana.

Time to rest.

Ch phrase.

Begin to connect,

To reconnect.

With the sensations of your breath.

Feel them pull you and draw you to the center of the moment,

To the center of your body.

And then I want you to take the next couple of moments,

Yogis,

To wake yourself up.

And it might be as simple as getting length through the body and taking the arms up and the toes down.

It might be some twisting or back bending or it might just be opening and closing the palms and twiddling the toes.

Once you've gained some movement or mobility in the body,

I want you to bring your knees in toward your chest and instead of rocking side to side like we did before Shavasana,

Rock forward,

Back,

Forward,

Back,

All the way up to a seated position.

And then draw the palms together in front of your heart.

Let it be a moment of honoring yourself.

And then finding and sending out gratitude for your community,

Something you're a part of.

And then finding a way to let love emanate from your heart to the world out to the world.

One more time together,

I want you to draw a big breath in and let it go.

From my heart all the way to yours.

Namaste.