Creative Yoga Flow

Dynamic Flow is an invitation to tap into the power of presence. Through fluid movement and breath, you’ll have an opportunity to open and strengthen your body and mind. You’re welcome to come as you are, do what feels good, and flow in your own way.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to another flow. I hope you've been enjoying the flow so far and get a little bit out of them. Welcome to this flow um in terms of props you'll just need a block if you have one let's make our way into a seat and i'm starting off on my shins So whether you have the heels or the toes untucked or whether you choose to have a block underneath you to make it a little bit more comfortable. Make your way there. And then once you're there, Just allowing the eyes to shut down. Palms are flat down onto our thighs. Shoulders relax. And we've got a little bit of a taller seat. So maybe a slight untuck of the tailbone just to create a little bit of a taller spine. And then feeling into the breath as it's moving in and out of the body we're gonna maybe focus on the lower belly as you feel the tummy expand and contract and maybe the rising and falling of the shoulders Let's just take another three breaths where you are. Allowing that to calm. And focus And bring our presence here, Right here, Right now. And as you complete those breaths You can choose to keep the eyes closed or blink them open. We're going to bring our hands out in front of us and then bring the palms together. Draw them in so they're a little bit closer and then open out the palms so you're looking. Imagine you're looking at a book and we are going to be reading a couple of pages of this book and then taking the fingers or the backs of the hands together, Fingers together, Drawing them to you and then around in a half circle all the way around until I'm showing you the book. So open it out there. Close. Open it out once again. Have a read of the next page. You and all the way around. I'm going to let you read what I just read and then close. We'll do that once more. Open it to you. Fingers in and down all the way around. Open it and close. Now we'll do it the other way. So opening it out to you. Fingers all the way down through. And have a read. Close it. Open it to you. Fingers down all the way around. Open it to you and close. Last time, Open it up. Fingers all the way down and through and close. Give the fingers a shake. And then we're going to make our way down to our tabletop. So having the index fingers about parallel, Hands about shoulder width apart. Palms flat down on the floor and just create a couple of circles in one direction, Just moving around. And in the other direction. And we're just going to work a little bit onto the wrists so that we warm them up a little bit. So turn your right wrist around so the fingers are pointing back towards the knees. And then see if you can move the hips back towards the heels. And if you'd like a little bit more, You can tuck your chin in and push your spine up towards the ceiling. And that might bring a little bit more of a stretch to the front or should I say the back of the wrist. And release. Bring weight into the left hand. Just give the right hand a shake. Bring it down to the floor and move to the other side. So taking the left hand, Fingers pointing in, And slowly moving the hips back. And if you chose to bring it a little bit more intense, Tuck the chin in. And push the spine up towards the ceiling. As you release, Weight into the right hand, Give the left hand a bit of a shake and place it back down onto the mat. We're going to move into a bit of a breathing and moving sequence. So take the right leg, Stretch it out to the back, Point the toes down and then take your left hand forward. Take a breath in. As you exhale can you bring the elbow to knee to touch? Inhale, Stretch it out. And as you exhale, Bring it in. Last one as we stretch it out, This time can you bend through that back knee and then grabbing the back of the ankle. Either grabbing the ankle or if you can't quite grab it, You can continue to reach back. You're getting the same kind of activation here. But if you have grabbed it, See if you can open up that left shoulder, Pushing through that right hand. Hold. And gently release, Then let it slingshot, Bring the knee and hand down to the floor. And then moving over to the other side, Take your left leg, Stretch it out, Flex the toes pointing down. Inhale, Take the right hand forward. And as you exhale, Bring it in. Inhale, Stretch it forward and back. And as you exhale, Bring it in. Last time stretching it out and then bending the back knee grabbing the ankle and opening up that shoulder. Hold here for two. Hold for one. And release. Bringing both hand and knee down. Now this time create figure eight. So moving the hips back and around. And then shoulders forward and around. Back and around and shoulders forward and around and make sure we move the other way so moving around and back and around forward and around and back and around and then as you come back to your tabletop walk your hands forward Or your hips back so you stay onto the mat. And we're going to find our heart melting pose as we draw the chest down. Keep the hips aligned above the knees so you get a nice back bend. If you have the space maybe drawing the chin to the floor I'm not quite there yet, But if you are that's great. If you want a bit more space, You can bring yourself up onto the pads of the fingers and you'll find it creates a little bit more space to draw the shoulders down. Just hold here for two. One, And slowly coming back to your tabletop, Walking the hands in. Or maybe the knees forward. And then slowly finding cat cows, Breathing in, Can you open up through the shoulders, Gaze up towards the ceiling and exhale, Tuck it in. Breath in as you open. Start to tuck the toes if not already and exhale, Tuck it in. Last one, Breath in as you open. This time as you tuck it in and push the spine up towards the ceiling, Can you lift the knees so they hover just off the floor? Stay here for the inhale. You're really pushing your spine up towards the ceiling. Stay for the exhale. One more inhale but this time keep the knees hovering open up And as you exhale, Lift the hips, Find your downward dog. And feel free to pedal the feet, Maybe moving the hips side to side. Pushing into the hands as we find our V shape. Hold eventually coming to stillness. Continue breathing and see if you can keep that generous bend in the knees as you push the hips back and the chest in towards the thighs. Just for another two. Another one. Then as you breathe in, Can you raise the heels as high as you can? Maybe even lengthening through the legs? And breath out, Come back to that crotch. Downward dog. Inhale, Raise and lengthen. And exhale, Move back. Last one, Raise the heels as high as you can, Keep the legs as straight as you can as you tippy toe with the out breath all the way towards the top of the mat. Once you're there, Find a halfway lift breath in. And an exhale as you release. Twice more. You can even walk the hands up the shins if that's easier. So you've got a bit more support. Breath in. And exhale. Release. And let's go for the last one. Breath in. Halfway. And exhale, Release. Then keep the arms aside as we slowly uncurl the spine, Bringing the chest up. And eventually, Tadasana, Palms facing the front. And then start to rotate the shoulders, Moving them back. And rotating them forwards. And eventually taking the hands to the ceiling, Breath in. Bring the palms together, Keep the chest where it is, Exhale as you draw the hands to the heart. One more like that, Breath in, Reach. This time as you bring the palms together, Bend through the knees, Draw the hands through center as you reach them down to the floor. Creep them up the shins. Halfway lift. Breath in. And exhale. Hands come down. We're going to step the right foot to the back. And then drop the right knee. Coming into Anjaniyasana. Our low lunge. Take the hands up to the ceiling. Breath in. And then grab your elbows. And start to create circles moving around. In one direction. And in the other direction. And then releasing them to the ceiling, Anjaniyasana, Breath in. We're going to take our right arm over the left, Cross them over, And then use your inhale to lift the elbows as high as we can and draw them to the knee, The front knee as you exhale. Inhale, Lift. And exhale to the knee. One more time, Inhale lift. And exhale to the knee and then as you unwrap yourself take the arms to the ceiling once again And down to frame that left foot as you exhale. Tuck the back toes. Lift the back knee. Step the left foot back to a plank. Use a breath in. And then with the exhale, Drop the knees. Bend the elbows. Come halfway. Keep the elbows tucked all the way in. Push through the arms as you lengthen them. Breath in. Downward dog as you exhale. And we're going to take the right foot. Cross it over in front of the left to the left edge of the mat. And then take the left foot. Cross it over the right over to the right edge. Legs until we walk eventually all the way to the front of the mat. Once you're there, Toe heel the feet out to about hip width apart, Grab your elbows and find a rag doll. This might be in movement, Swaying left to right, Or it might be in stillness. Making the head as heavy as possible so it's nice and loose. And a generous bend in the knees as well to keep the chest close to the thighs. Hold and breathe for two. For one, Release the elbows and we're going to slowly uncurl the spine, Keeping the hands at our sides. Once you're all the way up palms facing the front, Take the shoulders all the way into the ears Breath in. And release with the breath out. Take them back into the ears and this time close your eyes and scrunch up your face as tight as you can. And exhale, Release everything, Blink the eyes open. Take the hands up to the ceiling, Breath in. Palms meet down to the heart as you exhale. Back in as you breathe in And as the palms meet, Bend the knees all the way through the center down to the floor. Halfway lift in. And as you exhale, Hands come down and step the left foot to the back. Drop the left knee down. Anjaniyasana. Lift both hands to the ceiling. And if you can remember, Take the other elbow or the other arm in front and create the circles around. Make sure you move the other way. And then eventually taking the hands to the ceiling, Deep breath in. Left arm goes over right, Garudasana arms. Take a breath in as you reach the elbows as high as you can and take the elbows to the knees as you exhale. Inhale, Take them nice and high. And exhale and draw them in. Last time, Inhale, Reach, Reach, Reach. And exhale, Last time, Elbow to knee. On release, Take the hands to the ceiling. I thought that should have been released, Take the hands to the ceiling. And then take the hands down to the floor, Framing that right foot. Tuck the back toes, Lift the back knee. Step that right foot back to a plank. Breath in. And hover the knees off the floor bring the chin if you can all the way down to the floor Straighten the arms, Keep the knees hovering breath in, And then take the hips back, Downward dog. Now, Before we move on a little bit further, Let's take a little bit of an intermission by taking the knees wide. Bring the tops of the feet down, Those toes together, And draw yourself down to a child's pose. We want to keep it a little bit more active so can we stay onto the fingertips of the hands and elbows or forearms off the floor. And see if you can draw your hips further back towards your heels and just breathe in and out here. And then starting to walk the hands off the mat to the right-hand side. You can interlace the left on top of the right and just breathe in through the left side of the body. Note the left shoulder will rise. See if you can keep it nice and low. And then releasing, Walking through center, Over to the left-hand side, Maybe right on top of left. And watch that right shoulder. And eventually back to center and walking the hands back in, Tucking the toes, Finding downward dog. Going to lift the right leg up to the ceiling, Bend the knee and open the hip. And then keep it there with the breath in. And with the breath out we're going to bring it step it all the way forward top of the mat keep the back knee lifted and we're going to push up to our crescent lunge taking the hands up to the ceiling Once there, Take the right arm over left, Garudasana arms. And I should note, If you can't quite get this wrap, You can bring the hands to the shoulders and that might make it a little bit more accessible. Breath in as you lift the shoulders or elbows as high as you can. And exhale, Can you bring the hands all the way down to the right foot on the floor. Inhale, Fight your balance as you open up, Breath in. And as you exhale, Bring it down. Last time, Breath in, Open. And last time coming down. Unwrap take the hands to the ceiling breath in and as you exhale can you cactus the arms and open them up breath in as you reach the ceiling and exhale bring the hands down to the floor now keep the chest nice and low we're going to take the arms back taking them off the floor to our arrowhead and then take the arms forward One more time back, Stay here, Step forward with the left foot and step back with the right. Crescent lunge, Taking the hands to the ceiling, Breath in, And take the hands down to frame that left foot. Exhale. Then we're going to sweep the left foot and move over straight away to the other side, Taking the left foot up and then bending that knee and opening the hip. Stay here for the breath in. And exhale, Stepping that foot forward, Top of the mat. Stay in your crescent lunge. Lift the hands to the ceiling. Breath in. And then the left arm goes over the right. Find your eagle arms. Breath in as you lift the elbows. And exhale, Draw the hands down to the floor. Inhale, Open. And exhale, Release down. One more time. Inhale, Open. And exhale all the way down. Release the interlace, Take the hands to the ceiling. Cactus the arms with your exhale. Hands reach for the ceiling with your breath in and down to the floor to frame that left foot with your exhale. Keep the chest low, Sweep the arms back. And then forward. Take them back. Step forward with the right foot. Back with the left foot. Crescent lunge, Breath in, Reach the arms. And as you exhale, Release them down to the floor. Now we're going to step forward to the top of the mat. Find a halfway lift here, Breath in. And an exhale as you release. Just pause for a moment, Maybe widen the feet. Take the arms behind the back, Interlace the fingers. And then either keep the heels of the hands together, Straightening through the arms. Or keep them relaxed. And maybe with the bend of the knees, You can bring the chest lower. Maybe you can stretch the arms forward. Whatever you choose. Whatever is accessible today. Hold for two. For one release the interleast, Hands come back down to the floor. Toe heel the feet in. And then with the toes together, Slight gap in the knees, Let's bend them and then open up to our Utkatasna, Our chair pose. Hold here, Maybe even coming onto the tippy toes and maybe sitting a little bit lower. Hold for two. Stay on the toes and then slowly straighten the legs, Lifting the hands all the way up to the ceiling. I hope they're still in frame. Hold here for two. Hold for one. Release the heels down. Arms come down. Tadasana. Take the hands up, Breath in. Find a forward fold as you exhale. Halfway lift in. Hands come down. As you exhale, Take two hops back. Second hop land with your arms bent. Hold here for two. Hold for one and then slowly releasing all the way down to the floor. Untuck the toes so the top of the feet are down. Bring hands in front of you into our Sphinx pose. Elbows come down and then see if you can just open up through the chest. Hold and breathe. See if you can broaden out through the shoulders. Pushing the hips down into the floor. As well as whatever your legs are making contact with on the floor. Hold. And then gently releasing, Bringing the hands back underneath the shoulders. Tuck the toes, Inhale to the knees, Downward dog as you exhale. Look at the middle of the mat and then bend your knees. We're going to jump as many hops as you need to to bring the feet to the middle of the mat. One hop coming into the middle or as many as you can, Or one, Two. Bring the hands walking them towards the feet and drop the heels down. Then toe heel the feet so that together a slight gap between the heels. Bring yourself into a chair pose, Keeping the knees bent, Lifting the arms. And then weight into the right foot. Can you lift the left heel off the floor? Bring the heel down, Weight into the left, Bring the right heel off the floor. And bring it down. Then keep weight into your left foot as you take the right foot and stretch it forward. Point through the toes. Hold. Step it forward, Stay on the ball of the foot. As you sweep the arms back, Can you then bring all your weight into the ball of the foot and take the left foot off the floor? Hold here for two. Hold for one. And then release the heel down. Take the left knee into the chest. Stalk pose. Take the arms to the ceiling. Slight bend of that right knee and we're going to cross the left on top of that right. Take the right on top of left arms, Garudasana arms, And maybe sitting a little bit lower. Now see if you can wrap your left foot around the right calf. If you can't, Just keep it glued. 4 is for 2 one keep the bind of the arms unwrap that left foot and take it all the way back as you draw the chest down into our bound half moon Open out the hips. Pause here for two. Pause for one, Release and open up the arms for the breath in. And then as you exhale, Step that left foot gently to the back. Inhale, Reverse, Keeping the bend in that right knee. Exhale, Bring the right elbow to right knee, Drawing your left arm up or extended as you draw it to the ear. Reverse straightening through that right leg take the right arm to the ceiling And as you exhale, Windmill the arms, Lift the back heel all the way around to a twisted warrior two. So we're facing the right hand side. Hold here. And then take your right hand to the back of the left thigh. Breath in as you open out lifting the left hand to the ceiling. Twisted Reverse And as you exhale, Windmill the hands down, Framing that right foot, Lifting that back foot off the floor, Standing split. Now you've got options here. You can take one hand, Maybe two, Behind that right ankle. Hold. And we've played with balance long enough let's bring the hands back down to the floor bend your back leg and draw it to the back of the right knee and then slowly massage the back calf with that knee down down and up. One more time down and up and then stretch it back up standing split. Challenge here is to maybe have the hands in prayer as we jump that right foot to the left two hops or you can have your hands on the floor and then hop it two hops to the left hand side Bend the knees and draw the left knee down as well as the shin. And then slowly sit yourself down. Now, If you can sit with both hips connected to the floor, Stay here. Otherwise, Straightening that left leg. And we're going to take a twist to the right-hand side. So right arm behind you and looking over your right shoulder. Make sure you keep that left foot flexed. Looking over the shoulder for two. One and find a counter twist coming over to your left hand side As you dip that right shoulder, Look back towards the back of the mat. Bend that bottom leg if you have it straight and then we're going to make our way to downward dog facing the back of the room. Once you're there, Bend through the knees. Moving to the other side, We're going to look towards the middle of the mat. Two hops or more, Or one, Jumping to the middle of the mat. Then walk the hands back towards the feet. Excuse my back. Hopefully I can change the angle. And with the feet together. Let's sit in our chair. See it, Nice and low. And then stretching that left foot, Stretch it forward, Point the toes, Balance. Bring the foot down, Stay on the ball. As you sweep the arms back, Can you then lift that back leg off the floor? The best as you can hold for two For one, Drop the heel, Take the right knee into the chest, Stock pose as you take the hands to the ceiling. Bending through that left knee, Bringing the right knee on top. Left arm on top of right. Garudasana arms. Hold. And then stay in your bind with the arms, Taking that right leg and stretching it back to the back. Open the hips, Finding your bound half moon. Hold. And then opening up the arms, Breath in. And as you exhale, Stepping that foot gently to the back, Let's reverse breath in, Keep the bend in the front knee. And as you exhale, Side angle, Left elbow, Left knee taking the right arm up. Reverse straightening that left leg taking the left arm up to the ceiling And as you exhale, Windmill the hands all the way around to our reverse warrior. Hold here. Look at the left hand. Take it behind the right thigh. Reverse. Twisted reverse. Hold. And then windmilling the hands down to that left foot framing. Taking the right foot up to the ceiling. Stay in your standing split. Again, Choosing to have one hand or the other released off the floor behind the ankle. And then as the hands come down, Bring the right knee to the back of the left knee. Slowly massage down and then up. Slowly massage down and then up i know it's not valentine's day yet but this is nearly as best you can get if you are a single person and you're having to rely on yourself for massages. Take that left foot back to the ceiling and then either no hands or hands, Hop that left foot to the right. Once it's there, Then draw the left knee down to the floor as well as the shin. Come to sit down onto the floor. And then we're twisting over to the left-hand side. So take the left hand behind you as support. And again, If you can't sit on both hips, Keep the right leg straight as you look over your left shoulder. Hold for two. Hold for one. If you've straightened that right leg, Bend it. And we're going to find a reversed twist just to relieve the back. I don't know if that came out through the mic but my back gave a nice loud crack and then continuing to turn eventually finding downward dog facing the back Let's take the right leg up to the ceiling with your breath in. Bend the knee, Open the hip. Inhale, Can you lift high onto the left toes and then take that right knee to the right elbow to touch. Hold. Take it back to the ceiling, Keeping the leg bent. And take it back to that right elbow, Touch and hold. Then step it forward, Finding lizard pose. Here you can stay, Or you can encourage that right hip open. You can bring the left knee down, Again, Encouraging the hip open. It's a bit more of a relaxed pose. Or you can bend the back knee and as you grab the foot, You can again encourage the hip open. So wherever you are, Just pause here for two. One, Release the foot. Bring the right hand down top of the mat and lift the back knee. Step that left foot outside the left hand and find your yogic squat. Bring the palms out in front of you. And just hold here for two. And maybe, Well, I like to encourage my students to sit a little bit higher so that you've got more space for the spine to be straighter. Keep the palms glued together, Thumbs drawing in towards the chest. And eventually placing the hands down to the floor. But a bit wider than shoulder width. We're just going to chaturanga the arms, Maybe lifting one foot, Maybe two off the floor into an unplanned crow. Is the feet down? Walk the hands back so you're back onto your mat if you're not. And then walk the feet back. Down the dog. The left leg reaches to the ceiling, Bend the knee, Open the hip. Then a bit higher onto the left toes. Left knee comes into the left elbow. Touch. Hold. Keep it bent and take it back to the ceiling. Open up and back into the left elbow, Touch hold. Then step it forward. Once again, Finding our lizard, You can choose to place the knee down and open up the hip. So see if you can follow what you did on the first round, On the first side. Keeping it nice and neutral or balanced. And as you release the left hand comes down. Tucking the back toes, Lifting the back knee and stepping that right foot forward to the outside of the right hand. Finding your yogic squat once again. This time we're going to bring the right hand down, Open out that left arm to the ceiling, Maybe finding a half bind. Maybe a full bind if you'd like to wrap around that right knee. Just pause here, Keeping that left shoulder open. And as you release bring the hands down, Give the hands a bit of a shake. And then left hand down, Right hand up. And finding that half bind, Maybe full bind around that left knee. Hold here for two. One gently release hands come down out in front of you this time option for a proper crow bringing the knees behind the elbows and as you lean forward chaturang in the arms look towards the top hold here for two one if you have a jump back Jumping back, Flowing through a flow. Eventually finding child's pose as you draw the knees wide and the hips back. This time making it restorative by bringing the forearms down on the floor as you draw the forehead down. And just breathing. And let's slowly make our way back up Coming back onto our shins, Draw the knees together. And find a seat on your heels Drop both hands to the ceiling, Breath in. Bring the left hand down and find a bend over to the left hand side. Breathe. Smile. Come back to center, Breath in, Reach the arms. And bring the right hand down as the left goes over. Back to center, Reaching the arms breath in. And bring the palms together and draw them to the heart. Invitation to shut down the eyes as you hold and breathe. And we can eventually blink open the eyes and make our way onto our backs. So drawing the feet around, We're going to make our way back onto our backs drawing the knees into the chest give them a hug maybe even shoulders off knees give them a kiss As you release the knees, Make them wide. Draw the arms through, Finding happy baby. And either keeping it happy by giving it a rock from side to side or staying in stillness. See if we can keep drawing the knees down on either side of the chest. And our spine as connected as possible to the floor. Release the left foot and allow it to come flat down onto the mat. And then release the right and draw both hands around the right shin. Interlace the fingers and draw that knee into that right armpit. Just hold here, Keeping that right foot flexed. You can flex the left foot as well if you want it to join into the yoga. And then releasing the knee with the right hand, It comes out to the side shoulder height, Palm down. And taking that right knee over the body into a twist. Make sure you keep both shoulders on the floor and maybe turn your head to the right if you have the space. Hold for two. Hold for one. And as you gently release, We're going to switch over back to our happy baby to start off with. And then releasing the right foot, Stretching it down onto the mat. And then taking the left shin, Interlacing the fingers around. Both feet are flexed, Keep drawing that knee into that armpit, Hold. And releasing the left hand to the side we're going to take that left knee over the right leg as we find our twist looking over our left shoulder hold and breathe Eventually releasing, Taking the legs up to the ceiling. Finding VipoReaderCranny. And you may want to use a blocked place under the hips just to keep them neutral. Otherwise, Staying here, Stretching the arms up as well, And then rotating both ankles and wrists around in circles. Change direction, Go the other way. And eventually drawing the knees in. Give yourself one last hug, Maybe shoulders off and kissing the knees. And releasing them down. Open the knees wide. Bring the feet down, Soles together. And we're going to find our happy, Not a happy baby, Our butterfly, Retired butterfly. Bringing one hand and maybe the other onto the chest. Maybe one on the belly. And you can close out your practice here Just breathing and feeling into the rise and fall of the belly. Or once you're ready, You can slowly start to make your way into your Shavasana. As I said, Your shavasana may look like this. Or you can start to lengthen through the legs allowing the feet to flop open arms at our side palms facing up and make sure you open up and make space or use the space allowing the body to be heavy and the mat to support. I'm gonna leave you like this for a couple of minutes. And I'll let you know when it's time to come out so feel free to close the eyes Steady the breath. Focus on not just how your body is feeling now but maybe your surroundings, Everything around in your immediate vicinity. With how the world is constantly changing. And there's so much happening to distract us from. . . Our daily lives and our wellness and our meditation. A quote keeps running through my head by a guy called Max Brenner. I don't know exact words of the quote, But it goes something like. . . If we change the way we look at things, The things we look at change. And so. . . Drawing that into a relation that's maybe a little bit more understandable. If we look at a situation differently, Maybe how we feel about that situation will change too Starting to deepen the breath as we slowly come back to. Drawing the fingers in, Curling them in. Curling them out. Allowing the toes to curl in and release and relax turning the head ever so gently from side to side And then stretching the arms behind the head, Pointing through the toes. Eventually drawing the knees into the chest and then allowing them to fall to the left or right. Keep your eyes closed as you slowly make your way into a seat facing the computer, TV or however you are consuming this media. Invitation to bring the palms together in prayer. And once you do, Drawing them into the forehead to make contact with the third eye. Let's bow our head ever so slightly just in reverence to our practice today. The light in me sees, It honors and respects the very same light it sees in each and every one of you. From my heart to yours. Namaste. Thank you for practicing with me today, Whatever time of day it is for you, Morning, Evening. Or during the day at some point. Have a beautiful remainder and hopefully we see you soon. My name is Nicole, Thank you and goodbye.