Hola and welcome to another flow.
My name is Nicole.
I'm going to be leading you through a flow that I think is going to hopefully take your breath away.
We're going to get to a point where we're going to be moving one breath per movement.
So it's going to be like an inhale and you open up and exhale as you close,
Which is like what a normal vinyasa would be.
I invite you just to have a mat.
I have a block,
But you probably won't need one.
I'm just using it to sit here and introduce myself to you.
But I don't think you're going to need any other props.
I chose this beautiful spot here,
Can you tell,
With the leaves and kind of winter hopefully drawing to a close.
And we have our beautiful little doggy,
Malou,
Who will be in and out of the movie,
I'm guessing.
So,
Yes,
She's a busy girl when we're outside.
She tries to be involved in everything that we do.
With that said,
We're going to start off on our backs.
So if you're using a block,
Just remove it to the side for a moment and lie down.
Flat on your back.
Have a bit of gap between your legs,
Allow your feet to flop open and with your arms at your side,
Palms facing the ceiling.
Just allow yourself to let go and relax.
We're going to start off here and hopefully end up here.
Invitation to shut down the eyes.
And as you become super heavy on your mat Start to notice what parts of your body are making contact with the mat.
Start to notice how your breath is moving in and out of your body.
And if you can,
Trying to.
.
.
Limit your breath through the nose,
So in and out through the nose.
And see for the moment if you can make it a little bit longer than it normally is.
I have a little Buddha next to me over here,
However he doesn't have a belly,
So I was going to refer to your belly breath and trying to bring the breath all the way down to the belly.
And actually feeling that belly expand and contract with the breath.
Just taking another three breaths here.
And then we're going to slowly move into banana asana so starting off with the feet over to the left hand side they can come just on the edge of the mat or you can take them totally off the mat invitation to have the right ankle on top of the left just for a little bit more of a twist and then take the arms reach them behind the head you can grab the right wrist with the left hand and just pull the torso over to the left hand side.
We want to try and maintain contact with both hips to the floor or both glutes.
So don't twist the whole body.
We're just bending like a banana.
I know,
I know,
Some bananas are straight.
And so don't have a bend,
But imagine yours has a bend today as you practice.
So really squishing the left side of your body and opening up the right.
Gently release come back to center and then take the feet over to the right hand side and again your left ankle could jump on top of left or right and grabbing your left wrist move the torso over to the right hand side so you're breathing into that left side,
Squishing the right.
Gently release and as you come back to center,
Draw the knees into the chest.
Give yourself a little bit of a hug,
Maybe a slight sway from left to right.
And we're going to bring our hands behind the knees and just gently sway or rock up and down on your spine.
You can use your legs to create a little bit of momentum.
We're eventually going to find a tabletop position so maybe crossing the ankles Come all the way over,
Bring your hands down.
Maybe a jump or float back.
And coming to a tabletop here.
In your tabletop,
Spread through the fingers,
Imagine you're gripping a basketball,
So really gripping with the fingers,
Or the tops of the fingers,
The pads,
And also the heel of the hand.
And a couple of circles with your shoulders just moving in one direction.
Keep your arms straight.
And the breath flowing and to change direction go the other way Eventually coming back to center,
Walk the hands back towards you just a little bit,
Maybe about a hand's breadth and then flip the palms or the hands around so that the fingers are pointing back towards the knees.
You can tuck the toes and move the hips back towards the heels as much as you can.
Keep the arms straight and you want the heels of the hands still connected to the floor.
Maybe a slight sway from left to right will work into those joints.
And eventually slowly turning the hands to face forwards once again and this time flipping them over so the palm is facing the ceiling on both hands and see if you can get all five digits connected to the floor Hold,
Breathe and keep the lungs as straight as you can.
If it's too much for you and it's too much weight on the hands,
You can walk them a little bit further back.
That will bring less weight onto the hands.
And then eventually slowly flipping them over,
Be super gentle.
Walking the hands back towards the knees,
Come sit onto your heels with the toes tucked and just give the hands a bit of a shake.
Interlace the fingers,
Create figure eights moving in one direction.
And other.
Then with one last shake let's come back to a tabletop.
Stretch your left leg out to the back.
Maintain contact with the floor and push.
Imagine you're creating some contraction in your belly by pushing your hands back,
Your body back with your hands,
And your body forwards with your left foot.
And just hold here.
Option to lift the right knee off the floor for two.
For one,
Drop the right knee if you lifted it.
Lift your left heel up to the ceiling with a breath in.
And an exhale to drop your chin down to the floor bending your arms straighten the arms breath in and take that left knee into the chest hold Inhale as you stretch it back,
That left leg.
And as you exhale,
Bend the elbows,
Bring yourself down.
One more like that.
Inhale as you straighten and draw the knee into the chest.
Straighten breath in.
And as you exhale,
Bend.
Great,
And breath in.
And then we're gonna shift our weight over to the right hand side.
Lift your right hand off the floor.
Sorry,
Left hand.
So shift weight to the left hand.
Take your right hand,
Bend your left knee,
And maybe grabbing that ankle,
Opening up the body.
If you can grab it,
Great.
If you can't,
Imagine you're motivating yourself and manifesting to one day be able to grab your ankle.
Just hold here for another two.
And one,
And gently release,
Bringing both knee and hand down to the floor.
Two more circles with the shoulders moving one direction.
And in the other.
And as you come back to center,
Stretch that right leg to the back.
Again,
Maintaining that contact with the mat and pushing back with the hands,
Forward with the foot.
Hold.
Option again to lift that left knee.
Another two.
And one drop the knee inhales you take that right heel up And as you exhale,
Bend the elbows.
Straighten the arms inhale and take the knee into the chest Straighten the leg in.
Bend the elbows.
Straighten the elbows.
And leaning over to the right hand side we're going to reach that left hand around bend through the right knee grab the ankle and if you can open up Hold.
Gently releasing.
.
.
Bringing both hand and knee to the floor.
Move the hips from side to side.
And then starting to walk the hands forward coming to a puppy pose anahatasana so in our puppy pose we want to try and maintain the hips aligned above the knees so you don't want to come too forward and you don't want to come go too far back to a child's pose and you want to try and find a little bit of space in your back to push your head down between your shoulders.
If you've got a really open back,
You can try and bring your chin down to the floor.
And if you'd like to make it more restorative,
You can bring your forearms down and make it just with the forehead down.
So staying here just for another two.
And one gently walking the hands back in tucking the toes and finding your first downward dog so lifting the hips start to pedal through the feet bending one knee and then the other and we're going to take a inhale as we lift the heels as high as we can and exhale to release.
Two more like that.
Breath in,
Lift the heels.
And an exhale release And one more breath in,
Lift.
And exhale,
Release.
Then start to walk the left foot to the left edge of the mat and start to tippy toe yourself up along the left edge of the mat all the way to the front.
Come to center,
As you find a forward fold,
Toe heel the feet out to about hip width apart,
And then grab your elbows to find ragdoll.
You can choose to stay in stillness or sway gently from left to right.
Make sure the head is heavy.
Imagine it's a bowling ball and you can roll it around nice and freely.
Releasing the elbows walk the hands up the shins halfway lift straighten the leg spine and look forward and as you exhale release And then take an inhale,
Uncurling the spine,
Taking the hands all the way up to the ceiling,
Palms meet,
Draw them to the heart as you exhale.
Two more like that,
Breath in as you lift.
Palms meet to the hatch.
And last one,
Breath in,
Lift up.
As you bring them down to the heart,
Bend through the knees and slowly pointing them down,
Finding a forward fold.
Halfway lift in.
And have her hands down,
Step the right foot to the back.
Stay in a lunge,
Come onto the pads of the fingers,
And then take a breath in and look forward.
With your exhale,
Hands flat,
Step the left foot back,
Drop the knees down.
Start to bend through the elbows,
Lowering only halfway.
Straighten the elbows breath in.
Tuck the toes and lift the knees downward dog with your breath out.
Lifting the heels again nice and high with your breath in.
And releasing with breath out.
For a thin lift.
And release,
Breath out.
One more time,
Breath in,
Lift.
And release,
Breath out.
And then taking the feet over to the right hand side,
We're going to tippy toe along the right edge of the mat.
All the way to the top.
Come to centre.
Toe heel the feet out to about hip width,
And then take your hands behind your back,
Interlace the fingers.
Use that breath in to find a halfway lift.
And as you fold forward and exhale,
Can you take your hands off your back?
Stretching through the shoulders and if you can bring the heels of the hands together as you release the head.
Can you draw the hands as far forward as you can?
I've got really tight shoulders from a lot of push-ups and Different things that I've been working out with And so I don't quite have the openness,
But maybe you do.
Play with yours.
Eventually releasing the hands down to the floor walk them up the shins halfway lift breath in Exhale,
Release the hands and step the left foot to the back.
Stay in your lunge,
Fingertips look forward.
And with your exhale,
Hands come flat,
Step that right foot back,
And maybe no knees,
Let's come halfway down.
Keep the elbows tucked in,
Flip the feet,
Upward dog.
And done with that.
Lifting the right leg,
Let's take it to the ceiling with your breath in.
And then exhale as you step it forward.
Drop the right,
Left knee down,
Anjani Asana.
Take both hands to the ceiling.
And with your exhale,
Release them down,
Frame the right foot,
Tuck the back toes,
Lift the back knee,
Step up to the top of the mat,
Halfway lift in.
And an XLZ release.
Reach the hands to the ceiling with your breath palms meet and to the heart.
Lift the hands to the ceiling.
Palms meet and forward fold Halfway lift in.
With your exhale,
Hands come down with stepping the right foot to the back.
Sweep your left foot to the ceiling with your breath in.
And we're stepping it forward,
Back to the top,
Between hands.
Drop your right knee down,
Hands lift for Anjani Yasana,
Breath in.
And release,
Frame that left foot.
Tuck the back toes,
Lift the back knee,
Step up to the top,
Breath in.
And forward fold.
Hands reach for the ceiling with your breath in.
Palms meet and heart center.
Take them back to the ceiling.
Forward fold,
And as the hands come down,
Step the left foot to the back.
Hands come flat,
Sweep the right foot to the ceiling,
And this time,
Bend the knee and open the hip with your breath out.
A little bit higher onto the left toes,
Breath in,
And right knee to right elbow,
Touch,
Breath out.
Back to the ceiling,
Keep the hips square,
Breath in.
And as you exhale,
Step it forward,
Top of the mat.
Stay with the back knee off the floor,
Inhale as you find crescent.
And as you exhale,
Stepping forward,
Forward fold,
Top of the mat.
Halfway lift in.
And exhale as you release.
Bend the knees.
Utkatasana with your breath in,
Lifting the arms.
And as you exhale,
Forward fold.
Halfway in.
And with your exhale,
Stepping that right foot to the back.
Sweep the left foot to the ceiling breath in Bend the knee,
Open the hip with your breath out.
Higher onto the right toes in and left knee to left elbow touch breath out And he'll take it back.
And as you exhale step it forward.
Crescent lunge in,
Lift the arms.
And as you exhale,
Step forward,
Fold forward.
Halfway in.
And an exhale release.
Bend the knees.
Utkatasana.
Lift the arms.
And forward fold as you exhale.
Halfway in Hands come down,
Step the left foot to the back.
Sweep the right foot to the ceiling,
Breath in.
And bend the knee,
Open the hip.
High on the left toes,
Breath in,
And right knee to right elbow,
Touch that,
Touch the left,
Back to the right,
And back to the ceiling.
Step it top of the mat as you exhale.
Crescent Lunge Breathing.
Grab your left wrist,
Bend over to the right.
Inhale,
Back to center,
And step forward,
Forward,
Fold,
Top of the mat.
Bend the knees,
Utkatasana with your breath in.
And as you exhale,
Forward fold.
Halfway in.
And as you exhale,
Stepping the right foot to the back.
Right and left is really important.
Sweep the left to the ceiling with your breath in.
Bend the knee,
Open the hips.
Higher left right toes and exhale visit the left elbow.
And then the right.
And the left.
Back to the ceiling breath in.
And as you exhale,
Step it forward.
Crescent Inhale.
I grab the right wrist,
Bend over to the left.
Back to center,
Breath in,
And stepping forward.
Breath out,
Forward fold.
Halfway lift in.
As you exhale release keep the knees bent utkatasana with your breath in and a forward fold breath out Halfway lift in.
And stepping the left foot to the back.
Sweep that right foot to the ceiling breath in.
Bend the knee,
Open the hips.
Lift high onto the left toes and visit the right elbow and the left.
Kick it out,
Fall in triangle with your breath in.
You can have that leg hovering or just keep it on the ground.
You can grab the toes and find your split.
Left hand comes down,
Flip yourself all the way over to wild thing,
Lifting the hips,
Reaching the right arm forward,
Hold for two.
Can you hover or make that right foot lighter for once?
Step it all the way to the top of the mat.
Crescent lunge breath in.
Grab your left wrist,
Bend to the right.
Inhale back to center,
And then bend your back knee,
Fists of fire,
Bend your arms and have your hands in fists.
Straighten the back leg,
Reach the arms,
Breath in,
And top of the mat,
Forward fold as you exhale.
Bend the knees,
Utkatasana,
Breath in.
Come on the tippy toes,
Lifting the heels off the floor with your breath out.
Breath in,
Stay on the toes,
Reach the arms to the ceiling.
And heels come down,
Forward fold,
As you exhale.
Halfway lift in.
And stepping the right foot to the back.
Exhale.
Sweep that left leg to the ceiling with your breath in.
Bend the knee,
Open the hip,
Breath out.
High onto the right toes,
Breath in,
Left elbow.
Right elbow,
Kick it out,
Fallen triangle.
Hover or grab the toes.
Right hand comes down,
Flip yourself all the way over.
Wild thing?
Keep it nice and light,
Maybe hovering that left toes.
And then stepping that left foot all the way to the top.
Crescent breath in.
Grab the right wrist,
Breath out.
Back to center breath in and fists of fire breath out.
Straighten with your breath in.
Step to the top of the mat,
Forward fold,
Breath out.
Bend the knees.
Lifting the heels with your breath out.
Straighten the legs,
Stay on the tip of your toes,
Breath in and heels come down,
Forward fold with your breath out,
Halfway lift in and release,
Forward fold,
Breath out Take a moment to either sway the body from side to side,
Maybe grabbing your elbows,
Maybe taking the hands behind the back and placing the fingers,
Whatever you choose,
Finding a little bit of relaxation.
Make sure the head is heavy.
And then eventually toe-heeling the feet out.
Feet out,
Toes out,
Heels in,
And dropping the hips down for your Malasana.
Once you're sitting in your squat,
Bring the palms together and draw them into the heart.
Find your molasna and note you can always use your block to sit on Or you can place a block underneath each heel to make it more accessible.
Or you can widen the feet out a little bit more and that also definitely helps.
Bring your right hand down to the floor.
We're going to take the left hand up to the ceiling as you open up and stretch.
You can find a half bind or full bind around that right knee.
Just pause there for two.
And one gently release bring both hands out in front of you quick crow if you have that in your practice maybe lifting one foot maybe two Bring the feet back down,
Back to your Malasana.
Left hand plants,
Take the right hand up.
Stretch and again maybe find that half or full bend hold for two For one,
Releasing the hands.
If you have a jump back in your crow,
Option for that.
Otherwise,
Hopping,
Stepping or walking the feet back,
Eventually finding a downward dog.
Once you're in your downward dog,
Pausing for another three.
It's allowing you to catch up if you did do a vinyasa for two.
And one,
Releasing the knees down to the floor.
Turn the palms around just to give them a little bit of a break a little bit of a rest palms are still flat on the floor fingers are pointing back towards the knees just give it a bit of a sway left right and flip them back over.
Tucking the toes,
Downward dog.
Lifting the hips.
Take your right leg up to the ceiling with your breath in.
Fallen triangle passing through the right elbow left elbow kick it out Left hand comes down,
Flip it over,
Hovering wild thing.
Don't touch the floor with that right foot.
Take that right hand down and bring that right knee to the right elbow touch.
Slowly massage the forearm as you bring it down to the floor touch.
Take it back up to the elbow and then back down again.
Release.
Turn your kickstand,
Your right shin,
Flex your right toes,
Take the left foot back and half pigeon as you slowly come down.
So as you release the body down,
Just relax.
You can relax the forehead,
Relax the arms,
Or again,
You can make it more active by coming onto the pads of the fingers,
Stretching forward,
And pushing the head down between the shoulders.
Stay for another two.
And one slowly coming back pushing onto the hands drop onto your right hip sweep that left leg all the way around and we're going to find a forward fold as we bring our right sole of the foot to the inner left thigh flex the left toes walk the hands forward and come into your forward fold if you if you can grab the toes great or just grab the shins or ankle or just have the hands on the floor.
If you're super flexy,
You can place a block behind the foot and grab the block.
That might give you a little bit of a challenge.
Eventually walking the hands back take your right knee pointed up to the ceiling so the right sole of the foot is down and then we're going to twist to the right hand side using your right hand behind you as support.
Hold here for two,
Look over your right shoulder.
See if you can keep your spine nice and straight.
For one.
And gently release.
Find a counter twist to your left hand side.
So just bring both hands down,
Dropping that right shoulder.
And then take a bend of the left knee,
Bringing the ankles together.
Very important that your left foot is in front of the right.
We're going to walk to the right hand side and lift the hips as we turn around.
So walk to the right,
Lift the hips and you'll find that your feet miraculously untwist themselves.
Find a halfway lift breath in.
And an exhale bring the hands down and walk them forward downward dog Take your left foot up to the ceiling with your breath in.
And take it to Fallen Triangle by passing the left and the right Kicking it out.
Maybe hovering,
Maybe grabbing the foot,
Right hand comes down,
Flip yourself over,
Wild thing,
Maybe hovering.
Hold for two.
And take the left hand down,
Take the left knee to the left elbow.
Elbow,
Sweep it down the forearm,
Touch the floor,
Take it back up.
And sweep it back down again.
As the knee touches,
Kickstand that left shin,
Flex the left toes,
Walk that right foot back,
And come down to your sleeping swan.
Breathe,
Relax.
Make it as active or story as you please making sure that you balance each side out,
So whatever you did on the other side,
Do on this.
Eventually coming back up onto the hands dropping onto that left hip sweep that right leg all the way around to the front finding our forward fold,
Flexing the right foot,
Walking the hands forward.
And drawing the left knee.
Point to the ceiling,
Solo foot down,
Twist to the left,
Using your left hand as support as you twist around.
Look over your left shoulder.
And then as you find your counter-twist,
Bring both hands down on the right-hand side.
Come back to center.
And bending your right knee,
Bring the ankles together.
Remember,
Very important,
Have your right foot in front of the left.
Hands walk over to the left hand side,
Lift the hips and we find a forward fold at the back of your mat.
Toe heel the feet out to about hip width,
Grab your elbows and either stay in stillness or sway.
Gently from left to right,
Releasing or decompressing the spine.
And eventually we're going to walk the hands forward all the way back to a downward dog Bend your knees and elbows,
Look up towards the hands and take a breath in.
As you exhale hop,
Skip or jump your feet between the hands.
At the top of the mat.
And then walk your hands behind you,
Sit down.
And have your legs out at about 90 degrees.
Lean back,
Find bow pose,
Just four breaths.
Before rolling back onto your back,
Drawing the knees in,
Giving yourself a hug.
Hold.
If you can,
Get the shoulders off the floor,
Drawing yourself closer.
If the knees are accessible,
Then you can kiss them.
I want to hear it as you do.
Well,
I can't exactly hear it,
But you know what I mean.
Release,
Open the knees out wide,
Thread the arms through,
Happy baby,
Grabbing the blades of the feet.
Otherwise grabbing the shins and you can keep the baby happy by a slight sway from left to right.
Stay in stillness Now we've done a couple of twists so we won't do any reclined,
But what I'm going to offer you is an inversion before we complete the practice.
So you can choose to lengthen the legs up to the ceiling,
Have your hands at your side for Viparita Karani.
You can choose to make it even more restorative by using a block of wood.
And placing it under the hips to keep them nice and neutral.
Or you can choose shoulder stand,
Taking the hips up.
Supporting them and pointing the feet up to the ceiling.
Whatever option you choose.
Making it your practice.
I was going to say this morning,
But it may be evening for you.
And just staying there for another three.
And two.
And one if you're in shoulder stand find plow taking the feet behind the head eventually bending the legs and then rolling back down.
And if you did find an inversion,
As suggested,
Can you come into fish pose just for breath or a couple of breaths.
Take your hands,
Palms flat underneath the glutes.
And then as you walk the elbows in,
Lift the chest up,
Dropping the head back.
I'm just going to be here for another two.
One and gently release walk the elbows out And we're going to.
Complete the practice with a short shavasana.
So open up the legs,
Make sure there's enough space to breathe.
Allow the feet to flop open.
You can have your hands at your side,
Palms facing the ceiling.
And make sure you keep a little bit of a gap between the arms and the body as well.
Just let the armpits breathe.
I'll let you know when it's time to get out.
So just making yourself,
Again,
As heavy as possible.
We started off here.
Can you notice how the body feels different?
After practice.
And maybe working out what is different.
Does the body feel looser?
Does it feel heavier?
Is the breath flowing a little bit better?
As you notice these little things let go of control of the breath as it flows through.
And find your Shavasana.
It's always a little bit awkward when I'm filming a flow and we're lying in Shavasana and thinking,
Is this long enough?
Is this long enough?
Have you used this long enough?
So make your own choice,
You can choose to continue on with your shavasana.
Or we can slowly start to come out and close the practice.
If you're starting to close out with me,
We'll start to wriggle the toes and the fingers.
If you're continuing on,
Just give it a pause and unpause when you're ready.
Turn the head from side to side.
And eventually drawing the legs together,
Point the toes,
Stretch the arms above the head,
Take a breath in and eventually drawing the knees into the chest.
Allow them to fold to one side,
Left or right.
And eventually make your way up into a seat.
As you make your way up into a seat,
See if you can keep the eyes closed.
Keep the body movements slow.
Invitation to bring the palms together.
Draw them into the forehead,
And maybe even a slight bow.
In reverence to your practice today.
The lighting may cease.
It honors.
And respects the very same lighted season each and every one of you practicing with me today.
Let's take a deep breath in through the nose together.
And let it out through the mouth.
Releasing the hands,
Blinking the eyes open.
I just want to say how grateful I am for you to choose practicing with me today.
I hope you continue and you find some inspiration,
Some enlightenment,
If that's even a thing.
Or just motivation to continue practicing.
Keep it up and hopefully we'll see you in the next practice.
Thank you.
