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.
Meet your Teacher
Melbourne, Australia
Transcript
Okay, Welcome. Welcome to another flow. My name is Nicole. I'll be taking you through a, Let me say just creative, Challenging, Whatever words you want to put to that. It will be anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour, So strap yourselves in. In terms of aids or props, You'll just need a mat yourself and maybe a block. And without further ado, Let's start off in child's pose. So child's pose is a pose you are very welcome to come back to at any time. Bring your knees wide to the edges of the mat, Bring your tops of the feet down, Big toes together, And as you stretch your arms forward, Allow the body to rest in between the thighs. And you can rest your forehead down and, You know, Because it's a shorter flow and we don't want to waste any time, Let's keep the elbows off the floor just to bring up the warmth a bit faster, So we heat the body up, Making it less restorative but more active. And you can imagine that your hands are gripping a basketball by gripping into the tops of the fingers and making also sure that we are drawing the shoulders in so that your thumb and first finger are also making nice contact with the mat. While you're here, See if you can breathe in and out through the nose and we'll try and maintain this nostril breath throughout the practice. If you have any congestion or anything like that, It is winter after all, Or coming to, Please feel free to breathe through the mouth as well. Spending another two or three breaths, Just allowing the body to resist movement. And then starting to move into some movement, Let's walk the hands over to the left hand side, Just coming off the mat, Keep the torso low and the right shoulder dipping a little bit lower down just to keep the chest nice and neutral, Maybe even interlacing the right hand on top of the left and just breathe through the right side of the body. And then releasing that interlace, Walk the hands through center, Over to the right hand side, Maybe the left on top of right, And remember that left shoulder, Just seeing if you can draw it closer down to the earth to keep the shoulder stable, And just hold here for two. And one, And gently moving back to center, Coming up onto all fours, Drawing your hands underneath your shoulders and again that gripping motion with the hands, Tuck through the toes and keep the knees about hip width apart just underneath the hips. A little bit of a disclaimer, I got attacked by a bird just before filming this outside, And so it got its wing into my eye, And I hope that's all that it got, But my eyes are a little bit red from that and it might tear up, Just letting you know about that, I'm not getting emotional or anything. Let's start with circles, Moving the shoulders around the wrists, And as you do, Can you try and feel that weight shift of the body moving the shoulders around. Change direction, You can go the other way. The wrists are a very important part of our practice and we put a lot of weight into them, So it's really important to give them the due notice that they need preparing them for practice. Come back to center and just turn the hands around, Fingers pointing back towards the knees, And with your toes tucked, Maybe even tucking the chin, Pushing the spine up to the ceiling, Can you push the hips back towards the heels, And just keeping the heels of the hands connected to the floor, Breathe, And as you gently release, Turn the hands to face the front once again, And flipping them over, Let's start with just the left hand, Flip the palm so it's facing the ceiling, Fingers pointing back towards the knees, And see if you can keep all five digits connected to the floor as you push the hips back. It might be a tiny little movement, It might be not at all, And release, Shift weight to the right hand and just give the left hand a bit of a shake before placing it down and moving to the other side, So right hand, Palm facing up, And move the hips back. And as you release, Give the hand a shake, Coming back to your tabletop. We're going to stretch the right leg back, Keep the toes connected to the floor to start off with, And imagine you're pushing your body back with your hands and forward with your toes, So you're creating a little bit of tension there, Your heel is hitting the back of the room or mat, Or pointing there anyway, Just stay here, Another two, And one, Then using your inhale, Lift your heel towards the ceiling, Balance on your left knee, And use your exhale to draw that right knee into the right tricep, Take it as high as you can, Maybe even lifting the left knee, Just for a bit of a challenge. Hold for two, One, Release the knee down, We're going to take that right leg, Stretch it back, And then over to the left hand side, Make contact with the floor, So you're finding a little bit of a bend in the body, You can choose to take that right hand to the top left corner, And even go further by placing the forearms down onto the floor. If you'd like a little bit of a challenge while we're here, You can choose to lift the right foot and hover it off the floor, That just brings a little bit of compression to that left hip, Stay here for two, Release the foot down to the floor, Come onto the hands, Draw the hands back to your tabletop position, And that right knee back. A few cat-cows, Just to find a little bit of an intermission, Use your breath in to open through the chest, Gaze up, Allow the belly to sink, And as you exhale, Tuck everything in. Two more like that, Breath in as you open, And exhale, Tuck it in, And one more, Breath in, Open, And as you exhale, Tuck it in. And then starting with that left leg, Stretch it out to the back, Keep it connected to the floor to start off with, And just hold. And then using a breath in, Let's lift the heel towards the ceiling, Pause, And then use your exhale to take it to that left tricep. Either hold it here as I am, Or keep the right toe tucked and maybe lift that right knee off the floor. Hold here for two. One, Drop the knee down to the floor, Sweep that leg all the way back to the back of the room, And then take it over to the right hand side, Make contact with the floor. In your slight bend here, You can stay if that's enough for you, Or take that left hand to top right corner and choose to stay there, Or another option is to place that forearm down on the floor, And maybe even hover the foot. Pause here for two. Or wherever you find your choice. Releasing the foot down to the floor, Hands come back to the center, Knee comes down to tabletop. Flip your wrists around, Just because we've put a little bit of weight onto the wrists, So we want to try and keep them nice and limber, And maybe just rock the shoulders from side to side. And coming back to your tabletop, Move with the breath here. So use an inhale to lift that right heel, Kick the leg out to the back of the room, And an exhale to bring the chin down to the floor as you bend the arms. Straighten the arms, Breath in, And then draw that right knee into the chest with the exhale. Stretch the leg out to the back in, Bend the elbows, Draw the chin down. Straighten the arms, And draw the knee into the chest. I'm going to complete one more like that. Stretch the leg to the back, Bend the arms, Straighten, Knee to chest. And then as you stretch it out to the back, We're going to place the foot down at the back of the mat, Drop the right heel, Kickstand that left leg, And then take both hands up towards the ceiling. So we're finding kind of like a gate pose, But then turning that right foot to face the back, Bending through the right knee, And you can choose here to bring the right forearm down, Lifting the left arm to the ceiling, Or to challenge yourself a bit more, You can grab your left wrist and take that right elbow and reach it down towards that right knee, Keeping the chest open. Stay for two, Whatever you chose, For one. Windmilling both hands down to the front of the mat, Place the right foot down as you take the left knee into the chest, Hold, And then step it back, Finding downward dog. It is our first downward dog, So feel free to pedal the feet, Moving the hips, Eventually finding stillness, Pausing, Finding that weight equilibrium or balance between the hands and the feet, And then eventually the knees come back down onto the floor, And we're going to move to the other side. So, Taking a breath in, Lift that left foot to the back of the room, And then exhale, Bending the elbows. Straighten, Breath in, Knee to the chest, Exhale. Straighten the leg, Breath in, Bend the elbows, Make sure that you're tucking them in so you don't want them to flare. Straighten the arms, And knee into the chest. One more like that, Straighten the leg, Bend the arms. Straighten the arms, Knee to chest. I'm going to be taking my back away from you, So take that leg down to the back, Place it down onto the floor, Drop the heel down, Kickstand that right leg. Take the arms to the ceiling, First of all, And then finding that gate pose kind of asana, We're turning the left foot to the back, Bending the left knee, And again, Elbow to knee, Right hand up to the ceiling, Or you can choose to grab that wrist and take that left elbow to the knee. Stay here for two. For one, Windmill the hands all the way to the front of the mat, Take the left foot down, Right knee into the chest, Hold, And step it back, Downward dog. Just pedal the feet just for a moment to release, And then use an inhale to draw the shoulders forward, Creating a straight line in plank, Shoulders over wrists. Drop the knees down to the floor, And bend the elbows to drop the body all the way down. Untuck the feet, Baby cobra, Breath in, And then exhale as you release. Tuck the toes, Push through to that knees, And with an exhale, Finding that upside-down V-shape, Downward dog. Another inhale draws the shoulders forward once again, Plank, Drop the knees, Bend the elbows, Come halfway down, Chaturanga exhale. Straighten the arms with your breath in, Tabletop, And exhale, Downward dog. One more, Making it a full vinyasa, Breath in, Straighten the legs, Arms, Find a plank, Exhale, Bend the elbows, Come halfway down, Chaturanga, Slip the feet, Upward dog, And downward dog as you exhale. Pause here, We're going to take an inhale as we lift the heels as high as we can, And a release, Both heels and breath. Two more like that, Breath in, Lift, And an exhale, Release. One more lift, And exhale, Release. And take the right foot, Step it into the middle of the mat, Just at the back of the mat, And then walk as if you're on a tightrope all the way, One foot in front of the other, All the way to the top of the mat. Once you're there, Toe-heel the feet out to about hip-width apart, And then grabbing your elbows, We're going to make ourselves heavy with the torso, Finding our ragdoll, And an invitation to keep a generous bend in the knees, And maybe even a sway from left to right. Make sure the head is heavy, Imagine it as a bowling ball, And eventually releasing the elbows, Reaching the hands to the floor, Take them up towards the shins, Straighten the legs and the spine, Maybe looking forward, Breath in, Halfway, And then exhale as you fall forward. Two more like that, Halfway, Breath in, And exhale, Release. One more. And then toe-heel the feet in, So the toes are together, Slight gap between the heels, Keep the knees bent, Utkatasana, Let's sit into your high chair, Lifting the arms towards the ceiling, Palms are facing each other, And you want to be able to still see your big toes over your knees, So maybe leaning slightly back, And especially ladies, Make sure that you are not untucking your tailbone, But keep your spine as straight as you can, So you may need to tuck your tailbone in a little to keep that length, Hold here for two, One, Use an inhale to straighten the legs and the arms reach for the ceiling, Allow the palms to meet, And then draw them into the heart as you exhale. In, Take the arms to the ceiling, Palms meet, Back to the heart. Last time, A bit of a change here, Take the hands to the ceiling, Palms meet, Draw them through the center, Bend the knees and reach all the way down, Coming to a forward fold. Halfway lift, Hands to shins, Breath in, And release with your forward fold. And then we're going to take that right knee, Draw it up into the chest as we find stalk pose, Taking the hands up to the ceiling, Flex through the right toes, So they're drawing up towards the knees, And then hold. Find a point of balance, A drishti, A point of focus, And then we're going to turn and twist to the right hand side. You can choose to support your right knee with your left hand, Reaching that right arm to the back, Maybe even turning your gaze all the way to the back, Hold, And then slowly moving forward, Or turning the torso forward, Reaching the arms to the ceiling, Hold. Curtsy, Taking that right foot and stepping it back behind the left, Leaning forward, Bending the left knee, Taking the arms back. And those three movements, We're going to move with the breath. So, Get ready. Settle yourself in, And let's go. Take a breath in, Take the knee into the chest, Reach the arms, Twist to the right, Exhale. Back to stalk, Breath in, Arms reach, Curtsy as you exhale. That was one. Breath in, Take the knee into the chest, Twist to the right, Exhale. Hands to the ceiling, Breath in, And curtsy, Breath out. One more time, Breath in, Take the knee into the chest, Twist, Hands to the ceiling, And curtsy with your breath out. Pause here, And then take the hands down to frame that left foot. Take your right foot and reach it to the back of the mat, But keep it on the left side of the mat. Stay on your toes, And we're going to take a wild thing by taking that left foot and flipping it over, And then reaching the hips up to the ceiling as you reach your left hand forward. Hold for two, Hold for one, Hold for two, Hold for one, Release the hips down to face the back of the room, Keep the right toes flexed so the right leg is still straight, And then take the left knee down as you bring the sole to the inner right thigh. You may be coming off your mat, That's totally fine. Let's walk the hands forward, Coming to a forward fold, And you can bend that right knee slightly to draw yourself closer in towards that thigh. Hold here, And then release, Walking the hands back towards you, Take that left knee into the chest, And we're going to take a twist to the left hand side. So your left hand will go out to the back to support you, Grab that left knee in, And twist over your left shoulder. Make sure that you keep your spine nice and straight, Hold, And make sure that right foot is continuously flexed too. And then as you release, Counter-twist, Hands go to the right, Drop that left shoulder down, And then as you take the hands back to the left, Let's lift the hips, Taking the hands to the ceiling. That left foot is going to reach up to the ceiling, Breath in, And as you exhale, Place it down, Downward dog. Let's pedal the feet before we move on to the other side. And to get to the top where we started, Let's take the right foot to right edge of the mat, Left foot to left edge of the mat. As the feet are on the edges of the mat, Keep them there as we hop like kangaroos all the way to the top of the mat. So tiny little hops as you move all the way up, Eventually landing the feet in between the hands. Draw the toes together, Slight gap between the heels, Keep the knees bent, Utkatasana, Sitting in your chair, Lifting the hands or arms up to the ceiling. Let's pause here, Breathe. Option to come onto the tippy toes, Lifting the heels off the floor, And you may find that might create a bit more space to sit a little bit lower. Hold here for two, You're at home, Nobody's looking, You can challenge yourself. Hold for one, Release the heels, Straighten the legs, Reach the arms, Breath in, Palms meet, Draw them through the center as you fold forward all the way down. Halfway lift, Breath in, And then exhale as you release. Left knee comes into the chest, Stock pose, Taking the hands all the way up to the ceiling. Pause here as you find balance, Finding your Drishti, Relax your shoulders, Make sure the palms are facing each other so the little fingers are drawing in. And then taking a twist to the left hand side so the left arm reaches back, You can take your right hand to the left knee, Just to encourage the twist, Maybe turn the gaze all the way to that left hand and pause. Coming back to center, Find stalk once again, Reaching the arms. And the next pose we're going to is curtsy, So taking that left foot to the right hand side behind the right, Lean forward with the chest, Take the arms back and bend that right knee. Hold here. Those three movements, We're going to move with the breath, So bear with me while we take another breath in here. And getting ready with the exhale. Alright, Breath in, Let's take the left knee into the chest, Reach the arms, Stalk, Twist to the left hand side as you exhale. Inhale, Take the hands back to the ceiling, Stalk, And find a curtsy as you exhale. Stalk, Inhale, Twist to the left, Exhale. Stalk in, Curtsy, Exhale. We've got one more. Inhale, Stalk, And twist. Stalk, And curtsy. Pause here. Hands come down to the floor to frame that right foot, The left foot steps to the back of the mat, Keep it onto the right edge of the mat, And then finding a wild thing as we take that right foot, Flipping it all the way over, Hips lift, And we reach that right arm back. Hold here for two, Hold for one, Come down to the floor as you face the back, Left leg is lengthened, Flex through the left toes, The right knee goes down, And the sole of the right foot comes to the inner left thigh. Walk your hands forward, Finding your forward fold, And make sure that you can maybe reach as far as you can or lengthen further by bending through that left knee. Hold for another two, One, Walk the hands back towards you, Right knee comes into the chest, Twisting over to the right hand side, Right hand reaches back and supports you as you lengthen the spine. Make sure that left foot stays engaged and flexed towards the ceiling. Hold. Counter-twist, Taking the hands over to the left hand side, And then drawing that right shoulder down. Come back to the right hand side, As you twist around and over, The hands come to frame, Or at the top of the mat, Right knee comes into chest. Hold, And step it back to your downward dog. Nice and simple. Let's float through a vinyasa just to flush that out. Inhale as you come with the shoulders forged to find plank, Exhale drawing yourself down halfway, Chaturanga. Set the feet, Open up chest, And downward dog as you exhale. Now, I'm going to give you five breaths. If you're there, Maybe you're finding yourself too challenged to draw yourself down to child's pose, That's with the knees nice and wide, Big toes together, And hips back. You can choose to stay in your downward dog if that suits you better, Or if you'd like a bit more of a challenge, Don't feel like you're challenged enough, You can draw your forearms down to the floor, Finding dolphin, Where you're maybe walking the feet a bit more in to raise the hips a little bit higher. Whatever you choose. Mine's going to be child's pose this morning, Or evening, Whenever you're practicing. Taking the hips back, And releasing down. We're only here for another four, And another three, And another two, And another one. Slowly making our way back up to our downward dog. Once you're there in your upside down V shape, Maybe just a breath to pedal out the feet as we prepare. Let's take the right leg up to the ceiling, Bend the knee, Open the hip, Maybe coming higher on to the left toes, And then taking that knee to the right elbow touch, Back to the ceiling, And then a bend of the arms drawing the chin down to the floor. A little bit of a push up. Straighten the arms, Breath in, And exhale, Step the foot forward between the hands. We're moving up to stalk pose, You'll remember these next three poses. Inhale, Take the left knee into the chest, Reach, Find a twist to the left hand side as you exhale. Inhale, Back to stalk, And curtsy with your exhale. Hands come down to the floor, Left foot to the back right corner of the mat, Flip yourself over to wild thing, Lifting the hips reaching the right arm, And then we're here for two, Option to stay, Or you can come a little bit lighter on that right foot, Maybe for one, Hovering it off the floor, Hold, And then as you flip back over, Right hand comes down, Fallen triangle taking that right foot out to the left, Reach that left arm to the ceiling, Taking the hips with you high, Hold, Or grab your foot to find a split, Or just hover the leg. Left hand comes down, Knee comes into the chest, Hold, And then step that foot forward, Top of the mat, In between the hands. Just maybe correct that left foot so it's out a little bit more, And it's a bit more comfortable. Drop the left heel down, And we're going to windmill the arms open to Virabhadrasana 2, Warrior 2. Reach forward, Flip the palm, Keep the right leg bent as you take the right arm to the ceiling, And then taking that right elbow to right knee, Find your side angle, Or extended, Taking the arm to the ear. Hold for the breath, And then let's reverse, Straightening through the left leg, Maybe flicking the toes up, Triangle pose, Toes come down, Reach forward first, And then down with the right hand, Taking the left hand to the ceiling. Hold here, This is where your block may become handy, But your shin will do just as good to support your torso. Hold for 1. Let's reverse, Taking that right arm back to the ceiling, Keeping that right leg straight, Maybe flicking the toes up, Toes come down, And windmill the hands down, Wide-legged forward fold, Turning to the left hand side. Again, Excuse my back. Let's find a little halfway lift breath in, And then exhale as you release. Choice here, You can widen the feet as wide as you can, Bringing the floor closer to you, And arm balance is always welcome here. If you're playing with one today, My suggestion is tripod stand, So the hands come down underneath the shoulders, Head comes down, Creating a little triangle, And maybe the feet flow up. Hold here for 2. Hold for 1. And then slowly making your way down, Taking the feet back to the floor. Let's walk the hands over to the left hand side to frame that left foot. Sweep the left foot up to the ceiling breath in, And as you exhale, Bring the knee to the left elbow. Inhale, Take it back to the ceiling, And as you exhale, Bring it back to the left elbow, But maybe straighten to the left leg, Come to chaturanga, And maybe lift that right foot off the floor. Right foot comes down, Inhale, Take the left foot back to the ceiling, Bring it back to the left elbow, And then just massage that forearm down, Taking the knee all the way to the wrist, Kickstand that left shin, Flex the left toes, Walk the right foot back, And then finding your half pigeon, Bring yourself eventually down to sleeping swan, As they call it in yin, Relaxing the shoulders, And making yourself as heavy as you can. Breathing, Making sure the breath continues to flow. We're going to slowly make our way back up. Drop onto your left hip, Sweeping that right leg all the way up to the front. A forward fold, Keeping the left sole on the inner right thigh, Reaching your hands forward as far as you can, And then gently walking them back, Finding a twist, Taking that left knee to the chest, Twisting over to the left, And releasing, Finding that counter-twist to the right, Dropping the left shoulder, And then as you find yourself walking over back to the left-hand side, Flip over, And take that left leg to the ceiling, And maybe finding a one-legged flow, Or a chin stand, Handstand, Whatever you have in your little bag of tricks, Eventually finding downward dog. Let's take a deep breath in here, Through the nose, And a long breath out through the mouth. Let's prepare. Another breath in, And another breath out, And then taking the left leg to the ceiling, Breath in, Bending through the knee, Opening the hip, Coming high onto the right toes, And then joining, Taking that left knee to the left elbow touch. Take the leg back up to the ceiling, Keep the hips square, And then bending through the elbows, Keeping the legs straight, Drawing the chin down, Straighten the arms with your breath in, And step the foot forward between the hands, Top of the mat. Taking that right knee into the chest, Stalk pose, Taking the hands to the ceiling, Finding a twist to the right-hand side. Hands go back up, Stalk, And find your curtsy, Taking the arms back, Leaning forward. Hands come down to the floor, Right foot to the back of the left side of the mat, Flip yourself over, Find wild thing, Lifting the hips, Staying here for two, For one maybe lifting, Or making the left foot a little bit lighter, And then as you take your left hand down, Fallen triangle, Taking that left leg out, Either keeping hovering, Or grabbing the toes, Finding a split, Right hand comes down, Left knee into the chest, Hold, Maybe correcting that right leg, And then stepping the left foot forward, Top of the mat. Drop your right heel down, Windmill the arms open, Find your warrior two, Hold here, Reach that left arm forward, Flip the palm, Reverse, Inhale, Side angle, As you exhale, Taking the left elbow down, And maybe extended as you draw the right arm to the right ear. Let's reverse, Taking a straight left leg, Reach that left arm to the ceiling, Maybe lifting the left toes, And then triangle pose as you sweep that left arm forward, And then down, Taking the right arm up. Hold here for two, For one, Let's reverse again, Taking the left arm to the ceiling, Maybe lifting the left toes, And then windmilling the hands down, Turn to the right, Wide-legged forward fold. This time, Let's keep the left hand down, And take the right hand up in a twist, Breath in, And as you exhale, Bring it down, Swap it over, Left arm up, Breath in, And as you exhale, Bring it down. Maybe halfway lift as you breathe in, And as you exhale, Release, Walking the hands over to that right foot at the back of the mat, Sweep that right leg to the ceiling with your breath in, And then take that knee to the right elbow with your breath out. Breath in, Lift, And remember you've got your kundalini asana option here, So take that knee to the elbow, Maybe straightening the leg, Maybe lifting the back foot. Drop the left foot down, Sweep the leg back up to the ceiling, And as you exhale, Take it back to the knee, Massage the forearm, Drop the knee to the wrist, Kickstand that left shin, Flex the toes, Take the left foot back, And finding your half pigeon, Eventually coming all the way down, And releasing. Pause here for two, Pause for one, And then slowly making your way back up, Drop onto that right hip, Sweep that left leg forward to the top of the mat, A forward fold as you walk the hands forward, And then walking them back in towards you, Get a twist to the right hand side, Drawing the left knee into the chest, And coming back to find your counter-twist, Dropping the right shoulder. We're going to make our way onto our backs, So drawing yourself to the middle of the mat, Taking the knees into the chest, Give yourself a hug, Drawing the knees in, And then gently open them up, Take the arms through and grab the blades of the feet, Happy baby, And as we're coming to the close of this practice, Invitation to maybe shut down the eyes for the remainder, And maybe make that a more internal journey. Releasing the feet, Take the hands around the knees once again, Give yourself one last hug, Maybe taking the shoulders off the floor, And if the knees are close enough, Giving them a kiss. Releasing the knees, Taking the feet down to the floor, Keep the legs bent 90 degrees, And then take your right ankle and place it onto your left knee. Take the arms wide, Either cactus or straight arms, And then take the knees over to the right hand side. You can choose to turn your head to the left if both shoulders are connected to the floor, And hold. Gently coming back to center, Changing over, Taking the left ankle onto right knee, Taking the knees over to the left hand side as you twist your head to the right. Slowly coming back to center, Open the knees out wide as you bring the soles of the feet together to find our reclined butterfly, Supta baddha konastha. Option to bring your right hand onto your lower belly, And your left hand onto your sternum or heart center. Make sure that your elbows are relaxed, Eyes closed, And your head is in a nice neutral position. You can choose to close the practice here, And stop the video, Or staying with me for the next minute or so, And feeling the inhales and exhales through the rise and fall of the belly. As we quieten down the mind, And maybe focus on the sounds that are around us, And we try and slow the breath down. If you're still with me, Keep the eyes closed, Release the hands off the chest, Draw them behind the thighs as you draw the knees back in. Letting them fall to the left or right as you slowly make your way up into a seat. And as you face the front, Or face the camera or screen, Or whatever you're practicing with, Whatever media outlet you're using, Invitation to bring the palms together once you've found your seat, And draw them into the heart. Let's take a deep breath in through the nose together, And a long breath out through the mouth. Thank you for practicing with me today. My name is Nicole. I hope you enjoyed the practice. Tune in for more, And stay happy, Well, And healthy. Content. Namaste.
