Welcome to this Half Moon Flow.
In this practice that is short and sweet,
We'll move through various different options and variations to explore half moon,
With the variation to later on come into sugar cane pose to open the heart and to hold on to the back of your foot or your ankle if that is accessible for you.
So today's heart opening class will be a combination of some familiar poses and some new transitions that will be refreshing and fun.
For this class it will be helpful to lay your yoga mat horizontally so you explore left and right rather than front and back and will be changing directions every now and then.
It's also helpful to have two yoga blocks,
One on each side of the yoga mat as we explore and move forward into half moon pose or sugar cane pose in a standing position later on.
So let's start in a kneeling position in a variation of hero pose where you let your sit bones touch or reach towards your heels and as you exhale relax the shoulders down,
Feel that you're stretching the top of the quadricep muscles and from here gently and slowly let your eyes close.
Drawing the space and feeling how it feels to expand and contract your heart with every breath in and breath out.
Now draw your awareness to the space of your heart,
Feel the space bright and open as you inhale and as you exhale feel your shoulders soften,
Feel the back of your spine gently release any unnecessary tension down to the earth.
We'll do this two more times,
Breath in,
Feel your heart expand and brighten and feel your shoulders soften.
One last time on your own.
Now slowly and gently if your eyes are still closed let your eyes blink open.
From here we'll come into a few rounds of cat cow in this position.
As you breathe in,
Roll the shoulder blades back,
Lift your chest,
Shine your heart up to the sky,
Feel the back bend in your spine.
When you breathe out,
Round the spine,
Maybe you can slide your hands all the way down along your thighs,
Close towards your knees and look in towards your belly button.
Four more rounds,
Breath in,
Rolling the shoulder blades back,
Reaching up,
Looking up and breathing out,
Rounding the spine,
Drawing in.
Flowing through the next three rounds at your own pace,
Following your own rhythm.
Now as you come to the end of that last round,
Gently and slowly we'll come back through the center.
With the next breath in,
We'll rise so you come up onto your knees and you can let your knees be about hip distance apart.
One thing we're going to do here is to reaffirm your connection with the earth and you might want to tuck your toes under for extra support if that feels good for you.
As you exhale,
Reach your bum back and feel your sit bones widen apart,
Draw the belly in and then scoop the tailbone in just slightly to firm the last part of your lower back and to draw everything into the midline,
Including the two of your thighs.
Now keeping this center,
Let your heart brighten as you roll the shoulder blades back and soften your arms down and now we'll gradually shift the weight on towards your right leg as we lengthen and stretch your left foot and left leg off to the side.
With the next breath in,
Flow your hands up into gate pose,
Parigasana.
We'll take three deep breaths here,
Connecting with the sense of balance and from here now we're going to reach over to your extended leg as you sweep your right arm by the side of your ear.
Feel that stretch all the way through from your right waist to your right ribs,
The intercostal muscles,
Your armpit,
The lymphatic area through the sides of your arm.
Good,
Now slowly and gently we rise up and now we'll move in the opposite direction and let your right palm gently touch down onto the ground.
If your palm doesn't quite touch down onto the ground,
You're welcome to use a block or any form of support,
Something like a thick book might do just well and make sure the palm or the fingertips are right underneath your right shoulder and you can slightly shift forward so you allow and feel that support from your right hand and as you do so you might find your left foot become light.
When it becomes light,
You can float it up so you come into a variation of a side plank and we'll stay here breathing in and out for three,
Two,
One.
Let's slowly release that.
Now keeping the connection between the two,
We're going to reach your hand up and beyond and your leg back.
See if you can reach it backwards.
Imagine your hand could reach back and touch your foot and as you breathe out,
Round the spine and let your knee tap towards your elbow.
Breath in,
Lengthen.
Breath out,
Draw in.
Let's try one more.
Breath in,
Lengthen,
Reach to the back as far as you can.
Breath out,
Draw in.
Now the next time you reach back,
Instead of letting your hand come overhead,
Reach your hand by the side of your body and maybe you can touch the back of your heel or your foot or your toes and we're going to kick back here in this floor sugar cane pose for the next five,
Four,
Three,
Roll the shoulder blades back,
Shine the heart and one,
Release.
Let's slowly come back into the original variation in side plank.
Step the left foot back onto the ground,
Press down through that foot with the next breath and using the side of your core,
Coming back up.
Exhale,
Release the arms and then we'll come on to the other side.
Feel free to make any adjustments to your space and we're going to prepare for the other side.
Now shifting the weight towards your left leg this time and step your right foot off to the side.
Let's take a moment to reaffirm your connection with the earth,
Feeling the outer corner of your right foot and maybe your left knee and perhaps your left toes.
From here,
Slowly and gently,
We're going to reach to the side from gate pose.
Lift your left hand up and let your right palm gently begin to touch down and connect with the side of your leg.
Every breath in,
You feel the whole length along the left side of your body.
Every time you exhale,
You soften into the shape.
One more breath here.
Great,
Now with the next breath in,
We rise up and now we move in the opposite direction and we let your left hand move down towards the ground.
Same options as before,
You might stay with the palms right underneath your shoulders if that's accessible for you.
If you would like to have more support,
You can have a block underneath your palm and make sure it's firmly connected to the ground and level and you might want to tuck your back toes under for the knee that's bent.
I like to shift my hips slightly forward so I really feel that momentum so that the back toes of that right leg can float up so that we can come into this side plank variation on the other side.
And we'll stay here breathing in and out,
See if you can engage your right heel,
Lengthen your right fingertips,
Push down through your left palm,
Shine your heart forward while you draw your belly in.
Good,
Now from here we'll reach the hands and your arm in the opposite direction.
Reach them back as if you could bend your elbow back and touch your foot from the back.
As you exhale,
Let the knee tap in towards your elbow,
Draw in.
Every breath in,
If you could expand towards the back.
Every breath out,
Round in the opposite direction.
One last time,
Breath in and breath out.
Now the next time you reach back,
Instead of letting your hand come overhead,
Reach it just by the side of your body and maybe the hands gently graze the side of your calf,
Your thigh,
Your heel or maybe they hold on to the back of your foot and kick that foot back to open your heart here in the floor sugarcane pose.
For the next three,
Two,
One.
Great,
Well let's slowly release coming back and then we will lengthen that right foot down.
With the next breath in,
Rise up through the strength of the sides of your body.
Exhale,
Release.
Great work,
All the prep work is now done and then now we'll come into an all-force position facing towards the left side of your yoga mat.
Have the blocks handy,
One on the left,
One on the right side of yoga mat.
We'll come into five rounds of cat-cow from here.
Breath in,
Reach up,
Look up,
Breath out,
Round the spine and draw your belly in.
Flowing through your own rhythm,
Your own breath,
Your own pace for the next four more rounds.
Now as you come to the end of that last round,
Slowly and gently we're going to tuck the toes under,
Shift the bum towards the heels,
Push the palms away from the ground and magnetize the fingertips,
Let them connect with the earth.
Draw the shoulder blades back,
Lengthen and lift your knees off the ground,
Tailbone up to the sky,
Downward facing dog.
First one of the day,
Feel free to pedal out your feet.
You might bend one knee and lengthen the other heel to the earth and then slowly change sides.
Feel free to do a couple of these and then maybe even lifting both heels off the ground,
Reaching the bum,
Tailbone to the sky,
Then reaffirming your heels,
Your connection to the earth.
From here we'll sweep your left leg up to the sky in a three-legged dog.
Bend the left knee,
Lift it up to the sky,
Then round the knee into the nose and softly let the left foot land close towards your left palm.
Turn the right foot out and we'll cartwheel your arms up into a warrior two position.
In this warrior two position,
Find the stance where you feel that spaciousness in the inner left thigh and groin area,
At the same time you feel that connection through the outer corner of the back foot.
Your heart is right in the center,
You're neither leaning forward nor back and you find that nice bend through the front knee so you activate the thigh and the outer bum area of that front leg.
Let your eyes,
Your drishti,
Gaze look beyond your left fingertips.
We'll stay here for three,
Two,
One.
Great,
Now softly and gently we let the palms come into the front of the lower belly area.
Imagine you're holding a moon or soft round object,
Perhaps your own energy.
With the next breath in,
As you straighten the legs,
We're going to reach it up to the sky.
Place that moon in the sky,
Then we sweep back towards the right side.
Imagine you draw a half moon down.
As you move forward,
Bend the left knee and reach it forward,
Overhead.
Then as you sweep it up,
Straighten that front leg once again.
Let's try this two more times.
Towards the back,
Your right leg,
Down between both legs,
Towards the left leg and then overhead and slowly coming back up.
One last time,
Following your own rhythm,
Your own pace.
Good,
And when you come to the end of that last round,
Option to come into a floating extended side angle variation,
Where the arms are holding that moon in the sky.
Or maybe you stay with your left forearm on your left thigh,
Or maybe your palm towards the ground,
Whichever feels best for you.
For three,
Two,
One.
Good,
Now slowly and gently straighten that front leg.
Let the palms open.
Feel your heart brighten.
As you exhale,
We come into triangle pose.
And today,
Option to use the block outside your left ankle if you wish,
Keeping the connection with your feet.
Lengthen and brighten your heart.
Roll from your navel,
Your solar plexus,
All the way up to the crown of the head and reach the arms in opposite directions.
Left palm can stay on the block,
Right hand can reach up to the sky.
Find the height of the block that feels good for you for the next three,
Two,
One.
Great work.
Now slowly with the next breath,
Breath in,
Rise up,
Breath out,
Release.
Now we're going to prepare to come into half moon pose or sugarcane pose on this side.
So we're going to place the block slightly in front of you and you're likely going to have to adjust this block even further forward.
I like to inch my back foot in just a tiny bit and bend the front knee.
And we're going to do a practice where we start to spring and feel that momentum forward.
So what we'll do is bend your left knee,
Your right heel almost begins to lift off the ground,
And get ready to lean your heart forward,
Bend the left knee,
Right toes lift off,
And then you balance and come back.
Let's try that again.
We'll do this four more times.
Spring and lift.
And we'll try again.
Spring and lift.
Today I'm a little out of balance.
Spring and lift.
We'll try just one to two more times.
Spring and lift.
And then last time.
Spring and lift.
Now when you come to the end of that last round,
I find what's really helpful is to adjust the block so it's in line with the little toe and right underneath the left shoulder.
And then you can,
If that's within your practice,
Bend your right knee so that you hold on to the outer right foot.
And then perhaps pressing down through the foot,
Maybe you'll find a bit of lift so that you can float the left hand off the block.
And we stay here breathing in and out for three,
Two,
One.
Good.
Now slowly release,
Land gracefully into the warrior two position.
That was fun.
And then we're gonna cartwheel your palms down so you come into a runner's lunge position.
From this runner's lunge position,
We're going to walk your hands all the way to the opposite side,
The right side.
So there you come into a runner's lunge position,
Facing the right side of your yoga mat.
And then three-legged dog.
Lift that right leg up to the sky.
Option to come into a three-legged plank.
Option to move through a three-legged vinyasa.
And then slowly and gently coming into your downward facing dog.
Five full breaths in and out here in your downward facing dog,
Creating length through the whole back of your body,
The back of your legs.
Now slowly and gently,
We'll lengthen your right leg up to the sky.
Bend your right knee,
Lift it even higher,
And draw the knee into the nose as you shift the shoulders forward.
Gently let that foot step forward,
Close to the right hand,
Turn the left foot out.
With the next breath in,
Unravel and open up to warrior two on the other side.
From here,
Take a moment to adjust your stance.
Make sure you feel stable and that you are actively connecting to the outer corner of the back foot.
And at the same time,
You're creating spaciousness in the inner groin area of this front thigh.
Bend through that front knee to create strength in the quadricep muscle and the outer bum muscle.
Draw the belly in.
Notice if you are leaning forward or slightly back,
Find the center and then let the palms flow as an extension of your heart.
Let the fingers shoot away from you and let your gaze look beyond your right fingertips for three,
Two,
One.
Now softly with the next breath,
Let the palms come back to that moon or that ball of energy that you're holding in your front of the lower belly area,
Just in front of the solar plexus.
With the next breath,
Raise it up to the sky as you straighten that front leg,
Your right leg.
Now we move it towards your left leg,
Drawing that half moon shape,
Coming through both legs,
Bend the front knee and complete that half moon so it comes to full circle.
Let's try this two more times.
Towards the left,
Middle,
Side and back.
Let's try this one last time.
Good.
Now from here,
We have the option to come into your extended side angle variation where you either have your hands floating,
Holding that moon or you have your right forearm on your right thigh or perhaps your right palm is by the side of your right foot or ankle.
Whatever option you're in,
We're going to stay here breathing in and out for three,
Two,
One.
Next breath in,
Let's rise your breath.
Open the heart up into a triangle pose to prepare.
Option to have the block right behind your right ankle.
Option to use anything that works for you,
Maybe a thick book and then shine your heart from the belly.
Imagine you lengthen the crown of your head and all four points,
Your hands,
Your feet,
The fifth point,
Your head,
They radiate from the center outwards.
Option to stay at whatever height feels right for you.
Adjusting and then we're going to stay here for three,
Lean your heart open,
Two,
One.
Great work.
Now press down through the feet.
Let your next inhale guide you to rise up.
Exhale,
Soften the arms.
We're going to prepare to come to half moon and sugarcane on this side as well.
So since we're bouncing forward,
You might want to take a step back and clear out any blocks on the other side that might be blocking in your way.
I like to have the block in line with my little toe,
A little bit further in front of me.
I find the length of the torso from the hip to the shoulder is roughly the distance we want the block to be from the little toe.
So we're going to practice this five times,
Leaning forward on towards the right leg.
See if you can lift that back foot,
Open up and then come back.
Let's try this four more times on your own.
Spring and lift.
Maybe you don't even touch the block and land.
Spring and lift.
Falling back,
Bouncing back.
Spring and lift.
Now the back foot is really important.
Actively push through the back heel.
Spring and lift.
And let's come on to the last time.
So preparing yourself,
Pressing down through the four corners of this right foot and lean your heart forward.
Bend through the front knee,
Let your palms maybe gently graze that block.
Find the connection,
Open up,
Push through the heel of that left foot and then option to stay here.
Option to begin to bend the left knee.
Maybe just touch or hold on to that foot and kick that foot away.
As you kick that foot away,
You find leverage and then maybe you float your hand off the block and we stay here.
Whatever option you're in for three,
Two,
One.
Now slowly release.
See if you can gracefully land into a warrior two position without rushing and then we'll cartwheel the palms down to come into a runner's lunge here.
From here,
Walk the hands back to where we started.
Facing towards the left side of the yoga mat,
Take a moment to orientate yourself and then lift your left leg up to the sky.
Three-legged dog,
Feel that spaciousness.
Shift forward,
Option to come into three-legged plank.
From three-legged plank,
Option for three-legged vinyasa.
Upward facing dog or cobra and downward facing dog for five full deep inhalations and exhalations.
At the end of your last breath,
Last round,
Softly let the knees drop to the earth.
Let the knees fall wide apart.
Untuck the toes and reach your bum towards your heels or let the palms reach forward as we soften your forehead towards the ground in child's pose.
If your forehead doesn't quite touch the ground,
You're welcome to stack your palms or let your hands form fists and let them stack one on top of the other so that you can let your forehead rest on them.
I'll demonstrate some options.
If your forehead can touch down onto the ground,
Feel free to let it stay and we're going to linger for about five breaths here.
You're welcome to stay here in this child's pose if that feels good.
If you feel ready to transition gradually to close today's class,
We're going to slowly roll so that you lie on your back.
And as you roll to lie on your back using the support of your palms,
Very,
Very slowly coming down.
Let's take a moment to notice how it feels and you can adjust your clothing,
Your hair,
Make sure nothing is in the way.
We'll start by coming into a few rounds of rolling bridges.
As you're doing this practice,
It's really important not to turn your head sideways to look towards the camera.
So if you've not heard of rolling bridges,
Have a look at my demonstration first and then practice it without looking at the video so that you don't crank your neck sideways.
You want to make sure that your gaze is looking up towards the ceiling or towards the sky.
We'll walk your feet in so that your heels are closer towards the back of your bum.
Maybe your fingertips even graze the back of your heels.
As you press down through the four corners of your feet,
Breathing in,
Lift your bum off the ground,
Draw the belly in and let your arms also flow up towards the ceiling.
You have the option to stay here or maybe even let the arms reach far behind you so they are framing the sides of your ears,
Your head.
When you breathe out,
Let the arms gently flow down along with your hips and let them touch down at the same time.
So that's one round of rolling bridges and we're going to do five more rounds together.
At your own rhythm,
When you breathe in,
Flow up,
Reaching your heart up,
Flushing your lymphatic system,
Reversing that blood flow and then as you breathe out,
Let everything flow back down.
Four more rounds following your own pace,
Your own rhythm,
Which could be faster or slower than me.
Now when you come to the end of your last round,
Breath in,
Reach all the way up.
This time instead of exhaling as you come down,
You have the option,
If you'd like to play an experiment with me,
Exhale all the way out first so that your belly is empty and then when you exhale all the way out,
On empty,
Let the arms and the whole of your spine begin to flow down and as you do this,
Notice that there's a natural bandha,
A lifting upwards of the diaphragmatic area.
Notice how that feels.
Take a couple of breaths here,
Resting your spine,
Feeling the effects of this gentle but potent movement.
Now we'll begin to slide your left leg long along the yoga mat.
Find your left toes away from you,
Then flex the ankle and push through the heel.
Imagine you're standing on your left foot,
Then hug the right knee towards your right shoulder,
Half wind relieving pose.
Feel that juicy stretch all along your outer bum and thigh area.
Relax your shoulders down,
Let the weight of your head,
Your shoulders dissolve towards the earth.
Option to stay here,
Option to come into a gentle spinal twist as we guide your right knee towards your left side and you can adjust how high this knee is to find the right position to get that yummy stretch for your bum and thigh and if it feels good for you,
You can look beyond your right shoulder.
The arms can be in any orientation,
T cactus on your body by the sides,
You choose.
You're welcome to stay.
If you feel ready to transition,
Slowly come back to the start and then now slide your right leg long and instead this time bend the left knee and let the left foot rest on the ground.
We'll point your right toes,
Then flex through the ankle to push through your right heel and imagine you're standing on your right foot instead of lying on the ground,
Then hug your left knee in towards your left shoulder.
Imagine the whole of your back from your right heel towards the back of your head,
Flattening and connecting with the ground beneath you as you hug your left knee to the left shoulder and relax your shoulder down.
Notice that stretch along the outer left bum and thigh area.
You're welcome to stay here,
You're also welcome to come into a gentle spinal twist as we guide your left knee to the right side,
Gently and slowly without rushing,
Letting the knee fall over and you can adjust similar to the previous side,
Whether the knee is higher to your chest at the level of your chest or maybe a little lower.
This will change where and how you feel the stretch in the bum and thigh region of your left leg.
The arms similarly to the other side could be in a T cactus,
They can be on your body,
They can be by the sides.
With every exhale,
See if you can let go some of that efforting,
Whatever happened during today's practice,
Gently with your exhale,
Let it go.
Now slowly and gently,
We're going to transition,
But once again,
You are ready to stay here if that feels good for you,
Or maybe if you're ready to transition,
Coming back through the center and then slowly and gently coming back and lying on the ground.
From here,
We're going to take five breaths in your relaxation,
Lengthening the legs out along the yoga mat if that feels good for you.
Let your eyes gently close.
You're welcome to stay here for a little longer,
Coming into a longer relaxation.
Knowing that Shavasana is a metaphor,
It's a symbolism for corpse pose,
Meaning we die by letting go of the things that we would like to release from our body.
So we let the old us,
The old you,
The old me release down to the earth,
So that when we awaken the new you,
The new me,
The new us,
We can unveil ourselves,
We can always get a chance to be someone new,
To be a better version of ourselves,
To welcome those new ideas,
Beliefs,
Just like the shifting phases of the moon.
Now if you feel ready to awaken,
To be reborn,
Then when you feel like doing so,
Slowly let the fingers,
The toes move,
Luxury.
When it feels good,
You can stretch those arms,
Those legs,
Wiggle maybe just a little bit,
Bend one or both knees,
Roll over to one side of your choice,
Take a moment maybe with your bicep underneath your head or your ear,
Take a moment as you settle in,
Feel held by the earth.
And then slowly and gently,
When you feel ready to conclude this practice,
Join me as we come to sit.
As we come to sit,
We let the palms form this round shape,
Symbolizing this moon,
And we practice with a half moon,
Balance of that yin and yang,
Shiva and shakti,
Masculine and feminine,
Logical yet creative,
Detailed but at the same time seeing the big picture,
And feel that this full circle is inside of you.
And as you exhale,
Send the breath down into the circle.
As you inhale,
Receive the circle and feel that it is you.
Bring the palms into the heart center,
Letting your head bow down towards your heart,
Taking a moment to send gladness and gratitude to everyone and everything that made it possible for you to be here and practice today.
Thank you so much for joining me for this half moon practice.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did and looking forward to seeing you in the next video.
