Good morning yogis.
I'm here in Grand Cayman on the beautiful south side of the island and this morning's practice is for all of you busy parents out there.
This is my go-to practice when I'm short on time or perhaps you wake up earlier than your kids and you know that you just have 5,
10,
15 minutes for a practice.
Go ahead and roll out your mat and we'll begin.
Our practice is the practice of sun salutations.
This is a great way to begin your day as it consists of a series of 12 yoga poses.
And it stretches all the muscles in the body as well as strengthens the muscles.
So close your eyes and we'll start our practice today.
Connect to your breath.
Inhale through the nose.
And breathe out,
Exhale.
We set an intention for our practice.
An intention that is from your heart.
Your deepest heart's desire.
That way,
When you move through your poses,
We're not moving so mechanically.
We're allowing our intention to embody us in our poses.
We're allowing our intention to carry us through the yoga postures.
Let's take a deep breath and inhale.
And breathe out.
May I move with kindness.
Throughout my practice and into my day.
May I be kind in my words.
In my thoughts.
And in my actions.
Stretch the arms up and overhead.
Exhale,
Fold down to the ground.
Inhale for a half lift.
Exhale and fold.
Left foot stepping back.
For low lunge.
Inhale,
Reach the arms to the thigh or up and overhead.
So we move with the breath.
Exhale,
Press back to downward facing dog.
Come forwards to hands and knees or plank pose.
Exhale and descend.
Inhale for a cobra.
Exhale to down dog for three to five breaths.
Now listen to your breathing here.
Try to inhale for the count of five.
And exhale for the count of five.
Once you find the 5 count in and 5 count out,
Notice.
A second in between each breath.
After the breath in and after breath out.
Now the left leg steps forwards.
You can come down onto the knees if you prefer.
We come into our low lunge on this side.
Inhale,
Reach the hands to the thighs or up and overhead.
Exhale,
Fold forward,
Step to the top of the mat.
Stay with your full five count breath in and out.
Inhale for five as you rise up.
One,
Two,
Three.
Five,
Exhale,
We go right back down to the ground.
We've done a half cycle.
Inhale,
Half lift.
Exhaling.
The right foot steps back,
Still exhaling out.
Inhale for a five count,
One,
Two,
Three.
Bye.
Exhaling.
To continue to exhale out as you step back.
Inhale,
Come forwards,
Hands and knees are planked.
Exhale and descent.
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale for cobra pose.
Exhale,
Press back,
Three to five breath cycles here.
Now as you come back into the downward facing dog,
Come back to your intention you began with.
Whatever it might be for you today.
May I be kind and understanding.
In my thoughts,
In my words,
In my actions.
Come back to your intention.
Throughout your practice.
The right foot will come forwards.
And you can progress,
Maybe you start off with coming onto the knees.
Inhale,
Reach the arms up.
Exhale,
Bring the hands down to the ground.
Step forwards,
Continuing to breathe out.
Inhale,
Rise up.
And return our hands to our heart space for one complete cycle.
Now I like to take.
.
.
Three to five cycles when I have some time.
Or if I only know that I have five to 10 minutes,
I just set my timer for five to 10 minutes.
And I flow with my breath.
So now we'll start our second cycle.
Inhaling,
Your intention.
Exhale,
Descent.
Inhale,
Half lift.
Exhale and fold.
Left foot steps back.
And that way we practice with our intention on our mat.
And as we leave our mat,
We take our yoga with us.
And we continue with our intention.
You can have different intentions throughout the day.
Maybe you set yourself a new intention,
Come down onto the knees.
Exhale and descend towards the ground.
Inhale for upward dog or cobra.
Exhale,
Downward facing dog.
Three to five breaths.
It's like you're planting a seed.
To do good in your day.
To be a better human.
To move from your heart instead of your past experiences.
Left foot will come forward.
This time I'll lift it up and bring it forward without going on my knee.
And I'll set my knee down,
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale,
Bring the arms out and up.
Urdhva Hastasana.
Exhale,
We go right to the second side.
Inhale,
Half lift.
Exhale and fold.
Right foot steps back.
Continue with your breath out.
Inhale,
Reach the arms up.
Step back down dog.
Now you can take an extra breath if you need to.
I'm forwards to plank pose.
Exhale,
Descend.
Inhale,
Up dog.
Exhale,
Down dog.
Three to five breaths.
I find by Really tune in your attention and your concentration on your breath.
It helps you.
Feel the movement.
From your heart.
Feeling a more meaningful movement.
Feeling your intention in your movement.
Left foot will reach back and up.
And step the foot forwards.
Right knee comes.
And exhale.
Step forward.
Inhale,
Float the arms out and up.
Exhale,
Bring the hands back to the heart space.
You can take a moment to pause in between.
Reach up on the inhale.
Exhale,
Fold forwards.
One last salutation.
Inhale,
Lengthen.
Exhale,
Fold.
Left foot steps back.
Inhale,
Reach the arms up.
You're sending your hips forwards and down.
Exhale,
Press back,
Down dog.
Come forwards on the breath in.
Exhale,
Descend,
Maybe the knees go down.
Inhale,
Rise up,
Up dog.
Exhale,
Back down dog.
I like to practice outside,
Listen to the birds,
Listen to the wind and the waves.
Really connect with nature and the five elements.
Even if it's outside on your porch or in your backyard.
Left foot comes forwards now.
Reach it back and up.
And send it forward.
Inhale.
Exhale,
Bring the hands down to the ground,
Step forwards.
Inhale,
Come all the way up to stand.
We move back down to the ground.
Finishing up our cycle.
The second side.
Inhale,
Lift and lengthen.
Exhale,
Press the right foot back.
Inhale,
Rise up.
Exhale,
Hands to the ground.
Continue to breathe out.
Roll forwards.
Plank pose.
Feel your intention as you descend down,
Feeling your breath.
Inhale,
Upward facing dog.
Exhale back to downward facing dog.
If you have more time.
You can take five breaths in between.
So we pause in the down dog.
Right footsteps back.
Step it forwards between your hands.
Inhale for low lunge.
Exhale,
Bring the hands to the mat and step forwards,
Forward fold.
Inhale and rise up.
Exhale,
Bring your hands to your heart space.
Now we've completed three cycles of sun salutation.
If you have time,
You can go ahead and do two more cycles or one more cycle.
Whatever you might have time for.
Take a moment now.
As we stand and breathe.
Reconnect with your intention.
May I be kind?
And understanding in my thoughts.
In my words and in my actions.
You can go ahead and lay down in the Supine position now for a Shavasana.
I did this with my little one the other morning.
I started to practice.
Nobody was awake.
And.
.
.
About halfway through my practice.
One of my boys woke up.
Came out and he said,
Mommy,
What are you doing?
And I said,
I'm doing some yoga.
Would you like to join?
And he said yes,
So he went and got a mat and rolled it out and started copying my movements.
And I continue to breathe and move.
And embody my intention.
When it was time for Shavasana,
He laid down next to me and put his head on my chest.
And we laid there and breathed for a few moments.
And stillness.
So I invite you now to close your eyes.
Turn your palms to face up and feel your feet separated.
As your eyes are shut,
Let your breath.
Away from your awareness.
And just start to feel the earth beneath you.
Where your body touches the earth.
And find your eyes.
Dropping inwards to your heart.
Down to the center of your being.
That beautiful space.
Within.
It's okay to be still.
You may feel a little movement in your body.
Your energy.
Beneath the surface.
You may start to now awaken the hands and the toes.
The feet and the fingers.
Just moving with your breath.
Reach the arms up and overhead.
It's a new day,
A new beginning.
Make it a great one.
Roll on to your side,
No matter what is going on in your life.
Find an intention for your day.
Cover your eyes and pause here.
Notice how you feel after the short time that you had to practice and be thankful for that time.
We'll use our hands and push ourselves up.
Ever so gently.
You can finish your yoga practice in a nice,
Easy seat.
Rest your right hand on your chest.
And then your left hand.
Feel the breath that gives you life.
Feel the breath coming in for a five count.
A gentle pause,
A heartbeat.
The breath out for the count of five.
And another gentle pause.
Return back.
Return back.
To Anjali Mudra.
Let the thumbs rest on the breastbone.
Come back to your intention.
Maybe set yourself a new intention for the day.
Thank you for joining today,
Yogis.
I know it's challenging being parents.
And whatever time you can find to practice.
It'll be well worth it.
Let's bring our thumbs to our third eye.
Gratitude,
Health,
And happiness.
Namaste.
