All right,
Welcome everyone.
Happy Saturday,
Glad you're all here.
We'll begin with our first four practices.
So start up in a seat.
When you start in a seat,
A couple of things about being in a seat.
One,
I don't wanna see you hunching forward.
That's a position that we take most days is where our chest is collapsed.
So find a way to sit up tall.
One way to do that would be to pull out one butt cheek and then pull out the other butt cheek and just shift the weight forward into the front of your pelvis.
I personally like to sit on blocks and that just helps me to make sure I'm shifting my weight forward.
So just find a way to sit up tall.
And we'll begin with our sighing practice.
The purpose of sighing practice is to take a breath in and to sigh it out of your mouth and to elongate the exhale.
So really we're just trying to accentuate and elongate the exhale.
So it sounds something like breath in through the nose and then a long,
Ha,
Ha.
And really you can take that exhale as long as you want,
Anywhere from three to 10.
And we're not doing it in unison,
You're just gonna do it and you're gonna do the next one.
It might so happen that we all sync up,
But that's not necessary.
Take a breath in through your nose.
Ha,
Ha,
Ha.
Ha,
Ha.
Up to three more.
And when you're ready to be still,
Just let yourself be still and notice how you feel.
Begin to tune into your body and notice when things shift.
And it's in this practice of noticing that we can start to do that work.
Shifting from flight,
Freeze,
Fawn,
Fright,
Into rest and digest.
But we need to notice how that feels inside of our own bodies.
So just sit with that.
Just to create a little gentle movement,
Start to move in some circles.
It doesn't matter which direction,
But you're just creating a churning sensation in your midsection.
And these movements can be big or small,
Fast or slow.
The idea is just to create some gentle movement in a way that breaks up any sensation.
Make sure your low back doesn't get stiff,
Just some gentle,
Organic movement.
You can involve your neck and your shoulders if you want.
Really just moving in a way that feels natural to you,
Not prescriptive.
And then make your way back up to a neutral seat.
Next,
We'll move into a pranayama practice,
A breathing practice.
Today,
We'll do square breathing.
We've done this before,
If you've been with me here.
Square breathing is a breathing pattern where we create a box with our breath.
So it's a four-count inhale,
A four-count hold at the top of the breath,
A four-count exhale,
And then a four-count hold on empty.
We'll do five rounds of this.
You don't have to count.
I will keep count.
All you have to do is close your eyes if that's comfortable.
If closing your eyes is not comfortable,
Find one unmoving place where you can set your eyes and just hold a soft gaze.
So start with the crown of your head lifted up.
Find a tall seat.
Roll your shoulders back.
Lift up the center of your chest.
Really good adjustments.
Take a normal breath in and a normal breath out.
Now begin to fill up at a count of one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Normal breath.
Just a gentle,
Easy flow of breath.
Notice how you feel.
Just be in that space of reflection and noticing.
Option to stay still or to take a few circles with your torso just to move around.
Again,
Just to break things up.
We don't want any parts of our body to get stiff while we're sitting here.
So just bring in that gentle movement just to move around in between practices.
And then make your way back up to a neutral seat.
We'll move into our Marma therapy practice.
Marma therapy is bringing the hands along the centers of the body.
Marma points are an Ayurvedic version of acupressure points.
So start with your left hand over the center of your chest and the right hand goes at the crown of the head,
Right above the swirl of hair.
You can rest your hand gently on your head.
And if that doesn't feel good,
You can even hover your hand above your head,
But just a gentle rest right at the crown.
Relax your elbows and your shoulders so we're not building up tension.
Close your eyes if that's comfortable.
And energetically,
We send from the right hand into the left.
So just imagine that swirl of energy sending from the right into the left.
And notice if you feel anything,
Maybe even any little tingles.
And now left hand stays over the center of the chest.
Right hand moves from the crown of the head right over the third eye.
So you'll place your palm gently at the center of your forehead and your fingers will just gently rest on your head.
Sending from the right into the left.
Left hand stays over the center of the chest and now right hand moves from forehead to go on top of left hand.
So you have one hand pressing on top of the other.
Relax your shoulders,
Sit up tall.
Sending from the right into the left.
And now both hands move.
Start with your left hand over your belly button and then place your right hand over your left.
So both hands right at the center,
The solar plexus.
Sending from the right into the left.
And now right hand goes right above the bladder,
So about two inches lower.
And then left hand goes around you and you put your hand on your tailbone.
So you're holding your hands one in front of the other,
Holding yourself between your hands.
Sending from the right into the left.
And now we'll move into our gratitude practice.
Take your left middle finger and just gently place it right above your top lip.
And then your right hand goes into wisdom mudra,
That's thumb and forefinger touching with your three other fingers open.
The back of your hand gently rests on your thigh.
And then we create the mudra we call a smile.
Lift the corners of your mouth and smile on your body.
Send all of that gratitude right into yourself as an acknowledgement for what your body does for you every day.
Every day your body rallies for you.
So smile on your cells and organs.
One more big breath in.
Full breath out.
Bring your hands to your thighs,
Move in a couple of circles just to break up any tension.
Reach your arms up over your head,
Take a full stretch.
And then bring your hands back to your thighs.
This will finish with our elemental meditation.
So let your hands just rest on your thighs.
Palms can be up,
Palms can be down,
Whatever feels natural.
Imagine that you're sitting on a mound of rich red earth.
And the earth comes up to hold you,
To support you.
You become an empty vessel.
And you call this rich red earth into your body for three breaths.
You thank the earth and you put it back.
Still sitting on your mound of rich red earth,
Now surrounded by circling,
Nourishing blue water.
You become an empty vessel and you call this circling,
Nourishing blue water into your body for three breaths.
You thank the water and you put it back.
Still sitting on your mound of rich red earth,
Surrounded by circling,
Nourishing blue water,
Now surrounded by a wall of golden yellow fire.
You become an empty vessel and you call this golden yellow fire into your body for three breaths.
You thank the fire and you put it back.
Still sitting on your mound of rich red earth,
Surrounded by circling,
Nourishing blue water,
Surrounded by a wall of golden yellow fire,
And now covered in a dome of circling white air.
The air is sparkly.
And when the sun shines,
The air sparkles like diamonds.
You become an empty vessel and you call this sparkling white air into your body for three breaths.
You thank the air and you put it back.
Sitting on your mound of rich red earth,
Surrounded by circling,
Nourishing blue water,
Surrounded by a wall of golden yellow fire,
And then in a dome of sparkling white air.
We don't call the ether into our body because we are made up of mostly ether.
Ether is the space.
So we thank the space.
We thank the ether.
Notice how you feel.
Reach your arms up over your head.
Interlace all 10 fingers,
Flip your palms to the ceiling,
And take a big full stretch.
We'll turn this into a twist.
Bring your left hand to your right thigh.
Bring your right fingertips behind you,
Tent your fingers and lift the crown of your head up,
And then gently turn your torso in the direction of your right shoulder.
Keep the gentle flow of breath.
Keep the twist in your torso.
Turn only your chin to face forward.
With an inhale,
Both arms reach back up overhead.
Twist in the opposite direction,
Right hand to left thigh,
Left fingertips tent behind you,
Lift yourself up,
And gently turn your torso in the direction of your right shoulder.
Keep the twist in your torso.
Turn only your chin to face forward.
Both arms up,
Inhale.
Twist to the right,
Exhale.
We'll move with breath.
Arms up,
Inhale.
Twist left,
Exhale.
Arms up,
Inhale.
Twist left,
Exhale.
Twist right.
Arms up,
Inhale.
Twist left.
One more set.
Arms up.
To the right.
Arms up.
To the left.
Arms back up.
Bring your hands to your thighs.
Make your way to your belly.
Cross one arm in front of the other so that your palms are stacked and rest your forehead on your stacked hands.
Yeah,
If you have glasses on,
Take your glasses off.
And then just start to wiggle your hips from side to side.
If you wanna make these movements a little bigger,
Bend your knees,
Point your feet towards the ceiling and windshield wipe your feet from side to side.
When you feel ready to be still,
Allow your feet to just rest on the floor.
Rest your head on the backs of your hands and find a moment to be still.
Continue with the conscious flow of breath in and out of your nose.
From here,
We'll move into half frog.
Start with the right leg.
Turn your knee to face the right and bend your knee so that you're creating a 90 degree bend in your knee.
And then flex your foot.
The more you straighten your leg out to the right,
Perhaps the more sensation that you generate.
So you can decide how deep that 90 degree bend in your knee is or how much you take your leg out just to create a little more width.
Continue to rest your head on your hands or a block and allow yourself to rest.
If you ever find yourself drifting off into a yoga sleep,
Just let yourself go.
Continue the soft,
Steady stream of your own breath,
Moving in and out.
We're here for about five more breaths.
One more full breath in.
Long,
Slow breath out.
Begin to bring your right leg to the right side and bring your right leg to meet your left.
Bend your knees,
Point your feet towards the ceiling.
Windshield wipe your feet side to side.
When you're ready,
Bring your feet back to the floor.
We'll take half frog on the left.
So you'll turn your knee out to the left,
Bend your knee at a 90 degree angle,
And then flex your foot.
And you may experiment with how far your leg goes out by just how far you straighten the bottom part of your leg.
This doesn't need to be the deepest opening of the day,
But just really warming up and taking it slow.
Notice how you feel.
And notice where you're feeling things.
The sources of the sensation,
Where is the sensation coming from?
Sensation is the language of the body.
It's how the body communicates with us.
And through this practice,
We're learning how to speak this language.
We're here for about five more breaths.
Take one more full breath in.
A long,
Slow breath out.
Bring your left foot to meet your right by slowly straightening your leg,
Bend your knees,
Point your feet.
Windshield wipe your feet from side to side.
Stay on your belly for one more pose.
When you're ready,
Bring your feet back to the floor.
We'll come into supported sphinx pose.
So take a deep breath in.
Take your forearms and bring them in front of you so that your elbow is underneath your shoulder with your palms down.
Maybe take your palms a little bit wider,
Spread your fingers and take your hands a little bit further apart.
Now take your block,
Put it in front of you.
You can start with it on the second or third setting and rest it under your forehead.
If it feels like too much,
Take it down a notch or even stack two blocks on top of each other.
You can really experiment with the height of the block.
Let your forehead rest.
Notice where you feel the opening in this pose.
This is a gentle opening of the chest,
Maybe the low back.
Just notice where you're feeling the source of the sensations.
For me,
Sometimes I like to wiggle my hips a little bit from side to side.
So you can even experiment with gentle organic movement if that feels like the right thing for you.
Could even feel nice to rock your forehead from side to side,
Almost like you're giving yourself a little forehead eyebrow massage against the blocks.
These are just options,
Things to try on,
Variations to play with.
And this is how we make the pose our own.
We're here for about five more breaths.
Option to stay right here for another breath or press your palms into the earth,
Start to straighten your arms,
Lift your forehead off the block and lift your chest.
Just taking this pose just a little bit higher for a breath or two.
Big breath in.
Slow breath out.
Slowly begin to bring yourself back to your forearms and make your way to all fours.
Come to a tabletop position.
If this is too much on your knees,
You can fold your mat up a couple of times at the top,
Roll up your mat and then put your knees on that rolled up part and start to move through some rounds of cat and cow.
Just move your body in a way that feels natural to you.
It can be from side to side,
Other variations to play with could be rotating your fingers to face your knees.
This is gonna create new sensation in your forearms and in your wrists.
You could do it one arm at a time or both at the same time.
Other things to try,
You can take one leg out to the side like a kickstand.
With your foot on the floor,
You'll create new sensations in your forearms or sensation inside your thigh,
Maybe in your butt.
Sometimes I even like to point my toes up to the ceiling and just play with rocking back and forth.
Yeah,
Coming down to the forearms is another way to play.
Really allow this to be your own.
If you feel like you've had enough movement and you wanna be still again,
Make your way into child's pose or puppy pose.
Puppy pose is similar to child's pose,
Except that rather than bringing your booty to your heels,
You keep your butt up,
But you can still rest your forehead on either the floor,
A block,
Or even stacked hands.
But put something underneath your forehead.
Sometimes bringing the forehead to the floor is too much.
So use your tools to lift your forehead but still give yourself the support that you need.
We're here for a few more breaths.
One more breath in.
Slow breath out.
Slowly begin to lift yourself back up to all fours and make your way to a seat.
We'll meet with legs open wide into a V shape.
Take your legs open.
Take both blocks with you and put them in front of you about shoulder width apart.
Start with the blocks on the second setting.
Put your hands on the blocks and just slowly begin to lean forward.
For some people,
That's plenty of sensation.
For others of us,
Forearms to the blocks.
Other options,
Turn the blocks up to the third setting so that they're the tallest setting possible and put your elbows on the blocks with your palms touching and pointing towards the ceiling.
Other options could be to take the blocks to the lowest setting with your forearms or even to remove the blocks completely and bring your forearms to the floor.
Find the amount of sensation that allows you to continue breathing.
Breathing calmly and naturally.
And if it feels good to wiggle around,
You might find that just a gentle rocking helps to create new sensations.
Give yourself permission to change and to shift.
You might spend a few breaths in one position and then decide to just lean forward a little bit more or maybe you find that you need to back off.
You are a malleable,
Water-based creature.
And so give yourself permission to shift and to change.
We're here for about five more breaths.
What do you need to do for yourself in order to stay for five more breaths?
One more breath in.
Slow breath out.
Start to lift your chest up to neutral.
We'll do this single leg.
So take your blocks and frame your right knee on the second setting.
Pull your left foot in to inside your right thigh.
Turn in the direction of your right leg and bring your right knee to the center of your body.
And maybe your hands on the blocks are plenty with just leaning in,
Potentially coming to forearms.
You might rest your hands on your shin or you might even reach for your foot.
These are all different options.
Choose the option that allows you to keep calm,
Steady breath.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Slow breath out.
Listen,
Keep your legs just as they are.
Lift your chest back up to neutral.
Bring your left hand behind your left thigh.
Reach your right arm up to the ceiling and then bend your elbow and place your hand somewhere at the top or center of your back.
Press your left hand down,
Lift your elbow up and stretch from your hip to your armpit.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Slowly come up,
Unravel your arms and we'll move into the other side.
Left leg comes out,
Right leg pulls in.
Place your blocks to frame your right knee.
You might use your hands.
You might touch your shin.
Maybe your foot is there.
The sides of the body are different.
So what you can do on one side might not look the same on the other.
So recreate the sensation,
Not necessarily how it looks.
Remember a gentle rocking or organic movement sometimes helps to open up new spaces.
Give yourself permission to be curious.
We're here for about five more breaths.
One more breath in.
Slow breath out.
Keep your legs as they are.
Slowly lift your chest up.
Bring your right hand behind your right hip.
Left arm reaches up.
Bend your elbow,
Bring your hand to your back.
Press your bottom hand down,
Lift your elbow up,
Open from your hip to your armpit.
One more full breath in.
Let it go.
Gently come up.
We'll move into some further hip opening.
So I'll give you a couple of options here.
One is double pigeon.
So in double pigeon,
Pull your left leg in and bring your right ankle on top of your left knee.
Notice how the ankle is on the knee and the foot is flexed.
We're not creating any weird pressure on the ankle by sickling the foot.
So ankle on the knee is one option.
Another option is to take your blocks,
Stack one on top of the other and place your right ankle on top of the blocks instead of your knee.
You can lean in.
This will give you more sensation.
You can lean back.
This will give you a different sensation.
Another option is to take half pigeon if you want more.
Half pigeon can be really intense.
So if this feels like plenty,
Just stay right where you are,
But half pigeon is also an option for you.
I like to wiggle my hips from side to side when I'm in double pigeon.
Just gives me some new areas to explore.
So again,
Just notice what needs to happen in order to get the sensation that you're looking for.
You can rest your forehead on blocks.
That's another option.
Steady stream of breath.
We're here for about one more minute on this side.
Take a long,
Full breath in.
A slow,
Calm breath out.
Slowly lift up your chest.
Place your hands behind you and put your feet on the floor with your knees pointing towards the ceiling.
Just windshield wipe your knees from side to side to break up any tension or sensation that's still lingering.
And then we'll move into the other side of your double pigeon or your half pigeon.
For double pigeon,
Your right leg pulls in,
Your left ankle goes on top of your right knee,
Or instead of the knee,
You can use one or two blocks,
Put your left ankle on top of the blocks and maybe lean in or maybe lean back.
If you're really able to lean forward quite a bit,
Use your blocks under your forehead or your arms so that you have a way to just rest,
To really induce that sense of relaxation and ease.
Notice what's different about you on this side.
Notice if sensation sometimes pulls up emotion because emotions are really just sensations in the body.
We're learning how to interact with these sensations,
How to be present to them.
Sometimes sensation evokes emotion.
It's your job to notice,
To get present to it.
Steady stream of breath.
I'll be here for one more minute.
Take a full breath in,
A slow breath out.
Slowly begin to lift yourself back up to a neutral seat,
Hands behind you,
Feet to the floor,
Knees point up,
Windshield wipe your knees from side to side.
We'll come into waterfall pose next.
So come to lie down on your back,
Put one block in each hand,
Back to the floor,
Feet on the earth,
Press your feet down to lift your hips up and then slide both of those blocks underneath you to be underneath your sacrum,
Not on your butt,
Not on your spine,
But that flat bony plate between your butt and your spine.
Might take a moment to find the right spot for the blocks.
You can keep your feet right on the floor.
This is supported bridge and this might be a nice place to start.
You can also start to float your feet off the floor to bring your feet to the sky so that your feet stack over your hips and you take this light,
Gentle inversion.
Your hands can go behind you and you can just rest your arms on the floor,
Whatever feels natural.
We have some time here to play.
So you might just vacillate between some of these different positions.
Another way that I like to play is by putting my feet on the floor and sliding one leg forward to straighten one leg.
And then maybe slide the other leg forward.
Your heels are on the floor with your toes pointing up.
Plenty of time to play here.
So just take your time and let yourself sink in.
About three more minutes here.
Still lots of time to play.
About one more minute.
When you feel ready,
It's time to take the blocks out.
So you can press your feet down and lift your hips up and slowly remove the blocks to return your hips back to the floor.
Meet me in happy baby.
Pull your knees to your chest.
You can keep your hands on your knees and just rock from side to side,
Or you can reach for your shins or your feet.
You can even do this with a strap by putting the strap on your chest.
Or you can put the strap around your feet and holding onto the strap instead,
Still with the bend in your knees.
And then roll around from side to side.
And then we'll move into a twist.
Pull your knees to your chest.
Open your arms into a T.
So one arm comes straight out from each shoulder.
Drop both knees over to the right.
And if it feels okay,
Look to the left.
See how it feels to maybe flex your feet.
When you flex your feet,
You can press the pinky toe edge of your foot into the floor and just use that to ground your shoulders down.
About five more breaths.
Slowly begin to bring your knees back to the center and you'll make your way into the other side.
Here,
For about five more breaths.
One more breath.
Slow breath out.
Gently begin to bring yourself back to the center.
Pull your knees to your chest.
Put one hand on each knee.
Just hug your knees together.
Hug yourself in for a moment.
And then we'll meet together in Shavasana,
Your final resting pose.
A couple of options for Shavasana.
One,
You could put blocks under your knees.
Another option is to starfish.
Take your arms and your legs out wide.
A third option is to roll over to one side or lay on your belly because it's not for everyone to lay on your back.
So if this isn't comfortable for you,
Find a place to lay that works.
Soften your breath.
Soften that space between your eyebrows.
Let your fingers and your toes get heavy.
Allow your breath to become so soft,
So sweet that it's almost undetectable.
Soft like a baby's breath,
The sweet breath.
Take a long,
Slow,
Full breath in and a slow,
Full,
Long breath out.
Wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Circle your ankles and your wrists.
Reach your arms behind you.
Take a full body stretch from fingers to toes.
Pull your knees into your chest.
And if it's comfortable to you,
Roll over to your favorite side.
Use your arm under your ear as a pillow.
And if that's not comfortable,
You can stay on your back for just a couple more breaths.
The invitation is to keep your eyes closed and make your gentle way up to a seat.
When you get to a seat,
Rest your hands on your thighs.
Let your fingers be soft.
Take this final moment of your practice.
And notice how you feel.
You don't have to call it anything or name it.
Be in the practice of noticing.
Press your palms together at the center of your chest.
And bring your thumbs to the center of your forehead.
Bow your head and look up.
And bend your head towards your heart.
Take a moment and find gratitude for yourself.
Gratitude for your practice.
And gratitude for one another.
In honor of each and every one of us,
I bow to you,
My friends.
And I thank you for making it to your mat today.
Take your time getting up.
