Hello and welcome to your Hatha Yoga practice.
This is a slow paced and gentle class.
Ideal for beginners or anyone wanting to take it slow today.
You don't need any props,
So when you're ready,
Start in a comfortable seated position.
Lift and lengthen your spine.
An option to soften your gaze or close your eyes.
Rest your hands over your ribcage.
And draw your awareness to your breath.
Feel the movement of your lungs inside your ribcage.
And how your ribs gently expand and contract beneath your hands.
Visualize your upper body like a balloon.
Inflating and deflating beneath your hands.
Feel the inflation with each inhale.
And the deflation with each exhale.
Set a gentle rhythm to your breath.
That can remain consistent throughout your practice.
Maintain this breath as you slowly release your hands back down.
And start to link movement with breath.
Inhale,
Sweep your arms out and up overhead.
Exhale,
Slowly lower your arms back by your side.
Inhale,
Reach your arms up.
Exhale,
Slowly release them down.
Inhale,
Reach your arms high and this time exhale,
Turn your torso toward the right.
Release your right hand behind you and rest your left hand onto your right knee.
Lengthen your spine as you rotate.
Slowly unwind and inhale,
Reach your arms high.
Exhale,
Twist to the left and release your left hand behind you.
Rest your right hand onto your left knee.
Grow tall through your spine.
As you rotate into your twist.
On your next breath,
Slowly unwind and cross your ankles to roll forward onto all fours.
Stack your shoulders over your wrists and your hips over your knees.
Spread your fingers wide and lengthen your back body.
Inhale,
Soften your belly toward the floor.
Draw your shoulder blades together,
An option to lift your gaze.
Exhale,
Root against your palms,
Round your back and draw your chin toward your chest.
Inhale,
Soften your belly down and arch your spine.
Exhale,
Round and curl in on yourself.
As you hug your navel toward your back body.
Inhale,
Open and expand your chest.
Exhale,
Round and curl in.
Draw your shoulder blades apart.
Inhale,
Return to a neutral spine.
And exhale,
Release your seat back down towards your heels.
Soften your torso over your thighs and surrender into child's pose.
Take a moment to reconnect with your breath.
And if you'd like to,
Set an intention for your practice today.
On your next inhale,
Press firmly against your palms to rise back up onto all fours.
Walk your hands forward about one palm's distance.
And spread your fingers root down into the perimeter of your palm.
Tuck your toes underneath.
And float your knees off the floor.
Send your sitting bones high towards the sky and keep a bend in your knees.
Lengthen across your whole back body.
Press your palms firmly against the floor.
Option to stay as you are,
Or maybe you'd like to pedal out your feet by bending into one knee at a time,
Then straightening the opposite leg to warm up your calves and hamstrings.
When you're ready,
Find your way back to a neutral down dog.
And lift your gaze to look forward.
Slowly baby step to walk your feet to the top of your mat.
Bend your knees as much as you'd like.
And catch a hold of opposite elbows.
Gently sway your upper body from side to side.
Maybe shake your head yes.
And no.
To release tension from your neck.
Let your upper body hang heavy.
On your next breath,
Slowly release your arms.
And keep your knees bent as you slowly round up through your whole spine.
Stack one bone on top of another.
As you rise all the way up to stand,
Let your head be the last thing to rise.
Once you come to stand,
Find a strong mountain pose.
Root against your feet and lengthen your back.
Grow tall through your spine.
And cinch in three-dimensionally around your waistline.
Inhale,
Reach your arms out and up overhead.
Exhale,
Soften your knees,
Hinge from your hips,
Lead with your chest and fold forward.
Inhale,
Lift your torso roughly halfway up.
You can rest your hands on your thighs or your shins.
Elongate your spine.
Stretch the crown of your head forward.
Reach your tailbone behind you.
Exhale,
Fold forward over your legs.
Bend your knees deeply to plant your palms to the floor and step your feet to the back of your mat as you lift your hips into your downward facing dog.
Lengthen your spine.
Option to bend your knees.
Inhale,
Roll your weight forward into a high plank position.
Stack your shoulders over your wrists.
Soften your knees to the floor and untuck your toes.
Exhale,
Slowly resist gravity,
Move slower than you want to,
To lower your body all the way down to the mat.
Press firmly into the tops of your feet.
Roll your shoulders back and inhale,
Peel your chest up away from the floor.
Exhale,
Slowly release back down.
Inhale,
Root your pelvis down and lift your heart forward and up.
Squeeze your shoulder blades together.
Exhale,
Slowly melt back to the floor.
Inhale,
Tuck your toes,
Press against your hands to rise to all fours.
And exhale,
Lift your knees and your hips toward the sky into Down Dog.
Inhale,
Look forward and step your right foot next to your right thumb.
Exhale,
Lower your left knee down.
And untuck your toes.
Energetically magnetize your legs toward each other and press against your front foot to lift one hand followed by the other onto your front thigh.
Press your hands against your thigh to elongate your spine.
Expand your chest forward.
Option to inhale and reach your arms up overhead framing your face.
Sink your hips low and lift your spine high.
Exhale,
Lower your hands to the floor to frame your front foot and shift your weight back towards your left knee.
Start to straighten your right leg as much as you comfortably can and flex your ankle.
Option to slide your heel further forward up your mat.
An option to fold the weight of your torso over your front leg.
Root your right heel firmly into the floor.
And energetically draw your legs toward each other to turn your pelvis forward.
If you fold it,
Inhale,
Rise back up.
Exhale,
Bend your right knee deeply and ground your left hand to the floor.
Inhale,
Sweep your right hand back.
Toward the sky.
And rotate your chest toward the right.
Exhale,
Spiral your torso more open toward the right side of your mat.
Horse it around your way.
And lengthen your back body.
As you rotate.
On your next breath,
Slowly unwind your twist and release your right hand back down to the floor.
Tuck your left toes underneath and float your left knee off the mat.
Lean your weight forward and step your left foot to the top of your mat to meet your right.
Fold your torso forward and down over your legs.
Inhale,
Reach your arms out and up overhead as you rise all the way up to stand.
Exhale,
Release your arms down by your side.
Reconnect with your breath.
Inhale,
Sweep your arms up overhead.
Exhale,
Soften your knees,
Lead with your chest and fold your torso forward and down over your legs.
Inhale,
Lift your torso halfway up and elongate your spine.
Exhale,
Soften and fold back down.
Bend your knees,
Plant your palms,
And step back into downward facing dog.
Lengthen your spine and your breath.
Inhale,
Roll forward into a plank position.
Exhale,
Lower your knees.
Untuck your toes.
And slowly release your torso to the floor.
Inhale,
Press against your feet,
Roll your shoulders back,
And peel your heart forward and up away from the floor.
Exhale,
Soften your chest back down.
Inhale,
Lift and broaden your chest.
Exhale,
Slowly release down.
Inhale,
Rise and expand your heart.
Exhale gently lower.
Inhale,
Tuck your toes and press into your hands to rise to all fours.
Exhale,
Lift your knees and lift your hips up and back into down dog.
Soften your knees.
Lengthen your spine.
Inhale,
Look forward.
And step your left foot next to your left.
Exhale,
Soften your right knee down and untuck your toes.
Energize your legs toward each other and root against your left foot to bring one hand and then the other onto your front thigh.
Press your hands onto your thigh.
And broaden your chest.
Release the weight of your hips downward,
But lift the weight of your spine up away from the floor.
Option.
To sweep your arms up over your head as you sink your hips downward.
Elongate your spine even more.
Three-dimensionally hang it around your waistline as if you're tightening a corset.
But maintain the depth of your breath.
Slowly release your hands to frame your front foot and shift your weight back towards your hips as you start to straighten your left leg.
Option to keep your knee bent or to slide your heel forward as you flex your ankle and point your toes to the sky.
Lengthen your back body.
An option to fold forward over your left leg.
Root your left heel down strongly.
And energetically draw your left heel toward the back of your mat.
And your right knee towards the top of your mat to turn your pelvis forward.
If you folded,
Slowly rise back up.
And bend deeply into your front knee.
Plant your right hand down to the floor beside your left foot.
And spiral and reach your left arm up toward the sky.
Rotate your chest toward the left.
And spin your heart to face toward your left leg.
With every inhale,
Lengthen your back.
With every exhale,
Rotate a little bit further into your twist.
On your next breath,
Slowly unwind your twists.
Release your left hand down.
Tuck your right toes under and lift your right knee.
Gently step your left foot back to meet your right and lift your hips into downward facing dog.
Take a deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Lower your knees to the floor,
Uncurl your toes,
And release your hips to your heels.
Soften your torso down over your thighs.
And allow yourself to melt into child's pose.
Bring your awareness back.
To the slow rhythm of your breath.
On your next inhale.
Slowly round up through your spine to rise to a seat.
And release your hips to one side.
Stretch your legs forward in front of you.
Option to bend your knee.
Flex your ankle.
And reach your fingertips behind your hips.
Root against your fingers to lengthen your spine and broaden your chest.
Option to stay here.
Or option to slowly walk your hands forward in front of you.
And lead with your chest to fold forward over your legs.
Strive to maintain an elongated spine if you fold.
Lead forward with your heart.
And roll your pelvis toward the top of your mat.
Notice the flowing rhythm of your breath.
If you fold it,
Slowly rise back up into a seat and take your hands behind you.
Bend deeply into both knees and plant your feet onto the floor.
Cross your right ankle over your left knee in a figure 4 shape and flex your ankle.
Press against your hands and root into your sitting bones to lengthen your spine.
Expand your chest forward toward your right shin.
And simultaneously draw your right knee away from your chest to stretch deeper into your seat.
On your next breath,
Slowly release your right foot down and switch sides.
Cross your left ankle over your right knee and flex your ankle.
Gently press against the floor to lengthen your back.
And expand your chest forward toward your shin.
Use the strength of your leg to draw your left knee away from your chest.
Soften into the rhythm of your breath.
Slowly release your left foot back down to the floor.
And then draw the soles of your feet together and open your knees out wide.
Option to slide your feet as close to your pelvis as you'd like.
Place your right hand beside your right hip.
And inhale,
Reach your left arm up to the sky.
Exhale,
Side bend your upper body toward the right.
As you ground down into your sitting bones and lengthen your left side body.
Ever so slightly,
Spin your chest to face the ceiling.
Inhale,
Slowly rise back up to sit.
And place your left hand beside your left hip.
Reach your right arm up.
Exhale,
Side bend to the left.
Root against both sitting bones and lengthen your right side body.
To ever so slightly spiral your chest toward the sky.
Inhale,
Slowly rise back up to sit.
Take your hands behind your hips and lengthen your back.
Option to stay here.
Or to catch hold of your feet with your hands and gently fold your torso forward over your legs.
Lead with your chest and lengthen your spine,
Even if you fault.
Tap back in with the slow steady beat.
Of your breath.
If you fold it in,
He'll rise back up.
And find a comfortable cross-legged position.
Exhale gently release your right ear toward your right shoulder.
Soften the muscles on the left side of your neck.
And jaw.
Slowly lift your head back to neutral.
And then gently release your left ear towards your left shoulder.
Relax your shoulders away from your ears.
And soften your neck.
And jaw.
Gently lift your head back to neutral.
And inhale,
Sweep your arms out wide like wings.
Exhale,
Give yourself a hug with your right arm crossed under your left.
Soften your shoulders away from your ears.
And draw your shoulder blades apart from each other.
Inhale,
Reach your arms out wide again.
Exhale,
Give yourself a hug with your left arm underneath this time.
Relax your shoulders away from your ears.
Expand the space between your shoulder blades.
Slowly unwind your arms and sit up tall.
Rest one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart.
Option to close your eyes.
Draw your awareness back to your breath.
Feel the rise and fall of your chest and abdomen with each breath.
Reconnect with its rhythm.
Slowly release your arms.
And inhale,
Reach them out and up toward the sky.
Exhale,
Release your hands to meet in front of your heart.
And gently bow your head.
Thank yourself for your time.
And for your practice.
See you next time.
