The Alchemical Mix#3| Fire | Slow-Flow Vinyasa
by Lisa
This is the third of a 5 class series devoted to the five elements of the yogic tradition, the Panchamahabhutas, and it was recorded live. A deep dive into the element of Fire and its qualities and the many strategies Yoga has to offer to address any deficiency or excess. A fiery asana sequence that will take you on a journey through the best poses (twists and corework) to balance the Fire element as you move 360 degrees around the mat, mandala style. Expect some noise disturbance given the live setting of this session.
Transcript
Good writing everybody!
The session today which is called the alchemical mix is called the alchemical mix as the intention behind the series is to offer you a general overview of the five elements of which we're all made of and learn which elements are lacking or are in excess in any given day,
Thus becoming your own alchemist and that's why the alchemical mix.
The session today is about five,
It's the third of the great five.
The idea is that we know which elements are missing or are in excess and we can add or take away,
So that's the idea behind the series.
But let's talk about the fire element,
Fire,
Smoke,
They're all somewhat related,
Fire and air are very good friends.
Of course the fire element needs oxygen to thrive,
So I will encourage you to breathe and breathe big this morning.
Each element is associated to a sense,
The fire element is associated to the sense of sight and so it's all about clear seeing,
It's all about being able to clarify a purpose and follow through.
The area of the body that is governed by this element is the belly,
The belly centre,
So all of the digestive organs,
The organs of digestion and assimilation,
The liver,
The side ribs,
So anything that is involved with metabolising stuff.
A balanced fire element will allow you to digest not only food but also life experiences,
Retaining what we need from these experiences and discarding everything else,
Just like we do when we eat,
We retain the nutrients and we discard everything else as waste product.
This is the work of the fire element,
It's to burn,
It's to create fuel,
It's to propel you into action because it governs the belly area,
Which of course is the seat of our personal power,
Seat of our ego,
This is where we set goals and where we follow through.
So if the fire element is weak,
You feel lethargic,
You feel stuck,
You feel depressed,
You don't want to do anything,
You lack motivation,
You lack discipline.
If the fire element is excessive,
You experience anger,
Irritability,
The tendency to manipulate people,
To have your own way to control,
You fly off the handle very easily and so knowing which elements are present in what proportion on which they can be really helpful,
Not only with your asana practice but also with food and with interactions and with anything else that you do,
Anything else that you do on that particular day.
So there are ways that we can help ourselves and I really don't want to talk too much and I want to let the practice speak for itself.
The last thing I will say about the fire element is that it is the most destructive of elements,
Just think of what happens when there is a forest fire,
The whole place is burned to the ground and but it's from this destruction that regeneration can occur.
It is the fire,
It is this fire that then allows us to burn through whatever it is that we don't need and make space for the new and the tapas,
The fire,
The Agni and the Tejas are absolutely key in a yoga practice.
Today we will talk about this element.
Obviously you have the gauge of the heat,
You decide how hot it gets,
You may not need much fire today.
The work of the yoga practitioner is to tend to this fire very skillfully like a wise fire keeper,
Making sure that this fire doesn't get out of control but doesn't get too weak and it's not enough to fuel your life.
So these are all questions for consideration and for observation during the practice,
Also observe the effect the practice has on you.
We will get on our mat the few recommendations,
You are your own teacher,
If something doesn't feel right don't do it,
It's a slow flow,
It's a dynamic practice but it's a slow flow.
Remember that your teacher is your guide but your body is your boss,
If you're working with an injury your job is to be super careful and taking great care of your body tempo so you can practice until you're under the heat.
That's my wish for you and for myself of course and let's practice.
We begin from seated,
The best poses for the fire element are of course core work and twists because it will stimulate this particular area of the body thus stoking the fire.
We begin with seated and we begin with a mudra,
A hand gesture which I really really love as it really helps us to drop in and it signals to the mind that it's yoga time.
So bring the hands out in front of you and curl the ring finger into the root of the thumb and secure the thumb around that.
So each finger is associated to an element,
The fire element is the thumb.
The ring finger is air,
So by bending the ring finger and securing it with the thumb we're actually claiming the superiority of the fire element.
So ring finger in,
Block it,
Secure it with the thumb,
Spin the palms up and rest the shape wherever it's comfortable.
Close your eyes if you wish,
If that works for you and simply receive the grounding portion of this class with your eyes closed if that works for you.
And as you sit here with surya mudra,
Surya is another word for the sun,
Just think of surya namaskar.
I'd love for you to visualize a bright red flame burning brightly,
Burning brightly,
Burning steadily in the middle of your belly.
And as you do this,
I'd love for you to use the light generated by this flame to start clarifying and illuminating your purpose.
It might seem like a big question but it's important to ask ourselves these questions over and over again as they will change,
As we change and the fire element is all about change.
So your life purpose,
Your dharma,
Your personal prayer for yourself and not just for this class but for the rest of your life.
So allowing the light of the fire element and of course the third chakra,
Manipura,
To illuminate your purpose.
Questions that you may ask yourself is what am I here for?
Just feeling into these words,
Feeling into your personal prayer and if nothing comes up,
Let it be.
Allow the potency of the fire element and the practice to perhaps shed some light and these insights don't usually happen straight away.
So again,
Your work is to stay present even after the course as you will receive information if you pay enough attention.
And this perhaps can form the intention of the practice.
And from here we move into a little bit of breath work.
So I invite you to lean back,
Switch the cross of your legs.
If you're cross-legged,
Take the flesh out of your sitting bones and we work with breath of fire.
A few precautions.
Breath of fire is not recommended if you have high blood pressure,
If you have any kind of eye,
Eye tissues,
Cataract,
Glaucoma,
If you have ulcer,
If you have anything going on with your digestive system,
Please breathe normally in and out of the nose as we go through this practice.
Breath of fire,
Short,
Sharp inhalations and exhalations,
Pumping the belly in and out,
And straight up,
Bellows breath.
Breath of fire is short,
Sharp inhalations and exhalations through the nose.
It's vigorous,
But it's not strenuous.
And so we use another mudra for this practice.
So hold all four fingers and with the exception of the thumb,
Which represents the fire element,
The fire are pointing straight up and then lift the arms overhead.
It's like a V and as we inhale,
We lift the arms up a little bit more and exhale through the nose.
We pull the elbows back.
It goes like this.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale.
We do it together.
If you need to have a rest in between,
By all means,
Rest and then jump back in.
So here we go.
I will not cue it.
You can probably hear my breathing,
But we're all breathing at different ratios.
So find a ratio that works for you.
And if you feel any anxiety,
Please stop and breathe normally.
And here we go.
Strong core,
Inhale the arms up,
Strong inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale.
You can go slower.
You can go faster.
Keep it going.
Pumping prana into the lungs.
10 more,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
Lift the arms up,
Take a deep breath in and hold the breath in,
Bring the chin to the chest.
Hold the breath in if you can,
To your own capacity.
Release the chin,
Look up and release the arms.
Slowly resting the hands onto the earth,
Grounding,
Calling onto the earth element,
Which we worked with before,
To ground this energy.
And just observe.
Have your heart beating,
Allowing the dust of this breath work to settle.
Very energizing technique,
Great technique to take if you're feeling sluggish,
If you're feeling low.
Obviously,
It has to be done on an empty stomach.
It's also great in the middle of the afternoon when we get the post-prandial slump,
Just make sure you've digested your food and it will stoke up the fire straight away.
Straight away.
And from here,
We begin to move.
So,
Release the cross of your legs and come onto all fours.
Tabletop position.
On an inhalation,
Arch your spine.
Exhale,
Round.
Inhale,
Arch.
Exhale,
Round.
Walk the hands three inches further forward than your shoulders.
Tuck your toes under,
Take a deep breath in,
And on the exhalation,
Come into tiger dog.
Tiger dog,
Knees bent and heels lifted.
It's an invention of one of my teachers.
So,
Don't worry if you don't know it.
So,
Really bend the knees and tilt your butt up.
And keep the heels lifted.
And notice how this lengthens your spine.
Take three full breaths here into your first tiger dog or downward dog.
Feel free to modify.
Last breath here.
Belly in and up,
Especially today,
It's all about the core and the side body.
The areas governed by the fire element.
So,
The ribs,
Liver,
All of the digestive organs,
All organs of digestion and assimilation.
From here,
Hinge forward and bring your knees down straight away.
So,
You're back into tabletop.
Release your toes,
Seat to heels,
Child's pose.
Forward bow.
Begin to draw the hands towards you.
Come to stand onto your knees,
Reaching the arms out and up.
Look up.
Exhale,
Back into child's pose,
Reaching the arms forward,
Forward bow.
Inhale,
Come rounding forward onto all fours.
Tuck your toes under.
Exhale,
Press back,
Downward facing dog.
Bend your right knee,
Lower your left heel down.
And place your left big toe and the one beside it onto your right heel.
Take a deep breath in and with the help of left foot,
Draw the right heel down.
Feel the stretch in the back of the back of the right leg.
And switch,
Left foot next to the right.
Bend the left knee,
Lift the left heel and place your right big toe onto your left heel.
Take a deep breath in and with the exhalation,
Push the left heel down.
Breathe in deep into the back of the left leg,
Left hamstring.
Release the right foot next to the left.
Inhale,
Hinge forward,
Come back onto all fours,
Tabletop position.
Release your toes,
Hips to heels,
Child's pose.
Draw the hands towards you.
Come to stand onto your knees,
Reach the arms out and up.
Look up.
Exhale,
Fold forward,
Back into child's pose.
Reaching the arms forward,
Forward bounce.
Last time like that,
A little bit quicker.
Inhale,
Come rounding forward,
Back onto all fours,
Tuck your toes under.
Exhale,
Press back,
Downward facing dog.
Inhale,
Hinge forward like a wave,
Bring your knees down and tuck your toes,
Hips to heels,
Child's pose.
Inhale,
Come rounding forward.
Exhale,
Press back,
Downward facing dog.
And let's finish the cycle.
Inhale,
Bring your knees down and tuck your toes,
Hips to heels,
Child's pose.
Draw the hands towards you,
Come to stand onto your knees,
Reach the arms out and up,
Look up and exhale,
Child's pose.
Inhale,
Come rounding forward,
Tuck your toes under.
Exhale,
Downward facing dog.
Two breaths.
Ujjayi Pranayama.
A sweet reminder that I need oxygen to thrive.
With no oxygen,
The fire dies out.
So I really encourage you to turn on your Ujjayi Pranayama so you can hear your breath.
You can hear your breath as if it was a mantra at the top of your throat.
Look forward and step your feet to your hands.
Inhale into a halfway lift,
High onto the fingertips or hands on shins,
Up to you.
Keep the knees soft,
Exhale,
Folding.
Inhale,
Reach the arms out and up.
Come into standing,
Join your prayer and exhale,
Prayer to the heart.
The question for reflection here is using the light of the practice to illuminate our life purpose,
Feeling into our personal prayer for this class,
Not only,
But also for the rest of our lives.
Allowing the brightness and the heat and the warmth of the fire to illuminate.
As always,
The elements,
Just like everything else in nature,
They have a good side and they have a shadow side.
So the question for reflection is where do I need to turn up the heat?
Where do I need to take it down a notch?
And again,
No judgment here,
Just observing.
Otherwise,
The asana practice is only physical exercise.
And blink your eyes open,
Release the hands down,
Have your feet at distance,
Engage your core straight away.
We work with a little bit of a core sequence.
On an inhalation,
Squat down,
Reaching the arms out in front of you with the palms facing each other,
And you don't have to go all the way.
Exhale,
Come into a forward fold,
Lifting the hips up,
Coming to a forward fold,
Lifting the hips up as you bring the hands down.
So that happens at the same time.
And inhale,
Come on up,
Reaching the arms out and up.
Or Vastasana,
Upwards salute.
Take another inhalation here and exhale,
Squat back down,
Arms out in front of you,
Palms facing each other.
Take an extra inhalation here and fold forward.
You can keep the knees bent.
Inhale to lift up,
Look up,
Exhale,
Prayer to the heart.
One more time,
Like this.
Inhale,
Reach the arms out and squat down,
Palms facing each other.
Exhale,
Forward fold,
Lift your hips as you touch the hands down at the same time and the knees can stay soft.
From here,
Stay down,
Keep the hands down.
And on an inhalation,
Step your right leg back,
Bring your right knee down.
Inhale,
Reach the arms out and up.
Come into a low lunge.
Exhale,
Bend a little bit deeper and cactus your arms,
Devotional lunge.
Inhale,
Reach up.
Exhale,
Devotional lunge.
Lunge deeper into your left leg,
Cactus arm,
Look up.
Last time,
Like that.
Inhale,
Come out of the lunge and reach your arms up.
Exhale,
Devotional lunge and stay for two breaths.
Maybe three.
Release your hands down at either side of the left foot,
Lift your right knee up,
Step back,
Downward facing dog.
From your regular vinyasa or modified,
I modify all my vinyasas into inhale,
Hands forward into plank.
Exhale,
Knees,
Chest and chin down.
Inhale into cobra,
Releasing your body to the earth,
Pressing everything down and reaching the chest forward and up.
Exhale,
Press back,
Downward facing dog.
Inhale,
Right leg lifts,
Straight up and back.
Exhale,
Step through,
Bring your left knee down.
Inhale,
Reach the arms out and up,
Lunge a little bit deeper and cactus your arms.
Exhale,
Come out of the lunge and reach the arms up.
Two more times like that.
Inhale,
Lunge,
Cactus arms,
Look up,
Belly in and up.
Exhale,
Straight.
Last time,
Inhale,
Lunge.
Exhale,
Straight.
Release your hands down either side of the right foot,
Lift your back knee up,
Step forward,
Forward fold.
Inhale,
Reach the arms out and up,
Come into standing,
Join your prayer and lengthen.
Exhale,
Prayer to life.
Inhale,
Reach the arms out and up,
Second side,
No hesitation.
Exhale,
Forward fold.
Inhale into a halfway lift.
Exhale,
Left leg steps back,
Left knee down.
Inhale,
Arms reach,
Lunge deeper and cactus your arm.
Exhale,
Come out of the lunge and straighten the arms.
Two more times.
One more.
Release your hands down either side of the right foot,
Lift your back knee up,
Step back,
Downward facing dog.
Vinyasa,
Your chosen variation.
I will stay with plank,
Knees chest in shape and cobra.
Find it easier on the shoulders.
Downward facing dog.
Inhale,
Left leg lifts,
Straight up and back.
Exhale,
Step through,
Bring your right knee down.
Same thing.
Inhale,
Lift the arms out and up.
Exhale,
Cactus your arms.
Inhale,
Lunge a little bit deeper,
Look up.
Exhale,
Straighten your legs a little bit,
Come out of the lunge.
Inhale,
Lunge,
Devotional lunge.
Exhale,
Straighten the arms,
Come out of the lunge.
Last time like that.
In your own flow.
Release the hands down.
When you're done,
Either side of the left foot,
Lift your right knee up,
Step forward,
Forward fold.
Inhale,
Reach the arms out and up.
Come into standing,
Lengthen and join your prayer.
Connecting earth and sky and exhale.
Prayer to the heart.
Take a moment here.
Perhaps you can feel the heat already generated in the body.
It is this heat that allows us to move through blocks.
There's this light and this fuel that allows us to metabolize not only food,
But also life experiences.
Allowing us to retain what we need as life experiences and discard everything else without holding on to any excess,
Which is of course easier said than done.
So before we move into the next sequence,
I would love for you to bring into your mind's eye anything that is weighing you down,
That is bugging you,
Perhaps a challenge,
A health challenge,
A love challenge,
A work challenge,
A habit,
An addiction,
Anything else that,
Anything that you're trying to get rid of.
I would love for you to offer this thing to the fire of the cosmos.
Offer it up.
Offer your anger,
Offer your resentment,
Offer your low mood,
Offer your depression,
Offer your anxiety,
Offer anything that you have,
No matter how low you consider this emotional state of being.
Offer it all out to the practice.
The fire element doesn't discriminate.
It accepts it all and it turns it into usable fuel.
So use the practice to burn through anything that you do not wish to take with you after this.
And now we prepare a little core sequence.
So feet at distance,
Inhale,
Reach the arms straight up and exhale,
Bring your hands in a prayer in front of your heart.
Bend your knees and step your right leg behind the left,
Bending both knees.
So it's like a curtsy squat and bringing your right elbow to your outer left knee.
So it's like a chair with a curtsy squat,
Stack the palms and turn your torso to the left,
Twisting to the left.
Lengthen the crown of the head towards the front of the mat.
The tendency is to look up.
We want to keep the back of the neck long and continue to lengthen here.
Release the hands down straight out in front of you and step your right leg back,
Bring your right knee down.
So moving like a ninja very slowly the first time around,
Right hand under the right shoulder,
Lift your left arm up,
Open twist to the left,
Lean back.
The side body and the ribs are another area governed by the fire element,
Which is why twists and core work are so good for it.
Release your left hand down,
Listen up,
Frame your left foot,
Which means hands at either side of the left foot.
Lift your right knee up and step back into three-legged downward facing dog with the left leg up.
Release the left leg down,
You're back into downward facing dog.
Inhale,
Hinge forward into plank.
If you've never done this before,
Listen up,
Bend the knees and press back.
Shakti waves,
Making waves with your spine.
You can keep these waves really small or you can make them really big,
Up to you.
You'll practice your rules.
Come back into downward facing dog with the right leg up.
Inhale,
Reach your right leg straight up and back a little bit more.
Exhale,
Hinge forward,
Come onto your left heel and bring your right knee to your forehead,
Round.
Inhale,
Right leg lifts.
Exhale,
Right knee to right tricep,
Come forward.
So it's like plank,
Bring your shoulders over your wrists,
Strong core.
Inhale,
Right leg straight up and back.
Exhale,
Right knee to left elbow.
And one more time,
Inhale up,
Right knee to chest,
Round.
Inhale up,
Hinge forward,
Right knee to right tricep.
Inhale up,
Right knee to left tricep.
Inhale,
Right leg up.
Exhale,
Release the right leg down.
Inhale,
Hinge forward into plank.
Exhale,
Knees,
Chest and shin or your chosen vinyasa.
Inhale,
Inhale into cobra.
Exhale,
Press back.
Downward facing dog,
We're not staying here long.
Inhale,
Right leg up.
Exhale,
Step through,
Spin your back foot flat,
Warrior two feet and into your right knee.
Left arm carries you up and come into warrior two.
Settle into your warrior two for a moment.
Find your posture,
Find your asana.
Shoulders are relaxed,
Arms are reaching in opposite directions,
Interlace the fingers behind you.
Bend the elbows to bring the palms of the hands together,
Shrug the shoulder blades together and straighten the arm.
From here,
Inhale,
Look up,
Open your chest and your throat and exhale.
Either rest your torso onto your thigh or if you have the space,
Bring your right shoulder inside your right foot and reach the arms overhead for humble warrior.
Four breaths here.
Feeling into the strength of the legs and the feet,
That's the element which we worked with in the first class.
So calling on to all the other elements to support us in this practice.
From here,
Lift up a little,
Rest your torso on top of your thighs,
Listen up,
Hook your right shoulder behind your right knee,
Release the clasp of the hands,
Bring the right hand onto the other right foot,
Left arm straight up for parasvakonasana,
Left arm alongside the left ear.
For the full pose,
Reach up and back,
Press the outer edge of the left foot into the air,
Breathe.
Release the left hand down,
Spin your left heel up,
Step your left foot in about a foot,
Angle at a 45 degree angle,
Parasvakonasana,
Pyramid pose,
Hands at either side of the right foot,
You can stay high onto the fingertips,
Right leg is straight,
Inhale into a halfway lift,
Exhale,
Bow over your right leg any amount.
Now the right knee can be soft,
But the right foot is pressing down as if you are pressing into the gas pedal.
From here,
Walk that left foot further back,
Release your right hand onto the ankle,
The block for trikonasana,
Lift your left arm up,
Triangle pose,
And this is very much a fire pose.
So bring your attention to the solar plexus,
The belly center,
And again visualize that flame,
Visualize that fire.
So the brighter the flame,
The steadier and stronger the core,
The more we can radiate through all limbs in this pose,
And offer something out to this fire,
Something that you want to transmute.
Release the left hand down,
Listen up,
Frame your right foot,
Lift your left heel up,
Keep your back knee lifted,
Step your right leg back,
You're in plank,
Hold plank from here,
Or yogic push-ups,
Knees up or down,
I leave that to you.
I'm going to keep my knees down,
I'm going to turn down the fire,
Toes are tucked under,
Inhale where you are,
Exhale lower,
Inhale back up,
Strong core,
Belly in and up,
Exhale lower,
Three more,
Your own flow,
Last one,
Reach back up onto all fours,
Untuck your toes,
Hips to heels,
Child's pose,
Feel the fire,
And offer something up to this fire,
The transmutation and transformation today,
Come back onto all fours,
Tuck your toes under,
Take a deep breath and fill up with breath,
And on the exhalation,
Breath up and down,
Downward facing dog,
Inhale,
Right leg lift,
Straight up and down,
Exhale,
Knee to forehead,
Curl it,
Into chest,
Round,
We've been here before,
Inhale,
Right leg lift,
Exhale,
Hinge forward,
Right knee to right tricep,
Inhale,
Right leg lift,
Right knee to left tricep,
One more time in your own flow,
Inhale,
Right leg lift,
Straight up and down,
Exhale,
Knee to forehead,
Inhale,
Right leg lift,
Exhale,
Knee to right tricep,
Inhale,
Right leg lift,
Exhale,
Knee to left tricep,
Twist to the left,
Come onto the inner edge of the left foot,
And thread your right leg through under your left arm,
Stay here,
Or press everything down,
And come on up into a pole and triangle,
Lifting the left arm up,
And this is triangle pose in a different plane,
So really feel into the strength of your legs more than you feel into the strength of your right arm,
Release the left hand down,
Step back as gracefully as you can into downward facing dog,
Inhale,
Hinge forward knee to foot,
Bend your knees and press back for shakti waves,
Two more,
Last one,
And then pose into downward facing dog for five breaths,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Look forward and set your feet to your hands,
Inhale into a halfway lift,
Exhale forward fold,
Inhale,
Reach the arms out and up,
Join your prayer,
Lengthen,
Exhale prayer to the heart,
Close your eyes for a moment,
Feeling to the effects of the fire element onto one side before we prepare for the other side,
These poses in between the poses are really key as it is said that the asanas,
The yoga poses,
Work their magic on us after the pose,
So it's always good to take some time to feel into the effects of what we've just done,
Blink your eyes open as we prepare for the second side,
Taking all of this onto the second side,
Perhaps a little bit quicker with less skewing,
Feet hip distance,
Inhale,
Reach the arms overhead,
Join your prayer and on the exhalation bring your prayer to your heart,
Bend both legs and this time step the left leg behind the right,
Bend both knees,
It's like a curtsy squat,
There's about a foot between your two feet and legs,
Hands in prayer,
Now place,
Bring your left elbow to your outer right knee and twist to the right,
Stacking the palms on top of each other and pressing the palms into one another,
That will create some traction,
Draw the belly in and up and it is from this engagement by coalescing all of your energies into the belly center that then you can twist to the right,
From here listen up,
A bit of a challenge,
Now either bring your hands down or if you can stay as you are with the arms and see if you can step and this is quite hard,
Your left leg back,
So you gotta be careful,
Into a low lunge,
Bring your left knee down,
Release the left hand under the left shoulder,
Reach your right arm up,
Open twist to the right,
From here release your right hand down,
Free your right foot,
Lift your back knee up and step back into three-legged downward facing dog with the right leg up,
Leg down,
Release your right leg down,
Back into downward dog,
Inhale hinge forward into plank,
Bend the knees and press back,
Shakti waves,
Two more,
Last one,
Downward facing dog,
Inhale left leg lifts,
Straight up and back,
Press through the heel,
Spread the toes,
Exhale hinge forward,
Knee to forehead round,
Inhale reach up and back,
Exhale left knee to left tricep,
Hinge forward is like plank,
So bring your shoulders over your wrists,
Inhale lift up and back,
Exhale left knee to right tricep,
Twist one more time in your own floor,
Feel the fire,
Inhale lift the left leg straight up and back,
Exhale left foot down,
Inhale hinge forward into plank,
Regular vinyasa,
Bring your knees down,
Chest and shin down,
Take your time,
Inhale into cobra,
Exhale,
Press back into three-legged downward facing dog with the left leg up,
Inhale reach the left leg up a little bit more,
Exhale,
Step through for warrior two,
Spin your right foot flat,
Right hand lifts you up,
Helps you up,
You're into warrior two,
Settle in,
Always worth investing in the foundation of the pose as it will dictate the stability of the entire structure,
Interlace the fingers behind you,
Straighten the arms and open your chest and your throat to the sky.
From here begin to either rest your chest onto your left thigh or if you have the space,
Bring the left shoulder inside the left leg,
Reaching the arms overhead,
Humble warrior,
Three breaths here,
Strong legs,
Strong core,
What are you bowing to?
A very humble pose,
Come up a little,
Rest your torso onto your left thigh and hook your left shoulder behind your left knee,
Release your left hand to your outer left foot,
For parsvakonasana,
Reach your right arm up first,
Reach your right arm alongside the right ear,
Side angle,
Breathe,
Two more breaths,
See if you can spin both side ribs towards the sky,
Release your right hand down,
Lift right heel,
Step your right foot in about a foot,
Angle at a 45 degree angle for pyramid pose,
Hands at either side of the left foot,
Inhale into a halfway lift,
Exhale,
Fold over your left leg,
Tilting the sit bones up,
That's the most important thing,
That's the most important thing,
Step your right foot back now,
Warrior two feet or trikonasana,
Straighten your left leg,
Release the left hand onto the ankle,
The earth or a block,
Reach your right arm towards the sky,
Triangle pose,
Trikonasana,
So feel your core,
Feel that bright flame in the middle of the belly and feel how this fire fuels the pose,
Notice that as you engage your core,
Pull the belly in and up,
You can spread through all limbs,
Radiating like a star,
Release your right hand down,
Frame your left foot,
Spin your right heel up,
Step back into plank and here come those push-ups,
Knees up or down,
I'm gonna go with knees up this time,
So you're onto your toes,
Take an inhalation where you are,
Exhale lower,
Bending the elbows,
Keep the elbows squeezing in,
Inhale left,
Exhale lower,
You can keep the knees down,
Inhale left,
Exhale lower,
Inhale left,
Exhale lower,
Inhale left,
Exhale bring your knees down,
And tuck your toes,
Hips to heels,
Child's pose,
Feel the fire,
Last one,
Back onto all fours,
Preparing for our peak pose,
Fallen triangle,
Lift your knees up,
Let's press back into downward facing dog,
Lengthen,
Moment,
Bring your big toes to touch behind you,
Inhale left leg lifts,
Exhale knee to chest,
Round and bring the shoulders over the wrists,
Inhale left leg,
Exhale left knee to right,
To left tricep,
Inhale,
Left knee to right tricep,
One more time,
Inhale up,
Exhale left knee to chest,
Round,
Inhale left leg up,
Exhale left knee to left tricep,
Inhale left leg up,
Exhale left knee to right tricep and stay,
So twist to the right,
Coming onto the inner edge of the right foot,
Left knee towards the left tricep,
Now thread your left leg under your right arm,
You're welcome to stay here with the hands down,
Building strength into your legs,
Please curl the left toes to shin,
Activating the left leg,
If you have the strength,
Come onto the left arm and reach the right arm towards the sky,
For fallen triangle,
Both legs are super,
Super straight,
Same pose,
Trikonasana on a different plane,
Celebrating this body tempo that allows us to do all these things,
Release the right hand down and step back as gracefully as you can into downward facing dog,
Let's take some shakti waves to flush that out,
Inhale,
Hinge forward into plank,
High onto your toe,
Exhale,
Bend the knees and press back,
Two more,
Last one,
Take three breaths in downward facing dog,
Feel the sweat,
Feel the heat,
Feel the earth beneath you,
All of the elements coalescing,
Sweat of course is the water element,
The heat is the fire element,
Feel into all these elemental forces,
Which are also present in us as part of nature,
We are also made of these five elements and Ayurveda yoga sister science maintains that through the proper use of food and asana,
We can have the perfect alchemical mix,
As you're ready bring your knees down and bring your whole body down,
Belly down,
Face down,
Reach the arms forward for a moment and bring your hands in a prayer in front of you,
In front of you,
So arms are straight in front of you and hands are joined in prayer position,
Rest your forehead,
Your third eye onto the earth,
This is full danda pranam,
Full prostration,
I incorporate this pose into pretty much every practice as it reminds me to bow to this great mystery of life,
It reminds me to bow to the gift that it is this life,
That for all its trials and tribulation,
It's still an incredible,
Incredible adventure and so we say thank you,
We say thank you for the good things,
We say thank you for the challenges as they are the ones that hone and refine us,
Just like the fire destroys a forest,
It's from this regeneration that new life can arise,
Allow yourself to marinate in these words for a moment,
Asking yourself a moment,
What am I bowing to,
What am I devoted to,
What is my energy going into,
Another big teaching of the fire element is observing whether any activity that you do,
This could be watching a tv program,
A conversation,
A relationship,
A job,
Even a yoga practice,
Is this particular type of activity,
Is it fueling my energy,
Is it feeding it or is it depleting it,
And again no judgment here,
We're simply doing research,
So we don't get onto the yoga mat to beat ourselves up,
We get onto the yoga mat to get to know ourselves a little bit better and refrain from any judgment and any shaming and self-beat,
And that will hopefully be mirrored in our life.
So what activity,
What conversation,
What tv programs,
What music,
What is it that you do that fuels and feeds this energy,
What do you need to let go that is not feeding this energy but depleting it,
Just observe this question.
As you're ready,
Keep the arms stretched out in front of you and cross the right wrist over the left,
The right wrist over the left,
Spin the palms together and see if you can cross,
Interlace the fingers and then bring the left ankle,
Cross the left ankle on top of the right,
So the legs are crisscrossed,
And I'd love for you to be super careful that you're not using your neck in this sequence,
So keep looking down,
If you keep looking down the back of the neck will be long and you will use the middle of the back to lift up and dispose,
And of course we're still stimulating the core as this is a prone backbend,
So you will feel your belly pressing into the earth.
So all that said,
On an inhalation lift your arms,
Your torso and your legs,
Exhale lower,
Inhale lift,
Exhale lower,
Belly in and out,
Inhale lift,
We're literally building our backbone here physically and energetically,
Keep it going,
Inhale to lift,
Exhale to lower,
Three more,
Maybe getting a little bit more lift,
And release,
Uncross,
Right wrist,
Left ankle and switch,
Left wrist over the right,
Spin the palms together,
Interlace the fingers,
Right ankle on top of the left and here we go,
Inhaling where we are,
It's easier to lift up on the exhale as we are lighter,
So inhale where you are,
Exhale lift,
Legs,
Arms,
Torso,
Watch the neck,
Inhale,
Exhale lower,
Four more,
On your own flow,
Release,
Make a pillow with your hands,
With the palms of your hands,
Rest your forehead there and just sizzle into the fire for a moment,
Allowing the dust of this Shalabhasana variation sequence to settle,
And as you're ready,
Roll onto your back,
If you have a ponytail,
Please take it out,
The very last bit of our super fun sequence to do,
If you have lower back issues,
Be super mindful,
As this will require a lot of core strength and if again,
If something doesn't feel right,
Don't do it,
Laying on the back,
Reach the arms overhead with the palms facing straight up,
Bring the knees into the chest,
Zip up the belly,
That means pull the belly in and up,
So it's two options,
It's not enough to pull the belly in,
You need to suck it up as well and you'll feel an amazing lift in your pelvic floor,
Reaching the arms overhead,
On an inhalation,
Lift the legs overhead and exhale,
See if you can touch your fingers with your toes,
It's like a Halasana,
Like plow pose,
Release the legs down,
Maybe not all the way,
You can keep the legs a little bent,
Inhale,
Lift and touch,
Exhale,
Lower,
Inhale,
Lift and touch,
You can give yourself a little momentum,
The legs can be hip distance,
Keep it going,
Using the core,
Not the neck,
Not the jaw,
Inhale to lift,
Maybe touching the toes,
Touching the fingers,
Keep it going,
Four more,
Two more,
Last one,
Bring the knees into the chest,
Give yourself a hug,
Again,
Sizzle into the as you already release your knees,
Bring the feet down,
We're just moving the spine now in the opposite direction with one round of bridge,
Keep the practice nice and balanced,
Using the air element,
All the other elements that we put in our cauldron today,
In our alchemical mix,
So feet and legs distance,
See if you can tickle the back of the ankles with your fingers and then release the hands down,
Press everything down,
Engage your shoulders and left arm,
Lower back,
Upper back,
Middle back into bridge,
Now be careful that the knees don't splay out,
It tends to happen,
Keep the legs and the feet parallel,
Like railway tracks,
Super important,
The tendency is in this pose,
Is for the knees to open up to the side,
That takes it into the sacrum and makes this back bend quite,
Potentially quite harmful,
Take four more breaths here in bridge pose,
The last one and release slowly,
Open the feet as wide as the mat,
Bring the knees to touch,
One hand on the belly,
The other hand on top of that,
Reconnecting one last time with the fire element,
Feeling this flame burning steadily,
Illuminating our heart,
Illuminating our life,
Shining a light on this great mystery of life,
Now as you already bring the knees into the chest,
Give yourself a hug,
Cross the right leg over the left,
See if you can hold the outer right foot with your left hand from this position,
See if you can hold the top of the left foot with the right hand,
So left hand to right foot,
Right hand to left foot and right leg over the left,
So keeping hold of the feet,
See if you can roll onto your left hip,
Roll onto your left hip and try and straighten your right leg,
Keep the left leg bent,
So mantra missile pose,
You can lift up to make this happen,
Lift your torso up,
But if you have the space release back down,
Aiming to keep both shoulders onto the earth,
It's not that easy,
My right shoulder is up,
That's okay,
Keep looking straight up,
Very last twist,
Release any stagnancy,
Any lethargy,
Come back to centre,
If you can in the same way,
In this shoelace pose,
First crossing the legs,
Hand to opposite foot and then switch,
Open the legs out and switch,
Left leg over,
Bend the knees and opposite hand to foot,
Bend the knees and opposite hand to foot,
Right hand to left foot,
Left hand to right foot,
Roll onto your right hip now and straighten the left leg out to the right,
Keeping the clasp,
Keeping hold of your feet,
And come back to centre in the same way,
Squeeze the legs,
Moving the feet away from each other,
One last time,
Uncross,
Bring the knees into the chest and release into Shavasana and don't skip it,
Shavasana is the final incubator,
So that's where really the magic happens,
So come to lay down,
If you are in a cold country,
Make sure you have a blanket,
So taking this time to really build your nest for Shavasana,
Which is the most important pose and the most difficult one,
So perhaps grabbing a blanket,
Grabbing an eye pillow,
Something to cover your eyes and taking this time to rest,
Absorbing the teaching,
Integrating the teachings,
The information,
The insights that you've received and allowing your body to rest,
I'll leave you with this sutra,
Sutra 17,
It's a very short one,
Sutra 17,
Chapter 1 of After Yoga Pradipika,
Where it says,
It gives one steadiness of body and mind,
Lightness or flexibility of the limbs,
And absence of disease,
That means the steadiness of the earth,
That's the steadiness of body and mind and the lightness of air,
The flexibility that Asana all affords us,
Can be alchemically blended through proper use of Asana,
Even though they are natural enemies,
And this of course applies to many elements,
All of them,
That can be mixed and blended to create a perfect alchemical mix,
Which is what I am trusting you will gain from this series.
Now allow yourself to rest in silence for a few more moments,
Stay where you are and I will gently guide you out when the time is ready.
We are so close,
Just a few more moments,
And start by deepening the breath,
And you want to wake up your body as if you were waking up a child,
Being very gentle and very soft with yourself,
You worked hard,
Bending the knees into the chest and roll onto one side,
Feet opposition,
Take a moment there,
And as you're ready,
Coming to seated position,
Maybe the eyes are closed,
Just feeling into the effect of the practice,
Using the fire to practice the tapas,
To burn,
Burn through anything that we don't want,
Taking the time to clarify and illuminate what that might be,
Lastly,
Bring your hands in a prayer in front of your heart.
Thank you for joining me.
Namaste.
