30 Min. Summer Solstice Yoga Flow

Join me for a gentle yet energizing Litha Summer Solstice Yoga Flow designed for all levels. Inspired by the longest day of the year, this practice invites us to celebrate light, growth, gratitude, and the abundance that surrounds us. Together, we'll explore Sun Salutations with options and modifications to support a variety of experience levels, making this an accessible practice whether you're new to yoga or have been practicing for years. Throughout the class, we'll connect breath with movement, awaken the entire body, and create space to reflect on our intentions for the season ahead. The Summer Solstice is a beautiful opportunity to honor what is flourishing in our lives while cultivating presence and appreciation for the journey we're on. Expect mindful movement, full-body stretching and strengthening, and a supportive atmosphere that encourages you to meet yourself exactly where you are.

Transcript

Hey there, My name is Lisa, And this is Artemis, And this is your summer solstice yoga flow. We are so ready to move with you, To work, And don't worry, Artemis is gonna leave the room, But I just thought it would be nice to have a little bit of cat love or kitten love. So with that my friends, Feel free to go ahead and grab your block, Your water, And let's go ahead and dive on in. Okay. Hey there and welcome back. So we are diving on into sun salutations to represent the returning of the sun. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year. And I feel that when it comes to our own energy levels, We're outside, We're moving, It's the middle of the year. We are ready to set new intentions or to maybe go back to some old ones that we set at the beginning of the year. For Lita and the sun, Summer solstice it is the pagan holiday and the practice of honoring the sun there's festivities and there are fire festivals and bonfires and finally it is that awakening energy of oh we got through the winter we got through the spring and now we can fully embrace all the juiciness and the goodness of summer. So we will be diving on into sun salutation. Let's go ahead and start standing. So if you're a beginner, You are going to absolutely love this. Feel free to have a block handy at the front of your mat. Only when we come into forward folds, It might come in a little bit handy. Bring the feet, Hips distance apart. Maybe it's two fists, Or we just feel that connection between the ankles to the hips. Lift all 10 toes off the ground. Spread the toes nice and wide. Place or see if you can place down pinky to big toe. See if you can really utilize the energy like we're reaching through the arches of the feet, Through the earth, Through the hips, Hugging in ribcage and belly. Opening up in our heart space, Sending the shoulders up, Back and down. Reaching the fingertips on down and just taking a moment to arrive here. Maybe you were doing this first thing in the morning. We are technically recording this at night. But I think there's something to honoring. A practice where we can just feel like we're starting fresh, We're starting again, We're igniting the fire. I'm placing one hand on the heart and one hand on the belly. I invite you to. . . Set an intention for this practice. Whatever it is that you need. And with that intention in mind, My friends. Let us go ahead and begin our sun salutation sequence. So inhaling the arms on up and sorry if the camera cuts off my arms, But you're going to imagine we're reaching on up towards the sun, Melting the shoulders away from the ears. And then we're going to bend our knees and see if we can swan dive all the way on down, Sending ourselves into a forward fold, Sending the upper body to reach down towards the yoga mat. Now, This is why I say the block comes in handy. You can also use books or anything else. Or you can simply place your hands on the top of your legs bending the knees and see if you can send the belly to the tops of the legs and see if you can release the chin towards the chest the crown of the head reaches on down taking a nice big deep inhale really bend those knees to support the lower back and exhale. And then from here we're going to inhale through swan or reverse swan diving reaching the arms out to the side sending the hands on up saluting the sun in urvahastasana sun salute And exhale, Swan dive all the way on down. And we're just gonna continue at our own pace. You don't have to do what I am doing. How does the sun rise and set at your own pace? And that's something, Especially if you're just beginning your yoga journey, That's really important. To honor. The ritual and rhythms within you. Not trying to copy a teacher or copy what you see. Online. But simply move in a way that feels good. And honestly, You could do this for the rest. Of this time together, The rest of the class. You can just stay here, Reaching towards the sun. And forward folding. But if you want to allow yourself to move on to the next. Step of our sun salutation of our Earth. Surya Namaskar. Take a nice big deep inhale, Reaching the hands up towards the sun like you're reaching towards the intention, All the goodness of summer. And exhale again place hand on belly hand on heart it doesn't matter which one you can even place hands in prayer thumb connected to heart and just taking a moment to arrive and to be here. Taking a moment of pride in all that you do. Let's try it again inhale sweeping the arms out to the side reaching the hands all the way on up and exhale swan dive all the way on down. From here, We're going to play around with flat back. If this is Uttanasana in Sanskrit or forward fold, Then Ardha Uttanasana is like this. Half or Sukha Uttanasana or like easy. Forward fold. So we're going to come up onto the fingertips or slide the hands towards the knees, Having the hands rest on the shins. Go ahead release on down we'll do that three more times inhale slide the hands towards the knees, Resting on the shins, Or maybe coming upon to fingertips. And exhale release forward fold. Inhaling. . . And exhale, Forward fold. And last time, Inhale coming into your flat back. And exhale coming into forward fold. And go ahead, Come on to the hands and knees for tabletop position. Again, You can still play with that standing position of sweeping the arms up, Bring the hands on down. You don't have to come onto the hands and knees. This is your practice. And I'm here to just be with you and guide you in however you need to move today. But if you're with me in cat cow, Really ground down through the fingertips, Gently hug the forearms in towards one another and see if you can sway the hips from side to side. This helps release the lower back, Especially if you deal with sciatic pain. And especially if you've been sitting or lying on down for a while, Maybe tracing circles with the hips one way, Trusting what feels good, Especially in the summer. Time and taking it into the opposite direction. Inhaling Sighing out. And last big deep inhale. And Excel. Stunning. From here go ahead see if we can find tabletop position once more curling the toes under really pressing the floor away taking a nice big deep inhale scooping the heart forward and up and feeling a nice stretch in the belly and the abdominals the tailbone naturally comes on up And on the exhale, We press into the floor. Round in the upper back, Chin comes towards the chest, And navel naturally tucks in. Inhaling, Scooping the heart forward. And exhaling to round. Inhaling, Sending the belly on down, Scooping the heart forward through the gateway of the arms. And exhale to press into the hands, Chin comes towards chest. And just continue again at your own pace. How does the body feel? Check on in and allow yourself to really stay present. We'll play around with this for three more breath cycles. Again. Maybe we just inhale slowly. And exhale. It doesn't matter which way you go, As long as you're moving and it feels good. Last breath here. Beautiful, Let's take a child's pose. Bring the big toes together, Allow the knees to be as wide as the yoga mat, And come on in to sit all the way on down, Bowing on down, Taking a moment to just be proud of yourself. Know that you can come back to child's pose at any point in your practice. We're going to build upon this Surya Namaskar. So taking a moment to just be really present with your intention. And again, Proud. The sun is not afraid to shine, So neither should you be. And from here. Let's go ahead and find our first downward facing dog. Boom! Soul crowning down! Through the fingertips, Pressing into the hands and feet, Curling the toes under. And as you press into hands and feet, Lift the hips up nice and high, Coming into your first downward facing dog and begin to pedal out the legs, Bending through one leg, Reaching through opposite heel. Now for your downward dog, I don't want to see, And I'm going to show you, I don't want to see this. I want to see like you're broadening your butterfly wings, Spreading them out, Ready to like launch into the summer, Like your monarch butterfly. So really spread from side to side, Walk your dog, Especially for anyone who has a dog who might be seeing this. You may be like, Finally, The weather is beautiful. I don't have to go out in the snow. I see a lot of New York City walkers and in the wintertime, They're just like, No, They have to walk their puppies. So take a nice big deep inhale, And exhale. Last big deep breath in. And exhale let's go ahead walk the feet towards the hands coming into forward fold at the front of our yoga mat and go ahead see if we can find that forward fold really bend the knees don't be afraid to bend the knees and see if we can just release the upper body sway the head yes Sway the head no. Lubber the lips, Release the jaw. Sway the upper body from side to side. Maybe take a hold of opposite wrist forms or elbows. Sway, Sway. And from here release the hands on down ground down through all four corners of the feet sweep the arms out to the side and come to rise all the way on up reaching the hands all the way on up and placing the hands to the heart and release the hands all the way on down great work my friends all right ready to dive on into the next part of our sweet namaskar that was the foundation now we're going to add and dive on into Surya Namaskar A, But you have so many places to go to. You can just return to forward fold to Urdhva Hastasana. Uttanasana to Urdhva Hastasana. You can play around instead of plank. You can do cat cows or tabletop. And instead of downward dog, You could do child's pose. So those are your options. Let's go ahead and see if we can add on. So maybe bring the big toes together and there'll be a slight separation in between the heels. Why? Because we want our pelvic or hip bones to come into a neutral position. At least that's the, That's a philosophy, But always feel free to take a position that feels best for your body. And from here. Taking a moment again to find that Tadasana, That mountain pose, Lifting all 10 toes off the yoga mat, Spreading the toes nice and wide, Placing down pinky to big toe, Lengthening from tailbone to the crown of the head. And when you are ready, Inhale the arms out to the side, Saluting the sun, Reaching the hands on up. And exhale, Swan dive all the way on down, Forward fold. Inhale to your flat back coming up onto fingertips or sliding the hands on to rest onto the shins And exhale, Release, Step back. Let's find our first plank pose. Remember, You can always bring the knees down into tabletop. So stepping one foot back, Then the other, Pressing the floor away. You got this. Making sure the hips aren't too high. Or too low. We're finding that sit bone heel connection as we press the floor away taking a nice big deep inhale. And exhale. Breathing in. And dark sounds. Last big deep breath here. And exhale, Knees come down. Heart slowly comes on down, Chin comes on down as well. And when you're ready, Slither on through into Cobra. I almost hit my head on the block and that is totally okay. And see if you can slither on through. I like to slightly bring my fingertips on back so they're more in alignment with the elbows. See if you can bring the tops of the feet to the floor as you rise through head, Neck, And chest, Pressing down through the tops of the feet. Internally rotating the thigh soreness. Internally rotating, Taking a nice big deep breath in. And excel press up and back you can always find your child's pose but I'm going to lead us into downward facing dog. I know. They don't call it sun salutations for nothing. Maybe you're building a sweat. Take a nice big deep breath in. And exhale. Last big deep inhale. And text on it. When you're ready gaze between the hands and walk the feet on forward beautiful work From here, Find your forward fold, Take a nice big deep inhale. Sigh out. Let's find that flat back again inhale coming up onto fingertips we're sliding the hands towards the knees for a flat back and then exhale release into uttanasana into that forward fold and slowly inhale come to sweep the arms out to the side and come to rise placing the hands in prayer thumbs connecting to the heart space and release the hands on down you got this all right are you ready to do our last part of the sequence so let's go ahead find that sequence again again you know where to go you could do tabletop instead of plank You could do plank instead of going into our lunges, But we're going to add on. So last part. Grounding down through the heels of the feet. Inhale, Sweep the arms out to the side, Reach the hands all the way up. And exhale swan dive all the way on down forward fold. Inhale, Come up onto the fingertips or flat back or slide the hands towards the knees. Exhale remember you can find your plank but I would advise step the left foot on back bring the left knee on down hug the inner thighs in towards one another and we're going to rise through head neck and chest We have an option to place the hands onto the right knee and rise through head, Neck and chest. You can stay here or you can sweep the fingertips forward and up, Hugging the inner thighs and towards one another, Internally rotating. So that left leg, I don't want it to come out or that left hip bone to come out, That back leg. I want us to internally rotate inward, Really feeling our glutes and our inner thighs work. Take a nice big deep breath in. And exhale, Go ahead, Place the hands to frame the right foot. Now we can come into tabletop. We can do some cat cows instead of a plank hold. But if you wish to play with plank, Go ahead, Press into the hands, Lift the knees off the yoga mat. I like to walk my feet a little bit back. You got this, Take a nice big deep inhale. Exhale, You can always place the knees on down. I'm actually gonna place them down in case you need it. Take a nice big deep inhale. And exhale. And last one, I'm going to try with the knees on up to take a nice big deep inhale. And exhale. Alright, Knees come down. Slowly lower the heart. Engine. And then use your core and pelvis to slither on through. Take a nice big deep inhale. Maybe the top of the feet come to the floor. And exhale, Curl toes under, Press up and back, Child's Pose or Downward Facing Dog. Take a nice big deep inhale. And Exxon. Gaze between the hands. This time step the right foot in between the hands. So we're going to lift that right foot up nice and high, Maybe open up in the hip. And can you hug the right knee on in and step the right foot in between the hands or take a hold of the ankle and help it on forward. Release the left knee on down this time. And you know what this is, Anjaneyasana. Inhale, Sweep the fingertips forward and up. Melting the shoulders away from the ears. Taking a nice big deep inhale. And access. Breathing in. And exhale. Last big clearing and now looking up at that setting setting or set sun for me it's set maybe it's the rising sun for you and exhale release beautiful go ahead step the left foot to meet the right in forward fold And inhale to rise, Swimming the arms out to the side, Reaching fingertips all the way on up. Bring hands to prayer. And release. We're going to do one last round on the opposite side before we close our practice. You can always skip this round. You can always play around with that forward fold into tabletop or just simply forward fold to rise for the time I'm leading you through the next sequence. But know that I'm here with you and you can do whatever you want. So let's go ahead and dive on in. Hands to prayer, Thumbs connected to the heart. Take a nice big deep inhale, Sweep the fingertips forward and up, Maybe come into a gentle back bend, Lifting the heart up and over, Shining the heart towards the sky. And exhale, Slender, All the way on down, Forward fold. Inhale, Coming up. On to fingertips or sliding the hands towards the knees for a flat back ardha uddonasana. Exhale, Release, This time step the right foot on back. Bring the right knee on down. For my seasoned yogis, You may want to bring the top of the foot to the floor. It's up to you. Come to rise through head, Neck and chest in any way that feels good. Maybe using your core to rise through head, Neck, And chest. And again, Taking a gentle baby backbend, Opening up in the heart space. Big deep inhale. And exhale, Swim the hands on down to frame the foot back down onto the mat. You can come into tabletop or step back plank pose. You can always bring the knees up down. I'm gonna hold. But you know what your body needs most. If your lower back is talking to you, Feel free to bring the knees on down. You can always come back in. We'll hold for two more breaths. Inhale. And exhale. And exhale. This time, See if you can send the heels forward like you're coming up onto the tippy toes and then release the knees. Slowly lower the heart and the chin. And wiggle on through. We might need a sphinx pose. So see if we can send the elbows underneath the shoulders and sway from side to side. You have this. Take a nice, Big, Deep inhale. And exhale. Breathing in. And Excel. And when you are ready. Let's go ahead, Slide the hands to frame the heart. And see if you can press up and back, Curling the toes under, Press up and back. Downward facing dog. You got this. Literally the last part of the sequence see if you can lift the left foot on up nice and high opening up in the hips and then can you see if you can hug the left knee on in stepping it in between the hands or towards that left hand taking a hold of maybe the left ankle if you need the help forward and release the right knee on down go ahead inhale rise to anjaneyasana you have this take a nice big deep breath in And exhale, Swan dive the hands on down back to the mat to frame the left foot. Go ahead, Ground down through the heel of the left foot, Step the right foot to meet the left in forward fold. Inhale to rise, Swimming the arms out to the side, Coming to salute the sun. Exhale, Hands come through prayer and release. Excellent work. We concluded our sun salutations you should feel a bit awakened now invigorated let's go ahead and come to sit so you can always come into forward fold bring one knee down than the other and then just come to release on to the side You don't have to sit. You can stay in standing meditation. Just want to come into a breathe forward fold. So maybe send the soles of the feet together. Take a nice big deep inhale, Lengthening from tailbone to crown the head. Exhale, Send the heart forward, Chin comes towards the chest. Ah, Feels so lovely. Checking in with how you are feeling. Sometimes it feels so good to move. And you should be very proud of yourself. Some salutations are not easy. But I promise you. They're a great way to start your day. Take a nice clearing breath in. Clearing breath out. And inhale slowly come to rise. Bring the knees together and let's go ahead and come to lie on down into our Shavasana. Bring the feet mat distance apart and allow the knees to just gently come. Coming on in towards one another. If that feels good, It may feel awkward for some individuals, So you can always feel free to just come to bring the legs on down, Whatever feels best. Placing one hand on the heart, One hand on the belly. In yoga philosophy, The belly. Is the area of the sun and Agni and fire and our digestive force and our core of who we are and our solar plexus. Knowing we are allowed to take up space in our intentions. To heal, To share truth. Grow. You can stay here. For as long as you desire. But if you wish to close the practice with me. Remember to come back to your intention. To feel that fire, That invigoration from your toes to the crown of your head. And again, Feel free to stay here for as long as you wish. But if you wish to close the practice with me and go ahead and return to the rest of your day or your night. Feel free to slowly wiggle fingers and toes. Allow yourself to reincorporate awareness back into the body, Into the nervous system without jolting it. Maybe rolling onto the side, Cradling the head, Thanking yourself for moving a little bit today. Your body will thank you, I promise you. And slowly coming to rise all the way on up. I hope you enjoyed this practice. I know I did. And I thank you again for joining me. Remember to honor the inner sunlight and maybe you're watching this in the southern hemisphere and it might be your winter time or maybe you're watching this around the time period where it is winter and I just want to honor that summer is a state of mind, That sun, That joy is a state of mind. Honor that embracing of life, That fire energy. Especially when you need it most and when it may be darkest. I thank you again for joining me. Bring the hands to prayer to close the practice. Om Shanti Shanti. Peace, My friends. I will see you next time. Bowing down to the divine light that is within each and every single one of us. Namaste. Bye for now.