Pranic Yoga Flow - Energize and Balance

Join April in this all-level pranic yoga flow that emphasizes the steadiness and support of the breath to open and relax both body and mind. This moderate, accessible practice includes empowering standing postures, gentle heart openers, and breathing techniques such as Ujjayi, Bhramari, and abdominal breath.

Transcript

Welcome, Everyone, To Pranic Flow. I'm April. Let's begin our practice by finding a comfortable seated position of choice, Whether it's cross-legged, Kneeling, Legs long, With or without a prop. When you find your most comfortable, Sustainable seated position, Invite the hands to rest down. Palms rotate open to the sky. And here we have an option, If it resonates with you, To unite the index and thumb into the mudra of wisdom, Jnana mudra, This mudra that unites individual consciousness with universal consciousness. Softly close down your eyes. Relax your inner gaze. And relax your awareness into your body so there is a level of settling into the present. And here, In this moment-to-moment awareness, Allow your seat to become stable and grounded. Awaken the length of your spine. And a gentle lift through the heart center as you roll the shoulders back and down. Invite a quality of ease behind your facial expression. And the crown of the head light, The crown of the head soft. And here, With your body and your awareness streamlined, Recognize your breath, The pranic inhalation and the pranic exhalation. Recognize the nature of your breath as it weaves through your entire body, Feeds the body. And the breath as it weaves through the whole spaciousness of yourself. And the breath as it expands your awareness. And the breath as a vehicle for pranic awareness. Let's do your best here to relax into the subtlety of your breath as it softly draws in and softly draws out. Smooth and fluid, The breath draws in. Smooth and fluid, The breath draws out. It is an offering for your body, An offering for the relaxation of your mind, And an offering for yourself. Sweetly unite your hands into prayer mudra in front of the heart space. And we'll open our practice with a single om. Feel free to join in at home if you would like. Gather your long inhale. Inhale prayer to third eye, The space between your eyebrows. And exhale prayer down to the heart. Invite the thumbs to rest on the center of your chest. As you use this moment here to attune, To your ujjayi breathing, Oceanic breathing, Gently narrow the center of your throat and discover those long, Deep, Audible inhales through the nose with an er sound. And long, Deep, Audible sounds, Exhalation through the nose with a ha sound. And inviting that breath to fuel the steadiness of your mind, Just as it fuels the movement of our practice, The stillness of our practice, And the capacity of our practice. With your next inhale, Guide both arms overhead to the sky. You're more than welcome to open the eyes or keep them closed. Exhale, Gentle twist towards the right side and bow down over your right thigh. Place the fingertips to the earth, Palms are lifted. Walk the shoulder blades down onto your back. Movement with breath, Inhale, Guide just the left arm to the sky, Open up through the front of the body, The heart. Option to gaze to top hand if it serves the neck. Exhale, Slowly bow yourself all the way down to the earth. One more time, Inhale, Weave yourself all the way up. Filling with prana, Paraka. Exhale, Surrender down to the earth. A complete release, One ujjayi breath here. Inhale, Draw through to center, Both arms overhead. Lengthen your spine. Exhale, Gentle twist towards the left side, Bow yourself down. Once again, Fingertips connect to the earth, Palms are lifted. Draw the shoulder blades down onto your back. Movement with breath, Inhale, Right arm will rise. Peel the heart open, Follow the top hand with the gaze if it serves the neck. Exhale, Surrender yourself all the way back down to the mother earth, Inhale. One more time, Fill the body with breath. We open, Rise, Expand. Pranic expansion, Exhale. Bow yourself back down into a quality of grounding. One breath here. Inhale, Draw yourself all the way back up to center, Arms overhead, Spread the palms. Spread the fingers, Tabletop, Exhale. Either guide yourself forward or unravel the legs and make your way forward into a tabletop. From there, Face the front of your mat. Stack the wrists under the shoulders, Knees underneath the hips, Fingers are spread wide. Marjorie Austin, Cat-Cow, Five rounds. Inhale, Tilt the pelvis so the tailbone draws up, Arching gently through the low, Mid, Upper back option to gaze up. Exhale, Tilt the pelvis down as you tuck the belly in, Round through the spine, Chin to the chest. Four more times, Inhale, Ripple yourself forward, Open up through the heart space. Exhale, Deep round of spine, Tuck the chin in towards the chest, Belly scoops back. Three more, Inhale, Padaka. Exhale, Vrachaka. The breath fuels your movement. The breath streamlines the layers of yourself. On your next inhale, Draw back to neutral spine in tabletop. Exhale, Gather the knees to center and sit back onto your heels into vajrasana, A kneeling position. If this is uncomfortable for the body, Choose a different seated position that works well for you. Hand breathing, Inhale, Extend the arms overhead, Spread through the fingers, Palms are awake. Exhale, Tuck the thumbs into soft fists and guide the arms down. Here we'll move rapidly with the breath. Inhale, Exhale, Inhale, Exhale, Inhale, Exhale. As we move through this kriya, If at any point it's too much, Know that you can slow it down. Slow down both the breath and the movement. If you happen to be pregnant or have high blood pressure or any conditions where too much heat is aggravating, Slow it down to a regular breath pace. Honor your body, Honor your limits. Five, Four, Three, Two and one. Inhale, Extend both arms overhead to the sky. Rotate the palms towards one another. Retain the breath unless you have high blood pressure or you're pregnant, Then continue to breathe naturally. Turn the eyes down and attune to the sensation of prana as it expands through the body, The integration of prana, As we encourage its elevation, Awakening our awareness of the sensation of subtle prana feeding ourselves. Exhale, Slowly release the arms all the way down. Place the palms onto the thighs, Roll the shoulders back. Find several long breaths here. Several long breaths as we ground, We ground our prana-infused body, Prana-infused breath. It's okay to let yourself be in this very moment. A gentle, Releasing breath, Inhale, Nose. And out the mouth. Inhale, Mindfully guide your arms overhead. Feel free to open through the eyes. Return to Tabletop, Exhale, Draw yourself forward. Face the front of your mat. In Tabletop, Walk the hands forward an inch or two. Create a little more space for your chest. And Downward Dog, Exhale, Tuck the toes, Belly scoops back. Gently lift the knees and sweep your seat to the sky. Here in Downward Dog, Feel free to incorporate some movement. This might be the first Downward Dog you've entered today. We could walk the dog. We could find some stillness in our Downward Dog. You could keep both knees bent, Both legs straight. We could also modify by returning back to Table or fold back into Child's Pose. So simply choose the level of your practice today. It might be quite different than yesterday. Two more breaths in Downward Dog. Broaden the shoulder blades, Relax your neck and your entire facial expression. Oh. From Downward Dog or Table, Inhale, Guide right leg straight up to the sky. So a three-legged dog. Exhale, Place the right foot through between your hands. Guide your back knee down to the earth, Low lunge. We'll keep our back toes tucked. Ensure the right knee and the right ankle are stacked. Square the hip, Right hip back, Left hip forward. Inhale, You can stay here or guide both arms overhead as we rise, Lengthen the spine. And exhale, Either interlace the fingers or catch hold of opposite elbows. Root strongly through the sole of your front foot. Three breaths. Nice, Steady in your movement. Inhale, Both arms overhead. We rise, Palms down to the earth, Exhale. Inhale, Lift your back knee. Exhale, Step back to a high Plank Pose. Here, We'll hold our position, Inhale. And exhale, Place both knees to the earth. Lower chest and chin all the way down to the floor. Untuck your toes. Baby Cobra, Inhale, Roll up. Access your back body strength rather than arm strength. And Downward Dog, Exhale to lower. Tuck toes, Knees for support as we draw ourselves up. And then lift the knees, See to the sky. Releasing breath here, Inhale through the nose. And out the mouth. Inhale, Left leg to the sky for three like a dog, Ekapada Adho Mukha. Exhale, Place that left foot through between your hands. Guide your back knee down to the earth. Back toes will remain tucked, Square through the hips. Grounded strongly through the sole of the left foot. Here we could stay or inhale as the arms rise. Fill your body with that breath. And exhale, Either chest expander or catch hold of opposite elbows. And root strongly through that front foot, Through the ball of the back foot. Continue to maintain the stability of your hips. And three pranic breaths here. Inhale, Arms overhead, We rise. Palms to earth, Exhale. Inhale, Lift your back knee. Exhale, Return to Plank Pose. Hold this position, Long inhalation. Exhale, Option to keep the knees lifted. Lower yourself all the way down to the floor or the knees could drop down first. Once you meet the earth, Untuck the toes. Inhale, Either Baby Cobra or Cobra. You might choose to utilize some arm strength here. And Downward Dog, Exhale as we float back, Either a Plank Pushup or knees for support to guide yourself into Downward Dog. Find three breaths in Downward Dog or a modification of choice. Continue to infuse your awareness with your pranic breath. So the pranic breath meets your body, Meets your mind, Gathers those layers so we can draw into this central channel of internal knowing, Wisdom and ease. With your next inhale, Walk, Float or step to Standing Forward Bend up to the front of your mat. Exhale, Bow down, Hind of the hips. Feet evenly grounded, Draw all the way to standing. Inhale, Arms overhead, We rise. Option to gaze to the sky at the peak. And prayer to heart, Exhale, Hands soften down. Access your standing alignment here. Feet about hip distance apart, Toes spread and lengthen forward. Neutral through the pelvis, Soft through the shoulders. Half Sun Salutation, Ardha Surya Namaskarasana. Inhale, Arms overhead, Feel them float through air as you fill your body with prana. Exhale, Bow down, Lead with the heart. Fold forward, Uttanasana. Inhale, Halfway lift. Lengthen through the spine, Expand your chest and lungs and fold again, Exhale. Place the fingertips of the earth or the hands wherever it works well for you, Perhaps the shins and find three breaths in our Standing Forward Bend. Soften the neck, Relax the jaw, Relax your gaze, Whether it is inner or outer. On your next inhale, Draw all the way to standing. You might choose to slightly bend the knees. Weave yourself up, Option for a small back bend at the peak and prayer to heart, Exhale. Lower both arms down beside your body. Ensure that you are stable in your Tadasana position. Now shift your weight into the sole of the right foot for a simple balance. Inhale, Raise the arms overhead, Lift your left heel. Ball of the foot might remain on the floor or we can lift the ball of the foot and guide our left knee up about hip height. Ensure the front low ribs are slightly drawn in. Breathing here, Always helpful to steady the gaze on a single unmoving point. One more inhale, High lunge, Exhale. Guide your left leg back, Ball of the foot will land. Right knee is bent. Ensure the right knee is stacked over top of the right ankle. Bend at the elbows, Draw the hands into cactus arms. The palms are forward. Again, We'll move with the breath. Inhale, Draw the arms overhead. The palms draw towards one another. Exhale, Bend at the elbows. The palms are forward. Inhale, Sweep and gather yourself up. Exhale. One more time, Empowerment. Inhale, We rise. Exhale. Inhale, Extend both arms overhead, Warrior B. Exhale, Pivot your back heel down. Hips will open, Lower the arms about shoulder height. Ensure the right knee and the right ankle continue to stack. I will be your mirror image here. And then gather your hands into lotus mudra, The lotus hand gestures. The heels of the hands, The edges of the pinkies, And the edges of the thumbs unite in front of the heart space. Chin is aligned with the sternum. One long breath here. And a Brahmari breath, Humming through the nose on exhale. Gather a long inhale. Three regular breaths, Lotus mudra. Warrior B, Virabhadrasana. With your next inhale, Extend both arms out from the heart space. Exhale, Straighten through your front leg, Your right leg. Shorten your stance as you pivot your back foot in. And to the top of your mat, Inhale, Guide yourself up, Tadasana. Once again, Access your alignment in Tadasana. Lower the arms down beside your body. Shift your weight now into the sole of the left foot. And inhale, Arms overhead. Guide your right heel away from the earth. You might stay here, Or that full foot will draw away from the earth. Find the integrity of your center to support you. And again, Steady the gaze on a single, Unmoving point. Simple posture, Yet quite powerful. Strengthening the concentration of the mind. And this leads to the peace of mind. One more inhale. High lunge, Exhale, Guide your right leg back. Ball of the foot will connect to the floor and land. Left knee is bent, Stacked over top of that left ankle. Cactus arms, Bend at the elbows, Palms face forward. We'll move with breath, Inhale. Extend the arms overhead as though you're gathering and extending. Exhale, Stabilize and ground. Two more times, Inhale, Empower. Exhale, Integrate. Inhale. Lovely, Inhale, Draw the arms overhead. Warrior B, Exhale, Pivot your back heel down, Hips open. Lower the arms about shoulder height. Maintain your position, Left knee, Left ankle stacked. I'll be your mirror image once again. And gather your hands into Lotus Mudra. Settling into the experience of yourself, The experience of your body. One Brahmari breath, Inhale. And three breaths here in our Warrior B. It's the vibration of Brahmari Pranayama is integrated in the body. It's vibration smooths out the inner world, Smooths out the mind. Gift upon gift of prana and pranic breath. Inhale, Extend both arms out from the heart space. Exhale, Straighten through your front leg, Shorten your stance, Pivot your back heel in. And inhale, Return to standing Tadasana at the front of your mat. Allow the arms to draw down beside your body. Re-relax your shoulders. Close down the eyes for a moment. Guide your awareness within. Encourage your body to remain steady. So that your breath easily flows through your body, Through this vessel. Begin to ride the current of the inhalation as it streams up from the soles of the feet to the crown of the head. And ride the current of the exhalation as it streams back down from the crown to the soles. Two more revitalizing breaths here. And a soft releasing breath, Inhale, Nose. And out the mouth. As you remain in your standing alignment, Tadasana near the front of your mat, Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation. Option here for Chaturanga and Upward Dog if that happens to be you. If that happens to be in your practice. Inhale, Weave your arms overhead. Shoulders remain soft. Option to gaze up at peak. Exhale, Fold forward. Lead with heart, Bow down. Halfway lift, Inhale, Lengthen through the spine. On exhale, Plant the palms. Float or step yourself back to Plank Pose. Maintain this position, Inhale here. Feel the crown of the head draw forward. Exhale, Lower down halfway or all the way. Maybe Chaturanga, Maybe use the knees. Inhale, Cobra, Up Dog or Baby Cobra, Backbend of choice. Downward Dog, Exhale, Glide yourself back. Settle into your Downward Dog. Access the strength and engagement of your body. And then soften into the strength and engagement of your body with breath. Relax the mind. Relax any of the waves of thought passing through the field of the mind. And invite your awareness to be expanded by breath. The quality of your awareness. The quality of your moment-to-moment awareness. Expanded and fulfilled by breath. Inhale through the nose and out the mouth. Inhale, Guide both knees to the earth tabletop. Exhale here, We can untuck the toes or you're welcome to keep them tucked in preparation for Camel Pose. So with the knees on the floor, We'll guide ourselves upright. The hands can lift away from the floor. You may want to double up your mat or add a little blanket underneath the knees. Placement of the hands, Heels of the hands just at the top of the pelvis there. The fingers can point down. If this isn't appropriate for your wrists, Thumbs could drop back and the rest of the fingers could float just the sides of the waist or the sides of the pelvis rather. With an inhale, Feel yourself grow long, A subtle lift through the center of the chest as the lungs expand. Exhale, Roll the heart open. We gently lean back. Pelvis remains aligned with the knees. Draw the shoulder blades towards one another. And here the chin could stay tucked down or some of us might feel comfortable to slightly draw our gaze up. So we're not necessarily looking to move overly deep here but rather to find a sustainable position where you can continue to follow the path of your breath intimately. I'm just accessing the element of air, The Anahata Chakra and therefore the seat of prana. The heart center is the seat of prana. Prana. The lungs become the seat of prana as well. One more breath. Inhale, Slowly release, Draw the torso upright. Exhale, Draw down to a tabletop position. Good. One breath here in Table, Spine is neutral. Exhale. Slowly draw the knees a little wider than hip distance, Toes towards one another and fold back into your Child's Pose position. Here, Arms are either long in front of you or swept beside you. Or maybe we create a pillow with the hands for the head. Just soften, Breathe into your low back. Breathe into the full length of your spine. Breathe into your sacrum even. Spacious through the sacrum, Spacious through the low back. As through the positioning of our body and the breath nourishes these areas. One more breath. Sweep the arms back alongside the body if not already there. Inhale, Slowly roll yourself up to seated vertebra by vertebra. Take as much time as you need. At the peak, Roll the shoulders back and down. And remain in Vajrasana or an alternate seated position as needed. Return back to your Lotus Mudra. Invite the eyes to close. And we'll find another Brahmari breath here. Gather your inhale. Soften the space between your eyebrows. Soften your inner gaze. And as you maintain the integrity of your pelvis, Your presence, Perhaps even with the eyes still closed, Draw to the side, Sit bones to the earth. Extend both legs out in front of you. And slowly lower all the way down to the earth, Either with core control or the support of your arms. Once you meet the earth, Bend the knees, Place the feet onto the floor about mat distance apart, Give or take, So wider than hip distance. Arms beside the body, Roll the palms open. Knees pointed to the sky, Gather your long inhale. Exhale, Swivel the legs to the left side. Allow them to lower towards the earth. Pelvis is stable, Core is stable. Inhale, With that stability, Draw back through center. Exhale, Switch sides towards that right side. Inhale, Back through center. And exhale, The breath moves you. Inhale. Inhale. Inhale, Draw through center. Place the soles of the feet together, Knees remain bent, And draw the knees out to the side, A reclined, Bound angle. Inhale. Here, Arms either beside the body, Or we could extend the arms overhead, Maybe a wider V position, So the shoulders remain relaxed, Elbows are relaxed, Wrists and hands are relaxed. Turn your awareness within, Close down the eyes. And relax your belly completely. So you begin to access deep abdominal breathing. Inhalation, The belly is so relaxed, The breath fills the belly. And exhalation, The belly sinks back down as the navel draws towards the spine. Inhale, Feel the belly. And this is a very simple, Effective way to attune and access the parasympathetic nervous system. Rest, Digest, Calm, Quiet, Cool, And collected. The power of the breath. And through the nourishment of our entire practice, And all of its elements, There becomes an internal organization of the types of prana. Five major types of prana. Prana, Samana, Udana, Apana, Viyana. But what the Vedas tell us is that there are 1, 008 types of prana. Feeding you, Nourishing you, Supporting you. One more breath here. If your arms are overhead, Guide them back down. With the support of the arms, Draw the legs back towards one another, The knees back towards one another. Release the low back. You may need to lift the pelvis and feel that low back connect to the earth, Or you might draw the knees in towards the chest. And then slowly lengthen your legs out for a short shavasana. Breath is completely relaxed. Completely relaxed here. Ujjayi breathing is unwound. And we return to a soft, Quiet, Subtle pranic breath. Whole body relaxed. And even surrender your mind into the quality of relaxation. And I'll draw you back when it's time. Om pranaya. Salutations to prana. Envelope your body with awareness. Envelope your breath with awareness. And draw small movement into your fingers and toes as though prana moves you, Because it does. Movement into the wrists and the ankles. Guide the knees towards the chest. Roll to the right side. Make your way to your seated position of choice. Allow the eyes to remain closed. Receive the current of breath. Palms unite in prayer mudra in front of the heart space, Pranam. These are conscious, Pranic breathing, Unfolds and harmonizes our higher states of consciousness. So we return to expanded health, Vitality and mental equanimity. We'll seal with an om. Join in at home if you'd like. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, Prayer to third eye. Honor your intuition, Honor yourself. The divine light in me bows to the divine light in all of you. Namaste. Alright, Thank you all so much. I'll see you soon. Have a wonderful day. Namaskar.