Hey,
Thanks for tuning in.
It's Megan here,
And I'll be leading you through your next session today.
I'm reading this incredible book by Thich Nhat Hanh called No Mud,
No Lotus.
And the whole premise of this book is being able to transform your suffering by recognizing that suffering is an essential component that leads to happiness.
And it's a really hard thing to wrap my head around sometimes because when I'm caught in my suffering,
It seems like happiness is the furthest thing from the truth.
But I take that pun.
Explains to us that the beautiful,
Magnificent lotus flower It doesn't grow in marble or pristine,
Clear water conditions.
It has to grow through mud.
And so taking this idea of.
.
.
Owning and embracing your journey.
Knowing that it takes a whole,
Complete,
Beautiful,
And magnificent person to survive what you did.
In this book,
There's a particularly interesting chapter called the Second Arrow.
Where Thich Nhat Hanh explains that the first arrow that penetrates us is absolutely painful and this could be our trauma for example.
But if a second arrow penetrates that exact same spot,
The pain is not only worse,
But it's like tenfold exponentially more painful.
He goes on to explain that the second arrow is the thoughts,
The opinions.
The meaning and the emotions we attach to that first arrow.
So oftentimes it's our own.
Emotional attachment that we apply to that first arrow that leads to a magnified suffering.
So what he means by that is.
.
.
Adding judgment,
Adding self-criticism or self-blame.
After the first arrow that hit.
Magnifies your suffering.
I want you to know that none of what happened to you is your fault.
And this is a really hard thing to fully own and honor.
You didn't deserve it.
You are not to blame.
And you're not unworthy or wrong or unlovable because it happened to you.
For this next series of movements,
We're going to be exploring getting rid of our second arrow,
Or at least quieting it.
How can we dig deep and learn to see our strength and see our story?
As beautiful.
This isn't going to happen overnight,
And you may not feel any relief after this session.
But the idea is over time and through practice and kindness and self-compassion.
That you'll be able to embrace your suffering.
Rather than judging it.
Or denying that it's there.
So let's get started.
To get started,
The invitation is to find yourself in a comfortable seated position.
Take as much time as you need to fully settle in on your mass and make any adjustments that you need to to your clothing or brushing hair out of your face so that you can fully tune into the experience.
When you're ready,
Just notice the contact of the hips to the floor and see if you might root down and ground yourself through the hips so that you can grow and extend the spine tall.
Perhaps taking the shoulders away from the ears here.
The hands can gently rest in the lap or on the knees,
Whatever is most comfortable for you.
And just tuning into your natural flow of breath.
Taking a couple of moments to settle in.
Give yourself permission to be fully present for this next series of movements.
Continue noticing the sensation of your breathing.
Not trying to change it in any way or judge it as right or wrong.
We're just noticing in this moment.
How our breath feels coming into the body.
How their breath feels leaving the body.
Continue staying here for as many moments as you'd like.
And as we start to do a little more breath work,
Find yourself with your hands just gently wrapped around the front of the knees.
And as you exhale,
We're going to curl the tailbone underneath us,
Scoop through the belly,
Round through the shoulders.
And tuck the chin right towards the chest.
Getting this nice C curve throughout the spine.
On your next inhale,
Make your way through center.
Glide the tailbone far behind you,
Open the chest and throat to the sky,
And take the eyes to the sky as well.
Let's take an exhale,
Come back through center.
We're gonna scoop through the belly,
Tuck the tailbone under,
Round through the shoulders,
Chin to chest.
And notice what it feels like to spread the shoulder blades wide.
And then bring it back through center.
Open the heart and chest in front of you.
Glide the tailbone long behind you.
Gaze to the sky.
And just come to do two or three.
Rotations.
Matching your in-breath and out-breath to the movement.
On your own time,
Remembering that you get to choose how fast.
Or how quick.
Or how slow you want to do these breaths.
Movements.
And we're just warming up the spine here.
And if you need to,
Just take a couple of twists side to side,
Only if it feels good.
We're just warming up the spine here.
As you're ready,
We're going to make our way into our first child's pose position.
So find your way onto the knees.
The knees can spread wide to the edges of the mat.
Big toes to touch.
Let's walk our upper body onto the mat,
Allowing the arms to extend outward.
And notice what it feels like in your body to draw the hip down and back towards the feet and ankles.
Perhaps noticing if you're holding on to any residual tension in the shoulders.
See if you like.
Rock the shoulders side to side or soften the shoulders and allow them to melt down towards the floor.
Slowly find your way into your own natural rhythm of breath.
So there's many moments of good life here.
A really great position to come to for a little moment of rest or a couple extra breaths.
Remembering that it's always available to you at any time.
When you're ready,
We're going to slowly make our way into tabletop position.
Gliding the hands and arms underneath the shoulders.
And knees hip width apart.
Spreading all 10 fingers nice and wide.
And if you'd like,
Perhaps pressing each of the finger pads into the mat.
Elbow creases are shining towards each other.
And notice what it feels like in your body to spread the shoulders wide,
To engage your core.
And perhaps a slight tuck of the tailbone.
Curling it underneath you to flatten out and neutralize the pelvis.
When you're ready,
We're going to tuck the toes under at the back.
And we're going to press through the palms to lift the hips up and back,
Finding our way into our first downward facing dog today.
So take some time to walk out the dog.
Alternate bending either knee,
Maybe press through the hands to glide the torso towards the legs or come forward into high pushup if you'd like and then back.
You get to choose the movements that feel good right here to stretch out the shoulders,
Stretch out the backs of the legs.
On your next inhale,
We're going to draw the right leg up to the sky and shake the leg out.
I always like to think of shaking out anything that's no longer serving me.
So shake out that entire leg.
Bend the knee a lot and we're going to float the right foot between the hands.
Take a small step forward until you can plant the entire sole of the left foot onto the mat at about a 45 degree angle.
Bending into that right knee,
We're going to press through both feet and draw the body up to standing.
We're preparing for warrior one.
That right hip is going to rotate backwards towards the back.
Corner of the mat,
That left hip rotates forward,
The zipper squaring up the hip.
Towards the top of the map here.
Core is engaged.
Lunge into that knee and we're going to float the arms all the way up.
Take the gaze there as well.
Coming into warrior one.
Check in with both pinky toes here.
Lots of energy through both pinky toes of either foot.
And notice what it feels like in your body to have strength.
And action in every muscle here.
So even right through the fingertips.
We have strength through the fingers.
Just like a warrior.
Has strength,
Find your inner warrior here.
Take a couple of moments to draw the gaze up through the fingertips.
Reaching to the sky.
As if you're calling on the sky to bring you strength.
And then take a moment here to honour and think about and identify one of your strengths.
And watch what the mind does here too,
Just paying attention.
Is your first response to think,
I don't have any?
What was your first response?
Lifting more than one.
Knowing that there's no right or wrong way to respond,
We're just noticing here whether it's with ease or difficulty.
To think about our strengths.
Think if you might be able to settle in on one.
Strength.
Or experience that you're proud of.
Hone in on what your facial expression may have been.
In that moment.
What do you feel like on the inside?
What were you doing?
When you're ready,
We're going to exhale,
Take the hands to the hips.
And we're going to heel toe,
Heel toe,
Heel toe that back leg out.
And widen our stance so that the back left foot is parallel to the back edge of the mat.
We're going to keep the lunge in that front right knee,
Making sure the knee is tracking over the pinky toe edge of the foot,
Not collapsing inward.
So we're just protecting the knee joint here.
Float the arms out to the side.
Coming into warrior two.
So as much as we extend that right arm forward,
We're extending and reaching the left arm backwards.
If you'd like,
Rotate the palms to the sky and roll the shoulders down and away from the ears.
And let's see if you can just flip the wrist back over.
Find your breath here,
Fire up the thighs,
Lots of energy here.
As we come to warrior two.
As you exhale,
Drop the left hand,
So the back hand to the back thigh.
We're going to flip the right palm to face the sky and extend the arm upwards,
Coming into Peaceful or Exalted Warrior.
Lift up and out of the hip socket here.
Get a nice stretch through the front body.
While still keeping the bend in that right knee.
Whenever you're ready,
Float back to warrior two.
Just for a breath.
And then we're gonna windmill the arms to either side of that right foot,
Rotate the left foot onto the tippy toes,
And with a giant step forward,
Meet both feet at the top of the mat.
Inhale,
Halfway lift.
Exhale,
Fold forward.
And inhale,
Float the hands high to the sky.
Hands come together through your center line to standing mountain.
Great job.
That was warrior one and two on the right side.
So we're going to now move into the left side.
So finding your way into standing mountain.
On your next inhale,
Float the arms up.
Big breath in and as you exhale.
Come all the way down to forward fold.
Inhale,
Take the hands to the shins,
Rise,
Halfway lift,
Flat back.
Exhale,
Plant the hand.
Step into high pushup and we're going to lower down through low pushup.
And inhale to cobra.
So shoulders are away from the ears.
Glutes are soft.
Let's exhale through tabletop.
Tuck the toes under.
Then find downward facing dog.
Make any adjustments that you need to that feel good in your body in this moment.
Getting ready for the left side now.
Let's take the left leg high to the sky,
Shake the leg out.
Shake through the toes,
The ankle,
And the entire leg.
Whenever you're ready,
We're going to float the left foot through between the hands.
Take a small step forward with the right foot so that the entire sole plants at 45 degrees.
We're going to bend into that left knee,
Float the hands up,
Warrior one,
On the left side.
So check in with the hips here.
That left hip rotates back to the back left corner,
Right hip now rotates forward.
So it's not uncommon in Warrior to want a face on the diagonal.
See if you can rotate the hips.
To face off the top of the mat.
As best you can.
And this just neutralizes the pelvis.
This allows us to get some hip mobility here.
Engaging through the core.
Take the gaze up through the fingertips and remember the sensation of feeling all the muscles in the body.
Having strength here.
Each muscle has a purpose.
So what does that feel like for you today?
Knowing that this can feel different moment to moment.
Finding your way,
Finding your courage and your strength.
Through Warrior One here.
Take a couple of moments to.
.
.
Think about and identify an area that you want to continue to grow in strength.
And encourage.
Not a weakness,
Not something you've done wrong.
But an area that means something to you,
That's important to you.
So perhaps this could be.
Building healthy relationships,
Or.
.
.
Perhaps this is practicing self-care.
Or perhaps this is speaking more kindly to yourself throughout your day.
Take a couple of moments as you extend through warrior one to think about an area you want to continue to grow.
As you exhale,
Take the hands down to the hips.
We're going to heel toe,
Heel toe,
Heel toe that right leg out.
So widen the stance.
And the right foot now becomes parallel with the back edge of the mat.
Leg is extended long.
We're going to lunge into that left knee,
Making sure you can still see your big toe.
And we're going to float the arms out.
Left arm extends in front,
Right arm extends back.
And soften the shoulders down and away from the ears.
Remembering if you'd like,
You can flip the palms to the sky and exhale the shoulders away from you and just twist the palms back.
You may notice a little vibration or shaking in the body.
Remember that this means the body is working for you to keep you into balance.
The body is working for you.
To energize.
To regulate.
When you're ready,
We're going to drop the back hand to the back of the thigh,
Flip the left palm up,
And extend the arm up to the sky,
Coming into Peaceful or Exalted Warrior here.
Keep the bend in that left knee.
Find your breath.
And when you're ready,
We're going to go back into warrior two for just a moment,
Just a breath.
And windmill the arms to either side of that left foot.
Rotate to the tippy toes in one big switch.
In one big step.
Meet the right foot to the left.
Inhale,
Halfway lift,
Flat back.
Exhale,
Fold forward.
Inhale,
Float the arms way up high to the sky.
Hands come together through your center line.
Back down to standing mountain.
When you're ready,
We're going to inhale all together,
Float the hands high to the sky.
And exhale,
Folding forward.
Inhale,
Rise,
Halfway lift,
Flat back.
Exhale,
Plant the hands,
Step into high push-up.
We're going to lower down,
Elbows graze the ribs.
Inhale to Cobra.
And exhale through tabletop.
We're going to spread the knees wide,
Big toes to touch.
And find our way back into child's pose position.
Take a couple of moments here to slowly relax.
And soften the hips down.
Towards the feet and ankles.
Next to the breath.
And just notice the sensations that have emerged in the body through your warrior series.
And when you're ready,
Just like we have a marble underneath the tip of the nose,
We're going to,
As if we're pushing the marble,
Slowly,
Slowly slide our way right onto the tummy.
Legs long behind you.
Taking the elbows now underneath the shoulders as best you can.
We're going to be preparing for sphincter.
So spreading all of the fingers wide.
Notice what it feels like in your body to press through the elbows so that we can lift the torso.
Up off the mat.
And then glide the heart and throat forward.
And notice the sensation in the back of what it might feel like to hold on to a marker between the shoulder blades.
Check in with the shoulder caps and see if you might draw them away from the earlobes.
And notice what it feels like in your body to bring a sense of balance.
A sense of strength.
Sense of focus and determination to your sphinx pose.
You may start to notice some of the back muscles fatigue.
With some sensations emerging that might feel a little bit uncomfortable.
And keeping in mind this idea of the second arrow.
Perhaps paying attention to what meaning you might attach to this.
And what I mean by that is.
.
.
Sometimes we tell ourselves we should be able to hold this longer or,
Oh,
My body is so weak,
It gets tired so quickly.
That is exactly the second arrow that Thich Nhat Hanh in his book was explaining,
That we attach this criticism or should or expectation.
Rather than embrace the moment exactly as it is.
As you continue to hold your sphinx pose and perhaps intentionally put the body into a moment of feeling a little bit uncomfortable.
Can you practice softening?
The harshness of the second arrow.
Continue to hold your sphinx pose,
Or if you'd like,
You can press into the palms and just extend the arms out.
Coming into seal.
Again,
Keeping the shoulders down and away from the ears.
Continue to focus on your breath.
If you'd like you can.
Draw the gaze to a fixed point and use that as your focal point.
And just noticing any of the sensations emerging in the body.
You may notice a vibration or a shape.
You may notice beginning to shrug into the shoulders and keep checking in,
Keep drawing the shoulders down and away from the ears.
The mind may be silently cursing me?
That's okay,
I can handle it.
You may be questioning how long is she going to make me hold this?
And know that this is part of it.
This is part of the process.
Softening and quieting the second arrow.
When we practice leaning into discomfort,
When we.
.
.
Practice putting ourselves in the face of discomfort.
We build that mind vessel.
And we build our capacity to handle.
To manage and to cope with.
Discomfort.
And so what we practice on the mat.
We take off the mat and into our lives and into the world.
Very nicely done.
As you exhale.
Slowly lower,
Nice and slow and controlled.
Back to the elbows.
All the way down to the mat.
Pick your favorite ear.
Planting the ear on the floor and lengthen the arms long to the side.
And just subtly rock the hips back and forth.
To release.
The muscles of the back.
This should just feel good.
To do what you need to do.
Finding some deep breaths here,
Fully exhaling,
Feeling the lungs empty with every exhale.
And whenever you're ready,
Taking the hands under the shoulders.
And slowly,
This time coming to your smallest child pose.
So the knees are nice and close together this time.
And we're going to extend the hip back towards the heels and this time take the arms long along the side body,
Perhaps wrapping the hands right around the soles of the feet.
Really making yourself tiny here so that we can round out through the back.
So that we can create a little bit of relief and space through each of the vertebrae.
And as always,
Make the adjustment that you need to so that you feel comfortable.
So if you want to take your legs wide,
Definitely choose that option.
Try to see if you can direct the breath all the way into the back body.
Into the side ribs.
Along the spine and perhaps all the way down to the hips.
Use your breath here to move any tension out of the body.
I'll give you the value.
Just be brave I'd rather buy.
Oh.
I was just there to listen.
We're back in our seated mountain position.
Taking a couple of deep breaths,
Just making any movement.
In your body that you feel good as you come to end.
I want to thank you for tuning into this session,
Exploring your inner warrior.
Quieting the second arrow.
Remembering that the.
.
.
Self-judgment,
Criticism,
And blame that we attach to our experience.
Is oftentimes what magnifies our pain and suffering.
So remember the strength that's already within you.
Remember that within each of us,
There is light,
There is bravery,
There is courage.
So coming back to this warrior series anytime you need a little extra reminder or boost of confidence.
You are loved and you are worthy.
So thank you for tuning in.
Today,
I will see you on the YouTube channel.
