I'm Rebecca.
Thank you for joining.
We've got Nova here.
And Luna,
But I'm not sure how long they will stay.
All right,
So have your yoga balls nearby.
And have a block nearby.
And today let's start in child's pose.
So knees out wide,
Big toes together,
Hips sinking back towards the heels.
And your arms out long or you can have your arms beside you.
Really any favorite.
Child pose.
If it doesn't feel good to lie.
In Child's Pose,
You can land your back with your knees into your chest.
I'm just arriving letting the outside world fade away.
As you move inward.
For the next 45 minutes or so.
Beautiful.
Start to notice your breath.
Noticing your inhale.
And noticing your exhale.
And as you bring awareness to the breath.
Maybe the inhale gets a little bit longer.
And the exhale gets a little bit longer.
Beautiful.
On your next inhale,
If your arms were beside you,
Just placing them in front of you.
Exhale slowly coming up into tabletop.
Beautiful.
Inhale,
Drop the belly,
Lift the crown,
Breathe in.
Exhale,
Rounding the back,
Breathing out.
Any movements that feel good in your tabletop.
While you arrive on the mat.
And pausing in any shape that feels good along the way.
Beautiful.
And just seeing what's going on in your body today.
If there's any tension.
Bubbling up.
Just letting it go on the exhale.
Beautiful,
Pausing at center in your tabletop.
You'll spin your left shin to the side.
Step your right foot back.
And coming into your variation of a side plank.
I have my left knee down.
My right finger is reaching towards the sky.
My right foot's on the mat.
Beautiful.
One more inhale,
Reaching the fingers towards the sky.
Exhale,
Threading the arm through,
But just hovering.
You can bring the gaze down.
Inhale,
The fingers reach towards the sky.
Maybe you cactus the elbow and your gaze goes towards the sky.
Breathing in.
Exhale.
This hovering thread.
Beautiful,
Making it your own.
One more inhale,
This time just reach the fingers up.
Exhale,
Lift the right leg up and maybe grab hold of the right ankle.
Thinking about the right shoulder moving back and down and opening up the right chest.
Beautiful,
Release the right leg.
Reach the right fingers up.
And then cartwheel the right hand to the mat.
You'll step the right foot outside of the right hand.
You can use your blocks here.
I have my blocks inside of the right foot,
So one of the blocks is inside the right foot and then the other block is on the left side.
Let's take lunch.
Just noticing how that feels.
You can bring the right knee a little past the toes or towards the toes and then bring it back.
Just kind of these little pulses.
Just tugging on that left psoas,
That left hip flexor.
And pausing with the right knee over the right ankle.
You can stay upright or bring your forearms onto the blocks or the mat for your lizard lunge variation.
Beautiful.
Each exhale that's released.
Just letting go.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale if your hands are down.
Or your forearms are down,
Just bring your hands back on the mat or the block.
Left hand holds you,
The right arm reaches back,
And maybe you grab hold of the left ankle.
And just notice how that feels.
You can circle the left foot around the ankle.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly release the back leg,
Both hands to the blocks,
And then straighten both legs.
Think about that right hip moving back.
Maybe you reach the right toes up towards.
The right knee.
But just being really kind to yourself.
And feeling that tug on the left.
Calf and heel.
Beautiful.
Bend the right knee,
Left knee down.
And the right foot will meet.
The left foot so the right knee will meet the left knee and we're back in tabletop.
Again,
Drop the belly,
Lift the crown,
Lift the tail,
Breathe in.
Exhale round,
Pushing the mat away.
Going at your own speed,
Your own rhythm.
And any movements that feel good.
Beautiful.
I'm gonna turn,
But you stay where you are.
Just so you can see me for the next couple moves.
Beautiful,
Then pausing at center.
Right chin spins to the side,
Right hand holds you,
The left foot steps back and the left arm reaches up for your right hand.
Variation of Side Plank.
Breathing in.
Exhale,
Hovering the left fingers underneath the right ribs for this kind of hovering.
Side plank.
And then inhale,
Lift the left fingers,
Maybe cactus the arm.
Going at your own speed.
Left fingers lace under,
Thread under the right arm.
And then inhale.
The left fingers reach,
Maybe cactus the arm.
In making this work for you,
You can change the breath so it works for you.
And pause maybe at the arm and cactus.
Or that roundingness as you turn your heart towards the mat.
Beautiful.
Pausing when the left fingers reach towards the sky.
Lift the left leg.
Bend the left knee and maybe reach back for the left ankle.
Opening up the left side of the chest.
As the left shoulder moves back.
Each exhale is release valve.
Beautiful,
One more inhale.
Exhale with great care,
Release the ankle,
Step forward.
The left leg back,
Reach the left fingers up.
And then you're going to cartwheel the hands to the mat.
Grab hold of your block.
And you'll step your left foot outside of your left hand.
For that lizard lunch.
Beautiful.
Left toes are kind of going off to the left corner of the mat.
And you're getting into that left inner thigh.
Shoulders are melting away from the ears.
And maybe the left knee goes forward a little bit and then comes back,
These tiny movements.
And you're getting into that,
Tugging into that right hip flexor,
Compressing into the left hip flexor.
And then when you're ready,
Pausing with the left knee over the left ankle.
You can stay upright or come down onto your forearm.
Lizard lunch.
This invitation.
To quiet the mind.
And move your awareness into your body.
And into your heart space.
Beautiful,
You're doing great.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly bring your hands back onto the mat.
Root down into the right hand,
Reach the left fingers back,
And maybe you grab hold of the right ankle.
Just notice how that feels and the quad and the.
Hip flexor.
And that opening up the left shoulder and the left chest.
You can circle the foot around the ankle.
Beautiful.
Slowly release.
The right leg down.
Hands to the mat.
And straighten both legs.
I have my hands on blocks,
But you can just see how it feels.
Just notice that.
Left.
I'm sorry,
The right ankle and heel.
Beautiful.
Slowly bring the right knee down,
Bring the left knee down.
Drop the hips back so they're going towards the heels.
You're going to walk yourself.
Back into hero's pose.
Beautiful.
Circling the shoulders one way.
And circling the shoulders the other way.
I like to think about anything that's kind of fallen on my shoulders during the week or the month.
You know,
It's an early month,
But even the year,
Just kind of like letting it fall off.
These practices are here to kind of help us clear the slate.
Help us.
To get rid of those layers in front of our heart that make it hard to see or remember what's important.
So we can come back to what's really important.
Slowly pause.
You can bring the hands behind the head.
Back like you're putting your hands in your pockets,
Just dropping the shoulders back,
Opening up the heart.
And maybe move your shoulder side to side or your elbow side to side.
Beautiful.
Slowly come up.
Again,
We'll meet in tabletop.
This time circling the hips.
So circling the hips one way.
And maybe as you do that,
You move back towards child's pose.
And then you move forward towards Up Dog.
But making this practice your own.
Just kind of exploring what's going on.
And then go the other way,
So you're just taking the hips the other way.
And see how it feels.
Beautiful.
M'kay.
Pausing at center at your tabletop.
Toes underneath the heels.
Press into your hands.
Downward facing dog.
Notice how your down dog feels today.
You can bend your right knee and just stretch your left leg out long so you're getting into the heel,
The calf.
The back of the.
.
.
Thigh,
The hamstrings,
The glutes.
And then switch.
Or any other movements that feel good in your down dog.
I just love this calf stretch.
Bringing movement into the body is so important to the connective tissue.
It helps hydrate.
Or getting into the lymphatic system and helping to clear things out that we don't need,
Getting rid of stagnation.
And then pausing in center.
Beautiful.
Big bend to the knees like you're a leapfrog.
Preparing to hop into the pond.
Breathing in.
And exhale,
Step or hop to the top of the mat.
Inhale,
Halfway lift,
Flat back.
Exhale,
Fold.
Give yourself a hug.
You're awesome.
You're amazing.
Hugging your calves.
Root down into your feet,
Rise up,
Take up space.
Opening your fingers out wide,
Tailbone reaches down.
And then hands to the heart,
Anjuli Mudra.
Beautiful.
Keeping the right knee forward,
You'll step your left foot back.
Coming into Warrior II.
So setting up your feet,
You're going to bend your right knee.
The left blade side of the foot is towards the back of the mat.
The right knee is opening towards the right pinky toe and you're getting into that inner thigh.
So you've got this nice strong foundation and then when you're ready,
Reaching your arms out.
Gaze towards the right fingers.
So you're rooted down into the earth,
But your upper body is more buoyant.
So maybe the fingers come down towards the left as the right fingers reach up.
And the right fingers come down.
As the left fingers reach up.
So your lower body's staying right where it is,
The upper body's moving side.
To sign.
I just love doing this,
Just kind of moving and getting rid of any stagnation.
So you might pause.
Reaching the right fingers away from the right knee and bending the right knee a little bit more.
And then bringing the right hand down,
Lifting the left fingers up.
And reaching the left fingers away from the blade side of the left foot and getting into the left side of the body.
Thinking of any stagnation,
Letting that go.
Using your breath.
To let go of that stagnation.
I like to breathe in as I reach the right fingers up,
This reverse warrior.
And exhale as the right fingers come down and the forearm rests on the right thigh as the left fingers lift up.
Beautiful.
The next time the left fingers come down,
The right fingers come up.
Pause here in your reverse warrior.
Think about the right ribs over the left ribs.
The right foot into the earth,
The right knee opening.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Straightening the front leg.
Letting that go and reaching the right fingers away a little bit more on the exhale.
You can use your left fingers to hold the ribs,
The right ribs,
Just feeling the right ribs and thinking about the right ribs underneath the left ribs as you reach the right fingers forward.
So you're keeping that space,
Right hand down,
Left fingers up for triangle.
Beautiful,
You can always heal the back.
Foot in a little bit if you need to.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Bending the front knee,
Extended side angle.
Inhale,
Straighten into triangle,
Just because it feels good.
Exhale,
Extended side angle.
One more time into triangle,
Pausing.
Breathing in.
Exhale,
Extended Side Angle.
Stay here or heel toe the back foot in.
For your half moon.
So you can use a block,
Root your right hand down.
Left leg reaches up.
The right ribs are underneath the left ribs.
And maybe the left fingers grow up towards the sky.
Beautiful.
Your variation,
Get really big.
You could always bring your right knee down on the mat and come into half moon that way.
And where can you soften?
If you fall out,
No problem,
Just come back in.
One more inhale,
Get really big.
You're amazing.
Exhale,
Big bend of the front knee.
Step the left foot back.
Bring the fingers up,
Turn all 10 toes to the long edge of the mat.
Yes.
Tailbone is reaching down.
Opening your heart to all the possibilities,
Getting rid of any of the dust that's covering it or the veils that are hiding it.
And then fold,
Letting go.
You can get upside down or you can bend the knees like you're swaying side to side.
So you're just bending your knees side to side.
Maybe your arms are moving with it.
Beautiful,
You're doing amazing.
Anything that feels good.
We're just getting rid of stagnation in the body.
In Chinese medicine,
They imagine that stress and stagnation or that stress causes stagnation,
And that stagnation causes pain.
Pausing at center,
Bowing down a little bit more.
If you're upside down,
Just taking your time to meet us.
In this forward fold.
And there's no rush.
You can always just meet up whenever you're ready.
Grab one of your blocks.
And place it to the back of the mat.
Beautiful.
You're going to turn the left toes towards your new front.
It was your back.
And bend the left knee and slowly come up into your warrior two.
So we're warrior two,
Left fingers are reaching forward.
Your new forward.
Beautiful.
And again,
We're going to just add that movement,
Just really fluent.
You're just going to bring the right fingers down,
Left fingers up.
Breathing in.
Exhale,
Left fingers down,
Right fingers up.
Just moving at your own speed.
The lower body is rooted down.
You've got this strong base.
As the upper body just moves with the flow.
Getting rid of stagnation on the side of the body.
And if your mind starts to wander,
That's okay.
But when you notice and you're ready,
Just letting it go on the exhale and moving that awareness into the body.
Kind of following the heart's wisdom for the practice.
And then you can go back into the head with them later.
Beautiful.
The next time the right fingers come down,
The left fingers reach up.
Pause here.
Think about the left knee opening to the left pinky toe.
And that left leg might be talking to you.
But that's awesome too.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Straightening the left leg.
And notice how that feels.
Maybe it feels good.
You can use your right fingers to grab hold of your left ribs and just think about your left ribs over your right.
And you're also giving yourself a hug.
Like our ribs are so amazing,
But the architecture of the body is so beautiful.
Reach the left fingers forward.
So now the left ribs are going to be underneath the right.
Lined up.
You have this offering that you're giving.
You could stay here or bring the left fingers down,
Right fingers up.
And think about breathing into the heart space.
And breathing out into the arms and the fingers and how we touch the world.
How we share our art,
How we care for people.
How we express ourselves in our gardens,
In our dance.
Beautiful.
You're amazing.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Bending.
The left knee extended side angle.
Just noticing how that feels.
And I'll straighten the leg if that feels okay.
Exhale,
Bend.
And how straight.
Think about those right ribs over the left.
Exhale,
Bend,
Pause here.
You can stay in the extended side angle or heel toe the right foot in.
For Half Moon.
So you're rooted down into the left foot.
The left hand comes down to the mat or to a chair or to a block.
And you're slowly lifting your right leg up.
It doesn't have to go up really high.
Now the right ribs are over the left.
You've got this strong foundation.
Maybe you lift your right leg up a little higher and you're breathing into your heart space.
And out into your arms and your fingers.
Beautiful.
One more inhale,
Get big.
Exhale,
Big bend to the front.
To the left knee,
Slowly step the right foot back.
Yes!
Turning all 10 toes to the long edge of the mat.
Get really big tailbone reaches down.
And exhale,
Full letting go.
Just slow exhale,
Just releasing.
Beautiful getting upside down or moving side to side like you're just moving with the flow with the wind or stay still.
You're in charge.
I am just the guide.
Your body is so wise.
It knows what's important.
But sometimes we forget.
And we just have to be reminded.
Slowly come back to center wherever you are,
Take your time.
And fold.
You need to fold a little deeper.
I'm bringing my forearms on the mat.
Just pausing in this stillness.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Grab your block if you moved it and you'll take it to the front of the mat.
Bring all your fingers to the front of the mat.
Turn your toes.
Step back into downward facing dog and walk it out.
Beautiful.
Knees down.
Drop the belly,
Lift the crown,
Breathe in.
Exhale,
Round,
Pushing the mat away.
Inhaling.
And exhaling.
Beautiful.
Pausing in your tabletop,
Walk the hands back,
Bringing the glutes down towards the heels into your hero's pose.
Circle the shoulders one way.
And circle the shoulders the other way.
Beautiful.
Hands behind you like you're tucking your hands into your pockets,
Shoulders.
Dropping back and down as you open your heart.
You can stay here,
Just leaning back.
Or you could lift.
Your hips up and come into your variation of camel.
One thing I like to do in Camel.
Sometimes is to bring my blocks onto my calves.
And I just placed my hands on the blocks.
And my shoulders are dropping down and back.
I'm opening my heart and I'm just pressing my hands into the blocks and they're pressing into the calves and giving a little compression into the calves,
But opening up the heart.
And that connection,
Almost thinking about the calves as a second heart.
And then you're doing that compression to help.
As you open the heart.
The spiritual heart.
My chin is down,
The neck is long.
Wherever you are,
Whatever you're offering,
It's amazing.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly release the blocks if you're using those.
And bring the hips down.
You can bring the forearms down onto the mat.
Coming to you.
Puppy pose.
So the forearms are down and just try dropping your hips back.
Or you can lift.
The hips and come into dolphin or maybe get upside down.
Just our last little push.
Just for fun.
Beautiful.
Whatever you're offering,
It's amazing.
Lock yourself up.
And we're just going to take the hips down.
Bend the knees.
And coming towards me.
The mat.
Grab your ball so they're nearby if you have them.
But before we get down,
Just windshield wiper the knees side to side.
So maybe you shook a little something up.
But now you feel the prana fluttering down.
So it's like we.
Had our snow globe,
We shook it up.
My teacher always talks about this,
Shaking up the snow globe of Prana.
And then letting it.
Flutter down or the prana just coming down onto your body.
Beautiful.
We'll take the balls.
So you're just grabbing your balls,
And we're going to lie down in just a moment.
You can take the balls,
And we'll bring them back.
Behind the upper trap,
So between the neck crease and the shoulder,
Right at the center,
We'll bring the balls.
So have a block nearby.
If you don't have any balls,
You can just come into bridge pose.
But you're lying back,
You've got your balls.
I've got a ball in each hand and I've got my block nearby.
I'm going to take the right ball and place it underneath the left.
Arm between the shoulder and the neck and then I've got my left ball I'm going to place it underneath the right shoulder.
Area,
The torso.
And you can adjust it with your fingers.
And that might be enough right there.
Nice.
Compression,
Or you could lift your pelvis and move a block under if you've got a block.
If you don't have a block,
You could just lift your hips up or bring a bolster or roll up your towel.
Conscious pause.
Adjust the balls if you need to with your fingers.
Using your exhale as a release valve.
And acupressure.
This is an acupressure point.
Gallbladder 21 in Chinese medicine.
And it helps.
Move the energy out of the brain,
Out of the head and into the body.
It also helps with stress or anxiety.
You can stay still or add movement,
Reaching the arms up.
And then bringing them down like you're making snow angels.
Beautiful.
Any movements that feel good,
You're in charge.
And if it doesn't feel good,
You can take the balls away.
And we'll be here for maybe three more rounds of breath.
I like to move a little side to side when my arms are lifted.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Stay for the exhale,
Pressing into the balls.
Beautiful.
Remove the blocks.
Remove the balls,
Place them to the side so they're not in your way.
And lift the hips coming into bridge and reach the arms past your ears and just notice how it feels.
There might be that warmth and tingling in the shoulders.
Lift the hips up a little bit higher.
Exhale,
Slowly lower down.
Knees into the chest,
Give yourself a hug.
You're amazing.
And rock side to side.
Just rocking your hips side to side.
And you're rocking your shoulders and you're kind of getting into that area that you had the balls.
Kind of rocking side to side.
And when you're ready.
Slowly drop the knees to the left.
Coming in too.
A twist.
Any variation of a twist that feels good to you.
I'm offering both knees together,
But you can do anything that feels good.
Opening the arms to the side,
Lift up and move the left shoulder under the body a little bit more.
Think about the shoulders melting down into the earth.
Opening your heart towards the sky.
And bringing the breath into the belly.
Belly breathing.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly bring the knees back to center.
You might have to adjust your body a little bit and hug them.
And then again,
We're going to rock side to side.
I like to just keep my head on the mat.
I'm just bringing my head with me as the knees go to the left,
My head goes to the left.
And as the knees go to the right,
My head goes to the right.
And the next time your knees go to the right,
Pause and bring the knees down for your twist.
Any twist that feels good.
Think about lifting the shoulders and bringing the right shoulder underneath the body a little bit more and opening up.
Your arms.
Opening your heart.
Breathing into your belly.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly coming back to center.
Hug your knees in.
The next posture,
Savasana.
If you would like to,
You could take your block.
And one myofascial release ball.
And you're going to bring the block down on the mat and the ball is going to go between the neck and the head where the head meets the neck.
Going to lower down.
Adjusting it so you're comfortable.
If you don't have a ball you can use the blade side of the block into the head.
You can keep the knees bent or reach the legs out long.
And this is going to be our Shavasana.
And we'll be here for about one minute.
If you don't.
.
.
Want to do the ball and the block,
You don't have to.
This is a nice occipital release.
Breathing in.
Sewing up to the crown.
Exhale letting go as you move into your Shavasana.
Each inhale softening.
Each exhale letting go just a little bit more.
Beautiful.
Noticing your next inhale.
And on your exhale,
Slowly remove the ball and the block if you're using them.
Lower your head down to the mat.
Noticing what you feel.
Reach the arms past the ears,
Get really big.
And then bring your knees into your chest,
Getting small,
Giving yourself a hug,
Gratitude to your precious body,
This precious human form.
Slowly rolling to your favorite side,
Watching out for any props.
Bringing gratitude to this.
Beautiful community.
To this precious practice that's been passed down from generation to generation.
Slowly make your way to seated.
Beautiful.
Take your hands and rub your hands together.
Placing your hands at your heart space.
And bowing to the inner teacher within each of us.
The light of awareness.
That connects each one of us and makes us one.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
Peace,
Peace,
Peace.
