So I'm Rebecca.
Welcome to your practice.
We've got Nova here and Luna.
Hopefully they can settle down.
Grab your props,
Two blocks,
A bolster,
A blanket or a towel for your knees.
And a pair of my fascia release balls or tennis balls if you have those.
And just have the balls nearby.
Like on the side of the mat,
And your blanket fold nearby if you want to use that for your knees.
And we're going to start in seated today.
I thought we would do an acupressure point.
To start with,
And this class,
Thinking about the fire element.
And the heart meridian.
And the heart meridian starts kind of deep in the armpit,
You know,
At the heart.
And then it comes out into the body on that soft part of your arm.
Like the arm side without any hair.
And it goes all the way down to the pinky finger.
So when you open your arm up for like a heart opener,
You can think about getting into that heart meridian.
And in traditional Chinese medicine,
The fire element is associated with warmth,
Connection,
Joy,
Communication,
And the vitality of the heart.
Um,
And the heart meridian is considered the emperor of the body.
It's associated with circulation,
Emotional connection,
Spirit,
The shin,
And the sense of common joy.
And so the first acupressure point we'll do is if you think about your hand and you come to the pinky side,
And if you curl your hand in and you come to the wrist,
To that little pokey bone of the outer part of the wrist,
You'll find this little tendon if you curl your finger in,
This little tendon,
And that's where we're working.
And you can kind of go inside of there.
And either use your finger and just kind of press or you can tap.
Or you can make circles.
So find a comfortable seat.
You can have your legs cross-legged or you can sit in a chair even.
And we're just going to hold that point.
For about a minute.
Let's get my timer going.
And.
.
.
Start to come to your breath and just taking a deep breath in.
And a deep breath out.
Using your breath to just let go of tension.
Or thoughts.
As you slowly work into this.
Acupressure point for the heart.
Which is the source.
Point of the heart meridian.
This point's good to work with for anxiety.
Infamia.
Panic attacks,
Beautiful.
Just using your breath to let go of any tension.
Beautiful.
One more inhale on that side.
Exhale,
Just release the hands down.
Notice the side you are working.
And you might even feel that line all the way to the heart.
And now we'll just do the other side.
So you can curl your fingers,
Like curl your hand in and feel that outer part of the wrist.
And you're going to feel like that little tendon pop up.
And right in that area.
So there's that little bone on the outer part of the wrist.
And you're just inside of that,
And you're pressing,
And you might feel like a dull ache.
But nothing sharp.
Close your eyes.
Or keep your gaze low.
Using your breath to just let go.
As you nourish the heart meridian.
So you can circle with your finger.
You could even tap with the other hand.
Helps calm the mind and calm the shin.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
One more,
Inhale.
Exhale,
Release your hands down,
Palms can face up or your palms can face down and just notice what you feel.
Maybe you feel a little calming in the heart area.
Or maybe your mind is racing.
But just that invitation to pull the awareness down into the body.
Beautiful.
If you're sitting cross-legged,
Just switch the cross of the legs.
If you're sitting in a chair,
Or if you're uncomfortable,
You can go into a chair,
And we're gonna do a little pranayama.
So we're gonna start by breathing in and opening our arms for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Opening your arms,
Pause for two,
Maybe gaze up.
Exhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Hands to the heart and bow.
In health for four.
3.
Two,
One,
Going at your own speed,
Pausing,
Opening your heart.
Exhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Bowing.
Inhaling.
Opening.
Exhale.
Bowing.
Making this your own.
Whatever feels good for you.
Beautiful.
Pausing.
Bowing two more times Opening.
Pausing with your hands at heart center,
Bowing down,
And maybe your thumbs are touching your heart space.
Maybe you can feel that pulse or vibration of your heart.
Beautiful.
Now slowly uncross your legs and we're going to meet in child's pose.
Or actually let's meet in hero's pose.
And if you,
Oh gosh,
The cat's here,
The dog's here.
So if you have a blanket,
You could use that underneath your knees.
Shoulders away from the ears and we're going to continue with that breath.
We're gonna inhale,
Lift the arms up.
For four.
Exhale.
The right hand is going to come behind and the left hand forward for child's pose.
Before.
Going at your own speed.
Inhaling for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Both hands lift.
Exhale,
The left hand comes behind you,
The right hand forward for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale for four,
Going at your own speed,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale the opposite hand behind for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Just doesn't feel good,
Make it work for you,
Or just imagine it.
Exhale.
Other hand behind you for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Beautiful.
My right hand's behind me,
My left hand's reaching forward.
Pausing at the bottom.
Inhaling,
Rising up.
We'll do that one more time for each side.
My left hand's coming behind me.
I'm bowing,
Breathing out for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale rising for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Two,
One,
Breathing in.
Exhaling,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And this time,
Pause at your exhale and reach your right fingers or the fingers behind you forward,
Coming into Child's Pose.
Noticing how it feels.
If you have one of your myofascial release balls,
You can place that underneath your third eye.
You could also have a block in your ball.
And it's just underneath the third eye,
The yin-tang point.
Pausing here.
Or maybe you make little circles with your head around the ball.
Going one way.
And going the other way.
Beautiful.
We'll hear for two more rounds of breath.
Breathing into the back of the heart.
Beautiful.
Slowly walk your hands up.
You can place the ball to the side.
Walk your hands up.
Circle the shoulders one way.
And circle the shoulders the other way.
Hands behind you like you're tucking your hands into your pockets.
Elbows open and maybe you open where you're opening the heart and leaning back.
Stay here or bring the hands behind you.
Just breathing in.
And breathing out.
Beautiful.
Slowly come forward.
And let's meet in downward facing dog.
And if you don't want down dog today,
You could always just stay in tabletop.
It can be a big bend to your knees.
You can walk your dog if that feels okay.
And thinking about your calves as that second heart.
Helps pump the length.
Back towards the heart.
Support the feet and the legs.
Beautiful.
We'll meet in tabletop.
Drop the belly,
Lift the crown,
Lift the tail,
Breathe in.
Exhale round,
Pushing the mat away,
Breathing out.
Inhaling opening the front of the heart.
Exhale,
Opening the back of the heart.
Beautiful pausing at your tabletop.
Left hand will hold you,
Right arm lifts up.
Breathe in,
Maybe the gaze goes up.
Exhale,
Thread the right arm underneath the left and pause.
We're not staying yet.
Inhale,
Reach the arm up,
Breathing in for four.
2 1.
Breathing out for four,
Three.
Two,
One,
As that arm threads through.
Inhaling.
Exhaling,
Threading through.
One more time,
Lifting the arm up,
Going at your own speed.
Exhaling threading the arm through and this time we're going to stay so thread the rope right arm through.
And slowly settle the right shoulder down onto the mat.
The left hand can be beside the head for like a kickstand.
Or you can thread the left arm behind you.
So just make this your own.
Think about the right hip moving back.
And the left hip moving back.
The head is light.
It's not really doing any work.
It's the shoulder that's holding you up.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly lift the left fingers if it was hard.
Behind you,
Left hand down,
Right arm lifts up.
Pause this twist.
Maybe the gaze goes up,
Breathing in.
Exhale,
Spin the left shin to the side,
Step the right foot back for side plank variation.
So my left knee's down,
My right fingers are reaching up,
Or maybe past the ear.
Breathing in for 4,
3,
2,
1 Breathing out for four,
Three,
Two.
One more inhale.
Exhale slowly bringing the right hand to meet the left and bring the right knee to meet the left knee with the both feet on the mat.
Beautiful.
Drop the belly,
Lift the crown,
Breathe in.
Exhale round,
Pushing them out away,
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
Pause at center.
Right hand holds you,
Left fingers lift towards the sky.
Breathe in.
Exhale,
Thread the left arm through the right.
Inhale,
Left fingers reach,
Maybe for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Two,
One,
Breathing in.
Exhale,
Thread for four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause.
Inhaling.
And exhaling.
Going at your own speed.
The next time the left arm comes under,
You're going to settle down into your thread the needle.
So the left shoulder will come down.
The right hand can be a kickstand.
Or maybe the right hand lifts and you thread it.
Around the left hip crease.
Just think about that right hip moving back.
Settle down,
The head is light.
The shoulder has the weight.
Using that exhale as a release valve.
Beautiful.
Whatever you're offering is more than enough.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly lift.
The right fingers up,
Maybe hula hands.
Bringing the right hand down.
Press into the right hand.
Lift the left arm up.
Breathe in.
Exhale,
Spin the right shin to the side.
Step the left foot back for your side plank.
And inhale,
Maybe reach.
The left fingers past the ear.
Beautiful.
Making this your own.
One more and I'll get really big.
Exhale,
Slowly bring the left hand down to the mat.
Both hands line up and both knees line up.
Drop the belly,
Lift the crown.
Exhale,
Sink the hips back.
To child's pose.
This time you're going to do.
.
.
Bring your right arm underneath your left.
So it's like you're giving yourself a hug in your child's pose.
If you want to use a block,
You could use a block.
And you can use your ball if you wanted to use your ball for your third eye.
So my.
Right arm is underneath my left arm.
I'm in child's pose.
You can use a block or not to bring your head up higher.
You could stay here or you could even give yourself a hug.
Maybe grab hold of your shoulder blades.
Opening the back of the heart.
In Chinese medicine,
They imagine the shin,
The spirit,
Leaves the heart and goes out during the day.
And then at night,
The shin comes back into the heart.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly come up.
Circle the shoulders one way.
And the other way.
And then you're just going to change the cross of the arms,
So the right arm over the left arm,
And then lower down.
And maybe you can get that ball underneath the yin-tang point,
Another calming point.
You might have to use your hands.
And settle in.
You can move your hips a little side to side.
And you could always come up and just give yourself a hug.
The axillosis release valve.
You've got the ball underneath you.
You can circle the head around the ball.
It feels so good.
Beautiful,
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly help yourself up.
Back into that hero's pose,
Circle the shoulders one way.
Circle the shoulders the other way.
Maybe bring the hands behind you like you're tucking your hands in your pocket.
Open your heart.
Beautiful.
We're going to meet in down dog and you can just move your balls to the side so they don't trip you.
Have your blocks at the top of the mat.
We're going to do a little flow.
So we'll meet in Downdock.
You can walk your dog.
That feels okay.
Getting into the back of the body.
Maybe you move a little side to side,
Anything that feels good.
Beautiful.
Pause at your down dog.
Bringing in stillness.
Beautiful.
From here,
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
Your next inhale,
The right knee comes down.
Spin the right knee to the side,
Press into the right hand,
Come back into your supported side plank.
Breathe in,
Opening the left fingers up towards the sky,
Maybe cactus the arm.
Beautiful.
Slowly bring the hand back down.
You'll spin the right foot in and step the left foot forward for low lunge.
So my left foot is forward.
When you've got your legs set up,
Reach the arms up for low lunge.
So we went from side plank to low lunge.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
The left hand will come onto the block.
You'll press into the left foot for Half Moon.
The right leg lifts,
We're adding that joy and spark.
Of a fire element.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
One more inhale,
Lifting the right leg up.
Exhale slowly bringing the hands to the mat.
Step the right foot back.
Bring the right knee down.
Lift up,
Low lunge.
Think about that left hip moving back.
Maybe cactus the arms opening the heart.
One more inhale.
Exhale the right hand down,
Spin the right shin to the side.
Side plank variation.
You can lift your left leg.
Beautiful.
We're going to do that a few times.
So breathe in.
Exhale,
Step the left foot forward,
Spin the right shin onto the mat,
Rise up,
Low lunge.
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Left hand down,
Maybe onto the block,
Half moon.
One more inhale.
Notice how slowly bring the hands to the mat,
Right knee down.
Rise up,
Lulan.
Exhale,
Maybe cactus the arms.
And hallow lunch.
Exhale,
Right hand down,
Spin the right shin to the side,
Side plank variation.
Two more times.
Slowly bring the left foot forward,
Set up for low lunge,
Arms lift.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Left hand down,
Press into the left foot,
Half moon.
This is your practice,
So just making this work for you.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly bringing the hands to the mat.
Right knee down,
Lift the arms up.
Low lunge,
Maybe cactus the arms.
Beautiful.
Right hand down,
Extend the right shin to the side.
Your variation of side plank.
One more time on this side.
And how they're left.
Foot forward,
Rise up,
Low lunge.
Exhale the left hand onto the block,
Half moon.
Beautiful.
Inhaling,
Breathing into the heart.
Exhale,
Breathing out into the arms,
Into the fingers.
Slowly bring the hands down,
Right knee down.
Inhale,
Breathing into the heart.
Exhale into the hands and the fingers.
Right hand down,
Spin the right shin to the side.
Side plank.
Maybe this time you grab hold of the ankle,
Opening the left side of the chest.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly bring the feet to the mat and we're going to meet in downward facing dog.
And just notice how that feels.
Walk your dog.
Beautiful.
Lift the left leg,
Breathe in.
Exhale,
Bend the knee,
Opening the hip.
We're gonna come into pigeon for about three to five rounds of breath.
So just bringing your left knee forward.
Into your pigeon variation.
You could always come into figure four and your left heel can come towards the groin.
It doesn't have to be your biggest.
Expression.
I have my blocks breathing in.
And breathing out or you can bow forward.
We kind of shook up the prana.
And now it's just settling down into the body.
And I was going to share a quote from Rumi.
Your heart knows the way.
Run in that direction.
Your heart knows the way.
Run in that direction.
Sometimes we're so in our minds.
We forget to tap into the wisdom of the heart.
To our true purpose.
To our true Dharma.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale with great care,
Slowly bring your hands to the mat.
Bring your toes underneath your right heel,
Lift up into your down dog.
And just.
.
.
Bring the left foot to meet the right and walk it out.
Or you can meet in child's pose.
Maybe that feels good,
The paws and child's pose between sides.
Beautiful.
Okay,
When you're ready,
No rush,
Downward facing dog.
And we're going to do the other side.
So just taking wisdom from the first side.
Walk your dog.
To start with.
Maybe move your hips really big side to side.
Anything that feels good.
Beautiful.
I'm going to move my cat to the side because she's right in the spot where I need to be.
Over there.
I love it when the animals come to the mat.
They just pick up your energy,
You know,
And it's so calming on the mat.
Okay,
So here we go,
The second side.
Breathing in.
Exhale,
The left knee comes down,
Spin the left knee.
The shin to the left,
So you're just spinning that left shin to the side,
Coming into your side plank variation.
And just notice how it feels on this side.
There's no rush.
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly bring the hands to the mat.
Bend the left shin back on the mat and step the right foot forward.
Setting up for your low lunge and then inhale,
Reach the hands up.
For lunch.
Think about that right hip moving back.
And just notice how this side feels.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly bring the right hand onto the mat.
Root down into the right foot.
Half-man.
And notice how it feels on this side.
It might be a little more wobbly.
Maybe there's some distractions in the way.
Just noticing how it feels.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slight bend to the right knee,
Hands to the mat,
Step the left knee down,
Rise up,
Low lunge.
Beautiful.
Right hip moving back.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly bring the hands to the mat,
Left hand holds you,
Spin the left shin to the side for side plank variation.
Beautiful.
Make it your own.
You could always lift.
The right leg.
Cactus the arm.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly step the right foot forward,
Spin the left shin down.
Inhale,
Rise up,
Low lunge.
Maybe cactus the arms.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Root down into the right foot,
Right hand onto the mat or to the block or to a chair,
Half moon.
And it might look totally different.
That's fine.
It doesn't matter what it looks like.
It matters what it feels like.
One more inhale.
Exhale slowly with care,
Hands to the mat.
Left knee comes down and he'll rise up.
Low lunge,
Get big.
Beautiful.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
Slowly bringing the left hand down,
Spin the left shin to the side.
Your variation of side plank.
Maybe you come back to that four count in.
For count out.
Freezing in.
And then like you're moving through honey,
The right foot forward,
The left shin spins in.
Inhale,
Rise up,
Low lunge.
Beautiful.
Right hand onto the block,
Half moon,
Your variation.
You could always keep the right knee down.
Breathing into the heart.
Breathing out into the arms,
Into the fingers,
And how we touch the world.
Inhaling into the heart.
Exhaling slowly,
Bringing the left knee down.
Inhale,
Rise.
Left hand holds you,
Spin the left shin down,
Side plank variation.
Beautiful.
One more time,
Step the right foot forward,
Low lunge,
Reach the arms up,
Maybe cactus the arms,
Make it your own.
When you're ready,
Right hand onto the block,
Lift up,
Your variation of.
.
.
Half Moon.
Whatever you're offering is more than enough.
One more inhale.
Exhale slowly,
Bringing the left knee down,
Low lunge.
Maybe move a little side to side.
Left hand down,
Right leg lifts,
Our last side plank.
You could grab hold of the ankle.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
Opening the right side of the chest.
Beautiful,
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly release the leg.
Cartwheel the hand down.
Downward facing dog,
Walk it out.
Beautiful.
Pausing at center,
Right leg lifts,
Bend the right knee,
Opening up the hip.
And then slowly,
With care,
Right knee forward to the right wrist.
You're a variation of Pei Chen.
You can stay upright.
Or you can fold.
And this could be figure four.
We shook up the prana and now it's settling down.
In Chinese medicine,
They imagine.
.
.
Stagnation.
Causes pain.
And when,
Or stress causes pain and when the flow of energy is moving through the meridians,
Those energy channels.
The stress and the pain can.
.
.
Kind of wash away.
Beautiful.
Three more rounds of breath.
Beautiful.
Slowly bring your hands to the mat.
And with great care,
Unthread the right leg.
Downward facing dog just for a transition.
And then slowly bring your knees down.
Walk your dog.
Glutes back so you're coming into hero's pose.
I've got my sweet little dog here.
She's such an angel.
Circle the shoulders one way.
And circle the shoulders the other way.
Beautiful.
You can clasp the hands behind the back,
Drop the hands down,
Open up the heart.
If that feels okay,
Or you can bring your hands into your pockets.
This camel variation where you stay low or you lift up.
Keep the fingers clasped.
You could always bring the hands to the heels.
Opening your heart,
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
Your variation of camel.
Being really kind to yourself.
Two more rounds of breath wherever you are,
Whatever you're offering is more than enough.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Slowly bring the glutes back down.
You can bring the hands behind you and windshield wiper the feet side to side.
Beautiful.
Our next posture is going to be.
.
.
Shavasana shape.
But it's going to be our Shavasana or lead into our Shavasana.
But what you can do is make a runway.
For your back.
So I'm bringing a block down.
And my bolster.
If you don't have a bolster,
You could use a pillow off your couch.
If you don't have any of those things and you have blocks,
You can make a T-shape.
For your body.
For the spine.
And then a little top of the tea for your head.
Your feet will go out wide,
Your feet together,
Knees out wide,
Baddha Konasana,
If that feels good,
And you'll just lie back into the shape of heart opener,
This heart opener.
Before we drop into Shavasana.
Taking your hands to your heart center.
So just take about three fingers on each hand and you can tap at your heart center.
It could be a light tapping or a little bit of a harder tapping.
But just being kind to yourself.
And feeling those vibrations right at the heart center.
Conception vessel 17.
Beautiful.
Release the tapping.
Bringing the palms down to the mat.
And settle into your heart opener.
Your Shavasana.
Noticing your next inhale.
And noticing your next exhale.
Reaching your arms past the ears.
Get really big,
Opening your arms out to the side or past the ears.
And if your feet are together.
Reach them out long,
So your toes are reaching away from your fingers.
Getting really long.
Like you're waking up from a long,
Restful nap.
And then bring your knees into your chest.
Give yourself a hug.
You're so precious.
Bringing gratitude to this human form,
To this beautiful community.
To the sacred practice.
Roll to your favorite side,
Watching out for your props.
Pausing in the shape of rebirth,
Rejuvenation.
Knowing that the heart is this place of fathomless.
Compassion.
And love.
Slowly make your way to seated.
Placing your hands at your heart space.
And bowing to the inner teacher within each of us.
A light of awareness.
Connects each one of us and makes us one.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
Peace,
Peace,
Peace.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
