Balance Effort & Ease - Hatha Yoga Flow (70min)

A slow-paced Hatha flow to help you release tension and turn your awareness inward. This grounding practice moves at a gentle pace, allowing space to connect with breath and sensation. Suitable for all levels. (Originally streamed live on Insight Timer.)

Transcript

Just any nice comfortable seated posture. Just sit up nice and tall. And if sitting isn't feeling good, Take any other pose. We're just going to spend a few minutes to center. You might lie on your back, You can lie on your abdomen, In crocodile pose. So just find a centering pose that's comfortable. And as you begin to find that posture, Just allow the awareness to go inward. So let the eyes close. Continue to soften the way that you hold your body. And with each breath, Just settle a little bit more into this present moment. Just allow yourself to arrive here more fully. So we always begin with centering. Finding some stillness. Gives us a chance to naturally calm the breath. So with each breath, Just let yourself relax. Let your breath relax. And through this practice, We're going to place an emphasis on finding balance between effort and ease. So, Finding that relationship between exerting ourselves and also relaxing. We'll do that through the breath, Through the movements. And it's one of those skills that when we learn to do on the mat, Really translates nicely into our daily life. Knowing when to give effort and release the efforts to finding that balance between effort and ease. Just take one more moment to check in. See where you are. Allow your eyes to open. And let's make our way to all fours. So table position. Hands and knees. Hands a little bit closer toward the front of the mat. You're going to spread through the fingers and then you're going to extend through the right leg. Keep the toes down. Press through the heel. Really start to activate through the right leg. And then on an inhale, Lift up through the right heel. And just find your breath here. So already start to feel some engagement through the glute. Start to draw in at the core of the body. Feel some activation in the back. You're going to inhale, Look forward. As you exhale, You're going to bring your knee toward your nose, Chin toward your chest. Press through your hands, Engage the abdomen. Inhale up and back, Lift through the heel. Strengthen the backside of the body. Exhale as you draw in. And keep going. You're moving with your breath. And already in this posture, Finding some balance between giving effort and softening where you don't need to create any tension. Good. Keep the leg extended. Really engage through that glute. Feel that right side of the glute engaged. Have the core engaged. And then the left arm extends out. Take a couple of breaths here. Good. Release the arm. Release the leg. Rise up onto the shins, Arms overhead. Look up. Take a few breaths here as well. Check in with the sides of the body. Create some length along the waist and all the way up through the fingers. Just a few deep breaths. It's a nice way to get some stretch but also to release the wrists. Good. Hands come back down when you're ready. We're going to switch sides. So left leg extends. Toes stay down. Nice and controlled. Keep awareness at the navel, The core of the body. As you inhale through the heel. Exhale, Knee to nose, Chin to chest. Find some engagement at the navel. Gentle squeeze. Inhale as you find length. Lift the chin and the heart as well when you extend the leg. So you're lengthening through the front of the body. And then you're activating. Nice breath aligned movement. You're finding that squeeze and engagement, That effort. And also there's a release through the shoulders and the face. Good. From here, Keep the leg extended. Extend the right arm out. Take a few breaths here. See if you can release tension wherever it's not needed. Good. Then release the hand down. Release the knee down. Let's rise up one more time onto the shins. And exhale, Hands down. Very good. We're going to spread through the fingers. Really ground down through the palms. Especially the thumb and index finger. Then you're going to tuck the toes. Send your hips back toward your heels. Get a little bit of stretch for the bottoms of the feet. And when you're ready, You'll lift your hips up and back. So finding your first downward dog. Keep a slight bend in the knees to start. So you can really lift through the hips. See if you can create a little bit more length in the spine. Awareness at the navel. As you exhale, Just a slight engagement. You draw the navel in. As you inhale, You relax. Do that a couple times. So you engage as you exhale. And you release as you inhale. Try to stay with that. We're going to inhale. Come down to all fours. Lengthening the front of the body. Exhale. A little bit of navel activation as you send the hips back. Inhale back to fours. The abdomen relaxes. There's length in the front of the body. You widen through the collarbones. Exhale. Tuck the toes. Lift the hips. Downward dog. So it's just that nice little sequence. Moving with the breath. The inhale brings us to table. Exhale. We alternate. Sending the hips back for child's pose or lifting up to down dog. So move with your breath. The inhale brings you to table. The exhale, You're alternating hips either up or down. Still feeling things out a bit. We're still waking up the body here. Nice. Let's stay in downward dog. Bring your left foot toward the middle of the mat, The midline of the mat. So it gives you a little more balance. And the right foot comes up and back. Three-legged dog. Stay steady through the arms. You can bend the knee. Start to open up. Might make little small movements here. Keep the shoulders as they are, But open through the hip. Breathe into the right side of the body. Maybe even look out under the right arm. And then look forward. Step the right foot in between the hands. Take a breath or two here. You've got this runner's lunge. Heart is lifted. Lower the back knee. Untuck the toes. Exhale, Bringing the hips forward. Tailbone toward the front heel. And inhale, Arms up. So, Low lunge. So you're grounded down through the lower part of the body. And then you're lifting up through the upper part of the body. Find your breath. Good. You're going to lower your right arm. Reach up through the left arm. And then take a gentle stretch to the right. So you're leaning a bit toward that bent knee. Good. Arms up. Release down. Good. Hands are going to come up to this thigh here. And a couple options. You can take a twist just like this. You twist from the base of the spine. At the same time, You're drawing the thigh in toward the midline of the body. You can tuck the toes, Lift the back leg. Do the same thing. Or you might like to open up the arm as well. Good. Now either version. Spine is long. Breath continues. Very good. We're going to lower ourselves down. And make our way to plank. Strong through the legs. Steady through the arms. Look just above the front of your mat. Keep your neck nice and relaxed. Find some stability here. And then knees, Chest, And chin. We're going to lower ourselves down. We're going to untuck the toes. Lift the shoulders back. Cobra pose. Elbows down and close toward the body. Strength coming from the back here. Still breathe. Good. Lift the hips up and back. Downward dog. If you need to pause, You can take child's pose at any time. You can use your breath as your gauge if you're losing your breath. Just take a rest, Catch the breath, And then meet back up. So now right foot toward the midline. Left foot up and back. Three-legged dog. Same thing on this side. You're going to bend the knees. Start to open the hip. You can play around a little bit. Try to get a stretch for the left side body. Maybe you'll even look under the left arm. Good. Look forward. And now left foot in between the hands. So runner's lunge. Try to lift the heart. You can even use some blocks here. Really good option in this posture. Give yourself some more length, Some more distance. Good. We're going to lower the back knee. And come into our low lunge on the second side. So hips come forward. Tailbone comes toward that front heel. Feel stable though. Feel nice and grounded. Strong through the legs. From that strength, Arms come up. So there's more of an effort in the lower body. And there's a sense of ease. A relaxed energy in the upper body. Breathe here. Good. Left arm lowers. Reach to the sky with your right hand. Feel length in the right side of your body. Maybe you take a slight side bend. Keep breathing. Hands come back up. Good. Lower down. Left hand to the left thigh. So taking the twist on this side. Just doing the same version that you did on the first side. In any of the versions, You reach out through the spine and then you twist from the base. You might tuck the toes. Lift that back leg. Stay strong through the leg. Find your twist. Left thigh still draws in toward the body. Maybe open up the left arm. Find your breath. Good. We're going to release down. And let's come into plank once again. If you need to lower the knees, You can feel free to do that. Just a couple of breaths here. We're going to come into a side plank. You can choose it can be supported or not. The supported version, You lower your left knee. And then you kickstand your left leg behind you. Extend your right leg. And then open up. So you've got the support of your left leg. If you wanted to make it active, You can extend both legs out. Resting on the outer edge of the left foot. Maybe your arm comes up. Hips are lifting. Stay nice and relaxed. Good. Come back to center. Find plank. And then other side. So in the supported version, Right knee comes down. And then you just kickstand the leg behind you. Extend the left leg out. And then open the left arm. Apologies for my back being towards you. I'll take supported on this side. At least for a couple of breaths. Teaching side plank is a bit challenging. And then you can take the active version, Right? If you want to come into active, You've got your outer edge of your right foot down. Strong through the arm. The holding arm. Continue to breathe. Continue to lift through the hips. Good. From here, You come back to plank. Doing some really good work here. Knees, Chest, And chin. Lower yourself down. Good. This time, Let's bring the forearms to the ground. Sphinx pose. Draw the elbows in toward you. Widen through the collarbones. Take a breath here. Feel some length through the waist. You can stay like this. You can bend at the knees. And then start to rotate the thighs. Let the breath naturally start to calm down a bit. Especially if you were in that active side plank. Circle in the opposite direction. Very good. From here, Let's press back to child's pose. Knees nice and wide. Hips back toward the heels. You want your forehead to rest on something. So if it doesn't comfortably reach the floor, You can stack your hands, Your forearms, You can stack your fists, Or you can use some blocks. But see if you can get your forehead to rest onto something. That way you can relax any tension in the neck. Soften through your abdomen. Soften through your hips. And just take a few breaths here. Good. When you're ready, Make your way through table, And then eventually back up to downward dog. Notice how this pose feels. We've been here quite a few times already. See if you can sense some a little bit more openness in your body. A little bit more strength and vitality. We're going to prepare for Warrior I on the right side. So Virabhadrasana I. You're going to look forward. Right foot's going to step to the front of the mat. Left foot's going to come down. Bend into the front knee. And rise up. Take a moment to really get steady in the legs. You want to keep some distance between the feet. So you've got one foot sort of on toward one edge of the mat. The other foot's more toward the opposite edge. Ground down through the legs. Rise up through the arms. So thinking of our concept for today, We've got the balance between effort and ease. There's an effort and a strength happening in the low body. You're really engaged. You've got some strengthening through the core as well. Drawing in at the navel. But then there's an ease through the arms and the breath. As you exhale, Straighten the leg. Lower the arms. Inhale. Bend the knee. Lift the arms. Repeat. Exhale. Lower. Inhale. Lift. Good. A few more on your own. Good. The more that you can link your movement to the breath, The greater the calming effect on the mind. Good. Stay in your warrior. Your Virabhadrasana 1. Good. From here, We're going to lift up off the back heel. So we come onto the back toes. We're going to shift the weight forward. Have some fun. Play around a bit. See if you can kind of rise up. And you can choose. You can bring hands down. Maybe you come into a standing split. Maybe you come into a Virabhadrasana 3. No worries if your balance is like mine and a little bit all over the place. Find your breath. Good. We're going to come back to our warrior 1. Virabhadrasana 1. Arms come up. Good. From here, Hands come down. Step the feet back. Pause for a moment in plank. And then, Either knees, Chest, And chin, Or maybe Chaturanga feels good for you. Elbows close to the body. Inhale, Either Cobra or Upward Dog. And exhale, Downward Dog. Really good. So we've been blessed with two sides of our body. To try to maintain some balance and equilibrium, Let's do that same thing on the second side. Left foot comes forward. Right heel comes down. Take your time as you find your way into your Virabhadrasana 1. You've got distance left to right. You've got distance front and back. Steadiness in the legs. Arms come up. One side might feel a little bit different. You might have a little bit more hip flexibility on one side. So, Just be with exactly where you are, And then move with your breath. Exhale, Straighten the leg. Lower the arms. Inhale, Bend the knee. Lift the arms. Let's repeat. Straighten and lower. Inhale, Bend and lift. Movement only happens at the speed of the breath. Beautiful. This next one we're going to hold. Keep breathing, Though. Have some fun with the balance. First step is you come onto the toes. Heel lifts. If it's available, You bring the upper body forward. You bend into that front knee so you really load up that front leg. Then you just go for it. Lift up off the back toes. Fly to the sky. You can choose warrior three. You can choose standing split. Any arm variation. Find your breath. Find some steadiness. Some relaxed effort in your breathing. Beautiful. Let's lower down. Back to our warrior one. Good. We'll flow through one more vinyasa and we'll relax a bit. Hands come down. Step the feet back. Lower yourself down. Knees chest and chin or chaturanga. Inhale through your back bend. Exhale, Downward dog. Start to walk the hands back toward your feet. Nice and slow. Eventually, You'll end up in a forward bend toward the back of your mat. You can soften the knees. I'd like you to soften your head, Your neck. Let yourself breathe here. Let your awareness be at your abdomen, The core of your body as you breathe. Slowly start to rise up. Extend your arms up. Look up. Clasp your fingers together, Your palms together. Bend the elbows. As you exhale, You're going to stretch over to your right and press through the palms. Feel length on the left side of your body. You might even look over toward the left. Inhale to center. Bend the elbows. Exhale, Stretch in the opposite direction. Stay here and breathe. Good. Back to center. Lower the arms down. Just take a moment. Settle into your stance. Your stance is probably about shoulder width. Stabilize through the feet, Through the legs, Up through the crown of the head. If it's comfortable, Close your eyes. Take a moment. Check in here. Each of us is this wonderful mixture of mind and body and breath. We've got an energy system of this body, The pranic system. Moving through the postures automatically has an effect on each one of these aspects. Can you sense a shift? A shift in your energy, In your perception of yourself, Of your current reality? Check in with the feet once again. Ensure that you're nice and grounded. And then with the awareness still, Inward eyes still closed. For the length of your inhale, Sweep the arms out and overhead. Palms face up. The length of the exhale, Sweep the arms alongside the body, Palms face down. Inhale, The arms rise. Exhale, The arms lower. Continue to repeat that at the speed of your breath. Feeling your energy body, Your more subtle body, Really light up, Nourish as you breathe in. As you breathe out, Let your body soften. Let the exhale carry away tension. Inhale, You feel nice and bright, Vibrant. Exhale, Relaxed. A little bit more effort on the inhale. A little bit more ease on the exhale. Beautiful. We're just going to do one more. Next time the arms lower, You're just going to keep your arms by your side. Try to find stillness. Resist the urge to fix your shirt. I know it's probably a little uncomfortable. Let your arms completely relax from the shoulders all the way down. Again, Check in. Notice how you feel. Try not to label or be attached to any particular feeling, But just sense. Just be a witness to the truth of your current reality. When you feel ready, You can open the eyes. You're likely feeling something different. We'll continue riding that train a little bit longer. We're about halfway through. Let's release some tension in the neck. We're going to bring the chin down toward the chest. Then you're going to bring your right ear toward your right shoulder. As you do that, You might even lower the right shoulder, Lift the left shoulder. You want it to be natural, Though. Chin comes back down toward the chest. Left ear to the left shoulder. We repeat that. Chin comes toward the chest. One ear comes to one shoulder. You just want this to be nice and fluid. Get some release for your cervical spine. Just be gentle here. Notice you might have some places that are super tight. Good. Come to center. Give some nice rotations, Kind of fast-moving rotations through the shoulders. At the same time, You can shake out the arms a bit. You can start to maybe shake out the legs, Alternating from side to side. Keep breathing. You can take some little hops here. This can be a small movement. This can be a larger movement. You can kind of move through the hips a bit. Keep breathing. Good. Really doing a good job to disrupt any tension in the body. Stay with the breath. Beautiful. Come back to center. Can you sense a little bit more stillness in your being? From the core of your being. You gradually connect more to that stillness that resides within. Stance is wide now. Use the elbows. Get a little bit of release for the spine. I don't play much golf, But it kind of has like a golf swing vibe. So you want to kind of get into it a bit. See if you can sort of get a release for the spine. Lift up your heel as you twist. That will protect your low back and your knees. So if you are a golfer, Maybe you're saying, No, This is nothing like a golf swing. And that might be true. See if you can get a nice little bit of release. You'll eventually come back to center. So let's do one more set of standing poses. And then we will start to make our way to the mat. So we're going to take a nice wide stance. And then right toes are going to point to the short edge. You're going to step out through the left heel and bend into the knee. So coming into Warrior II now. Virabhadrasana II. Let's take a moment. Check in with the alignment of the feet. So there's sort of two alignments that are pretty common. One is the heel is either at the middle of the foot. So you line up the front heel with the middle of the back foot. Or maybe it's more comfortable to line up the heels of the feet. So you can sort of adjust that a little bit and see what feels better in your hips. Steady through the legs. Ground down through the legs. At the same time, Find some core activation. Just a little bit of engagement at the navel. Maybe even lift through the pelvic floor. And then some ease in the upper body. Extend through the arms. Shoulders relax. If it's there, Look out over the fingertips. Beautiful. And just like we did in Warrior I, Let's move a bit. We're going to make this more dynamic. So inhale, Straighten the leg. Lift the arms. Exhale, Bend the knee. Lower the arms. And repeat. Lengthen and lift on the inhale. Soften, Relax on the exhale. It really starts to turn into almost like a dance. It's this beautiful relationship that you create between your breath and your movement. Your breath leads the dance. Your body follows. One more. And we're going to hold our Warrior. And then let's go ahead and reverse. So we're going to bring the front palm up, Release the back arm, And reverse your Warrior. Reach up and back. Still strong through that front leg. Ideally getting some openness now through the side of the body. Good. Go in the opposite direction. So the forearm is going to come down. Top arm is going to extend. So it's an extended side angle. Open up the chest. Good. Come back to Warrior. And then release. Straighten the leg. Let the arms relax. Feet come to parallel. And then we'll do the second side. Toes to the short edge. Bend into that front knee. Find your alignment. Find your steadiness. Your strength through your low body. Draw in at the navel. Extend out through the arms. Shoulders are relaxed. Virabhadrasana 2. Whenever you're ready, Move with your breath. Inhale. You straighten the leg. Lengthen the arms. Maybe even look up. Test your balance a bit. Exhale. Bend the knee. Relax the arms. And repeat. Alright. Find that balance between effort and ease. Steadiness and relaxation. Good. Let's hold this Warrior. And then reverse Warrior. Front palm up. Release the arm. Reach up and back. Open through the left side body. Let the breath create some space. Back up. And then extended side angle. So the forearm comes down. Still some engagement. Still some openness through the heart. Top arm extends. Both shoulders relaxing away from the ears. Reaching up through the top fingertips. Find your breath. Good. Warrior 2. Relax the arms. Straighten the leg. Beautiful. Feet come to parallel. So we're facing the long edge still. You might walk the feet in a little bit. Soften the knees. We're going to come into a forward bend. Many arm variation possibilities. You can have hands on your hips. You can have hands anywhere and then eventually on the floor. You might clasp hands behind you and maybe even start to straighten the elbows. Wherever you are, Get some openness first for the front of the body. Breathe into the heart center. Open through the chest. When you feel ready, Start to hinge forward. Sit the hips back. I like to pause halfway. Readjust a little bit. Maybe then you release all the way down. Arms are behind you. Maybe you let your arms come forward a bit. Wherever you are, Just find your breath. At any point, You can release the hands down. Take a few deep breaths here. Release the hands if they're not already down. Lift through the crown of the head. Create some length in the spine. Good. We're going to move a little bit. We're just going to shift the weight from side to side. You can choose how big or small of a movement. Ideally, Your knee is moving in the same direction as the toes. You might need to angle the feet a little bit. You might need to adjust the distance between your feet. Keep that alignment in the joints. Try to get a little bit of stretch for your inner thighs. You're breathing as you move. Have a little fun. Maybe you've got a lot of flexibility, A lot of strength. This has some ninja vibes here. Embrace your inner ninja. Good. We're going to pivot to the front of the mat. Let's make our way back to downward dog. Good. Now, Two options here. We're going to come into either pigeon pose or you can make your way onto the back and come into a leg cradle. They're going to have a similar effect on the body. It just depends on what feels better for you. For pigeon, You're going to first lift up through the right leg, A little three-legged dog. Then you're going to bring the right knee toward the right wrist. The right shin starts to get a little bit more toward parallel, But likely not all the way there. Untuck the left toes. Start to walk the left leg back. It's a good place to use some support. Maybe you've got a block. Maybe you've got a blanket. If this hip is super tight, Use a little bit of support for yourself. I like to stay extended. I like to keep the spine lifted wide through the shoulders. If at some point you want to start to make your way down, You can do that as well. Maybe you come onto the forearms. You might even cross your forearms and then rest the forehead. Now, If that's not available, Stay there and breathe. If that's not available, Make your way to your back. You cross the right ankle over the left knee. Then you bring the knee in toward the body. You're still getting some openness through the hip. It just depends on where your body's at, What feels good for you. Just another breath or two in your pigeon. Slowly start to make your way up and gradually switch sides. Just be really gentle. You should tuck the toes. Start inching the body forward again. If you've got some propping, You can release that. Just be easy with yourself. Eventually you'll find your downward dog and you'll switch sides. If you're on your back, Then you'll just alternate to the opposite side for your leg cradle. Do your thing. Left knee comes toward the left wrist. Left shin starts to get a little bit more toward parallel. That requires a bit more flexibility so you can even keep the foot a little bit closer toward the pelvis. Walk the back toes behind you. Back leg is straight behind you. Maybe use a little bit of support. I normally use a rolled up blanket. I've got pretty tight hips. Find some relaxation in the breath. Maybe you hinge forward onto forearms. Maybe you stack your fists. Get to a place where you can really feel some nice release in that left side hip. Even amidst a little bit of uncomfortability. See if you can find a relaxed effort through the breath. Very good. Take your time. Slowly release out. Tuck the back toes. Start to inch your way forward a bit. Release any props if you've got those. Let's make our way to seated. Good. We're going to come into head to knee pose. Janu Sirsasana. Left foot to the inside of the right thigh. Stay active in your right leg. Almost like you're pressing that foot up against a wall. Torso over the extended leg. Find some length in the spine. Then lead with your heart. Start to come down to a forward bend. Walk your hands forward. Eventually you soften your head and shoulders. Just finding any comfortable position for the hands. It doesn't need to be the feet or the toes. If it's there, That's good too. Let your awareness be inward and focus on your breath. Take a few more deep breaths. Slowly rise. When you're ready, Switch sides. Left hand, Right foot comes in. Find length in the spine. Lead with your heart. Keep the spine nice and long. Slowly walk the hands. When you've reached your capacity, Soften the head and shoulders down. Again, Just relax and breathe. Back. Focusing on the breath. There's a very systematic reason why forward bends happen toward the end of the practice. Because naturally they start to bring the awareness inward. They prepare the mind for meditation. They have a deeply calming effect on the nervous system. See if you can gently sense that your awareness wants to be more inward. When you're done, You can soften and release. Very nice. Both legs extend. Take a forward bend here as well. If this is too much for you, You can bend the knees. If that's too much, Cross the legs and fold forward over your crossed legs. Otherwise, We'll take this Paschimottanasana. Same thing. Spine is long. Leading with the heart helps to keep length through the spine. We're not rounding yet. Eventually we reach our capacity. Then we soften the shoulders down. Round the upper spine. The low back stays long. Same thing. Bring the awareness inward. Let yourself breathe. Beautiful. When you feel done there, You can soften and release out of the pose. Spin over. Rest on the back. We're almost done. Just a few more movements. Let's start with the knees. From here, I'd like you to walk your feet nice and wide about the width of your mat. Bring your arms out to a T. Extend out from the center of the heart. Then lower both knees over to the right side. Come into a reclined twist. You can stay just like this. If it's comfortable, You can place the right foot on the left thigh. Just relax and breathe. If this causes any discomfort, Just stick with the original version. Just a gentle release. Good. Uncross the legs. Bring both knees back up. Feet are still nice and wide. When you're ready, You'll go to the opposite side. Lowering the knees to the left. Feeling that reclined twist through the body. Maybe you place your left heel on top of your right thigh. Again, Only if it doesn't cause any discomfort. Very good. Come back up to center. Bring the arms alongside the body. Left foot is down. Right foot comes up toward the ceiling. From here, You can clasp the back of the thigh. Start to draw the leg in toward you. Get a nice little stretch, But you want to stay relaxed with the upper body. Then circle at the ankle. Nice, Complete, Relaxed circles. Release down and switch sides. Left leg extends. Right foot on the floor. Leg comes in toward the body. Shoulders stay relaxed. Circle on the side. Release the leg down. Bring both knees in toward the body. You can stay here if you'd like. You can clasp the outer edges of the feet. Extend your feet up toward the ceiling. Come into a happy baby pose. You can massage your feet a little bit. Rock side to side. It might feel nice to bring the bottoms of the feet together. Gently press the elbows into the thighs. Create some space through the hips and the pelvis. Very good. Then gradually make your way down into Shavasana. Get comfortable. Take as much time as you need. Really make sure you have space. If you have any props in your way, Just completely remove the props out of your way. Allow yourself to take up space. Come into your Shavasana. Close the eyes. You might gently walk the shoulder blades together. Allow your whole body to soften. Release all effort. Make small adjustments in your body and eventually you find some stillness. In that stillness, You can still sense that the breath is moving in the body. You see the abdomen rise and fall as you breathe. Really let yourself be here in stillness. Let yourself be nourished. Bring your awareness to the crown of your head. Take a deep breath. Begin to breathe. Relax. Soften that entire space. All along your hairline. Soften your brow. Let the eyes get nice and heavy. Relax your jaw. Relax your tongue. Keep breathing. Soften the space of the throat and the neck. Collarbones and the shoulders. Your upper arms and your elbows. Let the forearms relax. Palms of the hands and the knees. Tips of the fingers. There's no effort. Your body is held. Let your awareness travel back up the arms. All the way back up to the center of the throat. And down into the deep center of the heart. Deep breath. Soften and breathe. Let your breath nourish your body. Nourish your mind. Relax your abdomen. Your navel center. The center of your pelvis. All the way down into the hips. The upper legs. The joints of the knees. And the ankles. The bottoms of the feet. And all the way out to the tips of the toes. Keep relaxing. Let yourself be held and nourished. Your awareness travels back up through the body now. The legs and the hips. Pelvis. Navel. Abdomen. Heart. Throat. Forehead. Back to the crown of your head. Sense that each breath really energizing your system. Nourishing your system. Each breath out relaxes the system. Cleanses your system. As you start to feel ready, You can begin to invite some movement. Little movement. Fingers and toes. Keep your awareness inward. Gently wake up the body. Sensing the floor behind the body. You can stretch arms overhead. Create some length. Nice full length stretch. Keep breathing. Bend your knees. Place your feet down. Roll over onto your side. Use your arm as a pillow. Rest on your side. Make your way up and come to a seated posture. Any comfortable seat. A few minutes for some meditation. About 8 minutes or so. So any comfortable cross-legged posture. Always nice to have some cushioning. If you have a block to sit on. If you have a meditation cushion. Very helpful. Anytime you can get your hips above your knees. Really goes a long way. Building some stability and comfort. You can also sit in a chair. At the edge of a couch. With your feet down on the floor. Settle into your seat. Start to settle into the hips. Let the weight of your body be supported. Lengthen up through the spinal column. Let the shoulders relax down the back. Allow the eyes to close. Sense that your physical body is supported by the energetic capacity of the spine. So from the base of the spine all the way up to the crown of your head. That's your column of support. You're able to simply relax around that support. Keep softening in your hips, Shoulders, Your face. As you settle more and more into this moment, You might sense that you settle more deeply into stillness. It's a stillness that's beyond just the lack of physical movement. You might even sense that you're your own nature. Your own true nature is this profound stillness arising from within. As your body becomes more still, You naturally become more silent. Begin to listen for the silence of your own true self. As you continue that, Be aware of your breath. Just noticing the effortless nature of the breath. Notice there's an intelligence of the body, An intelligence of the breath. Your body breathes requiring no effort from you. Each exhalation bringing you closer and closer to a relaxed effort. It's a relaxed stillness. With each inhalation, Begin to cultivate some kind of positive sentiment. Ride the wave of nourishment that comes in through the inhale. Maybe that brings a small smile to your face, Either physically or just a smile to your mind. Maybe there's a gratitude that arises naturally. Some amount of joy. If you're a visual person, You might even sense something very uplifting, Such as a sunrise. With each breath, You're bringing in a positive sentiment. You can relax that effort. Notice if you've brought in any more physical tension, So let the shoulders and face relax. Spend a few more moments here. Enjoying the space that you've created. Sensing the intelligence, The nourishment, The wisdom that resides within you. Enjoying the fruits of your practice. Very nice. If you'd like, You can bring hands at the heart, And you might bow your head to your heart. Take a moment to really honor yourself in this moment. You've made it to the mat. You've done a practice. You've put your best effort forward. You've set yourself up for the best day possible. Resolve to go back into your day, Carrying the fruits of this practice into all of your actions. Trying to find that balance between effort and ease. Moving forward but releasing the fruits of our actions. If you'd like, You can rub the palms, Warm up the hands. Cover the eyes with the palms. Let some of that warmth nourish the eyes. And you release the hands when you're ready. Peace and blessings. Namaste.