Welcome to your practice.
In this class we're going to be focusing on a mandala sequence and we're going to be exploring the theme of seasons and cycles.
In this life there is nothing more certain than change.
Often we want things to stay the same because it's within the sameness that lives our sense of safety.
We can often feel fear and anxiety as a byproduct of the unknown.
So desiring the status quo is very natural but sometimes it also can be very limiting to our experience.
So what if we could turn to face change with grace Thanks.
And an opportunity to see it as an evolution in our growth.
Seasons and cycles are a natural law.
There is always a beginning,
Middle,
And end to every process.
We can find this in so many aspects of our life,
Such as birth,
Life,
And death.
Gaining,
Holding,
And letting go.
And just like in our practice,
The inhale,
The pause,
And then the exhale.
Nature is a good reminder of the innate order of things.
That in the worst of the upheavals,
Destruction is not always death.
It may also be an opportunity for new life,
For new growth,
For a rebirth.
Without construction,
There is no construction.
Without space,
There is no room for growth.
So my questions to you are,
Can you dance through the ups and downs of life?
Can you find bliss amongst the disruption?
Can you choose to love?
The endings just as much as the beginning.
If you're not there already,
Just come into a comfortable seat.
Bring your hands onto your thighs and then close down your eyes.
As you arrive here,
Begin to connect in with your breath.
Find a nice slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
Take one more like this,
Nice slow deep breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
And then just for the first few moments of the practice,
Just allow your breath to settle into its own natural rhythm.
As you breathe in this natural way,
See if you can bring awareness to all of the details of your breath that you notice.
Maybe even asking.
How do I know that I am breathing?
What is it that you can feel or sense about your breath?
Now see if you can start to pay attention to when your breath begins.
Noticing how the breath gently draws in through your nose.
You might notice at the end of this breath there's a gentle pause.
Before this breath then turns into an exhale.
At the end of the exhale,
There is also a pause.
And then begins the new breath.
In through the nose.
Pause.
Out through the nose.
Notice how within your own body there's a cycle here.
A beginning,
A middle,
And an end which repeat.
Very similar to the waves that we move through as we navigate our lives.
As you feel ready,
Take a nice,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
This time you'll find a gentle pause at the top of the breath.
Keep holding the breath in but see if you can soften your body down.
And then as you exhale,
Let it go out through your mouth with a sound.
We'll take one more breath like that,
Nice slow deep breath in.
A gentle pause at the top of your breath.
And then as you exhale,
Let it go with the sound.
As you feel ready,
You can slowly begin to open your eyes.
And we'll start to bring a little bit of movement now into our body.
So remaining in your seated position,
You'll bring your hands onto your knees.
We're going to work with a few rounds of our seated cat-cow.
Gently pull on your knees.
As you inhale,
Use your breath to lift your heart to the sky.
Maybe allow your eye gaze to lift.
As you exhale,
Chin to chest,
Drop your head down,
Round through your shoulders.
Inhale,
Let the breath lift your heart to the sky.
And then exhale,
Chin to chest and round.
Take a few rounds,
Just move at your own pace.
And then slowly come back to a neutral spine.
From here,
Bring your right hand down onto the mat.
Inhale your left arm up and over.
We'll just find a little side body stretch.
Allow yourself to root down through your sit bones and feel the energy lengthen up through your spine.
Nice and slow come up and then take it to the other side.
Left hand comes down,
Inhale right arm to the sky.
Start to lean to the left side.
Nice,
Slow,
Steady breath,
Breathing into the ribs.
Now we're going to add on a little bit here.
So the arm that is up and over,
You're going to circle it forward,
Hover it above the mat,
And then take it over to the other side.
Your left arm,
Your opposite arm is going to follow that same circle and then you'll lift up into your side body stretch on the other side.
Option to take the eye gaze up or you can keep it down depending on how it feels on your neck and then we're just going to move side to side.
Take your last round.
And then the arm that is up and over,
Just start to cartwheel it up to restraighten your spine.
From here we'll transition now to our tabletop,
So coming onto our hands and our knees.
Going to take a few of our spinal waves now.
So bring your hands slightly forward of your shoulders,
A little bit wider than your shoulders so you have space to come onto the mat.
You're gonna tuck your toes.
Sink your belly down towards the earth,
Lift your heart,
Draw your tailbone back.
So find a nice curve through your spine.
Now keep the curve and you're going to start to glide back towards your heels as you arrive at the crown of your head down towards the earth.
As you find your next inhale,
Keep your chin tucked such around your shoulders up to the sky,
Shift your weight forward,
Shoulders come forward of your wrists.
As you exhale,
Bend your elbows,
Lower your hip bones,
Your belly and your chest down onto the mat.
Untuck your toes,
Make sure your hands are by your chest.
As you inhale,
Peel your heart up towards the sky.
Find a low cobra.
And then as you exhale,
Release.
We're going to take two more like this.
Tuck your toes.
Push into your hands,
Glide all the way back towards your heels.
As you arrive,
Drop the crown of your head onto the earth.
Inhale,
Keep your chin tucked,
Ripple forward.
Shoulders over the wrists,
Bend your elbows lower onto the floor.
Untuck your toes,
Wrap your elbows in,
Inhale your heart up.
Exhale,
Release.
Last one,
Tuck the toes.
Shin to your hands,
Glide all the way back.
Allow your head to drop to the earth.
Feel the ripple of the wave as you roll forward.
Shoulder blades spread,
Hip bones,
Belly,
Chest lower to the mat.
And tuck your toes,
Wrap your elbows in,
Inhale your heart up.
And then exhale,
Release.
From here,
Tuck your toes and then glide back.
Towards your downward facing dog.
As you arrive here you might like to find a little bit of movement,
Maybe pedalling your feet,
Bending one knee,
Lifting one heel.
See if you can focus on bringing energy to the pinky edges of your hand so there's a little bit more lightness under the index mound.
So we can start to activate the energy through the back of the shoulders.
And then once you feel ready,
Just settle into a place of stillness.
Keep a little micro bend of your knees,
Find a lengthening of your spine.
Make sure that your ears are either side of your triceps.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
From here,
As you feel ready,
You're going to inhale your right foot to the sky.
Little bend of both of the knees,
You're going to come high into the ball of the left foot,
Right knee to nose as you step your right foot to the top of the mat.
Lower your back knee down.
And then inhale your arms to the sky.
As a personal preference I like to keep my back toes tucked but if you prefer to root the top of your foot down you can take that option.
Activate through your toes as you find a lengthening through your heart,
Your spine and the fingertips.
Slowly circle your hands down towards the floor.
Start to send your hips back,
Come onto the heel of your front foot,
Flex your toes up,
Walk your hands back towards you.
Make sure that your back hip is stacked above your back knee.
If you have blocks and you'd like to use the blocks for support you can as well.
Can be a nice variation just to feel really grounded through your legs.
Keep a softness to your right knee,
So try not to lock your kneecap.
Stay here or option to roll your whole leg side to side.
So what you'll start to feel is a little sensation through the back of your leg.
So this is a nerve pulse.
Now when you're ready,
You're going to draw your tailbone back,
But at the same time you're going to lift your heart forward.
And then slowly rebound into your front knee,
Shift your foot to the edge of your mat,
And then walk both of your hands inside of your legs.
Keep your back knee on the mat to begin,
And you can find a little bit of movement here if you like,
Maybe create some circles with your hips.
And we just rock back and forth.
We prefer a little bit of stillness.
Now take a moment to come back into your center point.
Left hand stays underneath your left shoulder.
You're going to inhale your right arm to the sky.
Let your eye gaze follow.
You can stay here,
You can start to reach your arm towards the back of your mat,
So just adding a little twist.
When you're ready,
Right hand to the top of the mat and then step back towards your downward facing dog.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
And we're going to take that to the other side.
Inhale,
Left leg high and keep a little bend of both of your knees.
Step your left foot to the top of the mat between your thumbs.
Lower your back knee down and then rise your arms up to the sky.
Nice slow steady breath.
Circle your hands down towards the floor,
Shift your hips back,
Find your half splits.
Come into the heel of your front foot as you take your toes up and then just walk your hands a little bit closer towards you.
Keep a softness for your left knee and then once again you have the option to roll your whole leg side to side.
Heel roots down,
Tailbone reaches back,
Heart reaches forward.
Slowly shift your weight forward,
Walk your left foot to the edge of your mat and then bring your left hand inside.
Keep your back knee on the ground to begin and once again you can look for a little bit of movement here if you like.
If you prefer stillness then of course you can take that variation as well.
Right hand stays underneath your right shoulder.
Inhale,
Left arm to the sky.
I guess follows your thumb.
You can stay here or you can reach your arm towards the back of your mat for a little twist.
Circle your back arm forward.
And then step back towards your downward facing dog.
Let's take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
From here we're going to journey to the top of the mat,
So bring a little bend to your knees,
Take your eye gaze forward.
Step towards the top of the mat.
Drop the head down.
Keep a little bend of your knees,
You can bring your hands to the floor or you can grab onto your elbows.
Maybe find a little sway side to side.
And then keeping your chin tucked,
Generous bend of your knees start to roll your spine to the sky.
Your arms will float up on your in-breath.
And then as you exhale,
Bring your arms down by your side.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a full breath out.
So we're going to start to move now into our mandala sequence.
So when you're ready,
Inhale,
Arms to the sky.
As you exhale,
Little bend of your knees,
Ride your breath down,
Forward fold.
As you inhale,
Lift your heart,
Draw your tailbone back.
Find a flat back.
And then as you exhale,
Fold.
From here,
Plant your hands,
Step back towards your downward facing dog.
On your next inhale,
Float your right leg high.
Step your right foot to the top of the mat.
This time you're going to keep your back knee lifted,
Hands remain on the floor,
So finding our runner's lunge.
Draw your left heel back,
Reach your heart forward.
Steady,
Even breath.
From here,
Drop your back heel so it's parallel to the short edge of your mat.
You're gonna start to cut all your arms up.
We're gonna find our warrior two.
So keep it soft to begin as we continue to warm up the body.
Eye goes over your front middle finger,
Arms into a T position.
Bring your left hand onto your back thigh,
Flip your front palm over,
Reverse your warrior.
Slowly come up.
From here,
Straighten your front leg,
Pivot your feet so you open up to the long edge of your mat.
Inhale your arms to the sky.
As you exhale,
Little bend of your knees,
Ride your breath down,
Find a wide-legged forward fold.
If you like a little bit of movement you can rock side to side just to bend into the knee.
Now from here,
Drop the crown of your head down and then as you inhale,
Lift your heart,
Draw your tailbone back.
And then exhale to fold.
Now use your hands to support you,
Bring your heels in,
Toes out.
Shorten your stance a little bit.
Find a little softener.
And you're just going to start to come up towards your goddess pose.
Arms out into a T,
Maybe a little bit of movement.
As you inhale,
Straighten your legs and your arms to the sky.
As you exhale,
Parallel your right foot to the top of your mat.
Left toes are going to point to the back of your mat.
So we're finding our warrior two on the other side now.
Arms into a T position.
Back in onto the back thigh.
Flip your front palm over,
Reverse your warrior.
Slowly come up.
Circle your hands towards the back of your mat.
And then step back towards your downward facing dog.
Take a nice slow breath in.
And then a full breath out.
So this is just one half of our mandala circle.
So we're going to repeat the same flow to bring us back to the top of the map.
So when you're ready,
Inhale,
Right leg high.
Step your right foot to the top of the mat.
Find your runner's lunge,
Back knee is lifted.
Nice,
Steady,
Even breath.
Drop your back heel,
Cut all your arms up,
Find a warrior two.
Eye gaze over your front middle finger.
Start to reverse your warrior.
And then slowly come back.
Straighten your front leg,
Pivot to the long edge of your mat.
Walk your feet in a little bit if you need to.
Arms to the sky.
As you exhale,
Bend your knees,
Ride your breath,
Find your wide-legged forward fold.
A little bit of movement here if you like,
Rocking side to side.
Coming into your center point.
As you inhale,
Lift your heart,
Draw your tailbone back.
And then exhale to fold.
Support yourself to bring your heels in and then toes out.
Bend into your knees to find your goddess pose.
Bring your arms out.
Once again,
Keep it a little bit soft,
So allow yourself to move side to side.
As you inhale,
Send your arms up to the sky,
Straighten your legs.
And then when you're ready,
Align towards your warrior two facing towards the top of your mat.
Reverse your warrior.
And then cut with your hands to the top of the mat and then step back towards your downward facing dog.
So you can stay here in your downward facing dog or if you would like you can journey forward towards a little vinyasa flow or if you'd like to take a child's pose that option is also available to you.
If you'd like to join me in our vinyasa flow,
I'm going to take a variation.
So you'll ripple forward towards a high plank.
You can stay here or I'm going to lower my knees onto the mat.
Shoulders slightly forward,
Wrap your elbows in.
We're going to lower all the way onto the belly.
Hands by your chest,
Untuck your toes,
Wrap your elbows in.
Inhale,
Lift your heart up.
Exhale,
Release.
Push into your hands and then glide back towards your downward facing dog.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
We're going to take our little mandala flow now on the second side,
Left side.
So when you're ready,
Inhale,
Left leg high.
Step your left foot between your thumbs at the top of the mat.
Keep your back knee lifted.
Runner's lunge.
Drop your back heel,
Cut all your arms up.
Find your warrior two.
Reverse your warrior back hand onto your back thigh.
Slowly come up,
Straighten your left leg,
Pivot to the long edge of your mat,
Heel toe your feet in if you need to.
Arms to the sky,
Bend your knees.
As you exhale,
Ride your breath down,
Forward fold.
As you inhale,
Lift your heart,
Draw your tailbone back.
And then as you exhale,
Fold.
Bring your heels in,
Point your toes out.
Start to rise up towards your goddess pose,
Arms out into a T.
This time we're looking for a little bit of energy,
So activate through your feet,
Find some stillness.
Start to breathe into any heat or intensity that you start to notice.
As you inhale,
Straighten your legs,
Straighten your arms.
Align towards your warrior 2 on the other side.
Start to reverse.
And then slowly come forward and then step back towards your downward facing dog.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
When you're ready,
Inhale,
Left leg high.
Left knee to nose,
Step your foot forward,
Runner's lunge.
Drop your back heel,
Cut with your arms,
Find your warrior two.
Start to reverse your warrior.
Come up,
Straighten your front leg,
Pivot to the long edge of your mat.
Heel toe your feet in,
Bring a little bend to your knees.
Inhale,
Arms to the sky.
As you exhale,
Wide-legged forward fold.
Ride your breath down.
As you inhale,
Lift your heart,
Draw your tailbone back.
And then as you exhale,
Fold.
Use your hands to support you,
Bring your heels and toes out.
Bend your knees.
Start to come up,
Arms into a T.
So you want to feel an opening of your hips and activation of your toes.
Settle into the energy that starts to arise.
So you inhale,
Straighten your legs and your arms up,
Eye gaze follows.
Align to your Warrior 2 on the other side.
Start to revert.
Cartwheel your arms to the top of your mat and then step back towards your downward facing dog.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
Once again,
Choose your adventure.
You can stay here in your downward facing dog,
You can take a child's pose,
Or you can move through your variation of a flow.
So when you feel ready to move,
We're going to move through our little sequence once more on each side.
So when you're ready,
Inhale,
Right leg to the sky.
Step your right foot to the top of the mat.
On your runner's lunge.
Drop your back heel,
Start to cartwheel your arms up.
Find your warrior too.
Reverse your warrior.
Slowly come up.
Straighten your front leg,
Pivot to the long edge of your mat,
Heel toe your feet in if you need to,
Little bend of your knees,
And then ride your breath down,
Wide-legged forward fold.
So you can stay here or I'm going to find a Scandastana now.
So bending into the left knee.
Sinking my sit bones down towards the heel,
Straightening the right leg.
Taking it to the other side.
Using your hands to support if you need to,
Straighten your opposite leg.
You don't have to come down onto the right heel,
You can stay on the ball of the foot as well.
Slowly realign back towards your wide-legged forward fold.
If you need to,
Heel toe your feet in.
Inhale,
Lift your heart,
Draw your tailbone back.
And then exhale to fold.
Use your hands to support,
Heels in,
Toes out.
Find your goddess pose.
Anchor down,
Feel your hips open wide.
Energy extends out,
Pull up through the spine towards the crown of your head.
Slow steady breaths.
Inhale,
Straighten your legs and your arms up.
Now align towards your Warrior 2 facing towards the back of your map.
Reverse.
Slowly come forward.
And then step back towards your downward facing dog.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
So same side,
Inhale,
Right leg high.
Knee to nose,
Step your foot forward.
Find your runner's lunge.
Drop your back heel,
Cartwheel your arms up,
Find your warrior two.
Start to reverse your warrior.
Come up,
Straighten your front leg,
Pivot to the long edge of your mat.
Inhale,
Arms to the sky,
Little bend of your knees.
As you exhale,
Wide-legged forward fold.
Staying here or finding a skandhasana.
So bending into your left knee,
You're going to straighten your right heel away from you to straighten your right leg.
Hands on the floor if you want a little bit more,
Maybe you can take your hands off.
Journey to the other side.
Slowly come up.
Heel-toe your feet in a little bit to find your wide-legged forward fold again.
As you inhale,
Lift your heart,
Draw your tailbone back.
And then exhale to fold.
Use your hands to support your heels in,
Toes out.
Rise up towards your goddess pose.
Feel an opening through your hips,
Ground down through your feet.
Charge the energy up from your pelvic bowl towards the crown of your head.
Inhale,
Straighten your legs and your arms to the sky.
Align towards your warrior two on the other side.
Reverse your warrior.
And then slowly cut all your arms to the top.
At fuck.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
You can stay here,
You can take a child's pose or.
.
.
Variation of your flow if you like.
So ripple forward high plank.
Low plank.
Come down onto your belly to find.
No cobra.
Inhale,
You're hot up.
Excel to release.
Push back towards your downward facing dog.
So our final cycle on our left side.
So when you're ready,
Inhale,
Left leg high.
Knee to nose,
Step your foot forward.
Run as lunge,
Reach your right heel back,
Heart reaches forward.
Drop your back heel,
Curl your arms up,
Find your warrior two.
Start to reverse your warrior.
Slowly come up,
Straighten your left leg,
Pivot to the long edge of your mat,
Heel toe your feet in a little bit to shorten your stance.
Bend your knees,
Inhale,
Arms to the sky.
XL hinge forward,
Wide-legged forward fold.
Stay or explore your skandhasana.
Bend into your right knee,
Straighten your left leg.
Take it to the other side.
Come back towards your wide-legged forward fold.
You might need to heel-toe your feet in.
You want to sense a stability through your legs.
Drop the crown of your head down.
As you inhale,
Reach your heart forward,
Draw your tailbone back.
And then XL fold.
Heels in,
Toes out,
Bend your knees,
Rise up towards your goddess pose.
Lean into the intensity of any heat that might be arising.
And see if you can meet it with the cycle of your breath.
Knowing that even in the intensity,
There's a beginning,
A middle and an end to our experience.
Inhale,
Straighten your legs and your arms to the sky.
Align towards your warrior two.
Reverse.
Bring your hands to the top of your mat,
Step back towards your Downward Facing Dog.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
Last side,
Inhale,
Left leg high.
Need to know step forward runners lunge.
Heart reaches forward,
Heel reaches back.
Drop your back heel,
Rise your arms up.
Warrior II.
Start to reverse your warrior.
Come up,
Straighten your front leg,
Pivot to the long edge of your mat,
Heel to your feet in a little bit.
Feel stable through your feet.
Bring a little bend to your knees,
Arms to the sky.
And then exhale,
Forward fold.
Once again,
Stay or explore your skandhasana.
Choose whatever side you'd like to take first.
Take it to the other side.
Come back towards your wide-legged forward fold.
Drop the crown of your head down.
Inhale,
Lift your heart,
Draw your tailbone back.
And then exhale to fold.
Heels in,
Toes out.
Rise up towards your goddess pose.
Inhale,
Straighten your legs,
Send your arms up.
And then when you're ready,
Align towards your last warrior two.
Start to reverse your warrior.
And then slowly circle your hands to the top of your mat and then step back towards your downward facing dog.
Take a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
Stay here or ripple forward high plank.
Option to lower your knees onto the mat.
We're going to come onto the belly.
Untuck your toes,
Wrap your elbows in.
Inhale,
Lift your heart up.
And then exhale,
Release.
Bring your feet together,
Take your knees out wide and then glide back towards your child's pose.
Ensure that your forehead is supported either by the mat or your forearms.
Soften through your shoulders.
Connect in with your breath,
Finding a slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
We'll take another one like that,
Nice slow breath in.
And then a slow breath out.
Bring your awareness back to the details of your breath.
Observe the law of nature.
The beginning,
The middle and the end of the experience of your breath.
Continue to notice how it comes and goes.
Can you dance with life's ups and downs?
Can you remain curious to the unknown?
Welcome space for things to grow.
Take a slow breath in.
Slow breath out.
Slowly start to come up.
Come onto your sit bones,
Sweep your legs forward.
And then just lower yourself onto your back.
Take a moment to draw your knees in towards your chest.
Give yourself a really big squeeze.
And then bring both of your legs over to the left side of your mat and then anchor down through your right shoulder.
Start to deepen your breath.
Slowly bring your knees back through centre.
Give yourself a gentle squeeze.
And support your legs to come over to the other side.
And get down through your opposite shoulder.
Allow all of the tissues of your muscles to soften.
Let gravity hold you as you begin to deepen your breath.
Start to deepen your breath.
And then slowly unwind.
Maybe take one last moment to draw your knees in,
Maybe lift your head towards your knees,
Find a slight rounding of your spine.
And then as you feel ready.
.
.
Start to straighten your leg.
Release down onto your back.
Position yourself in a way that every part of your being feels completely satisfied.
Once you've made your final adjustments,
Take a moment to connect into your breath.
Nice slow breath in.
And then a clearing breath in.
One more like that,
Nice slow breath in.
And then a clearing breath out.
And then as you start to settle,
Allow every cycle of breath.
To drop you deeper.
And deeper.
Into the earth.
