Slow Flow, Fresh Shapes

An easy 30-minute yoga practice with gentle spinal movement, playful pose variations, and a quiet finish. We’ll take a moment to center ourselves before easing into a slow vinyasa flow. From there, we’ll move the spine in six directions and try a fresh take on Child’s Pose and a new twist on Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II). We’ll also explore Inside Angle Pose and a modified Heron Pose before winding down with windshield wipers and a little stillness. Come spend half an hour moving at an easy pace and seeing what feels different when you change a familiar shape.

Transcript

Welcome. I'm Suzanne Morgan. I'm so glad you're here and you're taking care of yourself. Find a comfortable seated position. For this short yoga practice today, You're going to need two blocks and a mat. And once you get settled, Turn the palms up to the sky. Close the eyes. And take about 30 seconds here just to land your full attention. Into the present. Be here now. Let the shoulders release away from the ears. Allow the back body to become long and strong. Breathing in and out of the nose. Allow the breath to lengthen. On the inhale, A full, Complete exhale. And then take a moment to set an intention. How do you want to feel? How do you want to be? What would you like to manifest? Today. Or some advocates or. And then go ahead and open the eyes if they're closed. We're going to start with a sequence on the back. This is a wonderful sequence for warming up the body. Start with the legs long and the arms down by the sides. On your inhale, Take a full body stretch. Stretch the fingertips in one direction. Point the toes, Stretch them in the opposite direction. On your exhale, Draw the knees to the chest and give yourself a hug. Inhale, Interlace the fingers, Take the arms over the head and take the feet to the sky. Flex the feet. And knees to chest. Inhale, Big toes together, Knees apart. You can hold on to the shins or the ankles. Butterfly with the feet lifted. Come back to center. Drop the knees to the right, Look to the left. And now knees go over to the left, Look to the right. And back to center. Right knee in, Left leg extends all the way long onto the mat. Squeeze that right knee in, Apanasana. And chain. And end the sequence with the legs long and the arms down by the side. We're going to do that sequence three more times, A little bit faster. Inhale, Full body stretch. Exhale is to trust. Inhale, Feet to the sky, Arms over the head. Niasta chast. Butterfly knees apart, Big toes together. Come back to center. Twist the knees to the right, Look to the left. And roll the knees over to the left or to the right. Come back to center, Right knee in, Left leg extends all the way long. Squeeze that knee in. Change sides. And then end the sequence with the arms down by the sides, The legs long. Two more rounds. I'm going to call this next round and then see if you can remember it for the fourth round. Inhale full body stretch. Nearest of chaste. Interlace the hands, Feet up to the sky, Arms over the head. Mr. Chast. Butterfly Back to center. Twist to the right. Twist to the love. Back to center. Right knee in, Left leg long. And change. And both legs long, Arms down by the sides. So keep going, Do one more round at your own pace. And if you forget a pose, It's only yoga. Inhale, Full body stretch. And when you're done that sequence. You can meet me with the legs long and the arms down by the side. Then step the feet wide onto the mat. So the heels go to the corners of the mat. You're going to pick up that left ankle and cross it over the right. You'll pick up the shoulders and you're going to scooch them over, Reaching that right hand down towards the feet. Left arm is going to come up and over the head. You could even pick up the head and turn the right ear towards the earth. If that aggravates the shoulder, By all means make an adjustment or skip the arm. Take three deep breaths into the left side ribs. Deep breaths. And then to release out of it, Release that top arm. Take the shoulders and the head back to center, And then change the cross of the ankles. So now the feet are over to the left side, And you're gonna reach down with that left hand, Reaching for the foot, Right arm up and over the head, Left ear towards the earth. So you're in the shape of a banana. This is called banana pose. You're opening up the right side body. Take three deep breaths into the right side ribs. Perfect, Good. Release that arm. Head and shoulders back to center. Bend the knees, Put the feet on the ground, Roll to your side, Inhale and come up to seated. Take any seated position that works for you. We're going to circle the heart. The heart comes forward and to the side. To the back, To the side. You can undulate the spine here. Trying to find those juicy places in the torso that need A little bit of stretch. Little bit of attention. Change direction. And then come back up right with the torso. Right hand to the right side. That left arm is going to tip over. Coming into a lateral bend, Coming out of it. Come into us. And out of it, Each time perhaps it wakes up the body and moves a little bit deeper. And this next time you. Bend over to the right, Pause. You can spin the head to the left, Looking underneath that left arm. On your next exhale, Twist and turn to the right, Bringing the torso upright, Twisting to the right, Right hand back behind. Pause. I saw. Inhale, Back arm comes up and over to it, Diagonal to the left. Let that top hand come down. And just rock the spine side to side like seaweed and water. Creating fluidity in the body. Inhale the arms reach all the way up. Exhale, Left hand to the left side and tip it over to your lateral bend to the left. Coming in and out of it. As you bend over to the left, Ground the right sit bone down. And then pause. You could spin the head to the right for a moment. Turn the head back, Let that top hand land on the opposite knee, Twist to the left. Chin level I saw. Inhale, Back arm comes up and over to a diagonal. Top hand comes down, Rock side to side. And then inhale. Reach the arms up, Palms can touch. Exhale hands to the heart. Make your way on to all fours. Start with the toes tucked under. You're going to take the hips back to the heels and extend the arms forward. And so this is a combination of child's pose and broken toe. If this becomes too intense for the feet or the ankles, You can take the weight a little bit more forward. To make this more challenging, Come up onto the fingertips, Dive the head down. Couple breaths. Imagine that there's two loving hands on your lower back body. Breathe into those loving hands. And then inhale, Come to all fours, Spread the fingers, Tuck the toes, Come into down dog, Lifting the hips up and back. You can pedal the feet a little. Walk the dog. And then settle the legs. You can step the big toes together. Inhale, The right leg lifts to a three-legged dog. Feel free to open the hip to the side. And then step that right foot through. There's no shame in picking up that foot to get it underneath you. Heels should be underneath the knee. Drop the back knee, The left knee down. Come to your low lunge. Hands on to the block. Inhale, Open the heart. Shoulders roll back and down. I guess, Uh. . . On your exhale, Start to straighten the front leg, Hips come back. You're still grounding that front foot down. Dive it over. So a couple times of coming into your lunge, Letting the hips shift forward. And then drawing the hips back. Thank you. Next time you come to your low lunge, Stay upright. Kickstand that back foot back behind you. And then come up into a modified warrior two. You can step that front foot out a bit, Arms reach. And then exhale, Take the right arm to the inside of the leg, Take the left arm up and over. That top hand is going to revolve down and around to bring you back up. And let that left hand now slide down the left leg and right arm comes up and over. Circle that arm back and down. Pivot and turn back to the front. Step back to all fours. You can walk your blocks out for a moment. Come back to your down dog. Step the big toes together. Take a couple breaths. Press through the heels of the hands. Press with the index finger and the thumb. Working towards straightening the legs, But they don't have to be straight. In he'll laugh like loves three-legged dogs. Feel the freedom in the body and the hip with this. And then draw that knee into the chest. Step the foot through. Drop the right knee down. Get your blocks handy. Shift the hips forward in your low lunge. Open the heart. Deep breath. Exhale. Hips shift back. Fold over that front leg straight in the front leg. Couple times. And then come back to your low lunge, Kickstand that right shin over to the left side. Turn the side body. Turn the torso to the side, Arms reach. Make sure that front knee is right up straight. Energy through the fingertips. A modified warrior two. Take a breath or two. Then arm comes to the inside of the leg, Right arm comes up and over, Lateral bend to the left. Lateral bend to the right. Let that top hand circle down and around. Turn towards the front of the mat. Tuck the back toes under. Push off. Ground the back foot down. We're going to make our way into triangle. Both legs working towards straight. Spin the heart to the side, Right arm comes up to the sky. That back foot, The heel is kicked back. And the foot is at an angle. Make sure that front foot is up. Straight to the front. And the heart turns to the side. Couple breaths. You could be higher up with the hand on the thigh. Make sure that you have this practice working for you. Bend that front knee deeply. You can open that back hip more. Bring the torso upright for your warrior two. Let that back hand circle around and down. And step the back foot up to meet the front foot standing forward fold. Release the crown of the head. Inhale, Rise up, Arms reach, Look up. And exhale and hands to the heart. Inhale, Sweep the arms up, Look up. Exhale, Standing forward fold. Drop the hat. And soften the knees. Block to the outside of that right ankle, Step the left foot back. Big step back, Straighten the legs, Turn. Torso to the side for triangle. And then bend that front knee deeply. Torso comes upright. Heart turns to the side more, Arms reach. Warrior II. Perfect, Good. Go ahead and release the arms, Turn the feet so that you're wide-legged onto the mat. Bye. Slide the hands down the legs. Fold over the legs. Elbows can point out to the side. And then walk the hands out in front of you, Lunge to the right. And just pause into this lunge. Feeling the stretch on the inside of that left thigh. And now to the left. To the right. To the love. Come back to center. Plant the hands onto the ground. If you need to bend the knees, That's fine. And then jump. Or step the feet together and then come down onto the mat. You can actually sit up onto a block for a moment. We're gonna draw that right knee in towards the chest. The left heel is to the outside of that right hip. And then you're gonna inhale and extend that right leg up. This is a variation of Heron Pose. Shoulders release away from the ears, Eye gaze to the big toe. Then release that foot. You're going to cross it over the left knee and take a twist to the right. Come back to center. And change. Right heel to the outside of that left hip. Draw that left knee in, Squeeze it into the chest. Start to straighten that leg. It doesn't have to be straight. Working towards straightening it. Soften that top knee, Cross. The ankle over the left knee twists to the left. And then turn back to the front. Take the block out from underneath you, But hang on to that block for a moment. You're going to come down onto the back. Start first with the feet super wide, The toes turned out, And you're just going to let the knees drop to one side. And to the other. And one side. Than the other. And then point the knees back up to the sky. Walk the feet back to parallel. Take the hands. By the sides. Now you'll get your block. You're going to lift the hips up and slide the block underneath the sacrum. That's the bony part between the hips. So the fleshy part of the butt is just a little bit off the block. You could have it on the low side or you could take it up to the medium side. And then you'll float one foot up. You'll float the other foot up. Both arms to the sides. So this is a supported shoulder stand. My favorite way to practice. Shoulder stand. You get all of the benefits. Without any risk for the neck. And then bend the knees, Put the feet on the ground. Lift the hips up, Take the block out. And prepare for a short Shavasana. You might like to take the legs wide and the arms wide into a starfish position. Feel the body. Grounding into the earth. Find the place of. Quietness and peace. And then you can bring some small movement to the body. Take a couple of deep breaths. Bend the knees and put the feet on the ground. Roll to your side. And push yourself up to a seated position. Hence to the heart. Thank you for taking time for yourself. Thank you for practicing with me. Many blessings. Namaste.