This is a Pitta balancing class and remember that Pitta is all about this fire and this water that gets really hot and really steamy and so what we're going to want to do in this practice is really connect to a little bit more softness,
A little bit more fluidity,
Find less rigidity,
Less of this kind of momentum that can burn really high and open the sides of the body,
Open the front of the chest so that also heat and energy that gets trapped in all this area can exit.
So that's what's underlying the practice today.
See if you can notice that as we move both the fluidity and the flexibility and at the same time opening side body and chest and back.
Okay so find a cross-legged seat with your right shin in front of you and then place your right fingertips next to you and reach your left arm up for a side bend.
You might have your block under your hand and by the way I have four blocks because we're going to be facing the back of the mat as well.
If you only have two blocks,
One to the front,
One to the back,
It's going to be fine and as you breathe here see if you can anchor that left hip down and if you can start to feel all that space on the left side body.
Big breath in,
Big breath out and come back to center.
Switch your legs,
Left shin in front,
Left fingertips next to you,
Reach the right arm up and then find your side bend.
The right hand is facing down towards the earth.
You might come a little lower,
You might be a little bit higher and as you do that the hip has a tendency to hike up so see if you can really anchor that right hip down as you reach and open and come back up.
Let's do that one more time.
Switch your legs,
Right fingertips next to you,
Left arm up,
Palm down,
Big breath and then left hand down,
Switch your legs,
Right arm up and over your ear.
Beautiful.
Come back to center and make your way to all fours.
We'll start with a few cat cow before we get on to standing poses onto the feet.
So hands under your shoulders,
Knees under your hips,
Press the top of your feet down and then soft cat cow today.
Open the chest,
Breathe in and then around the back,
Breathe out.
A few more on your own and connecting already with the energy of water with fluidity as you move through cat cow.
Noticing where there might be some tension,
Bringing an energy of softness,
Of surrender to it.
A few more like this without forcing,
Without efforting.
There's really no efforting in a Pitta pacifying class.
So if I'm going to leave you with anything right now,
It's going to be no efforting in the next 25 minutes.
Great and then walk your hands a bit forward,
Tuck your toes under,
Downward facing dog.
Just a brief down dog and then walk your feet all the way to the front of your mat.
Forward fold Uttanasana.
Your hands on blocks are great options.
In a spirit of softness you might bend the knees slightly and then roll all the way up to stand.
Reach your arms up,
Big breath in and then roll the arms back.
A few more like this.
Inhale,
Arms up.
Exhale back,
Steadying your feet.
Maybe an exhale out of the mouth.
Another way to get rid of that stuck energy is to breathe out of the mouth or to make some sounds.
So feel free to do that today.
Keep your right foot where it is,
Step your left foot back and then find a high lunge.
Reach your arms up,
Big inhale.
You might bend that back knee quite a lot and then you restraighten by reaching for the left heel back.
And then on your next inhale,
Open your arms in a cactus shape,
With the elbows roughly aligned with your shoulders.
And then spread through the fingers,
Inhale.
Go ahead and open the chest a little bit more,
Maybe look up.
And then exhale,
Your forearms are going to come together around the upper back.
Steadying your legs,
Inhale cactus and then exhale round.
Inhale cactus,
The arms,
That's three.
And then exhale round.
Inhale cactus,
A little bit of a back bend,
Shoulder opening as you do that.
Exhale.
And then reach your arms up,
Inhale.
And bring your hands down to from your right foot,
Step back to plank pose.
Drop your knees and exhale,
Lower all the way down.
A heart opener here,
Press the hands down,
Lift,
Open the chest.
And see if you can find softness in this heart opener,
Literally heart opener right there.
Beautiful area that can be a little rigid for Pitta.
Exhale,
Tuck toes under,
Step back to downward facing dog,
Hips up and back.
Walk your feet all the way to meet your hands and forward fold.
And then come all the way up,
Reach your arms,
Inhale.
And then exhale,
Arms,
They kind of swim back.
Inhale,
Reach up.
Exhale,
Swim the arms back.
Inhale,
Reach up.
Exhale,
Swim back.
Beautiful.
Keep your left foot where it is,
Step your right foot back,
Reach your arms up.
And you might again have that bend in the right knee and then reach for the right heel to find a little bit more length in the right leg.
On your next inhale,
Cactus the arms.
And see if you can get a little bit more space.
So we're not dropping the belly forward,
The belly is really engaged,
But the heart,
There's a little bit more space here.
Exhale,
Forearms together around your upper back,
Maybe chin a little bit to chest.
Inhale,
Cactus the arms.
Exhale,
Forearms together.
Inhale,
Cactus and open.
Maybe lift the chin.
Exhale,
Forearms together.
Two more.
Inhale,
As you open,
Think of that space between your shoulder blades and squeeze that.
Exhale,
Forearms together.
Steady in the legs.
Last one.
Inhale,
Open the arms.
And then exhale,
Forearms together.
Reach your arms up,
Big breath in.
Plant your hands and step back to downward facing dog.
Take a breath in and down dog this time.
And a breath out.
Maybe exhale out of the mouth or make some sound to release that heat.
Great.
And then come to plank pose.
Drop the knees down,
Lower all the way.
A little baby cobra or a little bit of a higher cobra,
Opening the chest,
Opening the throat.
And then press back,
Downward facing dog.
This time go ahead and step your right foot forward right away and come up to a high lunge.
Big breath in,
Big breath out.
Stay.
We'll do it just once.
Cactus,
Open.
And then forearms together.
Exhale.
Inhale,
High lunge.
And then go ahead and anchor your left heel down.
Come sideways for Virabhadrasana 2.
So adjust your front foot,
Heel to arch.
Reach through the arms,
Big breath in.
Big breath out.
We'll find revolved warrior.
Right arm up and back.
And we're going to stay here.
Again,
Why?
Because we're opening this side body.
So see if you can get a little steady in your legs and then reach the right arm over the ear.
The palm is facing down again.
And there's not too much pressure on that left hand,
Right?
It can lift easily.
The legs are really supporting.
Big inhale.
Keep all that space and then come forward to extended side angle.
But don't lose any of that space that you found on the right side.
Right elbow to right thigh.
And then with the left hand,
I'm going to encourage you to kind of sweep it forward.
And with that,
You're finding the openness on the left side of the chest.
Left hand facing down.
Big inhale.
Big exhale.
Beautiful.
One more inhale.
One more exhale.
Lengthen the right leg.
You're welcome to grab your block for triangle pose.
And then for today,
Again,
Because we're focusing on side body,
Take a moment.
Place your hand to your left hip.
Reach that right hip back so you have evenness on both sides.
And then the left arm can reach over the ear.
One more exhale.
Then bend your right knee.
Bring both hands down.
Let's set the right foot back to downward facing dog.
And pause here.
Inhale.
Exhale.
And go ahead and step your left foot forward into a lunge.
And come up to a high lunge.
I know,
I'm facing the other side.
Big breath in.
Cactus the arms just once.
And exhale,
Forearms together.
Inhale,
Reach your arms up.
Softness,
Fluidity in the movement.
Right heel down for warrior two,
Virabhadrasana two.
So you're probably going to need to adjust that left foot.
And anchor down,
Soft breathing,
Surrender,
Softness in the movements.
Revolved warriors,
The left palm reach the left arm over the ear and stay.
Get so strong in your legs that it's no big deal for the right hand to lift.
And then think of all that space you're creating on the left side.
Big breath in.
Big breath out.
You can even visualize like steam coming out of your left side.
Keep all of that extended side angle.
You might even place your right hand there.
All that space.
And then the right arm can sweep down,
Forward,
And up.
It's this rotation of the torso.
Before you find your right arm over the ear,
Palm down.
Big breath in.
Big breath out.
One more inhale.
Exhale,
Lengthen your left leg for triangle pose.
Again,
Grab your block if you need it.
You can place your right hand on your hip so that you find the openness.
You find evenness on both sides of the body before the right arm reaches over the ear.
Palm down.
Big breath in.
Firm up that left leg.
Big breath out.
Beautiful.
And then come back up to warrior two.
Windmill your hands down to frame your left foot and step back to downward facing dog.
Great.
Drop your knees for a second.
We're going to move to moon salutations.
Moon salutations are thought as really cooling and really soft.
The moon is that yin energy that's really cooling and soft.
So that's also why we have the blocks,
Because we're going to actually be rotating around the mat.
It's going to be really fun.
We start with a lunge,
Then pyramid pose,
And triangle pose.
These are the three poses that we're going to shift to.
It's going to be the same rhythm.
First one is usually a little tricky,
So stay with me on that one.
Downward facing dog is where we meet.
Beautiful,
Everybody.
Step your right foot forward.
This time drop your left knee down.
Reach your arms up.
Low lunge.
Anjani asana.
Inhale.
And then this is where you might need your blocks.
We're going to get to pyramid pose.
Lengthen your right leg.
Your left heel can come down or the heel can stay up.
Both hips reach back.
Open the chest.
And then from here,
Triangle pose.
So left heel down.
The left arm peels open.
Big inhale.
Exhale.
Come down.
Face the long edge of your mat.
Malasana.
Garland pose.
Heels and toes out.
And squat.
You might be higher.
You might be lower.
Lots of work.
Opening a lot,
Right?
And then we're going to face the back of the mat with triangle pose.
So right heel down.
Right arm peels open.
Again,
I know the first side is always a little tricky.
Pyramid pose.
So bring your right hand down and face the back edge of your mat straight.
Beautiful.
Drop that right knee down.
Anjani asana.
Low lunge.
Reach the arms up.
Inhale.
Beautiful.
Hands down.
Step to the back of your mat and fold forward.
Come all the way to stand.
Inhale.
And then that backstroke again.
Exhale.
Arms back.
Inhale.
Arms up.
Exhale.
Backstroke.
Stroke.
Exhale.
Back.
Inhale.
Up.
Last one.
Swim the arms back.
And then inhale.
Reach.
Step your left foot back.
Drop the left knee down.
Anjani asana.
Reach your arms up.
Grab your blocks if you need them.
Pyramid pose.
Lengthen both legs.
The left heel can come down or not.
We're peeling the left arm open for triangle pose.
So the left heel is down.
Reach the left arm up.
Long edge of your mat.
Malasana.
You're going to squat.
Bend the knees and drop the hips.
And then we're going to turn to the front edge of the mat again.
I know.
With triangle pose.
So front foot facing forward.
Right heel down.
And then peel that right arm up.
Two pyramid pose.
Grab your blocks if you need them.
Fold over the left leg.
Bring the right knee down.
Low lunge.
Anjani asana.
Inhale.
Beautiful,
Everybody.
We did one round.
Yay!
Step your right foot to the front of your mat and fold.
Come all the way to stand.
Urdhva Hastasana.
High prayer.
And then backstroke.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Up.
Notice your energy.
How does it feel?
Exhale.
Reach back.
Last one.
Inhale.
And exhale back.
Let's try that again.
Reach your left foot back.
Drop the left knee.
Anjani asana.
Same thing.
Exact same thing.
Let yourself be carried in the flow.
Pyramid pose.
Lengthen both legs.
Fold over your right leg.
Triangle pose.
You might adjust that left foot so it's aligned with the right.
Peel the left arm open.
And then transition to the long edge of your mat.
Heels and toes out.
Squat.
Malasana.
We got triangle to the back of the mat.
So the left foot is forward.
The right heel comes down.
Peel the right arm open.
Two pyramid pose.
Grab your blocks if you need them to lengthen both legs.
Drop the right knee down for low lunge.
Anjani asana.
Inhale.
And then we're going to step to the front of the mat,
To the back of the mat,
To your left foot.
Fold over your legs.
Inhale.
Reach your arms up and then exhale.
Backstroke.
Two more.
At your own pace.
Fluid,
Soft,
Heart opening,
Side opening.
And exhale.
Release.
Step your left foot back again.
Drop the left knee down.
Anjani asana.
And then find pyramid pose.
Lengthen both legs.
Triangle pose.
Peel the left arm open.
Breathe in.
Long edge of your mat.
Malasana.
Heels and toes out.
Bend the knees.
Drop the hips.
Facing the front of your mat.
Trikonasana.
Anchor the right heel down.
Peel that right arm open.
Pyramid pose.
Find your blocks and fold over your left leg.
Drop the right knee.
Anjani asana.
Reach your arms up.
And then this time,
Place your hands down and bring your left knee to your right.
Sit back on your heels for a moment and maybe close your eyes.
This is,
These moon salutations,
They're really beneficial for Pitta.
Once you have them,
You can do them on your own anytime.
Pause here for a second.
Notice how you're feeling.
Notice your breath.
The rhythm,
The circles,
The cooling nature of the specific asanas we brought into the practice.
Notice how all that is affecting you.
And then open your eyes if they're closed.
Go ahead and stand on your knees.
You might pad your knees with a blanket.
You can tuck or untuck your toes.
I like toes tucked.
So I can bring my right hand to my right heel for dancing camel,
Reaching the left arm up.
Again,
Focusing on side openers for this one.
Exhale down and then inhale,
Switch left hand to left heel,
Right arm up.
Exhale down,
Inhale,
Switch,
Reach the left arm up.
Exhale down,
Inhale,
Switch,
Right arm up.
Exhale down,
Inhale,
Switch.
Get yourself lost in the rhythm and think of side openers as well as heart opener.
Really get into the side body as well as the front body.
If you're more like this,
You might go slower than me.
You might go faster than me.
And then go ahead and come down at your own pace on your own time.
Sit back on your heels one last time.
Close your eyes.
Take a moment and pause.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes.
We're going to transition to pigeon pose.
There's some space in the hips too that is often kind of stuck with pitta energy.
So go ahead and bring your right chin forward.
Flex that foot and have a look at your back leg.
Really reach for that back leg.
Make sure the toes and the ankle and the foot is in the same direction.
I personally like and I'm going to encourage you to do the same because we're doing pitta class to use blocks.
To use blocks for a little bit of softening.
So I have a block the long way under my belly and then a block under my forearms.
And once you get there,
Take a moment.
Remember we said no efforting.
So if you're fighting against yourself,
Against your body,
Against the pose,
Can you take a moment and let yourself be.
Let the pose be.
Even if it's somewhat challenging to let it be,
It's okay.
You might be lower or higher than me.
But bring that energy,
That soft cooling energy of the water.
The water is in pitta but it's often too hot.
If we bring cooling water,
We soothe pitta.
We pacify pitta.
Use your hands to come back up.
Move the blocks if you have them.
If you'd like to go through a down dog,
You're welcome to do that.
If you don't want to,
You don't have to.
If you want to lift one leg,
You can do that.
And then we'll bring the left shin forward.
And again,
Before you rush to lower,
Take a peek at your back leg.
Make sure the toes are going the same direction as the ankle,
The rest of the leg.
And then grab your blocks.
That is medicine for pitta to actually use support and help.
Oh,
It can be tricky.
So know that there is more to the symbol of using the block than what it is.
There's also an element of mindset,
An energetic openness to be supported.
In pigeon pose,
I like to have my knee a little further out than my hip.
So you can play with that on both sides.
Take a breath in and a breath out.
One more cycle of breath like this.
When you feel ready,
Go ahead and lift yourself back up.
And you could go to down dog absolutely if you want that stretch.
You could also just lean on your left hip.
Swing your right leg forward.
Sometimes it's nice to give everything a little shake.
From here,
We're going to spend just a few moments in supta padokonasana,
So reclined bound angle pose.
You absolutely must have those blocks or you must have cushions or something to put under your knees because it puts a lot of strain on the inner thighs and the groin when we stay in poses that are not supported for too long.
So soles of the feet together,
A little further away than you think.
Blocks under your knees.
I like them on the on that sharp edge so that I have the whole space on my knee.
And then go ahead and make your way to your back.
And you might need to adjust yourself slightly as you do that.
We're not going to stay here completely,
Right?
So get to the shape and soften,
But don't soften too much.
So we're not going to sleep.
You could if you wanted to.
And then notice all that heat that can escape from your body right now.
Everything that is trapped has so much room to leave,
To be unstuck.
We'll be here for just a few moments.
Let yourself soften and relax.
Imagine you're being washed by cooling,
Refreshing water.
Whatever has been stuck,
Washes away.
Not with effort,
Right?
Just as a natural fluid flowing motion and movement.
We'll close with a really balancing breath practice for Pitta,
A really evening,
Soothing practice.
So you can start to bring your feet down,
Bring your knees up towards the ceiling.
The blocks are going to fall,
That's okay.
And if you can,
Keep your eyes closed as you roll to one side and press yourself up.
Find a seat.
If you would like to sit on something,
I'm sitting on a block right now,
Feel free to do so.
We'll close with Nadi Shodhana,
Which is evening,
Right?
It evens right and left side.
It evens the sun and the moon side.
What we call Ida and Pingala,
Those channels of the body.
So you'll bring second and third finger to the base of your thumb.
You'll use the thumb to close the right nostril and the fourth finger to close the left nostril.
You can bend your elbows and bring your hand up towards your face.
Take a normal breath in and then exhale just to the left as you close the right nostril.
Inhale just to the left nostril.
Take your time,
Make it slow.
Close the left nostril with the fourth finger.
Exhale just to the right.
Soft,
Gentle inhale through the right.
Like flowing water.
Close the right,
Exhale through the left.
Soft inhale through the left.
Close the left,
Exhale through the right.
See if you can not rush the process.
Inhale through the right.
Like how much can you slow it down?
Exhale through the left,
Switch.
Inhale left.
Exhale right.
Inhale right.
Last one,
Exhale left.
And when you're done,
Keep your eyes closed,
Release your right hand.
Notice your energetic makeup right now.
If you're ready,
Bring your hands together in a prayer at your heart center by your head.
Finding a moment of gratitude for our teachers,
For the lineage of yoga and Ayurveda,
For this ancient wisdom that supports us.
Thank you so much for your practice today.
