Breath Prayer Christian Stretch & Flow

Welcome to this Breath and Prayer Yoga Flow — a gentle, faith-based practice to help you slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with God’s peace. In this class, we’ll move through mindful poses while pairing each movement with a breath prayer. Each breath becomes an act of worship — inhaling God’s truth, exhaling worry and distraction.

Transcript

Hi friends, Welcome to today's yoga class. Today I have a flow class for you featuring my 52 weeks of breath prayer cards. So I'll be drawing a card from the deck and we'll follow that breath prayer as we move throughout today's practice. So today's breath prayer is inhale, Fill me with peace. Exhale, Guard my heart. This is based on Philippians 4, 7. And the peace of God, Which transcends all understanding, Will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. So when you're ready, We'll just begin in a comfortable seat, Cross-leg position. Maybe start by taking a couple of shoulder rolls. So drawing the shoulders up to the ears, Sending them down and away. Closing the eyes if that feels okay. And just take one cleansing breath. So breathe in deeply. Let it go out of your mouth. And just settle in here. Like I said, This is a breath prayer flow. So we'll hold on to our breath prayer as we move. And connect breath with movement today. So as you inhale, Think. Fill me with peace. And exhale. Guard my heart and how Fill me with peace. Exhale. Guard my heart. On your next inhale, Reach both hands high overhead. Interlace the fingers, Press the palms to the sky, Relaxing the shoulders away from the ear. Hinge over to the right. Maybe the gaze goes under that left arm. Inhale back through center. Take it to the other side. Again, Maybe the gaze goes under the right arm. Inhale back through center. Release your hands. Find a bind behind your back. Press the fist away from you and how gaze goes up. Exhale, Fold. Hinge over the legs. Lift the fist away from the back. Breathe. Gently release, Pull yourself back up. Come over to tabletop position, Hands right underneath your shoulders, Knees under your hips. Find a couple of rounds of cat and cow. So as you inhale, Belly drops, Gaze goes up. Exhale round, Press the ground away. Inhale, Pull your heart forward. Exhale, Touch in the chest. Continue to move back and forth. Between these two movements at your own pace. With your breath. Feel free to add in any additional movements. Hip circles, Maybe rocking all the way back to child's pose, Whatever feels good in the body. Just take movement to wake up the spine. Good place to land with that breath prayer. Inhale. Fill me with peace. Exhale, Guard my heart. When you're ready, Find a neutral spine. On your next inhale, Reach your right hand high to the sky. Gaze to the thumb. Find space here. Exhale, Thread the needle, Releasing the right shoulder down to the mat. Option, So you can extend that left hand out in front of you. Maybe you reach it up and around for a bind, Grabbing hold of that right thigh. Whatever feels good in your body, Find that. If you want a little bit more heat, You can start to extend the left leg behind you. Maybe float the left toes away from the mat for a little balance practice. Breathe. Wherever you are. Just find what feels good. Gently release the knee down if it was lifted. Plant the left hand. Inhale. Right hand goes high to the sky. Gaze to the fingertips. Maybe find a little bit of arm circles here. So reaching the arm back so we can get forward and up. Waking up the shoulder. Take another round here. Before planting the hand, One round of cat and cow. Belly drops. And round. We'll find that on the other side. So on your next inhale, Left hand reaches high. Gaze to the left thumb. Exhale, Thread the needle, Release the left shoulder down to the mat. Again, Find what feels good in your body. So maybe you stay right here. Maybe it's in the right hand. Maybe it reaches up and around for a bind. Maybe float the right toes off of the mat. Take another breath in. Gently release wherever you are. Planting the right hand, Extend the left hand back high to the sky. Cat and cow one more round here. From here, Finding child's pose, Sending the hips back to the heels, Extending. Arms out in front of you. Take a few breaths to rest. Inhale, Fill me with peace. Exhale, Guard my heart. When you're ready, Gently begin to press yourself back up. Tuck the toes, Lift the hips for downward facing dog. So first one of the practice, So feel free to find some movement here, Pedaling through the legs. Maybe you're rising high onto the toes. Just find movement that allows you to wake up the legs. Settle into stillness when you're ready. Think about pressing your chest towards your thighs. Lifting hips high to the sky. On your next inhale rise high onto the toes. Begin to walk the feet to the top of the mat. Ragdoll fourfold. So we're allowing the upper body to hang heavy, Maybe grabbing hold of opposite elbows and swaying side to side. Shaking the head yes and no. When you're ready, Gently release the bind. One vertebrae at a time begin to roll all the way up to stand taking a big shoulder roll at the top when you arrive Take a moment to ground here so you can Close the eyes if that feels okay. Begin to lift the toes off of the mat and then place them back down. Think about relaxing the shoulders away from the ears. And gently open the eyes if they were close. Inhale both hands reach high Exhale forward fold hinging at your head Inhale, Halfway lift, Flat back, Shine the heart forward. Exhale fold, Plant the hands, Step back to plank pose. Lower knees, Chest, And chin all the way down to the mat, Keeping the elbows hugged in. Inhale for a baby cobra pose, Shining the chest forward. Exhale, Send it back to downward facing dog. Option to move through tabletop. One breath here, Breathe in. Breathe out. Inhale, Rise high. Begin to walk your feet to the top of the mat. Inhale, Halfway, Lift, Slap back. Exhale fold. Inhale, Rise to stand. Reach high. Exhale, Hands together down to heart. One breath in. And one breath out. And I'll reach the hands high. Exhale, Forward fold, Take it down. Inhale, Halfway, Lift flat back. Exhale fold this time plant the hand step the right foot back Soften the knee down to the mat low lunge untuck the toe Inhale, Both hands reach high. So option to bring your hands together at heart center if that feels better for the shoulders. You can always find that in your practice today. Take a breath in. Exhale, Release the hands down, Frame the foot. Tuck the back toe, Lift the knee, Step back to plank pose. Knees, Chest and chin all the way down to the mat. And how for a Cobra pose. Exhale, Release. Send it back downward facing dog. One breath in. One breath out. On your next inhale, Right heel sweeps high to the sky. Exhale, Step the foot forward. Warrior one. So we're grounding down at a 45 degree angle with that back foot and root to rise. Bending deeply into that right knee, Relax the shoulders away from the ears. Take another breath in. And on your next exhale, Release the hands. Find a bind behind your back. So interlace the fingers. Press the fist down, Shine the chest high. Exhale hinge forward for humble warrior. So you're drawing that right shoulder to the inside of the right knee. Lifting the fist away from the back, Maintaining that strength in the lower body. Breathe in. Breathe out. Release the bind. Hands come down to frame the foot. Pivot onto the ball of the left foot and soften the knee down to the mat. Low crescent lunge. This time toes stay tucked. Breathe in. As you exhale, Find a little bit of a heart opener. So bending through the elbows, Squeeze the shoulder blades towards one another. Find space. And release hands down to the mat. Lift the back knee. Step back to downward facing dog. One breath in. One breath out. On your next inhale, Rise high onto the toes. Begin to walk forward to the top of the mat. Halfway lift flat back. Eggs health food. Inhale, Rise all the way to stand. Reach it high. Exhale, Hands together down to your heart center. Take three breaths here to ground. Inhale, Fill me with peace. Exhale, Guard my heart. On your next inhale, Sweep both hands high to the sky. Exhale, Forward fold, Hinging at your head. Halfway lift, Flat back. Exhale, Fold. This time, Step the left foot back. Low crescent lunge. Open the knee down. Untuck the toe. Inhale, Both hands reach high. Take that moment to ground and pause. Breathe deeply. Exhale, Release the hand down to frame the foot. Step back to plank pose. Take your flow. Lower down these chest and trim. Inhale, Cobra. Exhale, Send it back downward facing dog. One breath in. One breath out. Inhale, Left heel sweeps high. Exhale, Step it through, Warrior one, Ground down, 45 degree angle with that back foot, Rooting and rising, Bending deeply. And so that left me. Making sure your hips are square. To the top of the mat relaxing shoulders away from ears. Breathe in. Find that bind behind your back. Interlace your fingers maybe the opposite way this time, The way that feels a little funny. Press the fist down, Shine the chest high. Exhale, Fold forward for your humble warrior. Again, Maintain that balance through the lower body. Fists are lifting away from the back as you squeeze. The shoulder blades towards one another. One more breath here. And release hands down to frame the foot. Pivot onto the ball of the back foot. Low lunge. This time toes stay tucked under. Lift the hands high. And find a heart opener. So squeeze the elbows towards one another. Chest begins to shine towards the sky. Breathe in. Exhale, Release the hands down. Step back. Downward facing dog. Breathe in. Breathe out. Rise high onto the toes. Walk your feet to your hands. Halfway lift flat back. Helpful. Inhale, Rise to stand. Reach all the way up. Exhale, Hands together at your heart. Again, Three breaths. Breathe in. Breathe out. Maybe start feeling a little bit of heat. Your increase of heart rate. That connection to the breath, Most importantly. Your connection with God. On your next inhale, Reach both hands high. Exhale, Forward fold, Hinging at your hips. Halfway lift flat back. Exhale fold plant the hands take one last flow of your practice knees chest and chin all the way to the neck Inhale for cobra. Exhale child's pose. Take that moment to ground. And when you're ready, Gently begin to press yourself up. We'll extend the legs out in front of you for a seated forward fold. So flex through the feet here. Begin to walk the hands forward. Until you feel that slight sensation in the back of the legs, Keeping your spine nice and long. Breathe in. Breathe out. And then gently make your way down to your back. Option two, Roll one vertebrae at a time as you release down. Maybe take a full body stretch when you land reaching. Your hands over your head. And pull your knees into the chest. Give yourself a squeeze, Maybe rocking side to side. Bridge pose, Releasing the feet down to the mat. See if you can lightly graze the back of the ankles. We'll just begin to lift the hips off of the mat. So think about starting with the hips and then peeling one vertebrae at a time off of the mat, Rising onto your shoulders. Option to take a bind under your bottom. As you lift the hips higher. Squeezing inner eyes towards one another. Breathe. And gently release. Maybe windshield wiper the legs side to side. Before pulling the right knee into the chest, Give it a squeeze and stretching that left leg long. You can find some ankle circles here. Foot in one direction and then the other. And pulling the right knee towards the right armpit, Find space in the hip. And exhale, Supine spinal twist. Take it across your body. Extend that right arm to the side, Take the gaze over the right shoulder. Just trying to root down through both of your shoulders here. Ringing out through the midsection. And gently release, Lifting back through center. Switching sides. So extending the right leg long, Pull your left knee into the chest. Give it a squeeze. Find some ankle circles in one direction. And the other. You can take that knee over to the left side just for a little bit of space in the hip. Before pulling it across your body for the twist on this side again. Gaze goes over the opposite shoulder, So over to the left. Ground down through. Your shoulders and find release through the midsection and back. Tangently release coming back to center Give yourself one more squeeze here. And then we're going to. . . Release into a bound angle pose. So bring the soles of the feet together. Allow the knees to fall out. Bring one hand to your heart and one hand to your belly. You can also extend the legs if that feels better for the hips, Whatever you prefer. We're just going to take a few moments to. . . Ground as we close out our practice. So here I'm inviting you to return to. Our scripture of focus, Philippians 4-7. And the peace of God. Which transcends all understanding. Will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Inhale. Fill me with peace. Exhale, Guard my heart. And just taking another breath here. When you're ready, Bring small movement back into your body, Maybe rotating the wrist. Wiggling fingertips. And toes. Bringing the hands to the outside of the legs as you lift the knees back towards one another. The windshield wiper the legs side to side. And making your way over to one side. Press yourself up to a seated position. Just taking a moment to thank yourself for stepping onto the mat, Carving out time for breath, Prayer. And movement. On your next inhale, Sweep both hands high overhead. Exhale them down to your heart center ceiling in your.