Find your way into a comfortable seated position.
And close your eyes.
Or just take a soft unfocused gaze.
Easy inhale through the nose.
Side out.
Feel yourself fully land.
Fully land in the space that you're in.
Settle in to your physical body evenly weighted across the sitting bones.
Feeling the support beneath you.
And from that support grow a little bit taller.
Extending up through the crown of the head.
And as you hold your posture soft in the skin,
Relax the eyes.
Relax at the joints of the jaw.
Let your shoulders drop back and down.
And feel yourself breathing.
On the inhale the navel drops forward.
And on the exhale,
The navel gently pulls back.
So if you can breathe with conscious awareness,
You are doing yoga.
And just notice how it feels for the next few breath cycles to fully bring your awareness to the movement of your breath.
Let your mind rest on the breath.
And have your breath gently deepen.
So the next inhale,
The navel drops forward,
The breath expands into the ribs and up into the chest.
And as you exhale,
Chest,
Ribs,
Navel gently draw in.
This is known as a three-part breath or Durga Pranayam.
Breathing the way our body was built to breathe.
Couple more full breath cycles,
Maybe even feeling the breath expand into the sides of the ribs and the back body.
So the inhale is circumferential,
It expands out to all sides.
And the exhale is relaxed and complete.
If you're not already there and if it's available to you,
Bring yourself into a cross-legged position so that your right leg is in front and I'll be mirroring you when I'm facing forward.
The palms land on the thighs or knees.
Inhale extend up through the crown of the head and exhale drop your chin to chest And then gently rock your head side to side.
And the next time that the head goes to center inhale the head up to neutral,
Let the breath go.
Shoulder rolls,
Float the shoulders up.
Back and down,
Your hands can stay on the lap or relax down by your sides.
And a few more,
Squeezing them up actively toward the ears,
Dropping them back and down.
And land your hands again on the thighs or knees,
Seated cat cows.
Inhale,
Drop the pelvis forward,
Lift the heart,
The gaze,
Lengthen out through the back of the neck.
Exhale,
Tuck the tailbone,
Round the spine,
Chin drops down toward the chest.
Inhale pelvis tilts forward,
Heart reaches up.
Gentle back bend,
Exhale,
Tuck the tailbone,
Round the spine,
Chin to chest.
And as you continue,
Try to keep your shoulders stacked over the hips.
So this way the movement is fully in the spine.
Now two more cycles.
And that feels complete for you.
Your inhale brings you back to a neutral spine.
Relax the arms heavy by your sides.
Three shoulder shrugs.
Squeeze them up,
Up,
Up.
Let them drop.
Two more.
And then slowly rotate over your right leg.
Hands to either side,
You can have blocks if you need.
And with your exhale,
You'll fold over the right leg.
Keep the opposite sitting bone anchored down.
Heart reaching forward and then relaxing the upper body over the right knee.
Another breath.
With your inhale,
Walk the hands in towards the body.
And back to midline with the spine,
Release the breath.
Side lengthen up to the crown of the head exhale rotate over the left leg and slowly with your exhale folding over the leg And then breathe here.
One more breath.
Inhale,
Walk the hands back in towards the body,
Realign the spine,
Release the breath.
If you're seated cross-legged,
Change the cross of your leg.
Readjust on your sitting bones sitting up tall now you can do the same shoulder rolls We did before or you can bring your arms out to letter T palms facing up fingertips Go to the shoulders and then elbows go forward up back and down So either the first ones we did or these ones.
Up back and down And drop the elbows towards the ribs.
Release the arms heavy by your sides.
Inhale,
Reach up through the crown of the head.
Exhale,
Drop your right ear to the right shoulder.
Two breaths here.
And your next inhale brings you back up to center.
Exhale,
Other side.
Shoulders are back and down.
Let the head be heavy Next inhale brings you up to center,
Release the breath.
Hands land to the thighs or knees,
Palms down.
Seated cat cows.
Inhale,
Tilt the pelvis forward.
Lift the heart,
The gaze.
Exhale,
Tuck the tailbone around the spine.
Drop the chin.
Maybe increasing the pace.
As long as you can match your breath and movement.
Two more.
Next inhale brings you back to neutral spine.
Release the breath.
Drop the arm.
Shoulder shrug.
Squeeze them up.
Let him drop.
Two more.
And then twist over your left leg and with your exhale folds Opposite sitting bone stays glued down If you want a little bit more,
You can press into the hands.
So you're pressing them out away from you as you fold forward.
Another breath.
Next inhale,
Walk the hands in towards the body,
Coming back up to a neutral spine,
Release the breath.
Inhale,
Reaching up through the crown of the head.
Exhale,
Twist over the other leg.
And fold.
And again,
You can press the mat away from you so you feel the stretch through the side body.
As the heart reaches forward and down.
Next inhale,
Walk the hands in towards the body,
Return to a neutral spine,
Sit up tall,
Take a breath.
One shoulder shrug.
A little extra.
Let it drop.
Good.
Extend the legs out in front of you.
And bounce the knees.
Point,
Flex the feet.
And from here,
Bend the right knee,
Bring it in towards the body.
I'm working on the same side as you now.
If you need to sit up a little higher,
Please do so.
Support your body.
You might also choose to have a blanket roll underneath the extended leg,
Underneath that knee.
Draw the shoulders back toward each other.
Seated hamstring stretch.
Inhale,
Extend the leg up,
Out through the heel.
Exhale,
Bend the knee in towards the chest.
The foot can land back down.
Few more.
Inhale,
It's done.
Keep the heart lifted.
Exhale,
Bend.
Try to see if you can have your full deep breaths here.
Next time that the leg is extended,
Keep it there,
Point flex the foot,
Keep the breath moving.
If at any point you find yourself feeling like you're taking this too seriously,
Relax the face,
Maybe a light smile.
Then pull the toes back,
Press out through the heel,
Lift the leg a little higher,
Chest a little higher,
And then release the leg down.
Drop the knee open.
So it looks like half butterfly.
And then use your right hand holding the right knee and move the knee up and down,
But the right leg is completely relaxed.
So we're getting into the hip joint.
If you ever need the floor closer to you.
Block underneath the outer edge of the leg.
Another breath,
Sigh if you need to.
Then bring the right knee back up,
Extend the leg out,
Other side.
Left knee bends,
Readjust on your sitting bones,
Sitting up tall.
Interlace your hands behind the thigh.
If you need just to use one hand,
That's fine.
Draw the shoulder blades toward each other.
Check in with your breathing.
Then inhale,
Extend out through the heel.
Exhale,
Bend the knee.
Keep going.
So low back stays pressing forward.
Heart is lifted.
Breath is as full as possible without strain.
The next time that the leg is up and lifted point flex the foot.
Keep breathing.
And then pull the toes back.
Press out through the heel a lot.
Lift the chest.
And bend the knee,
Drop it open.
Lengthen and then hand well your left hand holding the left knee lift and lower Left leg is totally relaxed.
So right now it's just the hand moving the leg.
Another breath.
And extend both legs out.
Blanket underneath the knees is an option.
Untuck your tail.
You can even use your hands to move the glutes out from underneath you.
Hands land on the thighs.
They can go by your sides on blocks or on fingertips like kickstands.
Point flex both feet again.
Draw circles with them.
They can go in the same direction opposite of each other.
Reverse direction.
Wiggle your toes.
And then for fun,
See if you can wiggle just your big toes.
Another breath.
And then spread your toes out wide.
So we're fanning the toes out to the side.
Good,
And then bounce your knees.
And land your hands on the thighs if they're not already there.
Inhale,
Reaching up through the chest,
Through the crown of the head,
A gentle back bend.
And as you exhale,
Hinge at the hips.
And fold forward over the legs.
Once you've gone to your natural stopping point,
Inhale up about halfway,
Draw the shoulder blades toward each other and exhale to fold.
Now you can continue this lifting halfway and folding with the breath,
Or you can just stay folded as you breathe.
Maybe the hands go to the floor.
And there's no force here.
We're not pulling.
Just letting our breath.
And gravity support us.
All right,
So if you're allowing yourself to just be heavy here,
Let gravity take over the pose for you.
Two more breaths,
Wherever you are.
With your next inhale,
Walk the hands in towards the body,
Coming back up to a neutral spine,
Roll the shoulders up,
Back and down as you release the breath,
Bounce the knee.
And if you had the knee blanket you can move it off to the side.
And bring the soles of the feet together.
Drop the knees open.
Now if you'd like to get more support underneath the hips,
Please use your blanket,
Your second blanket.
Lengthen the spine.
Exhale here.
Maybe the hands go to the base of the knees at the shins or the ankles.
And you can stay upright or with your next exhale hinge at the hips and fold forward.
Now,
If you folded forward,
Maybe the hands release down to the floor to support you at your edge.
You can remain stationary or gently sway the upper body side to side.
And if you find any areas in the body that feel dense,
Constricted,
Just pause there,
Give it some breath.
So when we direct our focus,
Our breath to different areas of the body,
We're directing prana,
The life force,
Life force energy.
Two to three more breath cycles.
Full deep breathing.
And with your next inhale,
And at center spine,
Walk the hands in towards the body.
Bring yourself upright.
Release the breath.
Use your hands to close the knees as if closing a book.
Widen the feet as wide as the mat.
You can lean back on the hands,
On fingertips,
Bent up the knuckles or palms down.
Blocks if you need them,
Especially if you're sitting up high.
And then drop one knee in and down at a time.
I know this to be called one-legged windshield wipers.
And you'll notice if you sit up higher,
Then the stretch goes even more into the outer hip.
But again,
We're moving within our body's natural range of motion.
We're not forcing,
We're not pushing.
Two more with each side.
And when that feels complete for you,
Extend the legs out,
Untuck your tail,
Shake out the legs,
Shake out the arms.
This can help to release anxious tension from the body.
And then find your way onto your back so you can put support underneath your head.
Blocks nearby in case.
I like to roll the blanket,
The bottom edge of the blanket underneath my neck.
Then once you're here,
Take a full body stretch.
Reach the arms up overhead.
Reach out through fingertips,
Toe tips.
You can sigh,
Yawn,
Move around the jaw,
Stick out the tongue.
Open,
Close the hands,
Point flex the feet.
Draw circles with feet and hands.
And then release the arms alongside the body,
Readjust them from there.
Re-bend the knees,
Feet to the floor,
Widen the feet as wide as the mat,
And then windshield wipers,
Drop the knees side to side.
So now they're both moving in the same direction at the same time.
And you can have your gaze go opposite of the knees.
It just helps to bring a little bit of a twist through the neck.
Continue this or come back to center and hug the knees to the chest.
If the knees are drawn in,
You can rock the body side to side.
Continue your windshield wipers or use your hands to move the knees around the hips.
I call this knee circles,
But we're using the knees as our our point of reference here to actually create the movement in the hip joints,
Reverse direction.
And then hug the knees to the chest.
Maybe the forehead floats up towards the knees.
And then full body stretch,
And this time interlace the fingers,
Roll the palms open away from the top of the head,
Pull the toes back,
Back of the heels,
Stay touching to the ground,
Keep breathing,
Drop your navel down so you feel your pelvis roll in,
The front two points of your pelvis roll in towards the front ribs,
Another breath.
And then relax the hips,
The pelvis,
Release the arms down alongside the body,
Re-bend the knees,
Hip point width apart this time.
And then hug the right knee to the chest,
Give it a squeeze.
Interlace your hands behind the right thigh hamstring stretch now your other leg can stay as it is drop open into half butterfly maybe a block underneath it or you can extend it all the way down With the right leg,
Inhale,
Press up through the heel,
Exhale,
Bend the knee in.
Few more.
You can use both hands,
One hand or no hands.
Every time that the knee bends is when you exhale.
And next time that the leg is up,
Point flex the foot.
If you wanna feel a little bit more for the hamstrings.
Both hands are one hand on the front of the right thigh.
And then gently you're pressing into the thigh.
And then pull the toes back,
Press up through the heel.
Another breath.
And then draw the knee to the chest.
And stack the right knee over the left knee.
I'm on the same side as you.
Scoot your hips to the right.
Hips right,
Knees left.
And gaze can go opposite of the knees.
Another breath.
Next inhale brings you back up to center.
Exhale to unwind the legs.
Reset the pelvis,
Other side.
Inhale,
Extend up through the heel.
Exhale,
Bend the knee.
And one side might need a different type of support than the other.
It's okay.
Just make sure that you're honoring your body.
Being really present with yourself.
Next time that you extend the leg up.
Point and flex the foot.
And draw circles.
Maybe the hands or one hand rests on the front of the left thigh.
And then you can press up through the heel pull the toes down.
And relax the foot draw the knee into the chest Stack the knee over the other one.
Hips to the left.
Drop your knees to the right and gaze goes opposite of the knees.
Another breath.
Next inhale brings you up,
Exhale to unwind.
Take any other movements that you need.
Can bring a blanket underneath your knees,
Make yourself comfortable.
And once you're really comfortable Take a deep breath in.
Easy breath out.
And once more,
Full breath in.
And let the breath go to completely let go.
You you you Feel your awareness.
Your awareness slowly coming back to the breath.
Feel the breath deepen.
As the breath deepens,
Awareness comes back to the body.
And if you don't want to move yet and you don't have to,
Just stay as you are.
Otherwise,
Bringing back in gentle movements,
Toes and fingers,
Hands and feet.
Maybe rocking the head side to side.
And taking the stretches that feel really good for you.
Eventually making your way to a comfortable seated position.
If you're seated.
If you're still laying down,
You can bring your palms together at the heart space or stack the hands at the heart.
The breath deepens a little bit more.
I invite you here to join me in closing with a humming Aum.
Let's first inhale.
Side out.
And inhale to hum.
Bowing head to heart,
Honoring yourself.
Each other.
Anae's teaching.
Jaya Bhagwan.
Namaste.
