Hello,
Great souls.
Welcome to our sadhana.
So this is our last class for the third step.
The attunement practice of the spiritual principle of attunement aligned with devotion to higher reality,
Ishwara Pranidhana.
So let's take a moment to center ourselves,
Coming into a comfortable seat.
Just adjust your seat in any way that you need.
If you feel comfortable sitting in Vajrasana,
I'm sitting on a bolster.
I'll turn the side view so you can see that.
So sometimes that makes Vajrasana more comfortable.
Is to be a little elevated in your seat,
The hands are turned upward,
Palms turned upward on the thighs.
Closing the eyes if that's comfortable,
Taking some deep,
Full breaths.
In and out.
Consciously letting go of the day.
All that's transpired.
Before the start of our class together.
Anything awaiting you.
After class.
So let that stay.
Outside of this space.
So you can be really here now,
Fully present to your practice.
Begin taking some deep,
Full breaths in and out.
Filling the lungs to capacity when you inhale.
Pausing for a moment once the lungs are filled.
And then fully exhaling and emptying the lungs completely.
Inhaling fully,
Completely.
Pausing for a moment when the lungs are filled.
And then exhaling fully and completely.
As you breathe,
Have the gaze of the eyes behind closed eyes uplifted.
So if you were looking out to a distant mountain peak.
Visualize.
An inner doorway.
In the forehead.
The seed of supraconsciousness.
Opening.
Divine light shining.
A light.
Of your own soul nature.
Radiant within you.
A few more rounds.
Of intentional,
Deep,
Full breathing,
Inhaling and exhaling.
The next time that you inhale,
Hold the breath for a little bit longer.
Not until it's uncomfortable,
But just a little bit longer.
Then exhale fully and completely.
And we'll do that one more time.
Retaining the breath.
Keeping the gaze of the eyes uplifted.
Visualizing divine light shining within you.
And when you're ready,
Exhale fully and completely.
And then allow the breath to flow on its own without controlling it.
Simply observing the breath.
Mentally affirming the affirmation for the firm pose,
Vajrasana.
And stillness.
I touch my inner strength.
And stillness.
I touch my inner strength.
Deep,
Full breath.
In and out.
Bringing the palms together at the heart center,
Affirming the divine light within you.
Within all beings,
We begin with namaste.
Namaste.
Okay.
So today I thought in our practice we could focus on attunement with your highest self.
Always really what we're talking about when we're talking about attunement with the divine.
But there's different ways of practicing attunement.
And sometimes it's attunement to the gurus.
Sometimes it's attunement to the absolute.
Stillness of God behind before all creation.
Other times it's attunement to your soul.
Your soul nature,
All of them really are divine.
So by attuning to the soul,
Your highest self,
That you are affirming that you are a soul.
That your nature is divine,
And when you are aligned with that consciously,
It will guide you.
Beautifully in your life and help you always make choices that lead to true deep joy.
Freedom and fulfillment.
So as we practice today,
I just invite you to just be Visualizing this shining soul nature within you that grows ever brighter through the practice of yoga.
All of the teachings,
All the practices of yoga.
This is true of any spiritual,
True spiritual path.
Awaken that divine light.
Awaken the soul within.
We'll have that be our theme today as we practice.
And we'll be practicing on the floor.
So if you have bolsters or pillows or blankets to support you being on the floor,
You can.
You can get those for yourself.
And we'll start in tabletop position,
Kneeling on hands and knees.
And if you want,
You can place a blanket underneath your knees to support the knees.
So we begin with Cat-Cow,
Arching the spine on the exhale.
Tucking chin to chest and tailbone tucks under.
And then lift the head and buttocks,
Swaying the spine on the inhale.
And you flow at your own pace,
Arching.
On the exhale.
And swaying on the inhale.
And you can pause in either direction.
It feels especially good to bring the body into an arch.
You can stay there for a few breaths.
And the same thing with swaying,
If that feels especially good,
You can hang out there for a few breaths.
Listen to your body.
And invite inner guidance.
To help you.
Move through the asanas.
In a way that's best for you today.
And then we'll come back to neutral and we'll come into stirring the pot.
So I'll face you.
I think it's a little easier to see what I'm doing.
We make circles.
Exhale back.
And then you come forward,
Completing the circle with the inhale.
Again,
Finding your own sense of rhythm.
And just notice how it feels.
To stretch and move the body in this way.
And then reverse directions.
We'll come back to neutral,
Bring the buttocks back towards the heels.
The arms out in front for extended child,
Releasing forehead toward the floor.
You could bring the back of your hands in front of the forehead and Rest the forehead on the back of your hands.
Breathing deeply.
The affirmation as I relax.
From outer involvement.
And to my inner haven of peace.
I relax from outer involvement into my inner haven of peace.
To come out of the pose.
We'll inhale up.
Come up onto the knees just for a moment.
And then we'll shift off of the knees and come onto our backs.
Knees will be bent,
Feet on the floor.
Come this way a little bit.
And we draw the knees in towards the body and just bring them in and away from the body.
And then rock side to side.
Weight of the body gently massaging the hips and low back.
Come back to neutral and move into knee rotations.
Your hands can be on your knees or at your side.
You inhale the knees away from the body in a semi-circle,
And exhale,
Bringing the knees back to complete the circle.
And then reverse directions.
Very nice.
We'll come to neutral,
Release the right leg,
Right leg extends out,
And draw the left knee in towards the belly,
Towards the chest.
Nice,
Deep breaths in and out.
And then release,
Left leg extends out.
We'll slide the right foot up and draw the right knee in towards the belly,
Towards the chest.
Just notice how it feels.
And gently stretch.
A leg in this way.
And then release and keep the right knee bent,
Right foot on the floor.
Flex your left foot and with the bottom of your foot,
Reach towards the wall in front of you,
Lengthening that leg.
And then as you inhale,
Raise the left leg up.
You can interlace your fingers behind the thigh to support the leg.
Or keep your arms relaxed at your side.
Belly relaxed as you breathe.
The right knee can remain bent or you can extend that leg out.
Eyes can be open or closed.
We'll point and flex the left foot a few times.
And ankle rotation.
Rotate the ankle a few times each direction.
Lift and lengthen and exhale down.
And then we'll go to the other side.
So left knee is bent,
Left foot on the floor,
Right leg extended.
Lengthen your right leg first,
Reaching through the sole of your right foot towards the wall in front of you.
And then inhale the right leg up.
Finding the stretch that's just right for your body today.
Nice,
Deep,
Relaxed breath.
You can point and flex.
Your right foot a few times.
Ankle rotation.
Rotate the ankle a few times each direction.
Lift and lengthen and exhale down.
And slide that foot up.
We'll take the left ankle and cross it over the right thigh.
For a figure four stretch.
You can keep your right foot on the floor,
Place it on a pillow or block,
Or draw that knee towards the belly,
Towards the chest.
The position of the lower body in particular is very similar to the Royal Pigeon Pose.
So we can practice the affirmation for that pose.
In figure four stretch.
I rise above.
All thought of past and future.
And to the eternal now.
I rise above.
All thought of past and future.
Into the eternal now.
Sending the relaxed breath to wash through the body and just helps the body open to the stretch.
I rise above all thought of past and future into the eternal now.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Release,
Uncross,
And then we'll go to the other side.
So right ankle crosses over left thigh.
Again,
Left foot can be on the floor,
Or you can draw that knee towards the belly,
Towards the chest,
And find the stretch that feels just right for you.
Keep the upper body relaxed against the mat,
Against the floor.
Mentally affirming,
I rise above all thought of past and future.
Into the eternal now.
Guiding the consciousness to rest.
And super conscious.
Soul awareness.
I rise.
Above all thought of past and future.
And to the eternal now.
To come out,
We exhale,
Release,
Uncross.
Bring the arms out to your side.
And we will practice the spinal twist.
First,
I'm going to come face you because it might be easier if I'm facing you.
So first we release the knees to the right.
And then inhale,
Knees to center,
And exhale,
Knees to the left.
And flow at your own pace,
Inhaling knees to center.
Exhaling,
Knees to the side.
Just notice how it feels to bring the body into a supine twist.
Notice if it would help you if we were holding the pose because we will in a moment.
To have a blanket or pillow underneath your knees or between them for support.
And if so you can have that handy.
The next time your knees come to the right,
We'll remain there.
If you need to adjust your upper back to keep shoulder blades close to the floor,
You can do that.
You can be looking up to the ceiling or gently lift your head and turn to look over the left shoulder.
Belly relaxed as you breathe.
This is Jatara Parivartanasana,
The supine twist.
The affirmation is,
I open to the flow.
Of God's life.
Within me.
Visualizing a flow of divine energy awakening within you and flowing through you.
I open to the flow of God's life within me.
When you're ready to come out,
Inhale,
Knees back to center.
Bring your head back to center.
If it's at the side,
Press down on your feet,
Lift hips and buttocks.
And lower the spine and we'll go to the other side.
I'll just change positions so you can see that.
Arms out to the side.
Hmm.
.
.
So inhale,
And as you exhale,
The knees go to the left.
Adjust your back as you need to have arms facing.
And then if you like,
You can lift your head and turn to look.
Over the right shoulder.
Belly relaxed as you breathe.
Mentally affirming I open to the flow.
Of God's life within me.
To come out of the pose,
We inhale,
Bring knees back to center,
Bring your head back to center,
Press down on your feet,
Lift hips and buttocks,
Lower them back down,
Draw the knees in and away from the body a few times.
Rock side to side.
Come back to neutral,
Have knees together and raise the feet above you.
You can hold the back of your thighs or your calves.
If you can reach your feet,
You could hold the feet.
And bring the knees down to the chest.
So holding the back of the legs,
The thighs or the feet.
The knees are together,
They come down towards the chest.
This is pavana muktasana.
A supine pavana-muktasana.
It's known as the wind freeing pose,
The knees.
Press in against the intestines and free any gas that's trapped there.
On a more subtle level,
It releases energy,
Prana,
And life force within the spine.
The affirmation is I release.
My spinal energies to rise in light.
I release my spinal energies to rise in light.
Just a few more breaths.
And then if you'd like,
You can bring your legs out beyond the hips.
This is Blissful Baby.
Drawing the knees down towards the body.
It's a nice stretch for the legs,
The hips,
The back.
Again,
You can hold the back of the thighs,
The calves,
Or the feet.
You could also have a strap across the feet and hold the strap.
If that's easier for you.
A few deep breaths.
Release.
We'll roll to the right side.
Use the left hand to help you come up.
Oops,
My little microphone fell.
Let me put that back in.
So here we're going to practice on the floor,
We're practicing.
Warrior 1 and we're going to have the left leg behind and the right leg forward.
And your hands can rest on the thigh.
On the hips or be above you.
Great,
Thank you Anjali.
Ahem.
And so we are the affirmation for this asana is I attune my will.
To the source.
Of all power.
I attune my will to the Source.
Of all power.
I could also say I attune my will to my highest self.
The highest reality within me.
We're aligning our consciousness with infinite awareness.
In this pose,
I like to visualize the infinite source.
I know that If I do that,
It will align me with my highest self.
I attune my will to the source of all power.
Few more breaths here.
Lift and lengthen,
Exhale,
Arms down and flex the right leg.
I'm sorry,
The.
.
.
Yeah,
The right leg.
And we'll inhale,
Lengthen,
And we're going to come forward just a little bit to stretch the back of that leg,
Hands resting on the thigh.
Few deep breaths.
Very nice.
And we'll come up to neutral.
I'll face you this time.
We'll go to the other side.
So now the right leg is behind and left leg is forward.
Hands can be here or here.
You could have palms together at the heart center if you like or bring the arms above you.
And you're looking up just slightly.
Virabhadrasana 1,
Spiritual Warrior 1,
I attune my will.
To the source of all power.
Feel yourself consciously aligning with the highest reality.
I attune my will.
To the source of all power.
A few more breaths in and out.
Inhale lengthen exhale arms down and this time flex the left leg.
And leading with the heart.
Exhale forward just enough to gently stretch the back of the leg.
Breathing into this,
Just notice how it feels.
Very nice.
From here we'll come into side angle pose.
This is known as Parsva.
Konasana.
And.
We're going to bring the left leg out to the side with the knee bent and the right knee is going forward.
And we'll rest the left forearm on that thigh,
On the left thigh.
We're going to inhale,
Right arm up,
Lengthen,
And come over to the side.
And you're looking straight ahead.
Or if you like,
Rotate to look up to the sky.
Very nice,
And just notice how that feels for your body.
Opening up the right side of the body.
Deep,
Full breaths in and out.
Again,
You can look straight ahead or rotate to look up to the sky.
Then we'll inhale up exhale that arm down you can stay up on your knees or bring your buttocks down to your heels.
Pause for just a moment.
Very nice.
We'll go to the other side.
So now right leg comes out,
The knee is bent.
Left knee is going towards the front,
The right forearm is resting on the thigh.
We'll inhale,
Left arm up,
Reach.
Find the stretch that feels right.
Looking straight ahead or rotate to look up to the sky.
The affirmation is,
I am a fountain.
Of boundless energy and power.
I am a fountain of boundless energy and power.
The side angle pose awakens a strong flow.
Of divine energy within us.
I am a fountain.
Of boundless energy.
And power.
I am a fountain of boundless energy.
And power.
Few more breaths.
Very nice,
We'll inhale up,
Bring that leg in,
Stay up on the knees,
Or bring the buttocks down to the heels.
Pause there.
Eyes can be open or closed.
Awakening the divine power within you.
I am a fountain.
Of boundless energy and power.
I am a fountain of boundless energy.
And power.
Very nice.
From here we'll practice Supta Vajrasana.
So the alternative to Supta Vajrasana is the Ustrasana,
The camel pose.
So I'm going to show you supta vrasrasana.
And if that feels like it's just not going to work for your body,
A reminder with camel is the hands are on the pelvic rim.
Elbows come toward each other.
We slide the hips forward and lift the heart to the sky.
So that's a beautiful alternative if that's better for you.
So let's see.
I'm going to show you.
How are two ways of practicing.
So one is here.
With the chair for support.
And one is without.
So I'm going to show you and then we'll come into it together.
So if I'm not using any props for support,
I'm in Vajrasana,
I bring my hands back,
And I come as far back Let me come a little far forward here.
As I am comfortable supporting myself.
So I could stay here would be fine.
I could come down.
Onto my forearms.
That's very deep stretch for the front of the legs.
So you want to make sure that works.
If that's too far for you,
You could consider using It's a little too high.
Using the chair.
Where I have my head.
For me,
It's a bolster and blanket,
But you could have pillows.
So ustrasana camel pose,
Our supta vajrasana,
We're in vajrasana,
And we come back.
So remember,
This can be fine.
You could come down onto forearms.
Don't drop the head,
So use the strength of the neck muscles to support the neck.
Because this pose is very dynamic.
And a lot for the legs.
The front of the legs,
We usually don't hold it very long.
The affirmation is energetic movement.
Or unmoving peace.
The choice is mine alone.
The choice is mine.
You could also,
I'm realizing,
Have a bolster,
Blanket,
Pillow on the floor for your head.
That might work for you.
Energetic movement.
Or unmoving peace.
The choice is mine alone.
The choice is mine.
When you're ready to come out,
Inhale,
Bring yourself up slowly.
Pausing in Vajrasana.
See if you can feel divine energy awakened within you.
Guide the awakened energy within.
Up toward the spiritual eye.
Energetic movement or unmoving.
Peace.
The choice is mine.
Choice is mine alone.
Very nice.
So from here we'll practice either Child's Pose or Downward Facing Dog.
So you could come into Downward Dog and then Child's Pose if you like,
Or go right into Child's Pose.
Remember that you could use the seat of a chair to support you.
So I'll show you that.
If I'm using the chair,
I have my hands on the seat.
I walk away from it and I bring my ears in alignment with the upper arms.
If I'm on the floor,
Staying on the floor,
Tabletop position,
I turn the balls down.
I lift up from the balls of the feet.
I align my ears.
With my upper arms.
The legs can be slightly bent if that's helpful for you.
The affirmation is calmness radiates.
From every fiber of my being.
Calmness radiates.
From every fiber of my being.
When you're ready to come out,
Come down on the knees.
Arms can stretch out in front of you or behind you.
Releasing forehead to the floor.
Taking a few moments in Balasana.
I relax from outer involvement into my inner haven of peace.
May I relax from outer involvement.
Into my inner haven of peace.
When you're ready to come out,
Inhale up,
Come on to your knees,
Then we'll come on to our backs for deep relaxation.
If you like,
You can have a blanket under your head.
You could bring your legs over the chair if you prefer.
Or a blanket over you.
You could also stay in the chair if that's more comfortable for you.
Legs are relaxed,
Just feet kind of splayed out.
Palms turned upward.
Belly relax as you breathe.
As you come into Shavasana.
Deep relaxation now.
Consciously letting go of the physical body.
The mental and emotional body.
Resting in a deeper reality within you.
Mentally affirming bones,
Muscle movement.
I surrender now.
Anxiety,
Elation and depression.
Churning thoughts.
All these I give.
And to the hands of peace.
Bones,
Muscle movement.
I surrender now.
Anxiety,
Elation,
And depression.
Churning thoughts.
All these I give.
Into the hands of peace.
I surrender now unto the hands of peace.
Bringing awareness now back to your breath.
Begin to visualize your breath.
Like a gentle flow of energy.
Washing through the body.
Through the heart,
Through the mind.
Gently guiding your awareness back into the body.
Back into the physical realm.
Maintaining a connection to the deeper reality of your soul nature,
Light,
Joy,
Peace,
Freedom within you.
You can begin to gently help the body reawaken by wiggling fingers,
Wiggling toes.
And then stretching and moving the body any way that feels good to you.
Just ease in yourself.
Out of deep relaxation.
When you feel ready,
You can roll to your right side.
Pause there for a moment.
And then bring yourself into a comfortable seat for meditation.
We'll begin with a measured count breathing practice.
So we'll inhale.
I'll start us with a count of four and then move to six.
You can choose any length that works best for you.
So we'll be inhaling to a count,
Holding the breath for that count,
And exhaling to that count,
Inhaling in and out through the nose.
So first let's inhale fully.
Hold the breath for just a moment.
Exhale fully and completely.
We'll do that once again,
Just giving you a sense of the length of your breath.
Retaining the breath for a moment,
Then exhaling fully.
The next inhale for a count of four,
Inhaling.
Hold the breath.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Hold the breath.
Exhale.
Once more,
Inhale.
Hold the breath.
Exhale.
You can stay at four or go to six.
Inhale,
Six.
Hold the breath.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Hold the breath.
Exhale.
Last time,
Inhale.
Hold.
Exhale.
Now allow the breath to flow on its own without controlling it in any way.
Simply observe it as it flows in and out.
If you like,
You can practice the Hong Sa mantra,
Mentally affirming Hong,
When the breath flows in.
So as the breath flows out.
Aligning very slight movement of the right index finger on the inhale with Hong.
Exhaling,
The finger moves slightly away from the palm with saw.
We'll meditate for 10 minutes.
Make sure that you allow a few minutes at the end.
With no practice of the mantra.
Simply sitting.
And the vibration.
And there's stillness.
Inner peace.
I'll chant Aum to bring us out.
Let's close our class together now with sending out healing light,
Healing energy.
So visualize yourself as a divine channel,
Rubbing the hands together.
Drawing light into the hands,
We'll raise them and chant Aum three times.
Aum So great to be with you today,
Great Souls.
