Toppling Tree - Slow and Strong Vinyasa Practice

A 90-minute mindful yoga practice with pauses of strength to focus the body and mind connection. The body will be well prepared for the peak pose of Toppling Tree/bharadvajasana. Yogingi is an international 500RYT currently based in New England.

Transcript

Welcome. We're here today for a vinyasa practice together. As always, As we move through practice, If anything doesn't feel quite right in your body, Please feel free to modify or to shift or to create a shape that feels more at ease. That's not to say you can't challenge your body, But when there's pain, Try to shift into a different mobility so that you can challenge yourself without creating the pain involved. And if that means creating a wildly different shape, Let that happen. Let's start by coming into a comfortable seat of your choice. You might come into a cross-legged seat or you might sit up on your shins. Someplace that you can be nice and tall in your spine. Take a nice deep breath in and see if you can lift the crown of your head right over top of your hips. When you breathe out, Keep all that length and then sit a little deeper into the earth. Again, A nice deep breath in, Sitting up tall and rising and exhaling and anchoring down. And another deep full breath in and a big sigh at the mouth. And take just a few moments to come into a rhythm of breath that feels natural for your body. You can find a natural cadence, Something that's both meditative as well as energizing. Continue your breath. Let it be vibrant and full. Gently let your head begin to travel around your neck. You might even allow it to pause on one side or the other. Looking to open up any places that feel a little cranky or even a bit stuck. And then you can let that travel down into your spine, Your shoulders, Your hips. You might even allow your elbows to travel so that your arms can make this movement a little bit bigger into the body. You can make circles in one direction and then the opposite direction. And then for a moment, Once you've taken a little bit of movement, Switch the cross of your legs if you've chosen to take a cross-legged seat. Coming back into that nice tall spine, Take an inhale and sweep your arms up overhead. And as you exhale, Press your palms together. Let them come down the center of the body. Inhale arms reach up. This time, Once they reach the top, Grab onto your hands, Interlace your fingers, Keep your hands together and then start to press the palms towards the front of the room. So your fingers are interlaced and you see the back of your hands when you look ahead. As you continue to press the palms towards the front of the room, Start to round your spine like you're opening up your shoulder blades, Sort of like a cat-like sensation. See if you can feel the breath opening up through the back body, The back of the ribs, The lungs, Scapula, Intercostals opening up. On your next inhale, Start to reach your hands back up, Lift your whole spine. And as you exhale, Release your hands but take them to your low back and re-interlace your fingers again. You might even take the opposite grip so the opposite thumb comes on top. Start to press your palms together this time and then take your hands down your spine and perhaps even away from your body, Pressing your palms together as much as you can. Lift your chest up while you reach your hands back. And notice if your belly has started to become a little bit looser. See if you can invite that engagement in and up into the chest. You can let the belly be somewhat soft but don't let it flop open so that it becomes a back bend. See if you can engage the front of the body to allow a little bit more space through the back body. Keep breathing in this manner. Keep lifting the palms away from the body, Pressing them together. Beautiful. And now on your inhale, Release the hands, Take them all the way back up. This time you can interlace your hands once again but press the palms down onto your head. On your next inhale, Start to rock your body over towards the left so your right elbow points to the sky. And see if you can spread your elbows apart from one another. See if your right elbow can reach even taller towards the sky while you squeeze your shoulder blades together. Resist the urge of lifting your right hip. See if your right hip can stay grounded while your right elbow keeps reaching open. Suddenly come all the way back through center. And on your next exhale, Start to sway over towards the right so your left elbow reaches to the sky. Pull your elbows apart from one another so they're spreading open. Shoulder blades together. Left hip roots into the ground. Left elbow reaches towards the sky. Standing up through the side body. Inviting some space through the upper back as well as a bit of engagement. Come all the way back through center. Release your hands down and then extend your legs nice and wide. With your legs extended, Re-engage your seat. So sit up nice and tall. Take your arms up overhead. And as you exhale, Keep your arms up overhead and see if you can point your chest over towards your right toes. On your exhale, You're going to point your chest over to your left toes. Arms are still up overhead. Inhale to the right. Exhale to the left. Gentle steady breath. Inhale to the right. Exhale to the left. One more. Inhale to the right. Exhale to the left. Stay to the left. Take your arms out wide. Palms face the earth. Draw your shoulder blades together so you're really reaching your arms as wide as possible. Take an inhale here. When you breathe out, Point your chest to the right. When you breathe in, Chest to the left. Arms are in line with your shoulders. Exhale right. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale left. Exhale right and stay. Release your arms down. Chest back through center. Take a deep breath in. Big breath out. Take your arms up overhead. As you exhale, Rotate the chest to face towards the right toes. Stay here for just one more breath. See if you can reach even taller. Then as you exhale, Start to reach your chest towards your toes. Keeping your spine long. Keeping your arms long. When you've found your stopping point, You can release your hands to the ground. Take another deep breath in to press the fingertips into the earth. Pull your chest towards your toes. And as you exhale, Soften down. Just opening up through the back of that right leg. Doing your best to use your breath. You might even find it will be helpful to soften that right knee. Keep your right toes active though. So don't let them drift towards the floor. See if you can keep aiming the toes towards the ceiling. Gently return the fingers to touch the earth. Round your spine all the way back up to a seat and reach the arms up to the sky. On your exhale, Rotate your chest to the left. Stay here. Take another deep breath and reach up. Exhale, Chest towards the left toes. Hands will touch the earth. Take an inhale, Pull the chest forward. And as you exhale, Lower all the way down to your comfortable spot. Wherever that might be for you. And it's a different leg so it's likely going to have a different experience. Give yourself time to explore that. Not to judge it, Not to call it anything better or worse, But just to be aware of how your body gives you information. Gently, Roll your way back up to a seat. Take the arms up. And as you exhale, Return them to the earth. You're coming into tabletop, Coming onto all fours, Hands and knees. When you first arrive, Give yourself some time to take a bit of movement. You can sway your hips from side to side. You can take cats and cows like we did seated earlier. You can also create some more abstract shapes. Just start to move into the body. See if you can feel into the places that need your attention, That need that space. Eventually, You're creating that movement to grow it a little bit bigger into your first downward facing dog. Whenever that time comes, You keep your fingers rooted into the earth. Tuck your toes, Lift your hips. And again, Here you might take some sahaja movement or spontaneous movement. You might walk the dog, Bending one knee and then the other. You might lift a leg or an arm, Shake your head around. No matter how many times you practice this posture, You're just giving yourself the opportunity to look at this perspective of the world upside down. And then come into a bit of stillness, A bit of integrity in this pose. So your fingers, They're bright. You can give them a bit of space. Some weight into the very base of the palms starts to spread down into the first knuckles where the finger and the hand meet. And then all the way down into the fingertips as they grip onto the earth. Let your tailbone be high into the sky. Your feet, They might be hips width distance or maybe even a little bit wider. You can imagine that you're trying to scrunch your mat together beneath your feet so they're strong and stable legs. The knee can be a bit soft but extend some energy through the back of the legs. Let your heels relax down. See if you can press into the mat and expand your spine even further. Breathe into the sensations that your body is offering. Take a full deep breath in, Big breath out. On your next inhale, Come on out to plank pose. Shoulders over wrists, Heels over toes, Like you're at the top of a push-up. Make your legs strong. Push the floor away from you. As you exhale, Downward facing dog. Take an inhale out to plank pose. Shoulders over wrists, Heels over toes. Your hands are still strong but you're pressing the floor away from you. Spread your shoulder blades apart. Exhale, Downward facing dog. Take an inhale forward into plank pose. Stay here for the breath out. Take a full deep breath in. With care and control, Lower all the way to your belly. You can always drop your knees to get there. Once you arrive, Gather up your legs so they become one unit. Your big toes touch. Your toes are untucked so the whole top of your foot is pressing into the earth. Your hands are sliding right beside your ribcage and your elbows are pointing to the sky and imagine that your elbows could hug together behind you. Begin with your forehead resting towards the earth. On an inhale, Press into the tops of the feet so your knees lighten up off the ground. As you lift your chest, Keep inflating the lungs. Exhale all the way back down, Touching the earth once again. Again, On an inhale, Strengthen your legs. Elbows draw towards one another. Lift your chest off the earth, Your chin, Your head, But keep your neck in line with your spine. Exhale, Lower all the way down. Again, Inhale, Lift up, Breathe in, Rise. Feel the heels of the hands pull back towards your hips. See if you can find even more height. Exhale all the way back down. Keep your hands rooted into the earth and now press your knees into the earth. With the strength of the front of your belly, Press yourself up to tabletop. Nice flat back as you rise. Tuck your toes, Lift your hips, Downward facing dog. Take five deep, Full breaths here. Hop. On your next inhale, Take your right leg high up into the air. And start by moving around the ankle, Maybe the knee, Maybe the hip. Just invite a little bit of space into that leg, Just reminding the body that you're about to use it. And then reach that leg nice and long and strong. So the toes, All five of them, Or however many you have, Are pointing down towards the ground. But your heel keeps rising towards the sky. And if you want to keep yourself in check, Take a look at your toes, And even the pinky toe is pointing towards the ground. That's where things start to get rogue. The foot starts to point in all different directions when we're not looking, When we're not paying attention. So give yourself the time to adjust, To find that stabilization. The toe is pointing straight to the earth. Your hips have now started to square off. Take a full breath in. See if you can lift your heel just a little higher. And as you exhale, Start to draw your knee towards your nose, Rounding your spine like you're pushing yourself away from the earth. Inhale, Send that leg back. As you exhale, Once again, Send your knee towards your nose, Round your spine. Inhale, Send that leg back. And then open and stack your hip, Like you're trying to stack your right hip on top of your left hip. And it's up to you whether you keep your leg extended or if you bend your knee, Whichever is most comfortable in your body. Just make sure that your hands are holding equal amounts of weight. So what happens a lot of times is that right hand is going to get a little bit lighter, Right? See if you can press back into it. Shoulders are square to the top of the mat. Inhale, Lengthen your leg once again. Square your hips off so your toes point down, Your heel rises. And as you exhale, Send your right knee towards your right shoulder. Inhale, Send the leg back. Exhale, Right knee, Right shoulder. Send the leg back, Downward facing dog. Inhale forward into your plank pose, Shoulders over wrists, Heels over toes. Exhale, Lower all the way to your belly. Gather up your legs, Hands beside your ribcage. On an inhale, Lift your head, Your heart, Your chest, Bhujangasana, Your cobra pose. Exhale, Lower all the way down. Use the strength of your core to press yourself to tabletop, Hands and knees. Tuck your toes, Lift your hips, Downward facing dog. Inhale your left leg high. And then move that one around, The ankle, The knee, The hip. And then just as we did on the other side, Square your hips off. So the toes are pointing straight to the earth, Your heel continues to rise, And even the pinky toe is pointing towards the ground. Take a full breath in, See if you can lift your heel just a touch higher. And as you exhale, Knee to nose. Inhale extend that leg strong behind you. Exhale, Curl in and lift your body away from the earth. Inhale send the leg back, And then open and stack your hip. Maybe bend the knee if it feels okay in your body. Inhale lengthen the leg out. Square the hips off, Toes point down, Heel rises. And as you exhale, Left knee to left shoulder. Inhale extend the leg back. Exhale left knee, Left shoulder. Inhale extend the leg back. And as you exhale, Downward facing dog. Take a full deep breath in. Big releasing breath out the mouth. On an inhale, Lift your heels. Exhale soften your knees and start to walk your way towards the top of your mat. So you're coming into a forward fold. Hips are high to the sky, But your head and your feet are towards the ground. As you first arrive, You can take ragdoll, Grabbing onto opposite elbows, Letting the body just sort of sway from side to side. You can shake the head yes, Shake the head no. Can soften the knees and do a little bounce. Just like you're letting gravity lengthen each one of your vertebrae a little bit more open, A little bit more space. Gently release your hands towards the ground if they've traveled elsewhere. Walk your feet back underneath your hips. And if you're not really sure where that might be, You can take two fists together, Place them in between your feet, And then line up your feet on either side of your wrists. So it goes a foot, A fist, A fist, A foot. And that's going to be a rough estimate of your hips width distance. On an inhale, Begin to draw your hands halfway up your legs, Perhaps towards your shins, And lengthen your legs out as well as lengthen your spine towards the front of the mat, Almost like you're a capital letter L, But upside down. On your exhale, Soften your knees, Drape your chest towards your legs, Your forward fold once again. Again, Inhale, Hands halfway up the legs, Lengthen your spine, Lengthen your legs, Your half lift, Ardha Uttanasana. Exhale, Soften the knees and fold. Take an inhale, Half lift, Hands to shins, Halfway up the legs, Lengthen your spine. Imagine you could draw your shoulder blades together. Pull your ribs in towards your spine and start to lean the weight forward, Almost like you're looking over a cliff. Stay here as you breathe. Stay in this shape, Bring your hands towards your hips, Soften your knees, And on an inhale, Lift all the way up to stand. Take a look down at your toes, Make sure that your feet are still underneath your hips. Conveniently, You're standing now, So you can use your hip bones, Can feel right into them, Those really bony spots right in the front of your hips. Find those points. Take your index fingers, Point directly down to your feet and make sure your feet are lined up underneath. There's your hips with distance. Pick up all ten toes, Again, However many you have, Spread them out. Now you can feel the ball of your foot and your heel pressing into the earth. Those are the actions that you want to keep your foundation. Let your toes just gently rest down like they're just a little decoration. Now find those foundational points, The ball of your foot and the heel on each side, Press into them. Then, Imagine you could take the floorboards away from one another, Like you're stretching your mat apart from one another. You can feel the outside of your legs start to turn on. The ankle muscles on the inside of the feet start to engage. Now check in that you haven't locked your knees closed. That happens pretty quickly if we're so focused on the feet. Give your knees just a little bit of softness so that you start to feel your thighs do a bit of work to hold you up. See if you can allow your torso to become one unit. It's not just the front that is your core. It's also the sides of the body, The obliques, As well as the back body that helps support the entire torso, The entire trunk of your body. Imagine that you're wrapping everything together. Putting it in so that you can get a little bit taller. Take your shoulders up into your ears and then soften them down your back. It's up to you how much energy reaches out the fingers, But let there be a bit of energy out the arms. Imagine that there's a string pulling you from the very top of your head, Getting you just a little taller. You're standing at a tension. You're standing with integrity. Take a deep, Full breath in. Keep these actions as you breathe out. On an inhale, Sweep your arms high. On an exhale, Soften the knees, Forward fold. Hands halfway up your legs. On your exhale, Return your hands to the earth. Come into your plank pose, Shoulders over wrists, Heels over toes. On your exhale, Drop just your knees down. We're going to be taking the shape of ashtangasana or eight-point pose. This first time that we're going to take it, We're going to take it a little bit more broken down than usual. Right now, You should have your hands under your shoulders. Your heels are over your toes, But the toes are on the ground. Your knees are also on the ground, Almost like a modified plank pose. What's going to happen is you're going to keep your hips high. You're going to use the power of your torso, Your core, To lower your chest and your chin down. Because this is eight-point pose, You've got eight points on the ground. Points one and two are your hands. Three and four are your toes, Well, Your feet. Five and six are your knees. Seven is your chest. Eight is your chin. Now, The chin might be sort of the last possibility. Don't worry too much about the chin quite yet. You lower down, Knees, Chest, And chin, Ashtangaasana. You look like a little inchworm because your bum is still up in the air. If it's comfortable, Your gaze is just ahead of you. From here, You're going to slide yourself forward into your cobra pose like you did earlier. Hands start to. . . Well, They actually stay where they are, But you're going to move your chest forward so your hands are now on the either side of your rib cage. Your hips have now landed into the earth. Gather your legs together. Press into the tops of the feet. Come into cobra pose, Bhujangasana. Use the heels of your hands to keep lifting yourself up while you pull the heels of your hands towards your hips. Exhale, Lower all the way down. With strength, Press up to tabletop. Exhale, Downward facing dog. Inhale, Lift your heels. Exhale, Soften your knees. Make your way to the top of the mat, Your forward fold. On an inhale, Half lift, Lengthen out. Exhale, Fold. Inhale, Sweep up, Rise up. Exhale, Hands down beside you, Your mountain pose, Tadasana. Starting with strength, With power, Integrating the entire body into this posture because it is a posture. You're not just standing here willy-nilly. You're standing here really activated. Take an inhale, Sweep high to the sky. Exhale all the way forward and down, Forward fold. Half lift and lengthen. Exhale, Touch the earth, Plank pose. You choose whether your knees drop to the earth or you keep them high and keep everything landing at the same time. You're dropping all at once, Your knees, Your chest, Your chin, Ashtangasana. If your body was like, That's hilarious, Drop your knees first and then get your chest and chin to the earth. Start to build the strength. Give yourself the opportunity to learn this movement in your body because for many, This isn't a familiar movement. And even if it is, Do it with integrity. Move into each posture knowing that you're conscious of how your body is communicating. Once you've landed, Slide yourself forward, Cobra pose. Or all the way to the earth as you breathe out, Press to table, Arriving in downward facing dog in your own time. Take a full deep breath in, Big sigh of the breath out. Inhale, Lift your heels. Exhale, Soften your knees, Make your way to the top of the mat, Forward fold. As you arrive, Inhale, Half lift, Lengthen out. Exhale, Fold. Inhale, Rise up, Reach up, Tadasana, Mountain pose. Inhale, Sweep up. Exhale, Fold. On your next inhale, Lengthen your spine. As you exhale, Step your right foot back behind you, Letting it touch the earth. And then you can drop your right knee to the earth, Walking your hands up to your left knee. And then just come in and out of that left knee, Just trying to experience this beginning stage of a lunge. Once you start to feel a little bit more stable, Start to press a little energy down through the front heel and the front ball of the foot. And then press into either the back toes or the back shin, Whichever one makes the most contact to the earth. Once you've got those two points of contact, The front heel and the back leg, Imagine you're pressing them down and pulling them together like you're squeezing your mat underneath you. You can feel your pelvis get heavy so that you can stack your spine nice and long, Nice and tall towards the earth, Towards the sky. On an inhale, Sweep the arms high, Anjane asana. See if you can reach your ribs up towards your fingers. And when you breathe out, Soften your elbows, Soften your shoulders. Take another deep breath in, Reach up. On your exhale, Open and twist towards the left, Expand your arms. Inhale, Reach up, Rise up, Back through center. Exhale, Open, Twist to the left. Exhale up through center. This time as you exhale, Hands come down onto the earth and start to straighten your front knee, Coming into your half split, Ardha hanumanasana. You're welcome to use blocks underneath your hands if that would be helpful here. See if you can resist the urge of rounding your spine. Look for more length in the spine from your tailbone through the crown of your head. That might mean that you don't go as deep as your ego is asking you to go, But see if you can release from that and work towards experiencing what's happening through the back of that left leg. Keep your toes active like you could pull your toes towards the sky. You can reach your chin towards your shin, Your nose to your toes. Full deep breath in. When you breathe out, Crawl your hands on the inside of your left leg, Bend your left knee and come into your lizard lunge. You might choose to keep this strengthening pose by hugging your left knee in towards your left shoulder, Maybe even tucking your right toes under and extending your right leg long. See if you can broaden your collar bones. If you'd like to create a little bit more of an open sensation through the hip joint, I'm going to ask that you start by pulling your left toes towards your left shin and then you can start to come on to the pinky edge of that left foot. You're going to feel a sensation in the inner edge of your hip joint, But see if you can keep the toes continuously pulling back towards the shin. No matter what, Keep the breath. If you'd like one more option, If you're in this opening position, You can drop your right hand down and start to rotate your chest to face your left knee, Maybe even reaching your left hand around for your right foot, Coming into a gentle version of Radhi Krishna. Be ready for it though because there's a lot going on. Now if you have taken that twist gently without any slingshots, Release the right leg down, Return both hands on the inside of that front leg. If you've opened up your hip, Start to stack your left knee on top of your left ankle, Plant into the foot. Keep the right hand to the ground. Take your left hand to your left knee. Tuck your right toes if you haven't already and extend your right leg long if you haven't already so now that right knee is no longer on the earth. Start to press your left hand into your left knee so that again, If you didn't do this earlier, You're coming into a twist. So you're going to press down to rotate your chest to face the left. You can stay just like this or if you'd like to create a little more extension, You might send that left hand to the sky. That starts to get a little cranky into the shoulder or turn the hand back onto the knee. Just use that as a guide. I promise you're still gaining all the same benefits. Slowly return both hands down to the earth. Frame your front foot so if that foot travels, Start to move it back in between the hands. Hands touch into the earth. Step your way back to plank pose. Shoulders over wrists, Heels over toes. On an exhale, Lower knees, Chest and chin, Ashta angasana. Inhale forward cobra pose, Bhuja angasana. And as you exhale, Make your way to downward facing dog, However you'd like to get there. Adho mukha spanasana. Few rounds of breath. On an inhale, Take your right leg high, Toes point down, Heel keeps rising. And as you exhale, Just one time, Knee to nose, Round your spine, Pull yourself away from the earth. Inhale send the leg back, Open and stack the hip like you're yawning through the side body. Square the hips back off, Toes point down, Heel rises up, Full breath in. As you exhale, Right knee, Right shoulder. Inhale send the leg back. Exhale, Step the foot forward in between the hands. Drop the left knee down. Start to make your way up so that the hands are resting on the right knee. Come in and out of that right knee. Just starting to explore what this side has to say. It's a different side. It's going to have different sensations, Different communication. Do yourself the honor of paying attention to that. Start to stabilize, Pressing into the front heel, Front ball of the foot, Rooting into the back leg, Back shin or toes. And then pull your legs together like you're squeezing your mat, Dropping your pelvis heavy, Tacking your spine right on top. When you're ready, The arms can reach up to the sky. Let the breath be full and vibrant. Take an inhale. On your exhale, Relax your shoulders. Take a full breath in and exhale, Open twist towards the right. Inhale rise up through center. Exhale, Open twist to the right. Inhale rise up through center. On your exhale, Hands come down to the earth. Straighten your front knee. You're half split, Ardha Hanumanasana. Nose rise to the sky. Spine is long, Like you're trying to show off your collarbones. Really show them off towards the front of the room. Really on an inhale, Begin to crawl yourself forward so that you bend into that right knee and hands come on the inside of that front leg, Coming into your lizard lunge. You have the same choices here. You might choose to strengthen the hip joint by sending the hands on the inside of that right leg, Right knee hugs onto the right shoulder. You can extend the left leg long if you'd like to create more intensity in this posture. Again, If you're choosing to open up the hip, I'm going to ask that you start by pulling the toes as if they're magnetized to your right shin and then coming onto the outside edge of that right foot. If you'd like to create a different shape, The left hand is supported down on the earth. Right hand can reach up and then reach behind you and grab onto that left foot, Bending into the knee. If you've taken that twist, Slowly start to reach the right hand back up to the sky, Return it onto the earth. Then drawing the knee back over the ankle, We're coming into that low runner's twist. Left hand to the earth, Right hand to the right knee. If you haven't already, Extend your left leg so the left knee is off of the earth. Left toes are tucked and press your right hand into your right knee to rotate the chest to face the right. If you'd like to extend, Right hand can reach towards the sky. On your next exhale, Return the hands back to frame the front foot. Listen closely. Take a full breath in, Reach the chest forward and as you exhale, Press into your front heel to step forward and fold. Take an inhale, Half lift and lengthen. Exhale, Fold. Press into the earth, Sweep up and rise. Exhale, Tadasana, Mountain Pose. Fold, Deep breath in. Big full breath out. Inhale, Sweep up. Exhale, Forward fold. Inhale, Half lift. Exhale, Step your left leg back behind you and let it touch onto the earth. You're coming into warrior one. So your left leg has stepped behind you and it's flat on the earth. It might even be at a little bit of an angle. You choose what's comfortable in your body. Your right foot is at the top of the mat and it's pointing straight ahead. And you've got enough space between your legs that you can feel pretty stable when you start to bring your hands to your hips and lift your torso up. You might even need a little bit of space between your legs. You're looking for more of a stable, Grounded sensation as opposed to a balance. Begin to aim your left hip forward, Your right hip in line. So your legs are in two different spaces. They're not going to line up your hips directly square to the front of the room or the front of the mat. But you're aiming them there. You're just imagining that they could go there. Take your arms up to the sky. Draw your ribs in so that you can pull your torso longer and draw your shoulder blades back behind you. Take a full deep breath in and a big release out. Take a full deep breath in. On your exhale, Take your hands behind your back. Interlace your fingers like you did at the beginning of class. Press your palms together. Take your hands down and away from the body, Lifting your chest up. But don't let your ribs just flare open. Invite them in so that it's just your chest opening towards the sky. Full deep breath in. Open up your ribs, Your collarbones. Stay here for the breath out. Inhale, Reach the arms back up towards the sky. Listen closely. As you exhale, Your hands are coming to touch the earth. Keep your right foot where it is. Take your left leg up into the air. You're standing split. Now imagine just like you did in your three-legged dog, Your toes are pointing to the earth. Your heel keeps rising up. Eventually, One day, Your heel might be right over top of your hips so that you're in one long line. Don't worry about that happening today. Just work towards the intention of the posture. So don't lock up your right knee. It's going to happen. I know. I do it too. Let your right toes lift. Spread them out. Let them soften. See if you can even spread your left toes, The ones that are in the air. You have a pretty good view of them here. So take a look at your left pinky toe. Point it towards the ground. And now see if you can keep it pointing towards the ground and lift your heel as high as you can get it. Nice. Keep your right foot flat on the earth. Take one more breath in. Lift your left heel a little bit higher. And as you exhale, Step it all the way back to where it came from, Sending yourself into the beginning stages of warrior two feet. So your back foot is now sort of in line with the back edge of the mat. Again, It's going to be at an angle. But now you're going to look down at your feet and it's going to be a little bit more of a balance here. You're going to be on one long line. Once you've set up your feet in this fashion, Make sure that your right knee is bent. And then your right hand either comes onto the ground or maybe your right forearm onto your right thigh so that your left hand can reach up towards the sky or maybe even reach alongside your ear, A side angle. On an inhale, Let your left hand lift you all the way up. And then flip your right hand and take your right hand to the sky, Your left hand down your left leg, Your reverse warrior. Stay in this shape and now just straighten your right knee so you're in triangle pose or rather reverse triangle. And as you exhale, Bring your arms out to a T. Reach that right arm forward. And then from the hips, You hinge into your official triangle pose. Left hand high, Right hand down. See if you can continue to rotate your chest towards the sky. Maybe send that right hand towards the front of the room. Maybe the left hand starts to reach towards the front of the room. Keep breathing. Keep hugging your heels together beneath you. On an inhale, Lift yourself all the way back up. Come into a traditional warrior two. Front knee over front ankle, Strong long back leg, Arms extended. On an inhale, Flip your right hand, Lift it up and back, Reverse your warrior once again. And as you exhale, Windmill the hands all the way to the earth, Downward facing dog. Inhale forward to plank pose. Inhale ashtangasana, Knees, Chest and chin. Inhale cobra pose, Bhujangasana. Exhale we'll meet in downward facing dog. Inhale left leg high. Exhale knee to nose. Inhale left leg high and open and stack the hip. Yawning through that whole side body. Equal pressure through both hands. Square your hips off, Toes point down, Heel keeps rising. And as you exhale, Left knee, Left shoulder. Inhale send the leg long. And as you exhale, Step your left foot right beside your left thumb. You're coming back into your warrior one, Virabhadrasana one. So now your right foot is at the back of your mat at a little bit of an angle and you're looking for that grounded sensation. So the whole foot is rooted into the earth. When you feel ready, Hands onto the hips and begin to lift your torso up. Again, This is not the balance variation. This is a variation where you're very stable and rooted into the ground with your feet. When you feel prepared, You can take your arms up to the sky. Pull your ribs in. Keep lengthening the line from your heel all the way through your fingertips. Full breath in. When you breathe out, Bring your hands all the way back behind you. This time take the opposite grip, So the opposite thumb on top, The one that feels kind of weird. Press the palms together. Send the hands down and away from the body. Lift your chest. Open and expand and feel all of that vulnerability just start to release and crack open. Allow that to crack open. Allow your chest to really start to invite space, Opportunity, Perspective. On an inhale, Sweep the arms high and as you exhale, Plant the hands to the earth and take your right leg up into the air. Your standing split. So now your left leg is the one supporting you. Your left foot grounded. Your toes are relaxed. They're not gripping the earth. Your right toes are in the air and they're pointing towards the ground, But your heel keeps rising up. Keep dropping your head and your spine closer to the earth, Closer towards your standing leg. Take a full breath in. When you breathe out, Drop your right leg towards the back of the mat. Now coming into warrior two. So now it's on the same line as your front leg lined up with the back edge of your mat. This time either your left hand towards the ground or your left forearm and your left thigh, Right hand towards the sky or maybe alongside your ear, Your side angle. Take an inhale, Let your right hand lift you up and back so your left hand can reach towards the sky. Reverse your warrior. Take a deep breath in and as you exhale, Straighten your front knee. With that knee straight, Keep lengthening the side of the body. Big breath in and as you exhale, Reach the left hand towards the front of the room. The front of the mat, Reach, Reach, Reach as far as you can and then triangle pose. Left hand down, Right hand high. Rotate the heart towards the ceiling. Maybe taking the left hand towards the front of the mat. Maybe the right hand as well, A little bit of core work here. Keep rotating your chest towards the sky. Slowly with awareness, Pull yourself all the way back up. Warrior two, Arms extended, Front knee over front ankle. Flip your front palm, Reverse your warrior and as you exhale, Return to the earth, Downward facing dog. Take five full deep breaths as you arrive. Enjoy. Exhale, Right knee, Right shoulder. Inhale, Extend it long. Exhale, Right knee, Right shoulder. Inhale, Extend it long. Exhale, Right knee, Right shoulder. If you'd like to work towards ekapada, Kundinyasana, You're welcome to. That would be connecting your body to the earth. That would be connecting your right knee towards your right elbow, Creating a little bit of a chaturanga shelf with your elbows, And then lifting your left leg off the ground, Flying in the air, Using your arms to support you. We're gonna meet again with the right leg up in the air when you feel complete. And just one time, Take an inhale, And as you exhale, Knee to nose. Inhale, Send that leg long. And as you exhale, Right foot steps right beside the right thumb, Warrior one. Setting your feet up for stability. Both feet are flat to the earth. Take an inhale, Take the arms up to the sky. As you exhale, Take them back behind you, Interlace your fingers, Palms pressed together, Hands pull away from the body, Shoulder blades lifting and reaching towards one another. Take a full deep breath in, Lift your heart. And as you exhale, Bow your chest forward, Starting to snuggle that right shoulder beside the right knee. Your left shoulder drops down beside the right shoulder, So your shoulders are both aiming squarely at the ground. Keep the hands pressing together, Keep lifting them away from the body. Feel free to stay just like this, Because trust me, There's plenty happening. This is called your humble warrior, And it's gonna make you humble real quick. Feel free to stay in this humble perspective, Just recognizing how the body is working for you, How it's communicating. If you'd like to have another conversation with the body, Stay just like you are, And then begin to lift the left leg up into the air. So you're balancing just on your right leg, Your hands are still behind your body, Your left leg rises into the air, Toes point down, Heel keeps rising, Your toppling tree. If it hasn't happened already, Be aware, This is called toppling tree, So when you fall, You're totally expressing this posture perfectly. If you're still focused on the tree rooting and rising, See if you can make sure that your right toes aren't gripping the earth, That they're spreading into the earth. When it feels right, Very gently, You can step forward, Release your hands, And take some gentle movement in a forward fold. You can separate your feet, You can sway your head, Take whatever feels good. Gently, Begin to gather your feet underneath your hips, Take your hands to your shins, Half lift and lengthen. As you exhale, Fold. Press into the earth, Sweep up, Rise up, Come back into your mountain pose, Rooted into the earth, Rising through the crown of the head. Take a full breath in, Reach up, Rise up. Exhale, Forward fold. Half lift and lengthen. Return the hands down onto the earth, Plank pose, Shoulders over wrists, Heels over toes. With care and control, Ashtangasana, Knees, Chest and chin. Pull yourself forward, Cobra pose, Bhujangasana, Proud and open through the chest. Exhale down, We make our way to downward facing dog, Adho mukha svanasana, A few rounds of breath to meet. If it hasn't crossed your mind yet, Let's all meet in child's pose, Dropping the knees, Sending the hips towards the heels, Resting the head towards the ground. Feel free to rock the head or the hips. Gently, We're gonna meet back in downward facing dog, When you feel ready. From downward facing dog, Take an inhale and lift your left leg high. And as you exhale, Left leg, Left shoulder. Inhale, Send your hands down, Inhale, Send it back. Exhale, Left knee, Left shoulder. Inhale, Send it back. Exhale, Left knee, Left shoulder. If you'd like to make that connection of the knee to the elbow and work towards flying, You can lift your right leg off the ground. See what happens. If you fall, You're literally just a few inches from the ground. It's alright. And if you just wanna keep working the action of the knee to the shoulder, That's a beautiful way to build the strength. Take an inhale, Send that leg all the way back behind you. As you exhale, Knee to nose. Inhale, Send it back. Exhale, Step the left foot beside the left thumb. Come into your warrior one. Both feet are rooted and grounded. Take the arms to the sky when you feel prepared. As you exhale, Take your hands behind you. Interlace your fingers. I encourage you to take the opposing grip, So the one that feels kind of weird. Inhale, Open your chest, Expand your collarbones, Really show them off to the sun. Feel free to stay here, Or as you exhale, Come into your humble warrior. Nestling your left shoulder beside your left knee, Your right shoulder coming down in line with your left. And keep drawing your shoulder blades together behind you, Lifting your hands up and away from the body. You know that you can stay here because you know there's lots happening. On an inhale, Open the chest. On an exhale, If you'd like, You can lift that right foot off the ground and keep bowing yourself forward, Your toppling tree. The head aiming towards the ground, The hands behind you reaching towards the sky, That right leg reaching towards the sky, The heel specifically. Gently, Step forward and fold, Release your hands, Take anything that might feel good in the Cl House, And slice Evans pose to lift your left elbow whom you've been super Katherine Stone and I'mrog�ing down throughSemitic rotcomic forward and fold, Release your hands, Take anything that might feel good to let the body open up, Let go of any tension. Take an inhale, Bring your hands onto your shins, Lengthen out your spine, And as you exhale, Forward fold. Take an inhale, Sweep all the way up to the sky. Exhale, Forward and down, Your forward fold. Half lift and lengthen. On an exhale, Return the hands to the earth, Downward facing dog. Take a full breath in, Big breath out. Inhale, Forward into plank pose. On your exhale, Ashtangasana, Knees, Chest and chin. Inhale forward into your cobra pose. Stay here for your breath out. From your cobra pose, Really strengthen and breathe as you arrive. Keep opening your collarbones, Keep pressing the tops of the feet into the earth, Elbows back behind you. If you'd like to begin some flight, You might start to peel your hands off the earth and reach them for the back of your mat. They're not actually gonna reach there, But you reach your hands back, Palms to the sky, Shoulder blades together. Maybe your toes lift off the earth. Maybe you lift your ribs off the earth. Maybe your thighs lift off the earth. Or your knees lift off the earth. Relax your jaw, Relax your eyebrows. Take one more breath in. As you exhale, Soften everything down. Maybe even gather your hands underneath your head like a little pillow. You can sway your hips from side to side. You might even bend your knees with a little bit of a windshield wiping action. Slow down any movement. Extend your legs back behind you. Slide your hands under your shoulders and press yourself up and back into child's pose. Again, Hips to heels, Head and heart down. Your hands can reach forward or they might even reach towards your heels. You might, If they're reaching forward, Bend your elbows, Press your palms together and let them rest on the back of your neck. Opens up the triceps. Just find something that feels easeful. You're winding down your practice. You did a lot of work. Start to bring the energy closer towards that grounded sensation. From child's pose, Come on up to tabletop solely so that you can swing your legs around to one side. Come into a comfortable seat. Then plant your feet out in front of you. So there's a bend in your knees. Take your hands behind your knees and then use that connection to open and lift your chest. You feel your spine get long. Now this is what you'd like to keep throughout the next few moments of this posture. I'm gonna give you options to travel but if at any point you feel yourself sort of rounding through the spine, That's your cue to come back to where you came from, Wherever you can keep a nice long spine. So you might start here, Which is the feet on the ground, The hands behind the knees, Nice long spine. Beautiful place to keep working, To keep building strength. The next place you might travel would be to lift up your heels off the ground and start to point your toes in line with your knees, Balancing on just your sit bones. If you feel long and strong in this posture, You might start to take the hands out from underneath the knees and extend them long. So now they're not aiding in your stability either. Again, If you feel yourself starting to round in any way, Come back to where you came from, Back to where you can start to build that strength. For me, This is my current stopping point. I'll give you a quick little preview of where else you could go, But for me, This is my strength builder. This is where I can start to really work myself. If you'd like to travel and if you feel strong and stable, You might extend your legs further longer. Then you might start to take your arms up towards the sky, So your capital letter V, But find some place that you can sustain. For me, This is exactly where I start to round my spine. So I come back to where I can maintain stability. Take a full breath in, Stay in this shape, Whatever it is for you. And a big breath out. Open up your collarbones, Breathe in. With as much patience as possible, As you breathe out, Slowly lengthen your body onto the ground. For a moment, Let yourself just land. And then you're gonna take a deep breath in, And then you're gonna take a deep breath out. And then bend into the knees, Plant into the feet, And just start by letting your knees sway from side to side. You can extend your arms out beside you as well. And then let your knees fall to one side or the other, And then you're gonna take a deep breath in, And then you're gonna take a deep breath out. Feel free to adjust your legs however you need them to be. You might like them to be up closer towards your elbow. You might like to wrap one leg around the other. Or you might choose to have one leg straight and the other bent. And then you're gonna dive deeply into this. The work of this posture is being still so that your breath can start to circulate through the organs that are now in a different position, Because you've sort of created a little bit more of a vortex in the body, Right? Spiraling the breath, Let the breath be full. See if you can relax your shoulders. See if you can relax your jaw. Gently, With the least amount of effort, Take your legs up and over to the opposite side. Taking your twist and just checking in. Seeing if this side needs a different shape. It might. Let the breath travel through your spine. Washing through your organs, Rinsing out anything that is no longer serving your physical body. And then gently come all the way back through center. And take any other movements that might feel good to finish out your practice. Any fidgets, Any postures. At this point, It doesn't even have to look like a yoga pose. It just has to feel nourishing on your body. When you are prepared to take the last few moments of stillness, Then you'll set yourself up with care, Making sure that you've got nothing to distract you, No fabric bunched up underneath you, No misalignments in the body. You might choose to place a blanket or some blocks underneath your knees to release your back. Drop your chin in line with your chest. You can tuck your shoulders beneath you so that the breath has a little bit more space to travel. And then take a deep, Full breath in. And then a slow release of the breath out. Again, Draw the breath all the way into the body. Feel light and full of air. And then let go of all of your body's weight, Letting it melt into the ground as you breathe out. One final, Deep, Full breath in. Fill up as much breath as you possibly can. Slow and controlled, Let the breath seep out, Letting the body settle into the earth, Dropping down, Letting go of all physical effort in the body, Draining the muscles of their activity, Letting the bones drop down onto the ground. The only movement is your breath. Let your mind get just as heavy as the weight of your body. And then let go of all physical effort in the body. And then let go of all physical effort in the body. And then let go of all physical effort in the body. And then let go of all physical effort in the body. And then let go of all physical effort in the body. And then let go of all physical effort in the body. And then let go of all physical effort in the body. And then let go of all physical effort in the body. Slowly come back into the rhythm of your body breathing. Come back into the sound of the body breathing, The wind of the air coming in, The softness of it emptying out. Invite the breath into the body. And when it leaves, Taste the breath. Take another breath in. And when you empty out, Feel the weight of the body supported by the ground beneath you. Notice any temperatures beneath you, Perhaps some textures beneath your fingertips or your heels or your head. And take the next few moments to explore those sensations, Those textures and temperatures and differences beneath you. Allow that exploration to travel further into the experience of the body so you can invite the awareness of the air between your fingers. Feel the air between your toes inviting gentle movement into the toes, Hands, The wrists and ankles. Your body is already giving you a few ideas of how it would like to wake up. It's now up to you to listen to that information. Your body might ask to stretch out very long and expanded like a big stretch. Or you might choose to curl in close and contained. At some point, Your body is prepared to travel to one side or the other. You'll gather your body into the fetal position on the side that's most inviting, Just resting the body onto one side, An opportunity to reflect on your practice, To give yourself a bit of reverence for this time that you took. If it serves you, You can place your forehead to touch the ground honoring that which is supporting you in every moment. Keeping your head heavy and your eyes soft or perhaps even closed, Slowly begin to rise up into a comfortable seat. Once you arrive, Take a full deep breath in and a big washing breath out. Another deep full breath in and a big sigh out. One final time together, Deep breath in, Let it go. If it serves you, You can gather your hands towards your chest, Either palm to palm or one hand over top of your heart followed by the other. Let it go to you, To your presence, To your capacity to be honest about where you're going and everything that you choose to do, To your health and to your light. Thank you for the honor of being with me here. Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you Audrey, this practice was slow and challenging, your instructions were clear and the no music background was perfect. I look forward to revisiting this practice often. Blessed Be my friend 🧡