Feel Good Flow

(waves) Hello and welcome back. The practice today is focused on feeling good. So, it's sort of an all around really juicy flow that covers most of the basics. But the emphasis is on what your body wants. So, if I'm offering anything that just doesn't resonate, skip it, play with something else.

And let the essence and the through line just be about really enjoying your body and exploring and having fun. Okay, so we're gonna start in a supported supta vajra konasana. I've already put my blocsks out here, we want one basically just underneath, beneath the shoulder blades and then one supporting the head. If you don't have two blocks, you could use a blanket or a pillow, or something under the head. But you definitely want one under the back.

Alright, so, simply lie back. Take your time finding the right sweet spot, so that the edge of the block is just beneath the tip of the shoulder blades. You can adjust that a little depending, and then ease the head back, block at any height really, under the head. I like the block lower than, the block under the head lower than the block under the back to create that sweet supported back bend. And then soles of the feet together, knees open.

Anywhere you want the arms, just laying a the side, maybe kinda up and over like cactus arms, which is a sweet stretch through the chest, the pec muscles. Maybe the hands rest on the belly. Again, it's what feels good in your body. Let the eyes close. Feel the natural rise and fall of your breath here with that whole front body wide open.

Then really invite yourself as much as possible in your practice today, and set all the distractions, all the concerns, any fears or doubts, just the gunk that kinda circles around in the mind, Just set it aside. Does not need your attention right now. Really allow yourself this time for your practice. Enjoy your body and your breath. Maybe you'll come back to any of those struggles that genuinely need your attention with a different perspective.

With a little bit of levity, space, capacity, maybe even a sense of joy. (exhales deeply) With that in mind, consider your intention for the practice. (inhales) Plant that seed right in the center of the heart. Deepen the breath. And then, if they're not already there, draw the hands comfortably onto the belly, just resting the elbows on the earth.

We'll take a soft Om here together. So big inhale. â?« Om â?« Setting the tone. Just dropping into that sweet vibration. Nice and easy as you're ready.

You can use your hands outside the thighs to help draw the legs together. Then whatever way is most comfortable for you, gently rolling up, or off to the side, and moving your blocks, for the time being, and when you're ready, arriving on your hands and knees. Fingers are spread really wide, hands rooting in-line with the shoulders, knees in-line with the hips, and let's play with cat cow today. Starting really simply, inhale, lift the tail bone, lift the heart and the gaze, and exhale, round the back, tuck the tailbone, tuck the chin. Once again, big inhale.

And exhale, and then kind of coming into a circular cat cow, shifting the torso to the left, drop it down to the earth, draw it up towards the right and then towards the sky. Back to the left, drop it down, swing it up to the right, into the sky. Follow your breath, move at your own pace, couple more in that direction. Then when it feels right shift it to the other direction, right and drop it down, left and up, if this moves into a spiral, if you want to circle the head and/or the hips, just any direction, any pace that feel best for you. One more breath.

Then finding neutral, keep rooting down through your left hand. Then with the next inhale, take the right arm out and up to the right. And exhale, thread that arm underneath the left, come down to the back of the shoulder, this side of the head. Any variation with this left hand, you can keep it rooting, kind of pressing back deep into the twist. You can walk it out, you can even take it up and maybe loop it behind the back.

Whatever feels best. You can stay where you are, or you might extend the left leg back or even out to the side. A few breaths, just to play. As you're ready, if the left arm is up, exhale, release it down, root the hand, if the left leg is extended draw it back down onto the knee. Press through the left hand, inhale, right arm goes up to the sky, and exhale, root it down, right into the second side, inhale, left arm up.

And exhale, thread that arm under. And maybe it's different on this side? Listen to the body, root the right hand, or walk it out, or lift it up. Maybe right leg straight back, maybe out to the right. Again, three breaths.

Then, if the right arm is up, exhale, root it down, if the right leg is extended, draw it back. Come onto the knee, root the right hand, inhale, left arm to the sky. And exhale, release back to the hands and the knees. Walking the hands forward a little bit, inhale. Tuck the toes, and exhale, press up and back.

Downward facing dog. You got about five breaths here for anything you want, pedal the feet, float the hips around, shake out your arm, or your leg. Relax the neck. Couple more breaths. Just playing with this.

If you lose your balance, you fall out of it, no big deal. You're gonna open the feet just slightly wider. Walk the hands back a little bit, and then keep rooting through the right hand. Try to draw the left hand back to the right ankle, and then keep it neutral, or you might twist a little towards the right, kind of gazing up and under that right arm. One more breath.

Good, and then release. Root the left hand down. Move it to the other side. Right hand to the left ankle. Again, neutral or twisting a little to the left.

And one more breath. Good, then just release. Come back into downward facing dog. Take a big inhale, exhale, let it go. From here, exhale.

Simply release the knees to the earth, sink the hips to the heels, come down into child's pose. Relaxing the forehead to the earth. Anything you may be carrying, lay it down, offer it away. Keep the foundation and inhale, walk the upper body over to the right. Place the left hand on top of the right and lay down, three.

Two. One, inhale. Walk it all the way back through center to the left, right hand on top of the left, and lay it down here. Three. Two.

And one, good. Slowly inhale, back to center. Onto the hands and the knees, and exhale. Back to downward facing dog, reengage that deep full breath. Just loving on the hips, playing with a long leg.

Inhale, right leg to the sky, and exhale, open the hip, bend the knee. Anything you feel for here, you might circle the leg around. You might just kinda circle through the ankle. Keep the upper body strong, equal weight in the arms, another breath or two. Inhale, lengthen it, and exhale back to downward dog.

Second side, left leg, inhale rise, exhale, open the hip. Again, just enjoy it, neutral or circling. Deep breath. One more big inhale, lengthen the leg, and exhale, downward facing dog. A big inhale, and let's open the mouth, exhale.

Let it go. Then slowly inhale, walking the feet forward towards the front of the mat. When you arrive, uttanasana. Feet about hip's distance. Bend your knees a little bit more than you might usually, and take hold of the elbows here, and let the body start to sway a little side-to-side.

Letting it all unwind. Just kind of shaking it out. And then nice and easy, come on back to neutral. You're gonna keep that subtle bend in the knees, and keep hold of the elbows, making big circles with the torso from the fold, all the way up to stand. So kind of sway to the right, slowly inhale, begin to roll up.

When you're almost at the top, lead with that left elbow, lift the heart to the sky, and exhale, start to melt down the left side of the body. And again, swing it over to the right. Inhale, left, elbow leads, heart rising, tailbone dropping. Exhale back to the left. Once again to the side, inhale, take it all the way up.

Exhale, come all the way down, and at the bottom, switch directions. So inhale sway up to the left. Offer the heart to the sky, exhale come down. Two more, inhale, rise. Exhale down, last one.

Inhale come all the way up, exhale all the way down, and then stay in your fold. Drop the hands to the earth, let the head and the neck completely relax. Take a full cycle of breath here. Then slowly ride up the center line. Inhale, roll yourself to stand.

Exhale, roll the shoulders down the back and step the feet together. Take the hands to prayer at the heart center. Close the eyes for just a moment. Let the awareness go back down and in. And again, just shake off anything that no longer serves, come back to your body, to your breath, to your intention and playing with some moon variation salute, so let the eyes open with your inhale, take the arms out and up.

And exhale, simply fold forward. With your inhale lengthen at halfway up and as you exhale, step the right foot to the back of the mat, lower the knee, untuck the toes and inhale. Come all the way up, lift the heart to the sky. And then with the exhale simply release, hands to the earth, step back into downward facing dog. Completing the cycle, inhale, right leg goes to the sky.

Exhale, step it forward, lower the back knee down to the earth. Inhale, come all the way up and this time with your exhale you can take the right hand to that right thigh, left arm goes up and over, breathing space into that left-side body. Three. Two. Then inhale, both arms back up.

Exhale, simply release the hands to the earth. We'll step forward, left foot meets the right, inhale, come halfway up. And exhale, go right back down into the fold. Inhale, all the way up. And exhale, hands to prayer at the heart.

Full cycle, leading with the left leg this time. Inhale, arms up. Exhale, bow forward. Inhale, halfway up. Exhale, step your left foot to the back of the mat, lower the knee, untuck the toes.

Big inhale to rise, keep the legs and the core strong. Exhale to release, step straight into downward facing dog. And inhale, left leg rising. Exhale, step it forward, lower the back knee, slowing it down. This time inhale arms up and exhale, take the left forearm to the left thigh, reach the right arm up and over, breathing into that right side body.

Maybe taking the gaze under the right arm, three. Two. Legs strong, inhale, come back up. Exhale, hands to the earth, step forward. Inhale, right foot meets the left, lengthen.

Exhale, back into the fold. Rise to stand, inhale, reaching up. Exhale, hands to prayer at the heart. One more full cycle. Inhale, rise.

Exhale, fold. Inhale, come halfway up. Exhale, step the right foot back, lower the back knee, untuck the toes. One big inhale to rise, lift the front body. Exhale, hands to the earth, step it back, downward facing dog.

Inhale, right leg back to the sky. Exhale, step it forward, lower the back knee. Inhale, return. And then this time exhale, you can keep that right forearm to the right thigh, or a little deeper, right hand outside the right hip on the earth or on a block and then reach, reach, reach through that left-side body. Resist any temptation to let the torso fold forward.

You wanna keep it drawing back and open it up, three. Reach through the fingertips, two. Strong legs and center, inhale, draw both arms straight up. Exhale, release, we'll step forward. Left foot meets the right.

Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, fold. Inhale, all the way up. Exhale, draw that energy down into your heart center. And inhale, lift the arms up.

Exhale, fold forward. Inhale, halfway, left foot steps back, lower the knee, untuck the toes. Big inhale, rise, lift from the belly, all the way up through the heart. Exhale, release, step back into downward dog. Left leg, inhale, up.

Exhale, float it forward, root down through the back knee. Inhale, rise. Again, it's your choice, exhale, left forearm to the thigh or a little deeper, hand to the earth or a block. Keep the torso drawing back and open it up. Reaching through the fingertips.

Three. Two. And inhale back to center. Exhale, release, hands to the earth. Right foot meets the left, inhale, lengthen.

Exhale to fold. And inhale all the way up to complete that cycle. Exhale, hands to the heart. Beautiful, take a breath. And then inhale, both arms up.

Exhale, fold forward, this time just taking it straight back, direct path to downward dog, inhale to lengthen, exhale, hop or step back. If you want the vinyasa take it. If not, just let it go. Again, feeling good. That's the primary focus of this practice.

So downward facing you've got a few breaths here. Again, you can just play with it. Do what feels best. Take a few breaths. Wiggle it around a little bit.

Circle through the torso a little bit. And then we're coming all the way back to stand. So soft bend in the knees and hop or float forward. Inhale to lengthen, exhale, fold. Inhale, come all the way up, flat back.

Exhale, hands to prayer at the heart. Okay, playing with the balance a little bit. We'll begin with just a simple tree pose. So take your time, root down through the feet. Take your hands to your hips to start and root down through the left foot.

We'll take the right foot up, for that first side, either toes on the earth, foot to the left calf muscle. Or if you feel pretty steady, draw all the way up to the inner thigh and whatever you feel for. With the arms you can do hands to the heart, to the hips, out or if you are really steady, all the way up. You can even play with lifting the gaze towards the sky. If you feel pretty dialed in in your tree pose, check in with that right leg.

Draw the knee back to the thigh is parallel to your front wall. Three. Two. All right, so we keep the balance, strong and steady on that left leg. From here, inhale, draw the right knee forward.

Strong legs and strong core, exhale, extend the right leg straight out. Energy through the ball of the foot. Holding here, three. Two. Again, strong left leg.

We stay there for the balance and shift into warrior three. So bend that right knee, take the leg straight back as you tilt the upper body straight out. Totally up to you with the arms. You can keep extending them straight out. You can take 'em to the side or along the body, maybe clasp the hands behind the back.

Reach through the heart in the back heel, holding three. Two. And one, so we're gonna step gently, right foot back. Arms sweep up just a moment in high lunge for the transition, take a big inhale. Then exhale, open it, warrior two and simply lengthen the left leg, turn the feet to parallel, hands to the hips for postura para tadasana, drop the tailbone.

Inhale, lift that front body and exhale, fold forward, hands to the earth maybe shoulder width. Then inhale, extend through the heart and exhale, fold forward. Working the crown of the head down towards the earth. Root through the hands. Strong through the legs.

This is all about feeling good. If you are so content where you are, beautiful, enjoy it. If you'd like to lift it up into a tripod headstand, feel free. Three. Two.

And if you're up return the feet to the earth, inhale, come halfway up. Exhale, root your right hand. Try to keep the hips relatively balanced. Inhale, take the left arm to the sky, three. Two.

And then exhale, release it, shake that arm out. Root the left hand, inhale, take the right arm up. For three. Two. Exhale, release it, shake it out a little bit and then inhale, lengthen it halfway up.

Exhale, just take the hands to the hips, press through the feet. Inhale, rise, nice and simple. Exhale, step back to the front of the mat. And ground for a breath or two. The second side, this time root through the right foot.

Steady the gaze and pick up the left foot to any height for tree pose. And hands to hips to heart, or to the sky. Maybe lifting the gaze as well. Feel that beautiful extension all the way up through the crown of the head, through the arms and the fingertips if the arms are rising. And then we'll meet with hands to prayer at heart center or to the hips and then inhale, draw the left knee forward, and exhale, extend that left leg straight out.

Again, strong legs and core, life that lower belly. Holding steady, three. Two. And then transitioning warrior three. Keep that strong standing engaged right leg, extend the left leg back as the upper body bows forward.

Any variation with the arms. Long spine, play with it as much as you like. Three. Two. Nice and easy, just for the transition, float the left foot back, take a big inhale, float the arms up, high lunge.

Exhale, spin the back heel down, arms go wide and then inhale, lengthen that right leg. Turn the feet to parallel again for postura para tadasana. This time take the hands back behind you and clasp. Inhale, lift the belly, lift the heart and exhale, go ahead and fold forward. Send all that warmth and energy into the shoulders.

Take your time. Three. Two. Okay and then we'll stay in this fold and take one last variation of the posture. It's up to you, you might stay where you are.

You might grab the big toes. You might walk the hands through the legs, deepening that fold about three breaths. And then, whatever you've got slowly unwind to come to neutral, take the hands down to the earth. Inhale just halfway up, exhale, hands to the hips, strong through the legs. Inhale, rise and nice and easy, exhale, simply step back into tadasana, hands to the heart.

Take a big inhale. And ground on the exhale. Then inhale, take the arms up. And exhale, fold forward. Let's pause here, open the feet a little bit wider than usual, drop down into malasana.

Toes out, heels in and play with that a little bit, finding your own center and then totally up to you. You can absolutely stay in malasana and just enjoy the hip opener or if you're in the mood for an arm balance, plant the hands, pick up the hips, make that shelf with the upper arms, look forward, and then maybe pick up the feet. Maybe just one foot, maybe one toe. Draw the belly in and up, lift, lift, lift, lift, lift. Three.

Two. And either step back simply or shoot back chaturanga. Inhale, lift the heart. Exhale, downward facing dog. If you were in malasana and you didn't feel for the arm balance, meet us here as you're ready.

Take a few steady breaths here. And then with your exhale, simply release the knees to the earth, the hips to the heels for child's pose, balasana and feel free to take the knees together or wide. The arms extending or back along side the body and then rest the forehead down. Just let that all settle. Full five breaths here.

Just one more big inhale and exhale, then nice and easy, just a transition. Inhale, up to the hands and the knees. Exhale, go back into downward facing dog. Find your breath. Then at the bottom of your exhale, soft bend in the knees, simply come all the way through to sit.

Dandasana. Move the flesh out from under the sit bones. Tall through the spine, shoulders down the back. Take a moment to ground. And then lean to the forward fold of your choice.

So you can keep it simple, inhale arms up. Exhale to fold forward for pashimottanasana, but if you're in the mood for any other forward fold, feel free, you've got ten breaths. Maybe bata konasana, maybe joni shu simhasana. Whatever feels best. And soft through the neck, relaxing the mind even more.

We're about halfway there. Five. Four. Three. Two.

And one, whatever you've got, slowly inhale, come on up and exhale, bend the knees, draw the legs in and simply roll onto your back and hug the knees in towards the body and wrap the arms around the legs, rocking yourself side-to-side. A sweet gentle rock, letting it all go. And then into happy baby, knees wide, take hold of the ankles or the feet. This is gonna be a very simple happy baby, if you're feeling super mellow you can also rock a little. Maybe lengthen the legs one at a time.

A few more breaths. Then if there is anything else you're feeling for before your final rest, please take it and then in your own time releasing the legs all the way out and down. Let 'em roll open. Releasing the arms, palms to the sky, eyes close. And let's take a big inhale together.

Open the mouth, exhale. And then again, really big inhale and whatever it is just let it go with the out breath. Exhale. And let yourself rest. The body, the mind, the heart, the energetic body.

Let it all replenish and restore. Resting here. Body stays soft and relaxed. As always, if you'd like to stay in shanasana, please do so. As you're ready to emerge up out of it find that deep breath and with an inhale, extend your arms up and over, reaching through the fingers and the toes to wake it all up again.

And then with an exhale, bend the knees, feet to the earth, gently roll to the right and guide yourself back up. Let's find a comfortable seat here. Anything that feels good in your body. And then rest the hands up or down on the knees. Close the eyes, find a tall spine.

Let's sit together for just a moment. Savoring how you feel and mindfully transitioning from your practice into the rest of your day. And then simply draw the hands to prayer at the heart, take a big inhale, and exhale, a soft bow forward to seal your practice. Namaste. Thank you, thank you, thank you.