Get Grounded and Centered

(waves) Hi, welcome to your practice. We're going to start with a little bit of grounding today. Sometimes I think that wherever we are landing in our day whether it's the morning or the afternoon something has already happened and there's been a lot of sort of disbursement of our energy. So this is a practice to sort of gather ourselves back in. So that we can move right from our creative center in a way that feels authentic and natural.

So, we're going to start with a mudra. You're going to take your left hand and bring it out in front of you. Then you're going to wrap your left thumb with your right fingers and extend your right thumb. Kind of like thumbs up. Then you're going to make a little steeple with your index finger and your ring finger and your middle finger on your left hand to make a little bit of a steeple.

It makes this beautiful conch kind of shape that resembles a shell. This kind of moving inward, this gathering in. Then you're going to take that conch shape and bring it right up just above your belly button. Let your eyes close. Take a deep breath.

Then go ahead and let it exhale. Then start to imagine all of those parts of you that are around town or still in your bed, or having that conversation that maybe you wish that you had done differently. Gather all those pieces and bring them right back here into your creative center. So you're making yourself whole again. When we bring all of this energy back into our center, then we're going to be able to offer the world a fully developed form of ourselves that is exciting and rooted.

Let's breathe it in. Exhale it out. One more like that. Gently with your inhales, squeeze your left thumb with your right fingertips. Feel that inner brightness come?

Then with your exhale, release and soften a little bit. Good. *instructor pauses three seconds* Bring your hands down to your thighs. Open your eyes. Go ahead.

If you were sitting on anything, let that move back to the side. We're going to come to the top of the mat and find baddha konasana. So, for me, that takes a little bit of shimmying around to get my hips right up to my heels. You going to start with your fingertips right back behind you. Broaden your collarbones nice and wide as you reach the inner thighs apart.

Take a big full breath in here. Then exhale. Then gently start to shift over into your left hip and you're going to swing your right leg back around. Roll that right hip forward. At this point, if you need a little something under that left hamstring, go ahead and set it there so that you feel really supported.

Then you're going to hug the legs together and turn that back leg dramatically. Make sure the toes are pointing straight back behind you. Come on down to forearms or you can even lay your whole head on the floor. *instructor pauses five seconds* You just let that left hip start to open. Feel some freedom there.

*instructor pauses five seconds* Something that can feel kind of nice is reaching your arms out really long in front of you. If you have that kind of space. Then stretching energetically back through your right leg as you walk your hands out even further. Then you can give a little bit of a push down and forward to draw that left hip back even more as you drop your right hip back even more down towards the floor. Good.

One more big breath here. Breathe it in. Then as you exhale, start to walk your hands back up towards your left leg. Then you're going to sit gently into your left hip and swing your right leg up and around. Tuck those left toes right next to your seat and put the whole sole of your right foot on the floor.

Then, your left elbow is just going to hook around your right knee. As you start to turn, right hand comes back behind. Snuggle that right sitting bone down towards the floor, so that you feel really rooted and grounded. Right from the hips. Then you're lifting up right from that center.

Good. Draw the navel back a little bit and turn it more towards your right. Ears back, nice long neck. Inhaling. Then exhale.

Go ahead and shift back towards center. You're going to come right to gomukhasana. So, line up your knees as best you can. This might be another place where if you have a blanket or a block to sit on, you can just shift your seat up and go ahead and sit on the block. Then, I like to do this pose upright.

It feels good to me. It also helps me to keep my right hip down. So you can kind of snuggle that down. Then just bring fingertips by your sides. Let the eyes close.

Relax your shoulders down your back. Breathe it in. Breathe it out. Two more like that. Breathe it in.

Feel the breath go all the way down to your hips. Breathe it out. *instructor pauses six seconds* Good. From here, start to unwind. You're going to come right back towards that baddha konasana shape.

So let the soles of the feet meet and shimmy your hips right up towards your heels. And again, bring your fingertips back behind you. Nice big broad chest. Find that opening. I'm lifting up.

Reaching out through the inner thighs. Then gently shift over to your right hip. Swing that left leg back and around. Turn the left hip in. Your right heel can move towards your left sitting point.

Then start to move yourself down. Bring a blanket or a bolster to your right hamstring, if you need that kind of support. Then you'll just settle in. If you liked that part of the practice where we extended the arms long, once you've got yourself nice and situated and snuggled in, you're going to start to walk your hands forward and really stretch energetically. Through the left foot, out through your fingertips and a little push down and forward into your hands to drop that right hip back and stretch even more.

*instructor pauses six seconds* Good. Once you feel like you've got enough going on there, take a breath in. Then exhale. Start to walk it back in. Then you'll shift over gently into your right hip and cross your left hip up and over.

Put the whole sole of that left foot on the floor and snuggle your right toes back behind you. Then settle down onto your sitting bones. Then, your right elbow will come to the outside of your left knee. Left hand back behind you and lift up and turn. Good.

The gaze can just be down. It doesn't have to be up or dramatic at this point. Then draw your navel back and turn a little bit more towards your left. Good. Nice big smooth breaths here.

Broaden the chest. Keep those mid back muscles working. Then you're going to turn forward and go ahead and come to your gomukhasana. Settling in as best you can, if there's a big gap between the top leg and the bottom leg, a little blanket or even a block there can be nice. Otherwise, rooting those sitting bones down onto the floor.

Fingertips right by your sides. Settle in for the stretching. Big breath. *instructor pauses six seconds* This pose helps me a lot for my low back to feel very settled and open. For my hips to find some new space and to feel like really rooted and lifted from my center when we practice it upright this way.

Good. Let's take one more big breath here. Maybe a little wiggle side to side. That's it. Then you're going to start to unwind.

Come back to your baddha konasana shape if that feels comfortable or simply just let your legs cross comfortably. Bring your hands to your heart, palms open. Breathe a big full inhale right into your hands. Exhale out the mouth. Notice if you feel any different after that practice.

This really like rooted drawing in kind of feeling. So that when we expand, it can be creative and exciting and authentic and totally you. Let's take a big bow down to that light that resides within each of your hearts. Namaste.