Superiorly Supine

(ocean waves) Sometimes you just don't feel like standing up, and so it's nice to have a yoga routine that invites that kind of mood. You'll see that I have even made it squishier and more comfortable by placing a blanket down on my mat. If you happen to practice on a carpet, that may or may not be necessary. Okie-dokie, find your way onto your back. Knees bent, soles of your feet on the floor, and roll it on back down, hug the knees in and let yourself wobble.

Keep the right knee in, let the left foot come back down to the floor keeping the knee bent, little easy apanasana, ardha apanasana to be formal about it. Inhale knees move away, and just exhale knee comes in. Let that three more times, inhale knee moves away, exhale knee comes in, two more. One more, nice. Next time the knee comes in, soften down through that right sit bone, relax down through the sacrum, allow the right thigh and hip region to feel spacious.

Beautiful, from here let the right leg extend up towards the sky, catch around. For most of you the back of the thigh is really where the action is, a few of you it might be the calf or the ankle, but you just want to catch around where it's convenient. If you prefer to use a strap, you can. Allowing this right leg to come in a little closer towards your face, just kind of wobble it a little side to side. If you point your foot, if you point your toes, it will have one feeling, if you flex them it will have another, soften that right outer hip and maybe let this left leg drop towards straight, letting that left heel reach.

Beautiful, and then just gently hold onto the right leg where it's convenient, and if you're holding near the thigh you might let your hand come out towards the leg and just let the leg come out to the side, if you're using a strap, you're using a strap. If you have monkey arms like me, you might have the foot. Let the leg come out to the side, just soft, easy, we're not trying to do a lot here, we're just kind of like (exhales), inviting. Okay, and you'll bring that leg back up to the center, hands where it's convenient, curl the chin into the chest, forehead towards the knee, yes, let the head come back down to the floor, and let the right leg float all the way back down to meet the left and pause. A deliberate inhale, exhale, everything.

Bend the knees, soles of the feet on the floor, let the left knee come into the chest, holding around where the knee and shin meet, ardha apanasana, inhale knee moves away, exhale knee comes in, inhale knee moves away, exhale knee moves in, two more. Starting to kind of get into the mood. Sometimes the layman's instruction is really helpful, left knee moves in, but sometimes it can kind of get in the way of feeling like you're in the mood. It'd be like someone's always telling you exactly what to do, drag. From here, let the left leg extend up towards the sky, and please, just grab around where it's comfortable and convenient, so for some of you it's the thigh, or the calf or the ankle, if you prefer to use a strap, that's fine.

You're just trying to leisurely, almost like a Sunday morning attitude. Left leg kind of comes in towards you and wobble it a little bit, that left hip is spacious and easy, maybe this right knee stays bent, maybe she extends more forward, kinder. Yes, then hold on where it's convenient on this leg, so for some of you, the hand might be around the calves, or the ankle, it's just because of the way I'm put together my hands finds my foot easily, and you let the leg come out to the side. Soften the belly, easy on the eyes, let it feel good, bend it as much as you need to so it doesn't feel like it's banjo twang. Really nice, let that leg come back to the center, walk the hands up the leg a little bit, curl your forehead up towards the shin, naval back to the spine, little bit of a (exhales).

Okay, let the head come back down to the floor, let the leg float all the way back down to the floor, and pause. Beautiful, from here the suggestion is to find your way to child's pose, there's lots of ways to do it, but one way might be just to roll over, and press on back child's pose. Wiggle back through, forehead towards the floor. Okay, round your way up to all fours, and let's pick a few rounds of cat cow, so inhale letting your back arch, and exhale letting your back round. And inhale letting your back arch, and exhale letting your back round, one more like that, inhale rolling the pelvis forward letting your back arch, exhale letting your back round, keep it rounded, and move your right foot forward for a lunge.

Snuggle that right foot forward snuggle that left foot back. Now this is an example of where if there's not enough padding behind your back left feet, put some there, inhale draw back a little bit, exhale sink in, inhale draw back a little bit, exhale sink in, one more time at least like that, inhale draw back a little bit, exhale sink in, now kind of sink in and as you drop your sit bones a little bit, so you're drawing your left sit bone under a little bit, soften the mouth, and what I like to do is just kind of roll it over to one side and kind of find out what's going on, and roll it over to the other side. And what I mean by that is that you roll to the outside of that left leg and you're going to find more round the outer leg, and then you roll to the inner one and you're going to find more in your inner thigh. Okay, and come into a spot somewhat central, and anatomically if it would feel better for you to have both hands on the inside of the foot you can do that, and if you wish you had two bricks under your hand, put them there. Let a little bit of a (exhales) happen, sink in, a few more beats.

Beautiful, now to get out of this, draw your hips back, let your right knee come back to meet your left and we'll find child's pose, curl the sit bone under, forehead towards the earth. Nice, curl the sit bones under, round up, the rounding will make it easier to bring that left foot forward, or opposite foot. And then once you kind of find that shape of the lunge, let yourself introduce yourself, so you inhale you drop back a little bit, and you exhale you sink in, and you inhale you draw back, and then you exhale you sink in. Let a few more times, just, we've talked about this before, the moving in and out of the posture, it communicates into the nervous system that there's an exit route and then she's more willing to relax. Okay, sink in, and what I like to do is I like to then kind of explore the landscape of the front hip, so I like to roll to the outside of that right leg, and kind of like (exhales).

Yes, and then you roll to the inside and you'll find the inner line. And notice your response, because when we find points of intensity, sometimes the response is that it's not a good thing, and so the play is as you find spots of intensity, let them have you a little bit. Be interested in them. Okay, then you're going to find a spot kind of in the center and just, you know some of you it feels good to have the hands on either side of the foot, anatomically it might feel better to have them on the inside. I'm up on my finger tips because I have a tendency to just jam it into my wrists so being up on my fingertips helps me, now sink in, buttocks heavy.

Jaws soft, eyes are kind. See if you can find out where you're not quite letting the posture have you, and let her have you. It's really hard to feel embraced unless you're relaxed. Okay, nice, to get out of there, slowly draw the hips back, left knee back to meet the right, child's pose, wiggle on back through there, forehead towards the earth. Now we're going to make our way into pigeon, you're going to slide the right knee forward, and now the closer I keep my heel into my inner groin, the less demanding it's going to be on my right hip, and you kind of wiggle back through the left leg.

Now this posture isn't for everybody. If you find that your right hip is quite high up the ground you might put a blanket or a brick underneath there. If you're finding you want a little more, you can snuggle this right heel out a little bit. Okay now feel your shoulders roll back and down, reach a little bit back through that foot, like let it be just a little bit active to begin with. Okay, and if you prefer, you can stay here, only if it would feel good.

Walk your hands forward, come down onto your elbows, and your offering, so there's this quality of like (exhales) willingness to be in the relationship with the posture. If and when we approach the posture, there's something to be conquered or acquired or achieved, okay, then we set up a particular dynamic. The play here is you soften the belly, soften up through the upper palette, soften in the eyes. As you can allow the shape to have you. Something our friend Devon here on YogaAnytime says is "Unless you really give your weight, you're never going to feel supported." So unless you really offer yourself to the shape, okay she's not going to be able to catch you.

Now I've stayed up on my forearms, some of you might have rested your head on the floor or your hands, or on a bolster or a brick. Few more beats here. Beautiful, and as you are ready, come back up onto your palms, let yourself press back up, and we're going to transition towards revolving head to knees pose, you're going to turn to the left, the left leg is going to send out to the side, right sole of the foot is going to come in the left inner thigh, snuggle in a little bit. Beautiful, as you're ready, left hand comes down onto the left leg, circle our right arm in front of the face and up. Now roll your right hip away as you reach up through this right arm, let the left elbow bend.

Let the left elbow bend and just begin to reach up, out and over, soften the eyes, and what I do often that feels pretty good to me, is I like to then draw my sit bones under and let the back round and kind of get into the back body a little bit. You know we were talking about swamp monster action in earlier episodes, and then I think it feels good to let my pelvis roll forward, let my right elbow bend, and find more of that hallelujah action, so it brightens, and it reaches. Like let's just all have fun with it, let yourself enjoy the shape. While we're offering ourselves to the shape, the shape also changes with us, like any relationship. Okay, so as you're willing to fully offer, so is the other.

Okay, so few more beats. Alright, take a look down at the left leg, let it inhale, bring you all the way back up and pause, there's such a nice sauce after that one. Marinate here. Beautiful, now the play here is you'll find your way back through the shape of the pigeon, all the way back child's, lean on that. Beautiful, other side, round up, left leg slides forward, keep the heel enclosed, if that makes sense, as you slide the right leg back, if you'd like some support underneath that left hip, put it there.

If you feel like you want more in that hip, you snuggle that left foot a little bit more forward, roll the shoulders back and down, and start slightly actively blossoming through the heart. Reach back through the toes, and if you prefer to stay upright here, then do so. Only if it feels right you'll start to come forward, maybe down onto the forearms, maybe a little lower. I just find, for me, in this shape, mostly, I like to maintain space up around the front body, and then I like to have a sense of my hands open. Keeps me more honest, somehow.

Soften the upper palette, soften the jaw. One of the difficulties with postures low to the ground at the house, one of the things that often happens is all of a sudden you notice that you should be vacuuming instead. Like I'm noticing that this is the blanket that the dog uses. Soften the belly, easy in the eyes. You'll find that, like you'll start to practice yoga, and you've never been inclined to vacuum before in your life and suddenly any excuse not to practice.

(giggles) Few more beats, kinder in the eyes. Like, can you allow the shape to have more of you, notice where the refusal is. That's really one of the main programs in yoga, notice where the refusal is. Yeah. Awesome.

Okay, super sweet. When you feel ready, hands come underneath, roll it on back up, and we're turning towards parvitajan usashana, so you're going to turn to the right, and that left foot is going to come into the right inner thigh. You're going to extend out through that right leg, snuggle down though the sit bones, right hand's going to come down onto that right leg, circle the left arm out, soften the left elbow so the shoulder rolls back and down, and slide the right arm out as the right elbow begins to bend. Now I think it feels good to let the left elbow bend a little bit and then re-reach. This side's different, so resist the temptation to the tyranny of symmetry to get you down, you might round the body a little bit, as as you round, I like to really let the elbow bend, like full swamp monster, sit bones strong under, like I can get up and do the upper back.

And then if I roll the pelvis forward and I let the elbow bend, then I can roll that shoulder blade under, more of the hallelujah action, and then I can get more through the front body. Play with it, enjoy it. Super sweet, take a look down at the right leg, let the inhale bring you all the way back up. The transition is through the shape of pigeon, all the way back towards child's pose and wiggle. And then from here we're going to make our way onto our belly, round the back, let the elbows bend, roll all the way onto your belly, hands come underneath the shoulders, shoulders roll up and around the ears and back and down.

Little baby traction action, like little smidge of a cobra. Keep that little smidge of a cobra as you bend your knees, lift your thighs up off floor, slide enthusiasm through the toes, and then start to stretch back through the legs, keep that stretch back through the legs as you feel your heart traction. You might come up onto the finger tips, that can feel quite good. Wobble a little side to side, and I usually like to bend one knee and then kind of reach her back, bend the other knee, lift the thigh, reach her back. Yeah, you might stay here, you might release the hands back towards the toes, gorgeous.

Inhale here, exhale, lower land, bring an ear towards the earth, as you bring an ear towards the earth, resting, you can keep your legs where they are, you can wobble them a little side to side. Okay, let's do one more active back bend like that, feet back down on the floor, hands underneath the shoulders, in fact just a little ahead of the shoulders, this second one, squeeze your shoulders up and around the ears, roll them back and down, and then pull the hands back as you action traction your heart forward. Bend the knees, lift up through the thighs, lift up through the thighs, and then slow reach back through the legs. Now keep that reach through the legs, and see if this makes sense, start to let the legs get heavy as the legs get heavy, press into the hands a little bit and start to roll yourself up and towards a cobra so the legs get heavy, shoulders are rolling back and down, wobble a little side to side, soften the eyes, soften the jaw. Beautiful, inhale here, exhale, lower all the way back down, hands under the shoulders, curl your sit bones under, round on back child's pose.

Beautiful. Nice, now inhale bring you forward onto all fours, come all the way down onto your belly, and then roll onto your back. Once you're back on your back, hug your knees into your chest and wobble. I'm gonna suggest an eagle wrap spinal twist, if that's a little bit more torque than is useful for you, simply just do the spinal twist with the knees together. Otherwise right leg wraps over left, right foot hooking around the back of the left calf, arms out from the shoulders, palms turn up, inhale here, and as you exhale, drop the knees over to the left with the right palm come on top of the left palm, organize here, once you're pretty organized, circle the right arm back up over to the right, let the elbow bend a little bit so the shoulder is soft.

(inaudible mumble) And let a little bit of a (exhale) happen. Now, the gentlest gaze is towards the left hand, medium intensity is towards the sky, if you'd like to turn your gaze out towards your right palm you can, but just be attentive to what the consequences are. Let a little of a (exhale) happen, and the place you're turning towards now is the back upper part of the body, or where you feel the sense of hell. So wherever you feel the sense of hell, let your awareness come there, and let her have you, yeah. Beautiful.

And then you lead with your top right leg, let your right knee come back towards your face, let her lead the rest of you follows. Let the feet come back down on the floor and pause for a moment and just see if you can like (exhale) absorb some of the medicine of the twist. Nice, knees come back in, wrap the left leg over the right, tight noodle wrap, maybe the foot hooks around behind and you bring everything over to the right. So the knees come to the right, the left palm comes on top of the right palm, once you're organized, circle the left arm back over the left, and I like to let the left elbow bend, because that helps my shoulder drop back and down, just feels better, you may disagree. Gaze is up towards the sky or maybe up towards the right hand, some of you might look over the left hand.

But notice where you're held, so for me, it's behind the heart on the upper left side. Notice where you're hell, and let a (exhale) happen, almost as if you were slipping into the hammock of yourself, like let yourself have yourself. One of the main questions within meditation is am I safe with myself? And so the practice of being received, yes. Beautiful.

Gorgeous. Okay, to get out of there, you unwrap the legs, and you lead with the left leg, she brings you back, the rest of you follows, pause in the center, wobble a little bit and then place the soles of the feet down on the ground, and just allow yourself to really feel the medicine of the twist. And while you could move to shivasana from here, for most of us, after that twist, it feels good to hug the knees in one more time. Excellent, and place the feet back down on the floor, only when and if your back feels settled, let one leg slide forward, let her relax. Let the other leg slide forward, let her relax.

Interlace your hands behind your head, squeeze your elbows in and curl your chin into your chest, touching through the neck, if it would feel good to tip the head a little bit to the right or left to find the presence waiting for you, you can do that. Okay, keep her long, let the head come back down to the earth, shoulders soften, palms open, eyes soft or closed, big deliberate inhale and exhale everything. And one of the most common rumors about shivasana is that it's a quiet place. So as you allow yourself to feel even, notice kind of where your legs are, let yourself adjust. Notice how your hands are, let them feel even.

It's not so uncommon to suddenly find yourself flooded with information, answers, ideas, inspiration. Because as you free it up, some of those tensions all of a sudden, all these things that you hadn't seen before are available. That's why shivasana is so difficult, because it's your rest here, you continually be the wide open landscape in which these inspirations can flow. Noticing the temptation to grasp. Some of you will stay in shivasana longer.

Tasting the fruits of your practice. If and when and as you feel ready, let the legs roll in towards each other, slight inter-roll rotation, and draw them in closer. Interlace the fingers over the top of your head as you stretch your arms long. Stretch one side and then the other. And exhale, and bending the knee, roll it to the side that makes the most sense today, and then press your way back up.

Find your way towards the seat. Snuggle in. Deliberate inhale, exhale everything. Open in the upper palette, soften the eyes. Thank you for your practice, thank you for being here.

Namaste.