Let Your Legs Hold You

(waves crashing) So sometimes the back is sticky because it thinks it needs to hold the legs to the body. And so this next sequence is designed to just do our best to help the legs know that they're supported by the earth, and then the back can relax. Now I'm gonna use a brick, okay to do this. If you have steps in your house, you could also use steps. Okay.

Place your right foot up on your brick or your step. Find a spot to focus on for your balance, and if you're worried about your balance, (tongue clucking) be near a wall. Okay. Step up on the brick, and then step back down. Keep the right foot on the brick as you step up, and then step back down.

We'll do that again. Step up on the brick, and now stay here, and get a sense of pressing down into the right foot. Get a sense of extending out through the right leg. Beautiful, now keep the right foot on the brick, and step down again. Keep the right the foot on the brick, and step up.

This time, root down into that right foot, like feel your ability to press the foot into the brick, feel your ability to gently firm the right leg, and now feel the response up through the heart. So, allow the heart to respond, to the rooting of your foot, yes. Okay, keep the right foot on the brick, one more, step down, keep the right foot on the brick, step up, root through the right foot, firm the leg, let the heart respond, and now put some awareness of the, towards the alignment of your skull. So can you feel your skull lighter? Can you let her align so your neck tension is not so necessary?

Soft up in the upper palate, if that makes sense, yeah. Okay, inhale here, exhale, step down. Now stand behind your brick, stand on both feet, big deliberate inhale and exhale at a happen, and as you soften, can you soften your awareness down through the right leg? Can you really let yourself move all the way down through the right leg, to the right foot? Hmmhmm.

Can you let your right leg feel more grounded? And as you do that, let the sit bones get a little heavier, yes. Sometime the awareness feels beyond the foot, like (mimics drilling) deep into the earth. Nice. Okay. Let's see if we can find that feeling on the other side, and if you're not feeling what I'm suggesting then you trust what you're feeling, Okay, let foot up on the brick.

Find a spot to focus on. Step up, keep the left foot on the brick, and step down. Keep the left foot on the brick, and step up. Keep the left foot on the brick, and step down. Keep the left foot on the brick, and step up, this time, root through the foot and get a sense of firming the left leg, letting this right leg to just simply dangle.

Yes, now keep the left foot on the brick, step down. Keep the left foot on the brick, step up, this time root through the foot, firm the leg and let the heart respond. There's this quality of rooting and blooming. See if this makes sense. Yes?

Okay, last one. Keep the left foot on the brick, step down, Keep the left foot on the brick, and step up, now root, bloom and can you let the skull find her alignment? Wide at the base of her, soft up in the upper palate, uh-huh. Really nice. Okay, gently step down, stand behind or to the side of the brick, okay, stand with your feet about hip distance apart, big deliberate inhale, exhale at a happen, and soften.

And the play here, eyes might close, the play here, let your knees soften, let your sit bones get heavy. Just can you let your awareness run down the left leg, toward the foot and beyond? Can you start to let your legs feel grounded? Can you start to let the legs know that the earth has them? Hmhmm.

Yes. Beautiful, as you have this now, remember the breath we've been honing, that sense of the inhale that reaches down and the pelvis rocks a little bit forward, and that sense of the exhale as the sit bones relax. That sense of the inhale as the pelvis rocks a little bit forward, and that sense of the exhale as the sit bones relax. Exaggerate it a little bit until you have it more as a mental, or an imaginary sense. Okay, soften the lower belly.

Now maintain the grounding, interlace your fingers in front of you if that's available, turn the palms forward. Now if you're working with arthritis in the hands, this is not so easy, so you just loosen the grip. Okay. Turn the palms forward as much as available, let the arms come up over the top of your head, now soften the elbows enough as the shoulders roll back and down. Press into the feet and wiggle up a little longer, so stretch up through one heel of the palm, stretch up through the other.

If this is too much in the joints of your fingers, just release that grip and work with the arms, with the hands apart. Okay, if it's alright. You're using the grip to help you get a little bit of leverage. Now, feel this beautiful long length you've got, and let a happen, soften the knees again and feel that sense of the legs grounded. Beautiful, beautiful.

Inhale, release the arms wide, hands come onto the legs, forward fold, slide the hands down the legs, letting the knees bend. Head might drop, and then when you're ready, slow slide the hands back up the legs, chin into the chest, as you let your belly open, and let your heart open, you let your throat open, and your face brighten. Beautiful. Big deliberate inhale. Exhale everything.

And just for the last few moments, just see if you can get that sense of the legs have you, the lower backs grip can ease, the heart is bright, base of the skull wide, soft in the upper palate. Excellent, great work. See if that helps a little. Love.