Explore Your Roots

(ocean waves) Welcome back, thank you for being here. So this practice is one that I really like to do when I'm feeling a little scattered in my own life, and I just really feel like I want to find the Earth, ground, and get a little bit rooted. So we're gonna explore our roots here and move a little bit slower, so move through some moon salutations, more of that lunar, slower energy, and we'll get into the hips a little bit, and overall just finding that rooted, grounded energy in the body. So you may want to have a block handy if you find it a little bit uncomfortable to sit back on your heels, otherwise we'll go ahead and get started in child's pose at the back of the mat, so meet me there. So bring the big toes together.

You can let the knees go wide, or bring them together, whatever feels better in your body. And then just start to crawl the hands forward, letting the heart melt down toward the Earth. You might bring the forehead down toward the Earth. Just take one moment here to check in, to notice. And just finding the breath.

And as you're here, just feeling the parts of the body that are making contact with the Earth. Just allowing the Earth to come up and meet you, support you. And then just deepening the breath, maybe coming into (speaks foreign language). If there's any special intention or positive affirmation that you'd like to set for your practice, go ahead and do that here. You might work with the mantra "I am grounded." So as you inhale, you feel "I am," and as you exhale, maybe the word "grounded," maybe the word "supported," "rooted." And slowly walk the hands back, coming to sit back on the heels.

And again, if you want to take a block here in between the ankles, go for it. And for this first round, I'm gonna move through just a bit of a breathing practice here. You may want to watch first, and then join me. So I'll demo once, and then we'll do it again together. So from here, I'm gonna interlace the fingers behind my back, draw the shoulders back, and allow for an easy inhale through the nose.

When I get to the top of my inhale, I'm gonna seal the breath in, holding the breath, and then holding the inhale, I'm gonna fold forward, bring my forehead down toward the Earth, and then find some stretching in the shoulders from side to side, still holding the breath in, and then holding the breath in as I come all the way up, back to seated, and then I'll bring my hands to the tops of my thighs, and then exhale side of the mouth. So you can join me now. If you want to watch one more round, we're gonna go through two more times. So I will stop talking and just cue the breath. So inhale.

Holding. Come all the way back up, holding the inhale, release the hands, bring them to the tops of the thigh, and then let the breath out the mouth. Good, one more like that. Interlace, allow for an easy inhale, holding, hold the breath in, find the stretch in the shoulders, holding the breath in, coming all the way back up, bringing the hands to the tops of the thighs and sighing out the mouth. Beautiful.

So from here, let's come to tabletop position, lifting the hips up, bringing the hands under the shoulders, and finding the hips right on top of your knees, just start to tent the fingertips, and we're gonna walk the hands forward as you start to melt the heart down toward the Earth into puppy pose. So you might bring the forehead down to the Earth. If the shoulders are feeling a little bit more open than that, you might start to bring the chin down, finding that hard opening in the body and just keeping the hips right up over the knees. And then a few breaths here, just opening up the shoulders. Nice.

And lift your gaze, just walk your hands back just a couple inches here, keeping it long in the hands, and we're gonna take the right arm, thread it under the left, coming onto your right shoulder and the right side of your face. So option to crawl the fingertips, the left fingertips, back out in front of you, or you might take that left arm up and back behind your back, finding a wrap, and just keeping the evenness in the hips. Finding a few full, deep breaths here. Nice. And then slowly, mindfully, crawling your way out of that side, coming back through center, and then we'll find the left hand, thread it underneath, coming onto your left shoulder and the left side of your face, and then maybe taking whatever you did on the first side with the hand, so you might crawl the fingertips forward, you might take that right hand up and back behind you, wrapping it, maybe to that left thigh, or keeping the hand right on the back, and finding that evenness in the hips, breathing into wherever you feel the sensations in the body, just allowing a few rounds of breath here.

And again, noticing the parts of the body that are making contact with the Earth. Feel the support. Good, and as you're ready, slowly make your way back up, coming back into tabletop, and this time we'll lower the forearms down, find sphinx pose. Sphinx pose, not spanx. Good.

So lower the hips down. Bring your shoulders just right over the elbows, or the elbows can come a little bit in front of the shoulders, and spread the fingers. Press through the tops of the feet, and then start to bring your chin down toward your chest so that you feel a nice stretch in the back of the neck. Allow a few full, deep breaths here. See if you can soften the shoulders a little bit.

Good. And then tucking the toes, we're gonna lift the hips up, coming into forearm planks. Lifting the hips up toward the height of the shoulder blades, keeping the shoulders over the elbows, spreading the fingers, gazing forward, pressing back through your heels, just allowing a few rounds of breath here. Let's take three breaths. Two.

Last breath. Good, and then lowering the hips all the way back down to the Earth. Take your hands back to side ribs, and then we'll find cobra pose. So touch the forehead down, hug the elbows in, press through the tops of the feet, keeps the legs engaged and on an inhale, start to lift the heart, hugging the elbows, keeping the chin slightly tucked, and then exhale, lower all the way back down to the Earth. Press back to tabletop, and we'll come into our first downward facing dog.

So tucking the toes, lifting the hips up in back, any movement in the legs that feels good, if the hamstrings are feeling a little bit crunchy or tight this morning, you might take the feet wide for this first downward facing dog, maybe even as wide as the mat. And then maybe swaying the hips side to side. And see if you can press down between the thumb and the index finger, that space between the thumb and the index finger, and pressing it into the Earth so that you're activating your inner hand as well as the outer hand. And then we'll step the feet back toward hips distance. And just looking forward, take a stroll, slow walk to the font of the mat.

Forward folding. Just keeping a soft bend in the knees, letting the head hang heavy, a couple full rounds of breath. Good. So it might feel good to interlace the hands behind the back, or maybe hold onto opposite elbows here. Maybe even interlace the fingers on the back of the neck and find that length in the back of the neck.

And then let everything hang down, release the hands back down toward the Earth, put a soft bend in the knees, and then tucking the chin, slowly roll your way up, coming to standing, one vertebrae at a time. You might take the shoulders up to the ears, roll them down the back, bring the palms to face forward, and then just take a moment to bring your hands to your heart and then look down at your feet, spread your toes, and really find that grounding energy, rooting down into the Earth. Put a soft bend in the knees, gently tuck the tailbone, lifting through the heart, and find that lightness in the upper body, so that same grounding, rooted energy, and at the same time, that ease and lightness in the upper body. Then stepping the feet together, we move through some moon salutations. So as you inhale, reach your hands forward and up over your head, and then exhale, softening through the knees, as you fold all the way down.

Step your left foot to the back of the mat, lower the back knee down, and then inhale, sweep your arms all the way up, interlace everything but your index fingers here, and lift the heart. Good. As you exhale, bring the hands back down to the Earth, tuck your toes, and step right back to downward facing dog. Nice. And then from here, we're gonna bring the knees down to the Earth, and then the elbows are gonna bend as you bring your chin and the chest down to the Earth, and scoot your way through coming into a low cobra, draw the shoulders back, hug the elbows in, and then exhale, come back to tabletop, tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back, downward facing dog.

Staying with the left leg, inhale, sweep the left leg all the way up and back. Exhale, step your foot through between your hands, lower the back knee down, and again, sweep the arms all the way up, interlace everything but the index fingers, finding the opening in the heart center, and then exhale. Come to a forward fold at the back of the mat, so tucking the back toes, stepping to a forward fold. And then come all the way up, arms sweep forward and up, and then as you exhale, draw your hands to heart center. Beautiful.

So that was one half a side, and now we'll move on to the right side. Inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, softening through the knees as you fold forward. Good, step the right foot back, lower the back knee down lift the heart, reach the arms up, interlacing everything but the index fingers, and then exhale, step back, down dog. Lower the knees down to the Earth, bend the elbows, bring the chin and the chest down to the Earth, keep the hips lifted, and then come on through, cobra pose, inhale. Good, exhale, downward facing dog.

Inhale, right leg lifts. Exhale, step it through. Lower the back knee down. Inhale, lift the arms, interlace, and then exhale, step it forward, folding, root to rise, and now arms sweep all the way out and up, and exhale, hands to the heart. One more round on each side, this time, move a little bit faster, one breath per movement.

Inhale, arms sweep forward and up, exhale, forward fold. Inhale, the left leg steps back, lower the back knee down, arms sweet up, inhale. Exhale, down dog. Shifting forward, knees down, lowering, inhale cobra, and exhale downward facing dog. Left leg lifts, inhale, exhale, step it through.

Lower the back knee, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, find a forward fold at the front of the mat. Inhale, root to rise, arms sweep all the way up, and exhale, hands to the heart. Good, last side, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, folding. Right foot steps back, lower the back knee down, inhale lift, and exhale downward facing dog. Knees, chin, chest, lower down, cobra on the inhale, exhale downward facing dog.

Right leg lifts up and back, step it forward, lower the back knee down, inhale sweep up, and exhale, come to the front of the mat, folding forward, exhale. Root to rise, come all the way up to stand, and drawing the hands to the heart, taking a moment, close the eyes, and notice. Feel the heart beating in the chest. Good. And then go ahead and step your feet just about as wide as the mat, so a little wider than the hips.

And we're gonna inhale, sweep your arms all the way out and up. As you exhale, turn the toes out, take the heels in, bend the knees, and come on down to malasana yoga squat. Good. And then putting this into the sequence here, start to straighten the legs, point your toes forward, coming into a forward fold. Inhale, just lift halfway up, fingertips can stay to the Earth, or maybe come up to the shins, and then exhale, plant your palms, and step back to downward facing dog.

Inhale, reach the right leg all the way up and back, bend your knee, open up the hip, and then straighten out the leg, draw your right knee across the body to your left tricep and hover coming to the top of a push-up. Inhale, sweep the leg all the way up and back, down dog split. And then look forward, step the right foot through between your hands, stay low here, we're gonna walk our fingers all the way to our left. Start to bend through your left knee, straightening out through the right leg, you can keep that sole of the foot on the Earth, or maybe come up onto the heel, and then coming to the other side, start to bend through the right leg, straightening through the left. Good, one more on each side.

Slowly walk your way over to the left, inhaling, and then exhale, this time come all the way around back to runner's lunge, and then we'll plant the palms and step right back to downward facing dog. If you want to take the vinyasa here, you're welcome to do that. Otherwise, meeting in downward facing dog. And then coming into the left side, inhale, sweep the left leg up, bend the knee, open up the hip, press evenly thought both hands, good, and then start to draw that left knee across the body coming to the right tricep, hover, top of a push-up. Good.

Inhale the leg all the way up and back, down dog split. And then look forward, step the left foot through. Good. Start to walk your hands to your right, straightening out both legs, and then put a bend through that right leg, straightening through the left, and then side to side. We'll exhale over to the left, inhale over to the right, and then come all the way back around, runner's lunge.

Your choice to step back to plank, maybe lowering the knees down as we did, or hips come up and back, find downward facing dog. Just allow for a few full rounds of breath here. Nice. And on your next inhale, come high up onto the toes, bend your knees, look forward, step or lightly float, coming back to your hands, front of the mat. Inhale, lengthen, come halfway up, Exhale, folding in.

And then sweep your arms all the way out and up, coming all the way back up to a stand. Exhale, hands to heart center, pause. Good, and then again, step the feet wide, just a bit wider than the hips, coming through this last standing sequence. We'll inhale, sweep the arms all the way out and up, turn out the toes, heels come in, draw your hands through your heart center, bend the knees, and squat malasana. Good.

Hands come down to the Earth, parallel to feet, straighten out the legs and fold. Good, inhale, come halfway up, lengthen. And then exhale, plant the palms, and step it back to downward facing dog. Good. This time, inhale the right leg all the way up and back, bend your knee, open up your hip, you can stay right here, or maybe you'll start to shift the weight forward, bringing the shoulders over the wrists, step that right foot behind you, lift your right arm up, coming onto your right toes, flipping your dog.

A few full, deep breaths here, lifting the heart. Good, and then bring your gaze down, right arm comes up, bring the right hand back down to the Earth, and reach the right leg back up to the sky. Good. And then again, crossing the body, right knee, left tricep. You can stay here, or maybe thread that right leg through, straightening out that right leg, spinning onto the heel of your back foot, bringing the weight into your right hand, lifting the left arm up, fallen triangle.

Maybe reach the left arm over your ear. Beautiful. And the gaze comes down, hand comes down, unwind, three leg down dog. Look forward, step the foot all the way through between your hands, stay low again, take your hands to be inside of the right foot, crawl to your left, straighten out both legs, and slightly pigeon toe the feet. We're gonna inhale to come halfway up and lengthen, and then exhale, fold, hinging forward at the hips.

You might bring your fingers in line with the toes. It might feel good to take the hands to the ankles, or maybe the peace fingers to your big toes. And we'll be here for five breaths. Just letting the crown of the head hang heavy, and just keeping engagement in the legs to lift up on the knees, protecting your knees. See if you can come back to the breath.

Last two breaths. Good. And now bring the hands right back under the shoulders, come halfway up, inhale, and then bring your hands to your hips and with a flat back, come all the way up to standing, and then swivel your toes out, take your heels in, start to bend the knees, sink the hips down, we'll come into goddess pose. So once you find your knees over your ankles, bring your arms forward, take your palms to face up, and then this time, we'll take the right arm underneath, find eagle wrap with the arms, either the backs of the hands together or maybe the palms together. Soften the shoulders, maybe lift the elbows up to the height of the shoulders, focus your gaze.

Breathe. Two more breaths. Nice. Release the hands, straighten out the legs, turn your back toes in, swivel the back heel, find warrior two, bending through that front leg. Just a couple breaths in warrior two.

Good, and just circle your hands down on either side of your front foot, spin to the ball of the back foot, runner's lunge, and then go ahead and heel-toe that right foot over just a couple times to the right. Bring both hands on the inside of your front foot, and we're gonna set up for lizard pose here, so you're welcome to stay right here, you're welcome to lower your back knee down to the Earth, if that feels better for you, or you can start to crawl your hands down, maybe coming onto your forearms, maybe taking a block under your forearms, and you might stay right here, you might lift that back knee up. If you want to find a quad stretch, you'll lower the back knee, bend through that back leg, and maybe reach the right arm all the way back for that left foot. Taking a gaze over that right shoulder, and breathing. So nice.

Slowly start to release the back leg, if you're holding onto the foot. And then coming onto the palms of your hands, crawling your way back up, you're gonna come into single pigeon from here. So you'll start to heel-toe your right foot all the way over to the left side of the mat, lower the shin all the way down to the Earth. Maybe take a block or a bolster or blanket under that right hip, if it's lifted. Otherwise, sidling your way in for this nice hip opener, finding your setup, and then maybe crawling the hands forward, coming into that right hip and allowing the head, the neck, the shoulders to relax.

We'll be here for about five breaths. So notice where the mind goes, when we start to hold postures. And bring it back to the breath. Maybe come back to that mantra, "I am" on the inhale, "supported," when you exhale. "I am," inhale, "grounded," exhale.

Bending about slowly, starting to make your way back up. And bring the hands back to the Earth, and just stepping back to down dog, tucking your back toes, stepping the right foot back. Wanna shake out that right leg a little bit, just to let go of that ride side, go for it, and meet back in downward facing dog. Nice, so coming into the left side, inhale the left leg all the way up and back, bend the knee, open up your hip, option to stay here or start to shift the weight forward, step the left foot behind you, coming onto your left toes, and then flipping your dog, reach the left arm over your ear, lift the heart, breathe, a couple breaths. Good.

And then gaze down, unwind, reach the left leg all the way up and back, left hand comes back down to the Earth, and then draw your left knee across your body to your right tricep, option to stay here or start to thread that left leg through fallen triangle, spinning onto the heel of your back foot, reaching the right hand up, and breathing. Maybe take that top arm over your ear. Good. And then unwind, right hand comes down, left leg reach all the way up and back, down dog split, and then step it on through runner's lunge. Come onto your fingertips, and then start to walk your hands to your right so feet come parallel toward the side of your mat.

Inhale, come halfway up and lengthen, and then exhale. Any version of this fold here, might feel good to start to walk the hands behind you, with palms face down, Five breaths. Last breath. Good. And then start to crawl your hands so they come right under your shoulders, come halfway up, inhale, you might need to heel-toe the feet in just a bit, bring your hands to your hips, with a flat back, come all the way back up to stand, and then toes spin out, heels come in, and you're gonna find that goddess pose again.

So sink the weight down, bring the knees right over the ankles, and then arms reach forward, take the left arm underneath, wrap it up, eagle arms, soften the shoulders down your back, and then lift the elbows up so that they're at the height of the shoulders. I'm just gonna take a few breaths, taking in the ocean in front of me. Nice cloudy day here at the studio. Good. And then start to straighten up the legs, find warrior two towards the front of your mat, bending through your left leg.

Soften the shoulders. Soften your gaze. Just a couple of breaths here. Good, and then circle your hands down to the Earth, come onto the ball of the back foot, heel-toe the left foot just a couple times to the left, hands come on the inside of that front foot, and then again, you can stay here, maybe you lower the back knee down, taking what ever option you took on that first side. I'm gonna lower my forearms down to the Earth.

You might soften the head and the neck here. If you're coming into that quad stretch, you'll bend through that back leg, reach back with your left hand, take hold of the top of the foot, and then start to roll that left shoulder open, maybe gazing up toward the ceiling, maybe closing the eyes. And then breathe to the sensations. Notice where you might have some resistance in this posture. All good information.

And then slowly release. And again, we'll transition into single pigeon. So come up onto the palms of your hands, start to heel-toe the left foot all the way to the right side of your mat, lower the shin down, lower the hips down, and then set up however you need to here and we'll come into the left side hip opener. Maybe walking the hands forward. Just finding your expression of the pose.

About five full lungs of breath. Last two breaths. And then end your next, on your next inhale, slowly crawl your hands back up, and this time, sit the weight off to your left side, bring the legs out in front of you, we'll come into a seated forward fold here. So straightening out the legs, flexing through the feet, and then finding that nice tall spine, sitting up high, we'll inhale to reach the arms all the way up, and then exhale, folding forward. Just letting the hands fall wherever they fall.

Soften the head, the neck, the shoulders. As you inhale, slowly make your way all the way back up, and bring your feet with you so that the soles of the feet are together and the knees go wide for baddha konasana. Bringing your hands to your feet, inhaling, lifting the heart, you can also bring your hands to your ankles if that feels better. And then exhale, folding down, tucking the chin, rounding a bit through the upper back. Nice.

And then inhale, slowly come back up, and just marinate for a moment. And then we'll roll down onto our backs. So the soles of the feet to the Earth, reach your arms forward, sit up nice and tall, and just slowly roll all the way down. And when you get there, you might hug the knees into your chest and find a gentle rock side to side. And come into one bridge pose, just to counterbalance.

We brings the soles of the feet to the Earth, hips distance apart. Start to walk your heels in, and reach down with your fingertips so that you can brush the backs of your heels, and then press through all four corners of your feet, and through the palms of the hands, start to lift the hips up, any amount here. You might stay right here, or maybe start to roll the shoulders underneath you. Perhaps interlacing the fingers behind your back. Just drawing the chest toward your chin.

And take about three more breaths. Good. And then slowly lower, making your way all the way back down to the Earth. Good. As you land, drop your knees over to one side, finding an easy spinal twist.

And then we'll come over to the other side, so inhaling back through center, exhaling, dropping your knees to the other direction. An easy spinal twist, just feeling that lengthening, that stretching, in the right side body. Good. Inhale, come back up through center, and straightening up the legs, feel free to take any last posture that your body is calling for right now. Take that here, or meet me in shavasana.

Legs are long, the palms face up, closing the eyes, and then in the spirit of that grounded and rooted energy, just allow the Earth to support you, to come up and greet you, noticing the parts of the body that are making contact, and let yourself get really heavy here. And at the same time, notice that lightness, that brightness in the heart, the eyes, the face, the jaw, soften the breath, come back to that natural rhythm of breathing. And find your rest. Shavasana. You're welcome to stay here as long as you wish.

Otherwise, we'll meet in a comfortable cross-legged, seated position. So find your way there with as little effort as possible. And as you make your way there, keep the eyes closed, keeping that gaze internally for just another moment. Just acknowledging how you feel. And then we'll gather the hands together in front of the heart, bowing the head toward the hands as a sign of gratitude.

I'm grateful that you're here. Thank you so much for joining me. Namaste.