Day 27: Grounded Stretch

(rolling surf) Hey, what's up? Welcome back to YogaAnytime. This us number 27. Here we go. Bring your palms to touch, in front of your heart.

Stand tall. Stand tall with me. Breathe in, (air rushing) and breathe out. (air rushing) Okay. We're going to move.

We're gonna explore Crow. We're going to do a different type of Triangle pose today. So do what feels appropriate for you, as always. So join me at the front of the mat. Make sure you've got one block.

One block is all you need. Ground, feet. Legs strong. Ujjayi breath, I haven't been cuing it a lot. I've been kind of assuming that that's something you're still working with, so if you're still working with it, great, if not, let's regain it, okay.

Breathing in through the nose, that audible ocean-like sound. Breathing out of the nose. In and out of the nose. (air rushing) One more time, breathe in. (air rushing) Breathe out.

(air rushing) Inhale, circle the arms up overhead. (air rushing) Exhale, forward bend. (air rushing) Inhale, lift halfway. Lengthen the spine. (air rushing) Exhale, Plank pose.

(air rushing) Inhale (air rushing) Exhale, lower down halfway. (air rushing) Inhale, Upward Dog. (air rushing) Exhale, Downward Dog. (air rushing) Inhale, your right leg lifts. (air rushing) Exhale, step it up for a Lunge.

(air rushing) Stay down on the finger tips. Lift the chest. (air rushing) Good, step back into Plank. (air rushing) On your exhale, Strong Plank, halfway down. (air rushing) Inhale, upward.

(air rushing) Exhale, downward. (air rushing) Lift your left leg. Breathe in. Exhale, step it up. (air rushing) Up on the fingertips.

(air rushing) long spine, open chest. (air rushing) Step back into Plank. (air rushing) On your exhale, lower down, Strong Plank. (air rushing) Inhale, upward. (air rushing) Exhale, downward. (air rushing)

Good job. Ujjayi. (air rushing) Breathing really helps to kinda manage the postures, (air rushing) manage the energy. (air rushing) Make your way up to the front of the mat. Maybe two big giant steps, or many little steps.

(air rushing) Exhale, fold. (air rushing) Inhale, lift half. (air rushing) Exhale, fold. (air rushing) Strong legs, rise up. (air rushing) Exhale, palms to your heart center.

(air rushing) Okay. Take the block, and what we'll do is we'll bring the block down on the, let's say the outside of your right foot to start, and put it up on the highest level. 'Kay so right around there is where I'll put it. I might adjust it and then I'll guide you. Now we'll take the left leg, step it back.

I like to teach Triangle pose, right, so long, intense stretch down the right leg, if the right foot is forward. Pull the right hip back a little bit. (air rushing) Now the feet, get your feet down, lift your toes, connect the bones of the feet down into the mat. Now instead of locking the right leg, maybe put a tiny little bend in the right. Keep reaching the right hip back, and now reach the right hand as far out as you can, keeping length from the right hip up through the right side of your body.

Now let the right hand come down to the block. It's nice and lifted, you can adjust is as you'd like. 'Kay, left hand, slide it up the right arm, across the chest and all the way up. (air rushing) Take a gaze up if you'd like, take the gaze more neutral, or even let the gaze come down. (air rushing) Now we've had a nice connection with that ujjayi breath, you can maintain that.

(air rushing) Press firmly into the ball of the right foot. See if that changes it, and then check out the heel, the outer edge of the right foot. (air rushing) Bend the right leg, use your feet, your legs, your core to come back up. (air rushing) Hands on the hips. (air rushing) Pause (air rushing) Nice, step the left foot up to meet the right.

Good. (air rushing) Circle the arms high. Breathe in. (air rushing) Palms to the chest, breathe out. (air rushing) Go ahead and bend down.

Take the block over to the other side, the left side. Come all the way back up. Step the right foot back, moderate distance, not quite like a Warrior Two, but more like Warrior One. Good, left hip back, feet strong, little bend in the left, straight right leg, long from your left hip. All the way out through the left fingers, reach, reach, reach.

Left hand down on the block. Stay lifted. Right hand slides up the left arm, across and all the way open. So both limbs, arms, meaning like both arms, both legs, and the trunk of your body, everything's long. And then you add that long, extended breath in.

(air rushing) Breath out. (air rushing) Ujjayi, that audible ocean sounding breath flowing in, (air rushing) and flowing out. (air rushing) You're getting to the point in the postures that you can really feel like you're in the experience. You're controlling it. (air rushing) You're directing it. (air rushing)

It's not happening to you. Good, bend the left, come all the way up. (air rushing) Breathe in. (air rushing) and breathe out, step the right foot up to meet your left. (air rushing) Mountain pose.

Inhale, the arms high. (air rushing) Exhale, palms to your heart. (air rushing) Okay. Now let's take that block, bring it over to the right, we'll bring it to the, maybe the inside, let's see what that feels like. Left leg back.

This has, in my experience, more of like a pyramid shape, so try to get both sets of toes pointing forward. And the stance is so that you can keep your left heel really grounded down. The idea here is to not open up like triangle, but to actually, it's a revolved, it's the other way. Right so in triangle or this revolved triangle, we're gonna try and keep our hips square, and really move from more of this region of the body, and not so much in the hips and low back. So, feet, (air rushing) very important, ground down, little, tiny bend in the right leg, good.

Pull the right hip back. That's gonna wanna come forward. Keep pulling it back. Now come down about half way or so. Start of, not even by bringing your left hand to the block.

First off maybe palms to your chest, and just kind of rotate the upper body to the right. (air rushing) Bring it back to center, breathe in, and then rotate over to the right again. (air rushing) Stay rotated, bring your left arm to the block, and then maybe take the right arm (air rushing) and bring it up. (air rushing) Ujjayi breath. (air rushing) Right hip back, hips square, strong feet, strong legs.

Relaxed breath. (air rushing) Good, slowly down. (air rushing) Hips square, long spine, core engaged. Rise up. (air rushing) Step the left foot up to meet the right.

(air rushing) That one can be intense and very difficult. So, (air rushing) just keep working on it. (air rushing) Take the breath in, arms up. This is like a little bit of a clearing, cleansing breath. Moving on, (air rushing) to the next side.

Okay, block is on the inside of the left foot. Step your right foot back. Feet are hip width. Both sets of toes forward, that'll help keep the hips square, okay. Now a little, tiny bend in the left leg.

Bring your body forward, hinging, little bend, little, tiny bend, in the left leg. Now here, left hip back, left hip back, palms to the chest and rotate to the left. (air rushing) Good, inhale, center. (air rushing) Exhale, left. (air rushing) Keep whatever rotation you got there, bring the right hand to the block.

Good, maybe even take your left hand across your chest or your ribs to encourage that twist. Twist, twist, left hip back. Good, and the left arm up. (air rushing) Breathing. (air rushing) Slowly come back out.

(air rushing) Up. (air rushing) Right foot to meet the left. Palms at the chest. (air rushing) Inhale. (air rushing) Exhale, palms to your chest once again, your heart.

(air rushing) We're gonna move into a new balance. I'll face you. The block can stay there for now. So this balance here, may or may not be difficult, right. It's not always meant to be difficult, but it is a balancing pose.

But we'll bring the palms to the chest. It's lifting both heels up off the mat, like you're standing on your tiptoes. (air rushing) Okay. Really engaging through your calf muscles. And you can come down, breathe in.

(air rushing) And exhale, lift the heels. (air rushing) You can always explore single versions. But what we're gonna do now is you're gonna lift the heels, (air rushing) Stay as lifted as you can. Now the first little move is going to be kind of a simultaneous knee bend and hip back. Hip back, knee bend, arms out on front of you, good.

Slowly lowering down, keeping your chest up. (air rushing) Heels are still lifted. (air rushing) Good now press, come all the way up, lift the heels, lift the heels, lift the heels. Good job. Okay.

I'm actually gonna now come down, you stay where you are. I'm gonna turn toward the front of the mat, (air rushing) for the next little moment. We use the block in a moment. So, both up, both heels up. So what we're gonna do now my friends, is same thing, arms out in front, simultaneously a little knee bend, hips back, chest up. (air rushing)

Slowly lower down. (air rushing) So about half way down I'll start talking you into it. We're gonna squat so far down that you're gonna place your hands down on the mat, right about now, place your knees on the backs of your arms, above the elbows, tip forward, and land your Crow pose. Keep toying around with it. I'll show you one version that I haven't played with before and that's the, bring your block back into play, (air rushing) Come up on your little perch there, right.

(air rushing) Same place but you're starting up higher. Now bring those arms back down. Bring the knees as high as you possibly can. Now, you're already kinda there. (air rushing) Good, keep playing with that version with the block and then what we're gonna do, right.

So I'll allow you some time, boom, boom, boom, you've come out, maybe you fell down, maybe you didn't, maybe you're still holding it wondering when this is going to end. (laughs) The next little move, right, assuming you've got a little bit of a Crow success happening is from here, use all your core muscles and upper body shoulder muscles, right, to shoot back, low push-up, Upward Dog, breathe in, (air rushing) all the way into Child's pose. (air rushing) If right now you're like, oh I want to try that again, rewind, pause, whatever you need to do and you can meet me back here in Child's pose. But for now, I'm gonna take about two or three more breaths here, resting in Child's pose. (air rushing) And then kind of reluctantly, because Child's pose just feels so nice sometimes, we'll make our way onto our back and we'll close out with couple of different things.

Roll down, hug your knees in. (air rushing) Good job. (air rushing) Hug the right knee in. Squeeze. (air rushing) Good, and take the left leg, bend it, cross the right leg over like you would for Eagle Legs, and shift your hips to the right.

Arms out, bent legs eagle style. Little two breath little twist here. So use the legs to help deepen the twist. Primarily your left leg. Good, one more breath here.

(air rushing) Good, come back up, over to the center of the mat, give a little squeeze knee to chest. Remember this is Wind Relieving pose so you gotta go, ya gotta go. (laughs) That, do you know, you're pressing the knee into the intestines, right. Okay, right leg, cross it over, shift to the left, Eagle Legs, move whatever you need to move out of this region to make it more comfortable. Arms out, breathe in, use your right leg to help guide the left across, across, across.

(air rushing) Ujjayi still driving the practice. (air rushing) Okay, slowly back up. Shifting back to center. (air rushing) Both knees in, as tight as you can. (air rushing) Feet down, bottoms of the feet together.

(air rushing) How 'bout this? Let's end the final relaxation today together with three long breaths. So breathe in, belly, then expand through the ribs, all the way up into your chest. Full, long, forever exhale, with the mouth open. (air rushing) Two more, inhale.

(air rushing) Exhale, mouth open. (air rushing) One more, breathe in. (air rushing) And exhale. (air rushing) Awesome, roll to your right side and push yourself up. Up, up, and away.

Back to a seated position. We'll close out with a little energy, a little life. That was number 27. I'm so happy. We're here.

So sad at the same time. Only three more to go, three more. Thank you. Namaste. Have a great day.

(air rushing)