Gradual Awakening

Good morning. So this practice is designed to inspire a nice, slow, gradual awakening into our bodies and into our day. So we'll bring some attention towards moving consciously with our breath, starting on our back and easing into Sun Salutations. So find your way onto you back and just begin by drawing your knees into your chest. And just allow yourself to rock a little bit from side to side here, checking in with your back, your spine, your pelvis, and we'll move right into windshield wipers, stretching the arms overhead, bringing the soles of the feet wider than your hips, maybe as wide as your mat.

Inhale. Exhale, let your knees fall to the left, finding the edges of the feet. Inhale, draw the knees up to center and exhale, over to the right. And continue, inhale, drawing the knees up, exhale, to a side. Inhale, knees up, exhale, over to the other side.

And continue, beginning to coordinate the movement with your breath. Feeling that movement and freedom up through the spine and right up through the base of your skull. So as you move here with your breath, notice where in the body you can begin to soften and relax any tension or gripping, maybe through the eyes, the jaw, the shoulders, and just a few more rounds, stretching and lengthening through the arms and down through the side body, down the thighs, into the knees, and can you get a sense here of breathing not only into the front of the ribs, but the side body and the back body. You might imagine this three-dimensional breath as you inhale into the ribcage. A few more rounds.

Nice and then let the knees come back up to center, bring the soles of the feet about hip distance, release your arms down along your sides, bring your right ankle across to your left thigh, coming into an easy hip opener here. On your inhale, rotate the right knee in towards your heart, exhale, from your hip, send the knee away. Inhale, rotate the knee into your heart and exhale, let the hip open. One more time, inhale, rotate the right knee in, exhale, send the knee way, let it open, stretch your arms out to your sides and begin to rock from side to side here, rolling onto the inner outer edge of your left foot, just like in windshield wipers but now there's a deeper opening through your right hip. And you might flex your ankle here, you might let your spine move here, feeling that ease up through the base of your skull.

Then let it come back into center, stay here or draw your left knee into your chest for Eye of the Needle. You might curl up, use your belly, draw the chin into the chest and find the back of the thigh or maybe the top of the left shin and then release the head down towards the floor, softening the shoulders down the back, and notice here the quality of your breath, getting a sense of breathing into where you feel sensation. Most likely there's a strong stretch happening through the right hip. A few more moments here. As you breathe into where you feel it, notice where you can, again, continue to soften through the back of the eyes, the back of the heart and the hands.

Continue to flex the right ankle, send the knee away as you draw the left knee in. Beautiful, one more inhale. And exhale, lower the left foot, free the right leg up towards the sky. Support the back of your right leg and then point and flex the foot a few times, making some circles with the ankle in both directions. It's kind of awakening the ankle joint, the foot.

Good, and then extend your left leg towards straight, flex both feet, stabilize your pelvis and your core, and then slowly lower the right leg all the way to the floor, drawing your lower belly into the spine. Take your time here as you lengthen the right leg. Beautiful. Once you're done, relax the effort, let the palms open. Take a few moments to pour your awareness through the body.

Observe sensation. Allow for an inhale and an audible sigh out of the mouth on the exhale (sighs). One more time, full breath in, and exhale out of the mouth (sighs). When you're ready, bend your knees again, feet about hip distance. We'll find that on the left side.

Bring the left ankle across the right thigh. First step is to flex the ankle and then send the left knee away. As you inhale, rotate the left knee in towards your heart, and exhale, from the hip joint, let the knee move away, the hip open. Inhale, feeling that internal rotation, and exhale, let it open. About two more times, drawing your awareness deep into your left hip joint, and notice where you can soften and relax any effort here.

Next time you send the knee away and the hip opens, stretch your arms out to your sides and let the shape rock from side to side. So again you're rolling onto the inner outer edge of your right foot, just like in windshield wipers, and then feeling that freedom up through the neck, through the eyes. Breathing. (sighs) Nice, eventuality rock it back to center, stay here or draw your right knee into your chest for Eye of the Needle. Again, you might curl up, chin to the chest, find the back of the right thigh or top of the shin and then releasing the shoulders and the head down, creating a bit more space between your shoulders and your ears.

Find a bit more ease through the base of your skull, your eyes, your fingers, and notice the quality of your breath as the sensation deepens in that left hip. (sighs) Inviting your inhale to perhaps create a bit more space around the left hip and then on the exhalation, softening and releasing. Allow for one more inhale. When you're ready, exhale, lower your right foot, extend your left leg up and you might support the back of your left leg and then point and flex your left foot. And then making some circles with the ankle, you might hear like a snap, crackle, pop.

I know I do. Both directions. And then extend your right leg, flex the foot, flex the left foot as well, and then nice and slow, release the hands, use your belly to lower you down. So stabilizing your hips, your pelvis, and draw the lower belly into the spine. Take your time as you reach through your left heel.

Beautiful and then relax the effort, palms up, pour your awareness through the body and observe any sensations. Notice the feeling tone through the pelvis and through the legs. Allow for an inhale, nice full breath, and exhale everything (sighs). And again, deep breath in, and exhale (sighs). When you're ready bend your knees, hug your knees into your chest, and then bring your hands around your kneecaps.

As you inhale, let both knees move away from you, let your arms lengthen, create space, exhale, draw the knees into your chest. Again, inhale, knees move away, arms lengthen. And exhale, draw the knees into your chest. Let's do that two more times. Inhale, knees move away.

Exhale, draw the knees into the chest. Inhale, knees move away. Exhale, draw the knees in. You might stay here or curl up, bring your forehead towards your shins, get round, and then release the head. From here you might rock your way up to a seat or roll to your side and use your arms to press yourself up.

Let's transition onto our knees. If your knees are tender this morning, you might tuck a blanket underneath for padding and let's come right into what I affectionately call toe torture pose. So we're just gonna start off tucking the toes under. And as you tuck the toes under, begin to walk your hands back and the hands might even come on to your thighs here (sighs) and then begin to soften and relax the face and the jaw and you might begin to sink your hips back towards your heels, putting some pressure on the toes and then softening the shoulders down the back. Feeling the stomach muscles begin to kinda wake up, stabilize and engage.

From here, interlace your fingers and begin to stretch your arms up towards the sky, drawing your ribs in, let your tailbone descend towards your heels, take a nice full breath into the body, feeling the breath move into the front body, the side body and the back body. (sighs) Last few moments you might brighten up through the heart, the throat, softening the elbows a little bit. Keep drawing the ribs in. Beautiful. One more inhale and exhale, release the arms.

Nice work. Release your hands, release the tops of the feet. Moving right into Cat Cow from here. So, knees about hip distance apart, spread your fingers. As you inhale, roll your pelvis forward, lengthen your spine, and exhale, pull the belly into the spine, get round, and enjoy the stretch in the back of the body as you release the head.

As you inhale, shoulders over the wrists, roll the pelvis forward, reaching out through your sit bones, wide through your collar bones and your shoulder blades might dip towards each other, creating space through the neck without pinching to look up. And then exhale, move a few rounds with your breath. Inhale, rolling the pelvis forward and arching, stretching the front of the spine. Exhale, curl and get round. And as you move in and out with your breath, this is a nice time to kinda soften your sensory awareness inwards, softening the eyes and tuning into the sensations through the body.

You might pause and linger when you find a curious or sticky spot in the body. Breathing into where you feel it. Good. Coming into neutral from here, we'll press back into a Child's Pose for a few moments. Softening the forehead towards the floor and then stretching and drawing the hips towards your heels.

Maybe a little wobble from side to side, breathing into the back body. Nice full breath into the back of the heart, mid-back, down into your lower back. Softening the jaw on the exhale, softening the belly (sighs). On your inhale, came back into Tabletop. We'll take it into a Side Plank variation.

Spread the right finders wide, stack the shoulder over the wrist and extend back through your left foot. Pivot onto the outer left edge, as you transfer the weight, stretch your left arm up to the sky. Ah, and reach from your heart into both hands. Now you're back bottom right foot might be turned out like a kickstand. So you press and lift up through the hips.

Circle the left arm in front of the face and in to the front of the mat. So you really go after that nice long length on the left side body. Take a nice full breath. This feels so sweet. And then release the left arm down by the back foot.

Come back into your Tabletop, back onto all fours. Inhale, arching, lengthening through the spine and exhale, curl and get round, and as you get round, tuck your toes under, and play with finding a round, kind of a mean angry cat shape. So you get round and you draw your hips back towards your heels. Take a nice full breath into the back body. Beautiful.

Come back onto all fours. Shoulders over the wrists. We'll find that on the other side. Spread the left fingers wide, stack your shoulder over your wrist, extend back through your right foot. Pivot onto the outer right edge and then as you transfer the weight, extend, reach your right arm up towards the sky.

Again, you might adjust the bottom foot, turning it out like a kickstand. And then press into the heart, the heart into both hands. Beautiful, breathing. Sweep the right arm, the top arm, down by the back foot, in front of your face into the front of the mat. Reach, lengthen and breathe.

The heart might brighten. You might gaze up toward your right hand. Yes, find that length on the right side as you inhale, and exhale, release the right arm down by the back foot. Come back into your Tabletop. Again, inhale, arching and lengthening, and exhale, curl and get round.

Good, come back onto all fours, tuck your toes under in preparation for Plank Pose. Spread the fingers, draw the shoulder blades down the back. Draw the belly into the spine. Tuck the toes and come into Plank. In this first Plank, we'll work active here, drawing the shoulder blades down the back, about three full breaths.

Yeah, strong through the legs. As you draw the belly into the spine, reach back through the heels and forward through the heart. Nice, one more inhale. Exhale, root through your fingers, press back into your Downward Facing Dog. (sighs) Walk it off a little bit.

You might bend the knees, come high up onto the balls of your feet. And then bend one knee and stretch the calf and heel to the floor. Bend that knee and stretch the calf and heel. Walking it off a little bit, just kinda easing into your hamstrings here. You might find your hips wanna move.

See if you can really distribute or ground the weight into both hands evenly. Nice, and from here, we'll walk our feet nice and slow towards our hands. Take your time. Making your way there. Once you're there, bend your knees.

We'll pause in Utanasana, Standing Forward Bend, spreading the toes. You might roll the weight forward into the balls of the feet. The arms might dangle or find the forearms as you begin to lengthen out of the waist. Lean a little bit from side to side here. Taking a nice full breath into the back of your body.

Again, the knees might be bent. Really let the head release. So the head is heavy and you could even nod the head a little bit, no and yes, finding that ease through the base of your skull. And then slow when you're ready, release your arms, chin into your chest and slowly roll up to standing, keeping the chin into the chest. Keep the chin in as you slowly unfurl like a fern to the sun.

Heart, shoulders and head. And here at the top of your mat, take a few moments to feel your feet. So drawing your awareness down into your feet, spreading your toes with enthusiasm really helps. Nice, and then let the bottoms of the feet really open here, maybe a soft bend or bounce through the knees. Wide and spacious through the pelvis.

Taking a few moments to consciously ground and center as you begin to lift and lengthen up through the pelvic floor a bit. Kind of awakening up through the front of the spine to the heart, right to the base of your skull. The ribs softening in, the tailbone descending. Draw some awareness towards the quality of your breath. (sighs) Finding the full expression of the breath with the lungs expanding into the rib cage, stretching into the walls of the intercostal muscles, and with the exhalation, the lungs emptying, the belly releasing.

A few more moments like this before we move into our Sun Salutations. Feeling the quality, the expression of the breath moving through the body. Maintaining that spaciousness through the base of your skull. From here, bring your hands together at your heart. Spreading your toes, you might bring your feet next to each other, slightly wider.

We'll find a clearing breath, inhale. Nice full exhalation (sighs). Moving with our breath, we'll inhale, circle the arms up to the sky and lengthen. Exhale, forward fold, hinge at the hips, release the head and the arms. Inhale, half arch, lengthen your spine.

Exhale, bend your knees, plant your hands, step back into Plank. Take a moment to pause in your Plank, super strong and active here, alive through the fingers and the legs. Lower the knees or lower all the way down, nice and slow, keeping your elbows in, nice and slow. All the way onto your belly for Locust. Tops of the feet, reach your fingers towards your toes.

On an inhale, lift the heart. Reach and draw the back body into your spine, long through the neck, wide through the base of the skull. Yes, let the inhale lift you up, exhale lower you down. Bring your forehead to the floor. Take a moment to pause.

We'll find that one more time. (sighs) As you inhale, begin to rise up, lift the heart, lift the legs. Now the fingers might reach towards the toes or you might interlace the fingers around the low back, sacrum, wide through the collar bones, active though the legs, spin the inner thighs up towards the sky. Yes, can you get a sense of breathing into the back body as you lift? And then exhale, slow lower down.

Slide the palms underneath the shoulders, tuck your toes under, get round, and press back into a Child's Pose for a moment. Draw the hips towards the heels. Nice full breath into the back body. Spread the fingers wide. Inhale, come back onto all fours, tuck the toes under, extend back into your Plank.

Take a moment to pause in your Plank, strong and active, and then down to Downward Facing Dog, lengthening your spine, spreading your fingers wide apart. Taking about three full breaths here. Can you get a sense of breathing into the back of the heart? Into the back of the body. Beautiful.

Nice and slow, when you're ready, walk your feet towards your hands. Good and then inhale, lengthen the spine. Exhale, forward fold. Strong through the legs. Inhale, circle the arms up to the sky.

Lengthen, lengthen and then slow, releasing the arms down. Taking a moment to pause here in Mountain Pose, spreading the toes. From here we'll find a variation of Sun Salutation B, starting with Chair Pose. Spreading the toes, bend the knees a lot, sink down into your legs and then press the palms together and wrap your upper arm bones. Pressing the pinkies towards each other, draw the belly button towards the spine, sink down into your heels.

Take a nice full breath into the back body. (sighs) Inhale, exhale, press down through your feet, rise up to standing. Lengthen and exhale, forward fold, releasing the head and the arms. Inhale, half arch, lengthen your spine. Exhale, plant your hands, bend your knees, step back into your Plank.

Take a moment to pause in your Plank, nice strong and active, alive here. Lower the knees or lower through all the way. Inhale to Cobra or Upward Facing Dog. Taking a moment to pause if you're in Upward Dog, drawing the shoulder blades down the back, lifting the heart, lifting the thighs. Exhale, Downward Facing Dog.

Take a moment to catch your breath, breathing into the back of your body, back of the heart. Nice, as you inhale, lift your right leg high to the sky and as you exhale, knee to nose, and step it forward into a Warrior One. Step the foot forward and then pivot onto the outer edge of your back foot. As you inhale, rise up, palms together. Bend the right knee and a little pulse as you inhale, lift up, exhale, sink in.

Inhale, lift up a little. Exhale, sink in. Take a breath into the back of the body. And then exhale, release the arms. Spin onto the ball of the back foot, lower the knee.

As you inhale, rise up, hook the thumbs. Inhale, lift from the belly all the way, pull the thumbs apart as you draw the shoulder blades down the back. Inhale, exhale, release the hands. Tuck the back toes, lift the back leg, step back, Downward Facing Dog. Walking it off, catching your breath.

Inhale, forward into Plank pose. Shoulders over the wrists. Lower the knees or lower though Chaturanga. Low pushup, keeping the elbows in. Inhale to your Cobra or Upward Dog.

Pause, lift, lengthen, brighten the heart. Exhale, navel to spine, Downward Facing Dog. Again, spread the fingers wide. Nice smooth breathing. Second side, we'll inhale the left leg high to the sky.

Exhale, knee to nose, step it through, Warrior One. Pivot onto the outer edge of the right foot and inhale, rise up. Strong legs, palms together. Inhale, lift up a little bit and exhale, sink down a little bit. Inhale draws you up, exhale sinks you down.

Take another full breath into the back of the body, rising up through the heart, ribcage lifting up off of your pelvis. Exhale, release the hands, spin onto the ball of your back foot. Beautiful job. Lower the right knee. Inhale, rise up, hook the thumbs.

Inhale, lift form the low belly, pull the thumbs apart, brighten the heart, draw the shoulder blades down the back. Find that ease in the neck. Exhale, release the hands, tuck the back toes, lift the back leg, step back into your Downward Facing Dog. Again, walking it off, catching your breath. Breathing into the back of the heart.

(sighs) Let an inhale bring you forward into Plank pose. Nice strong here. Pause. Exhale lowers you all the way down, Chaturanga. Inhale to Cobra or Upward Dog.

Peeling the heart, softening the shoulders down the back. And exhale, navel to spine, press back. Downward Facing Dog. Breathing three full breaths. Letting the head release, letting the neck release.

When you're ready, walk or hop your feet towards your hands. Inhale, half arch, lengthen your spine and exhale, forward bend. Bend the knees for Chair Pose. Spread the toes, sink down into the heels and inhale, rise up. Press the palms together and find that external rotation through the shoulders.

Draw the belly into the spine. Nice full breath here. Exhale, press down, rise up, and release. (sighs) Drawing your awareness down into your feet, noticing the sensation arising through the body. (sighs) So you ground through the feet, wide through the base of the skull.

For a moment, see if you can catch that current of energy moving through the body. Notice the quality of your breath. Nice. Letting your eyes open. We'll make our way down to the earth with Malasana, Squat Pose.

Nice work with the Sun Salutations. They really work to warm up the body and strengthen the body. So take a few moments with your feet wide and come into your yogi squat, your Malasana. It might look different depending on the day and what you're working with in your knees, your hips, your feet. See if you can here lengthen out of your lower back, to find a bit of ease through the face.

This is one of my favorite poses to release the lower back and just open up the pelvis, the hips. From here, bring your hands behind you or find your own creative way to come onto your sit bones. And the we're gonna stretch our legs out. So from here, take a few moments in your Staff Pose, Dandasana, to flex your feet. You might pull the flesh out from underneath your sit bones.

And then press your hands, your palms, towards the floor. Draw the navel up into the spine and really see if you can find some length through the front of your spine as you soften the shoulders down the back. Nice. Taking a few breaths here, nice and long through your spine, hugging the shoulder blades towards each other. This is a lot of work inside.

Nice. Inhale and then exhale, release the hands behind you, draw the shoulders down the back, let the palms face forward, towards you, and then bend your knees. Bring your feet about hip distance apart as we come into our Reverse Tabletop. Spread the fingers wide. From here we're gonna scoop the tailbone under and up and begin to press down and lift the pelvis up.

Opening the shoulders, wide through the collarbones, long for your thighs and the action is to draw the inner thighs towards each other. Now depending on your neck this morning, you might keep your chin right into your chest and work to press the palms, draw the sacrum up and in. If appropriate, you might begin to open up and release the head, pressing the palms down, lifting the hips, breathing. (sighs) When you're ready to release, if your head is dropped, draw the chin in, lower the belly, lower the pelvis, walk your hands back up and free your legs. Coming into a Revolved Head to Knee, Janu Sirsasana.

Draw your left knee in and then bring the sole of the left foot towards the right inner thigh. The left knee is about 90 degree angle. And then square your hips here and take a moment to settle in. Inhale, lengthening your spine. For me the action is to like draw the right belly back a little bit, squaring the hips.

You might stay right here or you might begin to fold forward. Taking your time here as you breathe. Lengthening the back of the neck, lengthening the front of the torso, the front of the spine. And if the foot is right there and available, you might begin to fold forward, maybe clasping the hands around the foot. Again, every so often, inhale, lengthen the spine and exhale, fold forward.

Getting a sense of the breath in the back body. Maybe drawing the right belly back a little bit as you twist. From here, inhale begin to lengthen and look up, and then exhale, release. Draw the left knee in, left foot on the floor, extend your left leg. Hands underneath the right knee, draw the foot in and then from the ankle, the hip, let it open.

So the right knee is back about a 90 degree angle. Square the hips and then inhale, begin to lengthen your spine. You might stay upright this morning, you might begin to walk forward. Again, if your foot is right there, you might interlace. Inhale, lengthen, pulling your left belly back as you fold forward.

See if you can ground a bit more through your right hip and sit bone and then feeling the breath move and expand into the back of your body. Right, as you soften the jaw, you might notice this side feels different. Finding your smooth even breath here. Slow when you're ready, inhale, lengthen your spine, looking up and then release your hands, draw your right knee in, foot on the floor, extend through your right leg. And then bring your feet back underneath you.

Now, here you might take a reverse tabletop again, drawing the shoulders under the back, fingers pointing towards your sacrum. Right, you might lift your hips. You might take a variation of Purvottanasana, extending your legs, drawing the shoulders down the back and then begin to press down, lift the pelvis, press down through the feet. Again, your chin might stay into your chest or you might open the throat. Breathing, pressing down through the palms.

If you're in Purvottanasana, press down through the big toes. Inhale, exhale, slow, releasing the pelvis down, drawing the chin into the chest, coming through to your Staff Pose, Dandasana. Taking a moment to pause, lengthen the spine, drawing the heels of the hands towards the floor. (sighs) One more twist. So draw your left knee in and this time we're gonna bring our foot around our ankle.

Keep your ankle drawing in towards your foot as you open the knee. So you're keeping it nice and closed, the knee, as you open your pelvis. So your right leg is extended and your left heel is close in. Press down through the left hand as you inhale the right arm up to the sky, flexing the right foot and enjoy this stretch as you feel and find length on the right side of the body. Inhale, and then exhale, begin to lengthen, aahhh.

And then you might reach the left arm up towards the sky. You can tell I really like this stretch. And then take a moment to really kinda go after the stretch. Let it feel nice as you lengthen. And then exhale, you might bring your right hand inside and maybe that left hand is around the right foot.

Take a nice full breath into the side body and into the back body. And find the place always where your neck and head feels comfortable. When you're ready, take a look down, inhale, reach with your top left arm, come all the way back up. And take a moment to like pause and notice how you feel. When you're ready to release, bring your left hand onto your left ankle, keep your knee closed as you come back and then free your left leg.

And then other side. We'll draw our right knee in. Bring your right hand around your right ankle. Keep the knee closed as you let your hip open. Draw the leg behind you.

So that right heel is right towards the sit bone. Extend through your left leg and maybe flex your foot. From here, release your right hand down. Inhale your left arm up to the sky and enjoy the stretch on the left side body. This feels pretty awesome.

Inhale and as you exhale, maintain the length as you lengthen. From here you might release the top arm, that right arm. You might bring the left arm to the inside of the left leg and that right hand might find the foot as you begin to rotate and brighten the heart up towards the sky, breathing. Breathing into the side body, the back body. And finding a place where your neck and head are comfortable.

When you're ready to release, inhale, reach with your top right arm. Let it carry you back up. Again, taking a moment to pause. (sighs) Bring your right hand to your right ankle. Keep your knee closed as you draw the leg back in.

Right foot comes down. Free the right leg. Take a moment to pause. And the last time, finding Reverse Tabletop with the feet right underneath your hips or the variation of Purvottanasana, coming up. As you're ready, draw the shoulder down the back, draw the tailbone under, press up and lift.

Again, your chin might draw towards your chest or you might open the throat. If you're in Purvottanasana, press the big toes into the floor, press the sole of the foot into the floor. And then draw the chin to the chest, slowly lower down, extend the legs, we'll take a nice, easy forward fold. Finding an even stretch here. Lengthening the front of the spine.

And then folding forward any amount. Hands might be on your shins, your ankles, around your feet. Few more full breaths here, breathing into wherever you feel the sensation. And then slow, release the hands, roll your way up towards a seat. Take a moment to pause.

(sighs) Now from here, you might roll onto your back and find a Savasana, final relaxation. You might join me in a seat for a few moments to close our practice. Wherever you're at, taking a few moments to ease into it. Allowing your eyes to soften, wide through the base of the skull. Noticing the sensation of the breath as it moves through the body, the rise and fall.

Allowing yourself to linger in this quality of ease before transitioning into the next thing. A few more moments. Gradually drawing the hands together at the heart. Taking an inhale together. Exhale everything.

(sighs) Here if you'd like to join me in an Om, allow for an inhale, Om. Namaste. Thank you for your practice.