Morning Sunshine

(waves crashing) Good morning. This is a practice to just kinda help us get in the mood for our day or what's ahead. We'll start by finding a bit more freedom and space up through our shoulders and our neck. Go ahead and just start with your feet slightly wide and as you inhale draw your shoulders up and then exhale, drop your shoulders down. Inhale, roll the shoulders back and up.

Exhale and drop, and then one more time, drawing the shoulders up and then exhale and drop. Let's take some shoulder rolls, rolling the shoulders back one at a time. This is a good place to get into it. So begin to, as you press down through your feet, feeling your shoulders lift, your elbows, feeling your ribs begin to move. Let it feel nice here.

Softening through the jaw. We'll move in the opposite direction a few times. Good, coming back through the center. We'll interlace our fingers, stretch the palms away, go down through the feet, lengthen up through the spine, and take it up, out and over to the right. Pressing down through the left foot and lengthening up through the left side of the body.

Take a nice full breath. And then inhale, come back up to center, and exhale over to your left, press down through your right foot and find more length on the right side. And take a nice, full breath into the right side body. On your inhale, come back up to center and release your arms down again. We'll inhale, squeeze the shoulders up, and exhale, relax the shoulders down.

Reach your right arm out to the side, find the internal rotation, and bring the back of the hand to rest, either at your sacrum or between your shoulder blades. And then from here, draw your chin to your chest and then bring your left ear towards your left shoulder, so you're beginning to stretch away from that right elbow. Take a few moments, reach down through the left arm and breathe in. You might stay here. You might begin to gently explore up through the neck and the shoulders.

Relaxing through the face. Relaxing through the jaw. And breathing into where you feel it. Nice, let's take one more inhale and then exhale, release your chin to your chest, and then slowly release your right arm. You might just shake it out a little bit.

And then reach your left arm out. Find that internal rotation, and bring the back of the hand to rest either in your sacrum or between your shoulder blades. Once you're there, drawing your chin to your chest and then (mumbling) towards your right shoulder, so you're stretching away from that left elbow. You might ground through your feet a little bit, reach more through your right arm, and beginning to breathe into any sticky parts, areas around your neck, your throat. See if you can relax a bit through the eyes.

Breathing up into the chest. And you might gently explore with the head and the gaze. Wow (laughs). Gently, when you're ready, let the chin come towards the chest and then release your left arm. Let your head come up and shake your arms out a little bit.

Let's come towards the top of our mat. Take a few moments here. Spread your feet wide, bend your knees, bring your hands onto your legs and just come into a forward bend. Nice and slow, rounding the spine. Let the head release, spreading the toes.

And you might lean a little bit side to side here. Let the head fully release. Let the back of neck lengthen. And then nice and slow, bend your knees, come into squat. You might turn your feet out, you might find your heels are lifting, and sink down into your squat.

From here, press your right hand into the floor and inhale your left arm up to the sky. And you might press your right elbow into your leg as you inhale and reach, lengthening out of the back body and the waist. Inhale, exhale, release. Plant the left hand, inhale, right arm up, and lengthen. Let it feel nice, breathing.

You might press the left elbow into the left leg. Inhale, exhale, release the right hand. Come back into a standing forward bend. Heel the feet slightly closer together underneath your hips. Soft through the knees, chin into your chest, and then slowly roll up to standing, keeping your chin in and your head last.

Feeling your heart, your shoulders and your head. Taking a few moments here in your tadasana, your mountain pose. We'll begin to move with our breath, finding a sun salutation. From here, moving with our breath. Inhale, circle the arms up, exhale, forward fold.

Releasing the head and the arms. Inhale, half arch, lengthen. Exhale, step back into plank. Take a moment to pause and plank. Lower the knees, nice and slow, elbows into the ribs.

Lower all the way onto the belly, and then inhale, press up to cobra, tops of the feet, lifting the heart, and drawing the heart forward, softening the shoulders down the back. Exhale, release. Tuck the toes under, press up, and back to downward facing dog. Taking a few breaths here, walking it off in your first downward dog. Spreading your fingers, lengthening your spine.

On an inhale, we'll come forward into plank pose, bringing the shoulders over the wrists, taking a moment to pause and plank. Strong through your legs, strong through your core. Feeling the fire in the legs. Then we'll press back into downward facing dog. We'll do that a few times.

Inhale, lengthening the spine, exhale, grounding through the heels. On an inhale, come forward into blank pose, shoulders over the wrist. Again, taking a moment to pause and plank. Exhale, press back, downward facing dog. Walking it off a little bit.

Good, from here, lower the knees and press back, child's pose for a moment. Drawing the hips towards the heels and taking a nice full breath into the back body. Spread the fingers wide apart, inhale, come back onto all fours, and we'll move through cat cow from here. As you inhale, begin to roll your pelvis forward, drawing your heart forward, drawing the shoulder blades down the back, and then exhale, curl the tail bone under, get round, releasing the head. Inhale, roll the pelvis forward, arching through the back, wide through the collarbones.

You might even tuck your toes under. And then exhale, curl and get round, releasing. Continue doing this a few times, feeling this movement through the spine. Inhale, arching and lengthening without pinching your neck. Finding that ease as you exhale, pull the belly up into the spine, get round.

You might draw your hips towards your heels. And then inhale, rolling the pelvis forward, lengthening and exhale, get round. Coming back into neutral when you're ready. Step back into your plank. Nice, strong plank for a breath or two.

And then press back, downward facing dog. Spreading the fingers. On an inhale, reach the right leg to the sky, come high up onto the ball of the left foot, and as you inhale, reach your tail bone up towards the sky. Good, square the hips. And then draw the right knee towards the nose as you get round, bring the right foot between the hands.

Taking a moment here. Slow, lower the knee down. Inhale, lift the knee, plant the left hand, bring the right thumb into the hip crease and twist to your right, twisting lunge. Reach your right arm up towards the sky, strong through the back leg. Lengthening, breathing.

Inhale, exhale, release the right hand down. Step back, downward facing dog. Walking it off, lengthening the spine. On an inhale, come forward into plank pose. And then exhale, nice and slow, to the knees or all the way onto your belly, nice and slow.

This time, we'll come into a sphinx pose. Spread the arms out in front of you, lengthen, and then slide up onto your forearms. Bring your elbows out in front of your shoulders, so they're not right up into the ribs. Press the tops of the feet into the floor, and you might spin the inner thighs up towards the sky, finding a bit of an internatal rotation, as you begin to traction the heart forward. You're finding this opening through the upper body and through the chest and the upper back.

Taking a few breaths here. See if you can soften and relax through the belly and the butt a little a bit as you really feel and work that stretch and opening through the upper back, through the chest, and releasing the back of the neck. Allow for an inhale, exhale, release. Bring the palms underneath the shoulders, tuck the toes under, get round, come onto your knees, get super round and then slowly press back towards a child's pose, drawing the hips towards the heels, forehead towards the floor. Taking a nice, full breath into the back body.

Spread the fingers. As you're ready, roll back onto all fours. Table top, tuck the toes, come into plank. From plank, downward facing dog. We'll find that on the other side.

When you're ready, inhale the left leg high to the sky, come up high onto the ball of the right foot as you lengthen here. Let this feel nice. Good, equal weight through the hands. And then slow, draw the knee towards the nose as you step the foot forward, coming into your lunge. You might wiggle back through the ball of the foot.

Lower that right knee for a moment, and then press down and lift. Draw the left thumb into the left hip crease. Ground through the right hand, reach back through the ball of the right foot, and then twist to your left. Reaching the left arm up towards the sky. Breathing.

Inhale, exhale, release the left arm down. Step back, downward facing dog. From downward dog, inhale forward into plank pose. Exhale, lower all the way down, this time to locus. Fingers towards the toes, inhale, lift the chest and lift the legs.

We're drawing our back body in towards our spine and then finding some ease through the neck, breathing. Inhale, lift, exhale, release. Tuck the toes under, get round and press back. Child's pose for a moment. Taking a breath into the back body.

When you're ready, spread the fingers, inhale, come back into table top. Tuck the toes, find your plank. From plank, downward facing dog. As you're ready, inhale the right leg high to the sky. You might come high up onto the ball of the left foot.

Good, square the hips. And then draw the knee towards the nose and step it through. Pivot onto the outer back edge of the left foot as you rise up into warrior one. Inhale the arms up to the sky and take a few moments to settle into your warrior one. Good, inhale, lift, and then exhale, bring the elbows wide.

Scoop the elbows under and up like cactus arms. Pressing to the ball of the right foot, right leg towards straight, arms stretch up, exhale, pull the elbows apart. Sink in warrior one. Again, inhale, press into the ball of the right foot, arms stretch up. Exhale, bend the right knee and pulling the right hip back, the left hip forward.

One more time, press into the ball of the right foot, arms up, exhale and pull. Inhale, reach up, and then exhale, interlace the fingers behind the back. Inhale, lift the chest, bend the knee, and then you might begin to lean in and forward. Bringing the right shoulder inside of the right leg, arms stretch up out and over for humble warrior breathing. As you inhale, come all the way back up, release the arms back up towards the sky.

Exhale, release the hands around the front foot. Step back into plank. From plank, lower all the way down. Inhale, cobra, peel the heart up, lengthen the spine, and exhale, release. Tuck the toes under, press back, downward facing dog.

Breathing. Spreading the fingers. As you're ready, inhale, lift the left leg high to the sky. You might come high up onto the ball of the right foot, and then exhale, draw it through into warrior one. Pivot onto the outer back edge of the right foot.

On an inhale, rise up, warrior one. Taking a few moments to settle in here, as you root through the outer edge of the back foot. Nice, and then pulling the elbows apart, finding a cactus variation. Scooping the elbows under and up. Inhale, press into the ball of the left foot, arms reach up.

Exhale, pull the elbows apart, warrior two. Inhale, press into the ball of the left foot, arms lengthen. Exhale and pull. Two more times, inhale, press up, lengthen. Exhale and pull the elbows apart.

Inhale, reach up, lengthen, and then exhale, release the hands behind you, interlace the fingers, inhale, go up through the chest. Exhale, bend the knee. You might stay here or fold forward. As you fold forward, bringing the left shoulder on the inside of the left leg. Root through the outer edge of the back foot and breathe.

Let the head release. Arms might get heavy. As you're ready, inhale. Come all the way back up, reach the arms up to the sky, lengthen and then exhale, release the hands. Step back into your plank.

From plank, lower all the way down to cobra. Or inhale, come up, upward facing dog. And exhale, downward facing dog. Taking a few breaths here. Spreading the fingers wide, lengthening through your spine.

From here, as you're ready, inhale the right leg high to the sky and as you exhale, bring your right knee to your right elbow, shoulders over the wrists. Inhale the right leg to the sky, and exhale, draw the knee and the hand, the foot right between the hand. Root through the outer edge of the back foot for your warrior two. As you inhale, come up to your warrior two. Taking a moment here to settle in and pause.

Rooting through the feet, lengthening through the spine. Flip the palms up, inhale, press into the ball of the right foot, arms reach up. Exhale and open. Inhale, rise up. Exhale and open.

Two more times. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale, pause. And then release the hands around the front foot. Step back, downward facing dog.

From downward dog, inhale forward into plank pose. From plank, lower all the way down on the knees. Inhale to cobra or upward dog. Pause, draw the shoulders down the back. Exhale, press back, downward facing dog.

Taking a few breaths here. Lengthening. As you're ready, inhale the left leg to the sky. Exhale, knee to left elbow. Inhale, leg to the sky.

Exhale, step it through between the hands, pivot onto the outer back edge of the right foot, and then rise up into your warrior two. Sink down, we'll pulse. Breathe, settle in. Flip the palms up, inhale, press into the ball. Left foot, arms circle.

Exhale and open. Inhale, arms rise up. Exhale. Two more. Inhale.

Exhale. Inhale, reach the arms up. Exhale, bend the left knee open, and then release the right arm down around the front foot. Spin onto the ball of the back foot. Step back, downward facing dog.

On an inhale, come forward into plank. On an exhale, lower the knees or come all the way down. Inhale to cobra or upward dog. Pause and lengthen. Exhale, press back, downward facing dog.

From here, inhale forward into plank. We'll play towards a full side plank, vashistasana. Plant the right hand and then begin to shift your weight into the right hand. You might stack the feet or bring the right foot in front of you as you reach the left arm up toward the sky, breathing. You might bring the arm up over the top of the head as you lengthen.

And then come back into your plank. Wherever you are, we'll meet in downward facing dog. (sighs and laughs) Taking a few breaths. We'll find the other side. Inhale forward into plank pose, shifting the weight into your left hand, stacking your shoulder over your wrist.

You might play with a variation here as you reach your right arm up towards the sky. Again, you can always play with dropping that right foot in front or behind. Here, you might reach the right arm over the top of the head. Inhale, exhale, release back into your plank and back into downward facing dog. Bend the knees, child's pose.

Nice and wide through the knees, big toes touch, and sink your hips back towards your heels. Soften the eyes, arms might release down along your sides. From child's pose, taking another breath here. When you're ready, pressing your palms into the floor, chin into your chest and slowly roll up, coming into a seat for a moment. You might bring the legs together.

From here, we're gonna release one arm out and extend our legs towards straight, coming into a staff pose or dandasana. And then draw your left knee into your chest, bring your foot towards the floor, and we'll inhale the right arm up towards the sky and exhale, twist to our left. You might wrap a hold of your left leg, or draw your right arm into the inside. I prefer to wrap it. Then press down through the left hand, as you inhale, lengthen up through your spine, offer a flex through your right foot, and then exhale, begin to twist over your left shoulder.

Can you get a sense of breathing into the back of your body here? Find some ease up through the neck as you press into the ball of that left foot. Taking about three more breaths here. Relaxing the eyes and the throat. And then slow, just let the gaze and the head come over the right shoulder and then release.

Release your left leg. Taking a moment to like, (breaths out deeply). And then hands underneath the right knee, and draw in the right foot to the floor. We'll inhale our left arm up to the sky and then exhale, twisting to the right. Again, you might prefer to wrap the right knee or bring your arm on the inside, right hand behind you.

Flex the left foot, inhale, ground through your sit bones, lengthen the spine and then exhale, twisting towards the right. Breathing. Again, can you get a sense of breathing in to the back of the body as you soften a little bit through the face? More inhale. As you're ready, exhale.

Just let the gaze and the head come over the left shoulder and then slowly begin to unwind, release the right leg, and take a moment to just shake it out a little bit. From here, we'll roll onto our backs. Just roll on, I'm gonna switch, turn around. You can come onto your back, draw your knees into your chest, let yourself rock a little bit side to side. Coming into bridge, bringing the feet to the floor, spreading the toes, arms down along your side.

Bring some attention towards your tail bone as you inhale, and then exhale, curl the tail bone under, press down through your feet, lift your pelvis, your hips, and then arms might reach towards your ankles as you draw the inner thighs towards each other, finding a bit more freedom up through the shoulders. You might draw the arms, the shoulders under the back. You might interlace. You might even prefer to bring your thumbs around your kidneys, your lower back, as you draw the shoulders under, spacious through the throat, relaxing some of the grip here. Finding length in the front of the body.

To release, we'll come high up onto the balls of our feet, stretch our arms up to the sky, get round for the upper back, and then slowly release the spine down, feeling each bone release, feeling the arms release, taking a moment to like, (breathes out deeply) exhale. We'll take one more round as you're ready. Organize your feet. Inhale, exhale, curl your tail bone under, press up and lift. Stretch your arms towards your ankle.

(mumbling) and tuck your shoulders under your back. Again, you might interlace or bring your hands to your lower back, supporting your sacrum and your pelvis. Breathing. See if you can ground here through your feet. Feeling that stability and support through your legs.

Stretching your arms up towards the sky, get round for the upper back and then slowly release the spine down. Taking a moment to relax the effort. Inhale. And exhale. Lifting your knees so that they're about a 90 degree angle, and then press your hands into your thighs and begin to press the palms into the thighs as you draw the thighs or the knees towards you, so you're pressing and pulling.

You might stay here, you might tuck the chin in as you press and pull. Feeling that work through the abdomen. If this is too much on the neck and the head, release the head down. One more inhale, exhale, draw the knees in. Good, and then bring the right ankle across your left thigh, flex the right foot, let the knee open.

You might stay here, you might draw your left knee into your chest, and you might curl up for a moment, find the back of that left thigh or top of the shin with the hands and then release the head down. You might rock a little bit here side to side. Here in this hip, open and notice where you can soften through the face, the jaw and the fingers. Breathing into wherever you feel the sensation. From here, we'll transition into a spinal twist so you can just simply keep wrapping that right leg and maybe tuck the foot behind the left ankle, coming into an eagle wrap.

As you roll onto your left side, stack the arms and then inhale the right arm up and open. Right shoulder releasing towards the floor, and find a place where your neck and head feel good. Breathing. When you're ready, slowly come back through the center, unwind and bring the feet down to the floor. Allow for an inhale and exhale, reorganize the pelvis and the hips.

When you're ready, bring your left ankle across your right thigh, flex the ankle, open the hip. Stay here or draw your right knee into your chest and you might curl up, bring your chin into your chest and find the back of the thigh or maybe the top of your right shin, and then slowly release the head down and let the shoulders soften down the back. The play here is to keep opening through that left hip as you send the knee away and you might draw the knee in closer to your chest, maybe rocking a little bit. Breathing into where you feel it. It can be helpful to find a bit more ease through the back of the eyes, the back of the heart and the hands.

And then from here, release the hands and you might continue to wrap that left leg around the right, coming into that eagle wrap variation as you roll onto your right side, stacking your arms, your hips, and then inhale, let your left arm open. And then releasing the shoulder towards the floor. Allow for an inhale, lengthening the spine, and exhale, really let the belly soften here. Left shoulder releases towards the floor. Again, find some freedom up through the neck and the head.

Soft around the mouth. When you're ready, slowly unwind back through the center. Let's stretch our legs up towards the sky. You might shake it out a little bit, the legs (laughs). And then release the feet down to the floor and then stretch your legs out.

We'll just take a relaxation for a few moments, taking up some space as you release the arms, release the legs. Palms opening. Noticing any sensations in the body. You're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. Draw your knees into your chest.

Let your transition be an extension of your practice as your roll onto your side leisurely. You might pause here. When you're ready, pressing your hands into the floor and finding your way into a seat. Taking a few moments to settle. Grounding through the sit bones, lengthening up through your spine.

Wide through the base of your skull. Brightening through the heart. Drawing your hands together, we'll find a clearing breath. Inhale. And exhale.

Closing with an om. Breathing in. (chanting) Namaste. Have a beautiful day.