Hanuman Flow

So namaste, namaskar. Welcome. Today we're going to be focusing in very getting down low to the earth, very Hanuman, right? Getting down into the hips, down in the hamstrings. And so as we come in today, see I have two blocks here, we'll be using them later, placing them off to the side. If you need them at any point, feel free to have them and help you support as we come into this practice. So we're going to get started. Coming down to the earth, we're going to come into child's pose. So coming knees open nice and wide so you can really feel into the pelvic floor. Let the big toes touch, walk your arms out and let the third eye just come to the earth. Just letting your body just pause. Let yourself let go. So Balasana, wisdomasana, place of just coming down to the ground. You can feel the body surrender and feel the back of the ribs as they expand and contract. Letting each exhale let you sink deeper, deeper within. And just take a moment as you pause. Noticing, notice how the hips feel, notice as you touch the earth, how the earth feels. Staying connected to that flow of the divine here. So as you inhale, tuck the chin, round the spine, press the hands in and feel the body rising up onto the hands and knees. And as you come up, drop the belly, lift the head and letting yourself sit all the way back to the heels. The third eye is the last thing to come down. Resting back into Balasana. Tuck the chin round the spine, feel the body rise, big movement from the root. Lift up, ride that wave, drop the belly, lift the head, letting yourself sit all the way back, soft. And just notice, notice this movement coming from the root, rising. Feel the breath deep within and surrendering, letting yourself go. One more cycle, inhale, feel the body rise, this time with the sound of Aum. Aum. This is your body rising up, curl the toes under, drop the belly, lift in the hand and feel that wave right from the sacrum, press back and rising up into down dog. Just take a moment and let the hips sway a little. The heels can be like windshield wipers flowing right and left, letting the side waist grow a little longer. Not stacking the feet, but just really letting yourself go. So freeing up your down dog, liberating the flow. One more, to the right, press back and to the left. So as the feet come together, double leg lift. So inhale the left leg, let it rise softly, root down to rise. Exhale, lower the left foot down by the right. Inhale the right leg, let it rise out and back. Exhale, step the right foot forward between your hands. And as you do, lower the left knee down, straighten the right leg. Inhale, lengthen, flex the foot. As you exhale, now lead with the heart coming down, bowing over. Let the body come forward, hands move wide off the mat. Keep the right foot flexed as you protect the ankle. And then let the elbows bend, breathe into that right hip. Inhale, draw back, straighten the right leg. Exhales, you fold. Inhale, come forward, knee to the side, gazing out. Exhale. One more cycle. Inhale, lengthen, harda hanuman. Exhale, you fold. Inhale, coming forward. Exhale, knee to the side. And just feel that opening in the hip, pressing up, bringing your right knee to meet the left knee. And then walk the hands out, anahatasana, opening the heart, the front of the body, bowing towards the earth. Again, either resting onto the chin or onto the forehead. Depends on how the body feels here. The more you start to open, the deeper you'll be able to go. Let the body slide forward now, onto the belly, hands by the ribs, tent the fingers, and feel the heart rise, bhoojangasana. Exhaling down. Press yourself back into child's pose. And as you do, tuck the chin around the spine, lift up onto the hands and knees. As you come up, drop the belly, lift the head, curl the toes under, and press the hips back, but feel the sacrum rise into down dog. Feet together, double leg lift throughout. Press the left heel down, right leg rising. Exhale, the right foot by the left. Inhale, the left leg, let it rise. Exhale, set the left foot forward between your hands. Lower the right knee down, straighten the left leg. Feel the spine lengthen, flex the left foot, and then bowing over arda hanuman. As you come forward, hands move a little wider off the mat, flex the left foot, and then let the elbows bend, knee to the sides. You feel that rotation into the left hip. Inhale, press up, walk back, lengthen, and exhale. Inhale, come forward, hands move wide, knee to the side, exhale. Once more, in breath, as you lengthen, exhale as you fold. Inhale, coming forward, exhale, elbows bend. Pressing up, resetting, bring your left foot to meet, knees on the earth, walk the hands out, anahatasana. Let the body slide forward onto the belly, hands by the ribs, tent the fingers, and feeling the heart rise, bhoojangasana. As you exhale, fall, releasing down. Press yourself back into child's pose. Just pausing here. So as we tuck the chin in, rounding the spine, roll up, sitting back onto your heels. So we're going to start one little movement, bringing the blocks in. Placing the blocks at the top of your mat, we're going to come into a little kriya. This action, this movement really getting into the hips. So a lot of air, a lot of movement to really open the hip nice and fast. So we're not going to be focused very on the breath here, but it's going to be like kapalabhati. So you're going to really pump the breath to really engaging and awaken the hips. So we come into down dog, stepping your right foot forward. And so it's a fast movement to really get us open here at the hips. It's kind of a little shortcut we can get to get into the hips. So bring in your palms, hands onto your blocks. And again, if the hips aren't tight, you can have the blocks at a higher level. I recommend them here a little lower or even down here. And if you're very open into the hips, my friends, you can also just tent the fingers so that you're really engaging and rooting down. Now this energy here is a fast movement in the hip. And so if you feel this, there's a movement here. You can press down, you lift up, right? And that energy you draw in and you coil. So it's like cat's breath, but we're going to be very fast. So you press down, lift up, and then you coil pulling in. And so this movement you feel, now we're going to take it up. So you press down, lift up, and then change, change, change, change, change, change, change, right? You can feel that energetically right at the hip. So all this breath, so pause a moment. And so again, step the left foot forward, coil up, and then press down. So you're getting low into the root chakra, but rise up through the heart. Again, feel that coil in, press here, the way, and then press down through the hip and lift up. So we'll do one more like this and then pick up the pace, coil up and in, gather the energy and then radiate out, right? And now as you do that, change, change, change, change, change, pull up. Two more. Yes. And lower the knees, bring the left knee to meet the right, place the blocks off to the side, and then walk the hands out. And you'll notice a lot of energy flowing at the root, right at the hips, alahatasana. Let the body slide forward onto your belly, forearms on the ground, lift the heart, take your left hand slightly across, bend the right knee, and then just take the right hand back, lift up, pause in here, smile at your quads, especially the runners and cyclists. You're like, ouch, yeah, breathe.

And then releasing, changing side and the left knee, left hand back and then press up and releasing. Hands coming down, make a little pillow and just rest the forehead down. Just pause a moment. So bring the hands by your side, feel now that rise of the heart, up dog or cobra, lift high or low and draw him back. So throughout the practice today, we'll be playing with that double leg lift to really expand and open the hamstring. So feet together, left leg, inhale to the sky, exhale the left by the right, right leg, let it rise, step the right foot forward between your hands, ground the back heel, root down, let the body rise, come up, into Vira 1, and let the arms open out nice and wide, interlace the fingers behind you, draw the heart up, send the right hip back and now lead with the heart as you come forward, bowing to the inside, rooting deep into the hip, humble warrior, crown of the head towards the earth, inhale, lift up halfway, heart shines forward and then bow, humble warrior, one more cycle, inhale, lift up halfway and exhale as you bow and now press down through the soles of the feet, feel the body rise up, Vira 1, I promise we'll get out of the hip and down to the earth, lower the left knee, straighten the right leg, feel the spine lengthen, ah and fold, Ardha Hanuman, feel that little ripple, inhale as you lengthen and exhale forward, as you come back forward, lift the left knee, step your back foot in about a foot, foot and a half maybe, feel the spine lengthen, inhale and then just exhale fold, so sending the right hip back, lengthen the spine a little bit more, lead with the heart, again if you need your blocks here, always feel free to place the blocks, helping you support for some the hamstrings can be very tight, so honoring the back of the legs, really try to make love to the legs, right, letting go, hands coming down, step back into your lunge, step back to plank, ah and your vinyasa, chaturanga half or full, up dog or cobra, drawing it back into down dog, breathing here, so feet together, press the left heel down, feel the length as you inhale, right leg rise, exhale the right by the left, inhale the left leg, let it rise and exhale, step the left foot forward, ground the right heel press down, root in to rise up and then open the arms wide, hands interlace, squaring the hips forward, inhale lift the heart, now lead with the heart, come forward, bowing, crown of the head, last thing to come down, keep the hands interlaced, inhale lift up half way, let the heart shine and exhale bow, one more cycle, inhale come up half way and exhale bow, maybe the crown of the head comes to the earth or not yet, press down, rise up view to one, down to the earth, lower the right knee ah, giving the hamstring and the hip a break here and fold over, Ardha Hanuman, inhale lengthen, exhale as you fall, as you come back forward, lift the right knee, step the right foot in about a foot, maybe a foot and a half, press down lengthen, come up half way and then exhale as you fall, lead with the heart lengthen just a little, bowing and then one more, lengthen and fold completely, ok, you can even massage the back of your leg, it's good to really feel the leg, feel the body, notice how you feel here, hamstrings need our love and care too, as you come back forward, step back into your lunge, step back into plank, chaturanga half or full, up dog or cobra rising high and then drawing back into down dog, alright, yay, so first cycle first wave, gonna have two more waves here today, alright, you can already start to feel the hamstrings open, the hips live and awakened, so feet together, double leg lift, inhale the left leg, let it rise, exhale the left foot by the right, inhale the right leg, let it rise, exhale, set the right foot through, so let the left foot this time turn parallel to the back, sweep the left arm out and as you rise come up, vira 2, and you settle, so right thigh working towards parallel, active through the balls of the feet, let your left hand come down behind your back, reach for your inner right thigh, so feel that half bind here, whether you're holding your shirt, your shorts, inhale, lift the right arm up and back, parasavira 2, and now straighten the right leg as you come forward, floating right in half bound, uttita trikonasana, alright, bend the right knee, lift the right arm rise up and back, following the flow of the breath, coming forward, exhaling, trikonasana, one more, inhale, feel it rising, and exhale, and now letting that left arm rise to the heavens, so the shoulder is awakened, so press down through the soles of the feet, inhale, vira 2, exhale, down to the earth, step the left foot forward this time, about a foot, and straighten the right leg, now taking the hands to the hips, coming up half way, flat back, now gazing out, take the left arm, extend straight out, right arm to the back, now this movement, working the side body, open the arms out like wings, take the right arm forward, left arm back, and again, changing, left arm forward, right arm back, and again, change, cycle here, left arm forward, right arm back, reach out through the left hand, and taking your left hand again, shin, you can also use a block, or all the way across, as the right arm rises up for revolved triangle, the hands release down, lowering the left knee, straighten the right leg, flex the foot, lengthen, and then folding over, and just take a little ripple, inhale, lengthen, exhale as you fall, one more, lengthen, lead with the heart as you fall, as you come back forward to your lunge, step back into plank, your vinyasa, chaturanga half or full, heart rising, dog or cobra, and drawing it back into down dog, hey, breathe here, okay, feet together, so we're in the middle wave, double leg lift, right leg let it rise, exhale right by the left, left leg let it rise, step the left foot forward, right foot turns parallel to the back right arm, let it sweep out, let it lift you up, vira two, right hand coming behind your back, reaching for your inner left thigh, and then turn the left palm up, inhale, lengthen, left side waist reversed, exhale, straighten, coming right in, trikonasana half bound, and with the breath, two more, inhale, reverse your warrior powers for vira two, exhale, coming in, trikonasana, last time, inhale, lift up, and exhale, with the right arm just release, rising up, and as you press down, active through padabanda, lift up into warrior two, cartwheel down, step your right foot forward, about a foot, maybe four and a half, and we're finding this space between the feet, lengthen here, hands to the hips, and come up halfway, and this time take the right arm out to the front, really lengthen the side body, left arm reaching back, opening like wings, and then change, left arm forward, and then change, and change, inhale, the right arm out, lengthen, exhale, right hand to your block, foot or across, and the left arm will rise up, you can always check out, lengthening through to extend, release the hands, lower the right knee, straighten the left leg, inhale, lengthen, and exhale as you fall, two more, just this little ripple, so each cycle, you can even massage the back of the leg, right, and letting your hip, your hamstring just release, as you come back forward, stepping back, either skipping the vinyasa or taking it knees down, always honor if you need to modify, half chaturanga, up dog or cobra, and drawing it back, down dog, yay, so should be feeling the backs of the legs, nice and wakened, the hips, right, so coming in our last wave, feet together, press the right heel down, inhale, the left leg, let it rise, exhale, the left by the right, inhale, the right leg, let it rise, exhale, right foot stepping, left foot turns, left arm sweep out, rise up, so coming in, vira two, pause, so this motion, we're going to be bringing our right shoulder, down, under the right thigh, like in lizard, so inhale, lift the right arm, up and back, reverse, now take your right hand along the horizon, bring it out in front of you, let the left arm follow it, bring your right shoulder underneath, arms out like wings, and now take your left arm over the crown, rise back up, reverse, right, so you know, oh yeah, that hip is awake at night, ah, right arm along the horizon, thread it under, arms like wings, left arm reach forward, coming up one more cycle, and now this time you'll love it, take it down, your fullest expression, right arm under, so the arms can extend, or those who like, left hand comes to the right ankle, bow the crown of the head, and if it's there, you just tuck, head behind the foot, maybe not today, maybe next lifetime, all right, so coming out, press rise up, vira two, and cartwheel down, yes, lower the left knee, straighten the right leg, and now again, finding your blocks, starting with one, and two, so we use the blocks not as sitting on, but really to help lengthen, so in hanamanasana, the heart is lifting up, so bringing the blocks in line with the hips, and start to send the right heel forward, and you can support, there's many levels here on the blocks, so they'll be here, and you start to press through, keep the heart lifted, and again, change levels, keep the heart lifted, send the right foot through, and again, change levels, keep the heart lifted, right, and then rise, if you're all the way down, hands to the heart, bowing over, draw back, and step into down dog, yeah, and just breathe, gonna set the blocks off to the side, to the next side, take a moment, exhale, and settle, so the left side, feet together, double leg lift, right leg inhale, let it rise, exhale, right by the left, left leg inhale, let it rise, set the left foot through, right heel turns, rise up, vira two, so that big movement takes us deeper into our hip here, left arm inhale, reverse, left arm moves along the horizon, out to the side, as you come forward, the right arm follows, left arm opens like a wing, right hand comes forward, and the body rises up, reverse, left arm along the horizon, right arm follows it, thread under, take it out and around, last time you got it, yeah, and bring it down, open, during this vira two stance, maybe the right hand comes to the heel, shoulder threads under, if you like lift up, tuck the chin in, releasing, rise up, vira two, and down to the, lower the right knee, straighten the left leg, and again we'll find the blocks, right, so starting here, walk the blocks back and lift up, and today this might be it, just letting the heart open, right, feel that length, press the heel away, and some of you are going to begin to take it out, lowering down, lift up, release, and it's coming down, and maybe you need to stay here, try not to sit on the blocks, but using the apana energy, ground down, and then the prana energy to rise up, and then as you're releasing, step it back into down dog, and pause, breathing here, let your knees come to the earth, sit onto your heels, coming back down into child's pose, let yourself just feel that awakening, breathing in, and then slowly walk the hands back, rolling up, and we're going to sit off to the side, and bring your legs around, and coming down onto the back, so for this we're going to use one block, so having it by your side, close by, and ready as we lay down onto the back, just breathing here, so lightly brush the backs of the heels, we're going to come rising up into supported bridge, so as you press the feet down, lift the hips, finding your block, and then lift a little higher, and placing the block just gently under the sacrum, and just pause a moment, and so you can feel that support here at the lower back, heart is lifted, we're not foreseen, just softening here, we're taking a little deeper in a moment, to feel that one leg, that half Hanuman, press the left foot down, and just take the right leg up, supported half bridge, and lower the right foot, press it down, and feel that extension of the left leg, and then lowering down, keep the hips lifted, taking the block out, setting it off to the side, and then bring your hands by your ears, or stay in bridge, or hands by your ears, press to the crown, and then rising up, and if you'd like to extend the legs, and that one leg, feel that, or just allowing just the heart to shine here, tuck the chin in, elbows stay in, roll down, hands down through the center, let them rest at the heart, let the feet extending out, and as you're ready, melt down into the earth, just letting yourself be still, let yourself let go, right in that great flow of life, the great pranashakti, let it radiate from within, as you feel the earth cradle the body, as you surrender down. So, my friends, take a deep inhale, and exhale completely, and start to bring movement, awareness to the body, and as you draw your knees in, gently rolling off to your right, and take your time to slowly rising, coming up to seated, and drawing your hands to your heart center, just honor your practice today, honor your time here, to feel that divine power through hanumanasana, whether it was half or full, wherever your variation is, that giant leap in your life, stepping forward from the heart, and all that you do, as we close here, offering the sound of om in air, om. As you honor the god, goddess within, satgulu, namaste.