Rooted Foundation

(wave rolling in) Hi, this practice is all about grounding, getting into the bandhas of the feet and feeling like you have a nice rooted foundation in the world. So we'll start standing at the top of the mat. As you come to stand, heel-toe your feet together. Bring the hands to the heart. And then step your right leg across your left as though you woke up and just put your feet on wrong this morning.

It's exciting. As you root through the outer edges of your feet, try to feel steady in this slightly awkward base as you reach out and up. Come to clasp the left forearm with your right hand. It's a nice chance to give the forearm a little massage here. And then as you lengthen upward, come up and over, clasping the hand, drawing a little bit of space between the wrist and the hand.

Side bend to the right. Draw the right hip back and press the left ribcage forward slightly. Spread the toes out. And then exhale and circle on down. Drop the hands off and pause.

Come halfway up. You might even walk up your shins and push off. And then forward fold, drawing the crown of the head towards the earth. Take your left hand and cinch your waist. Right hand comes to the right ankle.

And then lifting from the base, use your right foot like a paintbrush, and paint up the inner right thigh. Press the foot into the leg. Palms to touch. Breathe. (laughs) Inhale, step back into a long stride for Warrior One. Reach out and up.

Come to clasp the right forearm with your left hand, and then give that arm a little bit of love, Bend into the front leg. Spin onto the ball of the back foot, and then you can scissor through the hips and come into a nice little side bend, kicking through the back thigh. Inhale, go a little deeper, and then exhale. Sweep across, Rainbow Warrior. Draw back like little drags through the water.

Fingertips down, full palm down in a little lunge, and then twist it out. Open through the knife edges of the feet. Sit on down. Come back up and over and around. Plant the palms.

Step back. Downward facing dog. Shrug the shoulders, square it all off. We're gonna ripple forward to upward facing dog. Shrug the shoulders.

From up dog, lower the pelvis to cobra. So it's a little reverse vinyasa. Bow. Press back to child's pose. Curling the toes under, inhale, look forward, exhale.

From a springy child's pose, hop to the top of your mat. Inhale, halfway up. Exhale, empty into the earth. Sweep the arms straight out in front of you and then pull the prayer down and in to quiet your mind and center you in your heart. Inhale, look down at the feet, and then just shift, left foot crosses over.

Anchor through all four borders of the feet. Sweep the arms out and up. Come in to massage the right forearm this time. Let's give it a little love. And then side bend up and over to your left, tractioning the hand away from the wrist.

Pull that left hip back, lengthen up and out of the right side waist. Deepest breath of the day. And then let the side bend empty you on down. Inhale, halfway up. Exhale, bow.

Inhale, flat back. Right hand's gonna cinch your waist and kinda pull your belly out of your fingertips. Left hand comes to the left ankle. As you lengthen, take the left foot and paint it up to the inner right thigh. Pause.

Breathe. Press into the heels of the hands to steady yourself. With awareness, like you have eyes on that back foot, reach way back. Warrior One. Inhale, squaring it off, come in to hold onto that left forearm, and then you're gonna come up and over into the side bend.

Spiral onto the ball of the back foot and descend. Let the hip sink down just a little. As you drive the left ribcage and hip forward, draw the right hip back. Circle on out. Sweep back.

Rainbow Warrior. And then finger drag through. Left hand down, right arm up. Open. Urdhva Hastasana.

Hip surrender. And then come up and back and around. Step back, down dog. Roll through the tide of your breath. Upward facing dog.

Surrender to cobra. Bow. Press back, child's pose. Look forward. From that springy, light landing to the top.

Halfway up. Forward fold. Sweep out and up. And then anchor in your base. Inhale.

Sit down, deep chair. (groans) Chair. Such a bad idea! Pull the hips back. Oh! And the idea gets even worse as you sit all the way down. Oh, it's dynamic and fun! And you're strong at your core.

As you come from boat pose, plant your feet. With control, lie back. Anchor through the feet. Lift up into bridge. So it's like a little upward facing vinyasa option.

Walking hands inside arches of the feet. Breathe in. Let it all go. Release back down. Hug knees in.

Cross your ankles. Rock up to seated. Rock and roll back through to downward facing dog. Step your feet together at the back of the mat. Inhale, right leg lifts.

Take the right big toe and second toe, sort of like you had peace signs with your feet there, or your flip flop toes, to your left heel. And then traction the left Achilles as you come into downward facing dog. Hugging the left hip in, pull forward, three-pointed plank. And then pike it back up. Inhale, right leg lifts.

Bend your knee. Open your hip. Pull forward. Flip your dog. Stay on the ball of the foot and circle around.

This right leg is gonna step back to the front of the mat. Warrior One base. Float it up. Exhale. Rainbow Warrior.

Sweep back towards your lunge, but this time, twist, anchor, and push off. Back foot steps in for a pyramid stance. So adjust your stride as you need. Hips width, nice and parallel. And then inhale to lengthen.

Exhale to bow. Inhale to lengthen. Exhale to bow. Inhale to lengthen. Exhale to bow.

Take a deep inhale. Exhale, lengthen up. Come halfway. You might use your block to build the foundation up just a little higher for revolved triangle. Inside or outside that right foot.

I like to put my hand on my sacrum, just to get a sense of finding parallel in this pose, and then rotate. Start to revolve from the thoracic spine rather than letting your hips collapse. See how steady you can be, how anchored you can be, how present. And perhaps roll the gaze up towards the top hand. Inhale.

Exhale, let it all go. I'm just setting the block off to the side. Pour forward. Inhale, push off, step to the top of the mat. Two feet or one, come halfway up.

Exhale, empty. Inhale, chair. Exhale, lower down. (groans) This feels better the second time. And then gently roll it on down.

Walk the feet in. Take backs of hands inside the ankles. Float up. Exhale, go up a little bit higher. And then leave it all on the floor.

Let it go. Draw knees in, cross opposite ankle, rock up. Take a moment. I'm about to go off-road here. And then from here, rock it forward, step on back to plank to a downward facing dog.

Inhale, left leg floats up, nice and high. Bend your knee, open your hip, breathe. Flip your dog, scoop it up. Circle left hand down to step forward. Warrior One.

Inhale, coming up. Exhale, Rainbow Warrior. Finger drag through. Plant your right hand. Twist.

And then empty back down into the earth. Step the back foot forward. Hips width. About two and a half to three feet. And then as you shift the weight forward and square off, exhale.

Let it go. Inhale, ripple like a wave. Maybe walking the hands back a bit. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, pour forward.

Feel the soles of the feet breathing into the earth. Exhale. Using the block as you need to build the foundation up just a little higher. Block inside that right foot. Hug the inner thighs together.

Lengthen, square it off. Breathe your belly towards your hand as the left hand comes to the sacrum, and then start to really open up from the ribcage. Once you start to shift and lift and breathe. This is my hardest pose. This thing is just such a hard pose.

So I have to do it, I have to do it. And then exhale, let it all go. Slide the block off. Shift the weight forward. Squat down, malasana.

Inhale. Left hand to the floor. Right arm's gonna scoop up. Maybe even clasp. If that feels like stress on your shoulder at all, just stay nice and light and open.

Smart money. Here's us, sitting on a block as well. Know that's an option. As you come to the other side. And walking the shoulder around the knee, perhaps coming into the wrap.

Breathing. Back to center. Gently straighten through the legs. Clear the block. Heel-toe the feet together.

Breathe in, flat back. So you might use the block just to perch yourself a little higher here. Step on up. And squat down. So the knees come inside your...

Knees wrap around your outer shoulders. As you claw the floor, lift the hips over your shoulders, hug the elbows in, and then lift the ribcage up and over your fingertips. Maybe one foot comes off the floor. Maybe both feet come off the floor. Squeeze the knees in to round the upper back and hug and hollow through the core for a crow pose.

And then let it all go. I'd like to take a second pass at that. 'Cause who wouldn't, right? Let's take a second pass. Feet come together.

Squat on down, using the block if you like, if that gave you a nice lift. Or walking the forearms to the floor for a really low-flying crow, shifting the weight forward. And just this is a nice hip opening. But you might take a little lift forward and take the toes off the floor and hover. Which is a nice way to work on the forearms instead of the wrists.

I'm back up. No, from here, hands to the floor. Maybe trying that hover. Clawing the floor, one foot hugging the knees in. Other foot, hugging it all together.

And then squatting it back down. Interlace the hands and snake out the wrists. Let it all go. Inhale. Downward facing dog.

Walk your feet to hips width, shrug the shoulders. Right leg lifts. This time, just step it right through to Warrior Two. As you lengthen, parsvakonasana. So in the same way that we took that wrap in the squat, you might consider walking the left arm behind your back, and the right arm threads through the window of the legs, shrugging the shoulders down the back.

And this is a nice way to clear the neck, the shoulders, and feel really grounded through the lower body. If you're feeling like a challenge, challenge accepted, you'll look down over that front foot and then take a big leap of faith forward to step into the squat. Drop the tail down, and then paint the right leg up the left inner thigh again for Bird of Paradise. Extending through the right leg, perhaps. And then maybe even looking over your left shoulder.

Coming back through center. Unwind it. Step on down. And then you can either step back to your Warrior Two in the bind, or find your footing, and then come back up, Warrior Two Reverse. And cartwheel through your flow.

Down dog. So it's that reverse flow. Upward facing, and then pour back into the earth. Child's pose between sides. Take a deep inhale.

Sigh it out as you exhale, clearing a path. Notice a difference in your right and left sides. Notice what you've been able to let go of and clear. Inhale. Downward facing.

Now the left leg is freaked out. It's totally scared. It's not even sure it wants to do this other thing, right? So bring a sense of resilience to this, a whole new experience here. As you inhale, paint the left leg up high.

And then exhale. Step it forward and through. Warrior Two. Nice, strong, even-anchored base. Lengthen through the left side body and come to partial konasana.

Staying here or opening it up and back. Right hand, left inner thigh. Glide down. Left arm threads through the window of the leg, and then you clasp and elongate and traction. This is enough.

We could stay here. Or glance down over the left foot, inhale, exhale, step to the top of the mat, draw the tail down, and then peel up, using that left leg like a paintbrush. Belly, ribs, chest, stand tall. Breathe in, and then press the breath out through the left heel. Scoop the left inner thigh under, and open up through the chest.

Strong, deep breath in. Push through the roots. Reach for the sunshine. Gaze shifts over the right shoulder. And then exhale, rewind it back down.

Either staying in the clasp to stride it back, or unwind it, open it back up. Warrior Two. Reverse. Cartwheel on down. Last little dip through a flow.

Upward facing. Cobra. And then surrender child's pose. Inhale, roll on up, and we'll shift onto our backs. So just crawl your way on down.

This is gonna feel really good when you get there. And plant yourself so you have a little bit of room behind you. As you come onto your back, heel-toe the feet together. Walk the hands by your side. Feet hips width.

Hands by your side, and you're just gonna roll up to bridge pose. Lock the hands into a clasp underneath. You might stay here. If you are healthy in your neck and this feels good, then come on down and walk the legs towards the sky. Hands support this weight shift and lift overhead, walking the hands up the mid-back so that you're stacked.

You're actually balanced on the shoulder blades and the upper arms. The cervical spine is not touching the floor. From here in plow, you might bring the knees to the third eye. We got this nice little massage. We're lifting up and out of the mid-back, extending the legs together to the sky.

Spin thigh bones inward. And lift up and out of the back of the heart. Send your gaze to your big toes. Consider taking one hand and then the other hand to the thighs and stepping on the sky. Just invite the shaking and trembling.

All the energy you're building. And then walk the hands back halfway up the back. And then in slow motion, dive back down, perhaps toes to the floor. And perhaps, karne pet asana, walking the arms around in that similar way you were wrapping. Take the hands to your ears, knees towards your shoulders.

Breathe into the quiet space. Releasing. Walking the feet back over your head. One way to come down is using the hands to catch the body and support the low back. Or with a little more core awareness, holding onto the soles of the feet, tractioning it all back down.

Peace fingers to your big toes. And slowly gather back in. Give yourself a big hug. And then send the legs to the floor. Hands by your side.

Walk yourself up like you're just gonna check out the view, and then pass the chest up for fish pose. Let your head pour back. Yes, the skull's not on the floor. It's free and clear and floating here. Heart's the highest point.

Feel the breath washing up the body. And then pour yourself back down into the earth. Chin towards the chest. We can crawl the legs back in. Arms by your side.

For savasana, bending through the knees, allowing the knees to rock in as you walk the feet out a little wider. Internal rotation, releasing the lower back. And then fall into the space between your breaths. Gently windshield wiper the legs right and left. Roll to your right.

Gather yourself. Come into seated. Bring the hands to your knees. Feel grounded. Breathe your hands to your heart.

Trusting that all good things are set into motion by your practice. Feel rooted, connected, present. Namaste.