Daily Flow

Namaste, welcome. This practice is my most favorite practice. It's what I do weekly if not daily to warm up every major muscle and really tap into my breath and feel a nice smooth steady flow. Let's get started in child's pose. Come onto your knees, sit your hips towards your heels, rest your arms forward alongside your ears. Your forehead may or may not touch the mat but either way let your head hang in its own weight. And then just tell yourself to pause, stop, be. Feel your breath start to slow down. Feel your body become heavy and still. And as you fill up your body with breath, imagine that you're drinking in your inhales, fresh nourishment and oxygen for your body. And as you exhale, imagine that you're releasing and letting go that which does not serve you right now. Two more slow, deep breaths. Softly shift onto your hands and knees, spread into your palms, wrists under your shoulders, knees under your hips. You can tuck your toes here or keep the tops of your feet on the floor, either one. Reach your heart forward, inhale, shoulders pull back. Exhale, round your spine, push down, tuck your chin in. Inhale, chest forward, gaze slightly up, shoulders back. Exhale, round. Stay with this breath, inhale, chest forward. Exhale, round. So this movement, cat and cow pose, just starting to link the movement and breath together. Stay with your pace here and just move between these poses. Imagine the whole inhale is transitioning your body forward, chest reaches. The whole exhale is rounding your body back. So it's as though the breath is moving you. Maybe close your eyes, soften your face, soften your jaw. Couple more rounds. Come to a neutral spine, tuck your toes, walk your hands a little further forward, maybe like a hands distance. Lift your knees, hips, downward dog. Maybe keep your knees bent and maybe paddle out your feet here, bending one knee at a time, shifting the hips side to side. You can allow your head to hang in its own weight, maybe gentle nod yes and no. Nice, gently lower the knees back to the floor. Let's do a modified vinyasa, moving into crocodile pose. So your knees will come down, then your chest lands between your thumbs, chin rests on the floor, stay lifted. Inhale, slide onto your belly, lift your chest for cobra, tops of the feet on the floor. Take an extra breath there and then lower slowly back down. Tuck your toes, maybe keep the knees down as you shift back to downward facing dog. Let's do it with a breath. Take a deep inhale. Exhale, lower your knees, chest and chin. Inhale, cobra, flatten your feet. Exhale to down dog, tuck your toes, push up and back. Walk your feet forward to your hands, maybe keep your knees bent. Hang over your legs, few breaths here, maybe grab your elbows, sway side to side. And sometimes I even like to grab the base of my skull with my palms, interlace the fingers and just, not like you're pulling too much, just let the weight of your hands release the back of your neck. One more breath. And then just gently release your hands to the floor, bend your knees generously, start to roll up one vertebra at a time. No rush at all. Once you come all the way up, allow your shoulders to roll down and back away from your ears. Bring your palms together at your heart in prayer. Close your eyes, maybe set an intention for your practice. I like to ask myself, how do I want to feel for the rest of my day? Or what do I want to bring into my life? A couple more breaths. From here we'll move into moon salutations. There's quite a few steps within moon salutations, so just allow yourself to be guided by my words and guided by your breath as though it's a moving meditation. You can skip anything that doesn't make sense to you, but we'll keep it at a nice, slow, steady pace. Inhale, reach your arms all the way up. Exhale, dive forward, fold over your legs, maybe bend the knees. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold forward. Step your left foot to the back of the mat in a lunge. Gently lower the left knee down here. If you feel like you need a blanket or you have sensitive knees, feel free to grab something just to put under your knees here. And then inhale, reach your arms all the way up, anjani asana. And exhale, lower the hands back to the floor. Inhale, just lift your back knee. Exhale, downward facing dog. Take a deep breath in. Exhale, lower knees, chest and chin, crocodile pose. Inhale, slide into cobra, lift your chest. Exhale, downward dog. Slowly step your left foot between your hands. Take as many steps as you need. Sometimes you even need to grab the ankle and pull it up there. Gently lower the right knee. Inhale, reach your arms all the way up, crescent moon. Exhale, hands down. Inhale, lift your back knee. Step forward as you exhale. Inhale, reach all the way up. Exhale, hands to your heart in prayer. So that's half around. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Step your right foot back as you inhale. Exhale, lower the right knee. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, hands to the floor. Inhale, lift your back knee. Downward dog, exhale. Take a deep breath in. Exhale, lower knees, chest, chin. Inhale, cobra, lift your heart. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, right foot steps forward again. Take as many steps as you need. Exhale, lower the left knee down. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, hands to the floor. Inhale, lift your back knee. Step forward, exhale. Inhale, all the way up. Reach your arms. Exhale, palms to prayer at the heart. Inhale, reach up. A couple more rounds. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Inhale, left foot back.

Exhale, lower your knee. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, hands to the floor. Inhale, lift your back knee. Exhale, downward dog. Deep breath in. Exhale, lower crocodile knees, chest, chin. Inhale, cobra. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, left foot forward. Exhale, right knee down. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, hands down. Inhale, lift back knee. Step forward, exhale. Inhale, rise up. Reach through your arms. Exhale, prayer at the heart. Inhale, reach up. Keep following breath. Exhale, fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Inhale, right foot back. Exhale, lower your knee. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, hands down. Inhale, lift back knee. Exhale, downward dog. Take a deep breath in. Exhale, lower knees, chest, chin. Inhale, cobra. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, step the right foot forward. Exhale, lower the left knee down. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, hands down. Inhale, lift the left knee. Step forward, exhale. Inhale, rise up. Reach your arms. Palms to heart. Exhale. One more round. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Inhale, left foot back. Exhale, lower your knee. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, hands down. Inhale, lift back knee. Exhale, downward dog. Deep breath in. Exhale, lower knees, chest, chin. Inhale, cobra. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, left foot forward. Exhale, right knee down. Inhale, reach your arms. Exhale, hands down. Inhale, lift back knee. Step forward, exhale. Inhale, reach up. Exhale to your heart prayer. Inhale, reach up. Smooth breath. Exhale, fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Inhale, right foot back. Exhale, knee down. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, hands down. Inhale, lift back knee. Downward dog, exhale. Deep breath in. Exhale, lower crocodile pose. Inhale, cobra. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, right foot forward. Exhale, left knee down. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, hands down. Inhale, lift back knee. Step forward, exhale. Inhale, rise, reach up. Exhale, prayer at the heart. Pause there. Close your eyes. Feel the benefits of moon salutations, a lunar energy. Softer, slower. From here, gently come back into the room. Release your arms. Step your right foot to the back of the mat. Coming into warrior two. Wide stance in your legs. Left toes point forward. Bend the left knee. Do your best to get it over the ankle, but not past the ankle. Arms out to the sides. Reach and open your heart. Take up as much space as you can here in your body. Fill up with your breath. And take your left palm, face it up. Inhale, reverse warrior. Reach up. Right hand lands down your right leg. Lift through your heart. Maybe the gaze is up. One more inhale. Exhale back to warrior two. Reach your left arm forward. Lengthen the left side of your body. Pull your left hip back. Land your left forearm on your left thigh. Right arm reaches straight up, extended angle. You can stay here or face your palm towards the front of your space and reach your right arm over your right ear. Push down through the outer edge of your right foot and breathe into the whole right side of your body. Come back up, warrior two. From here, dancing warrior. Inhale, reach back for reverse warrior. Exhale into extended angle. Inhale, reverse warrior. Exhale, extended angle. One more inhale, reach back. Exhale, extend. Come back to warrior two. Straighten your left leg. Pivot your feet. Point your warrior two to the back edge of your mat. Right toes point straight back. Bend the right knee. Arms out to the side. Couple breaths here. Stay strong in your legs. Ask yourself to find more energy from the earth, from the bottoms of your feet. Lift a little taller. Reverse warrior. Right palm up. Inhale, reach back. Pause. Left hand is light down your left leg. Come back to warrior two. Inhale, reach towards the back of your space here and then place your right forearm on your left thigh. Left arm reaches up, extended angle. You can also pivot your palm to face towards the back of your space and reach over with your left arm. Full version. Couple breaths. Come back to warrior two. Dancing warrior. Inhale, reverse your warrior. Exhale, extended angle. Inhale, reverse. Feel very fluid in your upper body. Exhale, extended angle. One more. Inhale, reverse. Exhale, extended angle.

Come back to warrior two. Straighten your left leg. Pivot your feet and start to step back to the front edge of your mat. Hands together at your heart center. Take a couple breaths. Maybe close your eyes. Reach both arms up. Inhale. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Step your left foot to the back of the mat. Find your lunge. Maybe come up to your fingertips here. You can stay as you are in the lunge if you want to challenge your balance. Root through your right foot. Crescent pose. Inhale, arms come up. Do your best here. Soft, steady gaze. Maybe bend your left knee. And then take an inhale here. Reach through your arms and exhale. Simply bend your elbows like goal posts, opening the heart. Inhale, reach your arms up. Exhale, bend your elbows. One more. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, bend your elbows. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, fingers back to the floor. Reach your right arm up for an open twist. Couple breaths here. Expand through your chest. Root through your left palm. One more breath. Right hand lowers down. Step forward front of the mat. Inhale halfway up. Exhale, fold. Step your right foot to the back of the mat. Pause. Reach your belly first. Root through your left foot. Maybe stay here or full crescent.

Inhale, reach your arms all the way up. Maybe a little bend in the right knee. Soft, steady focal point in front of you. Maybe add the arms in. Deep inhale. Exhale, bend the elbows like goal posts. Lift the heart. Inhale, reach the arms up. Exhale, bend. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, hands to the floor. Inhale, the left arm reaches open twist. A few breaths here. Breathe into your rib cage. Release your left hand down. Step forward and fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Bend your knees and roll your body up slowly. Shoulders back and down. Hands to your heart in prayer. From here, bend your knees. Take your arms alongside your ears. Chair pose. Sit the weight back into your heels. Engage your belly. Bring the hands back to the heart in prayer. Take an inhale. Exhale, twist to the right. Let your left elbow hover over your right thigh. Or if you feel like it's available, maybe cross your left elbow over your right thigh. Push into your palms and spin your heart towards the side of the room. Couple breaths. Keep your palms together. Inhale, back to center. Exhale other side. Stay strong in your legs. Right elbow over left thigh or wrap it across. Push into your left thigh. Open your chest. Two more breaths. Come back to center. From here, straighten your legs. Walk your feet out a little wider than hip distance apart.

Bend your knees. Squat down into malasana. If your knees are sensitive, maybe you just stay halfway down. Maybe you come all the way down. Your heels lift off the floor. Hands can come to the floor. Couple breaths. And then sit all the way down. One hand forward, one hand back, maybe gets you down there. Bring your feet towards each other. Knees bent. Grab behind your knees. A little bit of core work never hurt anybody, so I try to get it in every day. So holding onto the backs of the knees, lengthen your spine. Really engage your belly. Suck your belly like your belly button is moving towards your back. Keep that tall spine. It may run around. Do your best. Tall spine. Maybe lift one foot off the floor. Maybe both. And breathe. Hold the backs of your knees if you need or reach your arms forward one at a time. Lift tall. Keep your belly engaged. Stay here for five breaths. If you're just lifting one foot, you can go ahead and lift the other and switch. Keep engaging the belly. Lots of stability. Try to find those same smooth breaths you did when you were doing moon salutations. Maybe smile, that helps too. One more. Gently lower both feet down. Take your hands behind your fingers, point towards your buttocks. Feet about hip distance apart. This will feel nice right after doing that. Inhale, lift your hips towards the ceiling any amount for table pose. Some of you might get them pretty high up. Your chin can stay towards your chest or you can let your head hang back and release your neck. Push down through your palms. Feel your heart open up. Such a beautiful way to open the chest, the hip flexors. One more breath. Slowly lower, hips to the floor. And then from here, we'll go ahead and turn around towards the wall. Scoot your hips pretty close to the wall but not all the way up. Come onto your back. Place both feet on the wall. Cross your right ankle over your left thigh for thread the needle at the wall. You may feel like you need to scoot your hips in a little to feel more of a stretch in the outer right hip or you may feel like you need to move away from the wall. And then your arms can come alongside your body and breathe into the outer right hip. Maybe close your eyes. Three more nourishing breaths.

Gently switch sides. Really allow your body to soften and let the wall and the floor do the work. One more breath. Gently release. From here, we'll finish with legs up the wall. So you can just take your legs straight up the wall, shimmy your hips towards the wall, any amount depending on how flexible your hamstrings are. Maybe even use your hands to really get the buttocks all the way up. Rest your heels into the wall. Such a beautiful inversion offering fresh oxygen and blood flow into the brain. Close your eyes, shoulders away from your ears. Soften your face. Soften your jaw. Shavasana with the legs up the wall. Let your body completely rest. No more effort. Let go. Let go. Let go.

One more breath. One more breath. One more breath. Begin to feel your breath. Slowly move your fingers. Bend your knees, feet on the wall. Roll gently over to one side. Press yourself up, comfortable seat. Try to keep your eyes close once you arrive. Palms come together at your heart center in prayer. Bow your chin down. Take a moment to feel grateful. Thank yourself for taking the time to honor your body, to feel your breath, and most importantly to make a connection to your spirit.

One more easy slow breath in and out. Plink your eyes open. Have a beautiful rest of your day. Namaste.