Boost Your Mood

Namaste friends, welcome to your happy place. This is a happy flow to just turn that mood into a beautiful, bright, fun energy. So we'll do our best. Starting in a seated position, hands on your knees. Just gently close your eyes for a few slow, deep breaths.

Now all the air out of your lungs. Deep breath in, fill up belly, ribs and chest, hold your breath in. Open your mouth, sigh the breath out, let go. Again, slow breath in, fill up belly, ribcage, chest, hold your breath in. Open mouth, let it go.

One more, deep breath in and hold the breath in and as you hold the breath in, think of something that you really want to let go of right now. And then open your mouth and let it go. Gently blink your eyes open. Take your chin and chest over your right knee. Inhale circle all the way to your left knee, exhale and round your spine.

Come back to the right knee, inhale, circle all the way to the left and exhale, round back. These are called Sufi rolls, inhale, chest comes forward, exhale, round back. And just continue with your breath here, starting to unwind your spine, lubricate your hips, open up your chest, your shoulders, maybe think of even getting your head and neck involved. Just loosening everything up. Most of the time when we're feeling unhappy, frustrated, stuck, things get a little tight.

So just starting to soften everything up, really loose. You don't have to go too deep, this can be really subtle as well. Stay with the breath, inhale as you bring your chest forward and exhale as you round back. Gently come back to center, switch the crossing of your legs. Hands back to your knees, other side, inhale to the left, circle all the way to the right and exhale as you round back, inhale forward.

So maybe this time as you move, start to allow a smile to form on your face. For some reason, when we just turn the corners of the mouth up, we feel better, we make ourselves happy. Three more rounds, easy and smooth, unwinding anything that is holding you back from being blissful. One more. Come back to a neutral spine, take another deep breath in, hold the breath in, open your mouth, let it go.

I feel better already, I don't know about you, come under your hands and knees, not that I felt bad, but come under your hands and knees and spread through your palms and then extend your right leg back for balancing cats. So you might stay here or you might reach your left arm forward and play with this balance, hug your belly in, so as much as possible, find a neutral spine, gaze slightly forward and down and then you can stay here or another fun option is bring that left hand down, lift your right arm up, your right arm and your right leg and just a little more playful. You might fall, come back in, one more breath and then lower, right hand, right knee, lift your left leg up, so just tapping into our center, our core, this is where the sense of self lies, maybe your right arm comes forward, find your balance, so when we tap into our sense of self, we tap into a place that feels strong and blissful, we feel very connected to who we are. You may be played with that other balance, same leg, same arm up, few more breaths. Slowly release, gently come into downward facing dog, lift your hips up and back, maybe shift your hips side to side, pedal out your feet, whatever feels good.

So in this class especially, I want you to just kind of dance with your body, really let yourself be loose and fluid, less rigid, less structured and then lower your knees back to the floor, reach your chest forward, find cow pose, inhale, offer your heart, exhale, round your spine, cat, inhale, reach your chest back forward and then exhale downward dog. So we're going to move through those shapes, lower your knees, inhale, offer your heart, cow, exhale and round cat, inhale, offer your heart, exhale, downward dog, lower your knees, inhale, cow, exhale, cat, inhale, heart forward, exhale, downward dog. So let's do two more rounds and I'd like you to just kind of tune in to your own breath, your own rhythm, let it feel good, keep making space, okay, let's pause and downward dog, let your head hang, feel the heat and energy that you've already created and then gently reach your right leg up and back in the air, take a deep breath in, exhale, bring your right knee into your chest, shoulders over your wrist, engage your belly, feel that core strength turn on, look between your thumbs, step your right foot forward, maybe you grab the ankle, pull it up there however you need to get it up there, come out of your fingertips and gently lower the left knee down, you may wish to pad your left knee if you have a blanket or if you want to use the outside of your mat, roll it under, inhale, reach your arms all the way up, find Anjani asana crescent moon, lift up through your heart and energize your fingers, like your fingers are going to laser beam up to the ceiling, plug your shoulders in and then keep breathing here, it may feel nice to just stay here, another option is to take your hands, reach them back, maybe even interlace your fingers and lift up through your chest so your heart reaches even more, keep your belly sucking in, legs are strong, two more breaths, opening the heart is so nice for just lifting your energy, reach your arms back up, find those energetic fingers, big inhale, exhale hands to the floor, step back, downward duck, left leg in the air, take a deep breath in, exhale bring your knee to your chest, engage your belly, push into your hands, look forward, step your foot through, take as many steps as you need, fingertips and then lower the right knee, maybe pad the knee and then inhale, reach your arms all the way up, offer your heart, so traditionally this pose is a little more of a back bend which is why it's called crescent moon, so the idea is to draw the shoulders back and lift like there's a string pulling your chest up towards the sky, strong legs, engage your belly slightly, maybe reach the hands back, maybe interlace other pinky on top so it feels funny just to find some balance, maybe find that smile again, inner or outer smile, either one, one more breath, reach your arms back up, inhale, exhale hands to the floor, step back, downward facing dog, let's bring the toes together actually and lift your right leg in the air, open your hip and bend your knee this time, keep your shoulders plugged in firmly and then really extend your right knee up towards the ceiling as much as you can, take a deep breath in, exhale again, knee to chest, look between thumbs, round your spine and step your foot through, warrior two, spin the left heel down, inhale, left arm back, right arm forward, pause there, feel so strong in your body, root through your feet, feel like you're taking up as much space as possible, your ribs are extending to the sides of the room, the top of the head is lifting up, feet are pressing down into your mat, two more breaths, and slowly straighten your right leg, pivot your feet, take your arms up to the ceiling, palms face forward and point your toes slightly out, reach your gaze up, star pose, this is not very traditional yoga pose, but it just makes you feel so alive with energy, so just keep reaching and extending your fingers up, palms just open, receptive, heart reaching, root through your feet, one more breath here, and then bring your hands to your heart center, bend your knees, you might want to shorten your stance coming into temple pose, gotta really tap into our inner strength here, stay with the breath, so knees are in line with second and third toes just to protect your knees, work on opening your hips, you don't have to go too low, so you can back out of it, some of you might go a little bit deeper, and then take your left hand to your left thigh, reach your right arm up and lean over towards the left, maybe even place your forearm on the thigh, lift through the heart, one more breath, and then come back up as you inhale, exhale to the other side, left right hand to your knee, left arm up, and reach over, and just breathe, keep opening up space, and then come back to center, hands to your heart, inhale, star pose, that's fun, okay, pivot your feet, right toes point to the front edge of your mat, you can laugh too, it's fun, reach your arms out to the side, hinge at your hips, reach forward for triangle pose, right hand lands on your shin, left arm reaches up, love triangle pose because it's so opening for the body, so feel the heart lift, feel the gentle twist in your ribs, gaze can be down or to the side or even up, few more breaths, feel open and expansive, body is alive with energy, alive with breath, from here inhale come all the way back up, bend your right knee, find more here too again, take a deep breath in, exhale cartwheel the hands to the floor, step back downward dog, reach your left leg in the air, open your hip, bend your knee, so feel this rotation of your left hip opening up, almost stacking on top of your right hip, shoulders plugged in, arms are strong, deep breath in, exhale knee to your chest, shoulders round forward, look between the thumbs, step the foot through, or your two other sides, spin the right heel down, right arm back, left arm forward, pause there, feel your breath, strong arms, laser through your fingers, so this whole practice is just full of energy, taking up space in your body, in yourself, slow down your breath, nice and then straighten your left leg, star pose, hands to your heart center in prayer, bend your knees, find your squat, maybe this time go a little bit deeper, and then let's just find some dynamic arms here, so reach your arms out to the side, and then as you inhale pull energy in, like you're bringing a big ball of energy, and then exhale push energy out, inhale bring energy in, happy, loving, positive energy, exhale, old, stale, gross energy, two more times inhale, and exhale, inhale, and exhale, hands to your heart, slowly straighten your legs, star pose, pivot your feet, find triangle, reach your left arm forward, hinge your left hip back, left hand to left shin, right arm reaches, open your chest, stay with your breath, strong legs, expand through your right fingertips, one more breath, slowly come back up, inhale, bend your left knee, find warrior two, take a deep breath in, exhale hands to the floor, step back downward facing dog, deep breath in, hold it, open your mouth, sigh it out, deep breath in, let it go, walk your feet forward, inhale halfway up, exhale fold, inhale all the way up, reach through your arms, exhale hands to your heart center, prayer, let's come into tree pose, so I'll just face towards you, bring the weight in your right foot, hands to hips, left foot comes up, either to ankle, maybe the feet touch, toes touch the floor, maybe to your shin, maybe to your inner thigh, stabilize here, find a soft focal point, engage your belly, root through your right foot, maybe the hands come to the heart, maybe you start to lift your arms up, find that energy drawing up, maybe open up through your branches, maybe smile, maybe fall, it's all good, one more breath, hands back to heart, slowly release your left foot down, and then bring your right foot up, as you're ready, here's your focal point, whatever you did on the other side, so part of finding happiness is also finding humility, softness, acceptance with how you are, so if your tree is falling all over the place, so what, that's how you are today, maybe yesterday you nailed it, no big deal, maybe take your arms up, a few more breaths, hands back to heart center, gently release your right foot down, shake out your left leg, now just like, let your arms hang alongside your body, start to move the weight between each foot, maybe bend your knees, maybe start to snap your fingers, maybe start to dance, on your mat, just move, let yourself go, nobody's watching, maybe they are, who cares, just let yourself go, move, hang, do jumping jacks, whatever, just let go, whatever you're holding onto, just let it go, shake out your head, flutter your lips, move your hips, when was the last time you danced, put some music, stop the video, put some music on, come back, dance, I don't even listen to anything, but it's cool, alright, I mean you can pause the video and dance as long as you want, but let's come back to center, come to the top of the mat, take your feet about hip distance apart, bend your knees, squat down, maybe your fingers are on the floor, maybe your hands come to your heart, you do have a block nearby, you can certainly sit on your block too, ok, we'll breathe here for a few breaths, opening the hips, couple more breaths here, opening your hips, alright, now we're going to step into a very playful pose, bhakasana, crow pose, and just go ahead and stand up, bring your block right towards the front edge of your mat, go ahead and grab your blanket, if you don't have these props, no worries, you can do it without them, but they are fun tools, and step onto your block, your toes will slightly hang off, and start to bend down into a squat, fingers to the floor, ok, so this might be pretty scary already, or like on your block, and what's beautiful about this pose is it helps us face our fears, ok, and kind of just step past our fears and move into a place of joy, it's usually our fears that are holding us back most of the time, so your palms will be flat, I'm kind of off my mat, so I'm going to slide back just a little bit, get my hands on my sticky mat, and then the blocks here, this is like your crash pad, so if you fall, you're going to land on a cozy blanket, it's all good, ok, gaze is going to be forward though, and the reason the gaze is forward is because if your gaze goes back, that's usually when you fall or do a somersault, which is also fun and playful, but not what we're looking for today, so your hands are about shoulder distance apart, lift your hips, bring your knees to your outer upper arms, you'll bend your elbows, gaze forward, maybe this is all you do today, the reason we're on this block is it gets the hips as high as you need them to be, and then you breathe, maybe lift one foot off the block, and then lower it down, maybe both, so one foot, if you're feeling really strong in your arms today, gaze forward, maybe both, breathe, back to the block, slowly come out, ok, let's come off the block, and then go ahead and come onto your hands and knees, and you can move the blanket off to the side, and the block off to the side, lower down onto your belly, rest your chin on the mat, take your hands, interlace them at your lower back, if interlace isn't available just reach straight back, and then inhale, lift your chest up, shalabhasana, opening your heart, push down through your pelvis, maybe lift the toes off the floor, five breaths here, energizing back bend, strengthening the whole back side of your body, gaze is slightly forward and down, you can also interlace your hands at your lower back, I think I said that, two more breaths, and then gently lower back down, and then slightly prop yourself up on your hands, thread your right arm underneath your left arm, rest your head on the floor, you're going to open up here, so your left arm opens up and bend your left knee for a twist, and take a few breaths, let your left arm just hang in its own weight, slowly come back towards your belly, straighten your left leg, both hands on the floor, lift up slightly, slide the left arm under, let your head rest, bend your right knee and roll yourself open, let the right arm hang in its own weight, come back slowly onto your belly, hands by your ribcage, slowly push up, come into child's pose, hips towards your heels, maybe move your knees wide apart, arms can either stay forward or come alongside your body and rest your forehead to the mat, and just let the energy ground down here, settle, take one more full deep breath, and then gently start to bring your hands forward, come up, we'll make our way onto the back, so go ahead and put your hips right in the center of the mat, roll down and hug your knees into your chest, grab your knees, one hand on each knee, and open your knees towards the side of your body, and then you can stay here, or you can reach for the outer edges of your feet with your hands, and bend your knees like a right angle, flex your feet towards the ceiling for a happy baby pose, what could be more happy than a happy baby, maybe rock side to side, and just feel this sense of innocence unfold within you, you get so caught up in everything, go back to this pure light filled place, when you didn't have it all figured out, you didn't even know it figuring it out, couple more breaths, gently bring your knees back together, place your feet on the floor, and then bring the soles of your feet together, outer edges of the feet, touch, let your knees open up like a butterfly, arms play out to the side, palms up, Supta Baddha Konasana, just take a few breaths here to settle your energy, maybe notice, if anything's coming up for you here, the hips tend to carry a lot of our emotional baggage, maybe you feel some sort of emotional release, stay with your breath, you're welcome to stay here a little longer if it's feeling good, otherwise, use your hands to guide your knees together, extend both legs out under the floor, come into Shavasana, rest your arms palms up, take another full deep breath in through your nose, out your mouth, let everything go, do nothing pose. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And then gently feel the corners of your mouth turn up.

Keep the corners of your mouth up. Feel the beating of your heart. Softly release the corners of your mouth, but keep the smile inside. Feel the smile in your heart. Marianne Williamson says, when we uplift ourselves, we in turn uplift everyone around us.

So by feeling your own happiness, you're creating more happiness in the world. Bring your hands to your heart center in prayer. Take one more slow, easy breath in through your nose and out your mouth. Blink your eyes open. Have a happy day. Namaste.