Purifying Fire Flow

Namaste, welcome to your practice. Today's practice is going to be a little more heat building, we'll move maybe at a faster pace at times and really emphasize a lot of core work to build some internal heat in a way to purify and renew ourselves. So we'll start seated. You're welcome to sit on a block as I am if that helps elevate your spine and it helps also open the hips a little more. Just rest your hands on your thighs to start, close your eyes, let your shoulders drop down away from your ears.

Feel your hips sink down into your block or into the floor. And then take a slow deep inhale filling up your belly, your rib cage and your upper chest. Hold your breath in, open your mouth, sigh it out. Again, deep breath in, fill up belly, rib cage, chest, open mouth, exhale, let it go. One more deep breath in.

Hold the breath in, open your mouth, let it go, and gently blink your eyes open. Take your arms all the way out to the sides, reach them above your head as you inhale and then exhale, twist towards the left and take your right hand to the outside of your left hip and your left hand can either rest on the floor, towards the floor or even wrap behind your back a little. Take another deep breath in, exhale, twist deeper, then inhale, come back to center and reach your arms back up, exhale to the other side, to the right, left hand comes towards the outside of the right hip, maybe that right arm wraps behind, maybe it just reaches back. Take another full deep breath, engaging your belly, so belly draws in towards spine and then inhale, reach your arms back up, we'll move each breath. Exhale, twist, inhale, reach up, exhale, twist, inhale, reach up, exhale, twist, inhale, reach up, exhale, twist, let something go, inhale, reach up, exhale, twist, inhale, reach up, last one, exhale, twist, inhale, reach up, exhale to the heart in prayer, switch the crossing of your legs, this helps balance things out, take your hands either to your thighs or your shins, whichever is more available, reach your chest forward and pull your shoulders back, take an inhale, and then exhale, round your spine, tilt your pelvis forward, and then inhale, reach your chest forward, it's like a seated cat cow, exhale, round your spine, tuck your chin in, inhale, chest forward, just feel each breath, exhale, round your spine, coil the belly in, inhale, reach your chest forward, exhale, round the spine, two more, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, come to a neutral spine, go ahead and come onto your hands and knees, let's go straight into a really fun, challenging pose, plank pose, so you'll come onto your hands and knees first, root through your palms, really spread through your fingers, you really want to feel that you can have the full support of your hands and your fingers, and then up to you, maybe just tuck one set of toes back, straighten the leg, and hold there, feel your belly engage, hug your navel towards your spine, push your palms into the floor, feel your upper back broaden, so you can either switch sides, or you can do both legs at the same time, and just find some buoyancy in the hips, and it's nice to maybe lower the hips like one inch, and then up one inch, just to really feel where does your core support you the most, and then breathe, keep pressing the floor away from you, gaze is slightly forward and down, three more breaths, building lots of heat in the belly, one more, and then gently lower your knees, and let's just take a slow vinyasa from here, so I recommend doing your planks on the knees for your vinyasa, and it's also nice to even do a crocodile pose where you lower the chest and chin down, or you can do a modified chaturanga, so you'll take a deep breath in, and exhale lower all the way down to your belly, inhale for cobra, flatten your feet and lift your chest, and then exhale lower back down, let's move through that a few times, inhale lift your chest for cobra shoulders back, exhale lower back down, inhale cobra elbows squeeze in, exhale lower back down, one more inhale lift your chest, exhale lower back down, engage your belly tuck your toes, come through your knees and push up slowly, then come into downward dog, lift your knees, lift your hips, maybe the knees stay bent, feel free to pedal out your feet, shift hips side to side, so I'll give you the other version for your vinyasa, so one is to shift forward towards that plank which we just did, you'll lower the knees, another option is to just simply lower the knees, chest and chin, and then let's slide into cobra on the next inhale, exhale the downward dog from there, slowly come through your knees, push back, take three more breaths, strong arms root through your palms, engage your belly here, feel the tailbone lift up, and then slowly start to walk your feet to your hands, come halfway up, inhale flat back, fingers up your shins, exhale fold forward, two more like that, inhale halfway lift, exhale fold forward, inhale halfway lift, engage your belly, exhale fold forward.

From here inhale reach your arms all the way up, raise your body, exhale palms together at the heart center, we'll move through classical sun salutations, first round slower, second round a little faster, inhale reach your arms forward and up, exhale bow forward fold over your legs, inhale step your right foot all the way back, lower your knee, and then pause here and just feel your left knee over your ankle, reach your chest forward, come high to your fingertips, take a deep breath in, and then exhale back to downward facing dog, take a deep breath in, exhale lower the knees, chest and chin for vinyasa, inhale lift your chest for cobra, and then exhale to downward dog from there, inhale step your right foot forward, take as many steps as you need to get that foot up there, lower the left knee down, inhale reach your chest, so you come high to the fingertips, arms stay down, take another breath in, exhale step forward and fold, inhale rise, reach forward and up with your arms, exhale palms to your heart in prayer, inhale reach forward and up, exhale bow forward, inhale step your left foot back this time, lower the knee, and then again we'll take an extra breath here, and then step back downward facing dog, take an inhale there, exhale lower knees, chest, chin, inhale cobra, exhale downward facing dog, inhale left foot steps forward, lower the right knee, pause, come high to your fingertips, lift the heart, and then slowly step forward, fold at the front of the mat, inhale rise, reach through your arms, exhale hands to heart, so that's one full round, we'll do one more, trying to move with the breath the whole time, inhale reach your arms up, exhale fold, inhale right foot back knee down, lift chest, exhale downward dog, deep breath in here, exhale lower knees, chest, chin, inhale cobra, exhale down dog, inhale right foot forward, left knee down, exhale step forward and fold, inhale rise up, root through your feet, reach, exhale hands to heart, inhale arms forward and up, exhale fold, inhale left foot back, knee down, exhale downward dog, deep breath in, exhale lower knees, chest, chin, inhale cobra, exhale downward dog, inhale left foot forward, right knee down, step forward exhale, inhale raise your arms up, exhale to the heart, pause, feel your breath, feel the energy and the heat that you've created moving at a slightly faster pace, I don't know about you but my heart is thumping, feels good, from here reach your arms all the way up, inhale, exhale forward fold, step your right foot back, pause, keep your right knee lifted and then keep your right hand on the floor, inhale your left arm up for a twist, you're welcome to grab a block for your right hand, it's a nice option, take a deep inhale and then exhale sweep your left arm under your left leg round your spine, pause there so really engage your belly and lift it away from your left thigh, then inhale reach your left arm back up, exhale sweep it under engage your belly, inhale reach back up twist, exhale bring it under, one more inhale reach it up, exhale sweep it under, inhale reach it up, exhale left hand down, step back downward facing dog, you're welcome to hold down dog or maybe take a vinyasa so your choice maybe you want to play with the plank version, shift to plank you can lower the knees deep breath in, exhale lower down, inhale cobra lift your chest, exhale downward dog, deep full breath, walk your feet to your hands, come halfway up inhale, exhale fold step your left foot to the back of the mat, keep your left knee lifted, take your block if you had it and use it under your left hand inhale reach your right arm up to the sky open twist, hello son, take a deep breath in, exhale sweep your right arm underneath your body and so under your left leg excuse me your right leg and engage your belly a lot and then inhale reach your right arm back up, exhale sweep it under, inhale reach it back up, exhale sweep it under, two more inhale, exhale inhale and exhale, inhale reach up big twist, exhale right hand down, step back downward facing dog either hold here or shift forward to plank you can lower the knees chest and chin and then slowly lower all the way down inhale cobra lift your heart, exhale downward facing dog, from here lower your knees take a brief child's pose, toes together hips back towards your heels, find a smooth steady soft breath, let's keep the pace going come back onto your hands and knees, reach your left arm into the air so you're in a big open twist here on your hands and knees take a deep inhale, exhale thread the left arm underneath your right arm so the back of the shoulder comes towards the floor maybe your head even rests and then inhale come back and reach the left arm into the air, exhale sweep it under, inhale reach it back up, exhale sweep it under keep your belly engaged one more inhale reach it up, exhale sweep it under and pause so maybe the whole left arm is touching the earth maybe the head is touching the earth push into your right hand feel this twist the back of the shoulder is getting a nice stretch as well one more breath and then push into your right hand come back up other side right arm in the air open deep breath in exhale sweep the right arm under the left all the way to the back of the shoulder take a breath here and just feel this and then dynamic inhale reach your right arm back in the air exhale sweep it under inhale reach it back in the air exhale sweep it under inhale reach it up exhale sweep it under and hold so I like to let my head hang here or either touch the floor and you can push into your left hand to deepen the twist it feels so good on the back and the shoulder a couple more breaths and then slowly push into your left hand come back onto your hands and knees and then slowly shift back to downward facing dog walk your feet to your hands come halfway up inhale exhale fold bend your knees chair pose take your arms alongside your ears nothing more fiery than a chair pose so you can have your feet hip distance or toes together bring your hands to your heart center take a deep breath in exhale twist towards the left let your right elbow just hover off of your legs using the core here inhale back to center exhale twist to the other side left elbow hovers full deep breath try to keep your legs together so the knees aren't all wonky inhale back to center exhale twist towards the other side inhale center use the belly exhale twist few more inhale center exhale twist inhale center exhale twist come back to center slowly straighten your legs maybe close your eyes feel your breath feel the energy that you're creating in your body the heat maybe a little sweat purifying and renewing every cell not only physically but also mentally one more breath from here blink your eyes open bring the weight into your right foot hug your left knee in you can hug it right under the knee and just find your balance soft focal point out in front of you you're welcome to stay here and work on your balance or possibly find a twist take your left hand keep your left excuse me your right hand on your left knee take your left hand behind you and open into a twist breathe root through your right foot strong right leg lift through the top of your head sometimes it's fun to play with a little extra challenge here gaze to the side or back I'm gonna fall but that's okay keep breathing and then come back to center slowly switch sides release your left leg shake out your right leg and we'll come into the other side left foot down right foot comes up just hug under the knee find your balance pull your belly and your belly is fired up right now so let it support you here and then either stay or open up in your twist right arm sweeps back right shoulder pulls back you can keep your gaze forward or you can start to play with the gaze keep breathing one more breath come back to center release your right foot down inhale reach your arms up exhale chair pose hands at your heart okay let's take chair pose one more time feeling the fire in the legs this time extend your arms alongside your ears and then come down as deep as you can with your legs engage your belly pull your belly away from your thighs take an inhale exhale big sweep arms behind you inhale back to chair exhale big sweep releasing energy two more inhale chair exhale sweep inhale chair exhale sweep inhale to standing exhale hands to your heart step your left foot to the back of the mat come into warrior two big long stance in your legs arms out to the side bend your right knee over your ankle ideally or maybe a little further back and not over the ankle find your breath and then using the arms here pull energy in palms come together deep breath in exhale push energy out deep breath in pull energy in exhale push energy out inhale bring in a sense of renewal exhale release stagnant energy two more inhale exhale inhale exhale simply straighten your right leg pivot your feet towards the back of the mat left knee bends over left ankle right toe slightly angle in arms out to the side engage your belly take up a lot of space here same thing with the arms inhale bring your palms towards each other exhale push the arms out inhale bring it in exhale push it out maybe close your eyes inhale bring it in exhale push it out two more inhale exhale inhale exhale straighten your left leg step forward to the front edge of your mat hands to your heart inhale reach your arms up exhale dive forward and fold inhale halfway lift exhale fold from here maybe vinyasa or you can step to down dog so you'll step straight to plank for vinyasa maybe lower the knees deep breath in exhale lower inhale cobra lift your heart exhale downward facing dog in downward dog let's play with lion's breath so it's a strong exhale out your mouth you'll stick your tongue out like your tongue is going to touch your chin so take a deep breath in exhale lion's breath open mouth tongue out again deep breath in exhale lion's tongue out one more inhale let it go lower your knees child's pose sit back towards your heels let your body rest here maybe the arms come alongside your body couple more slow deep breaths here and slowly roll yourself up so you're sitting on your heels coming into verasana so I recommend a block in verasana it just gives your spine a little lift I'm gonna face towards you but you can stay where you are on your mat and put the block right between your heels you feel a tall spine a little bit of a lift and what we're going to focus on here is a little bit more core action in the belly and it's this deep pumping of the abdomen and it's also in sync with our breath and we're going to do something called breath of fire so in yoga we kind of bring in different pranayamas to build energy or to calm energy this one is a little more of a building energy and very very purifying so you can even imagine as you're doing breath of fire that you're building fire in your belly and you're just burning away things that are not serving you things that are creating clutter or chaos in your mind okay so you can just rest your hands on your thighs and it's basically just rapid inhales and exhales through your nose and it looks like this so begin when you're ready rapid inhales and exhales through your nose you're pumping your abdomen and just feel like you're burning things away keep pumping your breath creating lots of space keep going for ten nine eight seven six five four three two one take a deep inhale hold your breath in open your mouth let it go just pause for a moment natural breath feel the effects blink your eyes open you can do that breath anytime you feel like you need to burn stuff away okay let's come on to the back and you move your block off to the side and once you come on to your back bring your knees in but let them land right over your hips move my bun here a little bit and then take your arms out like a T shape so your shins are parallel to the floor you've got a nice L shape with your legs keep your ankles touching take a deep breath in exhale lower your knees towards the right let them hover use your belly inhale bring the knees right back over the hips exhale lower the knees towards the left let them hover use your belly inhale bring the knees right back over the hips exhale lower knees towards the floor inhale use the belly bring them back exhale to the left inhale bring them back so you're welcome to go a little lower exhale if it feels okay and then inhale bring them back exhale to the left inhale bring them back so press down through your shoulders stay with your breath here as you move you're also welcome to challenge yourself maybe straighten your legs so definitely an extra challenge there but feel it if you do lots of core work you're welcome to take that extra challenge a few more side to side keep pressing down through your shoulders use your belly I like to think of my legs as windshield wipers on a cloudy rainy day just kind of clearing the window finding some space pushing away the debris one more side to side and the next time you come to the right just let your knees come all the way to the floor you can maybe scoot your right hip in a little maybe gaze to the left couple breaths come back to center inhale take your knees over to the left maybe scoot the hips to the right shoulders away from your ears a final rinse here as you twist come back to center place your feet on the floor bring the soles of your feet together let your knees open up outer edges of the feet touch and then you can either have your arms alongside your body with your palms up soot the bada kvanasana or you can place one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest and just take a few deep breaths into your heart now that you've found some beautiful renewed energy what do you want to bring in how do you want to fill up your space you're welcome to stay here a little longer if you'd like or gently guide your knees together extend your legs out on the floor final rest shavasana just let yourself melt you're hot enough probably hot enough to melt imagine the muscles simply dripping away from your bones and soak in this moment let's start to softly come back into the breath big inhales long exhales wiggle fingers and toes reach your arms over your head and just stretch your body long bend your knees roll over to your right side maybe make a pillow with your right arm for a moment start to come up to a seated position use your hands stay soft once you come up keep your eyes closed and gather your palms together at your heart center in prayer bow your chin down for a moment of gratitude thank yourself for taking the time out of your day to show up for your practice to show up for yourself to burn away the things that have not been serving you let's take one more slow easy breath in and out blink your eyes open namaste