Expansive Flow

are you ready to go again I'm ready to go again here we go interlace your fingers and release down we'll do that again with the heels inhale up elbows up heels down hands down connect so you got this kind of wave like rhythm inhale up exhale down push this time keep the knees bent inhale arms forward and up imagine someone's hanging you from a tree you just I'm your private dancer so just stay soft now notice when you drop your head down how does it feel in your back and abdomen notice how it feels as you look up how does it feel which works better for you take one more inhale push into the ground open the chest exhale hands to heart we're gonna do another little part so here we go interlace fingers exhale inhale arms up left leg up exhale down inhale other side exhale down now what I'm going to do is do the same thing from the front of the mat we're going to add a little sequence interlacing the fingers exhale inhale arms up left leg up now remember we're going to be using this pretty much throughout the practice exhale hands down leg back inhale hands up in top of front knee exhale soften back leg and ripple the spine till the shoulders are over the hips inhale arms wide open the chest exhale round fold twisting the arms inhale arms wide exhale arms round four this time inhale arms wide and up to the sky palms go to the sky back leg straight exhale hands to heart cactus arms just for one breath there it is exhale hands down on either side of the front foot inhale top of push-up I like to do from the toes it makes me connect to the core but you can stretch your toes by staying on the ball or stay up inhale exhale with elbows by the ribs slowly come to the floor release soften roll the shoulders back pull your chest up and exhale peel down inhale up to all fours tuck the toes now look at your hands reset them don't just really have full connection it activates the entire form down down inhale both heels up this time exhale just the right knee bends and left heel releases down feel the buoyancy in that left leg inhale up exhale it's like you're putting your foot again into a Wellington hmm sinking it squeeze it into that show inhale up exhale both legs down just give a little twist in the body inhale to the top of this plank exhale far to knee inhale open left leg up to the sky exhale bring the foot between the hands if you don't get the foot between the hands do what I do drop my back knee down and just guide it forward let's do the other side inhale hands up on top of front knee exhale soften back leg ripple the spine feel that domino effect all the way inhale arms wide and turn the palms the sky chest open exhale allow yourself almost like a slow-motion whip rolling and the shoulders should feel like a tin opener now open that tin palms roll feel it opening up and forward fold inhale roll and exhale fold the next time we do we're going to go all the way up to the sky inhale open then exhale hands to heart whoa cactus arms open exhale hands down back leg bands opportunity to connect to core move forward inhale lengthen and soft arms wide inhale up and soften inhale exhale right leg inhale up exhale and back to the lunge inhale all the way up to high lunge interlaced fingers now with the right leg back lean to the left and back lift the heart up and soften lift the heart up straighten the back leg open the chest exhale left hand forward right arm takes the bind we're going to go for eagle version just for one breath inhale up exhale hinge inside the front thigh relax the leg hands down I want to turn the front foot will scoot it to the edge of the mat to 45 degrees and let that hip open up and drop your back knee down release the back leg your right hand is going to go to the right and forward and then release your right hip down maybe come down to your right elbow maybe come down to both elbows maybe tuck the back toes those squeezes like you're squeezing the tissue and softening so we're not staying too long now hands down front leg goes back this time we're going to try vinyasa chaturanga and up dog halfway down inhale open exhale roll over the toes it really feels connection to the abdomen just there and back hmm inhale heels high exhale right knee bends left heel stretches inhale up exhale change sides inhale both heels up and exhale both heels down hmm and inhale to the top of the push-up exhale right knee to forehead round and squeeze and if that's your squeeze then open back to down like a three-legged down dog open stretch and bring the right foot between the hands inhale all the way up to high lunge interlaced fingers other finger should maybe leave just to get a balance in the body and then lean to the right take that corner open lift the chest look up soften the front knee buoyancy again open the chest lean back and then right hand forward left arm takes the bind eagle arms the twist inhale elbows up and then just softly sink inside the front thigh take a breath here release the neck release the hands drop the back knee wiggle the front foot out to 45 degrees now that gives you a bit of room for your body and also to open the hip now again I like to move into it slowly so the easier version is left hand out left hand forward releasing the foot left hip down and just sway into it maybe bring the left elbow down see how that feels whoo bring the right elbow down tuck the back toes juice up the back leg and push the back heel away and remember the opposing action the heart pulls forward ah feels good I approve this message and slowly when you're ready come to a squat hands down now think of your arms like scaffolding and as the hands push together the elbow stay wide and lift the chest hips are soft the hands go forward like you're driving a bus and just sway in head arms wide and all the way up interlace fingers turn the toes in expand exhale hands to heart and moving from here I'm just going to do the legs wide heels in inhale up exhale hands to heart symmetrical now we'll do one side inhale up left hand forward right arm takes the bind as we twist the arms feel that lovely opening in the shoulder girl inhale elbows up shoulders up then exhale release the shoulder inhale the arms move away like a drawbridge make space for the head just to drop down and let the elbows move into the abdomen let your hips and your elbows sink down and then like your arms are a rudder and a gondola just slowly sway side to side one two three and four come to stillness come to symmetry inhale and all the way up let's do the other side the right hand goes forward left arm goes over take the bind the more I can twist more I feel that lovely release in this scapula the shoulder blade inhale up shoulders elbows exhale just the shoulders down away from here inhale arms move away like a drawbridge maybe a little maybe a bit more making room for the head to drop and then the spine slowly from the top to draw down to the elbows reach somewhere close in the abdomen this is a good stopping point take one breath here exhale hips and elbows sink down and then again the arms it's like your mixing hot and cold water in a bath you're just swishing one two three and four come to stillness inhale exhale hands to heart so we did symmetrical with the hips now we're going to add a little bit keeping the feet where they are and using the elbows like scaffolding squat down allow the hips to sink down now I'm going to slowly lean to one side and I could probably get my feet a little further apart because I want to straight one leg so I want to put the legs further apart move my right elbow against my right knee keep the right knee safe keep it over the middle toe so you're keeping the knee back and up and then sink down and this might be enough for me just to feel that nice release or even that there's no business like show business and slowly want to sweep the hands to the other side keep that softness and again elbow hey you get to the back of the line it's Black Friday cool handsome prayer sink the hips down and again the more I can open the chest the more the shoulders can help me open the hip and back and slowly inhale all the way up again exhale hands to heart now turning my right foot what happens here just before I turn when I turn my foot it's easy for me to let go my abdomen so it's easier to feel the tissue when it's in a shortened state neutral make sure you have that little package that little huggy bear before you turn the foot and then you get the full appreciation inhale open soften the shoulders sink sink what are you thinking about turn the front palm inhale and exhale inhale and exhale all the way down in head open straight in the front leg I'm gonna bring the top hand the left hand all the way to the waist I'm gonna bend my front knee bring the hand to the outside if I have a good core connection I can hop forward and lift up now this really is the shape all I'm thinking is heart healing heart reach apart boom if it rhymes it must be true and then we'll do that little wonder no no no no open and now turn your hip for any healing heart reach apart and exhale squeeze squeeze squeeze squeeze inhale healing heart exhale fold inhale halfway up bend the knees back of the hands touch inhale all the way up interlaced fingers one more hmm and heart now let's do the other side I'm gonna step my feet out wide just the way we start before so legs wide on the mat and I like to have the toes slightly and it protects the knee opportunity connect to center centers connected left foot turns then left leg feel the action pulling forward and back in the shoulders and the buoyancy in the shoulders if the handbrake is off if there's that there's always a curiosity you're always there if you you lose that so say soft you can be still and soft turn the front palm inhale reverse wire reach exhale back inhale this time I'm going to go all the way down to the ground all the way down and inhale open hmm inhale straighten the front leg feel that stretch I caught a fish this big oh there's no fish left and top hand goes to the waist I'm gonna bend the front knee bring the hand down now I keep it on the baby toe side and I move it about a foot forward but it's really just for where I want to place my shoulder connect to core here we go expand heel and heart boom remember the lawnmower inhale shoulder elbow wrist knuckles fingers expand and one more it gives me an opportunity to connect core inhale from core from center all the way up exhale as this time as the hand comes down I get an opportunity to turn my hip doesn't matter if the standing leg is bent heel and heart reach apart exhale far to knee squeeze squeeze squeeze heel and heart maybe even have buoyancy where there's a lightness in the hands exhale fold down inhale back leg up and soften the feet together huh back of the hands touch roll the spine into nice fingers other finger and exhale hands to heart now we're going to do something we're turning up the volume coming back to the center your matter get the legs wide we're going to do one more balance sequence and I want we're going to be lifting one leg stretching it forward bringing it in stretching it back and when we do this it's going to be a little confusing if you have to look at the TV and do this so here we go I'm going to inhale left leg up knee up the knee comes into the chest and the exhale and hands go to prayer inhale just expand the foot now don't lean back as you expand the foot exhale bend that leg soften and hinge your body so now you're noticing where your center point is as you hinge in this nice tight little ball we expand from that title ball as the heel reaches back the left heel and the arms reach forward and then exhale slowly draw it back and in let everything come up on the inhale let everything soften down on the exhale if you didn't get that we're gonna do it again so we'll try the other side inhale right leg up feel it squeeze into a ball and enjoy it's more of a hug inhale with a point toes pointed reach exhale bend the knee and hinge the body so now I want to reach in a straight line for wire three heel and heart reach apart and back inhale up and now I'm gonna try that one more time in each side without talking to see what it feels like to just to have a flow inhale exhale into center reaching inhale exhale coming back to center inhale expansion exhale regrouping inhale moving up exhale and down other side inhale exhale inhale reach the leg forward exhale soften the leg and hinge the body inhale expand lengthen out exhale backing in inhale up so now I want to step back to the front of the mat and I want to introduce one little theory the short version is called yawning but the idea behind it is you squeeze that muscle tissue and slowly release it and as it releases the squeezing gives you a really an acute awareness of what's going on in the tissue so when you lengthen it you are much more involved and invested in the process so it's called pandiculation yawning when we move forward I want you to notice that aspect in all in all yoga postures because we've squeezed the back muscles as we're opening the front so now we have the opportunity to release it as I step forward here I'm gonna step the left leg back boom we turn the body and as we turn the body I want you to think of tightening the chair you can only finger tighten a jar to what works for you and that's the same with the body so just twist right hand goes the right way elbow goes back feel the chest open inhale left arm up rock saw exhale only halfway down now I'm keeping this spine as straight as I can and I want the idea that if I reach forward like I'm handing somebody a baton in a race urgent message that my hips will twist if it feels okay the fingertips come down to the inside if it's too much soften the knee just a little if it feels okay and to the outside now a lovely feeling here I know use the image before is the shoulder is like the can opener if the hips are they can so really work on the activity of the shoulder twisting up and notice the softness of the tissue in the hips reaching the hands apart reaching the heart forward staying connected to the ball of the big toe on the front foot open and yawn exhale hands down now if that was a deep stretch for you a lot of the times I'm you always like like a plane journey you're really just gonna get into a little difficulty on the take off in the landing so if it's deep stretch we acclimate the body bring it back into balance hands on the shins balance tissue inhale pull the bed sheets exhale soften everything back of the hands touch zip to the sky exhale hard and we'll do the other side left leg forward right leg back twist the jar there it is left hand to the waist inhale right arm up and again think tango baby exhale only halfway down now as again it is that urgent message delivery I bring gifts reach reach reach reach once is there a heaven and hand down I'm using that springboard effect to the front legs I want to feel in the tissue I don't crank into join the dots I'm drawing through the body and that's even enough just the shoulder that tin opener and remember I love you this much oh and maybe even reach the heart open and pull the heart forward oh feels good I'm glad I do this for a job exhale hands down spring forward lengthen exhale fold your body down neck is up bend the knees back of the hands touch zip up the sky now we're gonna take those body twists a little further exhale knees bend knees slightly behind feel the core engage inhale up for your chest open exhale hands to heart right elbow outside left knee snuggle it down if you can now if the knees move the spine is probably the hips are gonna move which means I won't get as deep a stretch in the spine inhale open bottom hand down top hand up exhale hands back to prayer but shift weight into the left leg bring the right leg back feel that sensation as you reach the leg back and bring the foot down now again just the palms and prayer or bottom hand down hmm top hand up reach hmm back to prayer and hands to the ground now listen here back knee is going to go to the outside of the front foot the outside of the left foot so I slide it in and we've been here before in the previous class it's called Artemati Indurasana sit down again hmm left hand back you get that skeletal system nice and nice and high like a coat hanger inhale right arm up exhale spiral from the abdomen rib cage chest elbow open soften and bring hands in either side of the front foot if it feels okay you can shoot the feet back or step the feet back so thank you inhale and exhale I'm going to come down and here we go left leg is going to bend out so it's the action man we're going to do that same Cobra again inhale up exhale soften the right hip look to your left knee look to your left ankle look to your right ankle what you doing inhale exhale down change sides leg action man inhale up release left hip with the chest open look to your right knee your right ankle and then continue look to your left you can really inhale exhale bring the leg back come to down down now I'm going to just step or jump the feet forward it doesn't matter as long as you don't disconnect a lot of people jump like they're jumping from stone to stone see if you can just even if it needs to stay short oh just don't disconnect in the body tissue inhale lengthen exhale fold we're doing the other side now bend the knees knees behind toes core back feels nice and soft inhale Mexican wave holy exhale hands to hard left elbow outside right knee man give a little hug twist if it feels right and down open and back this time the weight shifts into the right leg left leg slowly reaches back and expand bottom hand down again optional hmm and both hands down remember we're going to slide the back knee the outside of the front foot sit down hmm give yourself a hug feel yourself grow right hand back left hand up spiral inhale feel tall exhale soften just the head and then slowly release out of it and just like the other side going to do a vinyasa so hands on either side remember we can step one two or get that little hot but don't disconnect from the center so it's and go and inhale and exhale hmm now again I'm gonna come down to the belly and we'll do a little bit of action man here we go up lift your head twist in the back and down other side action man inhale up twist to knee ankle straight leg ankle feels nice and down and then we're going to work our way up to kneeling slowly come up and face forward and when you're ready from here I want you to lift your hips up so they're over the knees bring your hands to your waist elbows back lift and open the chest now if you can't lift a little higher open the throat just soften your head back and back enough it's now bringing out the right leg inhale and left hand is going to go down inhale right arm up and overhead now lift the knee and maybe if bring the leg in front and up and back with the same leg don't change just switch the other side slide down and back again we're just going to come back a gentle camel pose exhale connect inhale expand hmm and then we'll do the other side left leg out she goes and bring your right hand down plant the right hand lift the right leg inhale open forward and maybe bring the right leg forward and up smell your armpit and down now there's a nice sensation that happens there that's different to side arm balance it's a little bit forward so it helps plug the skeletal system and really nice and solid and then we stretch the other way so left hand slides down the leg right arm up reach the arm up and just soften open soften and down back to kneeling and then I'll come back to the front of the mat here we go we do that exact same thing we're going to turn it into a little bit of a twist using that idea of plugging in so not side arm balance but plugging in so again we scoot back starting with the right leg inhale up one hip on top of the other lift higher bend the knee and softly shift the weight so this is more like Indiana Jones where he's trying to take he just want to feel where the center I lasted and open and then slowly bring it down and then feel like you're in the matrix just shoot it out and stretch and back and this time we're not going to let the foot lie we're going to come to a three-legged vinyasa down there replant open exhale down down we're going to reset the other side that recoil before you let the body release out always moving slow noticing the details and inhale left leg up one hip on top of the other lift higher and bend that left leg feel the weight of that left as you slowly shift now this might be as far as we go today stack the shoulders where are you center and if you fall you fall in the right place record boom and down three-legged vinyasa inhale down down now I'm just going to come through to a seated position and you can just step or bring walk your feet between your hands some of this nice I think of my hands or feet like a paintbrush so when they're sliding that brushing it tells me if I start to grip so here we go connect to the center and a little and forward I'm going to go straight into the fold again inhale up exhale fold so from here we're just going to do a headstand so at this part of the practice I like to do headstand I really feel it helps me at the end of my practice and there are alternatives to doing headstand and one of the primary things is just the inversion having the head below the heart and we'll see how that works out so even as we do the preparation you should see about four different shapes and one of these shapes should be something that resonates with you like I'm tired child spouse I'd like to work towards it so there's always going to be an avenue for you and we start with the traditional Macarena it was huge in India so one two Maca three Macarena and really that's just about elbow under shoulder alignment so we've skeletal system working hands out interlace the fingers and soften now once I took my toes you can see two or three shapes happen so this is a nice one to go oh dolphin pose you can see downward dog you can see child's pose as the legs start to straight you go oh I could even see for standing forward fold here is downward dog here is and I like to keep the knee soft or string just whatever feels good so they're all there when I build and I use the head stand I use it as an opportunity to just to connect to center so as I took my head in to the little place I lift up and the less work I have in the toes the more I feel connected to center but even that even just bend them one knee huh that feels nice so when we come down I'm just going to go to Part B I want you to think of a crane one of those cranes in a building site and you have got this long piece of the crane that delivers all the goods to the building site and on the back end of it you've got this big heavy load of cement this is your big heavy load of cement we got to keep it on one side of the crane and how we do that is by pushing and opening the chest one the shoulder girdle to the muscles in the spine and through the core itself so it's notice where it draws your attention and use this practice is something to to navigate to where you might need help interlace fingers one and tuck the toes and open the chest get that feeling then plant the head top of the head snuggle it in now I could hop but then there's a disconnect so I want the connection always wherever you go there you are so I just want to feel the legs go up now if I want to feel more and if the legs go down halfway notice the hips will have to go back so never be in a rush I always have time to notice make it relevant and slowly go down hmm and up be still and down give yourself time and don't rush out of this pose when you come down stay down kind of like the advice that Mickey gave Rocky in Rocky one stay down you're nothing but a punk rest your head let your body tissue soften feet and melt and reconnect to that first idea we had with the breath think of your breath is the primary vinyasa the primary expansion of tissue and release slowly when you're ready lift your body up I'm gonna prepare for shavasana see if you can mindfully move down onto the mat without disturbing the body slowly open like you're in a warm pool just floating sink deeper and feel that warmth if you need to make adjustments at this point do you on a stretch anything that can allow you to be still let your eyes close and at some point you do need a reference of just focusing on one thing it can be the breath it can be your tissue melting but even that too should dissolve that should dissolve whatever happens happens you're an observer you're no longer navigating your guest just just taking in the views you you if you want to remain here remain still please do give yourself permission to just be there and come out when you're ready if you are ready we come out together as we slowly deepen our inhales and feel that flow through the body all the way to the fingers and toes not just in the fingers and toes but where it's flowing from and to wiggle bring it back to life movement spirals in one direction and change direction and reach imagine that you are springing from the center of your body in two directions the feet reach hands reach and then everything else and bend your knees even here stay mindful move to the right side and rest now you have a choice here you can treat the practice as something separate to your daily life or you can just notice things about it that you go hmm I could use a bit of that that choice is yours I'm gonna ask you slowly to make your way to a seated position now when I say seated it could be anything you feel comfortable I like to sometimes roll the mat up sometimes it just it's like my shoulders are the coat hanger and let everything drape off hands together comes to the forehead for clarity of thought to the lips for clarity of speech and to the heart for clarity of action so we're clearing everything we think everything we say and everything we do namaste