Queen Pigeon

Welcome yogis. In this practice we're going to be heading towards the Queen variation of pigeon. It's, I think, whenever I come to this pose it's a really beautiful shape. Some people call it mermaid pose as well, but it is truly that, like, looking into that royal aspect of ourselves, right? And when I think about royalty, I think about access, and so we're thinking about access with connection with our own being and with the rest of the world. Like, what would it feel like if we let go of the limiting belief systems where we believe that we are separate and rather trust that we are connected? So let's start in Cat and Cow. Hands down. Knees just slightly behind your hips. Let the heart drop, the gaze lift, take a breath in. And as you exhale, tuck the chin, push down into your hands, the pelvis tilts, and you get as round as you can, even into the spaces where it feels like you can't. And then inhale, let the heart come through. Exhale, come on back. One more time like that. Maybe for the next couple of rounds you let it look however you want it to look. I really like to do circles. It makes me feel like I might be a good dancer someday. I'm hoping. My husband says I dance like a washing machine that's been unloaded, that's been loaded up without a lot of balance, but it's fun. Good. And switch directions if you're doing circles. And then you're gonna find center, and you're gonna take your right foot, extend it straight back behind you, and then turn the toes out, and you're gonna place the foot between your back knee and your hands, and then you'll continue that circle kind of action. So letting the elbows bend as you move the hips in circles. I call these lizard circles. And it should be really nice and intuitive here. And then switch directions, circling the hips, keeping the sole of that right foot on the floor. When I was writing this practice I couldn't stop thinking about Beyonce, the Queen. Was kind of reminding me of her too. And then step the right leg back, step the left foot between the knee and the front hands. And then again, go to the right, make some circles, bend the elbows.

Just moving the femur in the hip socket, and then take it the other direction. And then we're gonna meet up in hands and knees. You're gonna tuck your toes and lift yourself up and back to your downward facing dog. Mm-hmm. Just taking a brief moment here, lifting the hips up and back, stretching, feeling straightness come to the legs. And then we're gonna drop back down onto knees, take the heels and bring them together like Vajrasana. And then we're gonna take a twist in our child's pose shape. So you're gonna walk the hands over towards the right, so that you're kind of aiming for about two to three o'clock. Maybe your left hand's on one o'clock and your right hand's on two or three. And then you go ahead and let your head go and the belly comes close to your thighs. And walk your right hand out a little bit further than your left hand. And then walk the left hand out to try and meet it and feel a big stretch come to that left side of the shoulder. Drop the outer edge of the shoulder blade towards the floor. And also drop the left side of your spine, of your ribs, away from your spine. Mm-hmm. And walk the hands back up. And then you'll take it over towards the left, walking your left hand out, your right hand out. This time the left hand is kind of around nine o'clock on the clock face. And your right hand's about ten or eleven. And then you drop your head, hips stay where they are. Walk the left hand out a little bit further. And then walk the right hand out to meet it. As best you can till you feel a stretch come to the outer line of your right shoulder, the tricep. And then drop your right ribs away from your spine. Mm-hmm. That's nice. Wrapping the outer edge of the shoulder blade towards the floor. In Queen Pigeon there's a secret hidden twist that we'll meet up with later. And this kind of sets the framework for that. Walk the hands back forward. Come up towards hands and knees once more. Tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back, returning to your downward facing dog shape. And we'll inhale the right heel straight back up and behind. And then exhale, step between your hands. Keep your fingers on the floor, drop your back knee. And go ahead and let the right knee move beyond the right ankle and possibly walk that left leg back a little bit. Let the pelvis move a little bit towards the left. And then soften your right hip crease here.

So you're gonna get a big stretch to the front of that left quadricep. Gaze can just be down. Just starting to open up through the front of the body. And then this is fantastic. You're gonna grab your black and take it with you. You're gonna step back to the back of the mat, place the block kind of by your left shin, and then sit down with your left foot in Virasana and then your right foot on the floor. And then you're gonna bring hands back behind you, lift your butt up off the floor, off the block, and then move your sitting bones towards your knee as you drop your booty back down. That makes increases the stretch on the quad. And you might come down to elbows. You can relift your seat. Draw the sitting bones towards the front knee. Drop the booty back down. Bigger quad stretch. Take the sides of the waist back. Keep the left knee on the floor. Some of you might start to come all the way down towards your backs. This is again a case of the block making a bigger stretch here. We're using it to increase the height of the hips so that the opening on the front of the hips is larger. Preparing for our queen. Reach through that right femur. Gently draw the sides of the waist back. And then if you came down at all, start to use your elbows to get yourself all the way back up. And then release the block to the side. And we'll use it again in a moment. Stretch the right leg back. Tuck the toes. Stretch back downward facing dog. All right, all right, all right. Inhale your left heel straight back up and behind. Exhale, step between your hands. Drop the back knee. Go ahead and let the left knee move beyond the ankle. And maybe scooch your right leg back a little bit. And just begin to open the front of that right thigh. Let the pelvis move slightly to the right. Soften the left hip crease from pubic bone to outer hip to greater trochanter. For many of us we'll feel a lot here. For some of us it won't be that much, but there's still stuff going on. And we don't always need to be at the edge of our sensorial experience in yoga. Great. Grab your block. Take it with you as you lean back to the back of the mat. Set it on the wide setting right next to your shin. And then sit back so the left foot comes on the floor. Right knee is in Virasana, hero seat. Appropriate for the queen. Hands back behind you. Lift your seat. Draw the sitting bones towards your knee. Drop the booty back down and then come to elbows if you're heading there. And then repeat. Sitting bones up towards the knee. Come back down. Keep the right knee on the floor if you're going all the way down. Come all the way down. Sides of the waist move back to help increase the stretch of that center quadricep. The front of the thigh.

For many of us the back bends become limited by the tightness on the fronts of our thighs if we do things like hiking, biking, running. And so if we spend some time opening up the fronts of our quads before we come into a back bend practice, it can feel much more accessible. And we can make progress that we didn't think was possible. Good. And then start to use your elbows and your hands to come all the way back up. Set your block back to the side. Stretch your left leg back behind you. Tuck your toes and come back to your downward facing dog shape. Finding all four corners of your feet. The inner and the outer hand. Stretching. Lengthening the spine here. And then we'll come up onto our toes and take a slow walk all the way to the top of the mat. Mm-hmm. Letting your feet be outer hip width distance apart so a little bit wider than normal. Bend the knees slightly so belly and thighs meet. Catch your hands back behind you in a clasp. And then move the clasp away from your seat. And then as you straighten the legs take the clasp up and over starting to open into the shoulders and you can lean. Bend the right knee. Lean over to the right. Bend the left knee. Lean over to the left. And maybe one more time. Mm-hmm. Good. And then releasing hands down to the floor. Inhaling, extending the spine. Exhale, folding in. And then inhale coming all the way up. Big upward salute. And exhale, hands to heart center. Good. Inhale, take the inner edges of your feet together. Inhale, reach the arms up. Hug the sides of the waist in. Get long and tall. Exhale, bend the knees. Touch the hands back behind your heels. Inhale, reach your arms forward. Hook your thumbs here and pull your thumbs apart so you broaden the upper back. And then use your belly to start to take your chest up and back. Moving the arms back. Wrapping the outer edges of the shoulder blades forward. Great. Take the shins back. Press into the heels. Inhale, stand all the way up. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, Ardha Uttanasana. Exhale, step back right side. Inhale, your left arm up, finding open twist. And we'll take it slow this first round. So really expanding the chest, leaning back. Let it be sort of gaudy. And then you're gonna bring the left hand up and over your ear all the way back behind your left foot. Peel the back heel down and then inhale the right arm up for an extended side angle variation. Breathe in. Keep softening that left hip crease like you did at Anjanaasana, the low lunge. And then take the arm up and over. Step back. Find three-legged plank pose please. So take the left heel up into the sky.

Inhale here. Exhale, knee to nose. Inhale, reach it back. Exhale, knee to left armpit. Inhale, reach it back. Exhale, knee to right armpit. Inhale, reach it back. Exhale, shift forward. Lower all the way down. Untuck the toes. Take your fingertips nice and wide, your foreheads to the floor, and point your elbows towards the sky. The fingertips are in line with the shoulders. And then take your elbows, draw your shoulder blades onto your back, press the feet down, and inhale to rise up for big cobra. Notice if your shoulders creep up towards your ears and instead let them drop down and move the heart forward and up. Yeah. Breathe in here. Exhale, forehead comes down to the floor. Bring your hands back by your chest, tuck the toes, push up, plank pose, and stretch back, downward facing dog. Mmm. Inhaling. Exhaling. Inhale, lift high up into your toes. Bend the knees, look forward, exhale, and hop right between your hands. Inhale, arda. Exhale, fold. Bend the knees deeply. Hook your thumbs the weird way. Reach them out in front of you, press your heels into the floor, stick your butt out, find your belly, and then start to reach your arms up so biceps might land by your ears. Good. Breathe in. Exhale, fold right back in. Inhale, arda. Exhale, step back left side. Peel the right arm up and open, finding open twist, and you can lean back.

Mm-hmm. Stretching the outer right hip. Notice if your left hip point drops way down and see if you can lift it up a little bit. Good. And then swim that right arm up and over your ear, bring it back behind your right foot, peel the left heel down, and then open it up into extended side angle variation. Good. Strong back leg, sweeping the left arm up and over, and then exhale all the way down to the floor. Come right to your three-legged plank pose. Inhale. Exhale, knee to nose. Inhale, stretch it back. Exhale, knee to right armpit. Inhale, reach it back. Exhale, cross it over. Inhale, reach it back. Exhale, lower all the way down to the floor. This time, fingertips land right underneath your shoulders so that the tips of your fingers and the tips of your shoulders are in line. Draw the elbows in. Take an inhale and rise all the way up. Claw the floor a little bit, circle your elbows towards the sides of your ribs, and then pull the heart forward and up and forward and up. And one more. Forward and up. Exhale, lower down. Tuck the toes, lift your thighs, and push all the way up to plank pose, and stretch back down dog. Three breaths here. Inhale, rising up to toes. Exhale, bend the knees, hop forward. Inhale, arda uttanasana. Exhale, fold. And then bend the knees, touch your hands back behind your heels. Reach forward, hook the thumbs the normal way. Inhale, lift the chest. Exhale, this time forward fold. Inhale, arda. Exhale, step back right side. Inhale, peel the left arm up and open. Exhale, kick the hand up and over the ear, all the way back behind the left foot. Peel the right arm open. Breathe in. Exhale, arm up and over the ear. Coming back to your plank pose. This time, two feet, two hands. So you can come down to sphinx, two elbows, two feet, and then lift your left heel, and then touch your left knee to your left armpit, and back. And one more, and back. I lied. One more, and back, and then shift forward, and lower all the way down to your sphinx pose. Make sure the elbows are as wide as the shoulders. Spread the fingers, claw the floor a little bit, and then lift your navel away from the floor, and reach the heart between the goalposts of your arms. Press down into the meaty part of your forearms. Reach back through the legs.

Magnetize the elbows towards one another slightly to let the heart open. Good. Keep the chest lifted as best you can. Slide the hands back to cobra both at the same time, and then you're gonna come all the way back to Downward V same dog. Inhale, lift high up into your toes. Bend the knees. Exhale, hop between your hands. Last one. Inhale, Arda. Exhale, fold. Bend the knees, and hook your thumbs the weird way. Reach your arms forward. Find your belly. One big breath. Breathe in. Lift your chest. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, Arda. Exhale, step back left side. Inhale, open twist. Exhale, the arm up and over the ear, all the way back behind the right foot. Peel the left arm open. Extended side angle. Breathing in. Inhale, arm up and over. Exhale, step back to plank pose. Two hands, two feet. Let the elbows come down. Find your sphinx. Pull the chest forward. Lift your right heel, and then it's knee to right armpit. One, two, three. And then slowly lower the hips. We're gonna stretch out the quads here in our sphinx pose. So take your right fingertips towards your left elbow. Press into your right elbow, and then reach back with your left hand. Catch the big toe side of your left foot. And you'll see that your chest is a little bit open towards the left. As you close the distance between your left heel and your butt, you're gonna turn your fingers towards your pinky toe side of your foot, and then all the way towards the front of your body. So toes and fingers point in the same way. And then turn your chest. Head back. Big lift of the left shoulder. Reach from your hip out through the left knee. Good. And then release. Pause. Let the head rest for a moment. Right in your hands. You can rock the hips side to side. And then come back to your sphinx pose.

Elbows underneath the shoulders. Take your left fingers, point them towards your right elbow. Push into your left elbow. And then start to reach back, back, back, back. Take the big toe side of the foot. Some of you might just stay here with the elbow pointed up. Fingers pointing towards the pinky toe side of your foot. If you're moving forward with the hand clasp, start to turn the fingers towards the pinky toe side of the foot, and then all the way so they face forward. And then turn the right ribs away from the spine like those child's pose twists. Lift the heart. Take the navel back. Big lift of the right shoulder. Opening the throat. And then from your right hip, reach out into your right quadricep. Good. And then release. Let the head rest. Bring your hands back by your chest. Tuck your toes. Lift yourself up to your pink pose. And stretch back downward facing dog. All right. So go ahead. If you like your blacks and parsvottanasana and pyramid pose, take your blacks and set them towards the top of your mat. Otherwise, go ahead and inhale your right heel straight back up and behind. And exhale, step between your hands. Hop your back foot in just slightly so that you can get your back heel down, slight bend in the right knee, and then you're gonna stand all the way up. And then reach your hands out by your sides. There's gonna be a couple choices for hand position. So one will be opposite elbows. Another will be just hands on hips with elbows pointed back. And then the last one will be, this is the hardest one, thumbs will point down. So you're internally rotating your arms. And then reach the hands back, back, back, back. Walk them up your spine. Touch pinky fingers. And then make a prayer right at the back of your heart. Strong straight legs. There's a tiny back bend for the entrance here. Keep the elbows tucking into your sides like little bird wings. We've done that in a couple practices before. And then lift your heart, lean back, inhale, open the throat. And then as you exhale, strong belly, push into the big toe knuckle of that right foot. Start to fold forward, letting your head go. And it's very much a balancing pose, my friends. So if you feel wobbly like you can't quite get your balance, that's how this is. Make sure the weight's centered on your right heel joint. Head bows in. Mm-hmm, straightening the leg as best as you can. Keeping those elbows tucked in at your sides, not winging the shoulder, the elbows back. And then release. Bring hands to frame the front foot and step back, downward facing dog. Very nice. And then left side, step the left leg, inhale it right straight up, back up and behind. And then exhale, step between your hands. Back heel comes down, hop it in slightly. Don't make your parsvottanasana, your pyramid too short. And then rise up. And then same options, opposite elbows, switch it. If you did it one way, do it the other way. Hands on hips, elbows back behind you. Or hands out to your sides, turn the thumbs down, and then reach the hands up the back. Find pinky finger, ring finger, other fingers. Press your hands into the back of your heart, let your elbows move forward, and then inhale, find the back bend. Press into the big toe knuckle of your left foot as you exhale and bow forward. Remembering that this is very much a balancing pose. Doing that work here, softening the left hip crease. If you're holding tension on the outer part of your left leg, see if you can find a softness there instead of a rigidness. And then bend into your left knee, release the hands. Step back, find downward facing dog one more time. Notice the difference in your shoulders, they might feel alive. And then come on down to knees, and we're gonna take cow face arms. Okay, I'm gonna turn around so you guys can see my arms from the back, and you're gonna go ahead and grab a strap too as we get set up. So you're gonna sit in vajrasana, heels together, take your strap and place your strap over your right shoulder. And it doesn't have to be any particular way, you can just let it unfurl. Mm-hmm. And then you're gonna reach your left hand out by your side, turn the thumb down like we just did, so internally rotating that arm, and then reach the hand back behind you, and grab onto the strap. Again, not swinging the left elbow back, but rather letting it nestle in so that the upper arm bone tilts back into the back of the shoulder socket. And then you'll reach your right arm up by your head, pinky finger facing forward, wrap the outer edge of the shoulder blade forward, stretch up, take the whole arm bone back behind your ear, and then bend the elbow. And some of us might meet hands, that's fine, some of us might hold the strap, and that's fine too. And then you can use your head and press your head into the forearm of the top arm. If you splay your ribs out, just gently let the back body, the back of the diaphragm expand. Mm-hmm. Take another couple breaths here. On your next exhale, you're gonna release the strap and bring both arms out by your sides, palms facing down. And then from your inner shoulder, turn your palms up towards the sky so you feel this brightness come to the chest, and then inhale, arms reach up, and exhale, hands back down to heart center. As you take the strap onto your left shoulder, you'll reach your right arm out by your side, turn the thumb down towards the floor, so internally rotating the arm, and then reach the hand back behind you, letting the right elbow nussel in by your side so that it tips the top of the humerus back into the shoulder socket, and then left arm reaches up, pinky finger facing forward, stretch up, wrapping the outer edge of the shoulder blade forward, and then take the whole arm bone back as you bend and maybe hands meet, maybe you find the strap. Again, keep that right elbow nusseled in. You can use your head to press back into your forearm, and then reach from outer left shoulder up through the tip of the left elbow. Snuggle the ribs in, filling up the back of the diaphragm, and we'll take about five breaths here.

You can also use a scarf for this at home if you don't have a strap. Exhale, release both arms out by your sides, palms facing down, turn from your inner shoulder so that your palms face up to the sky, feeling that brightness come to your chest, and then inhale, arms up, and exhale, hands to heart center. Great, okay, so set your strap to the side, just doing a little strap asana here, hold on, and then we're gonna come to our first pigeon pose of the day. So no fancy way in, we've already done a lot of preparation with our lizard circles and our extended side angle. You're just gonna take your right knee towards your right wrist, let the left heel be close to the left hip point, and then you'll slide your left leg back towards the back of the mat. And then we're gonna stretch our quads one more time here. So right hand can come towards the right thigh, or it can come to the outside of the right thigh, whatever feels really comfortable for you here. Snuggle the legs towards one another, and then reach back with the left hand, kick up the back foot, and take the big toe side of the foot, and pull, turning, fingers first to the pinky toe edge of the foot, and then all the way around forward. And then using the twisting we did in child's pose earlier, twist the chest forward, letting the left ribs move away from the spine, and maybe softening your left hip back. If you want to get spicy, reach your right arm up into the sky, it makes it really hard. It's just more weight-bearing. Good, and then release. Step back, hands and knees.

We'll switch sides. Take your left knee towards your left wrist, and then your left heel comes to your right hip point, and then walk the back leg back. And then again, hand can come to the thigh, to the floor, you can also use a block there. Draw your legs towards one another, kind of like scissors, reach back, kick up the foot, take the big toe side of the foot, so the inside of the foot first, pull the heel in towards the seat, turn your fingers first to the pinky toe edge of the foot, and then all the way forward, and then here's the twist, turning your chest forward towards the front of the room. Mm-hmm. Big lift of the left shoulder, right shoulder up and back, heart high, heel moving in towards the hip, good, and then release. Mm-hmm, and come back to hands and knees. Take one round of cat and cow here, dropping the heart, lifting the gaze, and then exhale coming down, drawing back, getting all the air out, and then here we are at our peak pose. So you're gonna take your right knee towards your right wrist like we just did before, and you're gonna snuggle that left leg back, mm-hmm, and then you're gonna bring your elbow in towards your side here, your left elbow, right hand can just stay on the thigh. Draw the legs towards one another so you lift for most of us our hips up off the floor, and then reach back, back, back with the hand, kick up the back foot, and then take the big toe side of the foot until as you pull the heel in towards your seat, the foot can land at the crook of your arm, so right at that elbow crease. Keep that, pull the heel in close, turn your chest forward, reach up with your right arm, pinky finger facing forward, wrap the outer shoulder blade forward, stretch up, whole arm bone back, and then bend the elbow and maybe fingers meet, and then you can soften the groins down, heart high twist towards the right, mm-hmm, it all comes together, good, and then release carefully, don't fling the back foot, stay attentive, and then step back, hands and knees, it'll feel really nice to take an exhale and come into a big cat back here, and then inhale as you release forward, take your left knee towards your left wrist, walk the right leg back, and we'll start from the top here, so left hand on the thigh or on the floor, right elbow comes in by your side, palm facing up, and then turn back to your back foot, lift it up, take the big toe side of the foot, and then slide the heel towards you as you bring the crease of your elbow around your foot, starting there, then turn your chest, reach the left arm up into the sky, pinky finger facing forward, wrap the outer shoulder blade forward, stretch up, take the arm bone back, bend the elbow, and maybe touch fingers, and then you can turn forward, heart high, feel like the queen, head back, and then release, and we'll come back to one of those cat-cow exhales, so exhaling, filling up the back body, the kidneys, pushing the floor away, good, and then release, and you're gonna grab your two blocks, and you're gonna set them up so that they're smooching here towards mid mat. When we do a lot of backbends in our yoga practice, sometimes this muscle that goes from the top of our pelvis towards the bottom of our rib cage, the QL, can get really tight, and this is a really sweet release. It's kind of funny, but it's a very sweet release for that muscle after doing a big back bend like pigeon, especially one that's asymmetrical. So you're gonna come down and you're gonna place the block on the top of your left pelvis, so that edge of the block is on the top of the left pelvis, and then you gotta sort of lean to the side, and this is just how it is, you kind of rock back and forth massaging the top of your pelvis on the block, and if you feel like you can't find that spot where it really needs it, flex your left foot. Yep, there it is for most of us, and then you just roll back and forth. It's very nice. Good, and then you'll switch to the right. Find the top of your right pelvis for many of us, sometimes with men it's really high, but for many of us the top of the pelvis is higher than we think, and then place the edge of the block there, and then you roll, flex the right foot, and find that sort of juicy spot where the QL is. Again, this is part of the practice that for you is exploratory, right? You got to get in there and see what you can see using your own felt sense, which is a really important part of these practices. We don't live our lives with someone always telling us what to do in our back bends or forward folds. Good, and then we'll switch, and you'll take the edge of the block to the bottom of your ribcage, and it's that same action. So you flex your left foot, and then you roll. For me, this is always where it gets nice. There's like a lot of stuff in there, and then switch, right side, flex the right foot, find the top, the bottom of your ribcage, so that lowest rib, and then roll it out. Many times this can make our forward folds after back bends feel a little bit easier too, and then this is the best part. So you're gonna come and find just like that sort of meaty part of your pelvis between the top of the ilium, the pelvis, and the bottom of the ribs, and there's sort of this wide sheet of fascia there, and you're just gonna put the block in that, and then just roll from side to side and get the in-between parts now, and if you're making faces you're doing it right probably. You're at home, no one can see you. If we were all together there would be a lot of groaning usually when we do this, and calling out for the Lord. Great, and then let's stretch that area out. So you're gonna come towards seated. You've set one block to the side. Keep one block with you. You're gonna place the feet mat width distance apart, and then take your block and place your block inside the right thigh, and then take your left foot and place your left foot on the block. So you have a choice here, friends. If the block doesn't benefit your practice, then don't use the block. If it feels nice when we come forward, then use the block. It just makes for a bigger stretch for that QL, that fascia in the mid-low back. So your right hand is gonna come right by your right knee. The left hand is gonna reach for the pinky toe edge of your foot, or the shin, or simply on the ground. Those are your options. But find a place that works for you, and then the arm is gonna stay straight here. We're not bending. This isn't about the forward fold as it matches about back bend recovery. So with your right fingertips pushed down and forward, let your chin tuck kind of like those cat shapes, the cat back, and then pump a little bit your right foot, like you're pumping a gas pedal, and stretch the back of your left shoulder, the back of your kidneys, the back of your heart. And there's a little twist here where you turn the belly button towards the right leg. Let the inhales fill up the back of your body. Exhaling, softening. One more. And release, come on up. Notice immediately there's a de-escalation from that shape. Extend the left foot, place the block on the left inner thigh, and then take the right leg up. You can take the sides of your thighs back, and then left fingertips come by your left knee, and then you reach for the pinky toe side of your foot, the shin, or just hand to the floor. And as best you can, keep a straight arm, let the chin tuck, bow in, and then you can gas pedal that left foot a little bit to get a big stretch coming to the back of your shoulder. Push down and forward into your left hand, turn the belly. Gaze this parallel with the floor. Release, come on up. Keep the block with you, and we're going to take a white-legged Paschimottanasana variation. So take the sides of your thighs back, and then again approaching forward bends as we did in the Pikpochavasana practice with just very gentle, waiting until just the beginning of some connective tissue change start to fold forward. And you have the block there. You can place your head with its wonderful multiple settings, your third eye right on the block, and fold in. Let the big toe knuckle press a little bit forward, creating a lot of space on the back of the body. Sending the breath all the way down to the back of the pelvis. Start to come up. Set your block to the side, and come on down to your backs, please. Let the knees just draw in towards your chest. You can give a little bit of some nice hip circles here with your hands on your knees, just making circles in either direction, kind of like that lizard circle that we did, massaging out the low back. And then hugging in, and from this tiny seed stretching out one leg, and then the other setting up for your Shavasana.

Always like to do something, nourishing, make some little adjustment, even if it's just letting your head rock side to side until you can find the exact right spot for it. Just that gesture of self-care when you come into your Shavasana. Let the feet flop out, palms to the sky, and rest. Ahhh..