Rise and Shine

Rise and shine, welcome to this energizing but grounded morning practice that will definitely wake you up, but it's really meant to keep your mind awake, clear, and focused all day. So we're going to start with a breathing practice, it's actually a kriya. So kriyas are more energizing breathing practices and this one's called kapala bati which means skull shining, bati means to shine and kapala is our skull. So it's really meant to lift any sort of mental fog as well as cleansing the physical body. So it really is the pumping of the abdomen in and back and the focus is on the exhale.

So the exhale is the cleansing breath. The inhale is pretty passive and will come in on its own. So our only focus is really exhalation, it doesn't have to be so fast but it is a little bit on the forceful side so that you're actively drawing the navel back and the breath is out through the nose. You may find some cleansing especially if you're congested so maybe make sure to have a few tissues nearby because it will cleanse out the sinuses so that we can breathe better and of course live better. So place your hands on your belly and sit up nice and tall and take a deep breath in so that you can find your navel moving away from the spine and then slowly exhale and feel it draw back in towards the spine and empty all the way out and do that slowly one more time breathing all the way in through the nose and then breathing out through the nose.

And here we go, we're going to begin to pick up the tempo a little bit maybe about 20 pumpings and then we'll slow it down on the way out and then a slight retention the pause is so powerful in our practice and in our lives it gives us that moment that pause before we can make a decision or before we act or speak is very very powerful this is called kumbaka pranayama or this slight retention and holding. So let's breathe in one more time and here we go. We're going to slow it down exhale exhale exhale and exhale everything out drop the chin in towards the throat even engage the pelvic floor but feel the belly lift up and into the heart hold for one moment stay empty and then take a deep full breath in reach your arms up into the sky fill up and exhale the side the hands into the heart right from here begin to come forward to the top of your mat and move your padding out to the side maybe make sure you have a block by you in case and then plant your hands directly underneath your shoulders and roll the shoulders a little bit away lining them over your wrists so it's these conscious movements that we make here in Downward Dog that keep us awake and then roll the shoulders back so that the chest is opening tuck your toes under and then as you exhale begin to lift your knees and lengthen your legs pedal out through your legs move a little bit from side to side you could twist from side to side maybe even reach one hand to an ankle opening up the side waist from here you're going to roll forward into a plank pose and holding the plank right where that navel was lifting you up it's this place of being able to again have a clearer vision and wakefulness concentration as we begin to hold for just another breath in and then you as you breathe out you can begin to lower your knees to the ground first or lower yourself straight down to the ground as you breathe out and point your toes lift the chest up into cobra and then exhale back onto your hands and knees back into Downward Facing Dog as you inhale begin to reach your right leg high to the sky as you exhale draw the right knee all the way forward towards your nose and then maybe even see if you can take it at a diagonal kissing the right knee towards the left elbow inhale and reach the leg all the way back up and then exhale carry it forward but this time you're taking it to the outside of the right elbow pausing inhale the leg all the way back up and then draw the right knee in towards your nose really dome in towards yourself and then step your right foot forward you can help it along with your hands if you need to let's take it out into a twist moving from the navel from your center like the sun being that center of the universe begin to move and open up from here as you plant the right hand down can begin to tuck your left ankle left knee behind your right ankle and then have a seat on the ground we're going to take it into a seated spinal twist so with your right hand to the floor behind you stretch the left arm up to the sky and then exhale take a powerful twist again using that exhale to move back and look behind you so you've got peripheral vision of seeing everything and as you come through center plant your hands on the floor behind you your feet in front of you and lift up for cleansing breath out through the mouth release your hips down give a hug of your knees and towards your chest and from here you're going to begin to stretch the legs out long just as far as they'll go you can support the backs of the knees and then maybe let go of the hands cross your ankles come forward onto your hands and knees and then walk your way back into downward facing dog roll forward into a plank pose lower all the way down in one piece or any time the knees can come down first point your toes maybe it's a higher cobra and then exhale see if you can make your way right back into downward facing dog this time the right foot can slide a little center as you extend the left leg high draw the left knee all the way across if you can touch the right elbow breathe it all the way up and back left knee towards the left elbow all the way up and back draw the left knee in towards the nose find a little bit of lift up from the low abdomen and then drop your foot forward before you peel open through your chest and open up expanding through the chest my heart and your gaze as your hand comes down you may have to step the left foot forward into the right a little bit as you have a seat drop your left hip bone down and breathe your right arm up to the sky and take your twist looking back behind you and taking another big breath in and twisting a little bit further back hands behind you take your feet out and in front of you lift up through the chest and exhale through the mouth drop your sitting bones give a big hug of the knees in towards your chest and then this time you're going to check out rocking a little bit forwards and backwards and then see if you can come right into a standing forward bend take a breath in bend your knees if you can lift your chest you can slide your hands up your shins a little bit and then exhale to fold and empty out over your legs lengthening them as far as they'll go and begin to press down into your feet almost like you're breathing in through the soles of your feet and then begin to rise up to stand like the sun rising and slide your hands into your heart and your arms by your sides take a big breath in exhale into your feet to arrive and then put a deep bend in your knees coming up into katasana powerful pose and this time you're drawing all of the energy and in right in towards your center the sun is even meant to be right here at our solar plexus so usually our energy is drawing outwards we're drawing it in kind of electrifying your center as you sink down so that the navel lifts up and into the heart and it's almost like you're drawing lifting your heart up into your hands but it's just shining upward so sink down reach up energetically through the fingers and then begin to draw it all the way forward and down into uttanasana again from here you're going to begin to put a bend through your knees you can walk your feet back a little bit and plant your hands down so the play is with a little bit of hopping the same way you were doing those kapalabhati breaths with those powerful exhales the exhale comes with the heels towards the sitting bones so maybe you'll exhale exhale exhale and then exhale into a soft downward facing dog roll forward into your plank pose this time as the navel lifts up maybe you'll hover over the ground for chaturanga and then drop down for your cobra or an upward facing dog and then exhale into downward facing dog inhale your right leg up to the sky and draw the right knee back in so you find that lift pressing the hands down and then step your foot forward seal the back heel to the ground we're going to rise up into warrior one so you can even draw the right hip back a little bit to really seal the back heel into the earth and then begin to press down through the feet and reach your arms up to the sky so there is this little internal rotation that happens by dropping the left hip forward and the right hip back I like to constantly gather the right hip back even taking it into a bit of a twist and then taking both palms up the palms can even come together as you begin to sink down and from here slide the prayer into your heart and then it is that shining or radiating from your center generously outward into warrior two so as you sink down your palms can come up to really roll the shoulders open so it's this gesture of giving and then keeping it the shoulders open you can turn the palms down so it's nice and focused energy gazing past your right hand and then take a deep breath in keeping the right knee opening up towards the pinky toe side of your foot tip all the way back for a peaceful warrior so lengthen and open the right side of the waist and begin to slowly straighten up to the right leg for a reverse triangle sliding down the back leg and keep that left leg nice and active as you draw your right hip back and then reach your right arm forward towards triangle reach for a block if you need to raise the ground up to meet your hand and then put a tiny bit of a bend into the right knee so that you can actively lengthen and straighten the legs so you're rooting down through the ground and then from your center radiating upwards into triangle pose again imagine that great sun right here at your center radiating out equally through all of your limbs with the crown of your head to see and be awake take a deep breath in exhale draw the ribs into the back body bringing light into the back and then from there begin to put a bend into the right knee for extended angle you can keep your right hand here on the block or you can begin to take your right forearm to your right thigh but just being mindful that the right shoulder doesn't slide back and that it really draws back so that the chest can begin to open and then draw the ribs in and move the pelvis forward a little bit to firm the left thigh back and from here you'll make your way into extended side angle so reach actively through the back foot as you stretch your fingertips weakening the side body and extending yourself maybe for the last breath you'll plant your hand down opening it up a little bit more with the knee out towards the armpit the pelvis still reaching forward then circle your hands down step back into downward dog you can always leave the vinyasa out or roll forward lowering down rising up and exhaling kind of like resetting between sides to be present now for the left side so breathe your left leg high step forward between your hands seal the back heel down drag the left hip back so that the right leg is really nice and active and awake as you can begin to rise up into your warrior want find that twist if it was helpful to really roll the right side of the ribs and right hip forward as the left side draws back and then take the palms together through your sinking down and reaching out slide the prayer into your heart there's a little transition where the pelvis can begin to open in your right leg draw back and then generously extend as the arms are the great organs here action of the heart slide the shoulders down and around the upper spine and then maybe turn the palms down you can see which one feels better it's a little more generous wakeful or grounded and then take a big breath in sink into it a little bit deeper into the hips and then begin to tip it backwards for your peaceful warrior arching up you can look up you can look down to open up the side of the neck and then straighten out through the left leg and begin to make your way forward for your triangle reaching for a block if you like to plant your hand down just not so much onto the shin because sometimes it can draw the knee back a little bit you want the legs nice and alive so that little bend so that we can begin to press down to the ball of the foot to draw the energy up as much as you're pressing down extend upward take a couple of breaths pressing down as much as you're reaching up and then there is that rotation of the chest upward towards the sky one more inhale keep drawing the left hip back but then begin to put the bend in the knee into your extended side angle press back through the outer edge of the right foot and then lengthen through the whole right side of the waist as you draw the shoulder a little bit away from the ears you can for sure arch back but then at the same time moving the bottom ribs and the pelvis forward find the ground rolling open through the chest and then rinse it through got your downward dog into your plank lowering down rise up and then you can come onto your hands and your knees here we're going to make our way into side plank or vashi sasana so there's a few different variations the first one is to take the right shin to the ground and then the left leg can extend out to the side so this is if you have sensitive wrists or shoulders like I do and it's nice to really feel the grounding that even gives you a little bit of an extra hip opening as you begin to allow the pelvis to sink down and open up so you can draw the shoulders back and away from the ears you can take a few breaths then the second variation is to stack the feet on top of each other so it's definitely more energizing calls on strength in the arms and in the legs as you reach up you can reach your arm up and then come on through over to the other side you can take your shins to the ground start out in the supported side plank variation you can stack the joints the chin moves in the ribs move in and then from there you can take it into the next variation just make sure that the shoulders are stable arms are reaching up reaching down grounding but then there's that extension breathing in over your head and then breathe out child's pose anytime you'll flow through a vinyasa clearing everything out and take a big breath in and then breathe out rooting down into your feet and stretch your right leg up to the sky step forward between your hands again this time you're going to begin to rise up into a high lunge so I like to put a little bit of a bend into the back knee so I can really draw the front body in the ribs inward to meet the back and elongate the lower spine which can get a little bit cramped and then from here you can extend the arms up and at the same time reach up through that inner left thigh as you drop down a little bit deeper into the right knee take a big breath in to lengthen through the spine then slide your hands back into your heart center as you take it into a twist or revolved extended side angle your knee can come to the ground for support to find the rotation and you can stay here or begin to extend through the heel your arms can open and then take them back in towards your heart before you frame your right foot and step back into downward facing dog you can take the vinyasa I'm going to skip it here and then inhale the left leg high step forward high lunge so again it has this quality of sinking down and then reaching up integrating the front to the back standing through the inner right thigh as you sink down hands to your heart as you find this revolution right from the navel everything revolving around the sun thumbs into the center of your heart soften the back knee open up through the chest and then maybe lengthen out a little bit more arms can extend and then release back towards center for downward facing dog from here you're going to take your knees to the ground come into child's pose so that you can allow the head to release find your breath and then as you come back up you do want to drop your forearms to the ground so you can slide forward towards the top of your mat and then root down through the inner wrists and the thumbs and then roll the shoulders back so it's like you're in your hands and knees but you're on your forearms and from here you're going to stretch the right leg back and then you're going to find the left leg back so we're coming into a forearm plank so it again calls on this integration or lift up at the front body while the back body sinks down extend back through the heels forward through the chest and find that lift up through the belly and allow the mind to really focus and stay concentrated and awake and focused and truly present here take one more big breath then and then exhale your knees back down to the ground this time interlace your fingers it's the same feeling in the elbows right underneath the shoulders but you're going to interlace the hands and then you're going to begin to lift your knees not lengthening your legs all the way but opening up the back of the thoracic spine so that's upper spine where it tends to get a little bit sticky and where we want to begin to bring some wakefulness as well the back of the heart as well as the front to keep your chest open moving towards the tops of your thighs and you're welcome to begin to lengthen your legs a little bit more keeping the chest nice and wide and even playing with lifting one leg up and down and then maybe the other leg and release it down this time soften your knees back point your toes for child's pose then rise on up onto your heels and the last big movement here we're going to do in this sequence is a headstand prep so it's not even to actually come all the way up into the headstand but this is known as a king of poses and again we're bringing great light and bringing great awareness into our minds and actually placing our minds into the crown so that we can be more mindful and more present so it's really to begin to awaken again our crown and this energy and root all those great ideas that we have and make them a little bit more manifest instead of just swirling around in our minds we can actually focus them so it's that same play with interlacing your hands and then this is the crown of your head you can measure it this way but I like to just place my forehead down and then roll over onto the crown of my head so that I interlace my hands around the back of my skull with the shoulders down and then although play we did with the shoulders away from the ears you want to draw them away so that there's space and this can be exactly where you stay you can rock a little bit forwards and backwards still begins to flood the brain with blood and oxygen as we begin to flip the heart even over the mind and then maybe from there you'll have that same play of lifting your hips up now I'm pressing into my forearms so much we just did all of that great prep and then maybe you'll walk your feet forward so the crown of my head is on the ground I don't know even less than 50% so I'm really called on using my arms and then from there you can just play with lifting one foot up maybe extending it high bending the knee and placing it down and kick the left heel up lengthen it up bend the knee and place your foot down release your knees to the ground point your toes and then come back into a child's pose can rock your forehead here from side to side and then look forward to begin to come to lie down right onto your bellies make a little pillow rock out your hips take a breath and then release your forehead to the ground and your arms by your sides so if lying onto your belly is uncomfortable at all for your hip bones it's going to be nice to have a blanket right underneath your hip bones so you can place it about halfway through your mat and then lower down again and as you allow the weight of your body to come to the ground you're going to begin to interlace your hands behind your back and then see if you can begin to move your shoulders off of the ground and wrap the shoulder blades around the upper spine first so sometimes we come up just using our head but that's the last thing that's actually going to come up so first lift the chest feel the energy extending out through the legs so you're spreading all ten toes into the ground you're going to feel the awakening of the hamstring gluteus maximus muscles up here and then begin to peel your chest off of the ground so the heads in line we're not moving from the neck but more lifting the chest and then your legs can lift so you'll breathe in into the belly maybe lift the right leg left leg and then lower down this time you can take it to the other side let your hips rock a little bit from side to side release the left side of your neck and then we're going to come on up for a second back bend you can do the same one shalabhasana or locust pose or if you're ready for it you're going to begin to put a bend into the right knee and then the left knee and then see if you can reach back for the ankles and again we're coming up consciously rising up into the pose for setting up the pelvis aligning everything organizing organizing everything our thoughts our actions you can take your forehead to the ground even drag the pubis a little bit towards the ground and towards the navel so that the thighs are firming lift your shoulders up keep the back of the neck long take a deep breath then I like to come up on the exhale so I'm firming the feet back into the hands doesn't have to be a big lift but it's actively engaging the legs so that the chest can live you can rock a little bit awakening the digestion and then stretch the legs back maybe your arms can come forward and then lower down and this time you can just flip right over the right arm onto your back you can take your padding out to the side for one last back bend a half wheel or a bridge so it's the same feeling in the upper arm bones but this time on the ground that same experience of rooting down and rising up at the same time interlace your hands underneath you draw the inner knees together so that you're reaching down through the big toe mounds of the feet so it's conscious and awake in our actions then press down to lift up your focus this darana or concentration can be on the heart one of the most powerful meditative focuses as you press down there'll be a bigger rise up through the chest so it's active through the legs and take one more breath in can even release your hips onto your interlaced arms so that there's that width across the front of the chest and the lungs press down to lift your hips up one more time release your hands and release your hips rock your knees a little bit from side to side and then extend your left leg long hug the right knee in towards your chest allowing the shoulders to melt down and away from the ears and the whole back body on the ground from your length in your leg to the sky take a walk up your leg lift up and then hug your knee back into your chest for a supine twist the knees can be bent so that the right shoulder can sink into the ground take a few breaths and then you'll come back up through center the big hug of both of your knees into your chest a little rock to the low back the spine and all the nerve endings connected to your brain nervous system that we want a nice consistent steady wrist system get another hug into your left knee and then lengthen out through the leg you can bend and extend a few times or just enjoy breathing into the low back and you'll find a release through the lower back with the leg extension yourself up and then bend your knee as you take your twist allowing the weight of the body to fall into the ground but the breath still smooth and equal more big breath in and your next breath in roll right over onto your right side into a fetal position for a moment so that you can reach down into the left hand and then rise on up to sit to swing the legs out and in front of you and you'll begin to bend the right knee and place the right foot to the inner left thigh take your left hand to the floor behind you begin to put a little bit of a bend into the left knee so that your spine can truly elongate and you're going to begin to hinge forward at the waist so it doesn't really matter if the hamstrings are tight you want the spine to be long again with this freeway to the brain so lengthen up and then begin to come forward at a little bit of a twist you can come forward over your left leg keeping the knee bent or reaching into the ground and then take both hands to your left foot and exhale forward and sometimes the tendency is for the mind to even wander here but we want to keep it present focusing on the breath and the sensations in the body and awake towards everything that's within us as well as around and from here you're going to begin to twist the chest a little bit open towards the right so you can open up the right knee and place either the left hand on the ground or the left forearm you can even take a block underneath the left forearm so that you can begin to now twist the chest open towards the right with the right arm swinging wide and then you'll begin to reach up and over towards your left toes so the arm can stay straight up or you can begin to reach over and then there's a deep revolution or twist underneath the right armpit as you drop that right hip down into the ground exhale twist you open and then press down into your hips and rise on up into stargazer so press down through the right shin open up wide and then release your hips down to switch over to the other side lengthen the right leg slide the left foot to the right thigh extend your right arm up and come forward at that diagonal finding a little revolution with the left ribs coming forward the right hand and the left hand as you come over your right leg again remembering your knee can be bent it can be elevated as much as you need taking about three full breaths every time you exhale allowing the spine to lengthen breathing into the back of the hamstring hips next breath in open up the left hip a little bit you can take your block again to the inside of the right shin take your forearm to the block the feeling is to reach towards the inside of the right foot but it can simply rest and then just start by peeling open through the left arm and then maybe up and over towards your right toes every exhale dropping down a little deeper through that right hip that you get into all those areas one more breath in and then exhale into your hips so you can rise on up and then release your hips down and prepare for shavasana so you can lengthen your legs out a blanket is always nice to roll underneath your knees to support your lower back as you lie down can let your hips rock a little bit from side to side squeeze your hands and let them go you follow your breath a few more times as it draws you deeper and deeper within simply allow everything else to fall away stay here for a few moments together is vibrant in the live peaceful state of Slowly begin to bring your awareness back into your body. The vibrations radiating out, which are made of energy, sound, and begin to move your fingers and toes and stretch your arms high up above you, reach from the right side to the left side. Give a big hug of your knees and towards your chest, all embracing, and then you can rock on over to the right side, and rise on up to sit like the great Eastern sun, lights up the whole world just by being who it is.

So we're going to end for a few minutes in meditation. This one is the yogi's meditation. We're going to add in a mudra of joining the thumb together with the index finger. So it really is the individual bowing to cosmic consciousness. It's even meant to be within the three forces of nature, the great gunas of this symbol.

So as you plant your hands down, you can begin to sit up nice and tall, again, bringing back our awareness towards our focus and concentration. We're going to begin to place our minds right onto a mantra, so the sound of Aum, the sound of Aum that contains everything within it. The mantra is so powerful, especially this internal japa or repetition that allows us to transform our thoughts, from negative, perhaps, to positive, our actions, our habits from destructive to constructive, but being able again from that place of that peaceful pause that we talked about to choose what we think, what we do, how we live, so sit up nice and tall. And this one, your eyes can close, but the gaze is still going to turn in and up towards your third eye that's always open, the eye of consciousness that's always awake. It's active looking in and out, even as the chin drops down, shoulders draw back, face can be gentle and kind, and it's an internal repetition at first, so you can breathe in right up to the crown of your head and breathe out the sound of Aum, which is simply a long O followed by an M sound.

Okay. Go one more deep breath in, and join your two hands to your heart in prayer. Let's even end with one audible external sound of om, breathing our way, singing our way back to where we come from. Take a big breath in, om, bowing down the light within one another, namaste.