Afternoon Pick-Me-Up

Welcome to afternoon pick-me-up. This is an uplifting midday practice that will help you refuel your energy and help you get through the rest of your day. It's kind of like around the same time for me I crave chocolate desperately or coffee or tea so it's that moment where the energy does drop and then we naturally we desire something to uplift our energy. So make sure that you're near a wall we're going to play with some inversion variations that does lift the energy and a couple blocks might be nice for you to have on hand too before we get started. But come up to a comfortable seat so padding underneath your hips is nice however it's comfortable for you to sit even on your on your heels on your shins if that's more comfortable for you and we're going to start with a round of Kapalabhati breathing which is skull shining or a clearing out of stagnant energy using the power of the breath. So the focus is simply on the exhale the exhale is the cleansing or detoxifying breath and the inhaling is nourishing but this is going to be the focus on the exhale. So with your hands on to your belly allowing the breath to drop down a little bit from chest breathing into this lower diaphragmatic yogic breath take a few breaths to move the navel away from the spine and then feel it exhale almost accordion like drawing back in towards the spine. Inhale one more time just a natural breath in and then exhale begin to feel the breath really draw back and then we're gonna pick up the momentum so it's not fast but it is dynamic. Your physical eyes can be closed and maybe the gaze can turn in and up towards the third eye so breathe in and the lips are closed that the breath is simply clearing out the nose. Start when you're ready we're gonna do about 10 more slow it down exhale exhale exhale everything out for a moment pause breathing everything out keep the chin in towards the chest and then inhale let that fresh new breath fill up your lungs and your body and from here begin to spin forward onto your shins your blanket you can actually keep and especially if your knees are sensitive place it about halfway to the center of your mat and we're gonna do a few mini sun salutations on the shin so just this is a full body breathing practice we're using the breath again instead of external substances to uplift our mood and use the power of our prana as you inhale you're gonna lift yourself up so the inhale is this uplifting inspiring breath and then as you exhale you're gonna take a hold of your elbows draw the forearms into your belly and again this squeezes out and sort of dull energy or inertia again from there you rise on up grab a hold of your elbows and then exhale forward and down a few more like that you can pick up the pace you can begin to move in your own way meaning the arms can move out in any way so we get to pick ourselves up you get to uplift our own moods and our energies everything we surround ourselves with take one more big breath in like that exhale to fold in and this time as you rise up and actually add in a lunge so you can step your right foot forward and then allow your pelvis to drop down so that your chest can lift you can interlace your hands behind the back of your head so that the chin moves in towards the throat and then peel open through your chest and allow your mind to expand nice and wide as the pelvis drops down you can press your palms up towards the sky arch backwards a little bit and then from here you can frame your right foot with your two hands and then begin to just put a little bit of length into that right leg for a hamstring stretch or a runners lunge or blocks you can place underneath your hands if you need to just take a little bow and then reband your right knee plant your left hand down begin to peel the right arm up into a twist you can tuck your back toes under and lift that inner left thigh as you expand wide across the chest even breathe your right arm over your head arch back and then release your right hand down you're going to step into downward facing dog so the right foot is going to meet the left you can pedal out through your feet a little bit roll forward into a plank pose and breathe in take your knees back down to your blankets send your hips back into a child's pose and then rise on up again a few more of those breathing in and breathing out breathing in you can find those powerful exhales again breathing in and breathing out rise up this time left foot's gonna step forward interlace your hands behind your head allow your hips to really sink down as you widen across your chest and then you can press your palms up and arch backwards frame your left foot content your fingertips and then begin to lengthen the left leg to breathe into the back of your left leg bend your left knee plant the right hand down and peel the left arm up to the sky drag the left hip just stretch opens that the body can get oxygenated again clearing out the channels of the body and then release your right hand down for downward facing dog and then can release your knees down for a breath take your blanket out to the side and then make your way back into downward facing dog as you inhale reach your right leg up be mindful of the wall behind you and then exhale to draw the right knee in towards your nose you can breathe in swing the leg up and then drawing it in one more big breath in and then breathe out step the right foot right between your hands take it into one more big open twist and this time you're gonna have a seat tucking your left knee behind the right ankle take your left arm up to the sky and take it into a deeper twist with your right hand behind you plant both feet in front of you your hands behind you press down to lift the chest and then exhale stick out the tongue and breathe out through your mouth release your sit bones down give a hug of your knees into your chest you can keep the hands underneath the knees to support the low back and begin to lift the chest up from here you can let go of your hands and maybe if you're ready lengthen the legs you're gonna feel also shaking that's normal you're waking up and you're alive one more breath and this is how I get after coffee those jitters so you just wake up lift up and then cross your ankles see if you can begin to make your way back into downward facing dog inhale your left leg high draw the left knee in towards your nose swing it up and back climb all the way in one more time breath in and using the momentum of the exhale to step forward right back into your twist inch the left foot center so you can tuck your eight knee behind you the center yourself as you breathe your right arm up and hug the left shin in towards your chest to twist and ring out a little bit more hands behind you lift your chest up exhale through the mouth sitting bones down and one more of these boat pose Navasana hands can come forward lengthen your legs as far as they can go and then cross your ankles for downward facing dog so this time we're gonna flow through a basic vinyasa you'll come forward into a plank pose and release your knees to the ground followed by your chest and chin or all the way down point your toes for a cobra hug the elbows in widen across the chest as you look up then exhale your way back into downward facing dog from here begin to pedal out through your feet and take that journey up to the top of your mat a bend in your knees to look up and then exhale to fold into both of your legs can wrap your arms around the back of your legs or swing a little bit from side to side let the head go flutter through your lips and then begin to rise on up to stand vertebrae by vertebrae with your arms up to the sky keep filling up again that inspired uplifting gesture and then slide your hands to your heart and your arms by your sides I think a couple moments in this mountain pose this reset it's kind of like taking one of those sand timers slipping them back up our practice is so powerful in that way then if you do have a couple blocks make sure that they're near you we're gonna take it into a couple more dynamic twisting shapes and the blocks are really nice to lift the floor up to meet you so they can be near you towards the top of your mat and then you're gonna come into utkatasana by bending your knees and taking your arms up again another word is thunderbolt powerful pose it's electric energy that we get to plug into something has to turn on by plugging it into a wall appliances but we plug into our own prana energy inside so as you sink down you draw the energy and breathe into it a little bit more and there's gonna be some wakefulness and the body's natural heat that rises inner fire and then begin to fold forward over your legs with your hands towards the ground you can step back into a plank pose and lower down or anytime leave out the vinyasa be in one piece inhaling for a higher cobra if you're ready and exhale into downward facing dog and breathe the right leg up high again use the momentum of the exhale to step your foot between your hands and then spin the back heel to the ground with the right hip moving into your left heel grounding through both feet equally rise up into warrior one and from here you're gonna interlace your hands behind your back draw the right hip back expand wider across your lungs and your heart and your chest and then you're gonna drop your head towards the inside of the right foot for a devotional warrior allowing the head to release towards the ground moving into the back of your shoulders you can even massage the back of your shoulders then step back lowering down or anytime leaving it out left leg that lifts on the breath in step forward as you breathe out along with the back heel is grounding and circle your arms up into your warrior one as you sink down interlace your hand so you can draw the right hip forward the left hip back crack open your heart and then drop your head right into your own heart and energy release your hands down step back lowering rising and back into downward facing dog we're gonna take one more standing pose sequence to breathe your right leg high and step forward feel your back heel to rise up into warrior one and from here you're gonna straighten through the front leg of the arms open up again there's a couple variations you can take with the hands either a reversed prayer behind your heart or you can take a hold of your elbows your back foot can come in a little bit but again you're gonna move the right hip back allowing the chest to lift and then as you move your hips back you can spill the spine forward over your right leg again keeping the legs engaged but your belly soft and your face soft allowing the whole back body to awaken and lengthen so that we can take it into a revolved triangle so your block can come on the inside of your foot or it can come on the outside of the foot there's different levels that you can explore for your body and of course every day I like to place it on the outside of my foot because it gives me a little bit of something to move against and then take your right hip back with your left hand to the ground and then you'll peel your chest open so finding that deep twist from the navel and expand open through the chest one big breath in and release your hands down you can find both blocks then we're gonna take it into a standing split so both knees can bend in towards each other and the feeling is to keep the inner thighs moving inward as you lengthen the left leg up to the sky you can fold into your right leg you can play with a little bit of a balance one hand maybe two hands to keep the mind awake and concentrated find your blocks again and have a seat so you'll twist over to the right side this is our vinyasa right now you can take the blocks a little bit out you can take your legs forward and this way it's a little bit of a fun to just rock back onto your spine a little bit your hands can stay grounded and then rock forward into a downward facing dog and inhale your left leg high step forward and rise up for your warrior one lengthen the left leg open up your arms find your elbows or your prayer step a little bit forward so always reorganize the pelvis left hip back the right hip forward peel the chest open and send your hips back to release your head you can bend a little bit through the knees so that the spine can release and then root down through the big toe mound of the left foot to really lengthen the left leg we'll take our rotated triangle to the left side the block on the outer edge of your left foot pressing the shin into the block and the block into the shin to really ground down through the hand and then expand and roll open through your chest about three breaths and then exhale to twist breathing in and breathing out one more big inhale and then release your hands down standing split with your hands to flocks or to the ground again a little perch inward so that the inner legs can move in towards each other as you reach your right leg up and maybe play with a balance balancing poses always wake me up so I don't fall down ah and find your blocks again and take one more seat I'm just one breath per movement twisting Navasana your hands come down to the ground to rock back Halasana this time you're gonna see if you can rock all the way up into Navasana you can just use your breath or use your hands and then come up to stand for Tadasana so you can move your blocks over to the side we're gonna take one more balancing pose this is one of the most beautiful yogic poses the dancer so you can begin to put a bend into your knees just like you were doing to the inner thighs are still spiraling inward and then take the top of your right foot with your right hand that you're opening up the top of the quadricep and your left hand can come into your heart and then the feeling is to be able to move forward and backwards in one gorgeous gesture so everything's integrated move forward you can reach for the inside of the foot lift up a little bit and then when you're ready to release both feet come down you can shake out through your head and then take it over to the other side so left heel to your hand and find your steadiness so your breath I'm gonna reach forward and back Shiva nataraj continue to extend and reach and then release down again move your hips from side to side and then breathe your arms up into the sky we're gonna begin to make our way all the way back down again you know how the breath rinse over you over your legs and just simply step back into downward facing dog come forward into a plank pose lower yourself down and come up into a swing pose so that's with your elbows right underneath your shoulders your wrists in line with the elbow so that the chest can begin to open and slide the shoulders back so that your heart is expanding wide very simple pose but it's drawing the back of the heart open and then tuck your toes under so that you're extending back through your heels and the legs are really energized and then the chest is pulling forward in both directions are you reaching forward and back in the same time and then from here as you begin to breathe out you can uplift yourself even out of those kind of stickiest moods we can get into the navel lifting up and the thighs lifting up and everything lifting you up into the back body take one more breath in to stay and then see if you can begin to come right into a dolphin pose so that's sending your hips up walk your feet forward and then bend your knees deeply so that your chest can begin to make its way towards the top of the thighs so this is a big chest opener or heart opener which is going to prepare us for our inversion you can play with lifting up one leg and then the other and then take both knees to the ground point your toes that send your hip up towards your heels then rise up to sit and face the wall so we're gonna take some of those same poses we've been playing with the one-light kicks opening up the front of the heart and the chest kind of a deep backbend so this inversion is so gorgeous it's called pinch of my erosana forearm stand which translates into peacocks tail so the peacock is such a glorious bird but not so much until it uplifts its beautiful tail and right generally just kind of drags this thing behind itself and then there's that gorgeous fanning out of the tail that rises up so sometimes we can feel like we're dragging our energy around just like that enormous tail and then it's that great offering the celebration that begins to rise up after that great practice so a block is nice to have if you're newer to this pose because it begins to ground down through the inner edges of the hands as the energy tends to roll out you can have it here if this feels good for you with your fingertips pressing down and your elbows it's that same shape that we had and then you can begin to take your knees up and come back into that dolphin shape with bent knees but then check out lifting your gaze so that the heart can really drop and with your left foot down reach your right leg up keep bending through the knee find a little play and then you're gonna play with little hops so maybe it's one maybe it's two and then maybe on the third one with quite a bit of momentum you can lift up through both lats you can stay here and reach out of the low back the chin can move in towards your chest play with a balance and then make your way down have a seat on your heels you can even tent your fingertips behind you to lift the chest of the shoulders got it all congested and then maybe float your pelvis up and we're gonna take it one more time this time using the other leg so we become a bit ambidextrous and not favor one side over the other with the right leg up if you played with kicking up on the left side which one did I do I think it's you'll bend play with those lifts and little hops and maybe you'll come up chin in towards your throat and then lower down onto your heels again and take a breath in and exhale natural energy rising then you're gonna spin around to face the front of your mat again and we're gonna set up for a backbend prep so Virasana or heroes heroines pose it's not a backbend per se but it really opens up the joints of the knees the quadriceps and prepares the body for deeper backbends which are so invigorating and enlivening so a blanket is nice to place underneath your sit bones you can roll to the outer edges of your toes and slide the calves down a little bit to ground them and the energy begins to move to the outer edges of the toes if it's uncomfortable at all at your knees you can lift your blanket up a little bit and so take a few breaths here allowing the space in your legs and that hero or heroines journey to make it through anything and from here you can begin to walk your hands backwards a little bit you can begin to lift up the chest you can even come back down onto your forearms to allow the heart to lift up and then begin to slowly rise on up and come on forward onto your hands and knees to lengthen your legs back behind you you're gonna keep the blanket here roll it out so you can lower down onto the blanket and pad your hip bones and for a couple of backbends so with your arms by your side your forehead to the ground lengthen up the legs you'll feel a rush of energy through the backs of the legs and then interlace your hands behind your back so you can peel open through the chest lift your heart up can lift the legs up and then lower down maybe take your cheek to one side and shake out your hips unblock all this internal energy and then rebend your knees reach back for your ankles for this one like we were doing with the dancers posed with this time you'll lift up both feet at the same time so begin to flex to your feet chest is forward legs are back rise up lower down when you're ready and then roll right over onto your back so you can use your right forearm to flip over you can fold your blanket and slide it out to the side because you'll need it for our final pose side your heels in towards your hips press down through the feet with the chest come into nice half wheel or bridge again that's great uplifted energy that can rise up can interlace your hands walk your shoulders from side to side press down through the forearms and the feet and then begin to release your hands release your hips sway your knees from side to side windshield wipering clearing everything out and then give a big hug of your knees and towards your chest and then you're gonna roll over onto your left tip so you can take your hip a little center and allow the right arm to release refueling the body movement breath and through relaxation so you'll draw the knee in towards your chest and then begin to extend it up towards the sky you can twirl your ankle around and walk your hands in a bend into your knee if you need then even lift yourself up one more time you can take your left hand to the thigh to really ground it and then lower down hug your knees in and twist to the other side scoot your right hip in a little bit and then open up so a few nourishing breaths nourishing the heart and your whole body one more breath in then roll onto your back lengthen the right leg this time hug the left knee in stretch your leg up and into the sky walk your hands up your leg give a bow around the right leg a little bit more from here rock a little forwards and backwards to come on up to sit and then swing both legs out and in front of you for one last forward bend so with your arms up to the sky put a bend into your knees going to come forward over both legs so again the feeling is to hinge forward at the hips and not so much at the back so try to avoid any rounding so that there can really be this cleansing experience with the hands reaching towards the feet the knees being as bent as they need as you come forward and in and from there your heels can slowly lengthen out you can reach for your feet to breathe in and then breathe out every exhale see if you can release the back of the body a little bit more and rise up take your hands of the floor behind you you can bend your knees or keep your legs long lift your hips up and exhale out through the mouth and release your hips down and we'll take one last inversion you can take your final relaxation here if this feels nice but you'll take your padding you can fold it over this just about in thirds and place it against the wall for a nice restorative inversion so you can come over to the sides of that you're close in towards the wall and then swing your legs up and place your hips down and your hands can come up to the side here you can play at the wall you take the soles of the feet together and take the legs wide if you have room it's really to allow any stagnant energy to be able to be washed away there through the legs so that they feel light and slowly begin to bring your awareness back to your breath you can begin to move your feet around give a big hug of your knees into your chest roll over onto your left hip for a moment slowly come on up to sit and it's even nice to take a couple moments sitting up against the wall so if you're here begin to scoot back for a couple moments of meditation your hands can rest on your knees for a moment so that you can lean back it's really nice to have the support of the wall and then even for today we're going to take a mudra it's called the lotus mudra you take your pinky fingers and your thumbs together to press the wrists together and from here you can begin to open up your fingers this looks like the exquisite lotus flower the lotus is rooted deeply in the mud but it's still open it's free begin to take a few breaths like smelling the most exquisite fragrance the symbol of the awakened heart in the midst of the muck and mod of our world and place your mind on your breath even place someone in there this traditional meditation of metta or sending loving kindness towards others it can be someone you love someone you know somebody who's in pain or suffering that could be yourself it could be the whole planet you can place there specifically to breathe out and to send out this energy further awakens and uplifts our own energy when we realize how much it is that we have to give take one more breath like that release your hands onto your knees with your palms open and join your hands at your heart and take a deep breath in thank you so much for joining me this afternoon and I'll see you again next time namaste