Floor Opening (15 Minutes)

Welcome, this is about a 15 minute practice to start to move into the hips, open up the back, kind of get into the neck and the shoulders a little bit, hopefully release and open and warm the whole body so that when you take your meditation seat you're nice and comfortable. We're going to start in a really delicious supported Supta Baddha Konasana. So this one block as is and the other just a step higher, a little less than a foot beyond depending on the length of your spine. So start with it there and then you can adjust as you need to. Scoot the butt down a little bit and then just ease down onto that first block, basically under and supporting the shoulder blades.

And then the second block comes just the back of the head. If you get the positioning right, that's the sound that happens. So from here you can keep the feet where they are and maybe even walk them out knees together if that's best for your lower back or you can take the soles of the feet together and let the knees drop open, Supta Baddha Konasana style. Anywhere the arms feel best is perfect. And just make those last subtle adjustments and then let the eyes close.

Let the brow and the inner eyes relax. Let the jaw relax. Feel the blocks rising to support you. Feel the weight of the body just relax down into the earth. Let's take a moment here to transition into the body and the breath to let whatever's going on in the rest of your world start to soften and fade.

Breathing as much ease and release as possible, about five more breaths. If you feel for it, you can let an exhale out of the mouth. One more breath here. And then coming out of it really gently. If the knees have fallen open, draw them back together, feet on the earth.

And then just kind of move the hips over to the left, roll the upper body to the right and use the hands and the arms to press yourself up. We're going to stay on the back, we just want to move the blocks off to the side for now. So easing down and then hug the knees in towards the chest and rock the body a little side to side. Take a really big inhale and then exhale. Let the knees fall to the right, you're welcome to loop either leg on top if you want to deepen it a little and then just rest that right hand on the top knee and reach the left arm out to the left and breathe down into the lower back in the sacrum, about five breaths here, three, two, and one, inhale, come back to center, move the hips a little to the right and then just let the knees fall to the left and reach the right arm out to the right, extending through those fingertips, soft gaze, breathing again down into low back and sacrum.

Five. All right, and then inhale, draw it back to center and again you can rock a little here and let's take happy baby just for a few breaths, saying hello to the hips, you can rock, you can lengthen the legs, whatever feels best, getting a little momentum in the body. One more breath, good, and then hug the knees in, cross the ankles, rocking forward and back until you're all the way up on the hands and the knees, right? If you'd like a blanket under the knees and the shins, please feel free to take it, support yourself if you'd like. From here, a few cycles of cat-cows, so inhale, lifting the tailbone, lifting the heart and the gaze, as you exhale, rounding the back, tuck the tailbone, tuck the chin, pull the belly to the spine, soft through the neck, two more, inhale, lift the heart, exhale around, exhale, lift the heart, exhale around, and then with the inhale, we'll just drop back to a neutral spine, exhale here, and moving into the shoulders a little deeper, keep rooting through the left hand, let's reach the right arm up to the sky, and as you exhale, thread that right arm under and come to the back of the right shoulder or the side of the head, you can keep the left hand rooting down or you can reach it up and even wrap it behind the back.

As you extend out through right arm, right fingertips, move away from that through the back of the heart and the upper back, deep breath for three, one, two, and if that left arm is up, exhale, release it back to the earth, inhale, thread the right arm back up, just a neutral grounding here, and second side, inhale, take the left arm up and then exhale, thread it under and grounding through the right hand or reach it up or even wrap it behind the back, and breathe, three, two, if the right arm is up, exhale, let's release it back down, inhale, thread the left arm back up, exhale, just grounding neutral, and then inhale, lengthen, keep the hips where they are, exhale, walk the arms out for anahatasana, you can release down either onto the forehead or the chin, maybe the heart itself relaxes to the earth, deep breath here, three, and two, and then with the exhale, just slide back into child's pose, so stay low here, sink the hips towards the heels, arms can keep reaching out or draw back, and just let that all integrate for a few breaths. And then slowly with the next inhale, just float yourself up to the hands and the knees, and let's talk the toes and exhale, go up and back into downward facing dog, take your time here, just easing into it, you can pedal the feet, bending one knee and then the other, release through the head and the neck, where it feels best, take your time, about five more breaths. And then steady yourself and your downward dog will move into pigeon, get a little space in the hips first, with the inhale, take the right leg to the sky, reach it up, and as you exhale, draw that right knee, right shin towards the front of the mat, if you'd like any padding underneath the right hip area, please feel free to take it, and then once you're rooted, inhale, lengthen the spine, and exhale, just easing out and down, let the whole upper body relax, release, and breathe into the right hip and glute area. Five full breaths. One more breath.

And then easing up on the inhale, and then exhale, tuck the back toes, lift that knee strong through the center, inhale, take the right leg back to the sky, shake it out a little bit, whenever feels good, and downward facing second side, inhale, left leg up, and with the exhale, draw that knee and shin forward, again, if you want any padding underneath that left hip area, please take it, really helps to open the pose. Once you're grounded, inhale, lengthen the spine, and exhale, ease the upper body out and down, releasing to the earth, deep breath. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, and one, good, slowly with the inhale again, just easing the upper body, back in and up, exhale, tuck the back toes, lift that knee, strong arms and center, inhale, left leg goes back to the sky, again, you can open it, shake it out a little, whatever you need, and then returning to downward dog, take just a few breaths here, kind of checking in again, soft through the neck, long spine, and with your next exhale, come back into child's pose, knees together or wide, arms reaching out, or drawing back, heavy through the hips, and just lay it all down, and when you land in child's pose, send the breath down the length of the spine, breathing into the lower back in the sacrum, and just let the whole body relax again as we did at the opening of the practice, letting it all go, offering it all away, a few more breaths here. One more breath, and then slowly inhale, come on back to your hands and your knees, just neutral through the spine, let the knees, knees over to the left, and just come down to sit, and transitioning into your comfortable seat, preparing for your meditation, enjoy, and thank you.