Get Inspired

This practice will be a good morning practice if you don't have too much time but you're looking for a little bit of a boost or any time during the day that you just want to increase a little bit of your focus or bring in a little bit more inspiration. So we'll start at the front of your mat. So just come to the front of your mat and separate your feet about your hip distance apart, maybe about two fists worth apart, arms resting down by your sides, the crown of the head and just floating on top of the base of your spine. We'll bring one hand to the heart center, one hand to your belly and close your eyes. I always think it's nice just to take a few moments to stop before we start. You can scan your body, your mind in particular emotional state right now. Without having to judge it or fix it or call it somehow un-yogic. Just simply labeling it as your very unique moment of right now. And we'll begin to offer ourselves some deeper breaths in and out through the nose. Can you start to feel that on your inhale the spine gets a bit taller, the ribs get a bit bigger, the collarbones almost as if they're turning upwards into a smile. And on the exhale perhaps noticing the belly moving in and up towards your heart and keeping your belly slightly firm. Inhale, another deep long inspiration, spine lengthening, ribs opening, collarbones filling. Deep exhale, the belly moving in a little bit more, curling upwards towards your heart. Just take one more deep breath just like this keeping the belly firm. Inhale, breath dives down, unwinds, unfurls into each little nook and cranny. And the exhale a little bit more oomph in the belly as it moves in and slightly up. Keeping the breath moving just like this as you flutter the eyes open and you can lower the arms just down by your sides. And pick something to focus on in front of you to help your balance. Next inhale will rise up onto the toes reaching your arms up alongside your ears. And then as you exhale lowering the heels towards the floor and lowering your arms forward and then down by your sides. And do this a few times. See if you can inhale for five counts as you rise up, the waist lengthening, you can even micro shrug your shoulders. And then as you exhale keep all of that lift as you lower the heels and you lower the arms. Let's try a six count inhale. Lifting the whole lower circumference of your ribs, lifting up through your fingertips. Exhale lowering the heels, lowering the arms down. One more time maybe a seven count inhale. Wiggles are okay. Exhale lowering the heels, lowering the arms down by your sides. Pause here for a moment and just feel vitality in the heart, a pulse in the vessels. Next inhale will keep the heels down, reach your arms up alongside your ears. Put a tiny bend in the knees as you exhale, keep your spine long as you fold forward over your legs. Inhale, send the right foot to the back of the mat, bring your knees to the floor, reach your arms up. Exhale hands back to the floor, step your right foot forward to meet your left, fold down over your legs. Inhale, reach your arms forward of your head, long spine to come up. Exhale repeating that on the left side, fold forward over your legs. Inhale, send the left foot to the back of the mat, knee gently to the floor, arms reaching up. Exhale hands back to the mat, left foot forward to meet the right, fold down over your legs.

Reach the arms forward of the head powerfully, reach through the inner elbows to come all the way up. One more time exhale, hinge from the hips, fold forward all the way down. Inhale the right foot back, bring the knee to the floor, reach the arms up, there's a lot of movements that will help lengthen your inhale. Exhale hands to the floor, right foot forward, fold down over your legs. Inhale, arms reach forward of the head, lengthen behind the heart to come up. Exhale, hinge from the hips, fold forward. Inhale, left foot back, knee gently to the mat, reach the arms up, waist up, ribs up. Exhale, hands to the mat, step the left foot forward, fold down over your legs. Inhale, reach the arms forward of the head, lengthen to come all the way up. This time stay standing, exhale, reach your arms forward, all the way down by your sides. Bring one hand over the other hand, over the heart, close the eyes, feel the pulse in the vessels, the visceral reminder of your aliveness. Lower the arms, let the eyes open, and we'll step the left foot back. Pretty decent sized stance about hip distance apart so you can feel nice and stable. And we're gonna bend the right knee and reach the arms up alongside your ears, Virabhadrasana 1. Your next inhale, let's straighten the right leg, draw the elbows into a cactus shape right alongside your shoulders, lift the chest, lift the heart. Exhale, rebend the right knee, belly slides up as your arms lengthen back, warrior 1. Few times inhale, straighten your right leg, elbows right alongside your shoulders, no deeper in, just alongside your shoulders and then lift your heart. Exhale, bending the right knee, lengthening up through the arms. One more inhaling, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, exhaling, bending the right knee. We'll take the arms back behind you, interlace the fingers at the small of the back, squish your shoulder blades towards your spine, and then resist the urge of pulling your arms down, just kind of makes you a little bit more squat. So squish your shoulder blades and then see if you can lift the whole lower circumference of the ribs up. Steady gaze, steady posture. Each inhale, see if you can infuse a little bit more breath in to the ribs, each breath out, lower belly lifts. Two more breaths here. We'll release the arms, reach the arms up by your ears. We'll straighten the right leg, lower the arms just down by your sides, and then bend your right knee just enough that you can send your left foot forward. Take a moment to adjust in Tadasana. You might feel a little different on the sides. Next side, keep your left foot where it is, step your right foot way to the back. Pretty reasonable sized stance. You can carve your right toes forward at a pretty nice angle so you're not twerking the back knee at all. We'll bend the left knee, reach the arms up, warrior one. Next inhale, straighten your left leg, elbows into a cactus, lift your heart high. Exhale, re-bend your left knee, belly sliding up, arms reaching. Two more like this, take the whole inhale to straighten, to lift the heart. Take the whole exhale to re-bend the left knee. One more inhaling, and exhaling. Staying here, arms back behind you, interlace with the other finger on top, the kind of funkier way. Squish your shoulder blades. Feel like your two shoulder blades are like little kids hands scooping your heart up from behind. Steady gaze, steady focus, each breath bringing in a little bit more inspiration, vitality. Release the arms, bring the arms up alongside your ears. We'll straighten the left leg, arms by your sides. Bend your left knee enough that you can step your right foot forward, tadasana. Let your breath adjust, just know where you are. Reach the arms forward, kind of like a sleepwalker, and then rise up onto your tiptoes, and then stay lifted up through the waist, through the ribs, and you're going to start to bend your knees. Keep your ribs lifting, and then with as little fanfare as possible, you're going to bring your fingers to the floor, have a seat on your tush, and then we're going to come down to lie down on the backs.

Walking your feet comfortably close to your rear end, separated about hip distance, arms down by your sides. Next inhale, you'll press your feet into the floor, lift your pelvis, reach your arms up and to the floor back behind you, and then as you exhale, you'll return the spine, the seat down, reach your arms up and down by your sides, so floating bridge. Let's try a five count inhale to lift, long slow exhale to lower. Next one, let's try a six count inhale, lengthen the spine, flower the ribs open, liberating a little bit more space with the breath, exhale lower. Let's try a seven count inhale, always think of the breath like working you like a wet piece of clay, so a little bit more breath than you think you can, maybe opening a little bit more space within, exhale lower. Last one, try an eight count inhale, just doing the best you can. And as you exhale and lower, just stay here, you can walk your feet about mat distance apart and let your knees fall together. And then just last time, one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly, you can let your elbows slide to the floor, close your eyes, and just take a minute to scan your new starting point, your new moment of right now, maybe a new sensation, a new pattern of thought or flutter of emotion. And relax the arms back by your sides, walk the feet a little closer together separating the knees and we're going to roll over to one side in the fetal position, and then lazily bring yourself back into just a comfortable seat. Whatever seat will work for you for just a couple more minutes. Now in your seated position, just lengthen your spine, crown of the head over the base of your spine. We'll lift the right hand and bring the right index finger and middle finger into the palm. The right thumb and fourth finger will go a little bit above the crease of your nose, right at the end of the bony cartilage. The left hand could just rest onto your left knee and close the eyes, relax the face, and take a moment just to breathe in and out through both nostrils. Take a technique called Surya Badana. So you'll block your left nostril and then inhale through your right and inhale a little bit more than you think you can and then close both sides of the nose, bring your chin slightly in and back like you're creating a double chin. Then you'll lift your chin and exhale through the left nostril and then repeating that inhale through the right nostril again, bringing in this heated solar active energy sympathetic activation. Close both sides of the nose, just suspend, feeling a sense of that prana at the heart. You'll exhale when ready through the left nostril. We'll just do this for a few more rounds on your own, whatever pace feels reasonable. Inhaling through the right, close, exhaling through the left.

Inhaling through the right, close, mind and the heart, exhaling through the left. Once more, inhale through the right, close, suspend, exhale through the left. And then keeping your eyes closed, just release your right hand back down to your near thigh. Let the body and the breath adjust and bring the hands together in front of the heart. Just knowing you can take this vitality, this inspiration into each moment of your living. Bowing your head to your heart, bowing to your true teacher. Namaste.