Inspired Sun Salutations

Let's play with our understanding of how the breath responds to the mind with a sequence of a handful of sun salutation patterns. Alana will help us starting at the top of your mat. Find your tadasana. Lead about hip distance apart, big deliberate inhale and exhale, let it happen and ground. Allow the back of the heart to be spacious and find the alignment of the skull so she feels perfectly placed.

We'll begin with quarter salutations. So as you're ready, hear the mantra, let the inhale follow and follow with the arms reaching up over the top of your head. Let the exhale begin and let the hands come back down into the center of your heart. And again, let the mantra come first, the inhale follows, the movement follows. Wait for the exhale to begin and then let the movement follow as the hands come back down in front of the heart.

Three more like this, mantra, inhale, movement, exhale, movement, beautiful. Two more, get good at this. Get good at aligning your mind first, yes, beautiful. One more, moving towards half salutations mantra, inhale, arms up over the top of your head, exhale, swan diving forward over the legs, knees might bend a little bit. Inhale half arch, exhale, fold, mantra, inhale, circle the arms up over the top of your head and reach and exhale, hands back to the center of your heart.

Two more like this, mantra, inhale, movement, reach, exhale, movement, fold over the legs, yes, mantra, inhale, movement, half arch, exhale, movement, fold, mantra, movement, exhaling the arms all the way back up and reach, exhale, hands back to the center of the heart and pause, pause here in Tadasana and feel the effect, truly there's so little we can do but we do have a choice of where our attention is aligned. So let's take this a little bit further towards Surinamaskar C variation, something we usually around here called lunge salutes. As you're ready mantra, inhale, arms up over the top of your head, exhale, movement, folding over the legs, mantra to inhale, half arch, as you exhale, left foot steps back as the right knee bends, knee comes all the way to the floor, mantra, inhales, reach the arms up, exhale, movement, hands back to that front foot, step back downward facing dog, mantra, inhale, plank, let the exhale lower you to the earth, mantra, inhale to cobra, beautiful, exhale, lower press back downward facing dog, mantra, inhale, left leg high to the sky, exhale as the left foot steps between the hands, right knee drops down to the earth, mantra, movement, reach the arms up over the top of the head, exhale, lower, mantra, step the right foot forward, half arch, exhale and fold, mantra, inspiration up towards the sky, reach, exhale, hands back to the center of the heart, other side, one more round, mantra, inhale, reach, exhale and fold, mantra, half arch, exhale, the right foot steps back, left knee bends, knee down to the earth, mantra, inhale, circle the arms up, beautiful, exhale and the hands come back down to the earth, step all the way back downward facing dog, mantra, inhale, plank pose, exhale, lower in your way all the way to the earth, mantra, inhale, little cobra, exhale, lower press back downward facing dog, mantra, inhale, right leg high to the sky, exhale, right foot between the hands, let the left knee come down to the earth, mantra, inhale and reach, exhale, hands back down to the earth, mantra, left forward half arch, exhale and fold, mantra, circle the arms all the way back up and exhale, hands back to the heart, be here samastitihi or tadasana with the arms down along your side and feel the effect, like feel the effect of letting not just your movement be coordinated to the breath but your breath aligned with what inspires you, beautiful, thank you Alana, thank you at home, love.