Day 18: Stable and Fluid

Hey there, welcome to yoga anytime, welcome to the challenge, welcome to day 18, alright? We've got our spinal wake up to begin, so you know where we're going, we're going to child's pose. Come on down, so find your positioning, this is our sixth time we're doing this, so what feels best for you? I'm going to make these little movements in and out, so we're going to inhale, come up to table, exhale, push back, kind of wiggle around, find that landing place that feels nice, inhale up and exhale, push back, sort of like earning your way into the space, not just landing and forcing. Let's do that one more time, breathe in, come forward and exhale, push on back, nice.

Come up about halfway in between child's pose and table, walk your hands over to the left, let's go for that side stretch we've been working on, you can bring the right hand on top of the left, pull back through the right hip and reach long through that right hand. So again, it's another shape to access some stretch or sensation through the right side of the body, in this case, nice, keep this length, why don't you walk the hands out to center and over to the right, good, left hand on top of the right is an option, good, push the hips back, specifically the left hip, so you might feel that stretch through the left waist, you might feel the ribcage opening up a little bit, maybe the shoulder, left shoulder, nice, bring it back over to center, stretch it out, so you're kind of in between child's pose and puppy, so we're going to come forward, hips align up over the knees, walk the hands out, we'll get that nice long arch in the back, some spine extension, you can bring the chin or the forehead down, like I've said before, this isn't a time to sort of like hold the belly, let your belly really like drop out, come forward into sphinx pose so land on the forearms and elbows, good, so more extension in the spine, elbows below the shoulders or a little wider or farther forward, you choose based on feeling, right, based on the sensations, chest lifting, shoulders rolling back, neck is free of tension, let's slowly lower all the way down, this position, the new one we're going to work on, so your arms are in this cactus style shape, forehead down on the mat or the chin, I'll place my chin down, now the focal point will be for you to press the tops of the feet down firmly into the mat so much that your kneecaps might lift, draw the tailbone back in the direction of your heels, so you get that little neutral pelvis, now lift the arms up only, so the palms, forearms and elbows lift up off of the floor, begin to feel your shoulder blades pull toward one another, so the upper back begins to activate, and you can hang here, this is kind of optimally zero tension in your low back, if you'd like lift up a little bit higher while keeping the back engaged, nice, lift up, keep working that tailbone back, it's kind of a difficult thing to do but do your best, keep the legs strong, now keep this position, reach back, interlace your fingers, become a little bit more expressive in the chest, across the shoulders, you might even lift your legs up, nice and on your exhale lower all the way down, slide the hands underneath your shoulders or alongside the ribcage, inhale flow up for a little cobra action, exhale tabletop, inhale cow pose, drop the belly, lift the sit bones chest and heart forward, exhale pull up through the low belly, spread your shoulder blades wide and draw your tailbone down, inhale cow pose, and exhale cat, inhale back into a tabletop position, exhale downward facing dog, good, good strong foundation in the hands, pedal it out, press one heel down, bend the opposite leg, get a little groovy in the hips, right, all of the movements you do in this downward dog are based on what type of feeling, right, the feelings and sensations kind of guide you into the different shapes, the various movements, now let's walk up to the front of the mat, exhale mellow forward bend, inhale lift the chest, the heart extend the spine, half lift, breathe in, and exhale soft knees forward bend, relax the back of the neck, let's rise all the way up, bring your arms up overhead, as you breathe in exhale the palms to the chest to the heart, good mountain pose, we're going to move into side facing which will require a block at least for me, you make that choice, keep your block nearby, meet me back in mountain pose, let's begin to flow here alright, so breathe in, reach the arms up overhead, and exhale forward bend, inhale lift up halfway, exhale step back into downward dog, good, right now you're making that decision how you want to transition, use your knees, don't use your knees, don't do it at all, inhale into plank, exhale lower down halfway, inhale upward facing dog, good, exhale downward facing dog, inhale lift your right leg up, exhale step your right foot toward your right thumb, warrior two circle the left arm up and back, level out the arms, get your feet right, legs right, hips right, and take a few breaths, take a look around at your feet, your legs, make sure your right knee is not dropping in, it's pushing out, bend its side angle, place the right forearm on your right thigh, good, take the left arm, sweep it forward up and open, so maybe like just send it straight up, then put an angle on that left arm so you get that sensation up from the outer edge of the left foot through the fingertips, you might feel an opening across the chest here as you draw the ribcage open, ground evenly into both feet, how's your breath, nice, triangle pose, so let's transition back up into warrior two, straighten out the front leg for a moment, bend back into the leg, grab your block, place your block on the inside of your right ankle, that's where I like it, see how it feels for you, come back up, straighten out the right leg without locking, keep a tiny little bend in the right leg, so you stay in the muscle, breathe right, now take the right arm, reach it as far forward as you can, keep pressing firmly into the ball of the right foot, place your right hand down on the block, maybe tent the fingers, now take the left arm, sweep it all the way up high, nice, maybe take the gaze upward, little attention in the core, pushing down into the muscles and bones of your feet, just really trying to figure out where and why you're in this pose, let's take the left arm like we did an extended side angle and the right arm, right, pull back into the core, get strong and stable here, nice, now all the way back up, relax the arms, half moon, grab hold of your block, shorten your stance a tiny bit, find your fixed gaze, good, bend the right leg and now kind of launch up, balancing on that right leg, place the block down, extend, oh, caught it, nice, extend long through that left leg, so the left leg is parallel with the floor, push through the ball of your left foot, nice, hips are open, left arm extends nice and high, a little wiggle, a little wobble, that just means you're working those muscles in your leg, ankle, your feet, it's a good thing, bend your right leg, left hand on the hip, step back, leave the block, step back into warrior 2, nice, reverse warrior, reach up and back on the inhale and now exhale, windmill the arms down, step back into plank pose, good, heels to the right, balance on that right arm, side plank, peel the left arm up and open, lift through the hips, take that left arm, little theme here, right, left arm reaching up overhead like that side angle, reach it back up and find plank pose again, good, heels to the left, spin open with that right arm, make sure your left shoulder is safe, stable, secure, put the angle on that right arm now, big lift through the hips, really good, now lift up, breathe in and exhale, square off and plank, hit downward dog or let's come through a vinyasa, exhale halfway or all the way, inhale cobra or upward facing dog, downward facing dog as you exhale, good work, lift your left leg up on the breath in, exhale, step it all the way up, spin the back, heel down, get your alignment from the base, from your feet first, then sweep up and back, I apologize for not being able to see you and connect but I'm right here with you, warrior two, extended side angle, left forearm on the left thigh, right arm sweeps forward up and then put the angle on it, rotate the left lower ribcage open, hug the left hip back, extend through the waist on the right side, your ribcage, good, bring the right hand to the right hip, reach for your block, place your block down on the inside of your left ankle, straighten out your left leg and we'll enter triangle pose from here, figure out the hips, you want to maybe open up the hips a lot or you might pull the left hip back a little bit more and draw firmly through the ball of your left foot, reach your right arm high, you've got to have the stability in both feet so be curious in different ways in which you can press down and ground, especially now as you take the right arm, reach it up overhead and then if you've got the interest, take the left arm and reach it long as well like you're taking both arms up overhead, good, should have increased the intensity quite a bit, grab your block all the way back up, okay, shorten the stance, block in your left hand, right hand on your right hip, half moon, good, so first find that stability in the left leg, your focal point where your gaze is, block is placed down on the mat or the floor, push through the heel or the ball of your right foot or both, good, right arm reaches up, your gazing point is down or to the side, I've got this pretty amazing view of the ocean right now, what are you looking at? Could be your wall, maybe you can imagine an ocean or maybe you don't even like the ocean, okay, it doesn't matter what you're looking at, just keep your focus, put a bend in the left leg and step all the way back into warrior two, nice, straighten your left leg, now point both sets of toes forward, it's a wide leg forward bend, the last time we did this I was facing you, this time I'll be away from you, little bend in the knees, hinge at the hips as you fold forward, bring your fingertips down to the mat, maybe keep the chest up to lengthen the spine or exhale, fold forward and down, I guess I could kind of see you here, peace, peace, peace, okay good, now from here you can stay here a little longer or open the feet out 45 degrees and let's move through a little side lunge, two on each side, dig deep into the right side, safely of course, come over to the left side, up and over to the right, and over to the left, good work, good, back over to neutral all the way to the front of the mat, bring your right knee down and step your left foot back and push back into child's pose, from child's pose let's transition into the stretch at your back closing, alright, so grab your block, move it out of the way and as always when we're sitting, maybe I encourage you to grab a blanket to sit your seat up on to adjust the pelvis, alright, adjust the pelvis forward just to encourage or allow the spine to lengthen, okay, from here out of easy seat we're going to lean back a little bit and draw the bottoms of the feet together, you can hold on to the tops of the feet, the ankles, the shins, stay here as I've offered you before just a nice upright position or bring the hands back behind and draw the chest forward like we've done in that hero's pose, right, or lean forward and down, the last one doesn't mean it's the best, it doesn't mean it's the hardest or the one that you should aspire to do, three choices are there because we all feel a little bit differently in our low back, our hips, so really it's just based off of feeling, it's not a level, let's take one more breath here, let it all out, good, bring yourself back up, cross your legs, from here take the arms up overhead on the breath in and exhale, rotate open to the right, left hand to the right thigh, right hand back behind you, good, spinal twist with a long spine, stretch your back, alright, nice, let's bring it back to center, real line, get long, inhale, draw the arms up overhead and exhale, rotate to the left, right hand to the left thigh, left hand back behind you, good, or whatever hand position allows you to feel supported, aligned, lengthened and a little twisted, good, back over to center, good work, okay, let's roll down to the back to close out, move your blanket out of the way, we don't need that, unless you have chosen that, roll on down, draw the knees into your body, bring the feet down below the knees and before we begin the bridge roll ups, pause, take a full breath and exhale, as we move through the bridge roll ups, find some ease and relaxation in this little movement here, so lift the hips, draw the arms up and over your head, palms facing up, exhale, roll on down slowly, inhale lift up, through the hips, lengthen through the thighs and exhale, slowly roll down, last one, breathe in, lift the hips, sometimes it feels like you're not lifting up that high, at least that's what it feels like for me, so don't worry about that so much, just lift up, rotate through the shoulders, grab one breath in the full expression of the pose and slowly all the way down, take a breath, inhale fill yourself up, exhale release and relax, straighten the legs out, draw the palms facing upward, through the back of your neck is nice and long, softening the muscles of the face, the neck, maybe feeling a sense of accomplishment, one more day, one more practice, day 18, well done, good, bend the knees, hug the shins, draw the knees in and maybe just roll right up to sit, this is a familiar place you and I, it's bittersweet right because it means it sort of ends this practice which I wish it could go on longer but I do look forward to day 19, so I'll see you day 19, namaste.