Day 21: Intuitive Flow

Hey, welcome back to Day 21, Yoga Anytime 30 Day Challenge. You and me starting in child's flow once again. So grab whatever you need, let's do this. Like that. A little transition there.

Okay, so from table top, move it back into child's pose. Stretch it out and then come forward away. Exhale, push back into child's pose. Do this a couple times, inhale, come forward. And exhale, push it back.

Nice. To add a little bit more of our child's flow by coming forward into table. And exhale, slowly reverse it down. Inhale, lift up for a cobra pose, maybe straighten the arms a little bit more into like a little mellow upward dog and then hinge back into child's pose. Exhale, come forward into table, slowly reverse it all the way down on the exhale.

Bring the arms out into that cactus shape, lift the arms up off the mat. So the palms, forearms, elbows up, lift the chest, you can lift your legs if that feels good. Good, nice strong back, reach back behind you. Let's exaggerate that or heighten it a little bit by interlacing the fingers and pulling the chest open, a gentle little rock to the right. Exaggerate that left shoulder open, a little rock to the left.

Exaggerate the right shoulder open, good. Bring it back to center, lift up to your max range without hurting yourself, right? Place the arms back into cactus, place the hands down with the chest lifting and exhale all the way back for what might feel like a little relief in the low back child's pose. Good, come forward into table, exhale, pause in table. Exhale belly drops, shoulder blades drop, sit bones lift, belly really let's go and releases here.

Exhale cat pose, stretch it out. Inhale back into a cow facing pose and exhale round it out. Great for your spine, your hips, your shoulder blades. Take the knees a little bit wider, we'll add a little circular motion in the hips. As big as you'd like, you can even come forward into like a little knee plank and then slide the hips all the way back out wide and over to the other side.

Just a little intuitive what feels right to you circles in the hips, nice maybe. Put him back, then we move into downward dog. So we don't really know what feels totally right for us until we go there, until we go there whether we're prompted there, for instance by myself telling you or you feel the confidence and freedom to explore a different edge, different space. So I want to just keep emphasizing that that is really what this is meant to be, right? To trust, trust, trust as you move around in your body what feels appropriate, interesting and almost just kind of right for you.

Let's walk up to the front of the mat out of downward dog into a forward bend. Exhale let it all out into a forward bend. Exhale half lift and fold, exhale, good. Bend the legs strong from the ground up, rise all the way up and reach those arms up overhead. Stretch long through the side body and exhale, palms to the chest, nice.

So we're moving into the forward facing flow, we did this yesterday. So we're going to use no blocks and we're going to weave in warrior three. So it's not going to be super different but just enough for a little mix up. So we start in mountain pose, stand tall, stand strong, determined yet relaxed. Inhale reach the arms up overhead and exhale forward bend, good.

Inhale lift up halfway, exhale step back into plank pose and lower down halfway. Inhale upward facing dog, exhale downward facing dog. So we've been here for, this is our 21st practice together. So I want you to feel the freedom as we're moving through these transitions and vinyasas if your shoulders aren't feeling it like just, you know how to modify, you know how to modify by now. So use your knees, don't do it, you choose, okay?

So take the right leg up on the breath in, exhale step it all the way up, back heel down warrior one on the breath in, cactus arms, we just did that in the child's flow. Close you bring those arms back, open up the chest, feel the back of the body, the upper back strengthening. Inhale reach up, exhale step back with both feet, plank pose, lower down, inhale upward facing dog, roll the shoulders back, exhale downward dog. Good, left leg lifts on the breath in, exhale step it all the way up, back foot down warrior one with cactus arms. So the chest wants to lift a little bit, draw the shoulder blades together, nice, inhale sweep the arms up, exhale hands down, step back and lower, inhale upward dog, exhale downward dog, good, let's do a little jump transition today.

I like to come up onto my fingertips, gives me a little more space, look forward breathe in bend the knees and on the exhale float the feet all the way up, land fold, exhale inhale lift halfway and exhale fold, inhale all the way up, exhale chair pose, inhale all the way up, exhale round two all the way down, inhale lift halfway and exhale step back into plank continue to exhale as you lower down your way, upward facing dog inhale downward facing dog exhale, right leg lifts on the inhale, exhale step it up, back foot down warrior one, cactus arms right open up the chest, strong back, good strong right leg there, okay this is where we're going to weave in the warrior three so draw the palms to the heart, lift the back heel square off the hips and when you're ready begin to float right into warrior three, balancing on the right leg, lift the left leg up, push through the heel or the ball of the left foot, keep the chest lifting like you're in a cobra pose, good palms resting at the chest, good balance, good focus, put a bend in the right leg step the left foot back not too far though, lift the arms up overhead take a big stretch, exhale the hands on the hips, good left foot make sure it's pointing forward, hands on the hips for a little balance right and stability put a tiny bend in the right leg and then hinge your body forward, reach long through the spine especially that right hip, keep your hands on the hips or place the hands gently on that right shin just enough for you to lift your chest to lengthen the spine, bring the hands down to the mat step your left foot back come down for a moment in a low crescent lunge sweep the arms up overhead grab that cactus position again in the arms maybe even the hands behind the head pull the elbows back chest forward, good reach the arms up breathe in exhale the hands come down to frame the right foot curl the back toes lunge twist rotate the rib cage open to the right spin and reach that right arm all the way up on your exhale bring the right hand down step back into plank pose on your next exhale lower down inhale upward facing dog and downward facing dog on the exhalation let's take a full breath here like fill up the body only to grab the benefit of letting it all out on the exhale little bit like a flush out inhale the left leg up exhale step it up to warrior one back heel down rise up cactus arm action right you can continue to move the arms involve the shoulder blades palms to the heart spin the back heel up put a bend in the right leg soft left leg find your focal point when you're ready come up onto that left leg balancing into warrior three pose you can keep the hands at the chest like we did on the right leg or maybe take the arms out into more of an airplane wing shape chest up strong right leg a little tiny bend in the left leg pyramid pose palms to the heart put a bend in the left leg step back but not too far point the right toes forward to ensure that your right hip comes forward inhale arms up exhale hands at the hips hinge the body forward exaggerate that left hip back good maybe just about halfway down hands rest at the at the shin gently chest lifting just enough to get that long stretch through the left leg hamstring focused nice bring the hands down step the right foot back bring the right knee down low lunge cactus arms low lunge reach up breathe in exhale the hands down curl the back toes lunge twist so you find the lunge first and then roll open rib cage spirals get the twist first and then that left arm comes up nice and high left arm comes down step back into plank let's go through one last transition denyasa chaturanga halfway down as you exhale upward facing dog as you inhale and downward dog exhale good work switch it up just a little bit so you can continue to figure out what feels really good for you let's bring the knees down as we close this middle transition out the hips back head resting on the forearms wrists or floor in child's pose all right stretch the arms out come up into table onto our seat kind of a typical transition for us hip relief so let's roll down to the back with a little control I'm gonna wrap the arms underneath the hamstrings get a little tight and roll down some rocking and rolling along the back body and then extend the left leg out hug the right knee in this is that hip relief sequence so it's really focused on in this case we're gonna move into the right side quite a bit so the right knee hugs in and then we'll begin to take that half happy baby shape so you can take the hand your right hand up to the ankle or the outer edge of the right foot place your left hand on the floor or maybe even rest the left hand on your hip extend through the back of the neck once you get the rest of the body situated we can focus on right the focal point which is the hip you can just slow everything down conscious low breathing cultivating awareness sensations and feelings in the body definitely like genuinely guiding you let's take it into the the pigeon pose so you bend the left leg place the right ankle on top of the left thigh take the right hand on your inner right thigh and guide it open and away from you lift the left foot up off the mat and begin to find that reclined pigeon pose hands are on your left shin or your hamstring and if you can get that right elbow to guide that right inner thigh away from you that might feel nice some circles now pigeon poses supposedly right in some cases it's been known to help stretch or reduce the pain of that sciatic nerve so if you have any of that going on pigeon pose done and found your way could be something that is beneficial spinal twist bring the left foot down slide your butt over to the right arms out big T formation keep the figure for shape for this one and reach the right foot down toward the mat so it's more of a casual twist with the right foot grounded on the mat guide that right knee away from you and you'll find a little bit of hip relief in that space as well bring it on out back to send bring the right foot down both feet are down with the legs bent arms out like a little moment of gratitude like genuine gratitude for your breath your body as it is in the practice as you are now in day 21 full breath with me and exhale everything out let's begin the left side so extend the right leg out left leg in so the knee single knee into the body out wide take it into half happy baby find your placement for your hand and then find the placement of the left ankle up over the knee or somewhere in that vicinity that allows you to enjoy or experience that stretch of the inner left thigh or groin take the left ankle over the right thigh left hip guiding away from you keep it open as you lift the right foot up get your hand hold on the shin the hamstring use a little effort in your arms to pull the legs toward you find the stretch don't force it like taste just right let's bring it into the twist so the right foot comes down arms out slide the hips over to the left just like we did on the other side keep that left hip open as you guide the left foot down toward the mat on the right side it's a little different flavor of twist it's not as like twist focused we're still in our hips especially if you're able to kind of fan that left foot away our left knee away from you okay let's take a little time to transition out square yourself on the mat keep your arms out wide just because that feels kind of nice bottoms of the feet together this will be where we begin and maybe even close our relaxation so full breath in and a full breath release situate your physical body in a way that feels supportive and encouraging for relaxation take some time to relax your eyes your jaw the rest of the muscles in the face taking a moment to acknowledge the dedication and commitment that this takes I know I mentioned it quite a bit but it's helpful for us to remind ourselves of the positives the work that you are doing rather than what's wrong or what you didn't do or weren't able to do let's draw the knees in the inevitable transition out of relaxation rock up to sit even that rock up to sit maybe that's getting easier that little transition anyway here we are take a moment with the palms at the chest draw the forehead toward your fingertips with your eyes closed dedication commitment showing up is huge namaste