Lengthen and Strengthen

Welcome back. So we're going to move through a well-rounded vinyasa flow to lengthen and strengthen the entire body. So let's start on hands and knees. I will meet you in a tabletop position. So finding the shoulders over the wrists, hips over the knees, finding your rooted position here. And then on an inhale start to drop the belly, lift the gaze, arching through the back. And then as you exhale coming into cat pose, draw the navel into the spine, rounding through the upper back. And then from here drop it back into child's pose. So let the hips sink back towards your heels, knees together, let the forehead kind of lower down toward the earth. Just feeling child's pose for a few breaths. Feeling the expansion through the back body as you inhale. And then that grounding quality as you exhale. Good. And then on an inhale lift back up to all fours. And then right away we'll drop the chest, arching through the back, coming into cow pose. And then moving with the breath, draw the navel into the spine, sink it back into child's pose on your exhale. One more like that. Inhale all fours, arching the back, look up, lengthen. And then as you exhale draw the navel to the spine, rounding back into child's pose. Good. And then coming up to all fours, just tucking the toes, lift your hips up and back right into your first downward facing dog. And as you come to down dog, any movement here that feels good for you. Yeah, maybe pedaling it out, letting the right heel come down, bending through the left knee. And then switching sides, let the left heel come down, bend through the right knee. And then both heels come down toward the earth. Let's inhale to just rise up onto the toes for a breath. Keep lifting the sitting bones up. And then as you exhale just drop the heels down, pausing here in downward facing dog for a couple breaths. Good. And then let's inhale the right leg up and back behind you. And then exhale, draw the knee into your nose and step the right foot all the way through between your hands. And stay on the ball of your back foot. I'm going to reach the right arm back behind you along the horizon and then taking it up and over your ear in this lunge twist. And then right hand comes down, step right back to downward facing dog. I'm just going to move with that a few times from side to side to start to warm the body. So inhale, left leg lifts up, exhale, draw the knee to the nose, step the left foot through. And then you're taking your lunge twist, but circling the left hand all the way back up, over the ear and around, left hand down, right back to downward facing dog. And let's just move with the breath side to side. Inhale the right leg up, exhale, step it through, plant the left hand, circle the right arm back, up and around, downward facing dog. Inhale the left leg up, exhale, step it through, plant the right hand down, circle the left arm back and around, right back to downward facing dog. Exhale, one more time. Inhale, right leg up, exhale, step through, circle the right arm back, up and around, right back to downward facing dog. Exhale, left side, inhale, left leg lifts, exhale, step it through, right hand stays down, circle the left arm back, up and around, and then back to your downward facing dog. Take a couple breaths right here, allow the breath. Maybe the heels start to get a little heavier this time. Letting the heels start to disappear behind your toes. And then on and inhale, rise high up onto your toes. And let's just take a nice slow walk to the front of the mat, maybe even keeping the legs straight as you come forward into a forward fold at the front of the mat, and then soften your knees any amount, let the torso drape down. Maybe hold on to opposite elbows, if it feels okay to interlace behind the back, you might take the arms up and over. And shifting a little more weight into the balls of your feet, take a couple more breaths here.

Receiving the breath. Good, and then letting the arms, it's going to melt down toward the earth, bend the knees, tuck the chin, roll up nice and slow, one vertebra at a time. Unraveling, let the head be the last thing to arrive. You should get to the top, circle the arms all the way out and up, and draw your hands to your heart center. Exhale. Close your eyes for a moment, and just check in with your breath. So as you inhale, inhale through the nose, find a slight pause at the top of the inhale, and then exhale out the nose, slight pause at the bottom of the exhale. Let's allow the breath to tell us when to move next. So stepping the feet together, on an inhale, come to chair pose, utkatasana, arms sweep all the way up. As you exhale, fold over your legs, forward fold, uttanasana. Inhale, lift halfway up, lengthen out through the spine, and then as you exhale, plant the palms, bend the knees, step back to plank pose, coming to the top of a push-up, and from your plank pose, let's shift the weight forward. So get light on your toes as you come forward a little bit, and then lower all the way down, nice and slow, hug the elbows in as you lower down, and as you get to the bottom, untuck your toes, come up to the low cobra, hugging the elbows in, press through the tops of the feet, find length in the back of the neck, good, and then lower down. Let's take that a couple more times. Inhale, back to cobra, maybe coming up a little bit higher this time. Exhale, lower down, maybe up dog this time, straightening up the arms, pressing through the tops of the feet, lifting the hips and legs up off the earth, knees lift, and then exhale, right back to downward facing dog. Then inhale the right leg up and back, step your foot through between your hands, spin the back heel down, come up to warrior one, inhale, arms sweep up, and then just take a moment here to arrive, so just setting up your alignment, drawing the right hip back, let the left hip and roll forward a little bit, and then relax your shoulders, energize up through the fingertips, and just allow two more breaths here.

Good, on an inhale you might look up, maybe press the palms together above your head, and then exhale, hands lower down, take a vinyasa here, you might come through chest to chest, you might come through chaturanga this time, you're welcome to lower the knees, and then inhale cobra, maybe upward facing dog on the inhale, and then downward facing dog on an exhale, good, coming to the left side, inhale the left leg up, exhale, step through between your hands, spin the back heel down, warrior one, inhale, just take a couple breaths in this first round, sinking down into that front leg, again relaxing the shoulders, let your rib cage just melt down, draw the low belly in and up, relaxing your gaze, good, and then inhaling, look up, maybe press the palms together above your head, exhale, hands lower down, vinyasa, feel free to skip any of these chaturangas, otherwise lower halfway down, cobra or up dog inhale, downward facing dog, exhale, breathe, let's stay here for a couple breaths, breathing in and out through the nose, if it feels good to let out a sigh, let out a sigh, and then moving from the back of the mat, we're just going to go right side, left side, right side, left side, back through warrior one, so inhale the right leg up, exhale, step through, one breath per movement, inhale, warrior one, arms up, exhale, vinyasa, step it back, move it through, good, cobra or up dog on the inhale, downward facing dog, exhale, left side, inhale, left leg lifts, exhale, step through, warrior one, inhale, exhale, vinyasa, modify as you need to, lowering through, cobra or up dog, inhale, downward facing dog, exhale, hold here for a breath, side out, run more round, inhale the right leg up, exhale, step through, inhale, warrior one, exhale, vinyasa, inhale, open up the heart, cobra or up dog, exhale, downward facing dog, left side, inhale the left leg up, exhale, step through, inhale, virabhadrasana one, lift up, exhale, vinyasa, you got this lowering through, cobra or up dog, inhale, downward facing dog, exhale, nice job, holding here for a couple breaths, if you want to lower the knees and take a child's pose for a couple breaths, go for it, good and then meet me back in downward facing dog when you're ready, tucking the toes, lift the hips up and back, good and then inhale the right leg up and back again and we'll step through this time open up to warrior two, spin the back heel down, circle the arms open and just take a moment to land here, so sinking down toward 90 degrees in the front leg and just make sure the knee is kind of tracking over the second and third toe, yeah and we'll hold for two more breaths, inhaling, exhaling, three, inhale, exhale, good and then flip your front palm, reverse your warrior, tilting back, keep the legs how they are and then extended side angle, either elbow to the top of the thigh, it might bring the fingertips to the inside of your front foot or a block and then take the top arm up and over your ear, feeling one long line of energy from your left fingertips all the way back through that left heel and then again holding here for just a couple breaths, inhaling, exhaling, inhale, exhale, good and then rooting down, rise, come all the way back to reverse your warrior, straighten through the front leg, maybe shorten your stance a little bit and we'll come into trikonasana, triangle pose, right hand down, left arm lifts up, maybe gaze up toward your left fingertips, a little bit of a softness in that right knee, try not to lock anything out here, good and if it doesn't feel good to look up, you can gaze forward or even straight down, just protecting your neck, yeah and then rebend through your front leg, reverse your warrior as you come up and back and then circle the hands down, take a vinyasa here or skip it, you can come to down dog, we'll lower through, inhale cobra or up dog and downward facing dog, good, coming to the left side, inhale the left leg up, exhale step through, warrior two, circle the back heel down, circle it open and then three breaths here, inhaling, exhaling, inhale, exhale, last one, inhale and exhale, flip your front palm, tilt back, reverse warrior, inhale and then extended side angle, either elbow to the top of the thigh, maybe fingertips on the inside of your front foot, sweep the top arm over your ear, maybe gaze up and breathe, three breaths, inhaling, exhale, inhale, exhale, last breath, inhale and exhale, root down to rise, come all the way back, reverse your warrior just to straighten out through that front leg, can shorten the stance a little bit and then hinging forward at the hips, left hand down, right arm lifts, good, and lean back a little bit, three breaths, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, last breath in, exhale, rebend through your front leg, reverse your warrior, inhale, circle the arms down, move through vinyasa, lowering halfway or all the way, cobra or up dog, inhale, downward facing dog, exhale, taking a couple breaths here, your dog pose, rest if you need to, otherwise we'll move on as you're ready, inhale the right leg up, exhale, step through between your hands, this time stay on the ball of your back foot, we'll come up to crescent pose, so soften through your back knee a little bit as you reach the arms up, let the tailbone start to melt down, bringing the front knee over your ankle, relaxing the shoulders, pausing here for just a couple breaths, feel the buoyancy in the legs, good, and then hands to your heart, we're going to take the left elbow on the outside of the right leg coming into a twist, so crescent prayer twist, drawing the hands together in front of the hearts, packing the elbows, keeping that right hip hugged in, good breathing, yeah, and you're always welcome to lower that back knee down if you'd like, if you want to go a little deeper, you can open up the arms, maybe even take a wrap with your arms, yeah, good, and then gaze down, let your hands find the earth, step your back foot in about a foot, and then take your feet hips distance apart, so you're coming into a pyramid pose for a moment, press into the ball of your right big toe, and then fold in any amount for a moment, just letting everything drape down over that front leg, drawing the right hip back, keeping the hips nice and even, and we'll come into revolve triangle from here, you may want to block for this one, I'm going to start to come halfway up, come on to my fingertips, I'm going to take my left hand to the outside of my right foot, again you might have a block here under your hand, and then bring your right thumb to your right hip crease, draw the right hip back, lengthen out through the spine, and then start to peel your chest open to the right, stacking shoulders, maybe reaching your right arm up, good, and then breathe, good, if you're anything like me, revolved poses are not your favorite things, good, which is why we do them, yeah, beautiful, and then when you're ready, get out of there, fold over your front leg, yeah, and then look up, step back to your lunge, and then vinyasa if you want it, or maybe right to downward facing dog, come to the left side, inhale the left leg up, step through, stay on the ball of your back foot, crescent pose, soften through the back knee as you come up, let the tailbone start to melt down, front knee over the ankle, and then energize up through the fingertips, relax the shoulders, soften your gaze in your crescent, yeah, and then hands to your heart, keep the length in the spine, we're going to twist to the left, this time right elbow on the outside of the left, bring your hands toward the heart, look up, lengthen, yeah, and you can stay right here, you're welcome to lower that back knee down if you'd like, if you want to go a little deeper, right hand outside of the foot, reach your left arm up, maybe look up toward your left fingertips, or stay right here in that prayer twist, if you want to take a rap, go for it, last couple breaths here, good, and then as you're ready, hands down, look down, step your back foot in about a foot, and then make sure the feet are hips distance, not on a tight rope here, so you want to have a little space between the feet, press into the ball of your left big toe, draw your left hip back, and then let's fold in for a couple breaths, you can soften that left knee if you'd like here, maybe a couple blocks under your hands, and find your breath, just really sending the breath to wherever the sensations are, filling the shape with your breath, good, and then we'll start to revolve the pose, so come halfway up, up, keeping the hips nice and even, take your right hand to the outside of your left foot, maybe to a block, and it'll bring your left thumb to that left hip crease, drawing the hip back, and then from here, find length in the spine, start to peel the chest open to your left, stacking shoulders, and then maybe lift your left arm up, as you take it, peek up toward your fingertips, feel all that subtle movement in the legs, not so subtle maybe, yeah, and then fold back over that front leg, beautiful, vinyasa if you want it, or right to down dog, that's a cleansing vinyasa, might feel nice, last one here, and then downward facing dog, good, sigh it out, then let's lower the knees down to the earth, and then bring your forearms down, so the shoulders are going to land right over the elbows, fingers spread wide, take a gaze forward between your thumbs, and then tucking the toes, reaching the legs back, coming into forearm plank, snuck it in there, bring the hips in line with your shoulder blades, take a gaze forward and be here for 10 breaths, inhaling, exhaling, nine, inhale, exhale, I wish I said five, inhale, exhale, seven, inhale, exhale, six, inhale, exhale, you're welcome to lower the knees, five, inhale, exhale, four, inhale, exhale, three, inhale, exhale, just two more, inhale, exhale, last one, take a big breath in, good, and then exhale, lower the hips all the way down, walk your hands forward just a little bit, finding sphinx pose, chin down, back up the neck, long legs engaged, yeah, and then walk your hands back and we'll tuck the toes, lift the knees and the thighs up off the earth, hug the elbows in, come up to plank pose on your inhale, downward facing dog on your exhale, nice work, good, and then from here let's come to a seat at the front of the mat so you can hop your feet forward, you might hop your legs through the hands and then bring the legs out in front of you and I'm going to go ahead and face you taking a couple stretches with the legs here, so let's come to Janu Sarsasana, bringing the left foot to the inner upper right thigh and we're going to start with a twist, so inhale, reach your arms all the way up over your head and then twist to your left, bring your right hand to the outside of your left leg, left fingertips come behind you as you inhale, lift up and lengthen, as you exhale maybe twist a little bit more, good, and then taking your left arm up and over your ear just start to tilt towards your right leg any amount, so you're just feeling that nice stretch through the left side body, perhaps you're coming down to hold on to the foot, so you kind of rotate the chest up and open, and let's turn this into a nice fold over that right leg, so just starting to let the torso drape down over your right leg, crawling your hands forward and letting the head and neck relax down, keeping your left sitting bone rooted as well, taking a couple breaths here. Beautiful and then on your inhale lengthen out through the spine, come all the way up, take a moment to just rest, noticing the effects of that posture in the body, and then we'll take it to the other side, so straightening out through the left, bringing the right foot to the inner upper left thigh, and we'll start with that twist, so as you inhale, reach the arms all the way up, good, twist to the right, take the left hand on the outside of the right, left fingertips behind you, on an inhale lift up, lengthen as you exhale, ease into the twist, good, and then reaching your right arm up and over your ear, start to tilt any amount toward that left leg, yeah, yeah, good, and then as you're ready, just take that into a fold, just unraveling, folding over your left straight leg, any amount, as you fold in, kind of angling the torso over the leg, relaxing the head and the neck, your shoulders, just breathing here, letting go, beautiful, and then inhale to lengthen, come all the way up, and we'll come on to our backs, so just rolling down, we'll start by hugging the knees into the chest, and just rocking a little bit from side to side, you might take the knees in circles in one direction, and then the others, massaging through your lower back, any movement here that feels nice for you, and then let's sit up for a couple rounds of heart-opening postures, so we'll start with bridge pose, and then we'll progress into wheel, but you're welcome to stay with any of these variations along the way, so stepping the feet to hips width, start to walk the heels in towards you, and you can even brush the backs of the heels with your fingertips, you want your knees right over the ankles, and then pressing through the soles of the feet, press through the palms of the hands, start to lift your hips up, any amount, maybe interlace the fingers behind the back, as you draw the chest up towards your chin, roll the inner thighs down, and try not to clench in the back body here, so you're lifting from the hamstrings and the hips, taking a few more full deep breaths, feeling that stretch and lengthening through the front body, good, and then as you're ready, releasing the shoulders first, and slowly rolling down one vertebra at a time, and then as you get to the bottom, step your feet as wide as your mat, let your knees knock into touch, just finding that gentle release through the low back, maybe bringing your hands to your belly for constructive rest, and just checking in with the residue of the posture, the echo of the pose, just noticing where it lands in the body for you, good, so let's move through one more round, and you're welcome to stay with bridge if you'd like, if you want to take it down a notch, maybe taking a supported bridge, if you want to go up a little bit, we'll come into wheel, so I'll bring us into wheel, but again, feels free to stay wherever feels comfortable for you, so stepping the feet back to hips distance, walking the heels in, brushing the backs of the heels, and then coming into wheel, we'll bring the hands next to our ears, fingers facing toward the shoulders, hug the elbows in, and then three steps to get into this, so pressing through the soles of the feet, lift the hips up first, feel that opening across the front of the body, and then pressing into the hands, come onto the crown of your head, so you might stay here, any of these places along the way, feel free to stay, otherwise start to straighten out the arms, any amount, straightening the arms, lifting up into Urdhva Dhanurasana, taking five breaths, let the inner thighs roll down, see if you can keep the breath nice and deep here, and then as you're ready, slowly lowering your way out of there, good, and releasing the arms down by the side, let's drop the knees to the right side, taking an easy spinal twist, it might feel nice to bring the arms up over your head, palms face up, good, and then as you inhale, bring the knees back through center, exhale, drop the knees to the left, and let's take that a couple more times, feeling that nice release through the spine, the low back, inhale, knees through center, exhale, drop the knees to the right, inhale center, exhale left, just taking one more round, inhaling, exhale, inhale, and exhale, good, come back through center, let's bring it into a little bit of a deeper twist here, so hugging your right knee in, let your left leg go long, and then drawing the right leg across the body, bring your right arm out to the right, maybe gazing over your right shoulder, keeping the shoulder blades connected to the earth, and if it doesn't feel good in the neck to look to the right, maybe just take the gaze straight up, and with every inhale, find length, every exhale, ease into the twist, just a little bit more, nice, and then as you're ready, we'll come back through center, hug the right leg into your chest, and then just for a moment, straighten out both legs, finding the shape of shavasana, and just notice the right versus your left, notice if there's any difference, just noticing where that lands, and we'll come to the left, so hugging your left knee into your chest, keep the right leg long this time, and then drawing the leg across the body, take your left arm out to the left, shoulder blades connected, maybe taking a gaze over that left shoulder and breathing, taking about three full deep breaths here, beautiful, and then inhale, come back through center, hug both knees into your chest, good, and maybe taking a plow pose here, if you're coming into plow and bringing the hands down to the earth, take the legs up and over your head, and straighten the legs any amount, maybe tucking the toes or untucking the toes, you might interlace the hands behind the low back, good, and then slowly coming out of there, we'll roll down, as you come down nice and slow, legs straight until the legs come up over your hips, and then go ahead and take a happy baby holding on to the outsides of the feet, bending the knees wide, often through the shoulders and the low back, and if there's any movement here that feels good, you can take it, maybe rocking side to side or straightening out one leg, and then the other, good, and then hugging your knees in, one last time, draw your nose up towards your knees, hugging everything in, allow a big breath in, holding the breath at the top, side out, releasing everything down into your shavasana, bringing the palms to face up, arms away from the body, straightening out the legs, just letting the feet roll open, just allowing yourself to let go of any effort in the body, breath, the mind, feeling the support of the earth beneath you, as you allow yourself to let go, and just exist. And you can feel free to stay in shavasana as long as you'd like, otherwise we'll start to invite any movement back in, and reaching the arms up over your head, take a big full body stretch, allow a big breath in, open the mouth, side out, and then making your way to a comfortable cross-leg seated position, keeping the ease of shavasana as you press your way up, and then taking a moment seated to just find your seat rooting down through your sitting bones, keeping the eyes closed, the gaze to this internal space, and then gathering your hands together in front of your heart, ananjali mudra, bowing your head towards your hands in gratitude for this practice, thanking yourself for showing up for you today, and opening the eyes, bringing your hands to your third eye. Thank you for being here, namaste.