Embrace the Wobble

Welcome back. So this practice is called Embrace the Wobble. So we're going to play with balancing postures and don't worry if you fall, just come back in. It's good to learn how to fall sometimes. So we'll work with balancing postures and we'll just see how it goes.

So let's start on hands and knees. We'll take some cat cows to just start to warm the spine. So hands and knees, shoulders over wrists, hips over your knees. On an inhale, let the belly melt down, lift the heart, lift the gaze. And then as you exhale, draw the navel to the spine, let the tailbone start to melt down, drop your gaze.

Good. Again, inhale. As you arch the back, look up and lengthen. And then exhale, draw the navel into the spine, press the floor away, round. Good.

Inhale, arching, exhale, rounding. One more. Inhale, arching, and then exhale, rounding. Good. And then find your stability coming back to a neutral spine.

Reach the left toes back. So tuck your toes and then just take a moment to press back a little bit so that you're stretching into that left calf. Good. And then start to bring the shoulders over the wrists. So center your weight again and then we'll spin onto the heel of your left foot, take the weight into your right hand and reach your left arm up.

So here's our first little balancing posture. Now if this feels like a little too much, you can always kickstand your right shin back a little bit. Sometimes that feels a little bit more stable. Good. So you can stay right here, maybe take the top arm over your ear and lift up through that left leg.

Good. So holding here, engaging through the bicep, you might bend your right elbow just a little bit. And if you'd like, bend through your left knee, reach back with your left hand and kick your foot into your hand for a chapasana variation. Just feel that expansion opening through the chest. Beautiful.

Take one more breath here. Yeah. And then let that go. We'll come back to all fours. Let's just take one cat cow to let go of that first side as you inhale, arch the back.

As you exhale, draw the navel in, rounding, press the floor away. Good. And then rooted connection, come back to your neutral spine. This time we'll take the right toes back behind us, tuck the toes, and then press back just for a couple of breaths, feeling that stretch in the back of the right leg. Good.

And then shoulders over wrists, spin the right heel down, take the weight into your left hand and then reach your right arm up. Good. And so you can stay right here. Again, if you want to kickstand the foot back a little bit, go for it. Maybe take the top arm over your ear.

Maybe lift through your right leg and then feel the wobble here. It's okay to feel that little shaking in the arm or the leg. It's all part of it. And then if you'd like, you can kick that right foot into your right hand and then just kind of open up through the chest, maybe gaze up toward the ceiling. Yeah.

And then let that go, come back to all fours. Come right into down dog, tucking the toes, lifting the hips up and back. And just take a couple of breaths here, you might pedal it out. Maybe sway the hips from side to side, shake the head yes and no a few times. Good.

So reach the right leg up and back behind you. And then let's step the right foot all the way through between your hands, coming into a lunge here. Let the back knee lower down. Bring your front knee over your ankle and just reach the arms forward and up, coming into anjai nyasana. And then from here, grab onto your left wrist with your right hand and then reach up out of the waist first and then start to tilt over to the right side.

Feel that stretch in the left side body, relax the shoulders a little bit. Good. And then inhale, come back up through center. Let your hands come down to either side of your front foot and then start to bend through your back leg. You might plant the left hand down here and then maybe take your right hand to the top of that left foot or the ankle and just use that to gently encourage the right shoulder back as you open up the chest to the right.

Finding that quad stretch, and this can be pretty deep, so go easy. Good. And then releasing the leg, bring your right hand down. Let's step back to downward facing dog. Good.

And then coming forward to plank pose, top of a pushup, and you might lower your knees here, otherwise lower all the way down to the earth. On an inhale, come up to cobra pose. And then exhale back, downward facing dog, tucking the toes, lift the hips up and back. Good. Coming to the left side, inhale the left leg up, step your foot through between your hands.

Let the back knee lower and then reach the arms forward and up on jai nyasana. Take a moment to land here, find your base, and this time we'll hold on to the right wrist with the left hand. Reach up, draw the navel in and up, and then tilt to the left side. Taking a couple breaths here, breathing into the right side body, yeah, and then coming back through center, hands frame the front foot and start to bend through your back leg. You might flex that foot here, and then maybe flatten out your right hand, reach your left arm back.

Take hold of the top of the foot or the ankle, and then start to encourage the left shoulder back, maybe gaze up, and then just feel that opening through the right quad. Good. And then let that go. Left hand down, come back to downward facing dog. Good.

Inhale, come forward to plank pose, vinyasa, maybe this time chaturanga, lowering halfway down, cobra or up dog, inhale, and roll over the toes, downward facing dog. Good. On an inhale, let's rise up onto the toes, bend your knees, look forward, step or lightly hop to your hands, come to the front of the mat. Inhale, lift halfway up, exhale, fold in, and then root down to rise, come all the way up to stand as you circle the arms out and up, draw your hands to your heart. Close your eyes for a moment, feel your breath, feel the heart beating in your chest.

Good, and then coming into chair pose, utkatasana, bend the knees, sink the weight back into your heels as you sweep the arms up. Now in your chair, this gets a little tricky, start to come up onto your toes, so lifting your heels up off the earth, squeeze the ankles together, and then keeping the ankles squeezed together, start to straighten out the legs, coming high up onto the tiptoes, find one point to focus your gaze, and then lower the heels, hands to your heart. Good, and we'll come back to chair, inhale, utkatasana, moving through a vinyasa, folding in, inhale, lift halfway up, step or lightly spring back through a vinyasa, inhale, up dog or cobra to open the heart, exhale, downward facing dog, nice job. So from here, inhale the right leg up, step your foot all the way through between your hands, this time stay on the ball of the back foot. So we can come up to crescent pose, I like to step my left foot to the left just a little bit, so my feet aren't on a tight rope, and this gives me that connection with the earth at rooted stability.

So sweeping the arms up into crescent, front knee right over the ankle, good, and then start to goal post your arms, so elbows bend as the heart lifts up, maybe even play with taking the gaze up toward the ceiling, good, and then on an inhale, reach the arms back up, take the hands behind your back either interlacing or you can hold on to opposite elbows, draw the shoulders away from your ears as you lift up, and then try this balance folding in to humble warrior in crescent pose, and I can feel my right ankle moving quite a bit, good, beautiful, and then root down, rise up, come back up to crescent pose, inhale, vinyasa, exhale, feel free to skip any of these vinyasas, we'll meet in downward facing dog, inhale, up dog, exhale, downward facing dog, take a breath, inhale, sigh it out, exhale, good, and taking it to the left side, inhale the left leg up, exhale, step through, stay on the ball of the back foot, maybe step the right foot to the right a little bit, soften through your right knee as you come up, and then just take a moment to land in crescent pose, and we'll goal post the arms, lift up through the chest, maybe gaze up, take a big breath in, and then as you exhale, press the palms up above your head, yeah, and then hands come behind the back, maybe take the opposite thumb on top this time, draw the shoulders away from your ears as you inhale, lift up, lengthen, exhale, fold in, humble warrior in your crescent pose, stay active through that right leg with the crown of your head melt down, and then embrace the wobble, feel all that little movement happening, that left ankle, left foot, yeah, and then root down, rise up, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, vinyasa, or right to downward facing dog, lowering through, inhale, lift the heart, up dog or cobra, exhale, downward facing dog, now walk your hands back to your feet, when you come to a fold at the back of the mat for a moment, soften your knees, maybe hold on to opposite elbows, letting the crown of the head melt down, shifting a little more weight into the balls of your feet, and then taking the opposite arm on top, and then let's hook the peace fingers onto your big toes, so on an inhale lift halfway up, as you exhale let the elbows go out to the side, drape the torso down over your legs, shift a little bit more weight into the balls of the feet, so it might feel like you're falling forward just a little bit, really activating through the backs of the legs, come back to your breath, and then releasing the toes, heel to the feet together, and then squat down, as you squat down lift high up onto your tippy toes, so you're sitting back onto your heels, you can stay here, you can keep your fingertips down on the earth, or maybe play with bringing the hands to your heart, and if you really want to test your balance close your eyes, hands down, come to your forward fold, and then we'll walk back out to downward facing dog, good, and from here inhale the right leg up and back, exhale step through between your hands, come up to warrior two this time, spin the back heel down, circle the arms open, taking a moment to land in warrior two, and then flip your front palm, inhale reverse your warrior, straighten through your front leg for reverse triangle pose, and then coming into triangle pose right hand down, left arm lifts up, taking a moment here in triangle, feel that rooting down beneath the soles of the feet, and this pose is really all about expansion, so growing bigger here, yeah, and then we'll come into half moon, so I like to bring my left hand to my hip, gaze down, you might step your back foot in a little bit as you spring up into your half moon, and then maybe lift your left arm back up to the sky, play with that chapasana version, start to bend through your left leg, reach back with your left hand to take hold of your foot or your ankle, and then kicking your foot into your hand start to let the chest rotate open toward the left, and if you really want to play with your balance, maybe gaze up toward the ceiling, good, and then we'll release back to reverse warrior, so bending through your front leg, reach all the way up and back as you come back, and then circle your hands down, pause in your runner's lunge, good, so you can stay with that art of ashisthasana version with the knee down if you'd like, otherwise we'll roll to the outer edge of your back foot, plant your left hand down, and then step your right foot back, stacking at your ankles, reach your right arm up, finding vashisthasana, big toes together, maybe a slight separation between your heel, maybe the top arm comes over your ear, and then vinyasa, whenever you're ready, feel free to skip the vinyasa and come right to downward facing dog, we'll meet there, just taking a breath to land, inhaling, and exhale, good, and taking it to the other side, inhale the left leg up, step your foot through between your hands, warrior two, circle it open, taking a moment to arrive here, good, flip your front palm, inhale tilt back, straighten through your front leg, and then come into triangle pose, left hand down, right arm lifts up, and just taking a moment here to expand, beautiful, and then right hand to the hip, gaze down beyond your front toes, bend through your front knee, maybe step the back foot in to lift up, and then finding your way into half moon on the other side, maybe reaching the right arm up to the sky, and then if you want to take chapasana here, bend through that top leg, reach back with your hand, kick the foot into the hand and let the chest start to expand, open, maybe gaze up, breathe, and all this, notice if you're holding your breath when you hold your poses and see if you can let it be more about the breath, and then let that go, reverse warrior, come all the way up and back, circle your hands down, runner's lunge, ball of your back foot, again you can take the half version or any variations here, there is plant the right hand, roll to the outer edge of your back foot, step your left foot back and stack for vashisthasana, maybe gaze up, breathe, maybe top arm over your ear, yeah, and then as you're ready, vinyasa, feel free to skip it, we'll meet back in downward facing dog, nice job, take a big breath in, come side out, good, and when you're ready, inhale, rise up onto your toes, put a nice bend in your knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands, inhale, lift halfway up, exhale, fold over your legs, and then coming back into chair pose, sink the weight into your heels, arms sweep up, good, and then straighten the legs, draw your hands to your heart, and just take a moment to reconnect with your breath, noticing all that energy circulating throughout the body, good, and now let's play with some standing balancing postures at the front of your mat, so first we'll start with tree pose, so start to let your left foot get heavy, and then we'll reach down for the right ankle, bringing the foot to the inner upper thigh, now you're welcome to bring the foot below the knee or even kickstand your toes down to the earth, if that feels more stable to you, the only place you really don't want to put the foot is into the knee, so protecting the knee, I'm going to bring my foot above the knee, and then hands to the heart, let your frontal hip points face toward the front of the room, and then draw your hands to your heart, now option here, you can stay here, you might reach your arms all the way up, maybe, maybe, maybe look up toward your fingertips, or you can start to close your eyes, good, and then right into eagle pose, the right leg is going to cross on top of the left, right arm wraps underneath as you wrap it up for eagle, and then sink the weight back, draw the elbows away from you, and then maybe draw the elbows in rounding a bit through the upper back as you find your perch, and again, this is one of those postures that you can kind of use the assistance of your foot, kickstanding that right foot down if you'd like, or you can float it up, maybe wrap it behind your left calf, good, and then right into dancer pose, so unravel the arms, lift the torso up, take your right hand to your right ankle, reach your left arm up, I know that left leg's probably screaming at you, and then start to kick your foot into your hand, tilting forward, any amount, find one point to focus the gaze, sit a couple of breaths here, good, and then step your right foot to the back of the mat, arms reach up crescent pose, hands to your heart, and then twist to your left right elbow on the outside of the left, hands to your heart, and then you're welcome to lower that back knee down, or you can stay right here for a few breaths, maybe gaze up and breathe, good, and then when you're ready, hands come down, vinyasa, or right to downward facing dog, your choice, we'll meet there, take a couple of breaths, let go, just meeting yourself exactly where you're at today, no other place you need to be, good, and we'll come back to the front of the mat when you're ready, rise up onto the toes, put a bend in the knees, look forward, step, or lightly float to your hands, inhale, lift halfway up, exhale, fold in, and let's just take a brief detour here, heel to the feet, hips width, and then step your feet into your hands, padahastasana, toes up toward the wrists, you can soften the knees a little bit, inhale, lift halfway up, and exhale, fold in, and again, shift a little bit more weight into the balls of the feet, so you're finding a bit of a balance here, allowing yourself to tilt forward just a bit, but just know your hands are not there to catch you if you fall forward, good, and then releasing your hands, and just slowly roll up to stand, and we'll set up for the second side, starting with tree pose, feet together, hands to your heart, this time letting the right foot get heavy, and feel free to take any of these variations, this side might feel completely different than the first side, I know for me my left foot's a lot weaker as I've broken a few toes on that foot, so just kind of see where you're at, see if it feels any different, and adjust accordingly, so right foot heavy, hold on to your left ankle, bringing your foot to wherever it feels good for you, and then think about squeezing everything into center, and then hands to your heart, find one point to focus your gaze, that's a really good tip for balancing, if you can look at one spot that's not moving, call that your drishti, kind of help, and then allow it to be about the breath, rather than the shape, good, maybe reach your arms up, soften the shoulders, maybe look up, maybe close the eyes, and then eagle pose, left leg wraps around the right, left arm underneath, draw the elbows away as you lift up, squeeze the inner thighs together, maybe draw the elbows in towards you, rounding through the upper back, and then switching your gaze to one point on the floor in front of you, good, dancer pose, unravel the arms, lift the torso up, hold on to that left ankle or foot, reach your right arm up, establish your balance here first, and then start to tilt forward, you can kick the foot into the hand, coming up any amount, good, and then softly step your left foot back, yeah, crescent pose, awkward transition, hands to your heart, twist to the right, and wring it out, breathe, feel free to lower the back knee, last two, last breath in, and then hands down, vinyasa if you want it, or right back, two downward facing dog, and let's lower the knees down for a nice child's pose, just taking a moment to rest, connect to the breath, and feel that connection with the earth, and just noticing where all that lands in the body, the echo of the pose, from here, let's make our way back to a tabletop position, coming to hands and knees, and now reach the left leg back again, tucking the toes, and then this time float the left leg up off the earth, let the left hip spin down so the hips are even, and then take the weight into the left hand, reach your right arm forward, and then draw your right shoulder back into the shoulder girdle, and you can stay right here, just working with the core, working with your balance here if you'd like, or start to bend through that left leg, reach back with your right hand to hold on to the top of that back foot, and then kick the foot into your hand as you start to rotate the chest toward the right any amount, good, and then slowly release that, bring your left knee down, the right arm is going to come under your left arm, threading it through for a nice shoulder stretch, releasing the shoulder, bring the right side of the face down, and you might take that left hand behind your back, wrapping it up, or you can just crawl the left fingertips forward, and feel that stretch here, and for just a couple breaths here, and then when you're ready, make your way back up to all fours, and we'll take it to the other side, so reaching your right leg back, tuck your toes, and then we'll lift the right leg up, take the weight into your right hand, and reach your left arm forward, now you might stay right here, this is enough of a balance for many of us, so you can stay here and just embrace the wobble here, engage the core, or start to bend through your right leg, reach back with your left hand, kick the foot into the hand, and then rotate the chest open toward the left, breathing, good, feel all that movement, yeah, and then let that go, right knee down, thread the left arm under the right, coming onto the left shoulder, left temple, and then maybe walk your right hand forward, or you might take the right hand behind your back, wrapping it up, and then any amount, you can start to roll toward the back of your head a little bit, really stretching into that left shoulder, beautiful, and then making your way back up to all fours, just take a moment, sit back on your heels, bring the hands to the tops of the thighs, maybe the palms face up, close the eyes, and just breathe, good, and we'll take a few camel poses to just open up through the chest, finding a back bend, so I'm gonna start with tucking my toes under, and then sitting back on my heels, and then keeping the toes tucked, I'm just gonna stand up onto my knees. Now, this might not feel so good for the knees, you're welcome to pad the knees, either coming onto a blanket, or you can roll the sides of the mat up, and starting by bringing the hands to the low back with my fingers facing up, they can also face down, just wanna hug the elbows in as you start to lift up through the chest, lift up through the heart, and maybe gaze up toward the ceiling, reaching out through the sternum, and this might feel like enough for you today, and then as you're ready, just releasing it, sitting back, pausing for a moment, noticing the breath, and we'll come into one more round, so you're welcome to stay upright with that version, if you wanna come a little deeper, lead us into that, so again, I'm gonna tuck my toes, bring the hands to the low back, fingers up or down, and then think about keeping the hips over the knees, so that you're finding the lift through the chest, through the heart, and you're lifting up through the upper back, rather than kinda dumping into the low back, so we wanna protect our low back here. So hands to the low back, lift up, reach the sternum up to the sky, and then maybe tilt back, bringing the hands to the ankles, lifting the gaze up, and breathing, good, and then lifting from the center, engaging the core, come all the way back up, and then just take a moment, sit back on your heels, you might feel a little dizzy after that, so just reconnecting with the earth, your breath, your heartbeat, good, and then slowly, just blinking the eyes open, sit off to one side, sitting up for a seated hip opener, I'm gonna face you here, so I'm gonna come into Gomukhasana, I'm crossing the right leg on top of the left, knees are stacked, heels come in, nice outer hip opener, if this feels like too much for you in your hips, you can always just take Sukhasana, crossing one leg in front of the other, and then just folding forward from here, otherwise stacking the knees coming into Gomukhasana, and you can hold onto the ankles, you might stay upright here, or root down through your sitting bones, and then any amount, you can start to crawl the hands forward, letting the head and neck relax, and we'll hold here for a couple of breaths, take about three more breaths, good, and then walking your hands back in nice and slowly, lift back up, take a moment at the top, and then we'll switch sides, so either change the crossing of your legs, coming into that Sukhasana variation, or this time we'll take the left knee on top of the right, draw the heels in towards you, holding onto the feet, you might stay upright here, just rooting down, closing the eyes, this might feel like enough for you, if you wanna go a little deeper, you can start to bring the hands down to the floor, and then any amount, just walking your hands forward, relaxing into this nice stretch, find the breath, last couple breaths here, and slowly walk your hands back up, take a moment at the top, and then bringing the legs out in front of you, just coming into forward fold, so sitting up high on the sitting bones, inhale, reach the arms all the way up, and then folding in, letting the hands fall wherever they fall, and Paschimottanasana, nice, and then inhale, lift all the way back up, and just finding a comfortable cross-leg, seated position, and you'll finish in a seated meditation, so you can sit up on a bolster if you'd like, or a blanket, or a block, and just take a moment to arrive here, settle in, maybe bring the backs of the hands to your knees, letting the thumb and the index finger come together, and just softening the shoulders, closing the eyes, and just shifting the gaze to the internal space, noticing the expansion on the inhale, the fall, and the grounding quality of the exhale, letting your elbows get a little bit heavier, eyes a little softer, and then feel free to stay here in this meditation as long as you'd like, otherwise, gathering your hands together in front of your heart, bowing your head towards your hands in gratitude for all the wobbles, for all the times that we can fall so that we can pick ourselves back up. Thank you so much for sharing your practice with me. Namaste.