Awaken Shakti Energy

Hi friend, thanks for joining me. In today's practice we're going to awaken the Shakti energy. So Shakti is the creative potential within you. It's that life force that lives and manifests through all things. So Mother Earth is filled with Shakti, the trees, the ocean, the sun, everything that's just alive is shining with Shakti. And the more that we can start to connect with that life force, that creative energy within us, the more we can start to feel our own aliveness. So she's fluid, she's flowing and not rigid or stuck. And just cultivating that energy within ourselves as we move through our practice today. So we're going to begin with a mantra to awaken the energy of Shakti. And the words are Om, Prem, which is the Bijja, the seed sound of Shakti, Parashakdaya Namaha. So let's just say that once together. Om, Prem, Parashakdaya Namaha. So just find a comfortable position any way that feels good for you. And I'm going to use my mini Maha here and we're going to repeat that a few times. So just closing your eyes, allowing your spine to be upright and take a deep breath in and exhale everything out with a long haaa. One more like that deep breath in and exhale with a haaa. Just repeating the sounds with me and allowing them to reverberate through your body. Om, Prem, Parashakdaya Namaha. Om, Prem, Parashakdaya Namaha. Om, Prem, Parashakdaya Namaha.

yanamah oom hreem parashaktayana maha oom hreem parashaktayana maha oom hreem parashaktayana Bring one hand to your belly, one hand to your heart. Deep breath in and exhaling. Feeling that aliveness, that life force within the breath, inhaling, feeling the torso expand. Feeling softening. One more breath here, bringing the hand from the belly onto the heart, centering your energy in your heart centre.

Beautiful, thank you so much. Let's move into a child's pose. Reaching forward through the fingertips, inhale lengthen the spine and exhale softening down. Connecting with your breath. One more breath here.

Inhale lift the head come up onto hands and knees. Bring the knees underneath the hips, hip width apart and then gently lift the chest as you breathe in and exhale draw the belly in and round the back. Inhale arching and exhale rounding. And just start to close your eyes and feel the spine. So as you move, as you inhale and you arch, as you exhale and you round, just start to feel the spine moving like a wave.

It's awakening that fluid nature of Shakti in your spine. And then we'll find some circles with the hips around the knees, deep breath in and out through the mouth of the long haaa circling both directions. Just bringing your awareness down into your pelvis and feel your jaw relax. Just allow yourself to just really find kind of a yummy feeling here, let it be delicious. And then you can start to just listen into your body and follow your body to move in however way it feels good.

Just exploring, allowing the impulses to move you. Slowly coming back to centre, pausing, taking a breath in and exhale. We're going to tuck the toes under, lift the hips, come into a downward dog. Just bend one knee and drop the opposite heel, breathe into the back of the leg and then bend the other knee, dropping the opposite heel, deep breath in and then both heels towards the earth, rolling the shoulders away from the ears, inhale, we're going to lift the heels, roll over the toes, stay on the toes, shoulders over the wrists and dropping the hips down, lift the chest, inhale, pressing through the toes, lifting the hips back to downward dog. So finding this wave with the spine again, inhale, lift the heels, release the legs down, lifting through the chest, draw the belly in and exhale back up.

Nice, and one more time, finding this wave with the spine, dropping the hips and then allow yourself to melt down onto the ground, release the arms forward and wiggle the hips side to side, deep breath in and exhale everything. And then bringing the hands just underneath the shoulders, engage the legs, press the tops of the feet down, draw the belly in and just mini cobra, inhale, lift up, find the support through your core to support the lower back and exhale, come back down and again inhale, just lifting the shoulders, draw the belly in, breathe up into the heart and exhale back down and then bring the hands slightly more forward, hug the elbows in, inhale, lift up a little higher and exhale back down, inhale, lifting up and we're going to look over your left shoulder and exhale back down, inhale, lifting and looking over the right shoulder and exhale back down, reach the arms back behind you and lift the legs, draw the belly and breathe up into the chest and exhale, bring the hands down onto the ground, lifting up into a downward dog, couple of breaths here, deep breath in, exhaling, one more breath here and then inhale, look forward and walk the feet to the hands, inhale, flat back and then exhale, folding forward, we're going to bring the hands onto the shins and then inhale, wave the spine up as you let the hands come up to the knees and then exhale, wave the spine down, release the hands down the legs and sliding the hands up to the knees, wave the spine up and waving it down, hand slide down the legs, let's take this wave motion a little bigger, bend the knees, inhale, slide the hands up to the hips, roll the shoulders back and exhale, bending the knees and sliding the hands down, inhale, drawing the belly in to support the lower back and reach the arms out, beautiful and then exhale, just bring the elbows and the palms together, rounding the back and inhale, reach the arms out wide and exhale, one more time, just bowing forward, saluting this Shakti energy, this primal force within you, inhale, reach it up and exhale, bring the hands down in front of the heart, so stay where you are, just step the feet slightly wider and release the arms, let the knees be soft and let the arms relax, deep breath in and exhale with a haaa, we're just going to swing the arms side to side and start to release through the spine, so the Shakti energy, she moves like the serpent, the kundalini from the base of the spine up to the crown of the head and so as we take this motion we're just starting to release through the spine, feel your arms moving higher and lower and just feel the different places within your spine that open as you take this twist, that's right so as you come through the middle you're bending the knees and letting the arms just swing, deep breath in and let it go with a long haaa, and then just start to allow this energy to have you, so you're just going to start to play and feel and open, so Shakti is very much about feeling and allowing energy to move and not knowing she's wild, she's creative, she's free, it's welcoming that energy into your body, into your life, beautiful and then come back to centre, bring the feet slightly closer together and just pause and feel the energy in your body, deep breath in and exhaling with a haaa, we're going to do this pranamudra where we draw the energy from the earth up through our legs, up to the heart, hold it at the heart and then send it out and around us and I'm going to invite you to imagine you're sipping through a straw so you're sipping the air in the earth energy, so let's do it together, just bringing the hands down and you're going to call her up, call that Shakti energy up, sipping into the heart and then just let it rain down around you, beautiful, two more times, sip it in to the heart and then aaa, one more time, opening through the heart and then just release and again just pause and just feel, deep breath in, exhaling, join me at the top of the mat, bring the palms together, finding tadasana and we'll inhale, reach the arms up and exhale, fold it forward, inhaling flat back and exhale, step back with the left foot and drop the left knee, inhale, lift the chest and exhale, fold it forward and just move between those two places, just opening through this left psoas, left hip and inhale coming forward, bring your right foot to the edge of the mat and bring both hands inside of the right foot and we're going to inhale, lift up onto the fingertips and exhale, allow this left hip to drop down, draw the belly and lift up through the chest and then exhale, turn that right foot out to the edge of the mat and look over your right shoulder, lifting up but dropping that left hip down and then walk that right foot back between the hands, lifting that back knee and extending the right leg up to the sky, inhale, lengthen and bend the knee, let the foot drop over to the left, deep breath in and then exhale, dropping that foot down and coming forward, find your breath here and drop the knees down, press through the hands, lengthen through the spine and then flowing forward, inhale, coming up, reaching the arms back, interlacing the fingers, strong through the belly, inhale into the chest, and more breath here and exhale, release and coming back into downward dog, two breaths here, okay we're going to inhale, lift that left leg up and lengthen through the spine, bend the knee, drop the foot over to the right, deep breath here, beautiful exhale, bring that foot forward between the hands, come up onto your fingertips and then drop that back knee down, inhale, lift the chest and exhale, fold it forward, one more time, inhale, lifting the chest and exhale, folding forward and inhale, coming forward, we're going to walk that left foot out to the edge of the mat, bring both hands inside of the left foot and coming up onto the fingertips, inhale, lift through the chest, draw the belly in to support the lower back and exhale, drop that right hip down, nice, one more like that and then turn the left toes out and come down onto the right hand as you lift up through the chest and look over your left shoulder, dropping that right hip down, keep drawing the belly in, engaging the core, one more breath here, beautiful, exhale, release, bring that foot back between the hands, inhale, folding forward and then we're just going to step that back foot forward, inhale, flat back and exhale, bending over and then pressing through the feet, bring your attention into the soles of your feet, draw the belly in and reaching up, heart lift, inhale, coming all the way up and exhale, bring the hands down to the heart, thumbs touch the heart centre, just pause, feel your feet on the earth and as you press down through the earth, lift up through the crown of the head, deep breath in and then exhale, press the hands away from you, roll the shoulders forward and interlace the fingers behind you, lifting the chest and exhale, folding forward, hug the shoulder blades towards each other, deep breath into the front of the heart and then exhale, sit down strong through the legs, bring the arms forward, interlace the fingers, point the index finger and call up your power, call up your power through your legs, lift the heart and feel that focused energy sending it out ahead of you, deep breath in, beautiful exhale, folding forward, we're going to step back with that left foot, place the heel on the ground and inhale, reach the arms back, pressing down through the feet, draw that earth energy up and exhale, folding forward, so you're calling the Shakti up from the earth, press through the feet, inhale and this time opening the heart, one more time, exhale, folding forward and calling her up, inhale, opening through the heart, beautiful, bring the hands to the heart and we're going to turn to the side for warrior two, adjust your feet, just pulse a little as you come into warrior two here, finding that connection to the earth and a flow through the body, open the arms wide and inhale and just pulse and feel her, feel the Shakti moving through you, you might even like the goddess with many arms dancing with the arms and the upper body as you drop deeper into your strong legs, nice and we're going to reach it back, take a breath in here and then exhale, flowing forward, one more time, inhale, reach it back, beautiful and then exhale, flowing forward, we're going to drop the feet down onto the hands, down onto the ground and lift that right leg up to the sky, inhale, point the toes and then you bend the knee, drop the foot over to the left, you might stay here or you might come all the way over into a wild thing because she is wild and then exhale, lifting that right leg and draw the knee in towards the chest, inhale, reach it up, exhale to the right elbow, inhale, reach it up, exhale to the left elbow, beautiful, inhale, lifting up and then coming down through plank, lowering down, inhale, up dog or cobra and exhale, downward dog, find your breath here, even breath in through the nose, out through the nose and then we're going to step forward with the left foot, place the right heel on the ground and finding your connection to the earth, inhale, lifting up, nice and exhale, folding forward, inhale, bring that earth energy up and let it move to the heart, opening through the heart centre, exhale, bowing down, inhale, reaching it up, opening through the heart centre and exhale, bring the hands to the heart, we're going to turn into warrior two, adjust the feet and just pulse a little here and open the arms wide and feel your strength through your legs and feel that fluidity through your upper body and just allow yourself to be the goddess dancing, to be that Shakti energy, beautiful and then reach it back, deep breath in and folding forward, flowing forward and again inhale back and exhale, flowing forward, beautiful and then bring the hands down, we're going to lift that left leg up to the sky, bend the knee and drop the foot over, either stay here or if you want to play with opening through the heart centre, wild thing and then coming back, lifting the leg and exhale, bring the knee into the chest, inhale, lengthen, exhale, knee to the left elbow, inhale, reach it up, exhale, knee to the right elbow, inhale, lift it up and exhale, coming forward into plank, hover here, take a breath in and then exhale, slowly lowering down, inhale and lift through the chest and exhale, let's make a snake sound like Shakti, and again inhale, lifting it up and exhale, be that serpent and one more time, inhale, lifting it up, draw the belly in, draw the energy up to the heart and exhale, bring the hands alongside the ribs and just come back into a child's pose, deep breath in, exhaling, inhale, slide the hands onto the knees and just gently lift the chest and exhale, rounding, holding onto the knees and just rounding the spine, one more time, inhale, arching and exhale, rounding. And just pause for a moment, just rest the hands on the legs and feel the energy moving through your body, deep breath in, exhaling, beautiful. Let's move into a wide legged forward fold, so you're going to bring your legs wide just to wherever they come to and if your hips don't easily fold forward you might want to have a bolster or a blanket underneath your sit bones and there's nowhere to get to here, so this might be your position, just lifting through the spine and intending the heart to reach forward, lengthening through the spine and if your body invites you to do so, start to move forward and just coming down halfway, take a breath in here and exhale, let the head relax, finding your breath, letting your head come all the way forward just to wherever it wants to come to, breathing in to the pelvis, the hips, the inner thighs, let the shoulders relax, two more breaths here, let the palms of your hands relax and inhale, gently lift the head, walk the hands back towards you, you're going to pick up the knees and just come to lying on the back, hugging the knees in towards you and wobbling side to side, deep breath in and then exhale, just release the soles of the feet down onto the ground, rest the knees against each other and take a breath in. Bring the feet hip width apart, just below the sit bones and press through the feet, inhale, let the spine lift, the hips lift like a wave, reaching the arms back behind you and then exhale, wave it back down and again, inhale, feeling that shakti energy rising through you, feel the heart open and exhale, bringing it back down and one more like that, inhale, lifting up, keep the hips lifted, bring the arms back down and interlace the hands or press them into the earth and then walk the shoulders towards each other underneath the back, so as you inhale, press through the feet, strong legs and draw the energy from the earth all the way up to your heart centre, feel that heart space open, beautiful exhale, relax the jaw, one more breath here and then exhale, release the heels, reach the arms up to the sky and slowly melt the back down, you're going to find happy baby holding onto the outer edges of the feet and rocking a little side to side, deep breath in and exhaling, nice and then bring the knees together, the arms wide, flex the feet and then dropping the knees over to the right, hold them an inch off the ground, lift the shoulders and just inch them to the right and then drop the knees down, rest that right hand on your left knee, reach through your left fingertips, deeper breath in and exhaling, inhale let that left leg come up and the right leg follows, set the arms out wide, palms pressed down, flex the feet and then exhale, knees over to the left, hold them an inch off the ground and then inch your shoulders just a little bit to the left, deep breath in and then exhale, drop the knees all the way down, resting that left hand on the right knee and reaching through your right fingertips, deep breath into the lower back, one more here and then inhale, let that right leg come up, the left leg follows, hug the knees in towards you, gently wobble side to side, you might with the knees together find a few circles around the hips, one way and then the other and then just release the legs and allow yourself to rest here in Shavasana, deeper breath in and let it all go with a big ah, just feeling the energy that you have cultivated in your body, in your being, just noticing that prana shakti moving through your hands, your arms, your legs, that aliveness that animates your body, letting yourself drop in to mother earth, letting shakti hold you, letting shakti hold you.

Deep breath in and exhaling everything out with a long ah, finding a little movement through the fingers and the toes, circling the wrists and the ankles, inhale reaching overhead and exhale just hugging the knees in towards you, I'm going to come up to sitting and pause together, just bring the flesh from underneath your sit bones and rest the hands somewhere comfortably on your legs, I like to take chin mudra with the thumb and index finger lightly touching and closing your eyes, breathing down into the belly and as you exhale through the mouth let the belly relax with a long ah, and again inhaling and exhaling with a ah, draw the belly gently in, lift through the crown of the head, feel that rising of the energy from the earth up to your heart, shoulders melting down the back, let's tune in to the energy moving through the spine, through the body. You might even feel a subtle motion, you can allow the body to follow it, feeling her alive within you, creative, fluid, playful, wild and free, bring the palms together we'll finish with om hrim parashaktaye namah, inhale, exhale everything, inhale for om, om hrim parashaktaye namah. Thank you so much for joining me, many blessings.