Maha Dev: Divine Flow

Namaste, thank you for joining me. I'm going to share with you a song today to begin which is really a prayer, it's a call out to the one, the one force that lives and loves through everything. And so there's a few English words and they kind of point towards that prayer to call the divine in to dissolve my fear, please dissolve my fear and replace it with grace and bring me home, bring me home. And so the refrain which I would like you to join me in if you feel to is Hara Hara Mahadev, which is a celebratory chant. So it's Hara Hara, it's praises to Mahadev, the great one.

So as you hear it, just feeling free to join in and I'm going to sing a few little English words to start and then there'll be some more which you can also join in when you get. Just finding a comfortable seat, spine be upright, take a deep breath in, exhale out through the mouth of a long heart, let the belly relax. Find a deep breath in and exhaling with a haaa. There's no other love like this, there's no sweeter kiss than this, the beauty of your embrace dissolves all fear, replace with grace. Hara Hara Mahadev, Hara Hara Mahadev, Hara Hara Mahadev, Hara Hara Mahadev.

Join me on the Hara Hara. Hara Hara Mahadev. Bless me, undress me, dissolve me, replace me with you. Bless me, undress me, dissolve me, replace me with you. Bless me, undress me, dissolve me, replace me with you.

Hara Hara Mahadev, Hara Hara Mahadev, Hara Hara Mahadev. Hara Hara Mahadeh Hara Hara Hara Mahadeh Hara Hara Hara Mahadeh Bringing the hands to the heart in prayer position, feeling that call in the heart for love, for grace. Feeling that when we truly ask from the heart, help comes in, love comes in. Deep breath in and exhale. Beautiful, we're just going to come onto all fours.

Pressing down through your hands and your knees, spread the fingers wide. Inhale lift the chest, look up. Exhale draw the belly in and round, pressing the earth away from you. Inhale gently looking up, arching the back and exhale rounding. Come back to centre, extend the arms straight, so you're pressing through the palms of your hands, the elbows are lifted, the arms are straight and you're going to let the forehead come down to the ground.

The hips are over the knees, so you get a nice long stretch through the back and as you breathe into the front of the heart, you can feel the chest opening. Really nice if you've been sitting at the computer or the driving wheel, deep breath into the front of the heart and exhale. Slide the hands back underneath the shoulders, rounding the back. One more time, inhaling, arching. Come back to neutral, we're going to lift the right foot off the ground, the knee is on the ground and you're just going to step the right toes off the mat, let it straighten the left leg, stand back onto your left foot, so you're on the right knee and the left foot and then inhale and reach that left arm alongside the ear, lengthen and you're going to look down, exhale, allow that back leg just to soften in the knee to bend and as you inhale, reach through the left arm, make a few nice big circles here with this left arm just opening through the shoulder, oh that feels good, one more like this and then take a nice big stretch, inhale and exhale, bring the hand and the knee back down, gently inhale arch and exhale round.

Come back to centre, we're going to take it on the other side, so take the left toes off mat, stand back onto that right foot, the right leg is straight and inhale, reach the right arm alongside the ear. As you exhale, you're going to bring that right hand back, let the right knee bend and then press through the right foot as you inhale, reach and make a few big circles here with the right shoulder just opening through the shoulder joint. I'm hearing a few crunches and creaks, you might also hear that in your own shoulder and then take a nice big stretch, inhale, lengthen and exhale, bring the hand and the knee back down and then just allow yourself to sit back onto your heels and let the head rest down to the earth. Find a deep breath in, down into the lower back and the belly and exhale out through the mouth of the long, let the palms of your hands relax, shoulders relax. Find your breath, feel the breath moving in the torso and exhale, let it go.

Inhale, lift the head, walk the hands back towards you, we're going to tuck the toes under, bring the feet wide and come into malasana, bring the palms together and you're just going to press the legs into the arms, the arms into the legs and lift up through the chest and then release that left hand down onto the ground, you've got the arm inside the left leg and you're pressing the two against each other and then inhale, lift that right arm up and then exhale, bring the palms together and drop the right hand down, pressing the right leg into the upper arm and the right arm into the leg and lift up and exhale, bring the palms together, one breath here, place the hands on the ground and then finding a forward fold, uttanasana and then inhale, lift and lengthen, exhale, fold it forward. One more time, inhale, lengthen through the spine and exhale, fold it forward. Let the knees soften and then press through the feet, inhale, lifting the arms out wide, lifting up, lifting the heart and bring the hands down to the heart center. Deep breath in and exhaling, we're going to press the hands out to the sides, fingers up and just feel that stretch on the underside of the arms and find a few circles here with the arms just opening through the chest, meridians of the heart and the lung, nice. And then roll the shoulders back, reaching out through the hands, the fingers.

One more time, exhale, roll the fingers forward, the shoulders forward and then press the palms together, draw the belly in, lift up through the chest and exhale, bend the knees and reach the arms up to the sky, hug the shoulder blades towards each other on the back, breathing into the chest, exhale, dropping the head. One more breath here and then bend the knees, release the hands, utkatasana and exhale, forward fold. We're going to walk the hands forward, come into a plank and then lower down, inhale, up dog or cobra and exhale down with dog. We're going to lift that right leg up to the sky, bend the knee, open the hip up and then bring that knee into the chest and hover here. Step the right foot forward, come up onto your fingertips and the back toes and just start to move a little backwards and forwards here, deep breath in.

Drop that back knee, inhale, lift the chest and exhale, fold forward, straightening that right leg, deep breath in. Come forward, place the left hand on the ground underneath the left shoulder or you can place the hand on a block if that feels easier and then inhale, lift that right arm up to the sky and exhale, make a nice big circle with that right arm. We're going to bring the right forearm onto the right thigh and drop the left heel down on the ground. Bring the left hand to the base of the skull, lean back into your hand, so you're lifting this left elbow up, you're dropping the hips, you draw the belly in and you can feel the heart opening as you roll this right shoulder down and away from the ear, beautiful. One more breath here and then exhale, bring the arms up for warrior two, straighten that front leg and inhale, reach back, bend the front knee and finding warrior two.

You're going to bring the hands together, draw the feet towards each other, so you're engaging the legs and drawing the heels, the feet in towards each other, palms together and then inhale, feel that energy drawing in and lift it up, Hara Hara Mahadev, praises to the one and exhale, sit down a little lower, reaching out through your hands but drawing the heels, the feet in and let's do it again, inhale, bring the hands together, feel your feet moving towards each other and then send it up, Hara Hara Mahadev, lengthen, reach out through the arms while you keep the feet moving towards each other, beautiful. And then send it back, so reach through that right arm, we're going to send the hips back and lean forward, finding Trikonasana, draw the belly in, roll that bottom shoulder down and lift up through the heart, drop the top hand behind you, so you might hold onto your right thigh or you might just hold the t-shirt and you're going to bend the front knee, bring the right forearm onto the thigh and then feel this nice openness across the chest as you roll the shoulders away from each other and feel the heart lift, either stay here, this is a great place to be or you might choose to bind, bringing that right arm underneath the right thigh and holding onto the left wrist. If you're here, strong through the legs and the feet, lift the chest, lift the torso away from the thigh, drop the hips a little lower, beautiful, one more breath. And then exhale, release, bring the hands down onto the ground, lifting that right leg up to the sky, inhale and then we'll come forward through plank and inhaling up Dog or Cobra and exhale downward dog. Find that Ujjayi breath in through the nose, out through the nose, just let the breath slow down, find an even pace, the inhale and the exhale.

One more breath here and then you're going to lift that left leg up to the sky, point the toes, bend the knee, drop the foot over to the other side, you're going to bring that knee forward, hover with the shoulders over the wrists, engage the belly and drop that left foot between the hands, just start to move a little backwards and forwards here, inhaling and exhaling, drop that back knee down and inhale, lift the chest, exhale, fold forward, let the head drop over that left knee, deep breath in and exhaling, letting it go. Inhale, come forward, place the right hand underneath the right shoulder, tuck the back toes under, lift the back knee and then lift that left arm, you might have the right hand on a block if that's easier for you and then just take a nice big circle with that left arm, beautiful. We're going to bring the left forearm onto the left thigh, let that right heel land on the ground, bring the right hand to the base of your skull and lean the head back, so the idea is to let the heart lift and open as you lean the head back into the hand, lifting that right elbow up to the sky, deep breath in and then exhale, extend the arm alongside the ear, nice and come up to warrior two and then send it back, lengthening through the left side, inhale, reach, bend the left knee, keep lengthening and exhale back to warrior two, so draw the feet in towards each other, bring the palms together and then send that energy up, Hara Hara Mahadev praises up to the one and reach the arms out wide as you draw the feet in and drop the hips a little lower, bring the palms in, draw the feet in towards each other, reach the arms up, lengthen through the spine and reach that energy out through the arms, beautiful, one more time, lengthening and exhale opening wide, beautiful and then send it back, reaching through the left arm and let the hips move back as you reach forward, finding Trikonasana on this side, let that right hand either find the left thigh or holding onto the t-shirt, you're going to bend the left knee and bring the left forearm onto the thigh, so either stay here, this is a great place to be, if you'd like to play with it, you can bring that left arm underneath the left thigh, hold onto the right wrist, roll the right shoulder up, the left shoulder down, draw the belly in strong through the legs, nice and release, bring the hands down, you're going to lift that left leg up to the sky and then come down through Chaturanga, inhale up dog and exhale child's pose, just feeling the breath moving through the torso, allowing everything to relax and soften down into the earth, one more breath here, inhale walk the hands towards you, lift up with the torso and we're going to come onto sitting and bring the legs out in front of us, extending the legs, bring the flesh from underneath the sit bones, bring that right foot into the left thigh, inhale reach the arms up and exhale to begin with just a gentle twist, so bring your right hand to the outside of the left leg or the foot wherever your hand reaches, draw the belly in, lift up through the chest, keep that right hip pressing down and then fold forward, keeping that twist in the belly, you can release the arms forward, deep breath in, exhale let the head drop with a haaa, find Ujjayi breath in through the nose, out through the nose, smooth even breath, it doesn't matter how low you come down, you might even not come down very far, just be with the breath wherever you are today and then inhale lift the head, walk the hands back towards you, we're going to place the right hand next to the right hip and we're going to take a fancy move where we swivel onto the left foot and the right knee and then reach out, so we're in the same position we began with, deep breath in, stretching and exhale come back down, pick up that right foot, place it on the outside of the left leg and hug the right knee in towards you, so either stay here just hugging the knee in and placing the right fingertips behind you or lift that left arm and bring the upper arm to the outside of the right thigh, wherever you are lift up tall, inhale, exhale draw the belly in and look over your right shoulder, press through that right foot, inhale lift up tall, exhale draw the belly in, look back, nice and then let the head release, we're going to release the legs, just shake them out a little bit, deep breath in and exhaling with a haaa, bring that left foot to the right thigh and bring the flesh from underneath the sit bones, it might be helpful to sit on a blanket if your hips don't naturally tilt forward, so finding what you need and then inhale lift up, lengthen and exhale gentle twist bringing the left hand to the outside of the right leg so that you can gently twist through the belly, keep that twist through the belly as you reach the arms forward and drop the head down, keep the left hip pressing back down into the earth, deep breath in, exhale everything, find ujjayi breath in through the nose, out through the nose, let the head relax, slowing the breath down, one more and inhale, walk the hands back towards you, place that left hand near to the left hip just behind it and then coming up onto the left knee reaching through the right side and coming back down picking up that left foot placing it to the outside of your right thigh and hug the left knee in towards you, so you might just hug the knee with the right arm, bring the left fingertips behind you and lift up or you might choose to lift that right arm and bring it to the outside of the left thigh, wherever you are flex that right foot, lift up tall, draw the belly in as you exhale and look over your left shoulder, keep lifting up tall drawing the belly in as you exhale and looking behind you, one more breath here and then let the head come forward as you inhale and release and just shake the legs out, deep breath in and exhaling, we are going to take a supported heart opening position, so if you have two blocks and just finding them, so one is going to go underneath the back of the heart, the shoulder blades and one is going to go underneath the back of the head and you can take different variations with the legs, so one is to have the soles of the feet together and the knees wide, that is gentler on the legs or another is to come into Supta Virasana with the sit bones between the legs, so you are just going to set yourself up in a way that actually feels comfortable and that one block underneath the back of the heart is just around the shoulder blades and the other is underneath the round part of the skull and let the arms come wide, arms face up and take a deep breath in and exhale everything with a long ah, so you might have the soles of the feet together and the knees wide or any other version with the legs, maybe soles of the feet on the ground, the knees resting against each other, breathe down into the pelvic region and as you exhale let the pelvic floor muscles soften and relax, just feeling the jaw relax at the same time, feeling the shoulders melt back and down, just noticing where the block is supporting the back of your heart, breathing into the back of the heart and the connection with the block, letting the heart relax and feel supported just for a moment, deep breath in, exhaling and then gently we are going to make our way out of this, so finding a way to come up depending upon where, what position you are in, moving the blocks off of the mat and we are just going to come to lying on our back and have the feet on the ground, the knees resting against each other and take a deep breath in and exhale everything out with a long ah, just feeling the sweetness of the heart melting back down into the earth and being held and supported by the earth, allowing for your longing, for your heart's call and for love to be here and hold you, inhale reaching the arms overhead and exhale just rolling on the edges of the feet, let the knees come down to the right, inhale up to centre and exhale over to the left, inhale up to centre, hug the knees in towards you and wobble side to side, with your knees together find a few circles around the hips one way and then the other and release the legs down and finding shavasana, deep breath in and exhale let it go with a ah, just noticing where the backs of the legs touch the earth, where the back of the arms touch the earth, the back of the head touches the earth and the back of the heart dropping down into the earth and feeling your whole body just surrendering into this moment, noticing how the earth, the ground rises up to hold and support you in this moment deep breath in, exhale everything, one more like that inhaling and exhale big exhale wiggling the fingers and the toes and drawing the knees in towards you and finding your way up to a comfortable seat, just pausing here and the spine find its natural alignment, crown of the head reaches up and the tailbone drops down, shoulders relax down the back, deep breath in and exhale soften through the belly the pelvic floor muscles, there's nothing to do nothing to fix or change just being here for a moment fully present returning into the embrace of this moment, bring the palms together, thank you for being here with me today, namaste.