Mandala Flow

Namaste friends, welcome to your practice. Let's start at the front of the mat. Go ahead and just stand with your feet hip distance apart here, and we'll get right into moving with the breath. So reach your arms out and up, big inhale. And as you exhale, flip your palms out and take your arms back down alongside your body.

And on your inhale, sweep your arms all the way out and up. And as you exhale, sweep your arms out and down, inhale, arms come up, maybe close your eyes here, root through your feet, exhale the arms, sweep down, long, slow breaths, inhale, root through your feet, exhale, arms sweep down. One more, inhale, fill up your ribs, exhale, arms sweep down, inhale, bring your arms up over the head, and on your exhale, swan dive forward, fold over your legs. Half lift on your inhale, fingers can come up your shins, exhale, fold and round, again, inhale for a half lift, flat back, and exhale, fold. Inhale half lift, one more, fold and round, bend your knees a little and grab your elbows, little sway side to side, nod your head yes and no.

Maybe circle the head around a few times, relax your neck, your spine, and just stay connected to your breath, long inhales and exhales, go ahead and release your hands, fold your knees and slowly roll your spine up for a count of five, let your shoulders and head hang for four, for three, slowly come all the way up for two, and one. Bring your hands to prayer at your heart, we'll move through moon salutations, they're a little slower than sun salutations, but still great at warming up the body, so just let yourself be guided and listen to my words, inhale, sweep your arms out and up, exhale, swan dive forward, fold over your legs, step your left foot to the back of the mat, gently lower the left knee down to the floor and flatten your left foot, inhale, sweep your arms all the way up and as you exhale, circle the arms back down, hands to the floor, inhale, just lift your back knee, tuck your back toes, step back to downward facing dog, on your inhale come into plank pose and feel free to lower the knees, exhale all the way down to your mat, inhale, cobra, lift your chest, downward dog, exhale, step your left foot forward to meet your hands, take as many steps as you need to get the foot up, gently lower the right knee, flatten the top of your foot, inhale, sweep your arms all the way up, exhale, circle the arms down to the floor, inhale, just lift your back knee, find your lunge, step forward to fold, exhale, inhale, rise all the way up, root through your feet, exhale, prayer to heart, inhale, reach back up, exhale, forward fold, step your right foot back this time, lunge, gently lower your knee, flatten your foot, inhale, reach your arms forward and up, exhale, circle the arms down, inhale, just lift your back knee, downward dog exhale, inhale shift forward to plank, firm your belly, exhale maybe chaturanga this time, maybe all the way down, cobra or up dog as you inhale, exhale downward facing dog, step your right foot forward, lunge, gently lower the back knee down and flatten your foot, inhale, reach your arms up, exhale, circle the arms down, inhale, lift back knee, step forward as you exhale, inhale, rise up, exhale, prayer to your heart, just continue to move here, inhale the arms up, exhale, forward fold, stay with your breath, inhale the left foot steps back, as you exhale lower your back knee and flatten your foot, inhale, sweep your arms forward and up, exhale, circle the arms down, inhale, lift your back knee, downward dog exhale, inhale plank, lower exhale, maybe knees all the way down, cobra or up dog inhale, and down dog exhale, inhale, left foot steps forward, exhale, lower the back knee, inhale, reach your arms up, exhale, circle the arms down, inhale, lift back knee, step forward and fold exhale, inhale, rise up and exhale, prayer to your heart, inhale, reach up, maybe close your eyes, exhale, fold forward, inhale, step your right foot back, exhale, lower the knee, flatten foot, inhale, arms reach up, exhale, hands down to the floor, inhale, lift back knee, downward dog exhale, maybe hold here or vinyasa, inhale plank, and lower, cobra up dog inhale, down dog exhale, right foot forward inhale, back knee down, exhale, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, circle the arms down, inhale, lift back knee, step forward as you exhale, inhale, rise up, reach your arms, exhale, prayer to your heart, one more round, inhale, reach up, think, moving meditation, fold on your exhale, inhale, left foot back, exhale gently lower your knee and flatten your foot, arms up, inhale, exhale, circle the arms down, inhale, lift back knee, downward dog exhale, inhale, plank, and lower exhale, cobra or up dog inhale, down dog exhale, left foot forward inhale, exhale, lower the right knee, flatten foot, inhale, arms reach up, exhale, hands down, inhale, lift back knee, step forward exhale, inhale, root to rise, arms up, exhale, prayer to your heart, inhale, reach up, exhale, forward fold, inhale, right foot back, exhale, lower your knee, inhale, arms reach up, exhale, circle the arms down, inhale, lift back knee, down dog exhale, optional vinyasa inhale, plank, and lower exhale, inhale, lift your chest, exhale, downward dog, inhale, right foot forward, exhale, lower the back knee down, inhale, reach your arms up, exhale, circle the arms down, inhale, lift back knee, step forward to fold, exhale, inhale, rise up, exhale, bring your hands to prayer at your heart and pause, feel the rhythm of your breath, and from here we're just going to start to make our way around the mat in a circular pattern, so just listen to my cues again and follow your breath, reach your arms up, big inhale, exhale, dive forward to fold, inhale for a half lift, exhale just fold back in, inhale, step your left foot back into a lunge, and then pause, just wiggle the right foot over towards your right thumb a little, feel your right foot root into the earth, rise into crescent, inhale, arms come up alongside your ears and pause, put a little bend in your left knee, nice, take an inhale here, exhale, sweep your arms back behind you and just hover over your leg, inhale, come back up to crescent, on your exhale sweep your arms back, one more, inhale crescent, and exhale, sweep your arms back, inhale crescent, pause, straighten your right leg, pivot your feet around to the left side of your mat and dive forward for a wide leg, forward bend, hands under your face, hide your fingers, inhale, come halfway up, and then exhale fold deeper, inhale halfway up, exhale fold deeper, one more time, inhale, exhale fold, good, and then crawl your fingers around to the back side of your mat and pivot your feet so you're in a lunge towards the back of the mat, wiggle the left foot by your left thumb, root through your left foot and inhale full crescent towards the back of the mat, pause, feel your stance, hug your feet towards each other, draw your belly in, take an inhale, exhale sweep your arms back behind you, hover, inhale come back up to crescent, exhale sweep the arms back, inhale reach back up, exhale big sweep back, inhale come back up, and lower your hands down to the floor, exhale, inhale plank pose, exhale chaturanga or to the floor cobra or up dog on the inhale lift your chest, downward dog exhale, bring your big toes together, lift the right leg up and back open your hip and bend your knee, take an inhale, exhale bring your knee to your chest, pause here, so one option is to just step your foot to your hands and hold, another option is to bring the right knee to the right tricep, circle it down towards your right wrist and all the way to your left wrist and then back up towards your left tricep, so you're making a big circle with your knee, do that two more times, a little hard to talk and do this but it is feeling strong in the body, go ahead and bring your foot forward as you're ready, this time warrior two, spin the left heel down and rise up, left arm back, right arm forward, reverse your warrior, inhale the right arm reaches up and back, exhale, come to extended angle, right forearm either the right thigh or inside of right knee as the left arm reaches over, let's move through those two shapes, inhale back to reverse warrior, exhale to extended angle, inhale reverse, exhale extended angle, one more, inhale glide yourself back, strong legs, exhale extended angle, inhale warrior two, straighten your left leg, parallel your feet towards the side edge of your mat, take an inhale, exhale dive forward and fold to your wide leg forward bend, come halfway up, high to your fingers, keep your left hand under your face and sweep your right arm up towards the ceiling, inhale, exhale the right hand down, sweep the left arm up, inhale, exhale the left hand down, two more each side, right arm up, inhale twist, exhale take it down, inhale sweep up, exhale down, one more, inhale the right arm up, exhale down, inhale the left arm up, exhale down, hands to hips rise to stand, inhale warrior two towards the front of your mat, left toes point forward, right toes slightly angle in, reverse warrior, inhale reach your left arm up and back, exhale to extended angle, inhale reverse warrior, exhale extended angle, feel your breath, inhale reverse, exhale extended angle, back to warrior two inhale, cartwheel hands to the floor, exhale plank pose inhale vinyasa exhale, inhale lift your chest, downward dog exhale pause for a few breaths and from here look forward put a little bend in the knees and either hop or walk feet to hands hands, half lift inhale, exhale fold, inhale rise to stand, reach your arms, exhale prayer to your heart, inhale for chair pose, good, sweep your right arm onto your left and then sweep your right leg over your left, fine garudasana eagle, soft focal point, so depending on your flexibility maybe the right toes kind of touch the floor as a kickstand maybe they hover, maybe they wrap behind your left calf and you can stay here, work your elbows away from your shoulders, push your forearms away from your face or a little bit of core work and strengthening here, round your elbows towards your knees, move your gaze towards the floor, inhale come back to eagle pose, exhale elbows and knees towards each other, inhale come back up, I like to smile when I do really challenging things exhale just to make it a little more fun, inhale come back up and one more really squeeze everything and squeeze your core and compress, inhale come back up and release, reach your arms over the head, inhale, exhale just dive forward, from here step your right foot back into a lunge, wiggle the left foot over towards the left thumb, inhale rise and find your full crescent, exhale sweep the arms back behind you, moving with your breath, inhale come back up, exhale sweep the arms back, one more inhale up, exhale sweep back, hover, inhale reach your arms up, straighten your left leg pivot your feet around to the side edge of your mat and dive forward for a wide leg forward bend, good, half lift on your inhale fingers under your face, exhale fold, inhale half lift and exhale fold, one more half lift, exhale fold, good, crawl your hands around to the back side of your mat pivot your feet so you're in a lunge, wiggle your right foot by your right thumb, inhale rise to crescent, exhale circle the arms back, inhale arms come up, exhale sweep back and hover, inhale come up, exhale sweep back, inhale arms come up and exhale lower the hands to the floor, vinyasa inhale plank, exhale lower, inhale lift your heart, exhale downward facing dog, pause for a few breaths, bring your toes together, lift the left leg this time up and back open your hip, take an inhale, exhale step your left foot to meet your hands, warrior two, spin the right heel flat, arms come up, warrior two, reverse your warrior, inhale reach the left arm up and back, exhale to extended angle, find your dance, inhale to reverse, maybe shake it up this time and push your arms in opposite direction, exhale come forward, we call these tai chi arms, inhale reverse, push out, exhale extended angle, push out, come back to warrior two, straighten your left leg, parallel your feet, this time interlace your hands at your lower back, inhale lift your chest, exhale hinge forward and fold, pause here let your head relax, if you want to continue to move sometimes it's nice to point the toes slightly out, bend one knee and then the other, a little skandasana variation, but just continue to stay with each beautiful breath, inhales and exhales guiding you on your mat, last full deep breath, root through your feet, inhale rise up, exhale warrior two towards the front edge of your mat, arms out to the side, reverse warrior inhale maybe pushing that energy away through your palms, exhale to extended angle, inhale reach back, keep your core strong, exhale extended angle, inhale reverse and one more time extended angle, come back to warrior two, take an inhale, exhale cartwheel your hands down to the floor, plank pose on your inhale, lower exhale, cobra or upward dog, inhale downward dog, exhale hold for three long breaths, maybe sigh out your mouth, and then look forward and either walk or lightly hop your feet to your hands, half lift on your inhale and exhale fold, inhale all the way up, reach your arms and exhale prayer to your heart, good, from here bend your knees, arms reach out, chair pose and then sweep the left arm under the right this time and sweep your left leg over your right full garudasana eagle and you know where we're going from here you can stay or bring your elbows and your knees together and crunch and use your belly, shift your focus, inhale come back out, exhale bring it in and squeeze, inhale bring it up, two more, squeeze in, inhale out, exhale in, inhale out, then just fly up and out, reach your arms over your head, big inhale, exhale dive forward to fold, half lift inhale, either jump back chaturanga or step back to plank and lower cobra or up dog, inhale and down dog, exhale hold for three breaths, these moments of pause are so beautiful, just notice what comes up for you, maybe choose to let something go and look forward as you're ready, bend your knees either walk or float feet to hands, half lift, inhale, fold, exhale, chair pose, bend your knees, take your arms alongside your ears and bring your palms to prayer at your heart, take an inhale, as you exhale twist towards the right, wrap the left elbow over the right thigh and just feel this beautiful twist in your belly, circle the right ribs towards the ceiling, you can stay here or you can start to look down and root through your right foot, start to step your left foot to the back of the mat, so you're in a lunge twist, crescent twist, breathe, two more breaths, good, so everyone take your hands down to the floor and if your left foot isn't already back go ahead and step it back there so you're in a lunge and then walk yourself around to the left side of your mat to find your wide leg forward bend, come halfway up, inhale, exhale, fold deeper, now walk your hands over towards your right leg only, don't move your feet, just move your hands, grab on to your right leg and pull in, you can stay here or wrap the left hand around your right calf and take your right arm up for a big open twist, maybe wrap the right arm behind your back and grab your left inner thigh and maybe bend your left elbow to pull in a little bit deeper, take one more breath and then just gently walk yourself over towards the left leg, same thing, you can grab the outer calf with the right hand and reach the left arm up for a deeper twist or even wrap the left arm behind your back, bend your right elbow pull in, one more breath, gently release, walk your hands all the way to the back of the mat and pivot your feet so you're back in a lunge and then walk your feet fingers towards the wood off your mat or if you have carpet maybe wood, lift your back leg in the air, standing split, take a few breaths here, good and then bring your feet together to fold forward, grab your legs, take a couple breaths and then from here go ahead and come back to chair pose, sit the weight back into your hips and your heels, bring your hands to prayer, take an inhale, twist again to the right so the outer left elbow maybe comes to the right thigh, you can stay here this time or you can maybe play with a side crow, so one thing to think about here is that you want your palms to face towards the side edge of your mat, think chaturanga in your arms, bend your elbows and try to get your outer right thigh on your left upper arm, you can also kind of rest it on both upper arms if you choose but try to get it on the outer thigh, look forward and then lift up, breathe, come back down, find your chair twist and then look down hands to the floor, step your left foot back into a lunge, good, walk yourself around to the left side of your mat, pivot your feet, come halfway up, inhale, exhale fold, this time interlace your hands at your low back and pause in a shoulder stretch here, two breaths, release your hands and just crawl yourself over to the front edge of your mat and step back to take a vinyasa or down dog and hold your choice, feel your breath, one more breath and downward dog and then either walk or lightly hop feet to hands, half lift, inhale, fold, exhale, chair pose, take your arms alongside your ears, palms to prayer at your heart, take an inhale, exhale twist towards the left, let the right elbow come across your thigh and hold, breathe here or look down, balance on your left foot, take your right foot back into a lunge, feel that out, few more breaths, good, everyone look down, take your hands to the floor and then step your right foot back if it's not already, one more time we'll pivot ourselves around towards the right to a wide leg forward bend but this time point your toes out heels in and bend the right knee, skandhasana, then walk yourself through center and bend the left knee and just move side to side a few times here so you don't have to go too deep but you can, maybe the hip sinks towards the floor and the opposite foot kind of raises up like so, a couple more and then walk yourself over towards your right foot, crawl your hands around to a lunge, step back to plank, take a vinyasa or go to down dog, just being really mindful of every choice you make, every move you make, every breath you take, sounds like a police song, I love what comes up in yoga, from here walk or float feet to hands, half lift inhale, fold exhale and then come back to chair, inhale, bring your hands to prayer at your heart, take another deep breath in, exhale twist towards the left, wrap the right elbow over the thigh, so again you can stay here or play with side crow, your palms come flat, fingers point towards the left and then you try to get the outer left hip on your upper right arm, so maybe the feet don't come off the floor today, that's fine, maybe they do, engage your belly, lift your chest forward, breathe, feet back to the floor, back to your chair twist, step your right foot back as you're ready, fingers can come to the floor and then crawl yourself around to the right, one more time skandhasana, toes out, bend the right knee, come through center, crawl over to the left, so feel free to play with some variations in this round here, so one option is maybe to pause and take a little open twist, if you're on the right side the right arm comes under the right shin, the left arm comes up, you could bind and open your chest and then move over to the other side, continue to feel each breath and then come back through center, crawl yourself around to the front edge of your mat, take another vinyasa or skip it if you choose, we'll meet in downward dog and either hold your down dog or take a child's pose, lower your knees, big toes touch, set your hips back, from here coming back to down dog if you're in child's pose and then walk or lightly hop feet to hands, half lift, inhale, exhale, fold, bend your knees, sit down onto your mat and come into navasana, so grab behind your knees maybe to start if you are still kind of feeling this pose out for your body or you can reach your arms forward as well, more traditional or you can start to straighten your legs but try to find a long spine here and then if you have lower back issues you may just want to stay here and hold or even take little breaks and put your feet on the floor, otherwise you're going to play with me, we'll go to art in navasana, straight legs, heels hover, shoulders hover, then inhale to come back up navasana, exhale lower, inhale come back up, exhale lower, pull your belly in, inhale come back up, exhale lower, inhale up, stay with me here, exhale lower, inhale up, last five, stay with it, inhale up, exhale lower, try to keep it controlled, inhale lift, less momentum, more control, exhale, inhale, last one, exhale, inhale, now hover, art in navasana, hold, why not, five, four, maybe close your eyes, three, two, one, release all the way down on your mat, reach your arms over your head, stretch down through your toes, good and then bring your knees into your chest, take your arms out like a t-shape and we'll just do a little twisting oblique course and knees right over your hips, flex your feet, take an inhale, as you exhale lower the knees to the right, let them hover, inhale come back to center, exhale the knees to the left, let them hover, inhale back to center, exhale twist right and hover, inhale center, exhale twist left, hover, inhale center and just continue a few more rounds on your own, try to keep your shoulders rooting down into the mat, feet flex, knees in line with your hips, last few, side to side, stay with your breath, good and then go ahead and release, place your feet on the floor, just pause for a moment, bring one hand to your belly, one hand to your heart, close your eyes, big inhale into your belly, into your ribs, gentle sigh out your mouth, again deep breath in, let it go, one more, so you may feel like you're winding down a little bit here, you could bring the soles of your feet together in Supta Baddha Konasana or if you're up for a back bend, feel free to take bridge or wheel so your arms come alongside your body, for bridge, if you're doing bridge and lift your hips up and then if you're doing full wheel hands behind your head, elbows hug in, maybe push to the top of your head first and then press all the way up, open your chest, root through your feet, tailbone towards the backs of your knees as you press your heart between your shoulders, one more breath, lower down slowly, pause once you land bent knees and then wiggle your feet out to the sides of your mat and let your knees fall together and maybe again just place a hand on your heart and a hand on your belly, feel your vibration, from here just hug your knees into your chest and take happy baby, grab the insides or outsides of your feet, maybe a gentle rock side to side, and maybe you want a very happy baby, you could grab your big toes with your peace fingers and send your legs straight out or one leg at a time, very, very happy baby. I love happy baby at the end of practice, it's just such a yummy, yummy hip opener and then just that reminder to come back to your inner child, that place that is just fun and light and doesn't take everything so seriously, a couple more breaths and then just bring your knees into your chest. So a few options for our final pose, we'll get the feet above the head, you can either just take your legs straight up like an L shape, relax your arms alongside your body, really nice active hamstring stretch here, okay, or you can take your legs up a wall if you're near a wall or you come to shoulder stand. So for shoulder standers, arms right alongside your body, palms flat, use your arms to kick your feet up and over the head first, support the lower back, wiggle your shoulders towards each other and then take your legs up towards the ceiling. So once you get in there, you can walk your hands a little further up your back, try to keep your heels over your hips here, not over your head. So even if it feels like you're backing out of the pose a little, find that, use your arms to support you and just notice the cervical spine, the back of your neck, maybe just lift your chin slightly away from your chest so you're not compressing too much there and breathe, you could close your eyes. So for me, I even like to back out of the pose and even just sometimes put the weight of my hips into my hands and even bend my knees. For me, this is a little kinder on my neck, so just listen to your body. About three more breaths here. Then slowly lower your feet over your head, if you're in shoulder stand, taking cloud pose. They may not touch the floor, that's fine and you can bend your knees as well and your arms can either come to the mat, maybe interlace your fingers. If your toes do touch the floor, you could tuck them and press your heels away from you. Two more breaths.

And just release your arms alongside on the mat and then slowly roll down one vertebra at a time, use your abdominals. Lower your legs all the way down, straight legs, zipper them together. So we'll all meet here and then slide your arms under your body, your palms press down into the mat. Fish pose, lift your chest, push into your elbows, lift your chin and let the top of your head come towards the floor. It may feel like the head's just hanging, that's fine or the crown of the head might touch the floor. And breathe here, open your heart. Slowly release to the back of your head, come all the way down and from here you'll just start to settle yourself into your final rest. Shavasana, you might need to adjust yourself on your mat, make yourself comfortable, let your shoulders relax away from your ears, maybe move the head side to side a few times and then take another really full breath. One more big inhale, conscious breath and a long exhale letting it all go. Close your eyes, relax, relax, let everything dissolve. As you lie here, focus on your exhales and with each natural exhale just let yourself sink deeper, become heavier, maybe even visualize your thoughts melting out of your head and down into the earth. Just a little bit longer here, embrace the stillness in your body. But also the subtle movement of veer breath.

One. And slowly just start to come back and wiggle your fingers, your toes, awakening your body. Reach your arms up and over the head, stretch long, bend your knees and roll over to one side. Just let your head rest on your arm that's on the floor and slowly press yourself up. And just find a comfortable cross-legged seat here, bring your hands to prayer at your heart.

Bow your chin down towards your palms as a gesture of gratitude. Thank yourself for rolling out your mats. Thank yourself for connecting to your breath, knowing that each breath connects us to each moment and allows us to be present. And as you move through the rest of your day, may you take this present awareness with you. Namaste.