Well-Rounded Flow

Namaste, friends. Welcome to your practice. Let's start at the front of the mat. Tadasana. Go ahead and have your feet about hip distance apart. Let your palms face forward here and spread wide through your fingers. Gently close your eyes. And just reach down through your middle fingers, see your shoulders move down your back. Root down through your feet. And then as you root down, lift through the top of your head and just feel your body come alive. Feel your breath expand into your ribs as you inhale. And slowly drain your breath out as you exhale. And just take a few more breaths here to feel yourself alive and the gift of this time on your mat. Allow yourself to be present. One more full deep breath. Reach your arms out and up as you inhale. As you exhale, fold forward over your legs. From halfway up on your inhale, flat back. Exhale, fold and round. Inhale, rise up, root through your feet, reach through your arms. Exhale, bring your hands to prayer at your heart. Inhale, reach up. Gather. What do you want to receive? Exhale, fold forward. Inhale, half lift. Exhale, fold. Inhale, rise up. Exhale, prayer to heart. Two more like this. Inhale, reach up. Maybe close your eyes. Exhale, fold forward. Half lift, inhale. Exhale, fold.

Inhale, rise up. Exhale, prayer to your heart. Inhale, reach up. Feel your breath move you. Exhale, fold. Half lift, inhale. Exhale, fold. Inhale, rise up. Exhale, prayer to your heart. Bring on. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, half lift. Plank pose, exhale. Just step back and hold your plank for about five breaths. Feel your body become strong, resist gravity. Press through your palms. Gaze slightly forward so the back of your neck is long. Scoop your belly in. Tailbone extends towards your heels. Try to energize your palms and toes towards each other. Suck the center line of your body. One more full, deep breath. And then slowly lower all the way down to your mat. Wide cobra. Hands just on the wood outside of your mat. Hide your fingertips. Elbows point up. Inhale, lift your chest. Exhale, slow lower down. Inhale, lift up. Exhale, lower. Keep your legs strong. Inhale, lift up. Exhale, lower. Good. One more. Inhale, lift up and pause. And then dip your right shoulder towards the floor as you gaze to the left. Inhale, lift the right shoulder back up. Exhale, dip the left shoulder down. Gaze to the right. Inhale, lift back up. One more each side. Dip the right shoulder and lift back up. And dip the left shoulder. Lift back up. Go ahead and lower down. Hands by your ribs, palms flat.

Tuck your toes. Inhale to plank pose. Exhale, downward dog. First down dog. Feel free to maybe take your feet a little wider, almost to the edges of the mat. This can help create more length in your hamstrings. Maybe shift your hips side to side or bend one knee and then the other. Nod your head a few times. Relax the back of your neck. Soften your face. Bring your feet back to about hip distance apart. Look forward and either float or walk feet to hands. Half lift. Inhale. Fold. Exhale. Inhale, rise up. Reach your arms. Exhale, prayer to your heart. Classical sun salutations. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, forward fold. Step your right foot to the back of the mat. Lower your knee and just pause. Hide your fingertips. Reach your chest. Inhale. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, shift to plank pose. And either halfway exhale, chaturanga or all the way to the floor. Inhale, cobra, maybe up dog. Lift your chest. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, step your right foot forward. Lower the back knee and pause. Come to your fingertips. Reach through your chest. Inhale. Exhale, step to the front of the mat. Fold. Inhale, rise up. Exhale, prayer to your heart. Inhale, reach back up. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, the left foot steps back. Lower your knee, lift your chest. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, plank. Exhale, slowly lower. Halfway or all the way. Inhale, cobra or up dog. Down dog, exhale. Inhale, left foot steps forward. Right knee down. Lift your chest. Exhale, step forward to fold. Inhale, rise up. Reach your arms. Exhale, prayer to heart. A little faster. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, fold. Inhale, right foot back. Knee down. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, plank. Exhale, slowly lower. Inhale, up dog or cobra. Exhale, downward facing dog. Inhale, right foot forward. Left knee down. Lift chest. Step forward. Exhale. Inhale, rise up. Exhale, prayer to heart. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, left foot back. Knee down. Exhale, downward dog.

Inhale, plank. Exhale, lower. Cobra or up dog. Inhale, downward dog. Exhale. Inhale, left foot forward. Right knee down. Step forward to fold. Exhale. Inhale, rise up. Prayer to heart. Exhale. One more. Inhale, reach up. Fold. Exhale. Inhale, right leg back. Knee down. Down dog. Exhale. Inhale, shift to plank. Exhale, lower. Inhale, cobra or up dog. Exhale, downward dog. Inhale, right foot forward. Left knee down. Step forward. Exhale. Inhale, rise up. Exhale, prayer to heart. Inhale, rise up. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, left leg back. Knee down. Downward dog. Exhale. Inhale, plank. Exhale, lower. Inhale, lift your chest. Exhale, downward facing dog. Inhale, left foot forward. Right knee down. Step forward to fold. Rise up. Inhale. Prayer to heart. Exhale, pause. Close your eyes. Feel the heat and the energy that you've generated in your body vibrating through every cell. Feel the beating of your heart touching your palms and your thumbs. Again, just a beautiful reminder that you're alive, you're here. What a gift. One more breath. From here, bend your knees, chair pose. Big toes can touch or your feet can be about hip distance apart. Sit the weight back into your heels and your hips. Scoop your belly in. Feel strong. Take another full, deep breath. Take another inhale. Fold on your exhale. Halfway up. Inhale. This time if you want to float to chaturanga, go for it. Otherwise, step back to plank and lower slow. Cobra or up dog. Inhale. Down dog. Exhale. Right leg in the air. Open your hip. Bend your knee. Take an inhale. Exhale. Step your foot to meet your hands. Warrior two. Spin the left heel down. Circle the left arm back. Right arm forward. Pause for a breath. And then lower your hands down to the floor. Step back to plank. Maybe hover the right leg this time. And lower exhale. Inhale. Cobra or up dog. Down dog. Exhale. Left leg rises. Open your hip. Bend your knee. Take an inhale. Exhale. Step your foot forward. Warrior two. Spin the right heel down. Right arm back. Left arm forward. Root through your feet. Pause for another breath. And then cartwheel your hands down to the floor. Plank. Maybe hover the left leg. And then slowly exhale. Tops of the feet on the floor. Inhale. Exhale. Downward dog. Hold three breaths.

Maybe sigh out your mouth. Strong arms. Feel the length in the backside of your body. And look forward. Either walk or light hot feet to hands. Half lift. Inhale. Fold. Exhale. Chair pose. Bend your knees. Take your arms alongside your ears. Pause. And then slowly straighten your legs. Bring your hands to prayer at your heart stand.

One more round like that. Inhale. Chair pose. Exhale. Forward fold. Inhale for a half lift. Exhale. Chaturanga. Maybe float back. Maybe step. Inhale. Cobra or up dog. Exhale. Downward facing dog. Right leg lifts. Open your hip. Inhale. Exhale. Step your right foot forward. Warrior two. Inhale. Come up. Exhale. Sink deeper. Take another inhale. Exhale. Cartwheel the hands down. Vinyasa. Maybe hover the right leg. You can always skip it as well. And maybe just go back to downward facing dog. Let's meet there. Left leg rises as you're ready. Inhale. Open the hip. Bend the knee. Exhale. Step your foot forward. Warrior two. Inhale. Come up. Sink deeper on your exhale. Take another deep breath in. Exhale. The hands to the floor. Vinyasa. Maybe hover the left leg. Maybe skip it. And we'll meet in downward facing dog. No rush.

Feel your breath. And just feel the contrast in these holds between the flow and the hold. There's such a lovely experience that unfolds when you just listen to your breath as you hold the pose. Take one more nice slow inhale and exhale. Send your right leg straight back from here. Three-legged dog. Inhale. Bring your knee to your chest as you exhale and round forward. Send the right leg back in the air. Inhale. Exhale. Knee to your chest. Shoulders over the wrists. Inhale the right leg back. One more knee to chest. Look forward and step your right foot through.

This time flatten your left foot for warrior one. Your arms come forward and up. Pause. Pause. Maybe wiggle the right foot to the right a couple inches so your feet are a little more hip distance apart. And for me this creates a little more space in the hip. So you want to feel the right hip shift back. The left hip shift forward. Then go ahead and bend your left elbow. And you can either grab the elbow with your right hand or take Gomukhasana arms. Wrap the right arm behind and grab your fingers. The back. And then pause here. Lift through your chest. For some of you that have been practicing for a while, work to get your right thigh almost parallel to the floor. Really challenge your strength here. And then find the length into the heart from the crease in your right hip. So pull away from your right hip and lift up. And from here come halfway down as you're ready. Pause. Firm through your belly. Find that beautiful stretch from your left heel, the outer edge of your left heel, up into your left elbow.

Take one more full deep breath. Good. Release your hands to the floor. Pivot to the ball of your left foot. Walk your fingers forward. Lift your back leg in the air. Standing split. Focus on the stretch in the back of your right leg here. Your right knee might be bent. That's fine. You can play with a balance. Maybe grab your right ankle with one hand. Or maybe both. A couple more breaths. Just lift your left leg as high as it'll go and be here now. Release your hands back to the floor. Bring your left foot to meet your right foot. Halfway lift. Inhale. Exhale. Fold. Rise to stand. Inhale. Exhale. Prayer to heart.

Tree pose with your left foot down, your right foot up. So find a soft focal point out in front of you. Right foot either comes to ankle or calf or inner thigh. Breathe. Feel the breath in your ribs, expanding in all directions, side to side, front and back. Maybe take your arms up here. Expand through your branches. Continue to feel your left leg strong, your root, and then grow a little taller from there. If you want to play with fallen tree, one of my favorite variations here is to place the back of the right hand on the inner right thigh. Then the left arm reaches ever so slightly towards the right. And you get a nice side stretch. You get to challenge your balance. Take about three more breaths.

And then slowly rise back up. Bring your hands back to prayer at your heart. And slowly release your right foot down to the floor. If you need to shake out your left leg, go ahead. Coming back to tadasana, inhale your arms back up. Exhale. Forward fold. Inhale. Halfway lift. Exhale vinyasa, or you can just step back to down dog. Follow your breath. From downward dog, let's lift the left leg. Pause. Three like a dog. Hips are even. Take an inhale. Exhale. Knee to your chest. Round forward. Inhale. Left leg back. Exhale. Knee to chest. Round forward. Inhale. Stretch back. Exhale. Knee to chest. Step your foot through. Exhale. Knee to chest. Step your foot through. Warrior one. Spin the right heel down. Rise forward and up. Pause. Again, feel your left thigh. Get a little bit lower perhaps. Challenge yourself here. And maybe wiggle the left foot over to the left a couple inches. Just feel that your left hip can draw back a little as your right hip moves forward. Bend the right elbow. The right fingers come to your spine. You can hold the elbow with your left hand, or you can reach back and find gomukhasana arms. Continue to breathe deeply in and out through your nose.

Then hinge forward about halfway down. Pause here. Firm through your belly. Reach your chest forward. Find the stretch from your right heel. Push down through your right foot all the way through your right elbow. One more breath. Release your hands to the floor. Walk your fingers forward. Pivot onto your right foot and lift your right leg in the air. Standing split. Breathe here. Beautiful active hamstring stretch. Push through your left foot. Lift your left sitting bone up towards the ceiling a little. Maybe play with your balance. Grab your left ankle or calf. One hand. Maybe both. Fingers back to the floor. Right foot meets your left foot. Half lift. Inhale.

Fold. Exhale. Inhale. Rise all the way up. Reach your arms. Prayer to heart. Exhale. Tree pose. Right foot down. Left foot up. And just go right into your breath again. Your breath will always bring you back to center. It will always enhance your balancing postures. Try to find an evenness through your inhales and exhales. Let them match in length. Stay with a steady focal point. Maybe the arms rise up. Breathe into your ribs.

Maybe take the fall and tree variation. So the back of your left hand comes to the inner thigh. The right arm slowly and gently and ever so mindfully reaches over towards the left. Play with it and breathe. Root through your right foot. Good. Slowly come back to center. Bring your hands to prayer your heart and release your left foot down. Inhale your arms up. Exhale. Dive forward and fold. Inhale. Halfway lift.

Exhale. Get yourself to down dog however you'd like. If that's a vinyasa, great. If you just want to step back, beautiful. From here, bring your toes together at the back of the mat. Lift your right leg. Bend your knee and open up your hip. And then maybe flip your dog this time. So you'll start to take the right foot over onto the floor. Lift the right arm. Lift the chest. Lift your hips. Take another breath. And then take the right hand down to the floor. Pivot on your left foot and step your right foot forward. Let's come back to warrior two for a moment. And then reach forward for extended angle. Bring the right forearm either to the inside of your right knee or rested on your right thigh. And then you reach your left arm either straight up or over the ear. And just find lots of length from your left foot to your left underarm. Keep the left shoulder away from the ear. You can stay here or take a wrap. Take the left hand behind your back and maybe grab just your shirt or maybe grab your right inner thigh even. If you feel like you have a full wrap, feel free to explore that. Get your right thigh maybe a little bit lower. Legs stay strong. The right elbow can kind of come under the knee almost because you want to keep your chest open before you wrap. And then take the left arm under and then try to find your fingers. So a little bit less of this funky thing and this open thing. Find your breath. Maybe gaze up and look down. Place your hands to the inside of your right foot and just walk yourself around through center. Point both toes out and bend into your left knee. Find a skandhasana. Oh, my favorite. And then come over to the right and bend into skandhasana here. And I'd like you to just move a little side to side. Ease into your hips. Lots of stuff going on in this area of the body. So be gentle. Be kind. Maybe circling around. Maybe taking some wraps here. Just let yourself explore.

Stay with your breath. And then you'll start to walk yourself to the front of the mat. Pivot your feet so you're in a lunge and then gently lower your back knee down to the floor. Flatten your foot. You might stay here or you might reach back with your right hand and grab the top of your left foot. Kick the foot into the hand and just breathe. If you want to go deeper, you can wiggle the right foot to the right a few inches and maybe even lower down to your left elbow. Oh, hello. So as and quad and all that yummy stuff in there. Two more breaths. Maybe even let your head release towards your left shoulder. Get into your neck. Gently release both hands to the floor. Downward facing dog. Deep breath in. Long breath out. Send your left leg up and back. Open your hip. Bend your knee and flip your dog if you didn't on the other side. Lift through your heart. Root through your right palm. Left hand to the floor. Pivot on the right foot. Step the left foot through for warrior two. I love it when it rhymes. Through and to. Perfect. Land here. Feel your feet and then start to come forward into your extended angle. So left forearm either to inside of me or to the thigh, right arm up or over your ear. First focus on the length from your right foot through your right underarm and then maybe take your half wrap. Bend the right elbow behind your back. Maybe explore the full wrap but keep your chest open.

Gaze up or down or whatever feels best for your neck. One more breath. Look down. Hands to the inside of your left foot. Walk yourself around to the side edge of your mat. Pivot your feet. Scandhasana. Bend the right knee and then come through center and bend the left knee. Go ahead and just two side to side here. And then come to center and parallel your feet. Wide leg forward bend, half lift, inhale.

Fold on your exhale and pause. So you might grab your two big toes here. You might grab your calves. You might take a tripod headstand. So for those of you exploring, you want to wiggle your feet as far away as possible to get the crown of the head to the floor. Then flatten your palms, kind of in line with your feet here. But you want to make sure you have a triangle shape from your head and your palms. And then you'll just slowly maybe try it off the feet off the floor. Maybe you'll bring one knee to one tricep and play with this clown pose I call it. And maybe you come all the way up and just continue to breathe wherever you are. If you're elevated, slowly lower back down.

Crawl yourself over the front edge of your mat. Pivot your feet and lower your back knee down. Stay here. Reach back with your left hand and grab the top of your foot. Kick the foot in the hand. Maybe wiggle the left foot over to the left. Maybe lower the right forearm to the floor. Maybe let your head hang. Soak in the sensations. Feel each breath.

I don't know about you, but I feel like I could stay here forever. But we won't. Take your hands to the floor as you're ready and just press back to a downward dog. If you want to take a slow vinyasa here, feel free. Or maybe you just want a child's pose for a few breaths. Your knees can come to the floor. Just tune into your energy right now and what you need. Three more breaths. And from here, if you're in child's pose, go ahead and come back to downward facing dog. Send your right leg up and back one more time. Bend the knee and open your hip.

Take an inhale. Exhale. Step your foot forward. One more warrior two. Just plant the left heel down. Circle the left arm back, right arm forward. This time reverse your warrior. Reach your right arm up and back. And then keep your right arm reaching back as you straighten your right leg. Find length from right toes to right fingers. Take an inhale. Exhale. Reach forward as your right hip shifts back. Come to triangle pose. Right hand to your right shin. Left arm reaches straight up. Find length and space here. So I'm going to give you a few options. So if you love the bind thing, then feel free to bend the right knee and come back and take a wrap here. And maybe take a bird of paradise. So you'll look down. You'll step your left foot forward and lift the right leg up. If you're feeling like the bind thing's not your thing, then maybe take artichandrasana or just stay here. So the artichandrasana, you balance as well. You look down, bend the right knee. Maybe left hand to hip as the right fingers float forward. You lift the left leg. So explore either of those options and breathe. Take one more full deep breath. We'll all make our way back to a warrior two stance.

Reverse as you inhale. Exhale the hands to the inside of your right foot again. And pause here. Wiggle the right foot over to the right. Pivot onto the ball of your left foot. So from here, coming into lizard pose, there's many variations of this shape. So one is to maybe put the back knee on the floor and flatten the foot. You could also keep the back knee off the floor, keep it a little more active. You could always lower your forearms to go even deeper into the hips. Or one of my favorite variations is to walk the right fingers out to the right under the right leg. So my right shoulder is under my right knee. And then the left fingers come out to the left. And maybe you just kind of play and fly your arms out. Or maybe you take a wrap if you're into the bind thing behind your right leg. This is good. Breathing the whole time. There's an Ekapada Kundanyasana to be had here. I'm not going to do it, but if you'd like, you could just plant your palms down and lift the right leg up and lift the left leg up. You've got a few more breaths. Squeeze your right knee in a little. Squeeze your right hip in a little. Just to find a little more juice. One more breath. And then release your hands to the floor. Send your right leg back into Plank or Downward Dog. And feel free to take a Vinyasa here. Exhale.

Inhale. Lift your heart. Down Dog. Left leg rises. Bend your knee. Open your hip. Inhale. Exhale. Step your left foot forward. Warrior II stands. Rise up. Reverse Warrior. Reach up and back. Slowly straighten your left leg. Pause. Find the length in the left side of your body. Take an inhale. Exhale. Hinge your hips back. Send the left hand down to your left shin. Right arm stacks. And same variations as before.

So if you want to Ardachandrasana, bend the knee. Float the left fingers forward. Maybe right hand to hip. Or maybe you bend the left knee and you take your wrap under your left leg. And you play with the bird of paradise as you step your right foot forward. And maybe slowly lift the left leg. So just try to stick to whatever variation you did on the other side. You want your body to feel balanced. And very slowly you'll step back into your Warrior II stance. Reverse your Warrior as you inhale. Hands to the inside of your left foot. Pivot to the ball of your right foot. Wiggle the left foot over to the left. Lizard. Same variation you took on the other side, okay? And try to soften your face. And just come back to this moment. And just recognize everything that is going on. Every sensation, every breath, every thought. Last two breaths.

Gently release your hands. Send your left foot back to meet your right foot. And you can take a plank, down dog, or maybe a final vinyasa. And from here, just walk your feet up to your hands. Take a forward fold. You might want to grab your two big toes with your peace fingers. Or you could slide your hands under your feet so the top of the hand, the palm of the hands, under the feet and your toes touch your wrist creases. You can bend your knees here as well and just pull in. Parangusthasma. Relax your head. One more breath here. And gently release your hands or your grip. And just start to bend your knees and sit down onto your mat. Let's come into Navasana. So just lift your feet off the floor and hold behind your knees. Okay, so from here, Navasana, feel free to grab your knees and hold onto them. Give yourself some support or you can reach your arms forward or you could even straighten your legs. And just try to find some length in your spine here. Take three breaths and lower to Ardha Navasana. The lower back touches the floor but that's it. Legs are straight. Heels hover, shoulders hover.

Breathe here. Three, two, one. Lower all the way down onto your mat. Take your arms right alongside your body and take your legs straight up like an L shape. From here, lower your right leg down. Just let it hover off the floor and on your inhale, lift your right leg back up. On your exhale, lower the left leg. Let it hover. Inhale, lift it back up. So really slow and mindful right leg lower. Lift it back up. Left leg lowers. Lift it back up. So you could stay with this or challenge yourself both legs lower. Lift them back up. So if you're doing both legs, be mindful that your pelvis isn't moving too much. Your core is supporting you the whole time. Try to keep the back of your head and your shoulders on the floor as well. Let's try for three more. Slowly exhaling as you lower. Slowly inhaling as you lift back up. So healthy for your core. Stay strong. Last one. Good. Hug your knees to your chest. It's amazing what we can do in 45 minutes, right? Okay. Let's place the feet on the floor for a well-deserved bridge pose. So feet about hip distance. Take your arms alongside your body. Lift your hips up.

Stretch your belly. Open your heart. Maybe interlace your hands underneath you. And then feel free to stay here. If you have a block nearby, maybe take a restorative bridge if that suits you. And then the final option is full wheel. Sometimes I like to come in from bridge pose. So I'm simply going to take the arms back. Palms flat to the floor. Keep the hips lifted. Push all the way up. About three more breaths. Open through your heart. Tailbone towards the backs of your knees. Strong arms. Push the floor away.

Lower down slow. Pause. Just place your feet on the floor. One hand on your heart, one hand on your belly. Let your back settle. Slow down your breath. Hug your right knee into your chest. Your left leg is long on the floor. We'll move into a funky twist. One of my favorite twists because it gets a lot of areas. So scoot your hips over to the right a little bit. And then take your right knee towards the floor.

And then you can either just stay here and take the right arm out to the right, or you can straighten your right leg and grab the bottom of your right foot with your left hand. This gives for me the IT band a little and lots of interesting twisty stuff too. You could stay here or bend also your left knee. So your left heel comes towards your left buttock and you grab the bottom of your or the top of your right foot with your right hand. It's like a triple whammy stretch. Two more breaths.

If you want to feel more, really actively push your right foot into your left hand. And then just gently unwind. Come back to center and switch sides. So scoot your hips to the left a little. Right leg on the floor. Hug the left knee in and take your left knee all the way over towards the right. So option to straighten the leg. Grab the bottom of your foot. Maybe bend your right knee and grab the top right foot with your left hand. And really feel your breath here. Long luxurious exhales letting go of your tension and just anything that you know maybe feels a little much lately. Choosing not to carry it with you. Choosing not to let it take up space.

Nice. Last two breaths. Come back to center slowly. Even out your hips. Give yourself a final squeeze. Knees into your chest. Take an inhale. Exhale, release. Shavasana. Legs out, arms up. And just relax your shoulders. Let your fingers naturally curl. Maybe move your head side to side a few times just to really encourage the back of your head to get heavy. And let your breath just settle into a natural effortless pace.

No need to control the breath in any way. Just watch it. And as your shavasana unfolds, consciously choose stillness. Consciously choose space. Consciously choose to be present. From here let's just gently wiggle the fingers and toes.

Stretch your arms up over your head. Take a deep inhale and a long exhale. Bend your knees and roll over to one side. Make a pillow with whichever arms on the bottom and just pause. And then gently use your hands to press yourself up to a comfortable seat.

And once you find your seat, pause. So I left a little bit of time for brief meditation. I'd like you to just rest your hands on your thighs and gently close your eyes. And just trust that I'll guide you out of this and drop into stillness. And once again just experience each breath natural and effortless. Allow your body to feel nice and heavy and completely still. And gather your palms to prayer at your heart. Bow your chin down for a moment of gratitude.

I'd like to offer you one of my favorite quotes by Rumi. I've been a seeker and I still am, but I stopped asking the books and the stars. I started listening to the teaching of my soul. Have a beautiful day. Namaste.