Nourishing Morning Flow

Good morning. We're going to begin our practice on our back supine, finding an easy opening through the hips and the shoulders, the side body, and begin to tether our attention to our breath. We'll gradually move towards standing and find some energizing sun salutations. Join me on your back. You might have a blanket nearby and a block. Move right into windshield wipers. Bring the soles of the feet wide, wider than your hips, and go ahead and stretch your arms over the top of your head. Just take a nice, full breath in. And as you exhale, let your knees fall over to the right, finding the edges of the feet. Inhale, drawing the knees up and exhale over to the left. Again, inhale up, exhale to the right. Inhale, knees up, exhale to the left. A few more rounds here, just moving at your own pace with your breath side to side, beginning to coordinate the breath with the movement and inviting some ease up through the neck. Your head might roll away from your knees or with your knees. Few more rounds here. Just checking in with your body this morning. Notice how it feels. Next time your knees come over to the right, pause with the knees to the right. Just begin to lengthen and stretch more through your left arm. You might stay right here. You might bring your right ankle on top of your left thigh and maybe clasp the right hand around the left wrist and offer a gentle pull as you lengthen, letting the right hip and knee open, falling towards the floor. Feel the back body begin to lengthen. Bring your attention into your left lung. And as you touch the left lung with your attention, begin to notice how the breath responds. You might feel a stretch through the side body, the ribs, intercostals. And then from your left lung, tune the pathway up towards your left nostril and become aware of any sensation through your left nostril. Keeping it long through the neck and spacious through your throat. Hold your attention here for a few more moments. Soften your attention. Release your right foot if it's on top. Inhale the knees up. Exhale knees to the left. Reach and lengthen through your right arm. You might stay with this. This morning you might bring your left ankle on top of the right thigh, letting the knee fall towards the floor and maybe hooking left hand, right wrist. Lengthening the right side body, back body. Bring your attention into your right lung. Notice here how the breath responds. Softening the mouth from the right lung, tune the pathway towards the right nostril. Noticing any sensation through the right nostril. And a saw through the eyes. Relax your attention. Release the left foot. Inhale the knees up and a few more round side to side. Nice and easy windshield wipers. Might allow for a nice full sigh. Letting the knees come into the chest. Let yourself rock side to side here. From here we'll transition into a tabletop so you might rock and roll up a few times. You might roll to your side and use your arms to press yourself up. We'll meet in tabletop. And here's where you might want to blanket underneath your knees for some extra padding and support. And take a few moments. Spread your fingers wide. Tuck your toes under. Begin to move into cat cow. Allow for an inhale. As you exhale, begin to round your back. Draw your navel towards your spine. Feel like you can press the ground or the floor away from you as you draw the hips towards the heels. Stretching the back. And then inhale. Move into your extension. Lead with the heart. Nice and wide across the upper chest. The collar bones. Sitting bones. Exhale round the back navel towards the spine. Stretching. Hips might draw towards the heels. And then inhale shoulders over the wrists. Moving into your extension. Slight arch through the back. And lengthening from the tailbone to the crown of the head. Without looking up and pinching the neck.

And then a few more rounds. Just moving here. Cat cow at your own pace with your breath. You might even soften the gaze. Becoming aware of any sensations. Any movement here that would feel nice. Maybe leaning a bit from side to side. Forward and back. Notice how it feels through your inner and outer hips. Your ribs. Your shoulder blades up through your neck. Nice. Good. As you're ready tuck the toes downward facing dog. Lift the hips. Press through the fingers. And walk it off. So in this first downward dog let your left knee bend. And then stretch your right calf and heel towards the floor. Let your right knee bend and stretch the left calf and heel towards the floor. And do that a few times. Just pedaling the feet. Walking it off. Nice. And then as you're ready lower your knees for a moment. Child's pose. Hips towards the heels. Forehead towards the earth. Nice. As you're ready inhale come back into tabletop. Shoulders over the wrists. And extend back through your left leg. So we'll come into a core warming sequence. Begin to lift your left leg off the floor. Internally rotate your thigh and flex the foot. I know the tendency is to want to lift the leg up but see if you can square your hips here. Well inhale to lengthen and then exhale round the back like cat. Draw the knee towards the nose. And then inhale lengthen. Exhale. Get round. Knee to nose. Inhale lengthen. Exhale round. Knee to nose. Two more. Inhale lengthen. Exhale. Inhale extend. Exhale pull it in. Last time inhale lengthen and then lower down. Second side. Extend back through the right leg. Tuck the toes. Lift the leg. Lengthen. Inhale. Exhale round. Knee to nose. Inhale lengthen. Exhale curl in. Inhale lengthen. Exhale knee to nose. Two more. Inhale lengthen. Exhale round. Last time inhale lengthen and then lower the knee. Pause. Extend back through the left foot. We'll come into a side plank variation. Shift the weight into the right hand. You might open your right hip as you float the left arm up to the sky. This is like a celebration here. Lengthen. You might stay here. You might float the left hand down by the leg in front of the face and sweep it towards the front of your mat. Rooting from the outer left edge to the fingers, draw the right shoulder blade into the back. You might stay here. You might sweep the arm down by the leg in front of the face and find circles through the shoulders. You reach. Lengthen towards the leg in front of the face and reach.

Maybe two more times. Reach towards the foot in front of the face. Lengthen. Inhale. Exhale release. Come back into tabletop and if you round a cat cow, just kind of moving and washing that through the body. Inhale arching. Exhale rounding. Nice. Coming into neutral. We'll find that on the other side. Extend back through the right foot and then transfer the weight into your left hand. Let that left hip open. Kickstand. Reach the right arm up to the sky. Nice. Reach from the heart into the hands and you might stay right here. You might float the right arm by the leg in front of the face and reach towards the top of your mat. Root from the outer right edge to the fingers. Stay here or continue with arm circles. Right arm by the leg in front of the face towards the front of the mat. Arm by the leg in front of the face towards the front of the mat. Maybe two more times here. Sweeping the arm in front of the face towards the mat. Pause. Lengthen. Inhale. Exhale. Release that right arm. Come back into your tabletop. Tuck the toes downward facing dog. Walk it off. Pedal the feet. Take a nice full breath in. And exhale. From here, begin to walk your hands towards your feet, finding uttanasana. You can bend the knees here. Hands might find the elbows. Just allow yourself to sway a little bit from side to side. From uttanasana, as you're ready, we'll inhale half arch. Draw the hands up the shins. Lengthen your spine. Draw the shoulder blades down the back. And exhale. Bend the knees forward full. Root the right hand. Bend the right knee and lift the left arm up to the sky for a standing twist. Find some ease in the neck. Inhale. Lengthen. And exhale. Release the left hand. We'll find that on the other side. Bend the left knee. Reach the right arm up to the sky for a standing twist. Lengthening. Inhale. And exhale. Bend the knees forward full. Toe heel the feet wide for malasana. Squat pose. Sink down into the hips. Root the right hand. Inhale. Lift the left arm up to the sky. Reaching. You might open the hip with the hand there. Take an inhale. Exhale. Release. Plant the left hand. Inhale. Reach the right arm up.

Open the right hip. Right arm might reach towards the sky or you might press the inner right thigh as you open. And exhale. Release. Uttanasana. Toe heel your feet underneath your hips. Forward fold. As you're ready, spread the toes. Press through the feet and roll up. Use the strength of the legs, the belly, chin into the chest. Slowly roll your way up. Feeling the rise of the heart. Shoulders roll up. Back. And down. Letting the palms open. Take a moment here to pause. Letting the blood come back down into the legs, into the feet. From here we'll take a walking meditation towards the top of our mat. So if you have a blanket, you can fold it. Push it off to the side. And make your way to the top of the mat. We'll begin with a few rounds of Surya Namaskara A. Sun Salutations. Hands behind the heart. Spread the toes. Draw your attention towards your breath. As you're ready, inhale. Reach the arms up towards the sky. Finding length. Exhale. Soft bend through the knees. Forward fold. Hinge at the hips. Release the head. Release the hands. As you inhale, draw the hands up the shins. Half arch. Lengthen the spine. Exhale. Bend the knees. Step the right foot back into a lunge. And then step the left foot back into plank. We'll take a few breaths in our first plank. Pause. Reach back through the heels. Lengthen forward through the heart. Feel that you can draw the low belly in. Yeah. We'll lower the knees. Keep the elbows in. Lower all the way down. Cobra. Tops of the feet on the floor. All the shoulders down the back. Inhale. Lift the heart. Exhale. Lower down. Tuck the toes. Press onto the knees. And back downward facing dog. Walking it off. We'll take three breaths here together. Finding ease through the neck. As you're ready, bend the knees. Look forward. Drop the right foot forward between the hands. Left foot follows. Inhale. Lengthen the spine.

Exhale. Forward fold. Strong through the legs. Inhale. Reverse swan dive. Reach the arms up. Drop the tailbone. Lengthen. Exhale. Hands to the heart. Again. Inhale. Reach the arms up. Exhale. Forward fold. Releasing the head and the arms. Inhale. Lengthen. Half arch. Inhale. Bend the knees. Step the left foot back into a lunge. Right knee bends. Right foot steps back into plank. Take a moment to pause and plank. Reach back. Lengthen forward. Lower the knees. Come all the way onto the belly. Cobra. Inhale. Shoulders. Draw down the back. Spacious through the collarbones. Heart. Exhale. Lower down. Tuck the toes. Press up and back. Downward facing dog. Finding three breaths here. Lengthening the spine. Rooting through the fingers. As you're ready, bend the knees. Look forward. Step the left foot forward between the hands. Right foot follows. Inhale. Lengthen. Exhale. Forward fold. Uttanasana. Strong through the legs. Inhale. Reach the arms up to the sky. Lengthen.

Drop the tailbone. Exhale. Hands to the heart. Again. Moving with our breath. Inhale. Reach the arms up. Exhale. Forward fold. Releasing. Inhale. Half arch. Lengthen. Exhale. Bend the knees. Step back into plank and pause. Lower the knees. Lower all the way down. Cobra. Inhale. Lift the heart. Draw the shoulders down the back. Exhale. Release. Come up onto the knees and press back. Downward facing dog. This time inhale. Reach the right leg to the sky. Root through the hands and square the hip. Yeah. Take an inhale and then exhale. Knee to nose. Round the upper back. Inhale. Reach the right leg to the sky. Exhale. Knee to nose. And then step it through for a lunge and pause. Good. From here lower the left knee down. Inhale. Draw the hips back. And exhale. Lunge forward. Two more times. Inhale. Draw the hips back. Exhale. Lunge. Inhale. Draw the hips back. Exhale. Lunge. You might stay low. You might come onto the right thigh. Soft steady gaze. Maybe inhale the arms up. Bend the left elbow. Right hand onto that left elbow. Inhale. Lengthen the spine. And then exhale. Side bend to the right. You bring your attention into that left lung again.

Well inhale. Reach the arms up to the sky. Exhale. Lower the hands. Tuck the back toes. Lift the back leg. Twisting lunge. Left hand on the floor. Right thumb into the right hip crease. Reach back through that left heel. Forward through the heart. Begin to twist to the right. And maybe reach that right arm up to the sky. Energize through the back leg. Heart to hands. Find that ease in the neck. Inhale. Exhale. Release the right hand. Step back. Downward facing dog. Walking it off. As you're ready we'll find that on the left side. Inhale. Reach the left leg up. Keep the hip square. You might flex the foot. Lengthen. And then as you're ready exhale. Knee to nose. Round the upper back. Inhale. Left leg reaches. Exhale. Knee to nose. Step it through. Lunge. You just kind of help that foot along. And then lower the right knee down. Inhale. Draw the hips back. You might find or you will find those hamstrings on the left leg. Exhale. Lunge forward. Inhale. Draw your hips back.

Exhale. Lunge forward. One more time. Inhale. Draw the hips back. Exhale. Lunge. Stay low. Hands might find that front thigh. Stay here. Inhale. The arms up towards the shape of crescent lunge. Stay here. Bend your right elbow. Left hand right elbow. Inhale. Length in the spine. Exhale. Side bend to the left. Softening the jaw. Bring your attention into your right lung. Inhale. Reach the arms up to the sky. Exhale. Release the hands around that front left foot. Right hand to the floor. Left thumb into the hip crease. Reach back for the right heel. Forward through the heart. And then twisting lunge. Left arm might reach towards the sky. Breathing. And find a place where the neck feels comfortable. Inhale. Exhale. Release the left hand. Step back downward facing dog. Three breaths here. You might walk it off. You might lower the knees child's pose. As you're ready, walk or hop the feet towards the hands. Uttanasana. Inhale. Half arch. Length in. Exhale. Forward fold. Strong through the legs. Inhale. Reach the arms up to the sky. Length in. And exhale. Release the hands. And just take a moment to pause here. Feeling your heartbeat. Temperature. From here, adding on. As you're ready, inhale. Reach the arms up. Exhale. Navel the spine.

Lunge at the hips. Forward fold. Release the head and the arms. Inhale. Half arch. Length in. Exhale. Bend the knees. Step back into your plank and pause. You might lower the knees. You might take chaturanga as you lower down. All the way to the ground. And then inhale, cobra. Nice and wide across the chest. And exhale. Release. Tuck the toes. And facing dog. From here, we're going to inhale. Reach our right leg up to the sky. Bend the knee and let your right hip open. This might feel really nice. Nice. Then square the hip. Inhale. Exhale. Right knee to right elbow. Shoulders over wrists. Inhale. Right leg reaches. Exhale. Knee to nose. Step it through. Warrior tube. Pivot onto the outer left edge of the foot. Lead with that left arm and rise up. And take a moment here in Warrior II. Look at your feet. Right heel in line with the left inner arch. And then let your pelvis float at a diagonal rather than straight ahead, which brings some strain on the right knee, finding that kind of sweet, comfortable spot. Root a little bit more through the outer edge of the right foot. Reach the arms. And let your heart float right over your pelvis. Feel the navel drawing towards the spine. Sitting bones reaching down. Arms out. Palms up. Warrior dance. Inhale. Press into the ball of the right foot. Reach the arms. Exhale. Bend the right knee. Warrior II. Inhale. Arms reach up. Exhale. Warrior II. Three more rounds. Inhale. Reaching. Exhale. Bend the right knee. Inhale. Reaching up. Exhale. Warrior II. Last one. Inhale. Reach up. Exhale. Warrior. Peaceful. Slide the left hand down. The left leg. Inhale. Reach the right arm up. Inhale. Here. And then exhale.

Side angle. Right forearm under right thigh. Reach the left arm overhead. Inhale. Back into peaceful. Lengthen. Exhale. Extended side angle. Two more. Inhale. Reach up. Peaceful. Exhale. Extended. Last one. Inhale. Peaceful. This time we'll cartwheel the hands down. Spin onto the ball of the back foot. Twisting lunge. Plant the left hand. Reach the right arm up. Exhale. Reach the right hand down. Step back downward. Facing dog. Walking it off. Breathing. Lengthening the spine. Releasing the head. As you're ready, inhale. Lift the left leg high. Exhale. Bend the knee. Open the hip. Press through the fingers. Square the left hip. Lengthen. As you're ready, inhale. Exhale. Left knee. Left elbow. Shoulders over the wrist. Hover. Inhale. Left leg reaches. Exhale. Need a nose. Step it through. Warrior II. Pivot onto the outer right edge of the foot. Reach your right arm up. Let it carry you as you sink down. Bending the left knee. Let your pelvis float at that diagonal line. Rooting through the outer edge of the right foot. As you inhale, press into the ball of the left foot. Warrior dance. Arms reach up. Exhale. Bend the left knee. Warrior II. Inhale. Arms reach up. Lengthen. Exhale. Warrior II. Three more. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Rise up. Exhale.

Sink in. Last one. Inhale. Rise up. Exhale. Warrior II. Keep the left knee bent. Right hand down the back leg. Inhale. Lift that left arm up for Peaceful Warrior. And then extended side angle. Left forearm. Left thigh. Right arm reaches overhead. Rooting from the outer right edge of the fingers. Inhale. Rise back up. Peaceful Warrior. Left arm reaches. Exhale. Extended. Left forearm. Left thigh. Right arm overhead. Two more. Inhale. Peaceful. Exhale. Extended. Last one. Inhale. Peaceful. And cartwheel the hands down. Spin onto the ball of the back foot. Twisting lunge. Right hand to the floor. The left arm reaches up. Inhale. Exhale. Release. Nice job. Step back. Downward facing dog. Walking it off. As you're ready, inhale forward in the plank pose. Shoulders over the wrists.

Lower the knees or lower through. Chaturanga all the way to the floor. Inhale. Lift up. Cobra. Exhale. Release. Tuck the toes. Press up. Downward facing dog. Let's take three full breaths here. As you're ready, forward in the plank pose. Shoulders over the wrists. We'll lower all the way down to the floor. And pause. From here, coming into a shoulder stretch. Reach your left arm out. So the hand is right in line with the shoulder. And then bring your right palm to the floor. Right in line with the shoulder. And then from here, begin to roll onto your left side. And you might bend the top knee. Bring the foot to the floor. Let the hip open. And finding a shoulder stretch here. Softening the face. And breathing into where you feel the sensation. If it feels overwhelming, you can back it off.

Nice. And take an inhale. And then exhale. Release back onto your belly. We'll find that on the right side. Bring the left palm underneath the shoulder. Extend your right arm out. And then roll onto your right side. Nice. Bend the top knee. Let the hip open. Left foot might find the floor. Finding a twist here. And a shoulder opening. Again, if it feels quite intense, you might back it off a little bit, rolling forward. And as you need to feel more, you can begin to shift the weight back. Soften the jaw. Breathing. Nice. Inhale. Exhale. Release back onto the belly. Bring the floor to the floor. Reach the arms down alongside the body. We'll set up for locust, shalabhasana. Find that internal rotation through the thighs. And as you're ready, inhale. Lift the heart. And then reach the fingers towards the toes, drawing the back body in towards the spine. And then look down to let the back of the neck lengthen. Inhale, rising up. Exhale. Lower down. Take a moment to pause. We'll find two more rounds. As you're ready, inhale. Begin to rise up again. Locust, drawing the back body into the spine. You might reach the fingers towards the toes this time. You might interlace the fingers behind the back, lifting the heart. Spacious through the collarbones. Inhale. Exhale. Lower down. Nice. Taking a moment to pause here. Last round. You might stay with the locust. If and as you want to feel more, you might move towards bow pose dhanurasana, bending the knees. Hands find the tops of the feet. Draw the inner thighs towards each other. And as you inhale, kick the feet into the hands as you rise up.

Opening the shoulders. Spacious through the chest and the throat. Bow pose. Breathing. Find a place where the neck feels comfortable. Inhale. Exhale. Lower down. Release the hands. And then child's pose. Press up onto the knees. Knees might go wide. Hips draw back, pausing. From child's pose, slow roll up for a moment. Vajrasana. Sitting up on the heels. And then lean to one side. Free the legs. Extend the legs out. We'll just take a moment in dhanurasana.

Extending the legs. Drawing the shoulders down the back. Inhale. And then exhale. Forward fold. Towards paasimottanasana. Hands might find the shins and you might work extending the spine. Or you might begin to round your back. And maybe the hands find the knees. Ankles. Feet. Just finding a release for the back.

Nice. Slow as you're ready. Roll up. We'll come into a seated twist, Marichasana. Bring the hands underneath the left knee. Lean back. Bring the sole of that left foot to the floor. Inhale. Reach the right arm up to the sky. Finding length. And then exhale. Twist to the left. Wrap the right arm around the left knee. Left fingers behind you. Flex the right foot. Inhale. Lengthen the spine. And then exhale. Gentle twist to the left. Taking a few breaths here. Notice if there's any hardening through the mid-back.

Allowing that area to soften a little bit with the breath. And then slow. Let the gaze come over the right shoulder. Release the body. Release the left leg. Shake it out. Find that on the right side. Hands underneath the right knee. Draw the ankle in. Inhale. Reach the left arm up to the sky. Exhale. Twist to the right. Wrap the left arm around the right knee.

Right fingertips behind you. Flex the left foot. Inhale. Lengthen. And exhale. Seated twist to the right. Soften the eyes. Now lengthen. Exhale. Slow. Unwind. Let the gaze come back. And then release the right leg. Shake it out. From here, we'll transition onto our back. So find your way there. We're going to use the block. So have it nearby. Roll onto your back. Draw your knees into your chest. Might feel nice to rock a little bit side to side.

From here, press down through the feet. We'll come up into a bridge. Spread the toes. Heels in line with the sitting bones. Arms down alongside the body. Drawing the tailbone under. Take an inhale. Exhale. Press through the feet. Lift the pelvis up. Keep the palms pressing down towards the floor. Really spacious across the chest. Pressing evenly through the soles of the feet. Feeling that internal rotation through the thighs.

Face soft. Front body lengthening. Back body lengthening. So take an inhale. Exhale. Lower down. Feeling each part of the back and spine releasing. Upper back. Middle of the back. Low back. And pause. We'll take another round of bridge this time, bringing a block underneath the sacrum. As you're ready, press through the feet. Lift the pelvis up and bring the block at that first setting. Yeah. And then let the sacrum find the support. And pause here. Just kind of neutralizing the pelvis. But keep the foundation through the legs. So feeling the soles of the feet on the floor.

You might stay with this if it would feel nice to bring the knees towards the chest. Maybe extend the legs up towards the sky. Arms might release alongside the body. It might feel nice to tuck the shoulders in. Maybe the palms turn up. A little juice through the balls of the feet. Soft. Yes. So you're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. When you feel ready, bend the knees. Feet find the floor. Press through the feet. Find bridge. Remove the block. And just slowly lower onto your back. Nice. Reach the arms overhead. Soles of the feet wide. Windchill wipers. Side to side. Nice. Finding that ease through the neck.

Nice. Coming back up. Bring the soles of the feet together. Knees wide. You might bring one hand to rest of the heart. One hand on the belly. The gaze might soften inward. From here, we'll begin to transition into Shavasana. Interlacing the fingers at the base of the skull. And then lifting the head up. Drawing the elbows towards each other. Feeling the back of the neck lengthen. Kind of that gentle traction. And then releasing the neck and the head down. Might keep the legs where they are. You might stretch your legs out.

Just allowing yourself to take up space with the arms and the legs. Relaxing effort through the body. Relaxing the effort of your attention. And allowing yourself to stay here for about another minute or so. And then drawing your attention towards your breath. And as you're ready, slowly inviting movement back into the body. The arms might stretch and lengthen. Reaching through the toes. Take your time letting the knees bend, rolling to your side. Pause there. Keep the head heavy.

And pressing into the hands. Coming up towards the seat. We'll just sit together for a moment to close our practice. Finding a comfortable seat. Nice, full exhale. And joining the hands together. Let's take an inhale. And exhale. Namaste. Thank you for your practice.