Day 1: Nourish

Welcome to day one. So happy you're here. So this first day is all about nourishment. We're going to start with a slow flow to get moving a bit and then we'll finish with some cooling postures and some cooling breathing practices to beat the summer's heat. So this practice is really all about taking good care of you, knowing when to hit the pause button when to slow down and really savor those long slow summer days. So if you will join me we'll begin in child's pose. So let's take a really nice slow entry into child's pose. So you're welcome to have knees together or you're welcome to take the knees wide and then start to walk your hands forward and at the same time as you're walking your hands forward let your hips really start to sink back towards your heels. If they don't make it there no worries but just that idea of letting the hips get heavy, letting the arms walk forward and then letting the head and neck relax down. Maybe the forehead finds the earth or a block and then just take a moment to arrive here in child's pose. We'll start by finding an expansive breath through the back ribs. So allowing a big full breath in through the nose and then open your mouth inside out like you're fogging a mirror. Let's do that again. Feel the expansion. Inhale and then allow the support letting go. Exhale. One more like that cleansing breath. Inhale and sigh it out. Exhale and then gently press the lips together. Start to allow your breath to move in and out through the nose. It might wiggle side to side a little bit maybe massaging through that third eye. Just allowing the support of the earth and then as you're ready start to walk your fingertips over to the right side. So you might shift a little bit of weight toward the left hip. Let the head and neck relax. Maybe that left hand reaches a little bit further than the right hand and you're just feeling that nice long stretch through the left side body. Take a few full deep breaths here all the way up through the side waist into the shoulder. Just feel that length, that softening and the breath. Beautiful. And then as you're ready we'll walk the hands back through center and just take them up and over to the other side. So same thing here on the other side. Let the hips drift toward the right a little bit. Maybe reach that right arm a little bit more and then let the head and neck relax. Allow the breath. Breathe into wherever you feel this in the body. Nice. And then slowly we'll come back through center and then make your way up to all fours. So we'll find our way into a tabletop position. So bring the shoulders right over the wrists, hips over the knees and we'll start to move into some cat cows to warm the spine. So as you're ready, inhale, let the belly drop, lift the heart, lift the gaze. And then as you exhale, navel to spine, round through the spine, press the floor away. Let the head relax. Good. And then moving with the breath, a few more rounds. Inhale, heart lifts, gaze lifts. Exhale, press the floor away and round. Good. Inhale, arching. Exhale, rounding. Good. And then find that place between cat and cow. So come back to your neutral spine and then we'll thread the shoulders here. So as you're ready, inhale the right arm out to the right. Maybe gaze up toward the fingertips. And then as you're ready, exhale, thread the arm underneath, bring the right shoulder down and the right side of the face to the earth. And then maybe walk your left fingertips in front of you or you might take that left hand and take it into a half wrap behind the back and allow that to open up through the chest, through the left shoulder and then breathe a few full deep breaths right here. Beautiful. And then slowly press your way back up to all fours.

Come back to the tabletop position and then hips right over the knees. Let's start to walk the hands forward coming into anahatasana. So heart opening pose. As you reach the heart forward, let the chest melt down. Maybe the forehead comes down to the earth or a block or if you have the range in the shoulders, maybe the chin comes down. So letting the chest melt, letting the heart open, letting the floor support you. Taking a few full deep breaths right here. One more breath in. Exhale, releasing and then we'll walk back up, finding all fours and we'll come to the other side. So inhale the left arm out to the left, maybe gaze up and then exhale, thread the left arm underneath, coming on to left shoulder, left side of the face, maybe walking the right fingertips forward or maybe taking that right arm up and behind the back, finding that half wrap again, letting the right shoulder draw back to really open up through the shoulders, through the heart and then allow the support. A few more full deep breaths right here. Notice while you're here, if this side feels any different from the first side, honoring the difference between the right and the left. Beautiful and then come on out of there. We'll press it back up and then bring the forearms downward into a very brief forearm plank. So shoulders right over the elbows, stretch the legs back, tuck the toes, bring the hips in line with the shoulder blades, reach through the crown of the head, take a big full breath in here and then as you're exhaling, let the hips drop all the way down into Sphinx pose. So walking the hands forward just a bit, let the elbows come in front of your shoulders, let the heart reach forward and it's almost like you're dragging the mat back to reach the heart forward, keep the legs active. It might feel better to tuck your chin here, feeling the length in the back of the neck. Beautiful and then as you release down, let's take the hands out on either side of your yoga mat so the elbows are bent, let the forehead kind of melt down toward the earth and then on an inhale, pressing into the tops of the feet, start to peel the chest up off the earth. So coming into this wide cobra pose and then as you're here, let the right shoulder start to melt down toward the earth as you take your gaze toward the left. Good and then we'll take it to the other side, inhale, peel the chest up through center and then exhale, let the left shoulder melt down, let the left cheek come down toward the earth. Let's do that one more time on each side, inhale, peel up and then exhale, right shoulder down. Beautiful.

One more inhale, lift up and then exhale, left shoulder melts down. Beautiful and then coming back through center, lower all the way down to the earth, bringing the hands next to the side waist, we'll press back up to all fours, find your table top and then this time let's tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back coming into your first downward facing dog and as you come into this first dog, feel free to move around, pedal it out, maybe sway the hips from side to side, any movement at all to start to feel into the backs of the legs. If the hamstrings are feeling a little tight, feel free to soften your knees a little bit. Good and from here on an inhale, come forward toward plank pose but let the knees lower down and then we'll come right back into dog pose. So on an inhale, let the heart melt, lift up and lengthen and then as you exhale, tuck the toes, lift the hips right up and back to downward facing dog and we'll move through this a few more times with the breath and start to warm the spine. So on an inhale, knees lower, heart lifts, arching the back, look up and lengthen and then as you exhale, tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back. Two more with the breath, inhale, come forward, lower the knees, coming into dog or cow, excuse me and then exhale, tuck toes, coming back into dog. One more inhale, cow pose and then exhale, downward facing dog. Beautiful and then from here, let's reach the right leg all the way up and back, put a bend in your knee to take a moment to open up through that right hip. So you might roll the foot out a few times, you might take some big circles with that right leg, try to keep the shoulders even and level and then inhale, start to straighten out through the right leg. Let's step the right foot all the way through between your hands and then lower your back knee down, untuck the back toes and then start to walk your hands up onto that right thigh. So the right knee is right over the right ankle and then take your hands behind your back and hold onto opposite elbows. Let the shoulders relax down, maybe lift up through the heart, maybe lift the gaze a little bit and you might sink a little deeper into the legs but try to keep that front knee right over that right ankle. Good and then find the breath, notice the support of the legs, all that subtle movement that holds us up and then can you invite ease and nourishment in with the breath? Good and then take one more inhale here, as you exhale, lower the hands down to frame your front foot, lift up through the heart and then exhale, straighten through the front leg, come onto the right heel for Ardha Hanuman. Good and then we'll just flow with that a few times. So inhale, re-bend through the right leg, lift up through the heart and then exhale, keep the length in the spine, fold over the front leg. Good, one more inhale, re-bend, lift up and lengthen and then exhale, fold in. Good, come back to your lunge, this time we'll tuck the back toes, lift the back knee up off the earth and then flatten out the left hand, you might have a block under your left hand if that feels better for you and then keeping the right hip hugging in, reach your right arm up and find a twist towards your right. That's stacking shoulders, keep hugging that right hip in, allow a few full deep breaths right here. Beautiful and then lowering your right hand to the inside of your front foot, let's keep walking fingertips over to the left, so you're going to parallel the feet, straighten out through both legs and then inhale to lengthen the spine, keep walking the hands forward and then let the chest melt back toward the legs for hammock pose. You might feel some intensity in the backs of the legs, if so feel free to soften the knees, you can always bend your knees here and then just allowing the head and neck to relax so that you're releasing any tension that you might be holding onto here. Where can you let go just a little bit more? Beautiful and then start to walk your hands back in, we'll come halfway up on the inhale and then walk back to your runner's lunge facing the front of the mat, frame the front foot with your fingertips and then lower the back knee again, we're going to come into lizard stretch here, so start to heel toe the right foot to the right, hands on the inside of the front foot again. Now you can stay right here, this might feel like enough for you, feel free to stay here, if you want a quad stretch, you might start to bend through that back leg and you can stay here or reach your right arm back, hold onto your foot and allow that to use that right shoulder to open up, heart opens up and then you want to go a little deeper, you can always lower that left forearm down to a block or the earth, if you find that you've come too far, just back off of that, so find your edge without stepping over and allow a few breaths here. Beautiful and then slowly release that side, hands on the inside of the front foot and then we'll tuck the back toes, lift the back knee up, heel toe the foot back toward the center of your mat and then right back to downward facing dog. Beautiful and then from here you might come forward to plank pose, I'm going to lower the knees, bend the elbows, come all the way down to the belly, cobra pose, untuck the toes, draw the shoulders back, lift up through the heart, inhale and then exhale, we'll meet it back in downward facing dog. Yeah, take a big full breath in, open the mouth, side out, just let that side go. Nice and then coming to the left side, so as you're ready, inhale left leg lifts, bend the knee to open up through the hip, keeping the shoulders level, maybe roll out that foot a few times or take some nice circles with that left leg and then straightening out through the left, step your foot all the way through between your hands and then we'll lower the back knee down and again just start to walk the hands up onto that left thigh, stacking left knee over the ankle and then hands behind the back, maybe opposite elbow on top this time. Let that roll the shoulders back, lift up through the chest and maybe lift the gaze and just take a moment, you might even close the eyes here, just allowing the gaze to drop to the internal space. It also really allows you to tune into all that subtle movement that's happening, noticing what's holding you up. Nice and allowing one more full breath in, as you exhale hands lower down, inhale to lift the heart, exhale fold over your front leg, Ardha Hanuman and then with the breath inhale, re-bend, look up and lengthen, exhale fold over your front leg, do the fold one more time, inhale, stretching through the hamstring, exhale. Good, come back to your lunge, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee up, right hand down, sweep the left arm up and twist. Good, you might gaze up toward the fingertips if that's too much in the neck, sometimes it's nice to just drop the ear down toward the shoulder but see if you can keep hugging the left hip in, let the twist kind of happen from the navel up so you have your strong base and then your twist. One more breath in, as you exhale lower hand to the inside of the left foot, keep walking to the right, parallel the feet, straighten the legs. Now you can take hammock pose like we did before or maybe this time walk the hands in, bend the elbows and then coming into Prasarita, let the head melt down, you can keep your hands in line with your toes or maybe hold your ankles, taking a few full deep breaths right here, allowing this to be a letting go. Good, and then as you're ready, come on out of there, come halfway up, inhale to lengthen, exhale, walk back to your lunge and then setting up for lizard pose on the second side, so heel toe, left foot to the left, hands on the inside, lower your back knee down and again this might feel like your edge this morning, if so feel free to stay right here, if you came into that quad stretch on the first side maybe you try that here as well, so we'll bend through the back leg, reach back with your left hand to hold on to the top of the back foot and then use that to allow the left shoulder to open, let the chest expand and then maybe gaze up and again if you want to come a little deeper, you can lower that right forearm down, maybe a block, maybe the earth and then breathe. Good, allow one more full breath in and then exhale, go ahead and release that, get on out of there and then we'll heel toe foot back to center, frame the front foot with your hands and then plant your palms, step back, downward facing dog, beautiful and if you want the vinyasa go for it, you can stay here in down dog or take a child's pose for a few breaths, otherwise start to glide forward to plank pose, maybe lower knees, chin and chest hugging elbows in as you lower down, inhale, untuck the toes, draw the shoulders away from the ears, lift up, inhale, beautiful and then downward facing dog, exhale and holding here for just a few more full deep breaths, letting the heels get heavy, let the back of the neck be nice and long, fingers spread wide, beautiful and then on an inhale start to lift up through the heels, put a nice big bend in your knees, look forward, step or you can lightly hop your feet towards your hands, good and then come halfway up on your inhale, offer the heart forward, lengthening out through the spine and then exhale, let's take a forward fold back over the legs and then heel toe the feet, hips distance and a nice fold here, maybe interlacing fingers behind the back, letting everything, this drop down and you can bend your knees any amount, maybe shifting a little bit more weight toward the balls of the feet, good and then releasing your hands, ragdoll them down toward the earth, soft knees, tuck your chin and then nice and slow and start to roll up one vertebra at a time, let the head be the last thing to arrive and as you get to the top, bring your shoulders up toward your ears and then let them drop down the back, bring the palms to face forward and if it feels comfortable, take a moment to close the eyes and just check in, so soften the knees a little bit, let the tailbone melt down and as you're grounding down can you allow the heart to lift up, you allow the heart to be nourished, our heart loves to be nourished and so when you're ready, bring your hands to your heart center, so we'll come into Anjali Mudra with the hands and then you're welcome to keep the feet, hips distance, we're going to move through a few half sun salutations, so with a breath, inhale circle the arms all the way out and up, find length up through the spine, through the crown of the head and then exhale, soften the knees, fold over the legs into Uttanasana, good on an inhale, lift halfway up and lengthen, offer the heart forward and then exhale fold back over your legs, let a little more weight tilt toward the balls of the feet, good and then root down to rise up to stand, inhale circle the arms all the way out and up and then exhale hands to heart, let's just do that a few more times, just cueing the breath, so inhale lift up, let the breath guide you, exhale fold, inhale halfway, exhale fold, root down rise up inhale, hands to heart exhale, moving meditation one more inhaling, exhaling, inhale offer the heart halfway, exhale fold, root down rise all the way back up inhaling, gather everything at the heart center, exhale, good and now feet together if they're not already there, we'll come to a very brief chair pose, so Uttanasana, sink the weight into the heels, sweep the arms up, draw the shin bones back, find length in your spine and then inhale to lift, exhale fold over the legs, come halfway up on your inhale and in your choice you can step right back to down dog, you might come to plank pose if that's calling you and then maybe knees lower, maybe they stay lifted this time, we'll lower all the way to the belly and then again cobra pose, bhujangasana, inhale to lift up and then exhale come back to your downward facing dog, lift the hips up and back and breathe, good, on an inhale reach your right leg actively up to the sky and then exhale step your foot all the way through between your hands, spin the back heel down and we'll open up to Virabhadrasana II, Warrior II, so circling the arms open take a moment to arrive here, sink on in and then let that front knee land right over your ankle and then the knee is tracking over the second and third toe, so we're protecting our knees here, relax the shoulders, relax your gaze and then flip your front palm on an inhale reach up and back, reverse your warrior, as you're here straighten out through the front leg for reverse triangle and then hinging forward at the hips, let that left hip shift back and then bringing the right hand down reach the left arm up for triangle pose, beautiful and if it feels okay for this triangle let's find a half wrap, so we'll bring the left hand behind the back, allow that to open up through that left shoulder and then maybe gaze up, if that doesn't feel good in the neck remember we're nourishing here, maybe gaze down today that feels a little better for me this morning, beautiful and just allow a few more deep breaths continue to roll that left shoulder back, open up through the chest, beautiful and then to release out of here we'll rebend through the front leg, root down, rise back up to reverse your warrior, inhale and then circle hands all the way down to the earth, step back plank pose, your choice vinyasa or maybe right to down dog, maybe lower the knees as you lower in, cobra pose to lift the heart, inhale and then exhale back, downward facing dog and then left side as you're ready, inhale actively lift through the left leg, exhale step all the way through between your hands, spin the back heel down and then circle the arms open, warrior two, second side, take a moment to really just arrive here, so front knee again is right over the ankle, it's tracking over that second and third toe and then can you soften the shoulders, relax your gaze and come back to your breath, beautiful and we'll flip the front palm, keep the legs how they are at first and then reach up, tilt back as you're here, start to straighten through your front leg, you might shorten your stance just a little bit depending on what feels best for you and then hinge right hip back, left hand down, right arm up, triangle pose and again you can gaze up and you might take that half wrap again just encouraging right shoulder back, heart open, reaching through the crown of the head, breathing, beautiful and when you're ready to come out of there we'll rebend through the front leg, reverse warrior inhale, circle your hands all the way down, step back vinyasa if you'd like or right to downward facing dog, reaching the hips all the way up and back and then holding for just a few breaths, so allowing down dog to be a reminder to come back to your breath, to check in with how you feel and then recommit to nourishing yourself, good and then as you're ready let's lower the knees down to the earth and just take a moment to sit back on the heels, you're welcome to sit on a block here and then just taking the hands to the tops of the thighs, maybe bringing the palms to face up, relax the shoulders, maybe close the eyes and just check in with the breath, so again this practice is about taking really good care of you, so knowing when it's time to pause, knowing when it's time to slow down, it's really honoring that, so let's move into some expansive heart opening with dancing camels, so you might want to take a look at me first and then come into it whenever you're ready, I'm going to tuck my toes and then bring my left hand to my left ankle and then on an inhale my right arm's going to come across my face and up as I lift the hips up and lift up through the sternum, through the chest, maybe even the gaze and then the exhale will bring you back down towards your heels, switching sides right hand to the right ankle, let the left hand come in front of the face, lift up through the hips, maybe lift the gaze, that's the in-breath and then the exhale brings you back through center, so let's just move through a bunch of those, so inhale as you lift up, lengthen, open, exhale lower, inhale coming through the other side and just start to move at your own pace, it might feel nice to pause on one side or you're welcome to come into full camel pose, see if you can allow the breath to be the guide. So the breath tells you when to move, it tells you when to let go, when to pause and just allowing this to just feel some movement with the breath, maybe taking a few more rounds, inhaling as you come up, exhaling and inhaling, beautiful and then as you are done with that, again, we'll sit back on the heels, now you're welcome to grab a block here, if you'd like to take a block between your ankles, we're going to move into a cooling breath, so it's a tallie breath and it's going to look a little bit funny but I'm willing, so what you're going to do is stick out your tongue, curl up the sides of your tongue and then you'll move the breath in and out through your mouth, so you might want to watch first, stick out the tongue, maybe close the eyes, I would try to talk while doing that but it doesn't work, so when you're ready and actually this is not genetically possible for all of us, so if that's the case, no worries, you can make your mouth like a straw, like you're sucking in and out through a straw and it has that same cooling effect, so I'll show you that as well, okay, so I'm going to go back to curling my tongue, closing the eyes and just taking maybe five or six rounds and notice the temperature in your mouth as you do this, I'll give you space to try on your own.

And then letting that go as you're ready, swallow, take a moment to tune in and just notice any changes, feel the heartbeat and feel free to come to this breath anytime, you just need to cool down, calm the nervous system, really anytime at all, so we're going to move into just some cooling postures to conclude our practice, so coming into a nice seated twist, let your right leg go long, hug your left knee in towards your chest and then sit up nice and tall, take the left fingertips behind you, lengthen up through the spine and then on an inhale reach the right arm all the way up, now keeping that length in the spine, hook the right elbow on the outside of your left leg and then inhale to lengthen and exhale ease into the twist, now you can always hug the leg in if that feels a little bit more accessible to you, otherwise go ahead and hook the elbow and then find that rotation of the spine, maybe gazing toward the back of your mat or that left shoulder and again with every inhale lengthening, every exhale easing into the twist, good and then gaze toward the front of your mat first and then go ahead and release, we'll move into Janu Sarsasana, so bringing the left foot to the inner right thigh, let the left knee open up, keep that right leg straight out in front of you and then again just reconnect to your sitting bones, let them root down into the earth, flex through your right foot and then inhale reach the right arm or both of your arms straight up, feel the length in the spine and then leading with the heart go ahead and fold any amount over that front leg, so let your hands fall wherever they fall, they might find your foot, the earth, your shin but can you allow the heart to be the leader here and we'll take five breaths, with every inhale you might find a little bit more length, with every exhale releasing down, beautiful and then inhale, look forward and then exhale, release out of that side and just take a moment, straighten out both legs and just feel the difference between the left side and the right side, notice if there's any temperature difference, sensations that feel different and then we'll come into the other side as you're ready, so hugging the right knee into the chest, step the foot down to the earth and then allow your spine to lengthen, so you're sitting up nice and tall and then right fingertips behind, allow that to lengthen up through the spine and then inhale, left arm lifts up and as you exhale either hugging the right knee in or hooking the left elbow on the outside of the right and then recommit to lengthening, inhale to lengthen up and then exhale, find your twist, without forcing, allowing this to be a nice ringing out of the spine, ringing out of your practice, letting go, and then take one more big breath in, as you exhale take your gaze toward the front of the mat first and then release, let the inner or the right foot come to the inner left thigh and then we'll come into Janu Sarsana on side two, so let the right knee open up, left leg is nice and straight, again sit up nice and tall, inhale reach the arms up and then exhale leading with the heart, fold over that front leg, any amount and keep drawing the right hip back, lengthening through the spine, reaching out through the heart, through the crown of your head and then take about four or five breaths here, beautiful and then as you're ready we'll come out of that side, so inhale come all the way up and then again just straightening out the legs, take a moment to now notice the two sides, beautiful so as you're ready let's open the legs up wide, we'll come into a wide leg forward fold, so legs wide, flex the feet so that the toes are pointing straight up toward the ceiling and then again root down through your sitting bones and then you might stay right here, this might feel like enough for you today or any amount you can roll forward a little bit, let the pelvis roll forward and then maybe start to walk your hands forward for a wide leg forward fold, so stopping anywhere along the way, this is also a really nice place if you have a bolster, you can put a bolster under the front body or just allowing yourself to come forward maybe resting your head on a block or your hands and then be here with your breath good, allowing just a few more breaths here in this hold, notice where you feel this in the body and then try not to get too attached to what it should feel like, what it should look like, just meet yourself wherever you're at today that's always enough, exactly where you are, good and then as you feel ready let's slowly come out out of there because that can be pretty deep, good and then we'll take a moment to bring the legs back together, so reaching the legs out in front of you for Paschimottanasana, sitting up on the sitting bones flexing through the feet and there's one last forward fold, so inhale reach the arms up, keep the length in the spine and then leading with the heart will fold back over the legs, so let your hands fall wherever they fall and then on an inhale lengthen back out through the spine, lift the heart and then exhale, release and fold and breathe, if you want something a little bit more restorative here you can always bend the knees and hug your arms underneath your knees, just kind of use that as a pillow to rest your head down, beautiful just a few more full breaths here again just pressing the pause button especially in these holds, our mind can start to re-enter and try to take us into the rest of our day or remind us what we are forgetting to do and you know admittedly that's something that I struggle with, so allowing yourself the time to nourish and to rest you are worth it, good and then inhale come on up and then meet me on our backs, we'll roll down onto the backs and then step your feet wide as your yoga mat, reach your arms up over your head and just start to let your knees drop to the right so we'll windshield wiper the legs and one last ringing out of the spine, inhale let the knees come through center, exhale drop the knees to the left, you might gaze toward the opposite side as you move from side to side and inhale center, exhale right, one more time inhale center, exhale left, feel that massaging of the hips and then as you come through center, let's bring the soles of the feet together, knees wide for Supta Baddha Konasana and then bring one hand to your belly, maybe the right hand to the belly and left hand to the heart, let the elbows relax on the earth and then just take this last moment here to just check in, feel the heart beating underneath your hand, feel the belly expanding underneath the right hand and then allow that softening with every exhale. You're welcome to stay right here if you'd like, if this feels nice and soothing for you, stay as long as you like, otherwise we'll make our final transition into our final resting pose of Shavasana. So if you're coming into the shape of Shavasana, we'll stretch the legs out long and then let your feet roll open like books, so you're relaxing the entire leg and then maybe bring the palms to face up on either side of the body, arms away from the body, find some space here and then maybe lift up through the shoulders just a bit to let the shoulders roll down with the heart lift, close the eyes and just rest. So you are here. As you're ready, just slowly begin to breathe in, as you breathe in, as you breathe in, slowly begin to deepen your breath, allowing your awareness to come back into your physical body and inviting any gentle movements back in, maybe the fingertips, toes, ankles, wrists. Your next breath in, reach your arms up over your head, allowing a big full breath in, a full body stretch, maybe pointing through the feet. As you exhale, let a big sigh out the mouth, and then bend the knees, bring the soles of the feet to the earth, and gently roll to your right side, and as you roll to the right side, rest your head on your arm, and just take a moment to notice.

Notice what you notice, and then slowly we'll press our way up, finding a comfortable cross-leg seated position, bringing your hands to your heart, thank you so much for being here and practicing with me in day one, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, namaste.