Bring It On!

Yogis, bring it on. This is a practice to help you take on whatever life is bringing you and move that energy through with grace and ease to stay balanced and to anchor yourself in effortless effort. Sounds good, right? If you have two blocks, grab them. One will work, but I like to have one on each side of the mat so that I have anchors here.

Center yourself on the mat, feet a little wider than your hips, and slightly turned out, just feeling the weight shift from side to side, walking the hands towards the thighs and fingertips forward, and just allow one shoulder to drip across, come back to center, anchor it towards like a, I'm going to say second position plie, but that's deep, and then take the left leg or left shoulder across and shifting the weight, just side to side. Easy shifting. You can go in as low as makes sense in your body if you need to stay up a little higher for the shoulders, the low back, the knees, and just shifting. And then let this kind of walk the feet out a little bit wider, and then you'll shift the legs to a little lunge, and then the other side, a little more parallel now, a little wider, not too wide, and if you need your hands, you can always rest the fingertips on the floor, but just bringing some fluid energy into your base, and shifting right and left. Let the arms start to just pour, figure eight action through the hips, rinse it off, and this starts to shift you back up, and into the legs, and little by little, as you shift a little figure eight across, bring the feet back in.

Yeah, oh, coordination, hey, what, oh, it can get really fancy, yeah, back to yoga, okay, yoga town, and then come back in until your feet are about hips width apart. Plant your base, inhale all four corners of the feet, breathing into the earth, and then bring it on, inhale, the arms come forward, as you exhale, push down like you're pressing like a beach ball underwater, as you inhale, rising up, exhale, grounding, one more, inhale, back through the center, and then exhale, super easy, arms reach out to the side, you've got this current underneath you, this easy swaying, and then exhale back down through the center, out to the side, up and around, and then back through the center, one more, fluid shifting, back to the center, inhale, reach the arms out, and up, and then exhale back to center again, right down through the center line, and heel toe the feet out, take the arms out to the side, and then that little grounding, one more, parallel down and out, and then this time you're gonna go to the floor, fingertips in the roots of the earth, and then straighten the legs, bend the right leg, interlace the hands behind your back, or hold onto the hips if you need to stay a little higher, and then open your chest towards that right leg, exhale down through center, you're just gonna sift to the other side and then turn the chest to the left, bend the left leg, and again, skimming through the center, broad base, open the chest to the right, and then back down through the center, left leg bends, open the chest to the left, and come back through neutral, prosaureta, straighten the legs any amount, draw the shoulder blades towards the floor, lift your heart, lengthen through the spine, inhale, exhale, clear line of intention from the earth to the sky, pushing through the legs, reaching out through the spine, inhale, flat back lift, and then transition towards your right, so you're gonna crawl into a runner's lunge on the right side, and then lower the knee down, inhale, bring that wave on as though you're bringing the ocean into you, and then flex back, hamstring stretch, inhale, sweep it forward, exhale, bring it back down, one more, lift and shift, and then exhale, nice and easy, shift back to center, transition, little skandhasan, side to side, left leg bends, right leg straight, right leg bends, left leg straight, shift back to the left, walk hand over hand, come into your runner's lunge, inhale, back knee down, reach out, sweep it up, and then take that little body wave back, flex through the front foot, inhale, exhale, back down, humble, one more, up, and breathe it back down, and then shift into your lunge, transition towards prasarita skandhasan, right leg bends, little spontaneous flow, side to side, and then going back to the right, so here we'll come into our runner's lunge, but stay high on the ball of the back foot, walk your tented fingertips slightly catty corner to the edge of your mat here, so you're high up on the fingertips, lift through your core like you're sucking the legs back into the body, and then rise up onto the balls of the feet, so you're lifted, nice and high, here's our rogue chaturanga, yeah, little push up, now skim through, let the hips drop a little bit, the heart lifts up nice and high, on the forced arch, again, chaturanga, elbows can flow out to the side a little bit, and then skim through, up dog, splash it open, one more, little push up, scrub the shoulders down the back, lift through, and then exhale, release, skandhasan, this time comes into a nice deep lunge to the left, and then shift the tide to the right, and then shift back to the left, transition, come into your runner's lunge, take it off diagonally towards that corner of the mat, so you're walking out in front of the left foot, then high on the ball of the back foot, suck it up through the pelvic floor, lift onto the balls of both feet, and then exhale, take your push up, inhale, dive on through, hips draw down, heart rebounds up, exhale, chaturanga, high-tented fingers, you're building the strength in the wrists, take your push up one more time, and then splash it open and through, exhale, shift back, hand over hand, right leg bends, left leg straight, skandhasan, shift to the left, go back to the right, who needs vinyasa when you've got that number, huh? Well we do, so let's do it here now, plant your hands, step back, top of a push up, inhale, rock forward, exhale, chaturanga dandasana, come all the way down, uncurl your toes, pick your hands up, move them back slightly, and then scrub the shoulders down the back, float your up dog, exhale, coil back, downward facing, reset, take a big breath in, and then the right leg lifts up, exhale, step it forward and through, warrior two base this time, so you'll turn the back foot in and flat, cartwheel the arms back up, and then anchor down through your warrior base, inhale, exhale, let the palms float open and up, and then sweep the right arm up and back, left arm forward across the body, moving the energy, yeah, so whatever's coming up, let it come up and through, yeah, up and over, it's reverse, and then this fluid parsvakanasana energy, and come back to center, lift the heel of the right foot, oh there it is, and then exhale, lower, go a little deeper, and then release through skandhasana, left leg bends, right leg bends, like seaweed energy through the spine as you shift back to the left, come into a runner's lunge on the left side, and we'll step back, top of a pushup, inhale, pull your chest forward, lift the navel lower all the way down, uncurl the toes, walk the hands back slightly, building your up dog from the ground up, and then exhale flowing back to down dog, inhale, left leg sweeps up, massage it forward and through, let the foot, warrior two base, spinning the back foot, foot down and flat, you're going to lift up, aligning through the inner left thigh, left knee moving over the second and third toes, and then the palms flip open, see if you can study yourself here, this push pull, the ceiling of the back foot, the lifting up and out of the working leg, and then move the energy, reverse it, right arm comes across the body, left arm on top, and then float it back out, hands free, parshvakanasana, and back up, and floating back down, if you're slipping bring that back foot in a little bit, and then lift the left heel, and you deepen, inhale, rib cage floats right on top, and then surrender, shift it back, skandhasan, right leg bends, and then the left leg, and then back to the right leg, come on back to your runner's lunge, from here putting it together, walk the right hand in front of the foot, coming catty corner out over the leg, lift up balls of the feet, vinyasa variation, chaturanga just once, I know you wanted to do a couple more, but just the once, and then press back, plant your foot, warrior to base, whoo, just float it up, and over, one more back up, and then we'll cartwheel on down, step back through your flow, this time if you want to piece it together, plank, rock forward, exhale, chaturanga, low push up position, inhale, upward facing, shrug the shoulders down the back, exhale, coil back, downward facing dog, inhale, take the right leg, lift it high, draw it across the body in a figure four, bending the left leg, maybe walk the hands in a touch, and then come into the pocket here, pressing the chest towards the thigh, thigh towards the chest, hips a little higher, gathering the mat between the palms, and then step the right leg forward, skandhasan, turn the left leg out, inhale, left side sweeps, right side sweeps, and then rinse it back to the left, come into your runner's lunge, go off road, so you're going to walk inside the left foot, rise up, balls of the feet, buoyant, exhale, bring it on as you flow through the upward facing, exhale, reset, warrior two base, drop the tail down, cartwheel the arms up, keep it moving, reverse, up and over, back to the right arm down, left arm high again, and then cartwheel up and around, plant your hands, step back, strong plank, inhale, exhale, chaturanga, inhale, upward facing dog, exhale, coil back, downward facing, inhale, glide the shoulders down the back, root through the right foot, and bring the left leg across in the figure four, sit down like chair pose here, pressing the chest towards the thighs, one more big breath, gather the thumbs together, and then push off, step that leg forward, left leg bends, skandhasan, sit deep, and then shift to the right, to the left, and to the right, one more time, and then transition, ball of the foot through the lunge, chaturanga, inhale, open up high on the fingertips, exhale, warrior two base, cartwheel up and open, reverse. Now this time when you come up and over, we're going to shift our weight into half moon pose, so we reach back, we take all of this energy, we cartwheel it up and over, fingertips touch to the block, and then glide the left leg in and up, reach up towards sunlight, we're all plugging into the same sunshine here, deepest breath of the day, and then step back down, light, easy step, reverse it, and then from here, cartwheel back down, take your flow, downward facing, you could stay, catching any of those waves of vinyasa that we've been working with, and coiling back, downward facing dog, take that right leg forward, skandhasan, right leg bends, left leg straight, and then sweep across, left side, right side, a little rebound to the left, go right out into your lunge, off the edge of the mat, yes, dive in, chaturanga, open up towards your up dog, and then reset, warrior two base, cartwheel the arms up, reverse it, come up and over, moving the energy through, and then this next time as you come up and over, you're going to shift cartwheel into half moon, gathering your purpose, gathering your strength, bring on the balance, right here, right now, inhale, exhale, step it back, square through, step on back your vinyasa, exhale to lower, inhale heart opening, exhale, downward facing, breathe in, breathe out, inhale, left leg floats up, step it through, plant your foot, and then this time come back to prasarita and pause, inhale fingertips, peace signs, gotta keep spreading the peace y'all, and then hook your big toes, inhale, lengthen through the heart row, the shoulders back and up, and dive in, crown at the head towards the floor, lifting and shifting the weight slightly forward towards the balls of the feet, and then gently come back up to surface, like you're taking a big breath of fresh air in, transition towards the right leg, reset, you're welcome to take a vinyasa here, or meet in child's pose, exhale, all the energy moving freely, let it rise up, fingertips come back behind you and just puff your chest up here, leading with the heart, consider lifting through the hips, pressing the pelvis forward and upward and letting your head fall back under a waterfall, you might stay here, or exhale, come back to center, hands to heart, lifting up, knees hips width, offering the heart, sending the arms behind, flipping through the palms, lift the front body into the back body, zip it all up through the central channel, and then inhale, heart lifts, perhaps exhale, dropping back slightly, and consider if it's for you today, walking the hands towards the heels, and then lifting through the chest, deepest breath of the day, hug the inner thighs together, walk your hands back to the heart, and let your heart pour forward, child's pose, inhale, lengthen forward to plank, taking all of that opening, all of that awakening through the front body, the heart center, inhale, right leg lifts, exhale, transition, warrior two base, cartwheel the arms back up and stay open, uplifted here, connected through the center, shift your energy up and over towards the block, fingertips light touch, and then stand steady, step into your strength here, inhale, exhale, bend through the left leg, come to kick the heel toward you, and then kick the leg away from you, breathing into japasana here, use the top side body, that left side body so much that you might even, whoo, she got it, take the arm up, yes, what, breathe into some forgiveness through that standing leg, whoo, yes, bend it, free it, and then step back, reverse, give yourself another pat on the back, because that was no easy path, bow forward, prasarita, and peace fingers, do your big toes there, lift up, exhale, melt forward, transitioning to the left side, walk hand over hand, adjust your base for warrior two, and then cartwheel the arms up, inhale, anchor down, nice and rooted, reach up and out and over those left toes, plant your fingertips on the block and rise up, whoo, yes, building the strength in that standing leg, bend it in, now lift up through your right side waist, and see if you can't get a hold of that foot, luckily I have these fancy straps here I can hold on to, but I don't want to get all tangled up as I reach and kick and lift and breathe, scandasana, maybe the bottom arm for a second, comes up, yes, and then we're back down, stepping back to your warrior base, whoo, bring it on, standing balance, forward fold, back to prasarita, and then come back to your home base of those figure eights, scandasana, let it all just smooth out, and then transfer your weight back towards the right leg, shift towards the front of your mat in that lunge, and step back downward facing, right hand comes to the outer left ankle, twist underneath, breathe in, replace your paws here, and then left paw comes across to the opposite ankle, twist, exhale, plant your hands, and then gently bend the knees, and lower all the way down, child's pose, smooth it all out, inhale, let your exhale just pour out, inhale, draw your energy forward, up and out of the earth, extend the right arm up towards the sky, and then thread it across the heart, ear to the earth, tucking the chin towards the chest a bit, and then do what feels good with these arms, might feel nice to even drop back into it a little bit, or to open a little wider, and taking the top arm even behind your back, releasing with each exhalation, unfolding, and coming back to center, reach back through, little cat cow circles, and just moving in whatever way feels good to you, as you transition to the other side, inhale, the left arm high to the sky, and then scoop across, threading the needle here, and again there's just this really nice opportunity to settle in, tucking the chin, perhaps stacking again, top arm, right arm comes behind, releasing, unwinding back down, inhale, skim forward, just wag it out, head and tail, tucking, wagging, circling, bringing all that movement back to center. Now that we're grounded and taking up all this space, let's settle in for a little Shavasana.

Starting two blocks, the first one is going to go on its highest level, and this will be to support the skull. Second block, lengthwise, right between the shoulder blades at about the base of the scapula, right along the spine, and then extending the legs out, perhaps, as you reset the block, placing it underneath your noggin, oh yeah, this is the good stuff, I think I'm going to plant my feet for a moment until I, oh, or forever, yeah, bring it on sky, wide open, infinite possibilities above here, just let your heart soar, feel these strong roots in the earth, and come into final relaxation, releasing through the back of the neck, upper jaw, lower jaw, slide apart, and do what feels right with your feet, and if you want to extend, let them, or even open them up, because we've been working a lot to anchor in the hips, maybe let this energy unfold, and awaken through the heart center, infinite possibilities. Awesome, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Take a deep inhale plant your feet and stretch the arms up and over. Bring the hands to prayer overhead and pull that energy in patient. Open hands to heart as you roll off to your side. And then shift your weight up towards seated. Come to sit however you're comfortable.

Plant your fingertips in the earth and just feel how rooted. Anchored in acceptance, grounded in the healing quality of your breath, with your heart wide open, your mind clear. Bring the hands to your heart, bow humbly forward. Namaste.