Fluid Grounding

This practice is a fluid grounding flow that will help you tap into your core and center you. We'll start seated at the top of the mat in a comfortable cross-legged position. If this isn't so comfortable, you could prop yourself up a little higher, maybe sit on a blanket or a bolster. And with the right leg in front, come into a deep grounding breath and sort of settle in to your base here. Since the breath moving in four parts, on an inhale for four, suspend for four, exhale four, and be still for this nice balanced rhythm. Sitting with the palms up to receive energy or palms down to ground. Inhaling, belly, ribs, chest, suspend. Four count suspension. Exhale, soften the chest, gather the ribs, integrate through the naval center, be still. Four count stillness. Inhaling. I'm just feeling this balanced, tied, centered and held for four, releasing, anchoring at the bottom of the exhale for four.

Breathe the hands to the heart with your next breath, bow the chin to your chest, looking into your heart to set an intention, allowing that energy to guide you here. And on an inhalation, rise up, stretch the arms out to the side, just moving consciously, extending upward. Exhale, pull the prayer down and into your heart. In this heart centered practice, reach out and up, bring all good things in, impatient, open. Good. One more inhale, expanding, suspending. Exhale, grounding, and take the palms to your shins. On an inhalation, glide your heart forward, this heart-led practice, stir to your right in a ribcage scoop, in, back, chin to chest, and then keep on circling to your left, Sufi rolls to release the low back, start to churn some energy at the base, and build synovial fluid through the hips, so you can feel really grounded and balanced, and come back to center. Inhale, rise up, let the shoulders hike up, anything you're holding on to, exhale, let it go.

Sweep the arms out and up again. Each time, just do all good things, set into motion while your heart felt intention here. Turn to your right, tent the back hand, carve the left palm, back of the hand against the knee there, anchoring through the hips. Easy twist, and then lengthen through the back arm, the right arm, and lean diagonally up and over and out. Turn the chest towards the sky, navel in, and then exhale, release the hand back down, and turn and twist back to the left. This time, as you inhale, plant that back hand, inhale, rise up. We're going to take a little ride here, yeah, this is the sit and spin, you ready? Okay, this will wake you. Walk your hands back, keep turning to the left, keep twisting to the left, wow, down dog.

For your first down dog of the day, maybe take a little time to make peace with it, bending and straightening through the legs, gathering intention here through the palms. And then walk the hands in a little bit towards you, bend the knees, keep turning to your left, to your left, to the left, to the left, oh, there it was, I did it, yes, and I ground it back down. Left leg is magically in front, and if it's not, just switch them. Inhale, take your heart forward, glide to the left now, reach back, navel towards the spine, and scooping to the right. Just easy and smooth circles, rocking over the hips. Just like a massage from the inside out, feels really good, swoopy circles.

And then come on back to center, inhale, rise up, anything you don't need, drop it off, exhale. And then reach the arms out and up, turning and twisting towards your left this time, we were just there, and then press the outer arm against the leg, ground through the outer hips, root and rise up, navel moves in, and then float the back arm, the left arm is now going to reach up and over, diagonal reach, leaning towards that front right corner of the mat. Turn your torso up towards the sky, and then exhale, release. Come back across the center, twisting to your right, inhale, and then you're going to keep on keeping on to the right, turning over your right shoulder, crawl it out, down dog, just check it in, massage it out here, bend the knees, come into the pocket, almost like a teaser for a child's pose, but not yet, yeah. Come back towards your down dog, rooting through the heels, walk the hands back toward you a little bit, and then bend the knees, pivot, knees and toes to the right, keep turning to the right, to the right, to the right, it's not a song, but it's just as fun, and then you come back down, look, there they are, right legs in front, inhale, dive through a wave, exhale, coil back around and hug it in, inhale, dive through a wave, exhale, hug it back, one more, you're going to scoop it up, rise up, and then this time coming all the way down, plant your feet, you can use your hands to assist this as you lie back, and then set your base for bridge, so the feet will walk in just a little, you'll lie down, walk the feet out as wide as your mat, windshield wiper the legs, knees drop to the left, navel coils in, and it's the exhalation that creates this transition, knees drop right, and shift it left, easy breathing, and right, come back to center, plant your feet for your bridge, walk the heels in a bit, press down through the soles of the feet, use your palms to anchor, and then root through the feet as you curl the tail up, rise, little snuggle, fess there with the shoulders as they come together underneath the body, clasping the hands perhaps, if that's too much, you could always hold onto the edges of your mat and try to peel the mat apart and get that nice opening through the upper back, magnetize the knees together like you're holding a block between the inner thighs, and then exhale, drip it down one vertebrae at a time, hug the knees into your chest, and stir it up here, so you'll take that same essence of the Sufi rolls and this circular action to the right, massaging the low back, nice to keep a hold of the knees, but if you want a little bit more core work, you could, oh, go hands-free there, really find that lift of the pelvis, switch the direction, inhaling, and exhaling, nice deep ujjayi in and out through the nose, four-four breath rhythms are our base here today to stay nice and grounded in the mind, hug the knees into your chest, curl in, come back to center, and then you can use your hands on the hamstrings, or if you've got that, oh, I don't know if I have it yet, that little core wake-up call, oh, tap the toes down, yeah, or walk your hands up a bit, and we're going to take a little moment to alley-oop, cross the ankles, and crawl forward, I'm going off-road, so I'm going to come on back here, onto the mat, come to all fours, and then take an inhale, hug your heart forward, exhale, coil in, get around, spread the space between the shoulder blades, cat-cow, inhale, rising up, wrapping the outer arms in, exhale, one more time, inhale, lengthen and lift, exhale, tether the navel towards the sky, come to neutral here, shift the hips back to child's pose, and sense this nice base that you can come home to at any point when you need to rest, come back to that counted breath, inhale, shifting forward, all fours, hands under shoulders, you're going to lift and lengthen through your right leg, and extend the left arm, so there's a diagonal reach happening here, you can keep the back ball of the foot on the floor, or as you suck the limbs back into the center, lift that back leg, exhale, coil in, get around, knee to nose, and then inhale, extend it back out, exhale, coil in, knee to nose, and then send it back out, one more, hug it in, and send it back out, plant your left hand down, stack your base for a sense of plank here, curl the left toes under, and then pike the hips up, three-pointed down dog, inhale, exhale, lift the right leg just a little bit, and then swing it through, knee to nose, and then take it up, knee to nose, just three, right down the center, last one, and then place the right foot through your hands, come into a low runner's lunge, inhale, arms lift nice and high, and then sweep the right arm back behind you, either to that outer left hip, or walking the right arm down the outer left thigh, pull the low belly in, front rim of the pelvis lifts, and then you're going to stretch up and back, the whole front body wide open, and then exhale, plant the palm, lift that back knee, sweep the right arm out, up and around, and then just let it circle, unless all this good energy is circulating here, maybe even circle at the wrist, free and easy, last one, plant your palms, step back, downward facing dog, notice the difference in the legs, inhale, exhale, coil forward, child's pose, and on your next inhalation, flow forward all fours, stacking hands directly underneath your shoulders, lengthen through the left leg this time, reaching back, and then the right arm extends, keep ball of the foot there on the floor, or as you press into the top of the right foot, lift the left leg in, exhale, get around and gather, inhale, extend the energy, exhale, inhale, one more, exhale, and inhale, lift the belly, plant your palms, curl the right toes under, and then build this strong base as you pull back three-pointed down dog, draw the shoulders towards the hips and wrap the outer shoulders around your armpits nice and connected here as you pull it through, top of a push-up, knee to nose, and then rebound, nice long line, stay integrated when you extend the leg without spilling the ribcage forward, I'm saying it for myself, right, and then from here, step that left foot forward and through, back knee planted, inhale, you're going to reach on out and up, square off, find the scissoring action through the hips, and then the left arm, oh, it's a little twist as you reach back behind, take the left arm either to help square the hips, or you can walk that left arm down the outer hip and then root and rise, hugging the outer hips, lifting the front rim of the pelvis, exhale, pull your heart forward, hand down, lift through the back leg, knee lifts, left arm extends, and you just start those little circles, smoothing out, and moving through the wrist maybe, one more, inhale, plant the fingertips there, and then, oh, I gave it away, step forward and plant your feet, there it is, forward fold, feet hips width, knees easy, do what feels so good with the arms, if it's wrapping, clasping, just flowing, even side to side, right, what feeds your intention, what is the vibration, the rhythm of healing in your own body, honor that, heel toe the feet together, and sit your hips down as you sweep the arms up for deep chair pose, and then, oh, brush that off, right, let's rinse that away, inhale, rise, exhale, clearing, inhale, rise, feeling a little breeze now, and a little momentum, with the next Utkatasana, we're gonna sit down, maybe even all the way down, oh, made it, plant your feet on the floor, so this is an alternative Vinyasa, yeah, as you lift the hips, come into bridge, upward facing heart opening, exhale, lift your heels, drip down one vertebrae at a time, draw the knees into your chest, palms by your side, and then take one little lift, tap the toes, two, rolling through the length of the spine, and the last one is gonna lift us all the way to standing, did you make it? I'm surprised I made it too, we stand tall, lift the heart, hands to heart, and pause, breathing in, and out, inhale, arms sweep out, reach up, exhale, sit down, deep chair, Utkatasana, bring the hands to your heart, this time the left leg, come to the ball of the foot here, lift that knee, and cross the ankle over the right thigh, coming into temple dancer pose, inhale, press into the palms and feel the spine lift, just launching your energy, and then from here, come back to center, and pull the knee in towards your chest, right hand holds the knee, left arm is gonna sweep up and back and around again, as you keep the pelvis square, can you rotate through the thoracic spine, maybe, even take your gaze to that back thumb, use the core to hold the leg up, right, it's not a bunch upper body, and then inhale, exhale, step back, long line coming into a long lunge here, breathe in, breathe out, sweep the left hand down, right arm up, little twist, and then circle back to center, warrior two, base, adjust your right foot, cartwheel the arms back up, inhale, press down, exhale, sweep the right arm back, and then sweep back towards the center, square it off, plant your hands, step back downward facing dog, tread it out, inhale, exhale, bend your knees, look forward, step or hop to meet the mat, inhale, half lift, exhale, bow, inhale, sit down, deep chair, bring the hands to the heart, and then lift up and across, right leg lifts, take it across for your temple dancer, and then pull the prayer into your heart, anchored in your intention here, imbalance, inhale, rise up, pulley that knee up towards your chest, left hand gathers at the knee, navel turns, and then take that right arm up and around, circling back, now again the gaze can stay right where you are, or maybe you access just a little more rotation, and look back towards the thumb, inhale, sweep back to center, exhale, step back in that long lunge, and you're going to lean out over it, exhale, adjust your stride, warrior tube ace, cartwheel the arms up, press down through the outer arms, and then you're going to sweep it across, a little lean to the right, and then gently push back towards your base, plant your hands, step back, downward facing dog, and breathe in, breathe out, gather your purpose, bend your knees, look forward, light hop or easy step to the top of your mat, come halfway up, push off, exhale, dive back in, sit down into your deep chair, you could stay here, or oh here's your vinyasa, yes, exhale, plant your feet, lie back this time, perhaps you hold onto the ankles, or walk the hands inside the ankles to press apart, and lift up, snuggle under, one big breath here, and then gently lower it down, draw the knees in, rocking up and back once, twice, oh I hope we make it through time, is the charm, as you use your hands to assist a little bit, coming into chair pose, stand tall, exhale hands to heart, inhale, lift and shift the weight to your right leg, zip up the belly and center yourself here, maybe keep the ball of the left foot on the floor, or just bend through the left leg, it's not about getting a hold of that leg, you could always walk the hand to the hip, and sort of sandwich the front and the back body together there, inhale, thread a straight energetic line from the right foot to the right fingertips, and then if you get a hold of that foot, kick it away from you to see saw and balance your effort here, find a little play in that standing leg as you need, and then kick as you bow, inhale, square hips, square ribs, square shoulders, open heart, exhale coming up, bring the knee in, give it a little kiss, and then send the leg back, come into that long deep lunge, pause here, if you have a block handy, which if I could, oh my arms are getting longer so I can almost reach the block, this is good, so find your block here, and set it out the front of the mat, as we lengthen through the back leg and lift, we're going to keep the same nice straight line of action through the hips, and then place the block on the left side so that you can lightly touch it and push off, warrior three base, but we're going to rotate now, pulling the navel in towards that right hand, lifting through the back leg, inner thigh to inner heel, and then if you find some fearlessness, I don't know if I can take my eyes off that spot on the floor, but I'm going to go for it, because then I'm going to see beautiful flowers and beautiful ocean and the sky, I'm going big, and then exhale, plant your hands, shift the block, step it back, downward facing dog, feeling good, treading it out, inhale, roll forward, this time if you like, take the knees down and move through a seamless offering of vinyasa, upward facing dog or cobra, meet back, child's pose, breathe in, open the mouth, exhale, any anticipation about the other side, and then reconnect with your intention, downward facing dog, inhale, bend your knees, springy, light and lifted, fly to the top of the mat, half lift, exhale bow, inhale, sit down deep chair, and then push through the sky, come to stand tall, steady your gaze, lift and shift the weight to your left leg, and then again you might stay right on the ball of the foot, toes in the sand, sense that the legs are lifting from the center and then bend through that right leg, yeah connected, inhale, left hand is going to reach out, maybe hold on with that right foot, but again it's not about the grip, it's about what we're letting go of, which is the ego as we kick forward and test our balance, fluid, grounded, smooth, exhale, lift from the pelvic floor, top of the pubic bone, lifting back up, release the leg, pull it in, and then exhale, step it long and back, adjust your footing so you're in a nice relationship to the hips here, not on a tight rope, and then find your block to set about six inches out in front of the left foot, and that's the basis support for your right fingertips here, walking the shoulder, or the fingertips under the shoulder, yeah, so if it's in too close it's really hard, you gotta kind of elongate through the spine, lift through the inner right thigh, navel, heart, and then start to rotate, oh I'm coming at you, oh there I am, hey there we are, we're in this together, okay inhale, peel your outer left hip back and down, and then this time step it all back, shift your block off, plant your palms, we're all going for it, we're gonna take that old school vinyasa, right, inhale pull forward, lower the knees if you need, otherwise chaturanga dandasana, inhale, peel it open, upward facing flow, exhale knees down, child's pose, let it soak in, take a deep breath, inhale, exhale downward facing dog, pike the hips up, shrug the shoulders off, lift the heels, bend your knees, and then float to the top of your mat, inhale, exhale empty it out, inhale sit back down, last little flow here, we're gonna sit all the way down, and then plant your feet perhaps holding onto the ankles, lifting, walk the shoulders underneath, steer the back of the heart forward, and then exhale lift the heels, drip it back down, draw the knees in once, there we go twice, I'm sweating, the third one we're gonna come all the way up, rock and roll, no hands, exhale bring your block a little closer as you come into your chair, so we're gonna take this nice expansive energy we've been working to create here, and then just come up and over for that revolved half moon with a little twist, yeah, that's redundant but you'll see what I mean, okay, so sit on down deep chair, inhale, exhale bring the hands to your heart, from here you're just gonna push off the edge, push off the edge, and let the left leg float, balanced, breathing, steady, walk the block underneath your left fingertips here, hug the navel into the palm of the hand, and then reach the arm up nice and high, now see if with breath you can start to bend that knee in toward you and lift the thigh a little bit higher, a lot of good glute work going on here, the arm reaches back behind you to find that elusive foot, square it off, kick into it, reach and rise be bold and daring taking your heart out over the edge there, inhale, chapasana variation, exhale without slingshotting it, and then you're gonna circle the arms back down, adjust your block, take your flow, maybe this time with the right leg lifted, because man it is done being on the floor, take your knee down, skim on through, knee, chin, chest open hearted, exhale, knees down, child's pose, one big breath in, let go, exhale, inhale, reinvent yourself here in your down dog, lift the hips right away, bend the knees and then spring to the top of your mat, inhale, half lift, exhale sit it down, deep chair, bring your hands to your heart and stand tall, inhale lift and shift to the left leg, paint that right leg back, warrior three base, inhale press down, root through that left ball of the foot, left big toe, and then take the block under your right hand, get longer, push off the edge, square the hips, hollow out the right low belly and then open up, inhale pull your heart forward and then bend that back leg, lifting the quad, and try that a couple times, just bending and extending to try to maybe reach the hand back, and here's how we cultivate awareness, right, I don't have eyes in the back of my head, or do I, yes, no I do, oh yeah I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it, and then kick into that back leg, lift and square it all off, energized, exhale release, stepping back, sweep the left leg up high so we can have a moment to celebrate, and then inhale pull forward, lift the navel lower the right knee, chin just slither on through, last up dog, maybe you let it swing out a little, and then exhale knees down, palms together elbows forward offering up that prayer of intention, just feeling the vibration lifted, so much energy to draw from, release the hands, roll up towards seated, and then we earned a nap here so we're going to find our way onto our backs, and settle in, enjoy the dismount here as you come on back, come on down, take your palms and press them into the thigh bones traction the hips, you can even need it out a little here side to side, and then take the next breath to find a nice easy feeling, hips could circle, so we come back to the beginning of this little wash cycle in the low back switch direction saying thank you to the low back for all that standing work, and it's a massage for the glutes each time you circle over your cheeks there, come back to neutral, draw the knees in, plant the left foot on the floor, right leg comes across it's temple dancer figure four essence on the back, thread the needle there and draw the knee in, rock it out, there's a nice opportunity to deepen this here if you like twist taking the legs to your left and your gaze rolls open to the right, often the leg drops down with it, but today let's press the left hand against that inner thigh and just open up the outer hips, again, feel so good after the standing work, so you're at a 90 degree angle and the figure four you drop across and you'll know when you're there because you'll feel it, it's an awakening through that outer right hip, come back to center, plant your feet, rinse it a little, and then the left leg comes across, drawing the knees in, just finding some freedom, some ease, thread the arms through, again this may be enough, if you're open to it, walk the legs at the 90 degree angle across, twisting to your right, that right hand, then just assist the stretch and you can actively press and turn your gaze to the left, inhale, exhale, let it all fall away and come back to center, bring the knees with you, piece fingers to your big toes and then either extend one leg, left leg out, right leg, or perhaps both legs, happy baby, open wider, upavishta, and shrug the shoulders down the back, take the deepest breath of the day, sigh it out, bring the legs back together, and plant your feet, shavasana, yes, if there's any last thing your body's wanting, just gently find your way into the transition, straighten the legs, come back to your four-four breath rhythm, this balanced rhythm, inhale through the soles of the feet, four count, inhalation all the way up to the crown of the head, suspend for four, exhale, press down and out of the body, out through the soles of the feet, four counts, and be still in that space of trust, four counts.

Thank you. Thank you. Sets the constant flow of energy coming up and out of the earth into your body, feeling the earth in your bones, in the ocean, in your veins, each wave of your breath. And with this, plant your feet, connect it, roll off to your side, and your heart overflowing here, your heartfelt intention rooted in the earth, and push it down into the earth a little deeper as you press up, and come to sit, and drawing the hands to the heart once again, and coming back to your intention as you bow your chin to your chest, looking into the light of the heart, allowing the light of the heart to shine a clear path for you today. Thank you for gracing me with your practice.

Namaste.