Freeing Flow

Hi guys, and welcome back to the mat. Today we have our freeing practice. Every flow tends to be freeing, but this one will focus a little bit on opening up the shoulders, opening up the hip flexors, and maybe even finding a little momentum, a little more momentum in your vinyasa. We'll be moving from the front to the back of the mat often, just for fun. And if you know that you prefer or love a block for your half moon postures, if your hamstrings are tight and you have two blocks, place one at the front of your mat and one at the back of your mat as well.

All right? To begin, let's come to hands and knees. And find that tabletop and then mess it up. Begin to circle your hips. Hips can go all the way back to the heels.

And as you come forward, you'll be warming up your wrists, an important part of this warmup. Now as you circle your hips, think cat-cow, arching and rounding the spine. This is free form, freestyling. You might feel a serpentine pattern start to emerge, opening up hips, shoulders, and lengthening the neck. Now at some point, we'll reverse the direction in which you're circling the hips.

And for a moment, you might lose your mojo. Just think cat-cow. And the pattern will start to emerge as well. One more roll. And then take it back to child's pose.

Breathing in. Breathing out. Inhale, slide your hands close to your knees, coming upright. Exhale, bring your fingertips to the back of the mat. Inhale, dip your hips up, approaching the little camel spine.

And then exhale, drag your hands forward. Now arch, and exhale, lower all the way down to your stomach. Bring the hands wider than your mat and lift the hood of your cobra up. Here we'll turn again, shoulders free, head is free, feel it out. Just circulating your way, you can close your eyes at some point, circling the other way.

Just like to do their own thing, being in your body and listening to its story, to what it needs right now. After your last revolution, settling in and bringing your hands close to your low ribs, we'll pass through hands and knees and then take it back, downward facing dog. Going downward dog, bring your big toes together and walk your feet in a little closer, slightly shorter down dog. Inhale, lift your right leg up. Exhale, bend the right knee, open up the hip, peak underneath your left arm, circle that ankle a little bit or kick through the leg, whatever feels opening and freeing.

We'll inhale, straighten the right leg, come forward to plank and sneak that knee towards the left arm, back over to the right and up. What turns out to be a bit of a figure eight, sliding in, opening up, sliding through, opening up. Knee comes in and scoops past the arms, open up, last time, staying. Find your right fingertips and pop up onto them, making your right hand into a spider and draw that spider towards the middle of the mat with the top leg bent or not. You could stay getting a little stronger in the abs and working on your balance there.

Breathing in and then bring the right hand back, down dog, split, kicking through the right heel. Breathe in, exhale, right foot forward into a low lunge. Make your low lunge even lower, tapping the back knee down and inhale, swing your arms up to the capyasana, low lunge. Exhale, fingertips come back as you lengthen the right leg and fold into a straight leg stretch with the head close to the shin like pyramid pose. Next inhale, bend the front knee, tap your back knee down and open up.

Exhale, take it back, hands to the mat as you lengthen front leg. Two more, bend the front knee, tap the back knee, bring the arms up, exhale, flow it back with the head melting towards the shin. Now bring your right hand on the inside of the foot and walk your way through a straddle turning towards the back of the mat in a low lunge. Step your left foot back and lower your knees. Inhale one cow pose, exhale, set your hips back to child's pose.

Take a breath in and a breath out. Inhale, slide your hands close to your knees and bring your upper body up to sit. Slide the fingertips back, inhale, pitch the hips open, open up the heart, exhale, hips down to heels and drag your hands forward again. Inhale one cow pose and lower all the way down to the earth. Bring your hands into the floorboards and this time lift up to that nice wide open cobra and look for a little finesse.

If you drop one shoulder, will that lengthen and find some freedom in that side? To the other side, if you drop a shoulder, can you find that length in the side body? Breathing in, breathing out, just dancing that cobra, maybe nodding your head, finding freedom in the movement, freedom in the body. We're going to bring the lower ribs down and bring the hands close to them, passing through hands and knees on the way to downward facing dog. Breath in, breath out.

Bring the big toes together and just a couple inches closer to your hands. Inhale, bring your left leg up, bend the left knee, open up the hip, maybe a few ankle rolls are kicking through that left heel, peeking underneath your right arm and finding what feels good. Next inhale, straighten that left leg, down dog split. As you come forward to plank, bring the knee towards the right arm to the left and up in a figure four action. Coming forward, sweeping the knee underneath you and bringing the leg up.

Coming forward, knee sweeps and up, last time, maybe some momentum here and then landing in the down dog split. Find your left hand and pop onto the fingertips, making a spider of the left hand and consider bringing the left hand towards the center of your mat for a little more balance here. Left leg can be straight or bent, still breathing in, breathing out. Place your left hand into down dog split again and bring the left foot to the left thumb in a low lunge. Make the lunge even lower, tapping the back knee down, kapyasana, swing those arms up.

Exhale, fingertips come back and you lengthen the front leg, bowing into the hamstring stretch. Let's flow. Inhale, come forward, kapyasana, the back knee comes down, arms up. Exhale, hands come down and bow, swinging into the hamstring stretch. Inhale, lowest lunge, swing the arms up.

Exhale, hands come down, lengthen left leg, hamstring stretch. Take a breath in there and then exhale, bend your front knee and bring your hands on the inside of the foot, walking towards the front of the mat again. Looking back, plank pose, any vinyasa you wish, maybe chaturanga. Inhale, up dog. Exhale, downward facing dog.

Breathing in and breathing out, bending the knees and taking a walk to the front of the mat and setting your feet up at least as wide as your hips, totally fine for them to be even a little wider. And lengthen spine, flat back. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, rise, reach your arms overhead and lace your hands behind your head, cupping the back of your head. On the inhale, lift up and begin to rotate to the right, drawing your obliques in.

Let the momentum open you up but keep that girdle-like hugging in around the waist. One more, exhale, find yourself in a forward fold. You can use the hands to traction the head a little bit and then swing your arms up and over your head, lacing your fingers together behind your low back. Begin to lengthen the arms. Breathing in and breathing out, breathing in and lower the hands to the earth.

Left foot steps back now, left foot back, inhale, come on up, high lunge. Breathing in and breathing out. Today especially, find a little buoyancy in the shape. Nothing's really held in the asanas. There's always that subtle internal vinyasa of the breath.

I'm just dramatizing by bobbing the knees a little bit. Inhale and exhale. Inhale, exhale, hands to the mat, down dog split, lifting your right leg up. Now bend the right knee, open up hip and exhale, transfer forward to plank arms, looking a little past your fingertips. Roll to the outer seam of the left foot and tend to right fingertips.

You can take it into this variation of side plank or if the shoulder says yes, tap the right foot behind you and take your rockstar pose, ecstatic heart pose. Here the hand can hold the head if the neck is sensitive or roll of the right arm if it's feeling free. Now look back to the front of the mat. Maybe you need your right hand, maybe you don't. Right foot steps forward, back heel spins all the way down, warrior two.

Bring that left arm up and then land softly, maybe finding a little freedom, a little bobbing and easing in the warrior two, breathing in and breathing out. Peaceful warrior today, thread your left arm forward even as you reach your right arm back and then exhale, take it to extended side angle. Bringing the right elbow on the right knee or if you have the space today, the fingertips can come on the inside of the foot. Now here there's a little play leaning your left arm behind you in big gestures or even hand behind the head if that serves you, opening up the chest. One more breath in.

We bring the hands down and walk through that straddle, facing the back of your mat. Look a little forward and lift your right leg up to standing split, standing split on your left leg, breathing in, breathing out, breathing in and then right foot down and take your feet hips distance apart. Inhale, flat back, big side, forward fold, inhale, rise, reach your arms overhead and lace your hands behind your head again. Begin with a soft bend in the knees, low belly in as you take a back extension and begin to rotate to the left, wrapping the obliques in but perhaps still finding the freedom and the momentum, be the body that stays in motion and then the next time you fold stay, release your hands and now lace your hands behind your low back, left thumb on top perhaps whatever the non-dominant grip is, breathing out, breathing in and breathing out hands to the earth, right foot steps back, low belly in, high lunge facing the back of the mat, left foot will be forward and today finding that little bit of ease, finding the wave of the breath, gently opening up the waters of the body, maybe a little more back bend and then exhale hands to the mat, down dog split, left leg lifts up, exhale, bend left knee, open up the hip and roll forward to plank arms, begin to spin to the outer seam of the right foot, peeling the left hand up, ball of the foot behind you for that ecstatic heart, the rockstar. You have some freedom to swing the arm if it feels good or cup the head if you prefer, take another breath in, look down by your right hand, maybe you don't need that left hand, left foot steps forward, back heel grounds down, take it all the way up to the warrior too, breathing in, breathing out, inhale lifts you just a smidge finding that buoyancy, exhale sinking perhaps a little lower, breathing in and breathing out, peaceful warrior swim the lower arm forward even as you reach the top arm back, extended side angle perching the elbow or if you have the space take the hand on the inside of the foot today, little freedom this first time, find that free skate wherever the arm wants to go, let the weight of the arm open up the chest and on exhale, exhale hands down and walk your way to the front of the mat, right foot is forward, lift the left leg up, standing split, breathing in, breathing out, breathing in and breathing out, left foot comes down, feet about hips distance apart, inhale open spine, flat back, forward fold and we flow, inhale rise, reach your arms overhead, lace your hands behind it, inhale back extension, one half rotation into the forward fold, flat back and step your left foot back, inhale high lunge, exhale down dog split, inhale open up right hip, exhale transfer weight forward plank arms, now slowly peel it open rock star, this time look at the front of the mat and place that right hand down, keep rotating, bring the knee to the upper left arm and push that foot through opening and falling triangle, left arm find some space, stay for exhale, stay for inhale and we'll take the left hand down, down dog split, one breath in, exhale right foot forward and the back heel spins, inhale reaches forward to the warrior two, peaceful warrior left arm swims forward, this time straighten the front leg, begin to make your way to your triangle pose, feel free to cheat that back foot in, breathing in and breathing out, breathing in and breathing out, let that left hand be heavy coming back through the midline and consider bending the elbow and taking a little half bind today, breathing in and breathing out, breathing in, breathing out looking down slithering that left hand down as you bend the right knee and take that walk to the back of your mat with the left foot forward, inhale lift the right leg to standing split and you can stay in standing split or walk the hands just to smidge forward, bend the standing knee and hop the left foot back just a little bit, playing with the hops here or if you're new to hops do keep the arms straight, keep the gaze between the thumbs and consider moving those hops a little further back your mat as you go, when you get to the back find a plank vinyasa, breathing in and breathing out inhale raise heels, then knees look forward, step or float your feet forward, feet will come at least hips distance as you take a long spine, flat back, exhale forward fold, inhale rise, reach your arms up and loop your hands behind your head, soften the knees, take a back extension, one half rotation to the left, forward fold, bring the arms down and step your right foot back, inhale high lunge, exhale down dog split, bring the left leg up, bend the left knee open the hip, transfer weight forward plank arms, slowly slowly rock star pose, take a big breath in, look back at the mat, left hand comes down left knee to upper right arm, take it through, fall in triangle, breathing in and breathing out, breathing in, breathing out, one more breath, right hand comes down, sneak that left leg up, down dog split, by all means hop the back foot in if you got wide in your stance, next exhale step the left foot forward and spin your back heel down, reach the right arm up and over warrior two, inhale swim into the peaceful warrior, straighten the left leg begin to tip into your triangle, heel toe that back foot in, breathing in and breathing out, today in the triangle the right hand can be weighted and you're playing with that half bind, breathing in, breathing out, breathing in and breathing out, looking down, right hand slithers down and make your way to the front of the mat, right foot is forward, lift your left leg up standing split, just playing with hops, looking for freedom more so than any goal, bend your right knee and just take a hop of the right foot back, you might find a little bit of time in the air but really it's mostly about hopping, about feeling a little playfulness and freedom today on your mat, eventually the right foot hops to the back of the mat and you have a vinyasa of your choosing or a moment in down dog if you prefer, breathing in, back to down dog, breathing out, stay for inhale and for exhale, inhale raise heels, bend knees look, step or float your feet in between your hands, take those feet as wide as your hips, flat back, exhale forward fold, inhale rise, reach your arms overhead, lace your hands behind your head, bend the knees, low belly in, enjoy that back extension, exhale half rotation to the right and forward fold, drop your hands, next exhale step your left foot back, inhale high lunge, exhale hands to the mat, down dog split, right leg comes up, bend the right knee open the hip, transfer weight forward plank arms, option to take that rock star, breathing in, looking down, right hand down, bring the right knee all the way through to the fallen triangle or consider leaving the right foot up for the floating triangle, breathing in and breathing out, breathing in and then thread it through down dog split, inhale, exhale right foot forward, back heel all the way down, inhale peel it up to the warrior two, inhale take it back peaceful warrior, option for the half moon reaching the right fingertips forward, you'll need to slide that back foot in and the block is nearby if you want to use it with the right hand on the block, breathing in and breathing out, if you're feeling free and you want to bow that pose please do, breathing in and breathing out, release any bowing, reach your left arm over your ears a cantilever to reluctantly take it back to warrior two, one breath straighten that front leg, exhale bend it again, peaceful warrior swimming the left hand forward and dipping right into the extended side angle B, reach the left hand behind you and consider taking the double bind, if not a double you're moving towards it with a half bind or just looking up breathing here and doing your best to bring the fingertips down to the ground, everyone look down, spin your right toes towards the side wall visiting straddle, we're going to begin to heel toe the feet underneath us standing and facing the long edge of the mat, bear the weight into the left foot, rise onto the ball the right foot and perhaps you take that bind up working your way towards bird of paradise pose, lengthening the standing leg first some yogis will lengthen the bound leg and look past the left shoulder, for those of us not as adept as the bind yet take the foot or even the shin and lengthen the right leg bring your hips square as I'm doing my best to demo for this second version of uttida hasta parangustasana with refinement you send the gaze over the left hand, there it is breathing in and breathing out, we all come through a bent right knee and step the feet down again, forward fold breathing in, letting the head go breathing out, begin to heel toe your feet wide into the straddle and walk your hands to a low lunge facing the back of the mat, lifting the right leg up standing split where you can stay or if you care to hop straighten those arms, bend the standing leg and hop the left foot a couple times, if you find a little balance there so be it, again arms long gaze between the thumbs, with time those hops will take you to the back of the mat and you could flow right into that vinyasa or meet us in down dog, breathing in and breathing out, inhale raise heels, bend knees look forward step or float, halfway lift, forward fold feet as wide as your hips, last time inhale rise up, exhale lace your hands behind your head, then the knees find that back extension come up through center, one half revolution to the left, breathing in and the hands drop, step your right foot to the back of the mat, inhale high lunge, exhale down dog split, left leg is high, bend left knee open the hip, come forward plank arms, then option to take it to that rock star, take a breath in, exhale left hand down, left knee towards the right arm, take it through fallen triangle or consider keeping that left leg up today, breathing in, breathing out, breathing in and then thread it through down dog split, very nice, very invigorating, we're bringing the left foot to the left thumb and the back heel spins all the way down, reach your right arm forward all the way back warrior two, inhale swim into the peaceful warrior, half moon pose, the left fingertips come forward, the back foot slides in no question, if a block is nearby feel free to use it as you lift up into the half moon pose, lot of opening in the hips and in the shoulders so it could be that that boat half moon is available to you today, stay curious and if you have any bowing release it now find the half moon, top arm reaches over your ears a counterweight low belly in revisit warrior two, one breath straighten that left leg give it a little break and then we dive into the extended side angle B, either here or half mind or working towards the full bind, at first peel your heart open to the sky, it's nice to have a looser bind for this variation, we're looking down we're spinning on the left toes, coming into the straddle pose and heel towing the feet underneath us, use your eyes get that right foot right underneath and rise to the ball the left foot, bend the standing knee get low like chair, rise to stand, in time the left leg lengthens, however you can lengthen that leg without the bind, rotita has to be bringing the left hip alongside the right in the final expression the gaze goes over to the right, good luck, nice guys, we're all passing through a bent knee and with some control bring your foot down, forward folding still facing the long edge of the mat, begin to heel toe your feet into straddle pose, inhale flat back, exhale walk your hands to low lunge facing the front of the mat, bring your left leg up standing split, of course you can stay or if it feels freeing, curious playful and still safe, you straighten those arms hand shoulder distance apart and you're just working on little hops, the foot comes off the mat, you're pressing into the hands and you'll see I'm just hopping my foot towards the back of the mat and then at some point vinyasa breathing in and breathing out, this time swing your right leg forward and step your right foot next to your right thumb, we'll tap the back knee down and lengthen the right leg for the ardha hanumanasana, the half monkey pose or alternatively sneak the right leg forward towards hanuman, the block is there and can go underneath your right seat, another clever way of going deeper is to knee toe the back leg back, so it's a function of the back leg taking you down to the hanuman, breathing in, breathing out, if it's been one of those days you can always forward fold in the hanuman placing the forehead to the shin, breathing in and breathing out, breath in and breath out, walk your hands upright go ahead bring that right leg in and bend your right knee, lengthen the leg and we'll walk into second side of hanuman practice, tapping your back knee down and lengthening your left leg, it's curious to find that forward fold first, so more about focusing on that front leg, breathing in and breathing out, then lifting the upper body, sliding the left heel forward but it might be, I don't know, check it out, a little more advancing if you work on bringing the back leg back, the block goes underneath the left seat, breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out, great time to find that forward fold in the shape, breathing in, breathing out, breathing in and breathing out, walk onto the hands, press down and slide that left heel in, bending the left knee for a low lunge and walk yourself to the front of the mat, bending the right knee, come to stand in a forward fold, from here find at least one of your blocks, if you have two that's fine too, from flat back if you bring your block on your highest level it's almost like you're making a bar table top as I'm demonstrating here and with the feet about hips distance the block is in front of my right pinky toe which is just where I want it and then soften the knees and come to stand upright, breathing in and breathing out, dancer's pose, now for this pose open your left palm as if you're asking someone for the car keys, change nothing and drop the left hand back, you'll see here I'm in external rotation which is opening from my chest, I look forward and without turning the hand and reaching as if reaching for a baton I keep my arm in external rotation and I hold on to the inside of the left ankle, this is a variation to open the chest but you'll need to take a moment to guide the left knee underneath your hip, then inhale reach your right arm forward and begin to kick your right foot back and if it feels free you can place the right hand down on your block, softening your standing knee is a great approach, as you kick that foot forward there is a taste of the split in the shape and it could be that you go for a lower variation over the block or that in time you release the block, the final grace note of the shape is to send the gaze up, try not to hyperextend in that standing knee, there's the softest of bends, we'll softly release, bending the right knee please, both feet come down, hips distance apart, shake out that standing leg, the prior standing leg, the right one and you can even take a bow here with your left hand if that brings some freedom across the hip, breathing in and breathing out, both feet come down and bring the block to its highest level, ape that flat back placing the block right underneath your left hand and it's a great alignment in front of your left pinky toe, coming up right and what I'll do is I'll turn so that you can see the positioning of the hand again, I'm opening up now my right palm up and I change nothing, I drop it back, external rotation in the arm to open up the chest, left hand of the hip and find your drishti, your gaze point and hold onto the inside of the ankle, draw your right knee underneath your hip so that your legs are in line with your hips and inhale, lift your left arm up, kick back even as you tip forward for dancer's pose, of course you can stay here, of course you can be content or if it brings you more freedom looking down, soft bend to the left knee will help you find that block and it's like your dancer's pose in your split had a baby, dancer's pose variation, sitting in, breathing out, remember it's softness in the left knee that makes it all possible, not hitting a pose, not finding a goal but being playful, saying what the freedom in these muscles and joints can bring you today and when you're done, softly lowering the right foot, forward fold, heel toe your feet together and come down into a tip toe pose, from here we're going to come onto our back for the rest of the practice, sound good?

Bring your block with you and come on down. Coming down onto the back, have your block handy, supported bridge pose, lift up your hips and put that block underneath your sacrum. So the sacrum is a dinner plate of a bone just below the small of the back and you know you found it because it feels good, extended bridge reaching one leg long and both arms lazily coming overhead. You can stay here and in the next eight breaths or so change the legs or if you're feeling energized and want one more back extension in your practice, lose the block and join me in wheel pose. I'll check that my heels are close to the hips and I'll bring my hands alongside the ears.

Elbows point up, big inhale, exhale, press down, lift up, kick into the heels, bringing your heart through your arms. You can even bring your big toes together, straighten your legs and take the duipada, the two-footed pose. Let's walk those heels in if they're out, tuck the chin and everybody come down to the earth, even from supported bridge, it's time to place that spine flat on the mat. Once you're there, press your hand into your thighs, lengthen your torso and then cup your hands on your knees and give yourself a little low back massage, figure aiding the legs. Now bring the right leg across the left, this is eagle thighs, it's as if you're tying your legs together, flex your feet and hold onto your shins like handlebars for supta gomukhasna, the reclining cow face pose.

If you have the shape, if you have the space today, you can reach for the outer blade of the feet, keep those feet flexed, nice sneaky trick if you wave this top foot a little bit, it gets deeper into the stretch, into lower glutes. Now release the feet and bring the right shin over the left thigh, reclining pigeon pose, lacing your hands around your left thigh, I've brought my right hand through the loop of the right leg, drawing both legs close to the chest. If you want to go deeper in this direction, you can even take the complete flipped pigeon or as I like to call it the fligeon, holding onto the right shin and putting the left foot down or straightening the left leg out entirely, rocking any variation that feels freeing. Then everyone lengthen that left leg down on the mat and straighten your right leg up, stretching your splits, hold onto the shin or if you have the space, the foot and we'll take this supta uttida hasta, such a sweet pose, setting ourselves up for success next time we stand in it, flexing the left foot as if standing on a floor perpendicular to ours. Breathing in, breathing out, bring that right leg up and bend the right knee, spinal twist the hips, cheat towards the right and the knee goes over to the left, right arm is heavy and if there's any variation of arm movement, head cradling that brought you some joy and freedom, please take it here.

Slithering to an early shavasana, observe the body, sometimes the right hip feels different. Let's cross the left thigh now, over the right, cow face, gomukhasana on the back, holding onto the handlebars of the shins or the outer blade of the foot. Breathing in, breathing out, sneaky little trick, waving the top foot, getting deeper into the stretch, releasing the feet, bringing the left shin over the right thigh and it's a reclining pigeon, drawing the legs in. Any variation, maybe that flipped pigeon with the right foot down or the right leg down. Lengthening the left leg, reclining the splits, holding onto shin or foot, opening the leg, flexing the right foot and setting that body and tension for the next time we practice this pose on our feet, bringing left leg to center, drawing left knee in, spinal twist.

Breathing to the back like a dead well, let's just say a bug on a bad day. Bring the legs up, bring the arms up, let the weight of the limbs drop into the joints and then when you're ready, flop it down, a very open shavasana today, body like an axe, allow your belly to relax as I chant you out of your practice. Bring the legs up, bring the legs up, let the weight of the limbs drop into the stretch, bring the legs up, let the weight of the legs drop into the stretch, bring the legs up, start to deepen your breathing, stretch those arms of your head, push your toes away and then draw your knees in, hugging the knees, rolling to your side, sealing your practice with your hands in prayer, tucking your chin, we spent this dedicated 45 minutes fighting some freedom, what does the rest of your week look like if you look for places of mental freedom this week, sealing the practice with an ode. Namaste.