Shiva: Beyond the Flame

Hello, welcome to your practice today. We are practicing today with energy of Shiva beyond the flame. So Shiva or Shiva is the energy of disillusion, and he's part of the great trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. So Brahma is creation, Vishnu, that sustaining energy. And today we'll be exploring this dance or the Ananda Tandava that we find Shiva in.

So you might have seen pictures of Shiva in the form of naturaj dancing in a circle of flames. And so we'll be in a little bit of that fire here today together in that dance. There's a word shrada, which means to place in the heat. And so we'll be placing our intention in the fire of our practice today here together. And so as we find our seat, you're welcome to bring your hands in front of your heart and take a moment to set your intention for your practice today, your Sankalpa, and maybe think about what you're willing to place in the fire of your practice today, what you're willing to place in the fire of consciousness itself.

And we'll be exploring mantra here together as we begin. And our mantra today is Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya. So you'll follow along as we chant, and you're welcome to join in whenever you're ready. So holding your intention in the heart as we chant, and once you know the tune, you're welcome to join me whenever you're ready. Om Namah Shivaya, here we go.

Om Namah Shivaya, here we go. Om Namah Shivaya, here we go. Om Namah Shivaya, here we go. Om Namah Shivaya together, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya Namah, and dig on to seal it in, deep breath in and out. If you're following and you're ready, you can release your hands and open your eyes, and we'll begin seated in reverse tabletop.

So we'll set up for reverse tabletop. If you're sitting on something, go ahead, set that to the side. So your feet will be about hip-width distance, and then you can bring your hands underneath your shoulders. You're welcome to tune your fingertips out, and as we inhale, we'll shift the weight into the heels and the feet, and the hips can stay low. If you like, you can bring the hips a little bit higher.

I'm just going to breathe here. If you really want to wake it up today, we'll add a little Kapala Abhati Pranayama. So it's just a little exhale out the nose. Just like that, just about 30 seconds or so. Stepping into the fire, just a couple more moments.

Take a deep breath in, inhale, exhale, hips go down, and then you'll reach your arms out. Either the feet will lift just a little bit, or like this half Navasana, or it's a full Navasana. We're here for one, and just finding that extension from the navel to the feet for two. Taking Navasana for three. And then the hands plant.

Again, fingertips can be out, inhale, reverse your tabletop, just take a breath here. Hips down, exhale, back into Navasana we go. Just one last round. A little bit of this fire activation today as we dance into our way into that circle of flames, right? That dance of Shiva.

So inhale here, beautiful. Exhale, just cross your shins, wrap your arms around your shins, and you're welcome just to curl in for a moment. And then we'll cross the ankles, tuck the feet, and you'll come into downward facing dog. So planting your hands, stepping it back, Adho Mukha, Swanasana, downward facing dog. Go ahead and walk out your dog, take one knee in, then the other.

And this is what I call, hit the slope Shiva, so we're going to take the heels to the right and then we'll bend our knees and squat down and really push into this left hand as much as you can. It's a big side body stretch, left side, you're going to go skiing, and then the heels go to the left, push your right hand into the mat, side body long, beautiful. One more time, each side, right side, bend in, inhale through center, exhale, heels to the left, and then inhale through center, downward facing dog. And from downward facing dog, on your next inhale, we'll sweep the right leg to the sky with a deep breath in. Now as we exhale, we're going to bring the knee to the chest, but you're going to keep the down dog shape.

So keep the down dog shape, inhale, exhale, knee to chest, thigh to ribs, foot to hip. Just really hug it in here, find this connection, there's a sense of deeper activation in the core. And as you next inhale, you'll shift towards a plank, so keep the thigh to the ribs the best that you can as you inhale, and then lift your chin, step your foot through, ground your back heel, warrior one on your inhale, rise up, nice work. Big breath, inhale, hands behind you, exhale, humble warrior. So we'll interlace the hands, lift through the heart, take a deep breath.

As you exhale, you'll bow into your degree. So one option is to take the right shoulder to the knee, otherwise knees inside, or shoulders inside your knee, hands towards the sky, breathing here for one. Draw that right hip back for two, find some length, inhale. Now as you exhale, hug in, inhale, rise up, keep the interlace of your hands for a moment, and then open your chest for warrior two. So set up your Virabhajasana two, knee over ankle, toes to 12 o'clock, then when you're ready, release both arms, Virabhajasana two.

You can gaze towards your middle finger. So we're going to do a little pranayama practice here together. So you're going to inhale the arms out, as you exhale, you'll bring the hands towards the chest, and then you'll inhale, push out, exhale, hands draw in, beautiful. One more, inhale, exhale, hands in, beautiful. You can keep your right hand at your heart, take your left hand to your left leg, reverse your warrior, take a full breath, inhale, and then it's a vinyasa, exhale, hands to the floor, plank, inhale, chaturanga, exhale, inhale, up dog, exhale, downward facing dog, and then we'll do the ski slope heels, just one breath here, inhale, right heels to the right, or both heels to the right, sit on down, push the left hand in, inhale through center, exhale, heels to the left, beautiful, draw to center, next, inhale, left leg sweeps to the sky.

Now as you exhale, again, knee to chest, thigh to ribs, hug in, keep this connection as much as you can, heel to hips, inhale, shift your weight towards plank. Reactivate the upper back, and then when you're ready, you'll lift your chin, step through, back foot spins to ground, inhale, rise up, warrior one, arms reach up, big breath in, find your warrior one, exhale, hands behind you, sit up for your humble warrior, maybe left thumb on top this time, inhale, reach up through the heart, exhale, bow it in, big breath. So what are we placing in the heat of our practice, in the heat of consciousness itself, right, as we bow. Now as we exhale, we'll keep the grip, hug in, inhale, rise up. Now keep the interlace, open your chest, sit up for your Virabhajasana two, then when you're ready, both arms reach out, warrior two, and we'll take our pranayama, inhale, both arms reach, exhale, hands to the heart, two more, inhale, push out, exhale, hug in, so you're hugging the midline as the hands come together, one more, inhale, big breath, exhale, again, left hand can stay at the heart, right hand to leg, inhale, reverse your warrior, take a deep breath, exhale, hands to the mat, we'll take our vinyasa, hands plant, step it back, plank, inhale, exhale, chaturanga, inhale, upward facing, exhale, downward facing dog, beautiful, let's take three breaths here, really ignite your breath, like you're lighting the flame of the heart, right, we're in this flame of the dance of the tandava, right, so just like Shiva, and then on your next inhale, you'll look forward, lift your heels, let's walk or step to the front of the mat, you'll find halfway lift on the inhale, forward fold, exhale, uttanasana, option is to have your fingertips down, you can bend your knees here if you need to, tops of the hands down, when you're ready on your next inhale, we'll find our halfway lift, big fold, exhale, and then we'll rise up together, so as you next inhale, slowly come up to standing, arms reach up, the hands come together if they count like a flame, the flame of the heart, as you exhale, hands draw to the heart, beautiful, and then from here, your right foot will be down, your left foot will lift, tree pose, this is going to be a little different today for a tree, we're going to take eagle on the tree, so option, one option is to hold your shoulders if it's hard for you to find the eagle arms, otherwise from here, the left arm is under, right elbow is on top, and we'll just candy cane our hands, and this hand becomes the flame, and so we're in this eagle on the tree pose, and there's a sense of allowing the pose to be lit from the heart itself, ground through your standing leg, breathe in and out through the nose, in the dance a little bit in that standing leg, to release we reach the arms up, unravel them, inhale, exhale hands to heart, step your foot down, beautiful, if you like shake out your legs, and we'll do second side, so left foot down, right foot lifting, set yourself up, find that sense of connection to the core, if you feel like your hips are unstable here you can always bring your knee more forward, right elbow under, left elbow on top, stay here, or candy cane your arms, again the upper hand is the flame, elbows off the chest, hands away from face, and then hug the bones with the muscles, so this is that muscular energy, it's really allowing us to light it up from the inside, starting to dance on that standing leg a little bit, beautiful, one more breath here, and then again to release, arms sweep, inhale, exhale, feet step together, thanks for work, so from here the right foot will stay down, the left foot's gonna lift, we're gonna take a dance or prep, so I like the right hand on the hip, left elbow draws back, palm up, and then we'll just gently lift that left foot, I'm gonna reach back to catch my foot, so this might be enough for you today or it's heel to hip, or knee to knee, keep the heart lifted, stay here, or inhale, add the right arm, so when Shiva's in this dance, this Ananda Tandava, it's the dance of bliss, so looking for a little bit of that inner bliss, right here, and then slowly release, we'll do second side, left foot down, right foot lifting, draw back with that right elbow, reach back, catch your foot, again this could be enough, or it's heel to hip, knees to touch, stay here, or sweep the left arm up, and then breathe, allowing the breath to be what carries us through, right, you'll fall, and then slowly releasing, feet step together, let's take our Vinyasa, arms down, inhale, sweep it up, Urdhva Hastasana, big reach, exhale, fold it in, forward fold, gazing towards your shins, long spine, inhale, halfway lift, exhale, step or float back, Chaturanga, inhale, upward facing dog, exhale, downward facing dog, inhale, right leg to the sky, same same as you exhale, side to ribs, foot to hip, inhale, come towards a plank pose, this time we're going to exhale, pause, three-legged dog, inhale, reach, warrior one, step through, back, foot spins to ground, so a little bit more, one breath per movement, inhale, arms reach up, find warrior one, pause, hands behind you, exhale, set it up, right thumb on top, inhale, lift through the heart, we'll humble warrior, just one exhale here, bow it in, now as you inhale, slowly come up, keep the interlace, and what we'll do is reach the back heel up towards the sky, so you're in like a crescent position, we'll take a moment in warrior three, so as you inhale, you'll bend your back knee, spring forward, Virabhandrasana three, the hands can stay by the hips if you like, find a moment here, in the dance on that standing leg, bend your standing leg, ground the back heel, sit up for warrior two, square your hips, breathe, arms reach out, inhale, we'll do the pranayama practice, so inhale here, exhale, hands come together, two more, inhale, exhale, beautiful, one more inhale, push, exhale, hug in, backhanded back leg, reverse the warrior on your inhale, now on this exhale, we'll either take elbow to thigh for side angle, you can be here, you can use your block, or if you like, you can wrap and bind, so really wrapping that right hip back, interlacing the hands together, and then you lay back into your own heart.

Now the option here is to plant your hands, simply go through your vinyasa, or the option too is to lift the back heel, take your right shoulder under your right knee, Ekapadakunyasana, elbows hug in, look forward, walk your toes forward and to the right, maybe scissor the legs, inhale, and then float back, Chaturanga, inhale, up dog, exhale, downward facing dog, nice work you guys, keep breathing, inhale, heels to the right, exhale, bend your knees, push the hands, inhale through center, exhale, heels to the left, beautiful, inhale to center, let's take the left leg up, deep breath, exhale, knee to chest, thigh to ribs, stay here, pull the heel into the hip, inhale, come towards the high core plank, pause here, claw the mat, ignite the upper back, right, we're in the fire together, inhale through, leg of dog, sweep it up, exhale, step it through, warrior one, back foot spins to ground, inhale, arms reach, so peak of the inhale, we find the peak of the pose, hands behind you, find the humble warrior, maybe left thumb to top, inhale, reach back, again, one exhale here, so we just bow it in, fold, inhale, slowly rise, hands towards hips, now lift your right heel, pause here, get ready, you can step your back foot in a little half step if you need to, then on your inhale, we'll spring forward, warrior three, pause, reach into the back foot, maybe the hands reach up too, get steady in your standing leg, and then bending the standing knee, landing the back foot down, setting it for warrior two feet, heel to heel or heel to arch, releasing the arms, and really honoring this moment here, we'll inhale both arms out, exhale, hands to heart, two more, push it out, inhale, big breath, exhale, hug in, one more, inhale, push hands, exhale, hands to heart, and then from here, back hand to back leg, reverse your warrior, deep breath, exhale, hand either to floor, elbow to knee, we can stay here for side angle, or again, if you like, wrapping to bind, scooping tailbone, laying back into your own heart, and then from here, hands release down, so again, you can step back to plank to exit, or it's left shoulder underneath left knee, hands plant, look forward, sizz your legs, ekapada, to chaturanga, up dog, downward facing, beautiful, from here, we're gonna make our way into our belly, so you'll inhale, shift to plank, exhale, lower to the floor, if you like, use your knees, and we'll sit all the way down, make a pillow with your hands for a moment, forehead down, maybe just rock your hips side to side. So this is my favorite pose, makrasana, although I say that about everything. What the magic of this pose is, is it helps us activate the low back and the shiva energy, so you'll take your forehead down, interlace your hands behind your hair, or take the little princess lea bun hands behind your ears. Now as we inhale, all we'll do here is lift the head, tops the feet are down, and find that activation, pelvis down, lifting through the chest, elbows wide for two, three, a little bit of fire here, four, inhale, exhale, release the hands for head down, rock it out side to side. Now we're going to add the feet, or keep the feet down, if you feel like that would be a little bit more beneficial for you today.

Hands behind your head or ears, and as we inhale, we'll lift the feet, lift the chest and head, you're here for one, two, three, and slowly lower down, nice work, forehead down, rock your hips, so we're in that circle of flames even here, alright, so last round together, here we go, hands behind the head, next inhale, lift your heart, lift your feet, macrossana for one, two, three, inhale, exhale, hands go down, if you like push the up dog, take a moment, and then downward facing dog, then on our next inhale we'll take our shins down and you're going to locate your strap, so finding your strap, and we will be using a loop to do some cow face pose arms, so I'm just going to turn and face this way so you guys can see me, and I'm going to take my loop, my strap, just around my shoulders, just in case I need it, and then from here I'm in vajrasana, super comfortable position, but if you know for you, you need to sit on your block, you're welcome to sit on your block, I'll inhale, take my right arm up, as I exhale I'll bend my right elbow and stretch, this is a really sweet place to stay, option is to add the left arm, so the left arm reaches out, thumb spins down, and then I reach back behind me, and I see if I can touch my hands, now if I can, if I can grab hands, great, if not you have your strap handy, so you can just take your hand, move your strap, and your strap becomes your bridge, and then from here, if you're looking for a little more activation, you can see if you can get that forearm behind your head, and then the last phase of this is you can look towards the right and breathe, it's a really sweet place to open the shoulders, right, in this dance that we're in, and then gently releasing, sit your strap back if you like, then we'll release the arms, and if you like a couple shoulder rolls, we'll do second side, left arm up, inhale, bend the elbow, and then again hand to elbow as you bring the hand back, so this might be enough today, or again we can add the right arm, so the right arm reaches out and I spin the thumb down from the shoulder, and then I sweep, I call this walk up the back the squeegee, can I squeegee my hand up there, and maybe you can find your hands, if not you have this great strap right here, so you can just use a strap as a bridge, and then the option is to turn and look towards the left, low ribs hug in, and then turning your head to face forward, and then gently releasing your strap, and then we consider strap to the side, and then from here we'll head back into our downward facing dog, on your inhale the right leg sweeps to the sky, again exhale, side of ribs need a chest, pulse it towards the plank, inhale three-legged dog reach, low lunge this time, exhale step through, so your right foot steps between your hands, your back knee to the mat, you can untuck the back toes today, inhale bring the arms up, now the option here is to either bring the hands together like a flame, stay here, or add those cow face pose arms, so I'll bend my left elbow, and then my right hand will find my left, or find your strap you're welcome to use that, and then I curl back here, breathing, beautiful, slowly release, now both arms reach forward, and we're gonna head into this lunge position, but I want you to grab your block, so go ahead have your block ready, and you'll place it at the top of your mat, right side of your mat, the highway, so both hands will find their way back in when you're ready, arms reach out, I like to tent the finger pads here, tuck the back toes, lift the back knees, we're like in this lunging high lunge, and then on the next inhale we're gonna spring forward towards an L shape, so I'll bend my back knee, lift my left leg, and create the L shape, now the option is to have my block under my left hand, right hand to the hip or sacrum, I'm really activating that back leg, you want to find that optimal position for your left hand, stay here, or reach the right arm up, beautiful, and then the exhale the hand goes down, the big toes touch, you can keep your block where it is, inhale halfway lift, vinyasa, exhale float back, inhale up dog, exhale downward facing dog, inhale left leg to the sky, exhale knee to chest, high core plank, shift it forward, beautiful, inhale three legged dog, back to low lunge, exhale step through, untuck your toes, inhale arms reach up, again hands the flame, mudra up here if you like, or right elbow bends, and then we reach thumb down, and we squeegee to find that grip, and then from there if you like curl back, so this tandava is not only a dance of disillusion, but a dance of creation as well, so we're creating new prana right here, taken inhale, exhale slowly release, you have your block ready, when you're ready both the back toes tuck, and you lift the back knee, reach forward, and then setting up for our revolved half moon, I'll spring forward and then the right heel and foot activate, and I turn the toes down the best I can, right hand can find the block, left hand a sacrum, and then here's the activation, shift into the front hand like you're in the dance, lengthen through the crown, stay here or reach the arm up, breathe, and then when you're ready exhale hand down, big toes touch, inhale half we lift, vinyasa exhale, inhale upward facing, exhale downward facing dog, beautiful work, and then from here I like to widen my feet wide dog, walk back to ragdoll, bend your knees as much as you need to, elbows and hands connect, and we rock it out, so back into this dance of strata, right, what are we placing in the heat at this moment, and then the arms release, slowly roll your way to standing, beautiful, and from here we'll get our strap and we'll set up for dancer, so the magic of this pose is going to be in your strap, and you want to have your strap in a loop, so you want to loop your strap and then check it so that it doesn't unravel on you, so you have a nice loop, you want your loop to be as big as you think it might need to be to catch your foot with your hand, yeah, so I'm going to start a little bit bigger than I usually do, and then we'll start with the right foot down, now you're welcome to stay at any phase that feels comfortable for you, right, so as we step our way through, if you feel like that's enough, that's enough, and you stay there, so right hand to right hip really gets stable, take a moment to be in your breath, and then my left hand will be in the loop, and my left foot will join suit, so it's both foot and hand in the loop, not the tail, from here I pull a foot in, so again this can be enough with the elbow down, or you might do the Santa flip, I call it, like you're putting a little sack of presents on your back, and you can stay here, this might be enough, or the right arm can reach out, you can plug it in, and then reach and look for your strap, and again this might be a little bit less deep than you're used to, we'll be doing a second round, just lying this to be a moment where you dance it out, and then slowly release, and we'll shake it out, dance it out, let's do second side, so left foot down, foot and loop, hand and loop, and again making sure that your loop isn't unraveling, so the trick to me of this pose is this elbow down position, this open shoulder position, so I'm going to pull the foot in, I can even bend my standing leg if I need to, then do my elbow flip, then we'll stay here, straighten leg, if you like left arm reaches out, plug it in, take the arm up and back, bend your elbow, look for the strap, and then from there, find some sort of activation, and then gently release, shake it out, let's do another round together, so maybe you want to shorten your loop, maybe not, this is a this is my favorite part, so hopefully you love it too, and what I find is I can use the clip too a little bit as a marker, so if you have that kind of strap that helps me, left foot in, left hand in, right hand on hip, you could stay here pulling in, again this is your edge today, I might even bend my standing leg, allow the strap to slide up the foot, elbow flip, stand it up, hearts lifted, right, so we're in this dance, stay here if you like, add the right hand, plug in, reach back, and breathe, you can allow yourself to pull the foot in, breathing, hearts lifted, oh, then release when you're ready, sometimes it's by surprise, beautiful, let's do second side, so hand a loop, just checking how big it is, alright, so Natrajasana is named after this Nataraj form of Shiva, so Natrajasana, being Shiva, and asana means pose, so bend your standing leg, pull the foot in, elbow flip, straighten it out, stay here, or left arm out, plug in, reach it back, and then find your expression, what am I willing to place in the heat right now, and slowly release, nice work, so we'll set that strap to the side, I'm just going to have it on the right side of my mat, we're going to take a vinyasa to downward facing dog, inhale, thumbs up, now we just did some back bends, as we exhale and fold in, bend your knees if you need to, big fold, inhale, halfway lift, exhale, float back, chaturanga, inhale, up dog, exhale, downward facing dog, so setting up for pigeon, I'm going to inhale, sweep the right leg, then as I exhale, I'll step my right knee towards my right wrist, and then here's where that block might come in handy again, so I'm going to use my block here underneath my hip if I feel like I need it, and then I can fold in, if you don't feel like you need it, you can set that to the side, and then we bow here, activate the bottom foot, ujjayi breath, so opening into that hip or that leg, breathing in and out through your nose, you're welcome to stay here for a while, or from here, you might find your strap again, and you can explore the version of pigeon with your foot in a loop, so from here I'm going to take my hand in the loop, and then my foot into the loop, make sure I get myself nice and reset here, and then it's that same same, elbow in, Santa flip, stay here, or add the second hand, and breathe, you can walk yourself down if that feels like it's appropriate today, and breathe, so we're still in this dance of Shiva even here, right, this creation, this new moment, what's possible, and then gently release, set your strap to the left edge of your mat, and we'll take a three-legged dog, hands plant, back toes tuck, inhale, three-legged dog, and you can exhale, just bend your knees, stack your hip, inhale, straighten your leg, and then exhale, foot to the mat, let's do second side, inhale, left leg sweeps, exhale, step your left knee forward, now again, this is a great place to prop yourself if you feel like you need that block, otherwise we'll inhale to lengthen, and then exhale to fold, soften your eyes and your jaw, so another form of Shiva besides the dance of creation and destruction is this form of consciousness and stillness, so see if you can find a little stillness here, that still point in the circle of flames, you might stay or come on up, and then find your strap, again looking at your loop, hand in loop, foot to loop, if you like, elbow goes low, santa flip, you can add a second hand if you like, and breathe, I like to think of this as like an offering, right, so that idea of shraddha once again, like what am I offering to the fire of my practice, right, plenty of being offering, beautiful, and then slowly release, strap to the side, and then from here breathe like a dog, left leg up, just bend your knees, stack your hips, laying that so as breathe, and as we inhale, the leg straightens, as we exhale, foot to the mat, child's pose, knees down, hips to heels, folding in, from child's pose, slowly roll your way up and you'll take a seat, you'll bend your right knee in towards your hip, and then your left foot will cross over, so the idea here is to ground into that foot, and then your left hand will be behind you, and as you inhale, you'll sweep your right arm up, and then exhale, twist towards your left knee, allowing yourself to release any of that tension from our dance, inhale through center, I like a little counter bow here, you can just lean towards the right, and then inhale, rise, and we'll switch sides, left foot to right hip, right foot crosses over, and then right hand behind you, inhale, left arm reaches, exhale, twist, and as we release we inhale, lean to the left little bow, and then inhale to rise, and then we'll set up for a version of Shavasana here, so the feet will be together, knees apart, and you're welcome to bring your arms up overhead, like a diamond, or hands to the heart, and you're welcome to stay here, or extend your legs, or you're welcome to join me for a seated meditation. If you're going to join me for a meditation, we'll find our comfortable seat, and from here the hands can rest on the legs, and you'll close your eyes, and we'll drop right into the breath, and the midline of the body, so you're looking for that central channel. Our meditation here today is to locate the base of the heart, so can you bring your awareness to the base of your heart? Imagining the base of the heart is the center of the circle of flames, and we'll take a moment to place our intention there at the base of the heart, again, the Adyashrata, what are you placing in the heat of your practice? And you're welcome to stay here in this meditation, or join me in our closing chant, so allowing the meditation to carry forward with your breath, as we chant here together, Om Nama Shivaya.

Om Nama Shivaya, Shivaya. Om Nama, Om Nama, Shivaya. Om Nama, Shivaya, Shivaya. Om Nama, Shivaya, Shivaya. If you like taking your hands together, placing them in front of your heart, and taking a moment to dedicate your practice, offering it up in some way that feels good to you.

And then we'll seal our practice in together with big Om from the heart, deep breath in and out, Om. Thank you so much for sharing your practice with me today, Namaste.