Keep It Simple Flow

Happy day, yogis. Come join me in a comfortable cross-legged seat on your mat. Today we'll use two blocks so you can keep them handy. And we're going to go on a little journey today. Today's theme or vibe is keep it simple.

So this first one that we're going to do together, it's kind of like we're getting to know each other and how to move together and how to flow together. So let's start with a nice, easy breath, something that's comfortable and brings us back into the space of connection so you can close your eyes for a moment. And without changing or altering your breath, just notice where and how you're breathing today as you're inhaling and exhaling through the nose. Notice where it's moving in your body. And then start to expand the duration of your inhalations.

Hold the breath a little longer than you normally would. And take your time with your exhalations. There'll be a short pause before you start again. So we're lengthening out all four parts of our breath. Nice, slow, deep in nails.

Take your time with the pause, the breath retention. Very slow, leisurely exhale. So we're keeping it really simple. We're starting to breathe like we're on vacation. You can imagine that in your mind.

Let this idea of ease set the tone for your practice and your physical body as you move today. Finding that connection between effort and ease, that midpoint that we'll look for in each of the poses. This breath that we are connecting with right now we're going to keep throughout the practice. So slowly open the eyes and you can move your blanket if you're sitting on one out of the way and we'll come and lie on the back. Once you find yourself on the back, go ahead and hug your knees into the chest.

If we're going to do an easy practice, we always have to start the easy way, hanging out on the back. Give yourself a couple of rocks from side to side, just massaging lower back, hip sacrum. And we'll keep that right knee drawing into the chest and extend the left leg nice and long. Give yourself a couple of slow circles at the ankle, circling one direction and then the other. Keep going back to that easy breath, the slow, full inhale, nice, slow, deep exhale.

Join your pauses before and after. We'll keep that right knee hugging into the chest, extend your arms and start to circle that right knee, just the right leg right now. Explore some hip rotation. Notice any areas that feel tight and maybe pause into that area. See if you can massage that area just a little bit.

And then we'll keep that right knee opening and we'll bring that right foot right into easy tree pose, reclining tree pose. The right arm reaches up and over the ear, the left hand grabs the right, we're going to pull that right hand over to the left so you get a nice side stretch through the lats, the intercostals, the side body. Make sure you really expand your breath on the right side. You're creating more space around the lungs with each inhalation. So think of inhaling really big through the right side body, hold the breath and enjoy the exhale.

Go back to that four-part breath that we were working with before, nice, slow, deep inhales, pauses holding the breath and take your time with the exhales. Give yourself one more round and then draw your shoulders or torso back to neutral, release the arms, take that right knee across the body for an easy twist. And you'll notice that that right shoulder will probably come off the floor. Give yourself a little rock from side to side just to release that mid thoracic area in the back. Each time you inhale, that's the full powerful breath and the exhale is the softening breath.

So think of the inhale as being your active breath and the exhale being the softening releasing part of the breath. If you're going a little deeper, you can look towards your right thumb, you might get a free adjustment and roll back to center. Extend the right leg nice and long, hug the left knee into the chest and give yourself a couple of circles at the ankle and the shin on the left side. Circling in one direction and then mix it up and circling in the other direction. We're going to take these same circles to the left leg, so extend the arms out and start to circle that left knee towards you and away from you.

Bring any little spots that feel like you're holding energy where that ease is not present and maybe massaging that area a little bit by rocking back and forth until you feel a little release. So we're opening up the left hip, we're going to bring the left foot right above the knee for our side tree. Easy tree pose reclined, left arm up and over the ear. Right arm reaches, pull the left wrist over to the right, now you've got that nice side stretch through the left side body. Slow deep inhales, inflate that area right by the ribs and then soften, let go with exhales.

Stay connected to that four part breath that you're working with. Good, give it one more round and then release your arms by your side. Left leg draws across the body for a soft twist and you can go with that little rocking fixation from side to side once again, just finding that spot where you're finding ease on the rotation, not too much effort. The breath is full on the inhale and just softening and relaxing into the space that you created with the breath on the exhale. So we'll draw the knees back to center, you can bring the soles of the feet on the floor and go ahead and reach for your block.

We're going to use the block the thin way right between the thighs, closer to the knees, squeeze the inner thighs together, lift your heels the height of the knees and we'll bring the arms either out to the side like wings or cactus field goal if you want to challenge yourself a little bit. As you exhale, drop the knees to the right but keep them hovering off the floor so you have to use your obliques and your adductors and then bring it back to center with your inhale. Exhaling the knees slowly to the left, getting that nice spinal twist coming back to center. We're going to do three more rounds, if it interests you, you can straighten the legs as you squeeze and then draw the knees back to center. Exhaling to the left, trying to keep the right shoulder on the floor, maybe straightening the legs or keep the knees bent if you want to keep that ease and that simplicity in your flow.

This is just a little option if you want to create a little heat. Flowing with your breath, make sure you're exhaling into the pose and inhaling back to center. We're going to do one more round. Exhale on the left side, inhaling back to center, grab your block and then we'll rock and roll all the way up to our seat, so give yourself a nice couple of massaging rocks forward and backwards with your legs crossed. Good, we'll come up to our seat, you can find a nice cross-legged position right at the front of your mat.

We'll bring the hands to the shins, we're going to take our cat and cow tilts here. As you exhale, draw the navel up and back until your arms are straight, drawing the chin towards the chest and as you inhale, lift the heart, squeeze the shoulder blades back, lift the chin away from the chest if you have no neck issues and we'll just flow with this exhale and inhale for a couple of breaths, leaning back with the exhale, lifting the heart, chin and chest with the inhale. Great mobilizers for the spine, preparing the spine for our flow today. The next time you lift your heart, lengthen forward and start to walk your palms forward. We'll take a little journey over to the right and we'll feel that big side stretch on the left side body.

If you'd like to feel more, you can push the floor away with your right hand and feel a little bit more resistance here. Breathe slowly deeply into the left side body, enjoy the breath and we're going to stay leaning this way. We're going to bring the left hand right on top of the right thigh, slide your right hand behind you, tall spine. Each time you inhale, see if you can grow from the seat to the crown, create more space for the exhale and rotate. Exhale is the really active part of the breath.

Exhales the softening into the space that you created with your inhale. Give it one more round and then find the spot in your spinal twist where you can just let the right ear drop towards the right shoulder and then back over to the left. Notice where you feel that trapezius stretch more and hang out there. Slow deep inhales, nice long pauses. Slow deep exhales going back to that vacation breath and as you turn back to center, you can recross your legs, switch which ankles on top.

Slide your palms back to the shins as you exhale, lean back, pull the navel up and back, that tilt as you inhale, lift the heart, chin and chest. Think of this as massaging movements for your spine. The next time you inhale, lengthen the heart forward and start to walk your palms over to the left for that nice side stretch, focusing on the right side body, maybe pressing the floor away with the left hand for more resistance. Slow deep inhales into the right side, soften into that space with the exhales. Stay leaning in this direction, right hand on top of your left knee, left hand slides behind you.

Use that left hand to push the floor away to gain some length and rotate with the exhale. Tall spine with the inhale. Exhale soften and turn. Last round, find that spot where you're feeling the depth of that spinal twist where you can still breathe, but let one ear drop to each shoulder one at a time. Notice where you're feeling that trapezius stretch and just hang out, good.

Come on back to center. We'll swing our legs around and move into table pose. From your table, you're going to place your palms right under the shoulders, knees underneath the hips. We'll go back to the cat and cow tilts of the spine, lifting the seat, looking forward, inhaling, squeezing the shoulder blades back and exhaling, pressing down into the palms, drawing the navel up and back, really slow, mindful cat and cow tilts. Think about the pelvis creating the shape of each tilt, so start with the pelvic tilt, drawing the navel up and back in the cat tilt, and then start with the pelvic tilt as you move into the cow tilt, then the belly, then the heart, then lastly the chin and chest.

Go one more round, nice, slow movements initiated by that pelvic tilt, good, and then we'll find our neutral table here. We're going to do some torso circles, so lean your torso all the way over to the right and then keep leaning to the right and forward all the way over to the left, hips and shoulders, and so we're creating a full circle with the torso. If you want to make this a little bit more challenging, you can bend the elbows as you lean forward, so you're inviting that chaturanga variation into it. Each time you lean forward, either straight arms or challenge it with a little bent elbow. Take one more round, the next time you back up your seat over your right heel, pause here, lean to your right and walk hand over hand to the left for that nice side stretch, good.

We'll come on back to center, back to your table, come up to your fingertips just to build a little strength here, we'll do our cat and cow tilts in our fingertips, drawing the navel up and back with the exhale, letting the belly drop, heart move forward, chin and chest lifts with the inhale. If you stop one more round, leading with the pelvis, good, and then find your neutral table pose, palms right underneath the shoulders, knees underneath the hips, lean to your left, shoulders is included, and then lean forward beyond the wrists all the way over to your right. As you're leaning forward, make sure to distribute your weight into your fingertips so you're not taking it all into the wrists. Lengthening forward, we've got three more if you want to add those bent elbows, if you did that on the other side, even it out, bend as you lean forward and straighten as you press back. Yourself one more round, and then we're backing up our seat over our left heel and walking hand over hand to our right, enjoy the breath, good.

We'll come on back to our table pose. Walk your palms, the palm print forward, tuck the toes under, spiral the biceps forward, and we're going to press back to our first down dog, pedaling out one foot at a time in your down dog, pressing actively forward with all your fingers, and then we're going to keep the feet pedaling, but we're going to pivot the feet to the right. So bending one leg at a time, you're going back to that side stretch, and then pivot your feet back to center, and we'll take the heels over to the left. Make sure to push actively forward with your left hand so you don't sink into your wrist. Journey back to center, move to your first plank pose, lower the knees to the floor, and then bend those elbows nice and slow, slowly lower down.

Replace your palms with your elbows, easy sphinx pose, invite the shoulder blades back, move the ribs forward, back into the breath. You can press down into the tops of your toes to keep the legs active here. This is a nice one to start out with, and you can stay here throughout the practice if you're feeling anything in your lower back. Nice one to start out with before you move into cobras and up dogs. So we'll replace our elbows with our palms, come up into an easy cobra pose, rolling the shoulder blades back, moving the heart forward.

Tuck the toes under, press back to your down dog, actively press down and forward into all fingers, hips lift, heels start to drop towards the floor. Bend your right leg, keep the right leg bent, and we're gonna do a one arm down dog. So walk the left palm back, you can keep it here for support, or you can send it to the sky and give yourself a little wrist stretch here. Push actively forward with the right hand, strengthening and stretching through that right shoulder, and then we'll replace that left hand to the front of the mat, and we'll use that left hand to take our side plank on. So side plank to the left arm, always the option of bringing the left knee to the floor, right palm to the floor.

Plank pose, lower down, either sphinx, cobra, or lifting up to a higher cobra pose. Let's keep it at cobra just for right now. We'll open up to our up dogs later, press back to your down dog, bend your left leg, push actively forward with your left hand, walk your right hand back, keep it here for support, or send the right palm to the sky and give yourself a couple of circles here. So this hand's on holiday right here, right now, this hand's gonna start working right hand to the front of your mat, side plank to your right. So we're not loading on both arms at the same time, good, and then move to your plank pose.

Lower down, you always have the option of lowering to the knees first, sphinx, cobra, or maybe you're starting to press and open up to your up dog, send it back to your down dog. Go ahead and bend your right leg, slide it across your mat for a little IT band stretching up, press strongly forward with all fingers so you start to feel this in the outer right glute. If you'd like to feel more, slide the right foot forward and then press back. This sets us up really nicely for fallen triangle, a variation of side plank, keep the right foot over here, out to nine o'clock, push forward and down with your right hand and you can reach that left hand up to the sky or get that side stretch and take it up and over the air. Breathe into that left side body, move to your plank pose, lower down, knees are always an option, press into cobra or your up dog, we'll meet in down dog.

Bending your left leg, sliding it in front and across the right. If you feel it right here, stay right here in the outer left glute piriformis, if you'd like to feel more, slide that foot forward and invite your seat back. We're trying to find that spot where you feel a little resistance and we're trying to find the ease in that resistance. Pivot your right heel to the right, fallen triangle, push forward and down with your left hand, inhale the right palm, stack it over the left or take the side bend, right arm over the head, palm facing the crown of the head, rolling that right shoulder down into space. Okay, breathe in, move to your plank pose, lower all the way down, press up into your cobra or your up dog and we'll take a breath in child's pose and a little twist before we start our spinal twisting dog, right hand threads under and across, you can stay here, left hand to the sacrum or left hand around the waist as you start to take that nice spinal twist with your exhale, come on back to center, child's pose, right hand stays, left hand threads, right hand can stay or you can bring it to your sacrum or around the waist to invite that twist to move a little deeper with your exhale, good, come on back to your table and we're going to set up for our spinal twisting down dog, so set up for your down dog, bend your left leg and walk your right hand right to the center of the mat underneath your heart, this way you can peek under your left underarm and start to twist the torso, this could be your spot right here or maybe you're grabbing the outer right calf of the left leg, ankle or shin, if you're really feeling it, start to straighten the left leg, lengthen the spine and on your exhale, so good, rotate and twist, so the right hand is now going to be the working hand, side plank, right leg straight, step the left foot behind, kickstand, push into the tops of the left toes and push forward with the right hand, the left leg is going to step all the way to the front of the mat, you can use your left hand for help or you can step without using your left hand, left foot steps, right knee to the floor, left hand on the sacrum, sorry left hand on the knee, right hand on the sacrum and then as you press forward just lift and breathe into that full side body, good, from here we're going to bring our palms to the floor, spiral the right foot down, we'll work into a variation of parsvokanasana, left elbow will be right inside of the left leg, palm right on top and use your right hand on top of your left to help you lengthen the spine and as you push down you get a nice little rotation in your parsvokanasana, your side angle, we'll split the palms wherever that left hand falls, this is where it falls and we'll rise up setting up for our warrior two pose, we're going to use our breath in our warrior two, so back to that easy breath, that four part breath, as you inhale, straighten the legs, bring your palms together, pause and then as you exhale extend and press the palms out, inhale straighten the left leg, exhale extend, give yourself one more round, see if you can sink a little bit deeper into the foundation each time you extend, good, right hand right eye T bend, left palm flips to the sky, peaceful here, see if you can breathe up and into the right side body so you don't collapse here, and each exhale you can melt into the foundation, good, we're going to bring the left hand to the left hip and we'll slide that right leg forward, so we'll straighten the left leg, slide your right foot forward, you can use a block if you need to here, we're going to bring the left hand to the hip and start to tilt the hips for a triangle pose, start nice and easy, bring the hand either just above or below the knee and as you inhale lengthen the spine, create a lot of space so that you can spiral the right rib cage open to your triangle pose, if you're going deeper into your triangle instead of just dropping the ribs and letting that hand slide forward, lengthen forward, lengthen forward, lengthen forward as you move deeper into the pose, bring the right hand to the hip, bend the left leg, using the block underneath your left hand if you're journeying forward with the block about 6 inches in front of the toes we'll step into half moon pose, right toes 45 degrees, lengthen forward and extend that right arm to the sky, bend the left leg, pause, step back to your warrior 2, and we'll windmill the palms to the floor, lower the right knee, straighten the left leg, give that left leg a little break, you can move the hips from side to side in your half split, pulling the toes back and our resting position is going to be pigeon pose, so you may want to use your block once again underneath your left hip, walk the left foot across the mat, slide your block right underneath the left hip, see if you can internally rotate the back right leg and set up for your pigeon pose, if this isn't working for your body today just take seated figure 4, left ankle on top, this is perfect, you still get the same stretch and it goes back to that theme of ease and simplicity but if you have the pigeon practice start with the block or lose the block, internally rotate the right leg, press, lift the chest and softly fold, lengthen the heart forward and melt into whatever space is available to you, good, side 1 is done, you ready for side 2, bring your palms to the floor, tuck the right toes under, give that left leg a little shake, extend it to the sky, maybe open the hip, we'll take a vinyasa and meet in our down dog, so we're bending our right leg this time, pushing actively forward with the right hand, left hand journeys to the center of the mat for spinal twisting down dog, you can keep the left hand here or reach it across the body for the outer right calf, ankle or heel and possibly straightening that right leg, lengthening the spine and then twisting a little deeper, left arm is the working arm, so it moves forward, side plank to the left, right foot steps behind, kick stand, push into the right toes, push forward into the left palm, find that length right palm up and over the ear, look forward to the front of the mat, you can use the right hand to help you step forward or you can do it without the right hand, lower the left knee to the floor, right palm on top of the right quad, left hand to the psoas to the sacrum and then lifting the heart here, opening up the front of that left hip, nice little rocks forward and backward to open up the front of the left hip here, good, we'll bring the palms just inside of the left leg, pivot your left heel, left toes turning out, we'll bring the right elbow right on top of the right thigh for easy variation of parsvokonasana, this variation with the palms and prayers helps us lengthen the spine and then you can use the left hand to press on top of the right to give you a little bit more rotation, lengthening with the inhale, rotating with the exhale and then splitting the palms wherever you find them.

Keeping that right foot grounding, pressing forward, rise up into your warrior two, straight in the right leg, bring the palms into prayer and as you exhale, bend, kind of like you're pressing the energy out with the exhale, inhaling back to center, exhale, so this is kind of like the effort and then back to the ease, back to the center, playing with that balance between both. The next time you straighten that right leg, pause, inhale to your peaceful warrior and then bend back into that right leg, lifting through the left side body as you sink into that front right hip, go back to your breath, straightening the right leg, heel to your left foot forward, shorten your stance just a little bit, right hand to the hip, lengthen forward and then reach forward with the right hand, get as long as you can through that right side body and just see where the right hand normally lies. Lengthening the spine, maybe sliding it down, if you're going deeper without your block, make sure that you're lengthening to get more space. Using that block for half moon pose if you need it, left hand to the hip, right leg bends, block underneath your right hand, about a foot in front of you, lift and open your left hip and extend, playing with the balance in all four corners of the right foot, think about moving the crown of the head forward so you can find more rotation, bend the right leg, step back to your warrior two, pause just for a second, find your base and then windmill the palms to the floor. Lengthening the right leg, easy split, a little rock from side to side and then we'll set up for our pigeon on this side, bending the right leg and walking it across the mat.

You can use the block underneath your right hip as you set up for your pigeon pose or you can swing the left leg around, right ankle on top like you did on the other side, figure four variation. Simply rotating the back leg, pressing to the pinky toe side of the feet, lengthening the spine and finding your spot to make it a resting pose. Back to the breath, soften into it. Good. Good.

Walk your palms back, send the right leg to the sky, shake it out, move it around, open the hip up just a little bit, good. And then go ahead and lower the right foot to the floor. Look to the front of your mat, we're going to hop the feet just outside of the hands. So bend the knees, give yourself a little test bend here and then float outside of the hands. Did it work?

Try it one more time. Lift the hips, see if you can find some hang time. Floating the feet right outside of the hands and we'll have a seat in Malasana. We're going to try the arm balance, Titti Vasana. Use your blocks here, so you're going to put one block behind each heel.

If you have your own practice doing Titti Vasana, you don't need your block, feel free to start, then you can stay there longer. Bring your hands behind your calf muscles, press your calves forward and then your palms right on top of your block. Your elbows will create a little shelf for you. Place your elbows together so that you're active here and just start to walk your toes towards each other. For some of you, this is great right here.

If you're feeling it, cross the legs. With the ankles crossed, you can stay here a long time with this pose because everything is tightened and pulled in. If you want to go deeper, look forward, extend the legs forward. And then try to lift the seat a little bit. Good, Titti Vasana.

Lower your feet to the floor, slide your block to the side. Come back to Malasana. Some of you were staying here, that's okay, we're here with you right now. Enjoy your Malasana just for a second. And then we'll float the feet back and lie on our stomach, that's the good news.

You can float back the same way, lift and hop. Go ahead and lie on your stomach. We're going to take a nice little pec stretch opening up the front of the body. So take your right arm out to the side like a wing and then we'll roll over to the right side. If you want to move deeper into the pose, you can bend your left leg and open the hip.

The idea is to get into that right shoulder, front of the pec, tutorial major or minor, and release a little bit after the strength pose you just did in your Titti Vasana. And come on back to center. We'll roll the other way, left arm out to the side, walk the fingertips away from you. Slow, deep, full breaths, let time and gravity help you here. As you move that right knee away from you, you'll start to open up more through the front of the left shoulder.

Come on back to center. Hold into your cold breath, dog, and then press back to your down dog. Inhale the right leg to the sky, exhale, step it to the front of the mat and lower that left knee to the floor. We're going to go back into that psoas stretch, but this time we're going to take the quad stretch with the left leg. This doesn't work on your left knee, you can double up your mat or you can do the standing balancing on your left leg, and we'll join you there just in a second because we're all going to move to the front of the mat in a moment.

Pulling the heel towards the seat, lifting the heart, lifting the chest. So we're getting the front of the hip ready for our next pose, which is dancer pose. Release the left leg, press into the right toe pads, step to the front of your mat, and then we'll balance on the right leg, drishti forward, catching the pinky toe side of the left foot, easier, or big toe side of the left foot. As you extend your leg back, move your right palm forward in space. Keep your eye on your focal spot.

I like to flip my right palm and lift it to the sky, and then kick the left heel away from you. The right hand is reaching to the sky, the left toes are reaching to the sky, and then rebend the right leg, step the left leg back, lower the knee to the floor, palms down, give yourself a little stretch through the front of that psoas, and we'll take a vinyasa. Right leg to the sky, plank pose, option of lowering all the way down, median down dog. Step your left foot to the front of the mat, lower the right knee to the floor, sink into the psoas, open up the front of the hip, and you've got this quad stretch option right here with a knee on the floor, or we'll meet at the front of the mat. Stand and balance on the left leg.

Sometimes that weight on the top of the knee isn't good for you, so if you're feeling any sensitivities, stand up and do this one. Good. So we set up for our dancer pose, shift your weight forward, establish the drishti, catch the front of the right shin, pinky toe side of the right foot, or big toe side, big toe side gives you a little bit more opening through the chest, and lengthen the left arm forward and the right leg back. Take your time, go back to the ease of the breath, even though you might find a little challenge in the pose. The more you kick the right heel away, the more you'll feel.

Step the right leg back, we did it. Lower your palms to the floor, left leg to the sky, vinyasa. From your child's pose, we'll come and lie on the back, you can bend both knees as you lie on your back. Your heels will be right under your knees, we're going to take just a couple of nice easy bridge variations. So on your next inhale, reach the arms over the head, press into all four sides of the feet and lift the hips.

And as you exhale, lower down nice and slow, a nice massaging movement of the spine. Breathing with that inhaled breath, lifting the seat, rising up, squeezing inner thighs towards each other, and then exhale, lowering down vertebrae by vertebrae, so that it feels like a massage for the back, last round, inhale rising, exhale, melting back into the floor, releasing your arms out to the side, taking your feet as wide as your mat, and just bringing the spine back to neutral with some windshield wipers of the knees, letting the knees drop from side to side. So you're keeping part of the foot on the floor the whole time, don't lift your feet off, you'll feel this nice release, bringing that lower back back to the natural neutral curvature of the spine. And then from here, you can straighten the legs out one at a time and just rely down and relax in Shavasana. If you feel like grabbing a seat, I'm going to grab my harmonium and sing to you a little bit, enjoy all the effects of your practice.

Let it go! Namaham. Namaham. Shanti Aum Aum Shanti Aum Aum Aum Shanti You can start to bring your attention back to your body and your breath. Find a little wiggle in the fingers and the toes. Give yourself a nice big stretch, arms over the head.

Big inhale, and as you exhale, hug all of that in, all that goodness in. Roll to the right side in a ball. Help yourself up with your left hand. Give yourself a moment to absorb and receive all the effects of your practice. Keep sharing those effects of your practice with everyone that you meet.

Thanks for sharing them with me today. Namaste.