Motivated Flow

Hey yogis, welcome back to the mat. Today our theme is motivate. So if you showed up to the mat, you're halfway there. The whole idea about making it to the mat and maybe not wanting to do your practice probably is the reason why you should do your practice today. And it's usually going to be the most beneficial effects that you're going to have from your yoga practice, those days that you're not really sure about showing up.

So today's going to be all about encouragement, motivation, and what I like to think about when I'm not really feeling motivated is some person in my life that is really dear to me. And I want to dedicate my practice to that person. So I'd like you to close your eyes just for a moment and in your mind's eye, think of somebody that's very dear to you, somebody that you wouldn't want to let down. Dedicate your efforts and practice to that person, that being, could be your dog, whatever it is. Give yourself a moment to dedicate, connect with the rise and fall of your breath.

Notice maybe that lightness that that person or being brings to you. Connect with the rise and the fall of the breath. And once again, thank yourself for being here today. We're going to keep this connection to the breath throughout the practice. Give yourself a moment to slowly open the eyes.

And we're going to do a little Kundalini rising. Lean your right ribcage over your right thigh, lengthen forward. And as you exhale, draw the navel back, curling the spine, leaning forward, extending and contracting as you pull back. You're kind of shifting your weight from side to side to each sit bone, inviting that energy to come up the spine. Keeping the movements connected with your breath, exhaling as you draw back and inhaling as you lengthen forward.

One more round in this direction, and then when you come to that pause right at the center, switch directions, exhaling it back, inhale, lengthening it forward. Nice movements connecting us, torso to limbs, that midsection where we get a lot of stress and tension, lower back, hips, glutes. And this rocking sensation brings the energy up the spine, kind of wakes everything up. Good. Come to a nice, comfortable seat.

Extend your right leg and bring your left leg right into tree variation for half Janu. We'll take the left hand on top of the left thigh, right hand beside you, lift your sternum, lift your chest, and take a soft twist to your right. You walk the right fingertips farther back, big inhale, exhale, rotate. Big inhale, exhale, go ahead and rotate once again. Turn halfway back and draw the left knee right into the chest, wrap the right arm around, slide that left palm back, tall spine, counter twist.

Big inhale, lengthening, creating space, exhaling into that space, give yourself one more round of breath, push down with that left hand, crown of the head rises, exhale, sink into it. As you extend your left leg, catch the calf, ankle, or pinky toe side of the foot and lift the heel. Sternum lifts, activate the core muscles, stay right here or take the variation without the left palm on the floor. If you're really feeling it today, you can try to lift the right leg up to join the left. It can be tricky.

Maybe put your right hand down first, engage, good, and we're going to place that left ankle just outside of the right knee, slide the right heel in, Matsyandrasana, big inhale, lift the left elbow out, the right elbow outside, tall spine, exhale, rotate. Big inhale, exhale, rotate. Come back to center of the leg state just as they are and we're going to have a little walk over to the right, hand over hand for a little counter twist, nice side stretch for the side body, breathing into that left rib, lats, intercostals, good. And then you can come back to center, extend the left leg, extend the right leg, take a little bend in the knees, grab onto the shins, lengthen the spine, and take a soft fold. Inhale, lengthen, exhale, soften.

Keep the knees bent for this one, just waking up the lower back and the hamstrings, and then you can keep your left leg extended, slide your right foot in, easy, Janu, right hand on top of the right thigh, left hand behind you, tall spine, exhale, rotate. Big inhales, enjoy the breath, exhale, soften into that space that you've created. Coming back to center, drawing the right knee over to the left pec muscle, right hand behind, tall spine. You can use that right hand to push the floor away to help you lengthen the spine, give you more space for the rotation. Big inhales, lift, exhale, rotate.

Right hand stays, left hand catches the outer right calf, ankle, or side of the foot, variation of boat pose, lifting the heart, rotating, maybe right hand off the floor for this variation, or maybe bringing that right hand back down, left leg joins, boat pose with a twist. Use the core muscles, keep them really engaged, good. Lower the left, right ankle outside of the left knee, swing the leg around, moving into a deeper twist. Exhale, lift the heart, you can stay right here, or you can take the left hand outside, Matsyandrasana, big inhale, crown of the head rises, exhale, soften and twist. Inhale, lengthen, and exhale, release into it, little counter pose, swing your palms to the left, keep the knees dropping to the right, and then we're stretching that right side body and having a nice counter twist to join, good.

Coming back to center, we're going to swing the legs around and move right into table pose, palms are underneath the shoulders, knees underneath the hips. From your table pose, press down and forward with your palms, draw the navel up and back for the cat tilt of the spine. As you inhale, lengthen the heart forward, lift the seat, Drishti, focus up, exhale, press right back, two more rounds, last one, lengthen forward, and then come into a neutral spine. Bring your left leg back and press into the calf muscle, as you press the heel back you should feel a nice little calf stretch on the left side, and then slide that left foot forward an inch or two and press back once again, you're going to feel just a little bit more here, getting deeper into that hamstring, and then finale right here, press back, and this is where things are going to get a little more challenging, so if I yell at you it's only because I'm coaching you and trying to motivate you, draw your right knee way up on top of your right tricep, lower your right knee to your wrist, and then pull it up with the exhale, lower, pull up with the exhale, you got two more, you can do this, last one, lower, pull up, and then extend your right leg, one leg dog, go back to your breath again. Good, move to your plank pose, lower the knees to the floor, and then bend those elbows, lower halfway, pause, and then press back up, lengthen the crown forward, pause, press back up, you got one more, lengthen forward, pause, and then lower all the way down, replace your palms with your elbows, invite the ribs to move forward, and the shoulder blades to move back, press to the tops of your feet for a nice stretch for the lower back in your sphinx pose, opening up the front body by pulling the navel up, and all the way back.

Good, so we're going to meet back in table pose, replace your elbows with your palms, knees under the hips, palms under the shoulders, just one nice juicy round of our cat and cow tilts, find a neutral spine, and extend your right leg back this time, as you press into that heel, as you pulse back, you'll start to feel that calf muscle starting to release a little bit, maybe even the hamstring, and then slide your foot forward, as you pulse back into the heel, press forward into your palms at the same time, give yourself one more round, slide the foot forward, push back into your heel, now comes the fun stuff, left knee up to the left tricep, slide it down, exhale, pull it up, slide it down, you got two more, you can do this, pull it up, one more, pull it up, and extend the left leg to the sky, one legged dog, sink that right heel towards the floor, press your palms forward, find the breath, lengthen forward to your plank pose, knees are an option, or you can slowly lower down as you bend the elbows, keep breathing, replace your palms with your elbows once again, interlace your fingers, and slide your elbows forward just a little bit, draw your ribs towards your elbows to really lengthen and engage the muscles of the core, press down into the feet, keep this very active, and then slide your palms back for your cobra pose pulses, lower with the exhale, inhale lift, give yourself two more rounds, inhale rising, last one, regrouping in table pose, walk your hands of palm print forward, squeeze your biceps forward, press back to down dog and pedal it out one at a time, go ahead and extend your right leg the height of your hip and reach back with your heel so you get that deep stretch in the left calf muscle, and from here walk your hands half way to the left foot, we're going to play with a little upper body strength here, so you're going to bend the elbows and lean the crown of the head forward, and press back, how deep you bend is really up to you, give yourself a little challenge though, find that spot where you feel it, you feel that shake in the muscle just a little bit, and then press back, walk your hands forward, take a nice big inhale, and exhale the right foot to the front of the mat, lower the left knee to the floor, pause here for a moment, sinking into that left psoas, pulsing forward, trying to release right here, place your right hand on top of your right thigh and inhale the left palm to the sky, invite that left shoulder blade down in space, lift the heart, lift the chin, lift the chest, exhale the left palm back to the floor, right hand to the sky, soft twist, invite that right inner thigh towards your left bicep, lengthen the spine as you rotate, and then we're going to bring the right hand to the sacrum and extend the left hand forward, so the left hand's the height of your shoulder, right hand's to the sacrum, and as you roll that right shoulder back you'll get a nice view of that revolved warrior too, palms can be down or you can start to flip them up, invite that right knee to move deeper into the pose, lift the sternum, lift the chest, and softly rotate and twist, good, bring your palms back to the floor inside of the right leg, this is the fun part, we're going to do some hop switches, so we're hopping outside of the hands, the left leg's going to come forward while the right leg shoots back, so tuck your toes under, give yourself a little bend in the legs, float, you got a couple more, you can do this, send it up, hop switch, if this isn't working just move your legs back quickly, but we're trying to find a little hang time as we hop switch, good, send the left leg back to meet the right or whatever leg's forward, take a vinyasa, cobra up dog, give yourself a moment to pause in your child's pose, reconnect with your breath, maybe remember who is fueling your practice today, who you're offering your practice up to, good, and we'll come back and we'll meet in our down dog, setting up the same way, spiraling the biceps forward, tucking the toes under, inhaling the left leg to the sky this time, pressing forward with both palms, taking a nice big inhale, sinking that right heel to the floor and then slowly walking the palms back towards the right foot, playing with a little upper body strength by bending the elbows and pressing back, keep breathing with me, you've got two more, don't stop, one more, you're going to feel so good after this practice, walk your hands forward, one legged dog, take a nice big inhale here and step the left foot to the front of the mat, you made it, left hand on top of the left thigh, press up to your easy lower lunge, pulsing into it, you can bring the right hand to the sacrum, pulsing a little deeper, this helps invite the tailbone down and the heart to lift, press the right quad forward, inhale the right palm to the sky like someone's pulling you up to the sky, creating space for the lower back, right hand to the floor, lengthen the spine, soft twist, inhale get long through the spine, exhale rotate, keep spiraling your right bicep forward as you twist and then you can inhale that left palm to the sky and extend the arm, stay with the breath, bring your left hand to your sacrum, right arm lifts, lift the torso, right over the hips, right arm is shoulder height, lift your sternum and then extend your left palm back, maybe take the drishti back if that's okay on your neck, invite the left knee to lengthen forward, lift the sternum, rotate the torso to the left and keep breathing into your twist, good, we're milling your palms to the floor inside of the left leg, we got one more round of hop switches, see how high you can get your seat up to the air as you float back, so give yourself a little bounce here, use the exhales to hop, one more, step your right foot back to meet the left, press back into down dog and pedal out those hamstrings one at a time, we're going to take a slow walk forward to the front of the mat, just notice how the hamstrings are feeling, bend the knees at any time and then when you come to the front of your mat, feet hip distance, bend the knees enough so that you can grab on to the big toes with your peace fingers and your thumbs and give yourself a little pull, crown of the head to the floor, relax the muscles in the face and the jaw and from here it's really up to you and your hamstrings as you pull the crown of the head to the floor, exhale draw the navel to the spine and start to lift your seat slowly, give yourself two more rounds of breath here, one more, go ahead and bend both knees, use your quad and core muscles to help you roll up vertebrae by vertebrae, if you need your hands on top of the knees to help guide you go for it, inhale the palms to the sky, exhale I'm right into prayer, close the eyes for a moment and connect with your breath, clearing the mind and so once you've cleared the mind go ahead and slowly open the eyes and we're going to set up for the main part of our flow and you may need a block so why don't you grab it right now and put it over to the side in front of the mat just in case you need it, we'll bring our big toes together for this variation, little space between the heels if that's okay for you and your balance, let's let out a nice long om as we bow to the floor, so take an inhale first, just make a sound let something out, inhale the palms to the sky, home it to the floor, bring your palms to your shins, lengthen the spine, bend both knees, walk or float back to plank pose, lower down, press through your cobra or your up dog, send it back to your down dog, inhale the left leg to the sky, exhale step it to the front of your mat, we're gonna do some high lunges, so left knee right over the heel, press the right heel back, inhale the palms to the sky, straighten the left leg and then go ahead and bend the left leg, sink back into that right heel, straighten it and re-bend it, really playing with the power in that front quad, give yourself two more rounds, if you're feeling really motivated just lift your left heel off the floor as you straighten and bend, you'll feel that, good, lower the right hand to the floor, high twist, left hand on top of the left quad, lengthen and turn, spiral your right bicep forward, left palm to the sky, we're taking it up a notch here, lower the left hand to your sacrum, right knee to the floor, that same variation of Revolved to Warrior II, but feel free to keep that right knee on the floor or tuck the toes under, lift the knee off, straighten the front leg, the left leg, bring your palms into prayer and then extend, straighten, lift up, squeeze everything to the midline and extend it out, you've got two more, float with your breath, feeling a little quad burn is good, one more, bring your left hand to your sacrum, reach forward with your right hand, this is a good spot, you can hop your right foot forward to use your block, we're going into Revolved Half Moon Pose, palm on top of the block, lengthen the spine, try to get the block right underneath your shoulder so that you can elongate the spine to facilitate more of a twist, hand at the sacrum kind of lets you know if the hips are equal, should be able to place hot cup of coffee on here without spilling it, in theory, inhale that left palm to the sky, extend the right leg, each time you inhale you're creating space for more rotation, bring the left hand back to the sacrum, step the right leg back, slide the right hand back, you're back in the safe twist once again and then lower the left hand to the floor, lower the right knee, straighten the left leg, enjoy that hamstring stretch, opposing muscle from that quad should feel good, so our last pose is either Revolved Half Split or Revolved Triangle, the half split variation is similar, it's just that the right knee stays on the floor, left hand to the sacrum, pull the toes back, squeeze the inner thighs together, this could be your spot today or bend your left leg, replace your right knee with your right foot, pivot the heel about 65, 80 degrees forward, hug the inner thighs, lengthen the spine, keep squeezing into the midline to open and twist, so we've done a lot of twists and a lot of hamstring stretches, so this is kind of your finale, so enjoy the space here, and then lower the palms to the floor, move your block to the other side because we're going to need it, send the left leg to the sky, shake it out, move it around, enjoy the space that you've created, plank pose, cycle through your vinyasa, and give yourself a moment in child's pose, we're going to take a little stretch here, forehead on the floor, interlace the hands behind the back, roll to the crown of the head, move your wrists forward in space, if you're feeling excited about this one and you want to try this, pause for a second, take a peak, make sure your head's not too close to your knees, if you have a neck issue skip this one all together, tuck your toes under and lift off, wrists move forward in space, same pose, just taking it up a notch, make sure this one's right for you and your neck today, otherwise skip it and then just enjoy the softer expression of the pose, release your hands to child's pose, let's do this, second side, come on let's go, I'm excited for you, press back to your down dog, inhale the right leg to the sky, step the right foot to the front of the mat, high lunge, reach it up, straighten the right leg, reach your palms to the sky, tops of the left toes and then re-bend the right leg, keep your focal point so you can keep your balance, pulse with your breath, inhaling as you rise, exhaling as you sink, if you tried a couple with that right heel off the floor, now's your chance, shake things up a little bit, lower the right heel to the floor, right hand on top of the left thigh, lengthen the spine, rotate, spiral the left bicep forward, press the left heel back, create space with the breath, last big inhale, ring it out, right hand to the sacrum, left hand lowers to the floor, extend your left palm forward the height of your shoulder, lowers right over your hips and then lengthen lift and turn to your right, lengthen lift, turn to your right, extend the right palm, you can do these straightening and bending with the left knee on the floor if you did that on the other side or tuck it under, lift it off, straighten, bring the palms in, squeeze everything to the midline and extend, two more, enjoy the movements, enjoy the challenge, last one, good, left palm forward, grab onto your block, slide your block forward, you get to straighten that right leg, lengthen the spine, extend the left leg back, revolve, half moon, make sure your toes are pointing down, inner thighs are squeezing to give you more space, and we're still breathing right, right hand to the sacrum, step the left leg back, left palm back to the floor for a nice easy twist before you lower the right palm down, straighten the right leg, thank you right leg, give it a little shake from side to side, pulling the toes back, and then our finale pose on this side, we used our blocks for that split variation, spinal twisting, half split or bend the right leg, replace your left knee with your left foot, turn the toes in, about 65 or a little bit more, invite the hips back, lengthen the spine, and spiral, good, lower your palms to the floor, move your block to the side, send that right leg to the sky and shake it out, thank you right leg for all that you do, move forward to your plank pose, take the knees nice and close as you lower them down, keep the toes tucked under and then we're going to take a nice tight child's pose with the knees together and the toes tucked under, so we're going to keep the knees together and the toes tucked under, the tighter the knees are together the deeper that twist will be, we'll thread the right arm underneath and across the left, you can push the floor away with your left hand, this is a great opportunity to move into a deeper twist, you can bring your palms into prayer as you push down with the left palm, lengthen the spine, it can go deeper into the twist or if you're really feeling like you've got a lot of space today, take your right hand, grab the outer left foot and then journey the left hand forward, little micro bend in the left elbow and then turn, make sure you're still breathing here, good, whatever version you did of your twist, slowly come out, we're going to grab a seat on the heels and from this space we're going to take another twist, same elbow, outside, right hand, maybe the right hand inside for your twist or if you're moving deeper, right hand outside for your twist, bringing the fingertips to the floor, this will be a nice setup if we decide to do side crow, I'm going to show you a trick in side crow, maybe this will help you get into it, the back leg stays, the front leg steps forward just about in front of that right knee, I'm going to show you from this angle right here so you get a better viewpoint, this is your left leg, hook the right elbow out, left hand, find the left hip, moves out about a foot and then you reach down with the right hand, the left knee has to stay above the right elbow and then as you lean forward bend the elbows, only the left foot has to come off the floor, stay right here or you can lengthen forward, right leg joins the left or extend it back, you can always use a pillow here, little crash pad, safety net, come back to your child's pose, nice and tight, knees together, sitting back on your heels, thread the left arm under, across and through, go back to your breath, option one use the right hand to push the floor down, option two palms into prayer, lengthen press down and twist or option three take your left hand across, reach for the right foot, right hand journeys over, nice deep twist, go back to your breath, go back to your heels, this sets us up really nicely to move into the sidecrow variation because it's really important to be able to go deep into the twist to get into the sidecrow, I'm going to spin around this way, once again we're taking the left elbow either between the legs for the twist, option one or outside, squeezing the inner thighs together, opening, good, moving into the arm balance, the left leg stays, the right foot slides forward, left elbow hooks out, right hand lines up with the right hip, walk it out about a foot so that it facilitates that shelf, you can put your hip on the elbow as you lean forward, I can stay here with my left foot on the floor and feel safe, if I want to extend, I can extend or bring them together, good one to practice with a blanket or a safety cushion right there, come back into your child's pose just for a moment, reconnect with your breath, good and then grab a seat on your heels, interlace your fingertips and we'll just take a little wrist stretch right here, circling one direction and then flipping which index finger is on top for another direction, we did a lot of strength poses so we're going to open up, the muscles in the front of the chest, go ahead and lie on your stomach, left arm out to the side like a wing and then bend it so you're creating a little cactus field goal arm, right angle and then roll to your left here, as you press the floor away with your right hand, you'll get more depth in this opener for the pectoral muscle, if you want to feel more, right hand can reach back, grab onto the right foot and as you kick the heel away you get a double whammy here, really open in the front body, come on back to center, cactus arms are going to set us up really nicely for our eagle arms, right elbow out to the side, walk the elbow away from you, roll to your right, hang out right here, pushing the floor away with your right hand, reconnecting with your breath or reaching back with your left hand, grabbing onto the ankle and inviting the heel away from you, enjoy the stretch to the front of the body, lengthen the breath, slow it down, slowly roll back to center, slide your palms next to the ribs, curl up to your cobra up dog and then go ahead and grab a seat on your heels one more time, give yourself a big hug, left arm on the bottom, right arm on top, kiss yourself too, if you want to, you deserve it, you did a whole practice, you're almost done, left arm on bottom, right arm on top, eagle arms, move the thumbs away from the face, drop your palms to the right, left ear to the left, little trapezius stretch here, good, bring the palms back to center, lift off of your heels, knees hip distance, squeeze the inner thighs together, draw the navel up, move the elbows away from you, thumb away from you, heart lifts first, elbow second, chin follows, keep breathing, just two more, keep those eagle arms and lower halfway down, use your core muscles, slide your elbows forward to three, six inches, bring the left elbow to the floor and try to bring the right pinky down, eagle arm, child pose variation, stretching through that upper right shoulder, good and then grab a seat on your heels, close the eyes for a moment, reconnect with that person that was motivating you in your practice today or that being, and almost as if you're hugging them, right arm on the bottom, left arm on top this time, squeeze it in nice and tight, you can kiss them too and then move into those eagle arms, move the elbows away from the face and then drop the palms to the left, right ear to the right for the trapezius stretch, come on back to center, lift your seat up, elbows away, draw the navel up, squeeze the inner thighs together, heart lifts, elbows lift, followed by chin and the drishti, keep breathing through it, keep lifting your rib cage so you're not putting any pressure on the lower back, lower down halfway, use your core muscles as you come down, counterbalance, slide that left elbow forward a couple of inches, lower the left palm down, fingertips down and invite your seat back, good, just release the arms, pause for a moment in your child's pose, excellent, so from here we're gonna lie on our back, much deserved happy baby pose for all of your efforts, draw the knees a little wider than the chest, little rock from side to side, this could be your expression of the pose right here if that works for you or you can reach for the pinky toe sides of the foot as you draw the knees to the floor counterbalance by pressing your sacrum down, rocking from side to side feels good, sometimes you just gotta do what feels good in your practice, good and then we're gonna bring the bottoms of the feet together, interlace, draw the heels towards the seat and then press the knees and toes forward, just release the upper back and shoulders a little bit, variation of Baddha Konasana and we're gonna keep the Baddha Konasana and lower the sides of the feet to the floor and just release right here and open up, give yourself a couple of moments just to receive and absorb all of the effects of your practice, thank yourself for this journey, thank the person or being that motivated you on this journey as you settle in to your Shavasana, you can straighten one leg at a time, if this hip opener feels good, feel free to stay and as you enjoy your Shavasana practice, I will get my harmonium and I'll do a little chant, you're welcome to sing along if that feels right for you. Om Nama Sivaaya Om Nama Sivaaya Om Nama Sivaaya Om Nama Sivaaya Om Nama Sivaaya Om Nama Sivaaya Om Nama Sivaaya Om Nama Sivaaya Om Nama Sivaaya start to bring your attention back to your body and back to your breath, the sense of gratitude and once again thanking your inspiration for this practice, with the fingers and the toes and on that next inhale reach the arms over the head for a nice big stretch point the toes and exhale hug all of that goodness in and give yourself a little roll to the right side of all and slowly help yourself up to your seat. Thank you so much for showing up today, for being inspired and for sharing your practice with me, go out and share the effects of your practice with everyone that you meet, Namaste.