Fire Shorty

(ocean waves crashing) When you're ready, please take a good seat. If you can sit in virasana, come to virasana. Rest your hands down in your lap as you just take a moment to create your intention for your practice. Make two fists with the hands. Lift your chest, so as you come forward, the fists fit nicely in the soft part of your belly, and just allow your head to come forward and down, while we create a little bit of pressure at the front of the belly with your fists.

Try to breathe all the way around into the back of the spine. Lift the head up, and we'll try to remember that place where the fists were when we bring the hands forward and slide the knees back under your hips. As you inhale, take your left leg up into the air and your right arm out in front of you. Then as you exhale, we'll lift up through the center of the belly right where the fists were. Bring the right elbow, left knee together and exhale round.

Balance and inhale again. Reach out long. Exhale, as we come in, pull up through the belly center. Inhale, balance and reach out. Exhale as we draw in.

Second side, reach out long for your right leg and your left arm. Pause and balance. Exhale, elbow and knee toward each other. Inhale, stretch out long. Exhale, come in, and inhale, reach out.

One more time. Exhale, round in, and then inhale, reach out. Both knees on the floor, both hands on the ground. Lift your knees, and step your feet back to find plank pose, the kind of plank pose where you could hold it for close to one minute. Let's try to feel the downward rooting through your feet, the firming up through your shins, the femurs, and noticing that we haven't lifted too high in the hips to make downward dog, and we're not sinking too low to create up dog.

You're somewhere right in the middle, where you feel buoyant through the belly and hip area. Engage to the sides of the chest as you firmly root through your palms. Feel that downward rooting of your index finger and your thumb side of the hand. Take another few breaths, just holding yourself away from the floor. Then as you exhale, draw your hips up and back into downward facing dog.

From downward dog, we'll curl forward with the upper body, and then come down, knees, belly, chest to the floor. Keep your chest lifted as your legs rise out to the side, shalabhasana. Bring your legs together as you lower your head to the floor. Inhale, legs out to the side, chest up. Exhale, legs together, head down.

Two more times. Inhale up, exhale your way down. One more time, inhaling up and exhale down. Then, letting your feet stay on the floor, curl the chest up, cobra with your elbows hugged in at your waist. Then press your hips back over your knees, downward dog as you exhale out.

From here, we'll walk the feet up between your hands, and take a moment to ground your feet, bend your knees, drop your hips, and start to reach out with your arms as we rise up into a chair pose. As you exhale, we're going to sit back down slowly. Drop your sit bones. Reach out through your legs, and come into that balancing navasana. We bring the feet back to the floor, reach through the legs, and come all the way back up through your chair pose.

Then as you exhale, again, ever so slowly, sitting down into navasana, with the legs out in front. The feet come in as one. Reach through the legs. Come back up through your chair pose. And one more time, coming down slowly.

Lift your feet up into the air in navasana. With your feet together, reach through the legs and then set up with the heels up into your bakasana prep. Start first with engaging the legs. Hug them in towards your torso. You can also practice with your hands off the floor to work the legs, or root your hands, lean forward, create your chaturanga arms, and lift one foot and then the other.

Then take a moment to try to still work into your legs so you don't feel like you're bruising your arms. Feet down to the floor, knees together, and then slowly curl up in a good way for you. Then we'll turn and face the long edge of your mat with your heels facing in toward each other, hands on your thighs. Just sit down in a good way, hands in front of the chest, as we settle into a round of kapalbhati. When you're ready, let your belly relax, and then quick, sharp exhalations through the nose.

(exhaling rhythmically) Inhale, and as you exhale, come down with your hands to the floor. Separate your feet a little bit wider apart. With your feet on the mat, set your hands down just in front of the shoulder line. As you lean forward, lift your heels up away from the ground, and you could stop at this point, as you look slightly out in front of your fingertips, or we lift the feet off the floor approaching what would feel like a handstand. Bend your knees, lift your feet off the floor, and then try to land softly.

Lift the feet, land softly. You might start to come up higher, and then land softly. Maybe even more. Pause. Eventually, you get to the place where you come up all the way.

(laughing) Walk your hands back in. Heel-toe your legs and feet together. Roll up in a good way to stand. Let your feet come together, and take a big inhale breath. Reach out for your right wrist, a little bend over to your left side.

Exhale, settling the wind, and then come up. Reach over to your right side as you exhale. Come up to the center, and have a great day.