Easeful Spine

Welcome, thank you for joining me. So in this practice, we're going to move through a very fluid sequence that brings ease to the spine and the lower back. We'll also find some strength in the core as well as an opening in the heart, the hips, and also the shoulders. So if you'll join me, we'll start on all fours in a tabletop position. So as you come to tabletop, start to bring the shoulders over the wrists, spread the fingers wide, and then let the hips come right over your knees, finding that rooted stability here.

And then we'll start to move right away with the breath. So on your inhale, drop the belly, lift the heart, lift the gaze. And then as you exhale, draw the navel to the spine, press the floor away, let the tailbone tuck. Good. And then let's take a few more with your breath.

So as you inhale, coming forward, arching, reaching the heart forward. As you exhale, navel to the spine, press the floor away. Good. Inhaling as you come forward, exhaling as you round. Let's just take two more like that.

So with the breath, letting the breath guide the movement, inhale forward, exhale, press floor away and round. Good. And just one more inhale. And exhale. Good.

And then come back to a neutral spine. We're gonna walk the hands in front of the shoulders just a little bit, a couple inches, and then tuck your toes, lift your hips up and back, and we'll come into our first downward facing dog. So same idea here, just find some movement, maybe pedal it out through your feet a few times, bending one knee, straightening the other leg, just start to feel into the backs of your legs in this first downward facing dog. And if the hamstrings are tight, you can always keep the knees bent or step the feet a little bit wider if that feels good. And just take about three or four more breaths here, just feeling into your first dog.

Always sway the hips from side to side, shake the head yes and no, start to feel that length all the way through the spine, let the head and neck relax. Good. And then from your downward facing dog, start to find some stillness with the legs. And then we're gonna inhale into plank pose, but round through the upper back as you come forward. So it's almost like a cat pose in the upper back as you come to plank pose.

And then as you find plank, bend your knees, let them hover up off the earth and then lift your sitting bones up and back, straighten the legs, coming back into downward facing dog. So there's this undulating movement as we're moving back and forth from plank to down dog. So again, inhale, round forward to plank pose, bend the knees, lift the hips up and back, coming back to downward facing dog. Now let's do that a couple more times. So inhale, rounding forward, cat pose in the upper back, exhale, bend the knees, lift the hips up and back, down dog.

One more with the breath. Exhale brings us forward and the exhale brings us back to your downward facing dog. Nice work. So start to find some stillness in your downward facing dog. And then we'll bring the right knee down, almost right under your nose so that the shin comes down to the earth, the knee comes down and the shoulders come over your wrists.

And then setting up for Ardavashisthasana, start to roll onto the outer edge of your left foot, bring the weight into your right hand and then sweep the left arm up. Good. And then from here, take the left arm up and over your ear for a breath. So feeling that length through the side body and then lift up through the left leg, bend your left knee and take your left hand to your left ankle so that you're kicking your foot into your hand and kind of feeling this expansion across the chest. And then as you inhale, open up through the chest, as you exhale, draw the knee in towards you.

Good. And then take that one more time. So as you inhale, draw the leg away from you, feel that opening in the chest. You might even look up and then exhale, draw the knee in towards your chest. Good.

And then let that go. Bring your left toes back down. Bring your left hand down. Come onto your left toes. You're going to tuck the toes under, draw your right knee in towards your nose so you're hovering in a plank, finding the rounding action through the upper back.

And then gaze forward and step your right foot all the way through between your hands. Good. So you're in a nice lunge here. Lower the back knee down. Come onto your fingertips.

Lift up through the heart. Take a big full breath in. And then exhale, half split, Ardha Hanuman. Start to straighten through your front leg as you draw the right hip back, folding over your front leg. And then we're just going to be fluid with this.

So with the breath, you'll inhale to re-bend through the front leg. Look up, lift the heart, lengthen. And then exhale, fold over your front leg. Let's do three more with the breath. Inhale, re-bend, look up and lengthen.

Exhale, fold over the front leg. Good. Two more. Inhale, re-bend. Exhale, Ardha Hanuman.

One more. Inhale, re-bend. Good. And then exhale, fold in. Beautiful.

And then come back to your lunge. Tuck your back toes. Lift the back knee up. So you're back in your lunge here. And then left hand down, right under the shoulder.

You can also have a block under your hand here if you'd like. And then we'll take a lunge twist. So keeping your right hip hugging in, reach your right arm up. And let your twist happen from the navel up. So keep hugging that right hip in, stay active in the left leg.

And then just hold here for a couple of breaths. Exhaling your inhale, allowing that letting go action with your exhale. One more. Inhale. And exhale.

Good. Lower your right hand down. We'll step back to downward facing dog. Good. And then from your down dog, let's glide forward to plank pose, top of a pushup.

And then lower all the way down to the earth. You're welcome to lower your knees down, hug the elbows in, and come on to your belly. Tuck your toes straight in the legs, and then take your hands out on either side of your yoga mat. So the hands are wide, elbows pointing straight up. And then as you inhale, press into the tops of the feet, start to peel the chest up off the earth.

So you're coming into this wider cobra. Good. And then from here, we'll just lower it back down. Let's take two more like that. So inhale, peel the chest up.

Exhale, lower. Good, one more like that. Inhale, peel it up. Exhale, lower. Beautiful.

And then hands next to the side ribs. Tuck your toes, firm the thighs. We'll come back up to plank pose. Inhale. Downward facing dog.

Exhale. Nice work. And just hang here for a breath. Notice how that feels before we come to the other side. And again, any movement in the legs, the hips, really just that idea of coming back to your center.

And maybe just take a moment here to set an intention for this practice. Something you'd like to call in or let go of. Beautiful. And then as you're ready, we'll lower the left knee down, taking it to the other side. So knee comes right under the nose.

Bring the weight into your hands, shoulders over wrists, and then spin to the outer edge of the right foot, take the weight into your left hand, reach the right arm up to begin. Good. And then maybe over your ear, feel that side body stretch, lengthening, reaching forward and back. Good. And then lift up through the left leg.

Bend your left knee, kick your foot into your hand, and then feel that opening across the chest. So as you inhale, lengthen, look up, exhale, draw your knee in towards you so you're crunching inward toward your center. Good. And then inhale, open it up, exhale, draw everything in. This is reminding me of dance move from the 90s.

And then start to open it up again, and then lengthen out through that right leg. We'll place it back down on the earth, right hand down, and then again, tuck your right toes. We're going to draw the left knee in towards your nose, round through the upper back. Good. Hold it in.

And then look forward, step your foot all the way through between your hands. Good. Lower your back knee down. Come on to your fingertips. Also, this is a nice place if this feels a little bit too much, you can have a couple blocks under your hands here if that feels better for you.

Good. So as you inhale, lift the heart and lengthen. As you exhale, fold over your front leg. And as you do that, draw your left hip back, lifting up the toes. Good.

And then we'll move with the breaths, keeping it fluid. Inhale, rebend, look up and lengthen. Exhale, fold over your front leg. Three more. Inhale, rebend, exhale, fold over your front leg.

Two, inhale, exhale. The last one with the breath, let the breath guide the movement, inhaling, exhale. Good. And then rebend through your front leg, tuck your back toes, lift the back knee up, and we'll set up for that lunge twist again. So right hand down, hug your left hip in, and then just let this happen from the navel up.

Reach the right arm up and find your twist. Good. Holding for three breaths. Good. Last breath in.

And then exhale, lower your left hand down, again, we'll step back to downward facing dog. Beautiful. And then from down dog, inhale to come forward, plank pose, exhale, lower all the way down to the earth. Good. And this time, as you get down, untuck your toes.

When you come into shalabhasana, so reaching the arms back actively, you might even interlace your hands behind the low back if that feels good for you. And then start to use that to draw the shoulders back, tuck your chin so the back of the neck is nice and long, and then any amount, peel the chest up, feel the length in the spine. If you want to add the legs, go for it, add the legs, maybe spread the toes, but think about length here rather than lifting up too high. Good. So you're lengthening out, take a big breath in, good, and then exhale, let it go, bring the hands next to your side ribs, tuck your toes, firm your thighs.

Down and inhale, come all the way back up to plank, good, and then exhale, downward facing dog, nice job. So from down dog, we're going to walk the feet to the front of the mat, and you can take a slow walk or a couple steps, whatever works best for you. And then as you come to the front of the mat, take your feet hips distance, soften through your knees, and then fold right over your legs for uttanasana, maybe holding opposite elbows or interlacing behind the back or in the back of the neck if that feels good. Really whatever feels good with your arms right here. Just let the head and neck relax, start to feel that opening through the backs of your legs and the lower back.

Good, and if you're crossing the arms, take the opposite elbow on top, you might sway a little bit, shake the head yes and no, take a couple more breaths, beautiful, and then let your hands come down toward the earth, bend your knees, tuck your chin, and let's take a slow roll up, one vertebra at a time. Let the head be heavy, let the head be the last thing to arrive. As you get to the top, circle your arms all the way out and up. Take hold of your left wrist and then just take a moment to get heavy in your left foot, reach up and over to the right side for a nice side body stretch. You can gaze forward or up, whatever feels best in the neck, good, and then just take it to the other side, so coming back through center, hold on to the right wrist, and reach up and over.

Get heavy in your left foot, beautiful, and then come back through center, draw your hands to your heart, and just take a beat here, maybe close your eyes, and just check in. Just taking these brief pauses to notice, to see all that's occurring within, good, and so let's keep the feet hips distance, we're going to come into chair pose from here, Utkatasana. So as you're ready, inhale, bend the knees, take the weight into the heels, reach the arms up so the spine is nice and long, and then keeping the legs how they are, take a big full breath in, as you exhale, sweep the arms behind you, let the torso lower down towards your legs, and let's take that two more times. So inhale, come up, chair pose, exhale, sweep the arms back, one more, inhale, exhale, sweep the arms back, good, and then inhale, come all the way up, straighten the legs, maybe press palms together above your head, and dive all the way forward into your fold. So maybe hands come through center, or swan dive forward, good, and then from your fold, step your left foot all the way to the back of the mat, and lower the back knee down, and this time let's sweep the arms forward and up coming into Anjini Asana.

So we're going to move into some moon salutations here, just breaking down this first round, taking a couple breaths in your low lunge, letting your front knee be right over your ankle, and then soften the shoulders, soften your gaze, and breathe, take one more big breath in, and then as you exhale, let the hands find the earth, and we'll step back to downward facing dog from here, good, and then from your down dog, you're welcome to come forward to plank and lower through, or stay nice and low, lower the knees down, then bring the chin and the chest down as you hug the elbows in, good, and then we'll come into cobra or up dog, inhale, and then come back to downward facing dog on your exhale, beautiful, and then we'll stay with the left leg, so stepping your left foot all the way to the front of the mat between your hands, lower the back knee down, and just one breath here, inhale, sweep the arms all the way up, good, as you exhale, lower your hands down, tuck your back toes, step your right foot to meet the left, come to a forward fold at the front of the mat, good, root down to rise all the way up to stand, as you inhale, circle the arms out and up, as you exhale, draw your hands to your heart, beautiful, take it to the right side, as you're ready, inhale, arms lift, exhale, fold over your legs, uttanasana, good, inhale, step your right foot to the back of the mat this time, lower the back knee down, sweep the arms forward and up, good, and then just take a couple breaths, so the left knee is right over the ankle, soften your shoulders, energize up through your fingertips, and then hang here for just a couple breaths, maybe even close the eyes, and just notice all that subtle movement, what's holding you up, good, take one more big breath in, and then as you exhale, lower your hands down, downward facing dog, good, your vinyasa, I'm going to lower knees, chest and chin as they come through, inhale, cobra or upward facing dog, draw the shoulders back as you lift the heart, exhale, downward facing dog, good, step your right foot to the front of the mat between your hands, lower your back knee down, inhale, sweep the arms forward and up, just one breath, exhale, hands lower, then you'll step your left foot to meet the right, forward fold, front of the mat, root down, rise all the way up to stand, inhale, hands to heart, exhale, let's just take that one more round, one breath per movement, so we'll pick up the pace just a bit, when you're ready, inhale, arms lift, exhale, fold, left foot to the back of the mat, back knee lowers, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, downward facing dog, inhale, vinyasa, knees lower, chin and chest, inhale, cobra, exhale, down dog, good, left foot steps all the way through, lower your back knee down, inhale, anjai nyasana, and then find your fold at the front of the mat, step the right foot to meet the left, root down, rise up, inhale, arms lift, all the way up to stand, exhale, hands to heart, last side bringing it to the right, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, dive forward and fold, step the right foot to the back of the mat, back knee lowers, inhale, arms lift, exhale, down dog, lower through knees, chin and chest, inhale lift up, cobra or up dog, exhale back, downward facing dog, tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back, and step the right foot forward, lower the left knee down, inhale, arms lift, exhale, find your fold, front of the mat, root down, rise all the way back up to stand, and then draw your hands to your heart, take a moment to breathe, check in. So as you're ready we'll reach the arms all the way out and up, fold over the legs, exhale, come halfway up this time, inhale, maybe the hands walk up onto the shins or fingers hips stay down, and then your choice, you can step back right to down dog, you might come to plank pose first, lowering through a vinyasa, either lowering halfway or all the way down, inhale to lift the heart, cobra or up dog, good, and then exhale we'll meet back in downward facing dog, lifting the hips up and back and breathing, good, and from your downward facing dog let's sweep the right leg up and back, take a moment, bend the knee, open up your hip and just feel that opening in the right hip, so you're pressing evenly through both hands, shoulders stay level, and then we're going to draw the right knee towards your nose and start to parallel the shin toward the front of the mat setting up for pigeon pose, single pigeon, so lowering that right shin down, start to lower all the way down, you're welcome to take any props under that right hip, and then we're going to keep this really fluid in pigeon pose, so taking your hands again on the outside of your mat, then as you inhale just find that length through the spine, lift up through the heart, and then as you exhale bend the elbows out to the side, and again just kind of folding over the leg any amount, and then with the breath you'll inhale ease up, lift the heart, lift the chest, lift the gaze, exhale bend the elbows, fold in, one more, inhale peel the chest up, and exhale lower in, good, come all the way back up, and then shift your weight onto the right side, let your left leg come in front of you, and then we'll set up for gomukasana, so you're going to stack the knees, draw the heels in towards you, and set up on your sitting bones, if this feels like too much or too crunchy in your body just find the seated sukhasana, so you can bring your left shin in front of the right and take your fold from here if that feels best for you, so either seated or finding gomukasana, either way let the sitting bones root down so that you're lengthening up through the spine and that you're feeling that nice opening through the left hip, now you can stay upright if you'd like to walk the hands forward you're welcome to do that, and then just letting the head and neck relax, let everything melt down, take just a couple breaths here to breathe into wherever you feel this in the body, beautiful, and then walking your hands back in, take the hands behind us, and you can let the fingers face out a little bit, we'll step the feet down to the earth for reverse tabletop, so as you inhale lift the hips up, lift the heart, lift the gaze, maybe open the mouth, sigh it out, and then as you exhale you're gonna take the hips back behind you as you straighten out through the legs, maybe the hips stay lifted here or you can lower them down, whatever feels best, if you're lifting the hips the belly's drawing in and up, find that core strength, and let's do this a couple times with the breath, so as you inhale rebend, lift the hips up, lift the gaze, as you exhale scoot your hips back, straighten the legs, come onto your heels, and lift up, good, and then one more inhale, come through tabletop, reverse tabletop, and then as you exhale straighten the legs, scoot your hips back, beautiful, and then come on down to your butt, good, and then cross at your ankles, and we'll just set up for the other side, so either bringing your hands forward, moving through a vinyasa here, or you can just step it back to downward facing dog, wherever you're feeling today, whatever feels best for you, just take that at your own pace, meeting back in down dog, good, and we'll set up for the left side, so as you're ready, reach the left leg up, bend the knee, open up your hip, and again pressing through both hands evenly, shoulders even, good, and then from here draw the left knee in towards your nose, find that rounding in the upper back, and then parallel the shin toward the front of the mat, setting up for left side single pigeon, good, so take your time getting in, again if you need any props under that left hip, go for it, and then hands out to either side of your mat, take a big breath in to lift up, and then as you exhale, elbows out to side, roll forward, two more like that, inhale, lift up, exhale, fold in, just feel that ease in the spine as you come up on the inhale, peel the chest up, exhale, fold over your leg any amount, good, and then come on up, take your weight in to your left hip, sweep the right leg around this time, and again you might just cross the right shin in front of the left and fold here, or if you want to go a little deeper and it feels okay in your body, taking the right knee on top of the left, and hopefully this time you'll feel it in the outer right hip, but again, see if you can keep your sitting bones rooted that you're lengthening up through the spine, and this might feel enough, you might close your eyes here, take your thumbs to your feet, maybe give your feet a little massage, if you feel like you want to go a little deeper, sitting bones stay rooted, and then you can walk your hands forward any amount, and maybe even use the floor to push back a little bit so that you're rooting down, let the shoulders relax, find a little bit more ease in the neck, good, and then as you are ready, you can walk your way back up, and we'll just take the legs out in front of us this time, straightening out through the legs, sitting up on the sitting bones, and then flexing the feet we'll set up for forward fold, pashimottanasana, so from here, inhale, draw the arms up, lift up and lengthen, draw the low belly in and up, and then as you come forward, think about keeping length in the spine and leading with your heart, so let your hands fall wherever they fall naturally, and then let's take one more breath in to lengthen, maybe lift the heart, maybe come halfway up, and then exhale, come back into the fold and hold wherever you are, take five breaths, as you're tracking the inhale, you might find a little length in the spine on the inhale, you might find a little bit more ease on your exhale, and on your next breath in, let's inhale, come all the way back up, and then we'll come on to our back, so as you come on to your back, hug your knees into your chest, just take a moment to rock a little bit, side to side, massage out the lower back, notice the spine, you might take the knees in circles in one direction and then the other coming in toward the mid-back, let's set up for some rolling bridge poses, so let the soles of the feet come down toward the earth, walk your heels in towards you, and then you might brush the backs of your heels with your fingertips, and then on an inhale, reach your arms all the way up over your head, as you press through the soles of the feet, lift the hips up and let the chest come up toward your chin, good, and then the exhale will lower the hips down, lower the arms down, beautiful, let's take that a few times with the breath, so on your breath, inhale, arms lift up, hips lift, exhale lower, again, inhale, press through the soles of the feet, arms lift, hips lift, exhale, navel to spine, lower all the way down, beautiful, pause here, step your feet as wide as your yoga mat, and then reach the arms back up over your head, take a big full breath in as you exhale, let your knees drop to the right side for a nice easy spinal twist, you might gaze over towards your left if that feels good in the neck, and if you want to go a little deeper, you can lift up your right foot, take your right foot on top of your left thigh, so that you're drawing that left leg down a little bit more, coming into the outer hip, let's take it to the other side, so soles of the feet down, knees to the left, maybe gaze over to your right this time, and again if you want to go deeper that left foot lifts up, comes to the top of your right leg, feel the outer hip, breathe into the sensations, be with that, good, and then come back through center as you're ready, soles of the feet down, let's just hug the knees into the chest, wrapping your arms around your legs, draw your nose up towards your knees, hug everything in, allow a big full breath in here, holding the breath at the top, sip in just a little bit more air through the mouth, and then open your mouth, sigh it out, let everything melt down, and we'll come into our final resting pose from here, Shavasana, so let the legs relax, let the feet roll open like books, and then maybe bringing the palms to face up on either side of the body, and then use that to let the shoulders roll down the back a little bit, and feel the ease in the spine, so let the earth come up and support the entire spine, close the eyes if that feels comfortable for you, and just let go of any effort, let go and let be Shavasana. As you're ready, you can deepen your breath, invite any movement back in, and then reaching your arms up over your head, take a full body stretch, allow a big full breath in here, sigh it out, exhale, and then just as an extension of your Shavasana, we'll make our way up to a comfortable cross-leg seated position, if you'd like to stay in Shavasana longer, of course you're welcome to stay there as long as you like, and as you come to a seat, if you're coming there, gathering hands at the heart, bowing your head towards your hands, sting gratitude for your practice, for showing up for you. We'll take one more big breath in, and sigh it out, let everything go. Thank you so much for sharing your practice with me.

Namaste.