Strong & Grounded Flow

Welcome back. So in this grounding sequence, we're going to move through a fluid flow with a focus on energizing, really strengthening the legs in the lower body, while also opening and strengthening the hips. So we'll begin together in child's pose. So coming toward your child's pose when you're ready, let's bring big toes together and knees together. And then just start to let the hips sink back towards your heels as you reach the arms forward actively. Let the head and neck relax, bringing the forehead down toward the earth. And then feel that rooted and grounded energy here in child's pose. So notice the parts of the body that are making contact with the earth. And then just checking in with the earth beneath you let the body get a little bit heavier. And let's begin with a big full breath in through the nose. And then open the mouth inside out, let it go. Two more cleansing breaths like that. Big breath in, long breath out. One more inhale with your exhale ground a little bit more. And then maybe coming into Ujjayi breath, allowing the breath to move in and out through the nose evenly. Just a couple more breaths right here. And then as you're ready, let's come up to all fours. So we'll find tabletop position. So bringing shoulders over wrists, hips over knees, and just moving right into our cat-cows. So as you inhale, let the belly drop, let the heart lift, arching through the spine. As you exhale, unable to spine, press the floor away and round. And then just start to move at your own pace with your own breath through cat and cow. So inhaling forward, exhaling rounding. And if there's any other movement here that feels good, you can start to shift the weight around, maybe taking some circles with the spine if that feels good. And just really finding that intuitive movement to begin to wake up the body. Taking just a couple more rounds wherever you are. Good. And then meet me back in a neutral spine when you're finished with that round. And then we'll step back to plank pose. So start to straighten out through the legs. Bring the shoulders right over the wrists, spread the fingers wide, hips in line with shoulder blades. And then maybe shift it back and forth a few times. It's really feeling into your power here, strong in the legs, strong in the core. Good. And then from here, right to downward facing dog. So lifting the hips up and back. First down dog of the day, maybe pedaling it out, swaying hips. Just any movement to begin to feel into the backs of your legs. And just notice where you might feel this in the body.

And then with this down dog, let's really feel grounded. So when you're ready, you'll start to move toward stillness. Spreading the hands wide, fingers wide. Pressing into the inner hand as well as the outer hand. And then the heels start to get heavy. Really feeling as much as you can on the earth here, grounding down. Beautiful. And then come forward to plank pose on your inhale. So coming to the top of a push up. And then as you exhale, come right back to child's pose. So knees lower down, shift the hips back and reach the arms forward as the head relaxes down. Good. And then from child's pose back to plank pose. So tucking the toes, shoulders over wrist, heels reach back, and then we'll come right into downward facing dog, lifting the hips up and back. Good. So let's flow with that a few times, breath per movement. So as you're ready, inhale, come forward to plank pose. Exhale, child's pose. Inhale, plank pose. Top of a push up. Exhale, downward facing dog. One more like that. Inhale, come forward to plank. Exhale, child's. Inhale, plank, tuck the toes. Exhale, downward facing dog. Good. Meet there. Taking a couple of breaths. Good. So let's inhale the right leg up and back. Put a bend in the knee. Open up your hip for a couple of breaths. You might roll out your ankle a few times. Just pressing evenly through both hands. And then go ahead and straighten the right leg. Square off your hips. Take a big full breath in. And then as you exhale, step your foot through between your hands. Good. Lower your back knee down. And then bring your right hand to your right thigh as you reach the left arm forward and up. So coming into anjha nyasana with the right hand on the right thigh. Good. And then relax the left shoulder. Allow a few full deep breaths here. Inhaling. Exhaling. Engage the core to protect your lower back. Inhale. And as you exhale, left hand comes down. Tuck your back toes. Lift the back knee up. And then open up to your right. Find a twist. Reaching the right arm up. Stacking the shoulders. Hugging the right hip in. Take three full deep breaths here. Inhaling. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Last breath in. Good. As you exhale, we're going to lower the right hand to the inside of your front foot. And then start to walk your fingertips over to the left.

So you're going to parallel the feet to face the side of your mat. And then put a bend through your left knee as you walk your fingertips over toward the left. So that the right leg is straight. Left knee is bent. Good. And then moving from side to side, we'll come over to the right side. So bending through the right knee. Straightening the left. And then one more time toward the back of your mat. Bending through the left. Straightening through the right. Beautiful. And then we'll take it all the way back around to the front of your mat. So find your runner's lunge here. Nice. And then step back to downward facing dog. We'll meet there. Good. And then from your downward facing dog, inhale to come forward to plank pose. Lower slowly on the count of five. All the way to the belly. You're welcome to lower the knees. Otherwise five, four, three, two, and one. Good. As you get down, untuck the toes. Come up into a baby cobra. So draw the shoulders back. As you lift up through the heart, lengthening through the spine, legs engaged. And just exhale as you lower down and we'll come back to downward facing dog meeting there. Beautiful. And then coming right to the left side, inhale the left leg up. Bend your knee. Open up the hip. Maybe roll out your ankle a few times. One direction. And then the other. Good. And then straighten through the left leg. Square the hips. Big breath in. Gaze forward. Step the left foot forward through between your hands. Lower the back knee down. And then again, left hand comes to the top of the thigh as you reach the right arm up this time. Good. And then right away, engage the core, protect the low back, soften shoulders and breathe. We'll hold for three breaths. Shining the heart up. Maybe the gaze lifts. Maybe close your eyes and just notice what you notice. One breath in. As you exhale, lower the right hand down. Plant the right hand. Tuck the back toes. Lift the back knee up. And then left arm lifts up this time. Find your twist. Three breaths here. Inhaling. Exhale. Inhale. One more big breath in. Good. And then again, as you lower, left hand comes to the inside of the front foot. We're walking all the way to the right this time. Put a bend in your right knee. Straighten through the left. Now if you want a little bit more strengthening in the legs here, draw your hands to your heart or you might reach your arms out on either sides of your shoulders so that the hands are floating up off the earth and the legs are doing most of the work. And then we'll take it to the other side. Left knee bends, right leg straightens. And then one more time toward the back of your mat. Good.

And then come all the way back toward the front of your mat. Find your lunge and we'll step back to downward facing dog. Beautiful. Find your way back to plank pose on your inhale. Side forward. Maybe halfway down this time. Chaturanga. Cobra. If you feel ready for up dog, we'll straighten the arms. Lift the heart. And then exhale. Roll over your toes. Downward facing dog. Nice work. Couple of breaths to arrive here. Just checking in. Good. And then as you're ready, rise up onto the toes. Deep bend in the knees. Look forward. Step or you can lightly hop to your hands. Come to the front of your mat. Just come halfway up on your inhale. Offer the heart forward. Exhale. Uttanasana. Fold in and the root down. Rising all the way up to stand. Inhale. Gather hands to heart. Exhale. Good. So from here, let's come to chair pose. Uttasana. Sink the weight into your heels. Sweep the arms up. We'll just take a couple breaths here. Soften the shoulders down the back.

Feel the length in the spine. And then look down. Make sure you can see all ten toes. If not, draw the shin bones back a little bit more. Take one more big breath in. Lift up through the heart. And then exhale will bring you all the way back over your legs. Uttanasana. Fold in. Come halfway up. Inhale. And then your choice. You can step back through plank vinyasa. If you want to take that hop back through chaturanga, go for it. You can always just step right back. We'll meet in downward facing dog. Beautiful. And then from down dog, let's reach the right leg back up. Step your foot all the way through between your hands. This time, stay on the ball of your back foot. Soften the knee a little bit. And then we'll come up to crescent pose. So reaching the arms forward and up. And then as you get up, find your rooted connection to the earth. So let the tailbone melt down. Soften the shoulders. Relax your gaze. Good. And take a big breath in. Maybe look up. Maybe press the palms together above your head. And then left hand down, right arm up. Lunge twist. We were just here. A little different this time. Good. And then spin the back heel down. And coming up to warrior two. So reaching the left arm all the way forward and back as you land in Virabhadrasana two. Good. And then just take a moment to arrive in your warrior pose. Good. And then come through center. So you're going to straighten the front leg. Parallel your feet. Reach the arms up. Maybe press palms together above your head. And to come out of here, toes out. Heels in. Bend the knees. Right arm underneath.

Little wrap with your arms. Good. Sink it down. Feel the strong energy in your legs. Draw the elbows up away from you. Nice. And then come right back to warrior two as you come out of here. So arms reach open. Warrior two. Flip your front palm tilt back. Reverse warrior. Good. And then let's take an extended side angle. Elbow to the top of the thigh. Top arm over your ear and breathe. Yeah. And if you want to take the half wrap here, you're welcome to bring that left hand behind the back or just keep the arm even straight up if that feels better in the shoulders. Strong in your legs and your roots. Yeah. And then reverse warrior. Reach all the way up and back. Circle the hands down and through. Take your vinyasa or you can always skip it and come right to down dog. If you're coming through the vinyasa, inhale as you lift the heart, cobra or up dog. Exhale. Downward facing dog. Let's take a breather. Take a big full breath in. Side out. Let it go. Let's take one lion's breath. So inhale through the nose. Stick out the tongue. Side out. Good. And taking it over to the left side. Inhale the left leg up. Exhale. Step all the way through. And crescent pose. Stay on the ball of the back foot. Arms sweep up. Soften through the back knee. Let the tailbone melt down. And then just find that rooted connection.

Now this is a balancing pose. So just notice there's some wobbling here. No worries. Just feel the rooted connection and breathe. Good. On your next breath in. Maybe look up. Maybe press palms together. As you exhale, right hand down. Left arm lifts up. Good. And then again spin the back heel down. Reaching the right arm forward to open the arms up into warrior two. And then just taking a moment to arrive in your warrior two. Maybe take a gaze over that middle finger. Nice. And then coming through center. So straightening through the front leg. Flying warrior. Parallel the feet. Reach the arms up. Maybe take the gaze up towards your hands. And then to kamata here. Coming into goddess pose. Toes out. Heels in. Left arm underneath this time. Eagle wrap with your arms. Good. And then sink it down. Draw the elbows away from you. And if you want to come a little bit deeper in the legs, heels will lift up. You'll come up onto your toes. And then heels down if they're lifted. The exit is right back into warrior two. Toward the front of your mat. Good. And then flip the front palm tilt back. Light on your back fingertips. Extended side angle. Elbow to the top of the thigh. And then your choice. Maybe top arm over the ear. You can half wrap it up. Or maybe even just reach the arms straight up. Feels good in the shoulder today. And then maybe gazing toward the ocean. If you're me. Or maybe up toward the ceiling. Long in the low body. Light in the upper body. Nice. And then come on out of there. Reverse your warrior. Reach all the way up and back. Circle the hands down and through vinyasa. Feel free to skip it. And come right to downward facing dog. Maybe through chaturanga. Inhale.

Cobra or up dog. Exhale. Downward facing dog. Take a big breath in. Let something go. Side out. And just take a moment to lower your knees down. Sit back on your heels or take a child's pose. Just checking in with the breath. Maybe close your eyes and observe. And then whenever you're ready, meet me back in downward facing dog. We're going to move through one more standing sequence. Similar to what we've already created. But adding on just a little bit. So down dog. Moving from the back of the mat. Inhale the right leg up. Exhale. Step through. Just one breath into crescent pose. Inhale. Arms lift. And then as you exhale, come into your lunge twist. So left hand down. Right arm lifts up. Come to warrior two. Spin the back heel down. Circle the arms open and arrive. And then like we did before, straighten through the front leg. Flying warrior. Inhale. Goddess pose. Eagle arms. Toes out. Heels in. Exhale. Sink down. Good. Inhale back to warrior two toward the front of your mat. Good. And then flip your front palm tilt back. Inhale. Extended side angle maybe coming a little deeper this time. So fingertips might find the earth. You might stay there. Maybe your elbow is up on the thigh. That's great as well. Maybe you're taking that half wrap. Or if you have it in your practice, you might go toward the full wrap. You might have a strap here. And then if you have the full wrap and you'd like to play with birds of paradise, we'll gaze down toward the front of the mat. Step the left foot to meet the right. And then start to lift the torso up. Bring the weight into your left foot. And then find your balance. Focus your gaze. You might stay here. Or maybe start to straighten out through the right leg. Draw the right hip down and breathe. Breathing is the most important part. It's hard to do that when I'm talking. Good. And then to get out of there, we'll step the right foot down. Step back to extended side angle. And we'll all meet in warrior two as you're ready. Flip the front palm, reverse warrior. Circle hands down and through Vinyasa. Or maybe you're stepping right to downward facing dog. Taking a couple breaths to arrive. And then just let that side go. Good. And we'll move to the left side. Inhale, left leg up. Exhale, step through. Crescent pose. Inhale, one breath. Exhale, lunge twist. Right hand down, left arm lifts. Warrior two. Spin the back heel down. Circle the arms open. Flying warrior. Come through center. Goddess pose. Left arm underneath. Eagle wrap. Settle in. Good. And then come back to your warrior two. Facing the front of the mat. Inhale, reverse warrior. Exhale. Extended side angle. Maybe taking whatever variation you took on that first side. Half wrap. Maybe going with the fingertips to the inside of the front foot. Finding that full wrap if you'd like. And then again if you're playing with the balance, start to take your gaze toward the front of the mat. Step your right foot up to meet the left. Parallel the feet. And then as you lift the torso up, bring the weight into your right leg. Straighten through the right leg. Find one point to focus your gaze. Stopping anywhere here along the way. Maybe extending the left leg up. Good. Let the left hip roll down and breathe. Good. And then to come out of there. Just coming out the way you came in. So stepping left foot down. Step back to your extended side angle. And then we'll all meet in warrior two. Good. Flip the front palm. Tilt back.

Circle the arms down. Vinyasa if you want it. Or right to downward facing dog. We'll meet there. Beautiful. And just taking a couple breaths. Feel free to lower the knees. Take a child's pose. Whatever you need. Good. And then meet me seated at the front of the mat. So you might hop your legs through. Cross at the ankles as you bring the legs out in front of you. Good. So let's come into a seated hip opener from here. So we're going to do a seated thread the eye of the needle. So stepping the soles of the feet to the earth. And then let's start with the left foot. So crossing the left ankle on top of your right knee. And you might need to lean back a little bit to do that. So bringing the hands behind you. And then to go deeper into this pose, you want to pick up your seat and take it closer towards your ankle and then maybe walk your hands in a little bit. Yeah. And this might not feel great if this isn't a great hip opener for you. You're welcome to roll onto your back. And just take thread the eye of the needle on your back. That might feel like enough. Good. And then just notice the sensation in that left hip. You might rock the leg from side to side a little bit. That feels good for you. Good. And then we'll come into a bit of an arm balance here. Stop anywhere along the way. So I'm going to straighten out through my right leg. I'm going to take my left hand under my left leg and then take the left leg onto my left arm. Kind of like I'm putting on a backpack here. And then press actively through your left hand. You can kind of just let that left foot float. Bring the right hand to your right hip. And then keeping that right leg straight, press through the arm so much that you might lift your hips up off the earth. Good. And then lower down as you're ready. Bring both legs out in front of you. And let's take a forward fold. So inhale as you lift the arms up. Exhale. Fold in. Just let that go. Good. And then inhale to come up. I'm going to take Janu Sharasana from here. So bring your left foot to the inner upper right thigh. So let that left leg open up or the left knee open up and then flexing through your right foot. Sit up nice and tall. Take a big breath in. And then leading with the heart, fold over your front leg, letting your hands fall just wherever they fall. And a couple full deep breaths here. Beautiful. And then let your next inhale bring you all the way back up and we'll prepare for a side two. So again, soles of the feet down to the earth. Bring the hands behind you. Cross your right ankle on top of your left knee. And then this might be enough right here. Again, if you want to come onto your back, go for it. Otherwise you'll pick up your seat, bring it closer to your heel and that will get you a little deeper into the hip. And then it feels good for me to rock a little bit from side to side. Notice if that feels good for you. Maybe stillness is where you're at this morning, this afternoon, whatever time of day it is. Good. And then you're welcome to stay right here. If you want to play with that arm balance, it's a lot of core strength getting there. We'll straighten out through the left leg. So you're going to take your right leg like a backpack. Right hand reaches between your right leg or underneath it. And then the left hand comes to the outside of your left foot or ankle and just takes the leg up onto your right shoulder. Yeah. And then from there, you can bring the hand back toward your hip. Bring your left hand down. Press actively through both hands. Straighten out the arms. Lift up through the hips. Maybe, maybe, maybe you lift that left leg up off the earth. Interesting. And then lower it down. And again, just a real quick straightening of both legs. We'll inhale to reach the arms up. Fold in. Paschimottanasana. Just a breath to let that go. Good. And then as you come up, bring your right foot with you. Bring the foot to the inner upper left thigh as the right knee opens out to the right. Sit up nice and tall on your sitting bones. Flex through the left foot. Inhale, arms up.

And then fold over your front leg. Janu Shasasana. Just relax your head, your neck, your shoulders. Come back to your breath. Notice if this side feels a little different for you. Good. And inhale. Come all the way back up. And then we'll take a moment to roll onto our backs. As you come onto your back, take a moment, hug the knees in. Rock a little bit from side to side. Just massage out the lower back. Good. And then let the soles of the feet find the earth. Step the feet hips distance. Walk the heels in toward you. And then pressing through the soles of the feet, lift the hips up coming into bridge pose. You're welcome to stay right here pressing the palms of your hands down. Or maybe you interlace fingers behind the low back as the shoulders start to roll down underneath you. And then just as we've been focusing on this grounding element throughout the practice, see how much you can ground here. So through the soles of the feet, through the arms, shoulders, back of the head. Allowing for just a few more full breaths. Good. If you're interlacing the fingers, let the hands release. The shoulders come from underneath you. And then just rolling down nice and slow. Good. As you get to the bottom, step your feet as wide as your mat. Get your knees knock into touch. Bring your hands to your low belly. Constructive rest. Just check in with your breath. Notice where the posture lands in your body. So noticing the echo of that movement. Beautiful. And then reaching arms up over your head, drop your knees to one side. It's an easy spinal twist. And then take them through center, drop them to the other side. Just wringing it out, maybe taking a couple more rounds, windshield wipers with the legs just to release the spine. Beautiful. And then as you are ready, we'll come back through center and just start to lengthen the legs out coming toward your shavasana. So legs long, feet relaxed, open, arms away from the body. Just giving yourself some space. Take up some nice space here with the palms facing up. And close your eyes. And then just allow the support of the earth to hold you. Letting the body get as heavy as you can. As you come into this final resting pose.

All right. Thank you. And then feel the entire back body on the earth. Start to deepen your breath, maybe rocking your head from side to side, massaging out the back of the head and the neck. And then soles of the feet to the earth, really pressing into the soles of the feet to ground down.

Reach your arms up over your head, roll to your right side. Taking a moment to pause on your side for just this check-in to notice how you feel. Keeping the body nice and heavy, press your way all the way up to a comfortable cross-leg seated position. We'll meet there. As you come to your seat, just gather the hands together in front of the heart, bowing your head towards your hands, and just taking one moment to notice your breath.

Bringing your hands to your third eye, the light and love in me, greets and honors, the light and love in you, namaste.