Hands Free Flow

Welcome back. So in this practice we're gonna give our wrists a little bit of a break. So we'll do a hands-free flow that really focuses on strengthening the shoulders and the core. So we'll begin on our back if you'd like to meet me there and we'll take Supta Baddha Konasana. So soles of the feet together, knees wide. You can let the knees fall open like books coming right into the hips and then as you come down soften the shoulders. Maybe bring one hand to your heart and one hand to your lower belly and then just take a moment to check in with the breath beneath your hands. So feel the rise of the inhale and then just that grounding fall of the exhale and as you tune into the breath just noticing the natural rhythm of the breath. So without trying to change anything notice with your awareness on the breath if that allows the breath to deepen just a little bit more. Take three more very conscious breaths here. Beautiful and then as you're ready reach your arms up over your head. Take a big breath in, sigh it out let it go and then stepping the soles of the feet to the earth take your feet as wide as your mat and then let your knees drop over to the right side and then inhale bring your knees through center. Exhale let your knees drop to the left for just an easy spinal twist and then just gently moving from side to side with your breath. So inhaling brings you through center exhaling drops the knees to one side, inhale center exhale drops the knees to the other side and then just notice the ease in the spine as you do that the opening in the hips as we slowly begin to open up through the body. Taking just a couple more rounds wherever you are nice and then as you're ready you'll hug the knees into the chest give the knees a squeeze in maybe rock a little bit from side to side massaging out the lower back maybe take your knees in circles in one direction and then the other just any movement here to start to wake up the lower back which can often be an area where we hold on to a lot of tension and then start to take your rocks up and down along the length of the spine if that doesn't feel good you can always just sit right up then we'll meet seated in a cross leg seated position and as you come to seated just bringing the hands to the knees and just start to create some circles with the spine so as you inhale will come forward and then as you exhale it's almost like this cat motion as you round back and then start to let the head and neck and shoulders relax as you come into Sufi roll Sufi circles and you can make these as big or as small as it feels good for you so just really feeling into your own body what do you need this morning to begin to wake up and then maybe take your circles in the other direction inhaling as you come forward exhaling as you round back but if there's any point that feels nice to linger you can always linger for as long as you'd like and then start to make the circles a little bit smaller and we'll come back up to a neutral spine good and then from here let's meet on all fours come to your tabletop position as you come to your tabletop we're gonna come right down onto your forearms so as the forearms come down bring the shoulders over the elbows and then hug the elbows in let your arms be parallel to one another press evenly through all ten fingers and then from here let's come into forearm plank so stretching the legs back tuck the toes firm the low belly in and up and then reach through the crown of the head so there's this excuse me this long line of energy from the crown of the head back through your heels now take one more big full breath in and then on the exhale it's lower the hips all the way down to the earth for Sphinx pose so as you get down untuck your toes pressing into the tops of the feet and then walk the hands forward a little bit so that the elbows are right in front of your shoulders and then it's almost like you're drawing the mat back towards you as you reach the heart forward and then maybe close your eyes and just take a few breaths here so keeping your core engaged protecting the lower back good and then let's drop the chin down toward your chest and from here draw your right ear towards your right shoulder just taking a nice neck stretch good and we'll take it to the other side so draw your chin toward your chest take your left ear toward your left shoulder beautiful and then coming back through center so from here lower all the way down reach your arms back behind you you're welcome to interlace hands here if you'd like or you can just reach the hands back actively and then we'll keep the legs active so pressing through the tops of your feet spread the toes and then on an inhale start to draw the shoulders away from your ears as you peel the chest up keep the chin slightly tough so there's length in the back of the neck big breath in and then as you exhale just lower down and we'll take that a couple times so rolling shalabhasana inhale start to lift up lengthen through the spine you can keep the feet connected if you feel like floating them up off the earth that might feel nice a little more work and then exhale lower down and we'll take one more so inhale think about length as you lift up keep the belly engaged and then exhale lower down good come back up onto your forearm so you're in sphinx pose and then from here we'll tuck the toes and again lift right back up into your forearm plank good and then lower your knees down come back to child's pose so letting your hips sink back towards your heels at the head and neck relax and just take a couple full deep breaths in this first child's pose sending the breath all the way through the back body nice and then from your child's pose start to lift your head up gaze forward bring the forearms down and then we're gonna slither through into sphinx pose again so lifting up through the heart press into the tops of the feet and then tuck your toes lift the hips up come back to your forearm plank and then this time from your forearm plank start to walk your feet in towards you as you lift the sitting bones up coming into dolphin pose so downward facing dog on the forearms again just giving the wrists a little break good and then from your dolphin pose we'll come back right into child's pose so lowering the knees down maybe wrapping hands back behind you let the head and neck relax down as the hips sink back towards your heels and then we'll do that whole thing one more time this will substitute as our vinyasa and sun salutation so reaching your arms forward bring the forearms down look forward slither your way through into your sphinx pose reach the heart forward and then again tuck your toes lift the hips up find a little core strength here as you reach through the crown of the head gaze between the thumbs and then walk your feet in towards you for dolphin pose lifting the sitting bones out breathing feel the opening in the hamstrings in the back of the legs super strengthening for your shoulders nice and then knees down coming back into child's pose one more time here breathe and now from here we're gonna stand up on the knees so lifting the hips up standing up on the knees and then reaching your arms all the way up over your head and then this is gonna take a little bit of balance we're gonna step your right foot forward so that you're in anjana asana from here without using your hands good and then just take a couple breaths and anjana asana you might bend the elbows to start to lift up through the heart maybe the gaze lifts yeah and then keeping the arms here and goalpost arms tuck your back toes and we'll do a little bit of work with the legs so start to lift up through your back knee lift up and then straighten both legs as you come up and then as you exhale bend the elbows rebend through your back leg maybe tap the back knee down and then inhale press up straighten both legs exhale bend the elbows tap the knee down good and then come all the way up straighten out both legs and then from here we'll open up to warrior two and so just taking a moment to find Virabhadrasana to relax the shoulders come toward 90 degrees in that front leg really energizing through the back legs sealing the outer edge of the back foot down nice and then from your warrior two let's move with the breath so start to straighten through the front leg on an inhale reach the arms up lift your gaze and then as you exhale maybe deepen into your warrior two let's do that two more times inhale straighten the front leg look up lengthen maybe press palms together exhale deepen into your warrior two one more inhale straighten the front leg look up lengthen exhale Virabhadrasana to beautiful and then from here there to bend your right elbow you're gonna take your left hand to your right elbow and pat yourself on the back here so there's this nice stretch in your right upper arm and then straighten through your front leg parallel your feet and you can keep the hands here if you want to take the left hand behind the back and grab the fingertips you're welcome to do that otherwise lift up through the heart take a big full breath in and then exhale procerita fold over your legs good and then keep the thighs engaged lift up on the kneecaps and allow a few full deep breaths here really strengthening the legs here as well letting a little bit more weight shift toward the balls of the feet going on your next breath in root down through the feet to rise flat back come all the way back up and then open up to your warrior to front of the mat good flip your front palm reach back reverse warrior light on your left fingertips as you reach the right arm up and over your ear and then circle your hands down to the inside of your front foot come on to the ball of your back foot lower your back knee down and then heel toe the right foot to the right a few times we're gonna come into lizard pose from here I'm gonna grab a block for this you're welcome to take a block under your forearms or maybe the forearms come down to the earth totally up to you I'm gonna take my forearms to a block as I come into my lizard pose and then let the head and neck relax and breathe so that right ankle is staying just underneath your right knee keeping the integrity of your knee here and you're welcome to energize through the back leg if you'd like to tuck the left toes lift the back knee up you're welcome to do that as well whatever variation works best for you some of you might want the quad stretch if so you'll bend through that left leg reach back with your right hand take hold of the top of the foot and then find that opening through the chest draw your right shoulder back maybe gazing over that right shoulder beautiful and then wherever you're at we'll start to release from there you can move your block out to the side if you have the block and then we'll bring the forearms back down to the earth tuck your back toes lift the back knee up and then step right back to your forearm plank so you're in the core strengthening pose here and then from here again we'll come up into dolphin pose walking the feet in lifting the sitting bones up toward the ceiling nice and you might float your right leg up off the earth for a breath or two bringing a little bit more weight into the forearms yeah and then lower the right foot down lower the knees down child's pose allow a big breath in and let it go beautiful side two as you're ready again stand up on the knees reach the arms all the way up take a big breath in good and then step your left foot to the front of the mat this time coming into your low lunge good and from here bend the elbows lift up through the chest maybe lift the gaze and just a couple breaths keeping the core engaged as you're lifting up through the side waist nice and then let's tuck the back toes we'll energize through the legs on an inhale start to lift up through the back knee straighten both legs as you reach the arms all the way up and then as you exhale tap the right knee back down rebend and then we'll take that two more times inhale strengthening and lengthening exhale rebend tap the back knee down one more inhale lift up and exhale lower down good lift all the way up straighten through your front leg both legs straight and then open up to warrior two on the other side so just finding the alignment with your legs relaxing the shoulders allowing a couple more breaths here yeah and then with the breath start to straighten through your front leg on an inhale reach the arms up maybe press the palms together above your head and then exhale we'll deepen into warrior two good with the breath two more like that inhale lengthen look up maybe press palms together exhale warrior two one more inhale lift up and lengthen exhale warrior two beautiful and then bend your left elbow this time take your right hand to the top of the left and give yourself a pat on the back straighten through your front leg parallel the feet will set up for that wide leg forward fold so sealing the outer edges of the feet down take a big full breath in and then as you exhale hinge forward at the hips into prosa Rita feeling the stretch in the left arm with the head and neck shoulders relax keep engaging through the thighs lift up on the kneecaps beautiful and then on your next breath in route down rise all the way back up and we'll meet in warrior two toward the front of your mat take the gaze over your front hand flip your front palm and then tilt back light on your right fingertips as you come back and then again circle your hands to the inside of your front foot come on to the ball of your back foot and we'll come into lizard from here so heel to the left foot to the left a few times maybe lower the back knee down whatever variation you took on that first side forearms down to a block or the earth and then breathe again relax the head the neck your shoulders and if you want to take that quad stretch here will bend through the right leg this time reach back with your left hand take hold of the top of the foot or your ankle and then again kick the foot into the hand to let the chest open up toward the left maybe gazing over your left shoulder find your breath breathe into wherever you feel this nice and then let that side go and again we'll come right back to forearm plank so tucking the back toes lift the back knee up step your left leg back forearm plank coming into dolphin pose walking the feet in towards you lifting the sitting bones up and if you lifted a leg on that first side maybe lift the opposite leg here taking maybe the left leg up maybe gazing forward good and then lower the foot down lower the knees down child's pose breathe so from here we're gonna stand back up on to the knees lifting the hips up and as you come up inhale to reach the arms all the way up and then we're gonna find camel pose variation from here so start to draw your hands in towards your heart center and then let this lift happen from the upper back so you're lifting the side waist up you're keeping your hips over your knees and then the sternum lifts and then we'll feel that lift through the heart as you might lift your gaze up toward the ceiling and just feel that opening through the heart and the upper back good and then as you exhale on your next breath out we're lower back to sit on your heels take your hands to the tops of the thighs just take a moment to check in and notice where that lands now we'll take that just a couple more times with your breath so on an inhale lift the hips up stand up on to your knees reach your arms up as you exhale hands to heart take the gaze up toward the ceiling keep your hips over the knees as you lift into this camel variation yeah and then when you're ready just sitting right back onto your heels let the hands release maybe palms face up take a moment to call in whatever you'd like to call in receiving energy I'll do one more with the breath so as you're ready inhale lift the hips up lift the arms up as you exhale hands to heart maybe coming a little deeper this time good and then to get out of there letting your hips come back towards your heels sit back again hands to tops of thighs relax the shoulders close your eyes and just check in with your breath so set up for heroes pose now so you might want your block nearby we're gonna bring the knees together and then open up your heels in your feet so that you have enough space to sit back between your feet and your heels and again if this is too much it might be too much in the knees here sometimes it's nice to just have a block underneath you so you can sit on the block and that might feel like enough for you if you want to go a little deeper you might start to walk your hands back maybe even bringing the forearms down to the earth or you can recline all the way back if you'd like if you're reclining back lay back and just try to keep the knees close together and definitely pressing through the legs to try to keep everything connected down on the earth a couple full deep breaths here and then wherever you are you can come back up onto the forearms if you're reclined take your hands to your feet as you lift up and then hands forward bring the feet together sit back on your heels for a moment and then we'll just shift the weight off to one side bring the legs out in front of us good and we'll come into a forward fold from here so stretching the legs nice and long sit up high on your sitting bones inhale reach your arms up and then leading with the heart fold over your legs taking a nice forward fold just a few breaths in Paschimottanasana and then on an inhale come up bring the soles of the feet to the earth and then we'll set up for a Navasana here so sitting up on the sitting bones let the spine be nice and long and then start to lift your legs up off the earth flex your feet keep the length in the spine maybe reach your arms forward and then either stay here for a few breaths or allow a big full breath in here as you exhale come halfway down straighten the legs and hover on an inhale come up as you exhale lower halfway down inhale come up and we'll just take one more lower and then come up good and then soles of the feet down to the earth and we're gonna roll back slowly onto our backs so on the count of five try to keep the feet connected to the earth and we'll come back on five four three two and recline all the way back good and then walk your feet in towards you maybe brush your heels with your fingertips and we'll set up for rolling bridge poses so on an inhale reach your arms up over your ears press through the soles of the feet to lift the hips up and then as you exhale lower the arms down slowly one vertebra at a time lower the hips back down take a few more with the breath inhale arms lift up press through the soles of the feet lift your hips bridge pose exhale lower the arms and lower the hips good two more inhale to lift up into bridge arms lift hips lift exhale lowering arms by the side as the hips lower down and last one inhale press up arms lift hips lift into bridge exhale one vertebra at a time slowly lower arms down and hips down and let's take a nice spinal twist from here so hugging your right knee into your chest let the left leg go long on your mat and then draw the right knee across the body with your left hand reach your right arm out to the right like a goal post arm and then maybe take your gaze towards your right shoulder and see if you can keep shoulder blades connected as that right leg gets nice and heavy and just ringing everything out a couple breaths and then unwind come back through center give your right knee a hug in lift your nose up toward your knee for a breath take a big full breath in and then exhale lower the shoulders down relax through the head and the neck and then we'll straighten the right leg draw your left knee into your chest give it a squeeze big breath in as you exhale with your right hand draw your left knee across the body reach your left arm out to the left and just ring it out for this final twist I just had a nice little crack there beautiful and then come back through center hug your left knee and draw your nose up toward your knee take a full breath in and then draw the right knee in as well so both knees hug in you can wrap your arms around your legs take a big full breath in here holding the breath up at the top and then sip in just a little bit more air and then as you exhale sigh it out and then let's end with how we started so bringing the soles of the feet together knees wide we'll come back to that shape of Supta Baddha Konasana and just take a moment to notice if it feels any different the second time around relax the shoulders you might again bring one hand to the heart one hand to the belly maybe switching whatever hand you had the first time and then just check in with the heartbeat letting go of any effort in your breath release the thoughts and just notice how you feel for a moment before coming to your final resting pose if it feels okay to stay here in this position great you'd like to straighten out the legs you're welcome to do that stay here as long as you'd like otherwise begin to deepen your breath inviting any movement back in fingers toes ankles wrists and maybe straightening out the legs reaching the arms up over your ears allowing a big full breath in here as you exhale sigh it out and then meet me in a comfortable cross legs seated position however you'd like to make your way there as you come to your seat just take a moment to feel your sitting bones connected down to the earth just lengthen up through the spine through the crown of your head so there's this grounded quality in the low body and this lightness and ease through the upper body through the heart and thank you so much for practicing with me today namaste