Rhythmic and Steady Flow

Welcome. We're going to start standing. So you can come up to the top of your mat. Big toes touch. Taking a moment to feel your shoulders draw back. Establishing a sense of grounding here at the top. And then as you're ready, inhaling, bring your arms up. This is just a classic sun salutation. Exhaling, folding forward. Bend your knees if you need to or you want to. Take an inhale, look up. And then exhaling, stepping back, lowering down, elbows in. And then inhale, upward facing dog, looking up. And exhale, roll back, downward facing dog. Let your head relax for one nice big breath. Two, three, four, five. Look forward. Lock your feet up between your hands. And on an inhale, lift again. Exhale, let your head drop. Push into your feet. Inhale, coming all the way up, ending like you began. Exhale, hands at your sides. Two more times like that. Inhaling to reach up. Exhaling to fold, finding a rhythm with your breath. Inhale to look forward. And exhaling, stepping back. Chaturanga dandasana. Inhale to upward facing dog. And exhale, down dog. One. In your dog, think about lifting your thighs up and back. Two. And maybe take a deeper exhale. Three. Four. And five. Look forward. Step your feet up. Lift. Exhale, fold. Inhale, coming up. And exhale, back to standing. Last time. Inhale, reaching your arms up. Exhale, fold forward. The belly pulls in a little bit. Take an inhale to look up. And exhale to your pushup, elbows bending. Inhale to up dog. And exhale, roll over the toes, down dog. One. Two. Let your head drop as much as you can so that you stay relaxed. Three. Four. And five. Looking forward, walking, stepping, hopping maybe, coming up to a halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Pushing through the feet. Inhale. And exhale to stand. Bring your feet all the way together. Big toes touch. And then sit back like you're coming into a chair. Your knees will pull together. Bring your biceps alongside your ears. Look up. Take a few moments here. Try and refine a little bit. Zipping up in your low belly. Take an inhale. One more big exhale. And then inhale. Stand up. Release. Separate your feet. Maybe hip distance. Maybe a little bit wider if you feel like you need the space. And same thing. Sit back. Take a big breath. This time your hands and your feet are apart. The lower ribs pull in. Zip the belly up. And keep, oops, drawing your feet back so that your weight moves back into your heels. Take an inhale. Big exhale. One more inhale. Stand up. And release. So feet apart once more.

Drop your hips back like you're coming back into chair pose. Arms up once more. This time draw your elbows down. So in the same line as your chest. And then use your shoulder blades to kind of scoop the front of the body forward. Keep sitting back. Take a couple of breaths here. A little in the belly. And then interlace the hands and reach your knuckles back. Take an inhale. Belly pulls in. Exhale, fold. Take your arms with you. Let your head drop. Your hamstrings are not going to change in the next 30 seconds. So if you need to, bend your knees. Let gravity do some of the work. And then from here, hands come back to the floor. Take an inhale to look up. And exhale. Step back to a high plank. Keeping your gaze forward. And exhale, chaturanga. Inhale, up dog. Moving the chest through. Exhale, down dog. Float your right leg back behind you. Keep your heel active. And then on your exhale, knee to nose. Inhale back out. Your exhale, knee to right elbow. Inhale back out. Knee to left elbow. Inhale back out. One more time, knee to nose. And then the right foot steps forward. Pick it up if you need to to get it there. Turn your back foot 45 degrees and press the baby toe side of your back foot into the floor. Inhaling, coming up, Warren Virabhadrasana A or warrior one. Palms touch, finding that extra real estate in your elbows, in your wrists, in the side of the body. Taking an inhale. And a big exhale. Broaden. Get some instant gratification in your shoulders. And then elbows out once more. Cactus arms. Taking a moment here. Keeping the integrity in your legs. Interlace your hands. You can do the weird one first. Take an inhale. And as you exhale, let your head move towards your right ankle. Your knuckles can reach up. Really snuggle into the back foot. On the left side. Press into the legs. Inhale. Back up. Warrior one. Palms press together. Thumbs can press into your breastbone. Take an inhale. And as you exhale, left elbow outside of your right knee. Shoulders moving away from your ears in a revolved side angle. Look over your right shoulder. Take a couple of deep breaths. Relax where you can. And then exhaling. Hands to the floor. Right foot back to plank. Chaturanga. Inhale. Up dog. And exhale. Downward facing dog. Left side. The leg comes up in the air. Exhale. Knee to nose. Inhale back out. Exhale. Knee to left elbow. Inhale back out. Knee to right elbow. Inhale back out. One more time. Knee to nose. Left foot forward. Right foot 45 degrees. Make sure that you feel stable. Inhaling to come up. Warrior one. Palms touch first. And then find that space in the side of the body. Find it in your arms. Relax the tops of your shoulders. Broaden. And then draw the elbows down so that you feel the front of the body really open. Take an inhale. Interlace the hands. Really keep that right foot snuggled into the floor. Exhaling. Diving forward. Humble warrior. Let your head relax. Press into your left heel. Inhale back up. Warrior one. Palms press together. A little in the belly. As you exhale your right elbow goes outside of your left knee. And what you're trying to do is bring your chest and your belly with you into the twist. Keep your legs really stable. Check in with the tone of your breath. When you're ready, hands to the floor.

Step back. Exhale chaturanga. Inhale up dog. And exhale downward facing dog. Catch up to your breath. Let your head relax. Looking forward. Step or jump up. Bring your legs out in front of you. From here engage a little bit in your belly. Just that space below your navel as you draw your knees in. Take a hold of them from below and then lift up into your chest. Let your shoulders roll back. Gently float your legs up. You can keep hanging on. If you want to, your arms can extend. And relax in your jaw. Take a couple of deep inhales, a couple of deep exhales. This is boat pose. If you feel comfortable here, your legs can straighten. You can always change your mind and keep your knees bent. Take one more inhale. And then exhale, feet together, knees wide. We're going into baddha konasana, bound angle. The closer your heels are to your groin, the more you're going to feel. You can adjust accordingly. Take an inhale. And exhale, fold. Let your head drop. Breathe into the back of your body. And then gently rolling up. Bring your knees back together. Keep your feet on the floor this time. And then come back into those prayer hands from before. Left bone and belly twist to the left. Right elbow outside of your left knee. So we've been here before. Knees snuggle together. Float your legs up. Try and keep the belly engaged. Option one, stay here. Option two, bring your left arm out. Take a big inhale.

And then exhale back to the middle. Pause. Your feet can come down if you need them to. Rolling the other side. Hips and knees try to stay square. It's the belly that twists, the chest that twists. Nice, easy, intentional breath. And then slowly back to the middle. Pull your knees in. Cross at the feet. Hands on the floor. Step back. Chaturanga. Inhale, up dog. Exhale, down dog. From your dog, roll forward and bring yourself down to the mat in whatever fashion works best for you. Tent your hands on either side of your mat. Take a big exhale. And inhale gently. Roll your chest up. Shoulders move back. And on an exhale, lengthen back down. Do two more like that. Kind of undulating in your spine. Inhaling to peel up. And exhale. Easing back down. One more time. Inhale. Thinking about moving the breastbone forward. And exhale. Back down. Your right hand can stay where it is. Tented on the right side. Left elbow comes to the floor. Just in the same line as your chest. You've been here before. Take your left cheek to the mat and roll to your left side. Your right leg, the upstairs leg can bend. It doesn't have to. Take a few moments here. Give yourself a chance to release. Taking your time. Roll your belly back to the floor. And pause. And check in. Give the body a chance to adjust. And then we'll go to the same thing on the other side. The right elbow comes out. Left hand is tented. Right cheek or temple on the mat. And then roll. Upstairs leg, the left foot in this case, can bend. But that gives you a lot of torque. Flavor to taste. Slowly, ease yourself back to the mat. Give your shoulders a chance to adjust. You can wiggle a little in the hips. And then rolling back. Find a child's pose. Hips to heels.

Forehead to the mat. Do something comfy with your arms. Take a moment to ground. Rolling up and transitioning onto your back. Pulling your knees in as you go. And pause. Give yourself a chance to wiggle a little bit. Arms come out like a T. And then drop your knees to the left side. We've been here before, but this time it's a little more relaxed. Adjust so that you feel comfortable. Let your shoulders pin to the floor. Maybe close your eyes. Slow your breath down. Gently coming back through the middle. And do the same thing on the other side. Drop your knees to the right. Adjusting so that it feels good. It feels sustainable. Think of yourself as a wet rag. You get to rinse out a little bit. Pulling your knees back in. Wrap your hands around the tops of your legs. Give yourself a little squeeze. And then exhaling. Take your feet down to the floor a little wider than you would normally. Arms come down alongside. Adjust a little bit so that you feel spacious. You feel comfortable. This is your last pose. Your Shavasana. Let your eyes roll back. Drop your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Even just once. So you feel your jaw relax. Give yourself the opportunity to release as much as you can. I'll let you know when it's time.

Start to bring some awareness back into your body. Fingers and toes can wiggle. You can wiggle. Then your knees can come back in. Your arms can go overhead. Roll to one side. And then we'll meet in an easy seat. Closing your eyes. Letting your belly relax. Letting your shoulders draw down. Acknowledge how you feel the time that you made for your practice. Thank you for being here. Namaste.