Phase 5: Early Conception

Welcome. Today's practice is designed for early conception. So this is a practice that you would do if you think that you might be pregnant or you just found out that you're pregnant and you want to move but you don't want to move too much. You're a little insecure about how to move during this next phase of your life. So we'll start just here in Sukhasana. Very gentle practice but always listen to your body. You know it's best for yourself. So if there's anything that we do that does not feel right, don't do it. Take child's pose, come to your knees and just wait. So just crossing the ankles, come to a comfortable seated position. You can elevate your hips if you'd like as well. We're just going to stay in Sukhasana. Close the eyes and just start to center in on your breath. The biggest benefit of yoga is that it really centers us. It gets us breathing in and out. Just staying in this shape can be an entire yoga practice. It's the calming effect of yoga in the mind that makes it so powerful. And just start to visualize a white light between the eyebrows and then that white light in your womb. Connect with that new being or that potential new being and connect with the feeling of love. Whatever love feels like to you. We'll just take this into some small little circles with the pelvis and the rib cage. You can look at me if you need some guidance. We're just going to start to tuck the tailbone under, roll back and then to the side and then forward. Let the chest come forward, the pelvis tilt forward. Let the head and neck follow what you're doing. Just let this feel good and you're rolling out any kinks in the hips and the spine and the ribs, shoulders, neck. Inhaling as you come forward and exhaling as you go back. Do this at your own tempo so you can go fast or you don't have to. Go really, really slow. I recommend you go really slow. Inhaling as you come forward and exhaling as you go back. We're going to go in the opposite direction, so just shifting the directions of your circles. You can spend a couple extra breaths if you'd like in any areas that feel stuck or sticky. Inhaling to the front, exhaling to the back, relaxing neck and shoulders, face, jaw, everything. Just one more round on your own and we'll come back to center. Let's bring one hand to the heart, one hand to the womb. Again, connect with that feeling of love and then we'll come on to hands and knees. We'll do a little bit of cat cow here. Wrists are underneath the shoulders, hips are over top of the knees. With inhalation, we'll reach the chest through the upper arms as we tilt the pelvis forward and exhale, we'll tuck under, rounding the back. Inhale, reach the chest through the upper arms, pull the shoulders down the back. Exhale, tuck under, round your back, let the head and neck drop. Inhale again, pulling the chest through and exhaling to round the back. One more round, inhaling, exhaling, and then let's meet up in neutral. With your exhalation, we're going to take the hips back towards the right heel, pressing into the hands, almost like a child's pose. Then we'll come through to center, then the hips to the left heel and then come forward, letting the hips drop like you're in a little up dog. Then take the hips back again towards the right heel and then the left and forward, and then just start to move at your own pace as slowly as you'd like. Spend extra time in any places that feel good. Feel like they could use a little extra love. The exhale takes you back and the inhale brings you forward.

Then we're going to rotate directions, so now take the hips back towards the left heel and then the right and come forward, slappy up dog, then the hips back to the left and the right. You might even get a few cracks here. Up dog and then moving at your own pace with your own breath. One more round. Then from here, we'll come back to child's pose, but curl your toes under. We'll take the hips up and back to downward facing dog. Let's just pedal the feet back and forth and down dog, warming up the backs of the legs. Then we'll settle in the middle, reaching both heels down, press the hips back, the thighs back, push the floor away from you to really extend your side bodies. Then we'll look forward and walk our feet to our hands. Inhale to lengthen, exhale to fold, and inhale to come all the way up to the top. Reach the arms up overhead and exhale, arms down alongside the body. Inhale, arms reach, exhale and fold, inhale and lengthen, exhale, set the hands, step back, shift forward and lower. Inhale to cobra or up dog and exhale to downward facing dog. Inhaling and exhaling through the nose, keep breathing for about three breaths. End of your next exhale, look forward and walk your feet to your hands. Inhale to lengthen, inhale to fold, and inhale to come all the way up. Exhale, arms down alongside the body. Inhale, arms reach, exhale and fold. Inhale, lengthen, exhale, step back, shift forward and lower. Inhale to cobra or up dog and exhale to downward facing dog. Keep pressing the roots of all ten fingers evenly into the floor. Wrap the outer upper arms down towards your face. Keep the arms as straight as you can. Press the hips up and back. Take one more deep breath in. Exhale completely, look forward and walk your feet to your hands. Inhale to lengthen, exhale to fold, inhale, come all the way up, and exhale, arms down alongside the body. Bend the knees, sit the hips back, inhale to chair, exhale, fold forward, straightening the legs. Inhale to lengthen, exhale, set the hands, step back. You can bring the knees to the floor if you'd like and lower down. Inhale, cobra or up dog and exhale to downward facing dog. Let's step the right foot forward, bring the left knee down to the floor, point your toes back and inhale, coming into a lunge, reach the arms up. Let's interlock the thumbs, pull the hands apart and reach the fingertips up to the ceiling as you straighten your arms.

Take a few deep breaths here into your entire rib cage, lower back ribs, side ribs, top of the chest, and then we'll release the hands, bring the fingertips to the floor, curl your back toes under, pivot your back heel down to midline, and on your next inhale we'll come up for one breath to warrior one, and exhale, release, set the hands down, step back and lower. Inhale to cobra or up dog, exhale to downward dog, take the left foot forward, bring the right knee down to the floor, point your toes back and inhale, come back up into a lunge on the left side, interlock the thumbs in the other direction, reach the fingertips up, pull the hands apart and wrap the outer upper arms towards your face, take a deep breath in here, and then exhale, release the fingertips to the floor, curl your back toes under, pivot your heel down to midline, inhale, come up to warrior one, one breath in, and exhale to release that, step back, shift forward and lower, inhale cobra or up dog, and exhale to downward facing dog, breathe deeply, fully, take long, smooth cooling breaths, the tops of the thighs back, lift the kneecaps up the thighs, push the floor away from you, end of your next exhale, look forward and bring your feet to your hands, inhale to lengthen, inhale to fold, bend your knees, sit your hips back, inhale to chair, and exhale stand up tall, bend your knees, sit the hips back, inhale, exhale and fold, inhale to lengthen, exhale, step back, shift forward and lower, inhale to cobra, exhale to downward dog, step your right foot forward, pivot your back heel down, one breath in, Virabhadrasana one, warrior one, and exhale, step back, Tataranga, inhale cobra or up dog, exhale downward dog, left foot forward, right heel down, inhale left side, and exhale, release the hands, step back and lower, inhale to cobra or up dog, and exhale downward dog, this time from downward facing dog, we'll just look forward and we'll step or walk our feet to seated, we'll come through to seated, and we'll straighten the legs out in front of us, so toes are pointed up to the ceiling, and you're pressing your sitting bones towards the floor, we'll take Janu Sureshasana A here, bend your left leg back and bring the sole of your left foot to your right thigh, this is one option, then you'll start to square your hips off towards your right knee, another option is to bring a block underneath that left knee or a pillow, you can also start to point the left toes and open the left knee out to the side a bit more, as if you have a bit more range of motion in that hip, from there we'll square off to the right knee, take a deep breath in, and with exhalation just fold forward out over that right leg, find a place that feels good to you today, if it feels unnatural to bend forward, then stay a little more upright here, bring your hands out, arms straight and just stay upright, any variation, focus on your breathing, let the inhale and exhale be nice and smooth, and calming, and then we'll inhale and straighten the arms, and exhale release, we'll take that into a B variation, so a couple ways to do this, the toes will stay pointing forward and the bottom of the foot will start to open up to the ceiling, then you can lift your hips up and come to seated on your heel as your left knee comes forward a bit, this is one option, then you can either stay here using your hands for support or you can reach for your foot, keep them out to the side, another option is to keep the left toes pointed, lift up onto your heel and bring the knee in quite a bit, that makes it a little more approachable for most people, if neither of those variations work out for you then just repeat hey again, inhale we'll lengthen and exhale fold, this just causes you to engage the pelvic floor and working on toning the pelvic floor right now is a really good idea throughout pregnancy, and then we'll need it again afterwards, and then we'll inhale and straighten the arms, exhale and release, we'll straighten the left leg, just shake your legs out and then we'll go onto the right side, fold the right foot back to your left thigh or the knee out a little wider and the toes more pointed, reach forward take a deep breath in and with exhalation we'll fold out over that left leg and breathe, focusing on your breath, see how long you can make each inhale and exhale, and with inhale we'll straighten the arms, exhale and release and take that into B so either having the toes pointed forward and sitting up on the heels or point the toes back and let the knee come in quite a bit, reach for your left foot, shin, ankle or the floor and exhale fold, relax any tension in the shoulders, the neck, eyebrows, jaw, cheeks, and inhale we'll straighten the arms, exhale and release, carefully come up off of that right leg and just shake the legs out again and then we'll come to Baddha Konasana, bringing the soles of the feet together, here as well you may want to put blankets, blocks or pillows underneath the knees, you may even want to prop your hips up, if your knees come pretty far down to the floor then the feet can open up like a book, we'll just take the hands to the feet, lift the chest up, relax the shoulders down, take a few breaths here, inhaling and exhaling through the nose, letting the breath travel into the side ribs, the lower back ribs, the top of the chest, just finding a bit of tone through the pelvic floor, engaging your Mulabhandha, just means slightly toning and pulling in and up, and then either stay there or reach the chest forward and fold forward, hands can stay holding onto the feet or you can use them for support on the floor. Continue to breathe deeply, smooth, and inhale will come up, exhale and release and we'll straighten the legs out, so you'll take your feet about one leg's distance apart or even a little wider, you have this nice angle, open angle and here as well you can always elevate your hips, but if you do so just make sure you don't lock out the knees and hyper extend them, stay here with an inhale, we'll lift the chest up and then as you exhale walk your hands out in front of you to start forward folding, you put on the brakes wherever you need to and you just press your hands so that you also bring some weight into your sitting bones, better to not let them lift up off the floor, you want to keep them planted on the floor, you may even be able to lower your forearms, you may also be able to lower your chest all the way to the floor, but if in doing that you wind up lifting your sitting bones up off the floor then I'd suggest you back off, you really should keep the sitting bones planted on the floor and then we'll inhale come up again, exhale and release, let's bring the legs in, let's just take either a fire log pose, stacked fire logs, which is a little bit of a hip opener, that doesn't work for you, you could take single pigeon or you can keep the left leg straight and just take the right ankle above the left knee and you can fold forward like this, if you're in stacked fire logs another option is to start to bring the left knee into your chest and possibly fold down like that, we'll just spend a few breaths here opening up your hips and just like in Upavishta Konasana we want to keep the sitting bones on the floor, so if you fold forward you can use your hands to keep pressing the weight back into your sitting bones, and we'll inhale and come up and then we'll change sides, so whatever you did on the first side you'll do on the second side, and take a deep breath in to lift the chest and exhale to fold. Inhale to walk your hands in, and exhale to release, and let's lie down on our backs for Shavasana, so you may wish to grab a blanket or a bolster for underneath your knees, a pillow, whatever makes you comfortable, and just lie down on your backs with your legs straight, arms alongside the body and the palms open to the ceiling, and just close the eyes, let the belly rise and fall with the breath, and just for a moment bring one hand across your chest and one across your abdomen, your lower abdomen, and connect with that white light between the eyebrows, and guide that white light to your lower abdomen, and connect with a sense of love, peace, bliss, and you can either stay here with one hand on the lower belly, one on the heart, or you can take the arms alongside the body, palms open to the ceiling. Inhale to lift your hands and exhale to release, and let's lie down on our backs. Slowly stretch through fingers and toes, reach the arms up overhead, and bend the knees and roll over to your right side, and from there you'll press yourself up to seated, just bring the hands to prayer position at the heart, gently bow the head, and thank you, namaste.