Moving In Love

Namaste dear yogi friend today we're going to practice choosing love over and over again so that when we're out there in the world perhaps in anxiety or stress or confusion we have a memory in the body of how to come back to love of how to come back to harmony in the being so we're just going to take a moment to breathe and to connect with love and then we'll move through a flowing practice so find a comfortable seated position and I like to just move to the left bring the flesh from underneath the right sit bone and then move to the right bring the flesh from underneath the left so I can ground down through the base of my spine and we'll just begin with a gentle inhale reach the arms up overhead interlace the fingers and press the palms up towards the sky exhale allow the body just to soften on the inside as you inhale gently arch the back and look up feel the chest broaden exhale just ever so slightly just rounding the upper back just one more time inhale feeling the spine start to open exhale rounding beautiful one more breath in reach tall and exhale let the hands soften down rest the palms the backs of the hands onto the thighs you may like to have the palms down just whatever feels good for you closing the eyes take a deep inhale exhale out through the mouth let the belly relax just allowing a sigh on the exhale inhale deeply exhale let the belly relax now the tailbone to soften back and down as you do so you may feel the shoulders start to line up directly over the hips inhale press down through the base of the spine reach the crown of the head all the way up to the sky so you feel your spine lengthen I like to gently bring my chin in towards the neck feel the back of the neck lengthen as you exhale allow the inner body to relax and just take a couple of breaths here so as you breathe in expand the torso from the bottom to the top so inhale feel the belly expand ribs expand upper chest expand exhale feel the torso soften from the top down few deep breaths inhale expand exhale softening the chest the ribs the belly breathing in through the nose inhale expand the belly ribs upper chest exhale soften the chest ribs belly drop your awareness into the center of the chest the heart center just feel the breath flowing in and out of the center of the chest invite you to find an object a person a place an animal something that inspires an easy sense of love in your being so it may not be your primary relationship with your partner which can often be a challenging and growthful experience it might be your love that you have for an animal a baby a moment of love you experienced watching the sunset just something just calling into your awareness something that easily opens the heart and brings a brightening to the face allowing yourself to find that person or place that inspires an easy sense of love just breathe with this one just notice perhaps the effects in the body maybe there's a brightening in the heart an expansion in the chest and maybe the breath is a little bit fuller and more relaxed perhaps as a brightening of the face a twinkle in the eyes softening in the palms of the hands just notice for yourself what's happening in your body as you choose to connect with something that inspires love so that we can choose it as we move through our flow as we come into more intense postures beautiful deep inhale exhale everything we're just going to share one om together so inhale bring your hands in front of your heart center and feeling the sense of love in the being so calling that one that inspires love into you allow love to sing through you as you as we share the sound of om inhale for om deep inhale exhale just release the hands let the eyes gently blink open and we'll begin in a child's pose so bringing the knees wide toes touch and allowing the forehead to come down to the earth arms extend forward and take a deep breath in exhale feel the whole body soften and relax breathing love into the body exhale allowing love to soften the body from the inside just calling in that one that object that person that place that inspires love and breathe that into the body let it activate the response of love inside the body exhale allowing that to soften the jaw the hands the face the belly just a few more breaths here breathing with this object breathing with love one more inhale exhale everything inhale look forward coming on to hands and knees take one breath in as you arch the back the heart move forward and exhale round the back press down through the hands and the knees lift the belly up towards the spine one more time inhale arching looking up let the heart move forward exhale rounding press down through the hands tuck the toes under lift the hips up into a downward dog just bend the right knee allow the back of the left leg to open take a breath in bend the left knee allow the back of the right leg to open take a breath in a couple times allow yourself just to be a little fluid here so just allowing your body to open maybe dropping one hip at a time just allowing it to feel good as you open the body and then come to stillness here can you feel can you draw on that one who inspires love that person or place or animal and breathe that into the body allow yourself to find softness in the body to find love in the body soft jaw soft face breathing inhale and reach that right leg up to the sky as you exhale bring the right knee into the chest and then place the right foot onto the earth allow the left knee to soften down inhale let the heart the chest open forward exhale lifting that back knee lifting the toes of the right foot and allow the head to come down towards that right leg inhale forward chest opens exhale back one more time moving with that object that inspires love so feel a brightness in the eyes a brightness in the heart as you inhale open the heart forward exhale softness in the inner body as you bring the head towards the knee beautiful inhale come forward place the hands onto the earth we're gonna step back into a plank position so here this isn't always the easiest position draw the belly in towards the spine press out through the heels let the shoulders move down towards the hips the heart moves forward and see if you can find that one that inspires love in the body so as we're in this intense moment can we soften the inner body brighten the heart let the eyes shine find the breath beautiful and then let the knees come down chest and chin comes down inhale scoop the heart up exhale tuck the toes under lifting up into a downward dog coming back to the breath and coming back to your object the one that inspires love breathing love into the body that that illuminate the posture and then inhale reach the left leg up exhale left knee into the chest and then place the left foot on to the earth between the hands drop the right knee inhale heart opens exhale lift the back knee lift the toes of the left leg and soften the head forward couple times just like this and can you really allow yourself to connect with that one that inspires love and let that soften you from the inside moving in love and then coming forward we're going to step that right foot forward to meet the left bring the hands to the shins inhale look forward with a flat back exhale bend over just let the whole upper body relax down towards the earth and then inhale reach the arms up overhead draw the belly in towards the spine exhale hands come down in front of the heart center take a breath in and exhale inhale reach the arms up overhead interlace the fingers the opposite way than we did at the beginning press the palms up towards the sky exhale allow the shoulders to soften down inhale keep the hips facing forward and exhale just turn the head slightly to the right take a breath in exhale forward inhale reach tall hips face forward exhale just turn the head slightly to the left twisting the upper body inhale and exhale coming forward beautiful release the hands so we're going to find Tadasana now so lift the toes feel that activates the arches of the feet draw the kneecaps up engage the thighs draw the belly in towards the spine inhale lift the shoulders slightly hug the shoulder blades back onto the back feel the heart at chest broaden and then pressing down through the feet strong legs reach the crown of the head all the way up to the sky feel the neck lengthen allow the toes to soften but keep that energy in the arches of the feet and now so we found this outer alignment can you find the inner alignment can you bring that one that inspires an easy love into your being and feel your heart brighten feel your hands soften feel your eyes start to twinkle beautiful breathing into this deep inhale exhale inner body soften softening into love inhale reach the arms up exhale fold forward inhale flat back look forward exhale we're going to step that right leg back here just coming on to the toes of the right foot walk that left foot out to the left edge of the mat so you have more space for horizontally between the feet to give a grounding a strength a sense of strength in the base press down firmly through the left foot press back through that right heel lift the back inner thigh draw the pelvic floor muscles in and up so you feel the strength in the base and then inhale coming up hands perhaps to the knee and then to the hips you can just adjust that back foot as you need to so that you find a sense of grounding stability there and then lift the hips slightly bend that back knee draw the tailbone under and feel the shoulders line up over the hips beautiful with that alignment soften the front knee forward lift that back in a thigh press out through that back heel and then inhale bring the left arm underneath the right we're going to cross the forearms and bring the palms together lift the elbows and press them away from you deep inhale exhale soften the hips press back through that back heel so again here we find ourselves in a slightly difficult position can you draw that one into your awareness who inspires love and allow it to align you from the inside to open the heart to soften the inner body to brighten the face and take a couple of breaths here with that beautiful inhale reach the arms up exhale down stepping back into a plank position taking a breath in and then lowering either the knees down or through chaturanga inhale scoop the chest forward exhale coming into downward dog come back to your breath here come back to that experience of love in the body softness in the inner body inhale look forward and step the right foot forward between the hands bring the right foot slightly out to the edge of the mat ground down through the right foot press out through that left heel draw the pelvic floor muscles in and up and then inhale come up perhaps to the knee first and then hands to the hips pressing down through the feet lift the torso slightly bend that back knee tuck the tailbone under so that shoulders line up over the hips and then soften the hips down press out through that back heel press down through the front foot bring the right arm underneath the left intertwine the hands the forearms exhale soften down press the elbows away from you feel the back of the chest opening as you press back through that back heel find the breath and can you find that experience of love in the body using that one that inspires love softening the inner body beautiful deep inhale reach the arms up overhead exhale coming forward bring the hands down onto the earth and step that right foot back stepping back into a plank taking a breath here and then exhale slowly lowering all the way down and just resting on your belly and turning over onto our backs just bring the soles of the feet just below the sit bones hip width apart and just take a breath here deep inhale exhale with a sigh it's feeling the back body soften down into the earth another deep inhale and exhale just pressing down through the heels just invite you to slide the back body up and down the mat so have a look at me because it's not such an easy one to describe but it's kind of easy when you see it being done it's almost like you're itching your back against a tree or something what we're doing is we're rubbing over the base of the spine and the base of the skull stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system and inviting the whole body to soften and relax moving out of fight or flight into rest and digest just allow it to be easy and then rest knees resting against each other and you may catch that sense of floating of relaxation that happens often after that movement allowing yourself to soften into love soften into the body deep inhale and exhale beautiful so bring the arms out shoulder height press the palms of the hands down into the earth lift the legs so that the shins are parallel to the earth the feet are flexed inhale and then exhale allow the knees just to drop over to the right keep the feet flexed draw the belly in towards the spine inhale exhale let the knees come all the way down onto the earth rest the right hand on top of the left knee keep the feet flexed deep inhale down into the twist exhale soften can you bring in that one that inspires love in your inner body and let that assist you to soften and relax here feel again that brightening in the face soft jaw open heart soft hands just releasing any contraction in the body deep inhale exhale beautiful inhale bring that left knee up to center right leg follows again just center yourself here feet flexed shins parallel to the earth inhale as you exhale lower the knees just off of the earth to begin with take a breath in and exhale drop the knees all the way down left palm rests on the right knee keep the feet flexed keep the belly in towards the spine inhale exhale softening down breathing into the twist exhale release and soften can you find that one that inspires love in the inner body breathe into that exhale let it relax you from the inside one more breath in exhale everything inhale knees come back up to center hug the knees into the chest gently wobble side to side and then just release the legs moving into Shavasana so allow the legs to rest the arms to rest slightly away from you palms face up just take a couple of deep breaths here breathing into the belly exhale out through the mouth just allowing a side to soften you one more time deep inhale exhale feel the centers of the soles of the feet relax feel the palms of the hands relax feel the center of the forehead relax feel the center of the chest the heart center relax you invite in that one that inspires love in your body breathe that in and as you exhale allow yourself to completely let go into love letting go even of the object and just allowing yourself to dissolve into this inner softness this inner quietude deep inhale exhale everything inhale just reaching the arms overhead opening the body exhale curling over onto one side just resting on your side breathing love in letting that expand your being exhale softening into love and inhale press down through that bottom top hand allow yourself to come up finding a comfortable seated position and then just resting the backs of the hands on the thighs maybe touching the thumb and the index finger close the eyes take a deep inhale exhale let the belly relax one more time deep inhale exhale soften the belly the tailbone drop back and down shoulders come over the hips inhale reach the crown of the head all the way up to the sky lengthen the spine feel the chest broaden exhale soften bring your awareness to your breath in the center of the chest can you allow that one that inspires love in you to align you in this moment with love soft hands soft heart soft face let yourself rest here in love deep inhale exhale inhale gently bring the hands in front of the heart center so we're going to share an om together so again allowing love to sing through you inhale for om om as you gently open your eyes stay connected with this inner feeling don't allow anything to change as you come back into your waking world may you choose love over and over again as you move through your day from my heart to your so much love blessings on your journey namaste