Grace in Flow

(waves crashing) Welcome to Grace and Flow. This practice will be about refinement of movement and also allowing that opening for divine assistance. So thinking about the definition of grace, it is that refinement of movement and allowing for divine assistance. And when reflecting on the yoga sutras, the yoga sutra sthira sukham asanam talks about balancing strength and steadiness, the sthira, with the sukha, the sweet, the ease, and in our asana, in our postures. So today we're gonna play with that, we're gonna move through a standing sequence where we'll do a gentle arm movement as if we're pulling back a bow so to be strong, but also balanced, so allowing grace to flow through us and then also allowing grace to come in.

Let's go ahead and start in child's pose. Bring big toes to touch, knees gapped shoulder distance, or you can come in a little tighter, so either going hands behind the center or starting arms out in front, either place. And just start to center, start to find yourself arriving right here on your mat. And if it is part of your practice, bringing in your Ujjayi Pranayama. Creating a soft constriction in the back of the throat and creating a soft whispering sound.

In each exhale, letting the hips get a little heavier, letting the shoulders get a little heavier. And if your arms are behind you, go ahead and bring them forward. Start to press through the palms a bit so you lengthen out through the arms to spin the inner upper arms up towards the ceiling, outer arms down. And on your next inhale, start to walk the torso and the hands towards your left, draping the torso over the left thigh. Then slowly inch that right hand a little more left so you can find more length through the right side body.

On your next inhale come back to center. Good again, readjust, pressing sit bones back, lengthening through the torso. And then slowly travel to the right, hands walk over, torso over the right thigh. You just let your head go. And the left hand's starting to inch a little bit more to find more length in your left side body.

And slowly traveling back to center. On your next inhale, rise up to all four. Just settling in with shoulders over wrists, hips over knees, and on your next inhale, let the belly drop, chest lift, tail lift, starting to roll the eyes maybe upward a bit. And exhale around and in, tuck the belly button to the spine. Inhale to open.

Exhale round, just checking in using these first few moments and and movements just to check in. How does the back feel, how does the chest feel? How is the breath? And on your next inhale, come back to neutral. Take the hands out about two or three inches, curl the toes under, lift the hips coming into downward facing dog.

Alright, finding the feet hip distance apart, hands, shoulder distance apart. And for the first one take a moment to bring the gaze forward, middle fingers forward, wrist creases parallel. Find the eyes of the elbows facing each other. Right and just as we did in the initial part of the practice, start to spin inner upper arms forward, outer arms back. And taking a few more breaths here, pressing more into the legs.

On the inhale, way forward to a plank pose. Just pause, gaze out forward, eyes and neck long. And exhale lowering all the way down, your choice, knees or straight down. On an inhale, lift up low cobra and pause. Good, spread the toes, feel the inner upper thighs spinning upward.

And exhale release. Two more just like that. Inhale, your choice palms down, or you can tent the fingers to relieve the wrist for a moment. Exhale, release. Inhale, rise up.

Exhale, release. Curl the toes under coming back up, plank pose, again your choice, knees or straight line, long danda. Exhale, press back, downward facing dog, adho mukha svanasana. Inhale, take the right leg up. Find a big lift in the right leg, but still soften the right hip down, trying to keep the hips even.

Press a little bit more through the palms to get deep in that left leg. On the exhale, draw the right knee into the nose and pause. Place the right foot down, high crescent lunge, right knee over right ankle, arms sweep up. Good, feel the hipbones lift. Feel the back leg fire up a bit more.

Exhale, bring the arms down, right, so just to center in and find that balance between steadiness and strength. Being relaxed without being dull, take an inhale, draw the fingertips to the heart, exhale, press down, feel deep ground rooting. Inhale, rise the arms. Exhale, press out. Inhale, draw it in, legs strong, exhale press down.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, take the arms up to frame the ears, pause, and take the right leg long, draw the right hip back. So option to stay here or start to take the gaze upward. Play with a little balance.

Right so again strong through the legs, soft, sweet through the heart. Exhale, come back down, high crescent lunge. On an exhale take the hands to the heart, open up, Warrior II, front heel lines up with back inner arch. Give a little reach behind you to find the spine center. On an exhale, bring both palms together.

Inhale, draw the left arm back like you're drawing back a bow. Exhale, palms together. Inhale, draw it back. Exhale, palms together. Inhale, draw it back, pause, again choosing what you'd like to do with your hands, you can keep fingertips together, you can go fingertips spread.

You can just soften, decide what energy you want to bring in, doesn't matter, just making a choice. Right palm lifts up, take it up and back, reverse. Take a pause, let that right sit bone sink towards the right heel. Exhale, windmill the hands down, left hand comes down. Left heel lifts, lunge twist.

So draw that right hip back, still fire up through that back leg. Root through the feet, inhale, rise up, back into high crescent lunge. Good, stay with me here on an exhale, take the left hand, swoop it down, come into (speaking in foreign language) high squat. So toe heel so you're even. Bring the knees right over the ankles and then just press the thighs away so you can sit down.

Outer edge of the thighs draw back. On an exhale, take the right forearm down, left arm lifts up, and maybe the gaze travels up over the left arm. Inhale, come back up, palms up. Exhale, left forearm down, right arm up. Good, inhale.

Exhale. Inhale. Last one, exhale. Inhale, come back to center. Take a full exhale.

On inhale take the left hand in front, come back to high crescent, good. Hold here, hips lift, heart lift. Exhale, take the hands down to the floor, step back, plank pose. So moving through your transition, maybe it's chaturanga, maybe it's the floor, maybe it's knees. On inhale come up, low cobra upward facing.

If you're coming into upward facing, press the shoulders back over the wrists. Exhale back, downward facing dog. Find the feet hip distance apart and just hold here. Find the balance between pressing the floor away and still drawing energy upward. On an inhale, take the left leg up.

Good, find a big reach through the left leg and then soften the left hip down so the hips are even. Exhale, knee to nose, draw it in. Place the foot down, high crescent lunge, root through the feet to rise up and as you do, keep heel, hips, belly, heart, and pause. Exhale, hands out in front. So again, finding the strength in the legs and the sweetness in the movement, the softness in the shoulders.

On an inhale, draw the fingertips back towards the heart. Exhale, root down. Inhale, lift. Exhale, press. Inhale.

Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. One more, inhale. Exhale.

Inhale, lift light, exhale, extend, expand. Arms up on an inhale. Exhale, open it up where your two front heel lines are with back inner arch and then see if you can sit down, draw the left inner thigh towards the ceiling, left outer thigh down. And press deep through the outer edge of the back foot. And again, making the choice of what you want to do with your hands.

Fingers strong, either bringing in a little bit of fire, or soft, sweet. Exhale, palms come together. Inhale, draw it back. Exhale, palms. Inhale.

Good, exhale. Inhale. On an inhale, take the left palm up, take it up, back reverse of the legs, don't change here, still aiming left, sit bone moving in the direction of the left heel. Staying long through the right side body as much as you are through the left. On an exhale, windmill the hands down.

Right hand comes down, back heel lifts, lunge twist. Good, soften your right shoulder down. Draw the left hip back and maybe the gaze goes up towards the fingers. Good, root through the feet on an inhale, rising up, high crescent. And exhale, hands come down to frame the front foot.

Step back, plank pose Your choice, chaturanga or the floor. Inhale, upward or low cobra, take an extra breath here, finding space from belly button to sternum, sternum to chin, exhale back downward facing. Few breaths here. And on an inhale take the gaze forward, complete your exhale, step or hop the feet up between the hands. Inhale, come halfway up.

Exhale, fold. Inhale. Bend the knee as rising up, utkatasana. Take the gaze down, slide the knees back. So if the feet are together, the inner thighs are together.

Right, if there's a space between the feet, there's a space between the thighs. But sit down a little deeper, draw the knees back. On an exhale, hands come out. Press the palms. Inhale, draw that right arm back, follow it with your gaze.

Exhale, palms together. Inhale, right arm, draw it back. Exhale, palms together. Feel the opposite hip, draw it back, inhale left arm. Good, exhale.

One more, inhale. Exhale, palms together. Take the arms up overhead, exhale, fold forward. Inhale, halfway. Place the palms, your choice to step back into plank or hopping back into chaturanga.

Gaze comes forward. Inhale, urdhva mukha. Exhale back, adho mukha. Four rounds of breath here. And even right here in this pose, checking in what parts of your body are active and what parts are ease, or relaxing.

Can you soften more through the eyes, through the jaw? On an inhale, taking the right leg up. So from here we'll add on exhale, knee to nose. Place the foot down, high crescent lunge, arms come up to frame the ears. Good, hips lift.

Exhale, open it up, Warrior II, and again, front heel lines up with back inner arch. Take the gaze out over the right middle finger. Exhale, left palm meets right. Inhale, draw it back. Exhale, palms press.

Inhale, draw it back, so light through the shoulders. Exhale. Inhale, draw it back. Right palm lifts up, take it up and back. So even in the same pose with our legs the same, keep this left hip soft, staying nice and easy on the low back.

On an exhale, windmill to hands down, turning it into a lunge twist, back heel lifts, left hand down. So from here you have a choice to stay right here or we're gonna move it into Vasisthasana. So either palm comes down, stepping back, rolling onto the side, supported or not. Or for some, root through that front foot. Start to roll onto the outer edge of the back foot and then lift the right leg up and stack the feet.

Good. Exhale, right fingertips come to the floor. Just a little bit stronger here, inhale, draw it up. Exhale, right fingertips to the floor. Inhale, draw.

Exhale. Inhale. Good, coming out the same way you came in, maybe the knee can come to the chest and then step forward. Right arm lifts up. On an inhale, lifting up, high crescent lunge.

Good, left hand comes in front of the belly, back to (speaking in foreign language). Outer edges of the legs draw out. And then check in, take the toes 45 degrees out. Even if you can take the ankles all the way, don't do it. Be kind to your ankle joints.

On an exhale, take the right hand, press the right thigh away, dip down towards the left and then work the twist. Inhale, come back to the center. Exhale, press left away, gaze over the right. Inhale. Exhale, left.

Inhale. Exhale, right. Good, one more each side, inhale. Exhale, press the right away, gaze over left, take an extra little moment here. Inhale.

Exhale to the left. Inhale, come back to center, take the palms up. On your next inhale, left hand comes 'round the belly, take it back to high crescent. Take a moment here before we exhale, hands come down to frame the front foot. Your transition back, plank pose, chaturanga, or the floor.

Inhaling upward facing or low cobra. Exhaling back. Good, heels press down. Thighs press back, and not getting caught up if the heels touch the floor or not, it might happen this lifetime, it might not. On an inhale, take the left leg up.

Exhale, knee to nose. Take that extra sacred pause. Left foot steps down, high crescent, arms frame the ears. Nice, exhale, hands come to the heart or open wide, your choice as we transition into Warrior II. Exhale, hands come together, so here again, finding steadiness through the legs, draw it back on an inhale. Exhale.

Inhale, draw it back. Exhale. Inhale, draw it back, arms long. Pause here, take the left palm up, take it up, back reverse, your legs do not change. On an exhale, take the right hand to the floor.

Back heel lifts, lunge twist. Right, so setting up for your Vashistasana transition. Outer edge of the back foot drops down and maybe you can draw the knee in, use your core. Stack the feet. Good and then feel free to readjust if the wrist is too close, you want it a little in front of the shoulder blade.

Exhale, left fingertips down. Inhale, draw it up. Good, exhale. Inhale. Good, exhale.

Last one, inhale, draw it up, lift the hips a little higher. Inhale, draw the left knee in, step forward, lunge twist. On your inhale, rise up, high crescent. Exhale, right hand in the front of the belly, (speaking in foreign language) Palms up, and then again, check in, feet 45, knees travel over the middle toe. Hands to the thighs.

On an exhale, press the right thigh away, gaze over the left, find the twist. Inhale, come back to center. Exhale, press the left thigh away, gaze over the right, still outer thigh is drawing back. Inhale. Exhale, gaze over left, press the right thigh away.

Inhale. Exhale. Good, inhale. Pause here, take the palms up. On your next inhale, right hand comes around the belly, high crescent lunge.

Exhale, hands down, moving through your transition. Chaturanga or the floor. Inhale, upward or low cobra, take an extra breath here. Exhale, back, downward facing. Okay, complete your exhale, and we're gonna step or hop the feet to the front of the mat.

Inhale, come halfway up. Exhale, come bend the knees, I'm gonna turn this way so you can see. We're gonna bend the knees, come onto the balls of the feet, and start to take the knees out. You're gonna kinda wiggle back, watching the pinky toes. And aiming for eventually, in this lifetime, maybe not, bottoms of the feet come together.

Right so this pose here, mulabandhasana, reminder of lifting up, so lifting up the pelvic floor, that place between the genitals and the anus, just little lift. So for some, this might be appropriate to keep fingertips on the floor. For some, maybe, fingertips can be up. Some maybe palms pressed. Right, and for some maybe a little bit of a balance.

Nice. And slowly, we're gonna transition out. Coming back to the top of your mat. Good, legs long, uttanasana. Heart lifting, palms pressed, your choice, and transition, step or hop back.

Remember if you're hopping to land with elbows bent. Inhale, upward facing. Exhale, back. Good, last standing sequence, so here we add on just a little bit more. On an inhale, take the right leg up.

Exhale and knee to nose. Place the foot down and rise up strong, high crescent lunge. Right, we've been here before so we can start to flow. Open it out, Warrior II. Good, exhale, palms come together.

Inhale, draw it back. Good, exhale, still seal up the outer edge of the back foot, inhale, draw it back. Exhale. Inhale, draw it back. Good, changing it up here on your next inhale, lengthen the front leg, toe heel to back foot in.

Now we're going a little bit more heel to heel. On an exhale reach, as if you're trying to grab for something, coming into trikonasana. And on your next exhale bring the right hand either to your shin, a block, or the floor. And then the left arm goes up. Good, really drive in your front heel and front big toe mound.

Take your right upper thigh and spin it to the right so eventually the kneecap lines up with the middle toe. Good, so option to hold right here. Or exhale, take the left fingertips to the floor, right, we know this movement. Inhale, draw the left arm up. Right, so we're peeling back the left chest, left shoulder.

Exhale. Inhale, draw it back. Exhale. One more, inhale. Good, from here, soften your front knee.

Toe heel the back foot forward and we're gonna shift into ardha chandrasana, the front hand comes about a foot, foot and a half in front of the right toe, maybe playing with a little bit of a hover. The right hands come to the floor. Flexing that back foot like you're trying to kick through the wall behind you. And on an exhale, bring the left fingertips down. Inhale, draw it up.

So now we're playing a little bit with balance, really finding the strength, really finding the sweetness, right, how to be active without any dullness. Exhale. One more, inhale. Good, so find your weight back in that right foot, we're gonna transition back into Warrior II. Nice and slow.

Good. Moving back into that same sequence, exhale, palms together. Inhale, draw it back. Exhale. Good, inhale, draw it back.

Exhale. Inhale, draw it back, right palm lifts up, take it up and back. Sweep all the way through coming back into your last lunge twist on this side. Back heel lifting, heart spinning towards your right. Right, transition here, outer edge of the back foot can drop down, right knee in, Vashistasana.

Feet stack, hips lift. Exhale, right fingertips to the floor. Inhale, draw it back. Exhale. Inhale, right, take your time.

Exhale. Inhale, draw it back, root in through the left foot, root in through the left palm, draw the knee into the chest. Take it back, lunge twist. Root through the feet, inhale, rise up, high crescent. Feel the hips, the belly, the heart.

Exhale, palms to frame the front foot, take it back, plank pose. Chaturanga or the floor. Inhale, upward or low cobra. Exhale back, downward facing. Last side.

On an inhale, left leg lifts up. Exhale, knee into nose. Place the foot down, high crescent, arms sweep up. And opening up into Warrior II. Press down outer edge of the back foot, toe heel that front foot to line up with the back middle arch.

Exhale, hands come together. Inhale, draw it back. Good, exhale, palms together, feel softening down the shoulders, draw it back on the inhale. One more, exhale. Inhale, draw it back.

On your next inhale, lengthen the left leg, toe heel this back foot, about a scoot or two. Start to spread the left thigh towards the left and then reach forward as if you're trying to reach for something. Good, on an exhale, take the left hand of the shin or the floor while taking the right arm up, utthita trikonasana. Exhale, right hand comes to the floor, inhale, draw it up, feel the chest open, feel the right shoulder draw back. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Good, pause here, bring the right hand to the hip, toe heel the back foot just a little bit forward and reach forward for ardha candrasana, half moon pose. Maybe catch a little hover.

Good, flex through the back foot and then softly bring the right fingertips down. Flex through the back foot as if you're pressing through a wall behind you. And on exhale, bring the right fingertips to the floor. Good, inhale, draw it back again, peel the ribs, peel the chest, peel the shoulder back. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Good, see if you can take the weight back into the left foot strong, a little less off the hand and then softly step back, Warrior II. Palms come together, last round here, draw it back.

Exhale, palms come together. Inhale. Right, strong through the legs, soft long through the torso. Inhale. Turn the left palm up, take it up and back.

And notice your right side body, can you find just as much space there as you do on the left? Good, exhale, windmill it down, right hand to the inside of foot, lunge twist. Good, rooting through the right palm, drop the outer edge of the back foot down, last one, bring the knee into the chest, step back, Vashistasana. Exhale, left fingertips down, inhale, draw it back strong, lift the hips up as high as you can. Exhale, fingertips touch.

Inhale, draw it back, maybe grace right through the heart. Exhale. Inhale, draw it back. Strong here, draw the left knee into the chest, step back down into a lunge twist. And then root to rise coming into high crescent.

Good, on your exhale, bring the right hand in front of the belly. Come back into (speaking in foreign language). Hands come right to the thighs on an exhale. Press the right thigh away, gaze over the left. Inhale, come back to center.

Exhale, press the left. Good, inhale. Exhale. Good, inhale, see if you can find that twist, find the spiral all the way up your spine. One more each side.

Exhale. Good, inhale. Exhale. Good, inhale come back, take the palms up. On an inhale, take the right hand in front, high crescent, last time.

Good, exhale hands come down, frame the front foot, stepping back, plank pose. And again, your choice in transition, chaturanga taking that pause, not letting shoulders go any lower than the elbows. Inhale, upward or low cobra. Exhale, back. Good, on an inhale, bring the right foot forward.

Turn the toes to face to your left. So you're gonna press the outer edges of the feet in. So check in that the toes are lined up, heels are lined up. Inhale, come halfway up. And exhale, fold in, if available, bring the fingertips in line with the toes.

And then exhale, crown down. So the press of the outer edges of the feet away and then a draw in of the inner thighs. If you find that you're in this and your crown is on the floor, draw in just a little bit, right, just to find a little bit of traction in this pose, a little variation. And on an inhale, come halfway up. We're gonna take the hands a little bit further now out in front of the shoulders.

And on an inhale, take the right arm up. Exhale, left arm's gonna come through, grabbing the right shin so above the ankle, just staying away from the ankle joint, and then the right arm walks away. So turning it into a twist. Notice the left hip, left sit bone wanna drop down, see if you can caress through the feet so equally, the hips lift. Good, two more breaths.

And legs come back to center, hands again under shoulders. Inhale, take the right arm up. And then on your exhale, weave it all the way through grabbing above the ankle, walking the left hand away. So you can start to work into that twist and again, notice the right hip wants to drop down. See if you can lift it.

Doing so by pressing through the feet a little stronger. And drawing the inner thighs in towards each other. Good, inhale come back to center. So bring the hands back underneath the wrists and slowly start to take your feet a little bit wider. Toe heeling out and careful if you are slippery at all.

Right, we wanna be with control. So pressing the outer edges of the feet into the floor coming into samakonasana, sama equal angle pose here and maybe for some coming down onto the forearms. For some if you are more flexible and you can bring the inner thighs all the way down to the floor. If you have contact with the floor, then you can start to spin the toes up. But for now, for most of us, keeping the outer edges of the feet pressed and from here, let's just stay a few rounds of breath.

So there's still a slight draw of the inner thighs towards each other. And the outer edges of the feet press in. If you feel this too much in the back of the knees, just back off a little bit. So this is a perfect place to start to bring in, again, the yoga sutra sthira sukham asanam. Right, the steadiness, the strength, the ease, and the sweetness.

Right, how to balance all of these. How to find relaxation without being dull. And four more breaths. And as you bring your awareness to your breath, see if you can create sama vritti, creating equal fluctuations of your breath. So both on the inhale and the exhale.

Nice, with control bringing the hands back, toe heel the feet back in so you have control. And then we're gonna come down onto our knees. And you're gonna line up your ankles behind your knees. So really important that as you do this, knees, ankles are in a line, the tendency is that they're gonna start to drift towards each other. So I'll face this way.

So the same, from knee to knee, you're in the same position as you are from samakonasana. Flex the feet, ankles behind the knees, and then again, start to come down onto the forearms. Good, give a little press back. See if you can take your bum a little bit past your knees, and then inhale, come forward. Just do that three more times, exhale, press back just a little bit.

Good, inhale, come forward. Last one, exhale press back. good, inhale come forward, this time where you're in line, the bum, the sit bones are in line with the knee. And then again, draw the belly button to the spine just lightly. Good, so we want to keep the sway out of our low back.

So keeping that area engaged. You wanna feel this through your inner thighs, so again, same pose from knee to knee as we just were in. We're just changing it up, mandukasana. And taking three more breaths. Good, to come out, come back onto your palms.

Bring the knees in, and we're slowly going to transition right onto our backs. From here, start to bring the knees into the chest. And just give a tight squeeze, knees together. And then take the knees wide, towards your armpits, and then maybe coming into child's pose, grabbing the outer edges of the feet, letting the knees drop down and letting the sacrum soften. Good, take the legs long.

Slowly taking left thigh over right, just like a loose eagle pose with the legs, arms out. On an exhale, let the knees just drop to the right and gaze to the left. Then just start to soften the eyes. Softening the jaw. And on an inhale, coming back up to center.

Taking the legs long, opposite side right over left. As you bend the knees, slowly let them drift off to the left. And let just get heavy, and then take the gaze off to the right. Good, come back up to center. One last squeeze, the knees into the chest and you decide if you want it to be strong or if you just want a soft, sweet little hug in.

And then one at a time take the legs long, coming into savasana as we prepare to come into our final pose. Just allow the palms to face up. Right, so it's that outward sign for inner intention of being open, being vulnerable, being willing to receive the gifts of our practice. And in this case being willing to receive divine assistance. So completely let go, let go of your physical form.

And in this pose, we're asking that you stay ever so present, so as those thoughts come up, as we are human, and thoughts do come up, see if you can just let them go by, try not to hook in. And just settle. And taking a little deeper inhale. One more full, complete exhale. And slowly begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes and if you would like a longer savasana, please, please, please, do stay here.

If not, you can go ahead and take your arms up overhead and slowly rolling to your right side. And as you do, pressing up to a comfortable position, homey and seated. And just taking a moment before we finish our practice just to check in, just to notice how you're feeling and the energy that you have at this moment. And thank you for joining me today, hope to see you again soon, namaste.