Groovy and Fun Flow

Hello. Welcome to your practice. In today's practice, we'll be using our breath to transform the funk into fun. So we'll get started in downward facing dog. So coming onto your knees, planting your hands, tucking your toes, lifting your hips, downward facing dog. And you might take a moment here as you arrive just to maybe pedal out the feet. Take one knee in, then the other. Feeling into your body and the breath. We're going to take a clearing breath here together. So what that means is you'll inhale, just lift your heels up. And as you exhale, it's just a big ah, ah, ah, heels towards the mat. Let's do one more like that. Inhale. Exhale. And then on your next breath in, we'll inhale, sweep your right leg to the sky. Crescent lunge. Exhale, step your foot between your hands. Your back knee is off the mat. Inhale, the arms reach to the sky. Big breath in, heart's lifted. Exhale, take a vinyasa hands to the mat. Let's step back to plank pose. Inhale, exhale, chaturanga or lower down slow. Inhale, up dog or cobra. Using your breath. Exhale, downward facing dog. Get steady in the breath. Inhale, lift the left leg. Exhale, step your foot between your hands. Your back heel is lifted. Inhale, rising up, arms reach. Take a deep inhale. Vinyasa. Exhale, hands to the mat. Plank pose. Chaturanga. Inhale, up dog. Using your breath. Exhale, downward facing dog. Take a couple moments here. Spread through the fingers. Let's take a clearing breath. Inhale, lift your heels. Exhale. Heels towards the mat. One more time. Inhale, right leg high. Exhale, step through. Crescent lunge, high lunge, back heels lifted. Arms reach to the sky. Peak of the inhale is the peak of the pose. Exhale, hands to the mat. So using the breath as we Vinyasa to move any tension or resistance through you. Exhale, downward facing dog. Inhale, left leg sweeps. You got it. Exhale, step it through. Back heels off the mat. Inhale, arms to the sky. Big expansive breath in. Exhale, hands go down. Take it back. Vinyasa. Chaturanga. Inhale, up dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. And this is a time again where you might walk it out, groove it out, using the breath to move any of that tension or resistance through you. Clearing breath together. Inhale, lift your heels. Exhale. Heels towards the floor. Next breath in. Go ahead, float your right leg high. So we'll inhale right leg to the sky, back to Crescent. Stepping it through. This time we're going to add on. So the back heels lifted. Inhale, reaching the arms up to the sky. Take a deep breath. Warrior two. So you're going to ground your back heel. Open it up. Virabhana dasana two. Toes are pointing forward. Knee over ankle. Back leg is strong. Hand to back leg. Reverse your warrior. Inhale. Siding will pose. Exhale, either elbow to thigh or if you like, hand to floor and then the arm can sweep to the ear. Inhale, come back to reverse warrior. Back hand to back leg. Get really strong. Exhale, hands to the mat. Vinyasa. Step it back. Plank.

Chaturanga. Exhale. Up dog. Inhale. Downward facing. Exhale. Clearing breath together. You got it. Inhale lift the heels. Exhale. Heels to the mat. Second side. Inhale. Left leg reaches up. Exhale. Step through. High lunge. Crescent lunge. Back heel is lifted. Inhale. Expand through the heart. Take a deep breath in. Warrior two. Exhale. Ground your back heel. Open it up. Back hand to back leg. Reverse your warrior. Keeping the front shin moving forward. Exhale. Either elbow to thigh or hand to mat. Side angle. Side body long. Really stretching through the side of the waist. Inhale. Reversing the warrior. Back hand to back leg. Take a deep breath. Then exhale. Hands to the mat. Vinyasa. Step it back. Plank. Chaturanga. Upward facing dog. Downward facing dog. Clearing breath together. Inhale. Lift your heels. Let something go. Exhale. Now this is a time where if you know that you need a block for half moon, I'm going to grab the block. So come onto my knees and you can grab your block. If you're using a block for half moon, you can place it at the front right corner of your mat. And then we'll meet up again in downward facing dog. So find your steady breath. Find the rhythm of your breath. On the next inhale, right leg reaches high. Exhale. Step through for warrior one. So foot between your hands. Back foot spins to ground. Inhale. Arms reach to this guy. Big breath in. As you exhale, you'll take your hands behind you. Humble warrior. Right thumb interlaces to the top. As we inhale, we can drop the hips. You'll lift your heart. And then as you exhale, folding into your degree. So you might pause here. You might even take one shoulder to the knee. Otherwise the hands begin to reach up and over. Humble warrior. Couple of breaths in. Now as you exhale, draw the low belly in. Slowly rise. Inhale. Warrior one. Arms sweeping them up. And then exhale open. Virabhadrasana two. Warrior two. Beautiful. From here, we're heading to three triangles. You're straight in the front leg. Here's the first triangle. So you'll spin the left thumb down. You'll drape your hand behind your waist. And then your right hand will come to meet that hand at the waist. Legs are strong. As you inhale, you'll lift through the heart. It's a little lean forward into your uttijatricanasana. Legs are really nice and firm, hugging the midline. Option of course is to release that right hand to the shin, looking past left shoulder. Couple of breaths.

Steady triangle. Let the breath move you. Now as you exhale, hug in towards the center. Inhale. Slowly come up. Reach the arms out. Breath in. We'll take the right arm behind us this time. Same, same. Right hand behind your waist. Left hand can hold hands. As you inhale, expand. As you exhale, you'll lean. And again, if you need the support of that right arm, you're welcome to release it. But otherwise, we're looking past that left shoulder, wrapping that shoulder weight down the back. Strong in the legs. Fluid in the breath. Exhale. Low belly tones. Inhale. Come up. Arms reach out. Take a deep breath. Triangle pose. Hand to leg. Exhale. Reach, reach, reach, reach, reach. Hand can go to the shin or ankle, opposite hand to sky, and getting really long. Now of course, you're welcome to stay here or we'll add half moon. Hand to hip. Look to your front big toe. Bend your front knee. I like to take a big step in with that back foot. So you can try that. Right hand to your block. Reaching one arm's breath forward. Now on your next breath in, you'll shift into the right foot. Back leg is strong. Ardachandra. Adjusting that bottom block as you need it. Stacking shoulders. Maybe lifting the arm. Flexing foot. Ardachandra. It's all about the breath. When you're ready to release, gently start to bend the standing leg. Lower it down. Warrior two. Inhale. And then we'll head into our vinyasa. Exhale. Hands to the mat. Plank.

Oh, chaturanga. Inhale. Up dog. Use your breath. Exhale. Downward facing dog. Clearing breath together. Inhale. Lift your heels. Exhale. One more like that. Inhale. Heels lift. Exhale. Inhale. Left leg sweeps high. Warrior one. Exhale. Step it through. Back foot spins to ground. Inhale. Reaching up with the arms. Big breath in. So as you exhale, you'll take the left arm and you'll interlace that left thumb on top. And then as we inhale, drop the hips, lift the heart. As you exhale, folding in, leading with the heart, hands up and over to your degree. Again, you can also tack that left shoulder to the knee if that support sounds good to you today. We're here for a few moments together for a walk. Let the breath move you. Let the breath clear it out for you.

Exhale. Draw the navel back. Inhale. Use the strength of the legs to rise up. Arms reach to the sky. And then Virabh and Drasana too. Warrior two. So inhale. Straighten the front leg. Back to our triangle series. Spin your right thumb down. Sweep the right forearm behind your waist. The left hand can hold hands. You can clap hands by the waist. Inhale. Lift through the heart. Exhale. You'll lean towards that left leg. And you're welcome, of course, to release the left hand to the shin if that support sounds good for one. Strengthen the legs. Freedom in the breath. Two. Exhale. Draw the navel back. Inhale. Rise. Arms reach out. Exhale. Spin the left thumb down. The forearm drapes behind the waist. Right hand can connect. Inhale. Lift to lengthen. Exhale. Leaning over. And again, there's a sense of strength in the legs and then the breath in the heart. You can look past your right shoulder or gaze down. Beautiful. Exhale. Draw the belly back. Inhale. Rise. Arms reach out. Take a deep breath. Triangle pose with the arm down. As you exhale, reach it out. Hand can go to shin. Again, it can go to the floor if you like. Opposite hand to sky. Nice fluid breath. So let the breath clear out any resistance or tension. And you can stay here or let's head to half moon. I'm going to take the right hand to the right hip.

So you're taking your hand to your hip. Look to your front big toe. Hand can release to the mat. Bend your back knee. Step your back foot in. Left hand finds that block. When you're ready, on your inhale, shifting into the left foot. Left arm is strong. Right leg is strong. Toes are are flexing. So you're in dorsiflexion in that lifted leg. A couple of breaths here for two. Om three. Beautiful. Big breath in. Slowly lower it down. Warrior two. Grounding the back foot. Take a deep breath here. Inhale. And it's a vinyasa. Exhale. Hands to the mat. Plank. Chaturanga. Upward facing dog. Downward facing dog. And then taking your knees to the mat. You can set your block to the side.

And it's child's pose. So for this version, take the big toes together, knees a little bit wider. And you'll slowly begin to walk your arms out in front of you. Maybe forehead to the mat. A couple of breaths. Two of those clearing breaths together. Inhale. Take a deep inhale. Exhale. Letting something go. One more. Inhale. Exhale. And then on your next breath in, you'll slowly walk your way up.

And we'll sit to the right, and we're going to come to lie down on our backs. So you'll set your feet on the mat. You'll lie down on your back. Your arms are by your sides. And just taking a moment to arrive with your breath and start to feel that sense of support of the earth beneath the spine. And as you walk your feet in, you want them at least hip width distance apart, maybe slightly wider. We're going to head to a couple rounds of bridge here together. And so for this first round, as you exhale, really feeling the feet into the mat, and the scooping of the tailbone. And then as you inhale, you'll just lift the hips off the floor. And then if you can, interlace hands behind back, shrug shoulders if that feels good.

You can also keep the arms by your sides and grab the mat if that feels appropriate for you today. Otherwise, we're interlacing. And then tapping into the freedom of the breath. So feet are into the mat, heart towards your chin. There's a sense of creating more of a rainbow in the arch of the back as opposed to like a fish hook feeling. And then to release, you'll release the arms out, lift the heels, slowly roll down, and then we'll pause with our arms by our sides. We'll do two more just like that. Exhale, tone your belly. Inhale, lift your hips. Interlacing hands, shrugging shoulders. Find the power of the legs and the freedom in the breath.

And then seeing here, how much can you rely on the breath to create space for you? Right, that transformation happens with the breath. Two more breaths here. And then to let go, releasing the grip, arms can go out, heels can lift, and then slowly rolling down. Nice work. Resting, if you want to rest with the knees together, feet towards edges of the mat. Let's take a breather here, clearing breath together. Inhale, ah, exhale, ah. We'll do one more. Setting the feet, exhale, low belly tones. Inhale, hips lift, interlace the hands behind the back, getting off the neck and on the shoulders.

And using the grip, if your elbows are down, you can really use the elbows to lift up through the heart. One more big breath here. And then releasing the heels, the arms, slowly rolling down. Nice work. And then from here, we'll hug our knees into our chest, give ourselves a little squeeze, and we're going to rock and roll our way to seated. So rock and roll your way to your seat. And we're setting up for a square pose. So you'll bring your right shin in front of you, and then the left shin in front of the right shin. The main thing with this pose is to have the ankles strongly engaged so you're in dorsiflexion, and the ankles and the feet are in the same line as the knees. And you're also welcome here to use your hands just to feel that in a bit. We're going to start with a twist. So you'll inhale to lengthen. You'll exhale, twist towards your left shin, left knee, couple of breaths, releasing any tension in the upper back. Again, allow the transformation of the breath to do its work.

Inhale through center. Exhale to the right. Couple of breaths. Beautiful. And then you'll inhale to center. You can place your hands on your feet, and as you inhale, you'll lift through the heart, and you'll push your hands through your feet, your feet into your hands, and then as you exhale, you'll fold to your degree. So this might be as deep as you go. You can even stay up higher if that feels really sweet to you today. Otherwise, we'll fold in and use the breath to, again, transform that funk. Whatever's happening now for you, using the breath to move it through you. And as we exhale, we slowly come up. You lean back. We'll switch sides. So you'll spring your left shin on the inside, right shin forward, adjusting as you need to adjust. So you might need to lift and shift your hips more towards the center of your mat to adjust for your knee position, your foot position. Hands can go to the feet, the sole to sole, flexing ankles, inhaling to lengthen and create that space. Now, if this feels good to you, this alignment, you'll stay here as you inhale. And as we exhale, we'll twist towards the right knee. A couple of breaths.

Space around the heart. Inhale through center. Exhale, twisting to the left. See if you can grow taller with your inhale. And as you exhale, you'll draw the belly back. Inhale to center. And now you'll fold to your degree. So again, this might be your edge or it's hands to feet, feet to hands. Inhale to lengthen, pushing into hands with the feet and the feet with the hands. And then as you exhale, again, you'll fold to your degree, finding your breath as a guide into these deeper recesses. And finding your edge, that edge of transformation for you.

And then as we exhale, we'll draw the belly back. Inhale, rise up. And then from here, you can use your hands to widen your legs into a wide leg forward fold. We're going to use our bolster for this version today. So you can have, if you have pillows, you can use pillows. If you have a bolster, you can use a bolster. And the idea here is that we use our hands to support us in finding our wide leg position. And you can bring that bolster towards your hips. As you inhale, you'll create some space and then we'll slowly walk forward, finding your edge, allowing the sweetness of the bolster to support you. Maybe you take your hands to the edges of your pillow or bolster and maybe you take your forehead down. See if you can continue to engage through the legs as you let go, as you allow gravity to support you in your chest. See if you can continue to activate the four corners of your feet as you create the length in the spine. So allowing the breath to do the work for us now. So stay with your breath. And then when you're ready, pulling the hands closer in towards your legs as you inhale to rise. Then you'll set your bolster to the side. We'll be using it in a moment, but you'll set that to the side and you'll come to lie down on your back. You'll bring both knees into your chest and then using your right hand, you'll take both knees over towards the right, just a simple little twist. Left arm long, using that right hand on the knees if that supports you. You can gaze towards the left palm facing up.

Inhale through center, nice and slow. You can use your feet to lift and shift your hips and then both knees up and over towards the left and then the right arm can reach out, palm up. You can gaze towards the right hand, maybe close the eyes. Again, as we come back to the breath, let the breath guide you in. So the breath turns us inward towards our inner landscape. So staying with your breath and then inhaling, knees to center. And you'll find your bolster for under your knees for Shavasana. So you can sit up and then locate your bolster and then set it maybe about a quarter of the way down on your mat. If you're using pillows, setting up your pillows in this way and then bringing the bolster or pillows under the thighs and knees, allowing the knees to go really wide. They can bend quite a bit.

Arms are by your sides, lifting your chest up for a moment to adjust the back of the heart. You might even take little mini ankle circles to release any tension that you might have. And then together we'll take a deep breath. Inhale, two clearing breaths, big ah. One more inhale, exhale, ah. Shavasana melting into the mat. See if you can just let go of any tension and get heavy.

So you go. go. As you begin to return to the flow of your inhale and your exhale, noticing the expansion of the inhale, the grounding of your exhale. You might start to just take circles in the ankles and the wrists, awakening the body once again. As you next inhale, stretching out the legs and the arms.

And as you exhale, choosing a side to roll to. I like to walk my feet onto the bolster and then roll to one side. So you're welcome to join me. I've been pressing into the hand on the mat. If you're leaning to one side, you'll push your way to a seat and just turning the bolster so that you can find a comfortable seat on your bolster. Maybe the hands find their way back to the heart, returning to the breath, returning to the flow of the inhale and the exhale. Thank you so much for practicing with me today. Namaste.