Good Old Fashioned Flow

Welcome back. This is a good old-fashioned flow just to get some energy and heat moving in the body. So we'll move through sun salutations, some familiar standing postures, and then we'll make our way down at the end. So join me at the top of your mat and we will take our time to settle in with the breath before we start to flow a bit. So spreading your toes, maybe a soft bend through the knees, just letting the energy move all the way up through the spine. And let's bring our hands together at the heart, taking a few moments to settle in. You might invite in an intention for your practice to really focus your energy, your heart, beautiful. Let's begin with the sound of alms. Allow for an inhale. Moving with a breath on an inhale, circle the arms up to the sky. Exhale, forward fold, releasing the head and the arms. Inhale, half arch. Feel your spine lengthen and stretch. Exhale, bend your knees. Let's step back into plank pose. Pause and plank for a few breaths. So energize through your legs. Reach back through the heels. Lengthen forward, strong through the deep low belly. Lower the knees. Let's come into cobra. Nice and slow, lower down. Inhale, rise up into your cobra, waking up the spine in the back. Exhale, lead with the heart, lower down. Tuck the toes, press up and back, downward facing dog. Just let yourself walk it off. Pedal the feet. Breathing. And then settling for three full breaths. Back of the neck soft. As you're ready, bend the knees and walk forward. Top of the mat. Inhale, half arch to lengthen. And exhale, forward fold. As you're ready, inhale, circle the arms up to the sky. Reach up and lengthen. Exhale, sweep the arms out to the sides. Bring the hands together at the heart. Second round. Inhale, arms sweep up. Gather the energy. Exhale, dive forward and in, releasing the head and the arms. Inhale, half arch, lengthen the spine. Exhale, bend the knees. Step back into your plank and pause again in plank. Establish the foundation here. Lowering the knees, lower slowly down onto the belly. Inhale, up cobra again. Lifting out through the heart. Feeling that space, that opening. Exhale, beautiful. Lead with the heart, lower down. Elbows in, tuck the toes under, press up, down dog. Three full breaths here.

Feeling that extension through the spine. And as you're ready, just walking the feet towards the hands. Inhale, half arch to lengthen. Exhale, forward fold. Strong through the legs. Inhale, circle the arms up to the sky. Reach up. Exhale, sweep the arms alongside the body. Hands together at the heart, pausing for a moment or two. Moving into Surya Namaskar B, chair pose. Bend the knees, sweep the arms forward, chair. Shift the weight back into the heels. Feel the length forward through the spine. Easy through the neck. Nice full breath into the back ribs. Exhale, forward fold. Releasing the hands, the head. Inhale, half arch to lengthen your spine. Exhale, step back into your plank. Pause again in plank. You might lower the knees or you might slowly lower through a chaturanga. Broad through the collarbones. Inhale to your cobra or maybe you're moving to upward dog. Exhale, navel to spine, downward facing dog. As you're ready, inhale, lift the right leg up towards the sky. Exhale, draw the knee through, step the foot through warrior one. Pivot onto the outer edge of the back foot. Inhale, sweep the arms up. Exhale, release the hands. Step back, plank. From plank, lower the knees or chaturanga. Inhale to cobra or upward dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. As you're ready, inhale, sweep the left leg up to the sky. Exhale, knee to nose, step it through warrior one. Pivot onto the outer edge of the back foot. Inhale, strong legs. Reach the arms up and exhale, release through the hands. Step back, plank pose, lower the knees or chaturanga. Slow, mindfully broad through the collarbones. Elbows in. Inhale, cobra or up dog. Exhale, down dog. Pausing here, three to five full breaths and maybe there's a soft bend through the knees as you reach and lengthen through the sitting bones, the spine. Easy through the back of the neck. As you're ready, walk or hop the feet towards the hands. Inhale, half arch to lengthen. Exhale, bend the knees, forward fold. As you're ready, bend the knees, chair pose, sweep the arms forward. Strong through the legs, sink back through your heels. Inhale, exhale, press through the feet. Stretch your arms up to the sky. Exhale, release your arms.

Take a moment to pause, hands together at the heart. Second round, here we go. Bend the knees, chair pose, reach the arms forward, sink back into the heels. Nice full breath in and exhale, forward fold. Releasing the head and the arms. Inhale, half arch, lengthen the spine. Exhale, find your plank. Pause, wait for me and plank. Reach back through the heels, lengthen forward. Lower the knees or find your chaturanga. Elbows in. Slow, mindful chaturanga. Inhale to your cobra or up dog. Take a moment to pause. Feel the space through the chest. Lift the thigh bones. Exhale, downward facing dog. Nice. As you're ready, inhale, lift the right leg up to the sky. Exhale, knee to nose, step it through, warrior one. Pivot on to the outer edge of the back foot. Inhale, reach the arms up to the sky. Draw that right hip back, left hip forward. Nice. Inhale, exhale, release the hands. Spin onto the ball, the back foot. Step back, plank. From plank, lower in your own way. Inhale to cobra or upward dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Inhale, sweep the left leg up to the sky. Exhale, knee to nose, step it through, warrior one. Inhale, flip the arms up to the sky. Bend that front knee. Drawing that left hip back. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, release the hands. Step back, plank. Lowering the knees or through chaturanga. Inhale to your cobra or up dog. Exhale, back, downward facing dog. Again, three to five full breaths in your down dog. Lengthening through the spine. Lifting the shoulders away from the ears. Soft through the neck. As you're ready, bend the knees, walk or hop forward. Inhale, half arch once you arrive. Exhale, bend the knees, forward fold. Bend the knees. Chair pose. Inhale, sweep the arms forward. Sink back through the heels. And exhale, press the feet into the floor. Reach the arms up. Exhale, sweep the arms out alongside the body. Hands together at the heart. Taking a moment here to pause. Again, feeling your heart beat. Feeling the energy through the body. Awesome. One last round, adding on here. As you're ready, chair pose, bend the knees. Reach the arms forward. Inhale, exhale, dive forward. Releasing the head. Forward fold. Inhale, half arch to lengthen. Exhale, walk or hop back into your plank. Pause and plank. Lower the knees or through at chaturanga. Inhale to cobra or upward dog. Exhale, back into your downward facing dog. As you're ready, inhale, reach the right leg high again. Exhale, knee to nose. Step it through. Warrior one. Inhale, reach the arms up. And drawing that right hip back, left hip forward. This time bring the hands onto the hips. Shorten the stance. Bring that back foot in for pyramid pose. Inhale, sweep the arms out.

Internally rotate. Hands around the elbows. Or maybe you're in reverse prayer. Inhale, reaching up. Lift the heart. Stay here or draw that right hip back as you begin to lengthen. Beautiful. Rooting through the outer edge of that back foot. And hugging that right hip in. Nice and long through your neck. And then you might just slowly begin to fold forward. Listening in to your right hamstrings. Strong through the legs. Press through the feet. Inhale, rise back up. Nice. Moving towards a warrior three. Let's see how it feels. Bend that front knee. Hands on the hips. Begin to transfer the weight into that standing leg. And then lift off.

Lift off. And maybe you're reaching the arms out to the sides or sweeping the arms back or overhead. Inhale, strong through that standing leg. We'll meet in a standing forward split. Stretching that left leg up to the sky. Bend the right knee and then mindfully land back into your lunge. Nice. We're gonna lower that back knee down to the floor. And inhale, draw the hips back. Come into your half split. Hamstrings stretch. Exhale, right knee bends. And inhale, draw the hips back. Exhale, right knee bends. One more time. Inhale, hips draw back. Exhale, knee bends. Inhale, circle the arms up to the sky. Hope the thumbs pull the thumbs apart a little bit. Fan through the fingers, opening through the chest. Inhale. Exhale, release the hands. Tuck the back toes under. Step on back to your downward-facing dog. Walk it off. Bettle the feet. Shifting forward into plank pose. Inhale, shoulders over the wrists. Strong through the legs and the core. Exhale, lower the knees or through chaturanga. Inhale to your cobra or upward dog. Exhale, back, downward-facing dog. Left side. Inhale, sweep the left leg up to the sky. Exhale, knee to nose. Step it through warrior one. Strong through the back leg. Inhale, sweep the arms on up. That's it. Drawing the left hip back, the right hip forward. Beautiful. Nice. Hands on the hip. Step the back foot forward. Shorten the stance for pyramid. Arms stretch out. Roll the shoulders forward. Hands find the elbows or reverse prayer. Inhale, lifting up through the chest. Stay here or exhale. Draw that left hip back and begin to slowly extend and lengthen into your pyramid. And you might find a place where you pause or just slowly releasing into the stretch. And the back might even round a little bit as the head releases. Maybe there's a soft bend through that standing left leg and knee.

Nice. Strong through the legs with an inhale. Come all the way back up. Nice. Moving towards our warrior three. Let's see how this side goes. Bend the front knee. Shift the weight forward. Lift the back leg up. And the play is to square the hips. You want to roll that right thigh down to the floor. Hands might sweep back or overhead wherever feels right for you. Nice. Inhale. Exhale, standing splits. Hands to the floor. Soft bend through that standing leg. Reach the right leg up to the sky. Easy through the neck. Bend the left leg. Slow, slow, slow. Find your lunge. Spin onto the ball of that back foot. We're lowering the right knee down for our lunge. Inhale. Draw the hips back. Exhale. Lunge forward. Two more. Inhale. Back. Exhale. Lunge. And last one. Inhale. Back. Exhale. Lunge. With your inhale, sweep the arms up to the sky. Reaching up. Hook the thumbs. Wiggle length and make a bit more room for yourself. Lifting from the back of the heart. Opening. Inhale. Exhale. Release the hands. Spin onto the ball of the back foot. Step back into your plank. Nice and slow. Lowering under the knees or chaturanga. Inhale to cobra or upward dog. Exhale. Back. Downward facing dog. And three to five breaths here. Walking it off. And then settling for a few moments. When you feel ready, walk or hop the feet towards the hands. Inhale. Half arch.

Exhale. Forward fold. Release. Setting up for chair pose. Bend the knees. Shift the weight back. You've got this. Inhale. Sweep the arms forward. Nice full breath. Into the back body. Exhale. Press through the feet. Stretch the arms up. Opening. And just release the arms. Beautiful hands together at the heart. Re-centering. Balancing here for a few moments. Nice. From here, let's open out wide and set up for an extended side angle. So we'll internally rotate the left thigh and foot. Externally rotate that right thigh and foot. And just come into your warrior too. So bending that right knee and then stretching the arms. Settling in. Softening the shoulders down the back. Feeling into your right hip.

And then moving towards extended side angles. So maybe you're bringing your right forearm on to the right thigh. Left hand on the hip. Maybe you're reaching that arm up towards the sky. Maybe you're sweeping it down and overhead. Feeling that internal rotation. And keep the right forearm where it is. Or maybe you're reaching it down towards the floor outside of that right foot. Let's take five full breaths here. An extended side angle. Feel how you can open up through the rib cage. Breathing. And finding a place for your neck feels comfortable. And then strong through the legs on an inhale. Come back into your warrior too. Press into the ball. That right foot will internally rotate the right thigh and foot. Externally rotate the left thigh and foot. Come into warrior too. And just see how the side feels. Stretching the arms out. And then settling down. Good. From here extended side angle. Again you might bring your left forearm onto the left thigh. Right hand on the hip. You might reach that top arm up to the sky. Opening the chest. This feels really nice. We're sweeping the arm down. Finding more of that internal rotation. Left hand might stay where it is. Or maybe you're reaching it on the outside of your foot. And five breaths here. Breathing. As you're ready, strong through the legs. Inhale, reach for the top arm. Arrive in your warrior too. And then press into the ball that left foot. Internally rotate the left thigh and foot. And we're gonna pivot towards the front edge of our mat. Toe heel that right foot a little bit wider. Coming into an extended or revolved extended side angle. So from here we'll inhale. Reach our left arm up.

Just feel that space and length. And then exhale. We're twisting. Bringing that that left forearm. Elbow onto the right thigh. Maybe hands together in prayer pose. And we're rooting through the outer edge of the back foot. That back foot is grounded. Drawing the right hip back a bit here. And finding a place where your neck feels comfortable. Lengthening up through the spine. Inhale. Exhale. We're just gonna windmill our arms up like a rainbow. Turn that right foot in. Left foot finds the back edge of the mat. Second side. Sweep that right arm up to the sky. Bend the left knee. Inhale. Exhale. Twist. Bring that right elbow onto the left thigh. Hands might find each other in prayer. Inhale to lengthen. Exhale. Twist. Strong through the back leg. You know how you can draw that left hip back a little bit and in. Nice. Strong through the legs. Inhale. Windmilling arms back up like a rainbow. Reorganize your feet. Parallel. Arms stretch out. Roll the shoulders forward. We'll interlace our fingers. This is a theme. Inhale. Lift up through the chest. And forward fold. Diving in. Releasing through the head and releasing through the arms. Stretching the arms up out and over. When you're ready, release the hands onto the sacrum and just stretch the arms out in front of you. Hammock pose. Walk the arms forward and then just reach the hips back. Easy through the spine like a hammock. Heart softening down a bit. Neck relaxed. When you're ready, just walk your hands underneath your shoulders. We're going to keep our left hand on the floor. Bring our right hand to our chest. Turn to the right. Maybe you're stretching that right arm up towards the sky. Reaching from the heart into both hands. Inhale. Exhale. Turn the torso down to the floor. Right hand finds the floor. Bring the left hand towards the heart and then stretch the arm up towards the sky. So nice. Lengthening from the sitting bones to the crown of the head. Inhale. Exhale. Slow. Release. Let's toe heal our feet just a little bit closer for a squat. Molossing up. Bend the knees. Sink down into the hips. Hands might find each other at the heart. Nice full. Through the face. And then forward fold. Hands find the floor. Toe heal the feet a little closer together. Soft bend through the knees. Let yourself round, round, round and we'll roll it through our spine. Bend the knees. Chin into the chest. Curl the tailbone under. Take your time. Slowly round and stretch the back. Press through the feet. Healing the heart, the shoulders, the head. Take a moment to pause. And letting the blood settle back down into the legs and the feet. From here setting up for a tree pose. So I'm gonna make my way towards the top of the mat. We're gonna ground through our left foot and then bring our the right sole the foot towards that left inner thigh. Wherever it wants to go. Finding your drishti, your spot to focus on. Hands might find each other at the heart. Or you might reach the arms up towards the sky. Notice the quality of your breathing.

Letting yourself wobble and wiggle which is strengthening right on the body in our concentration. And then from tree pose we're gonna slowly release. We're gonna morph and we're gonna bring that right ankle across the left thigh. Flexing that right ankle. Hands together at the heart. Opening the right hip as you bend the left knee a little bit. Feel that laying through the spine. Big stretch in that right hip. Breathing. Nice. Inhale. Exhale. Press through that left foot. Come all the way up. And then just release the leg. Shake it out. Shake the arms out. Nice full down through the feet. So find the other side. Ground through that right foot. Strong through the standing hip. Open the left hip. And maybe you're bringing the heel towards the inner ankle, the calf, or the upper thigh. Of course it'll depend on this side. You might keep your hands together at your heart. You might stretch your arms up towards the sky. Soft steady gaze. Ah strong through that standing leg and hip. Finding a little bit of ease within the effort. And then slow bringing the hands together at the heart. And we're morphing here. Bringing that left ankle across the right thigh. Flexing the left foot. And then bending that right knee any amount. Keep the spine nice and long. Heart drawing towards the thumbs. Sinking down into our left hip. It takes a lot to balance here and focus. A few more breaths here. A little smile. As you're ready, press. Press through that standing leg. Come back up. We did it. Shake it out. Let it go. It's all about shaking it out and letting it go. We'll make our way down to the floor with the sun's salutation. Spread the toes. Hands together at the heart. As you're ready inhale, circle the arms up. Reach on up. Lengthen through your spine. Exhale. Dive forward and in. Ah. Feel so good to stretch. Inhale. Half arch to lengthen. Exhale. Find your way into your plank. Pause and plank. Super strong here in the legs. Waking up the low belly. You can lower onto the knees or one final chaturanga. Inhale to your cobra or upward dog. Exhale back into your downward dog. From down dog, lower the knees. Child's pose. Sing back. Settle for a few moments. Nice. Take your time. We'll meet on our back for some back bending and inversions. Nice. Setting up for bridge. Heels in line with the sitting bones. Arms down alongside the body. As you're ready, inhale. With an exhale, curl the tailbone under. Press through the feet. Palms might press down or you might roll and tuck the shoulders under. Interlacing the fingers. Strong through the legs.

Let's take five breaths here. Feeling that internal rotation through the thigh bones. When you're ready, just slow release the hands and round your spine back down to the floor. Upper back, middle back, low back, and sacrum. Nice. From here, you might take a second round of bridge. You might join me in Urdhva Dhanurasana. Wheel pose. If you're moving towards wheel, bring the palms back behind you in line with the shoulders and draw the elbows towards each other. Hug the elbows in. Feel that awakening. Awareness up through the pelvic floor. As you inhale and then exhale, press up onto the head. Squeeze the elbows towards each other. Inhale, stay here or exhale. Press up through the palms and lift and open. Nice. Easy up through the neck. If you can relax a little bit through the butt and feel the work through the legs. That's a beautiful breathing. Inhale, take your time. When you're ready, chin into the chest. Slowly, mindfully, gently chin into the chest. Lower the head, lower the upper back, mid back, lower back, and pause. Nice. Probably feel good to draw the knees into the chest and rock a little bit from side to side here.

Beautiful. Let's make our way up to a nice easy forward fold. Stretch the legs out. Coming into Paschimottanasana. Inhale to lengthen the spine and exhale, forward fold. Lengthening on the inhale and releasing on the exhale. And let's take five full breaths here. Nice.

Feeling the kidneys, the low back, nice and wide. And take your time to slowly round and roll your way up when you feel ready. We're going to come onto our back for a plow moving towards shoulder stand. Do you know in your shoulder stand practice you like having a blanket or a couple of blankets just to support the cervical curve in the neck? You might set it up. And then find your way onto your back. Step one, we'll start to just lift our legs up towards the sky.

Now you might stay right here. You might begin to lift up towards your shoulder stand. So bring the hands just around the low back area. Draw the elbows in towards each other. And maybe you're staying here and we call like a country version of the shoulder stand. Just nice and easy feeling the weight through the pelvis or the weight of the pelvis in the hands rather. Or maybe you're stretching your legs up towards the sky. Elbows in, a little energy through the feet, through the balls of the toes. Feel how you can draw the tailbone towards the heels lifting up.

Nice. We're just breathing here. And from your shoulder stand you might stay where you are. You might draw the legs back towards a plow shape, palasana, any amount. When you feel ready to release around the spine slowly, mindfully roll down looking up towards the toes so the neck can lengthen, allowing for that curve in the cervical spine. Slowly from the belly, lowering down. Nice and then slowly releasing. Go ahead and bend your knees and then stretch your legs out on the floor. Bring your legs towards each other and then rising up onto the forearms for fish. A little counter pose here coming onto the top of your head, letting the throat and the chest open.

Feeling some juice through the legs. Easy through the jaw. Thanks. When you're ready just slow chin to the chest, chin to the chest, lowering down. Go ahead and bend the knees. Nice. If you have a blanket underneath you now would be a time to just roll to your side. Come on up and just bring the blanket off to the side or you might bring it under your head. We're going to find a spinal twist just to release the back. So drawing the knees into the chest.

And let's go ahead and roll everything over to the right side. You might stack the arms on top of each other and just let that left arm open, moving across the chest and open. Taking about five or so full breaths here, releasing into the spinal twist. You might send some breath and energy down the length of the spine into the lower back, the sacrum, and with each exhale at the belly, relax. Nice. Take your time. Lead with the top leg. Let the bottom leg come on up and then we'll shift the hips to the right a little bit and then over, knees over to the left. Stack the arms and then let that right arm open across the chest, releasing the shoulder towards the floor. Allow for an inhale and exhale, settling in.

Nice and spacious between the eyebrows and the base of the skull. Nice and take your time when you're ready and just lead with the top leg. Let the bottom leg come on up. We're just going to draw the knees into the chest one last time. It might feel good to just curl up and then just slow stretch the legs out. Come into our final relaxation, corpse pose, shavasana. Let yourself take up space, the arms and legs wide. Call this one the cosmic starfish position. Ah. You're feeling the subtle pulsation of the life force, the prana through your body.

And you're welcome to linger here as long as you'd like or have time for. When you feel ready, no rush. Just find your way onto your side and slowly pressing your way up. Let's take a few moments to sit together and you might sit up on something, blanket or bolster. Just come into a comfortable seated position. And softening the gaze inward. You might circle back to your intention. Maybe there's a new one bubbling up. Let's join the hands together at the heart.

Take a big clearing breath. Inhale and exhale and sharing the sound of aum together, breathing in aum. Namaste. That was fun. Thank you.