Day 8: Balance 2

Welcome to day 8 of our 30 day challenge. This is our second exploration into the theme of balance. We're going to have some new poses for you to explore today. Half moon pose, even challenging a little bit of half lotus. And we'll explore a little bit more deeply some of the poses we did in previous practices. We're going to start down on the back. Please lie down. And we're going to be using a strap in the opening poses here. But let's start with two knees coming into the chest. Take a nice big breath in and exhale, knee to nose.

Just a little bit to get the spine moving. Again exhale, knee to nose. And one last time. Exhale, bring the knees into the nose, nose into the knees. And then release. Please grab your strap. And let's start with Supta Padangusthasana, right leg up. We'll place the left leg down, wrap the strap around the bottom of the right foot, and hold the strap with just the right hand.

Left arm comfortably out to the side. Because we're just getting started and we need to bring some warmth into the body, we'll do a little pumping action of the leg, drawing the leg a little closer into the body. Breath in, exhale, little pull. Breath in, exhale, and a little pull. We're definitely using the arm here to create this pull, but try to bring more and more of the energy in through the leg to do the pull. Then pause, take a nice deep breath in. As you pull the leg, lift the head toward the knee. Three, release. Exhale to lift the head.

Two, and one more. Good, head back down. Holding the strap still with the right hand, we're going to take the right leg out to the side, about halfway to your full distance. Pause there, and now externally rotate that leg to take it the final distance. I'll bend my right elbow to create a support here, and we're going to hold static in this position, just a stable hold.

Here we can start practicing that nice strong energy of the right quadricep and the grip of the right hip muscles. We want to be strongly pulling against that strap as though to anchor the right leg deeper in its socket. Let's bring it back up, and we'll transfer the left foot into the strap, right leg down. Left hand holding the strap, we'll pump that leg a few times. Take a breath in, exhale, a little pull.

Inhale, exhale, and pull. While we're working with that left leg, right leg, strongly pressed against the floor. A while back, I suggested you could use a block underneath the down leg, and this might be a great opportunity if you're having some struggles, or you could even bend that right leg. Let's pause for a second, take a nice big breath in, exhale, lift, nose up to knee. Down, inhale, exhale.

And one last time, inhale, exhale, nose up to knee. Good. Now we're taking the leg out to the side, a breath in, and exhale your way out to the side. Pause it about halfway to full, and then externally rotate, turn out the left leg to take it its final distance. Bend your left elbow to create a little stable shelf to work against. Strongly pulling the strap towards you to anchor the left leg in its socket, and then bring the leg up.

Then bend the knee. You can take the strap off of the foot, and we're going to try a new pose here. This is called Anantasana. We'll be doing this on our side with the head supported with the hand. We'll bring the foot into, the left foot into the strap, and holding here. And as you'll probably sense already, there's a lot of balancing going on. We want to creep the hand closer and closer to the ankle, and try this portion of the pose first.

Almost like tree pose. We're working on pressing the hip forward, and holding the knee back behind us. Really opening up that left hip. Here comes the challenge. If you'd like, you can try for a straight leg. Lifting, lifting, lifting, and holding. Ooh, a lot of balance challenge in this. Oh, you can see. Very tough to hold. See what you can do. Strong hips, and then bend the knee, and release.

Come on down. We'll take the strap off that side. Moving to the other side. I'm going to turn away so you can see some of the work that I'm doing in the hip. Left leg long and flat. Let's support the head. And just starting here, kind of in a 90 degree position with the leg. Work to push the arm against that lifted knee, and squeezing the glutes forward in the direction that you're looking.

Then the challenge. Can you slide that leg up? Any amount. Any amount, and challenge the hold balance. Hold, and we're there. Still, hip muscles strongly holding forward. Tailbone in. And then allow the knee to bend. You can take the strap off the foot. And we'll put the strap off to the side, as we won't be needing it for just a little while. Come onto hands and knees for just a couple of cat and cow to release from those poses.

Inhale, dropping the spine down. Exhale, rolling up. Inhale down. Exhale, rolling up. Let's just get two to the side directions. Left and right. And one more time. Ribs right and left. And let's find our first downward dog for the day.

Curl under the toes, lift your knees. Pedal out your legs a little bit. My check-in will see how you're feeling and what is still there from your previous practice. Any stiffness. Any new openness that you're feeling. A couple more times. And then pause in your full dog. That could be bent knees. It could be raised heels.

And from this position, we'll bring the feet together. We'll start by raising the right leg up. We practiced this a little in our last session. Nice strong leg lift. Turn the pelvis open to the right side. Here again, we're really getting those leg muscles, the hip muscles, to engage to help us get that mobility in the left hip. Then bending that knee, that top right leg, holding there and reaching the right toes as though to touch the ground.

And then release. Two feet together. Just reorganize your dog pose for a moment and we'll go second side. Left leg up. Turn the hips open to the left side. Strong hip engagement. And bending the left leg as though to reach the toes down to the ground. This in itself is a bit of a balance challenge. And straighten the leg. Release to your dog pose.

Come forward to a quick plank. Inhale. Exhale. Bend your elbows. Up dog. Inhale. Down dog. Exhale. Raise your heels. Look forward. Let's take a big step to the front of the mat. Pause here in half Uttanasana. You could have hands on shins or higher. Or if the hands will touch the ground comfortably, then that's your position.

Then a breath in. Exhale. Release the body down. Uttanasana. If you would like to bend your knees, if it's easier to get that body to fold, that's a great option at this point in practice. Then inhale. Come all the way up. Tadasana. And release your arms down. Shake it out. We're going to grab that strap again. And we'll start to dive a little bit deeper into some of the poses we worked on in the previous practice.

We'll start with the right leg. And bring the right foot into the strap. Both sides of the strap around the right leg. We'll pick that strap up at around the ankle, holding here. First portion of this pose we work on the stability. Press down through that left leg and anchor the body, rooting down through the earth. Then extend that right leg. New portion of the pose.

You may have to slide a little length of the strap out to get there. Challenging effort here. Nice tall body. Hips working to hold up the torso. And then release. We'll try the second side. Left foot into the strap. Bring both sides of the strap to the inside of the leg.

And slide the left hand down around the ankle or so. Push down through that right leg. Get that connection to the earth. From that connection we get the inner lift. And then extending the right leg. You may have to slide a little out on the strap to get to your distance. And it's not uncommon for me to see folks as they extend the leg, the body sort of falls forward to accommodate the leg.

So you let the strap out as much as you need so we can keep the shape of mountain pose. Tadasana. Holding there. And then bend the knee and release. Right leg again. New pose. Step into the strap. Both sides of the strap to the inside of the leg. And then hold around the ankle area.

Nice big lift. Now out to the side. So we're taking our pose from last practice a little deeper here. Let's challenge it. Out to the side. Ooh. A lot of strength involved here to keep that mountain pose shape. I'm definitely working hard for that balance.

And then release. In the beginning with these balancing poses you might find that you're falling, you know, you're trying hard. It comes with a little practice. Please keep it up. We can do this. Second side. Strap on the inside of the leg. Hold on. We start here with a mountain pose lift. Take it out to the side.

And let's go for it. Sliding out the strap. Working on the balance. Holding that mountain pose shape. And then release. And we'll let it go. We won't need the strap for the next pose.

Standing feet together. We'll start with tree pose. Right leg first. Bringing that right leg up high into the other thigh. Holding here. We practice this last session.

Pressing the inner thigh against the foot and the foot against the thigh. We're doing that to find the inner lift in the body. We can hold the hands together at the chest. And then release. Second side tree pose.

Foot up to the inner thigh as high as you can. Pressure against the leg. And holding that prayer position with the hands. The action we've been working on since the very beginning of this practice, that rolling open of the leg, the energy in the hip muscles, all of that here is working to open the hip. And then release.

New pose. Challenging pose. Half bound lotus. We'll give it a try with an option being going back to tree pose if this doesn't suit your body. So bring the heel up to the opposite hip, right heel to left hip, and hold underneath the foot. Allowing that right knee to roll down to the floor, or toward the floor, and holding.

If your balance is steady enough, you can take your free arm up. And then release. Let go of the foot. Second side. Remember, if lotus is not working for you, tree pose is your option. Heel to opposite hip.

Grab from behind the foot, pinky side of the foot, and allow your leg to roll down. Half bound lotus. Nice and steady. And if you have that stability and want to take it a little further, there we are. And then release.

Great job. Count and pose, shake it out just for a second, and then let's find that inner connection. Reach down to the floor. Checking inside. Next pose.

Wide legs. We'll turn the left toes in, right leg out. You're familiar with this. Triangle pose. Stretch the arms.

Inhale and exhale out to the right side. Here we're still using that hip energy to keep the hips forward, tailbone in, and we'll just brace on the shin for now, holding here. This allows us to take the work we did in the freestanding poses, leg forward, leg to the side, and half lotus, and then energetically use that energy for the triangle pose. Inhale, come up. Second side.

Right toes in, left leg out. Breath in, exhale over the left leg. Left hip strongly engaged. We keep that tailbone deep into the body, and this helps us turn the chest open. And then inhale and come up.

Turn the feet in. Walk the feet together. Grab your block. New pose. Fun pose and challenging pose.

We'll take the block to the right side of the mat. Leave it there, tall setting. Wide legs again. Turn left toes in, right leg out. Stretch your arms.

Bend the right knee. Take the hand of the block, left hand to the hip, so we won't worry about it for now. Walk in your back foot and take your time with me on this. Stretch the block out. Walk in a little, block out a little, and now we're coming up.

Half moon pose. All the work we did to energize the hips, to open the front of the hip on the right side, is going to help us now. Balance just comes with practice. And then bend your knee. Touch down.

Grab the block and come up. Second side. Right toes in, left leg out. We'll place the block for just a moment and leave it there. Stretch the arms.

Breath in, exhale, bend the knee. Take the hand down to the brick. Right hand just resting on the hip. Then stretch the block forward, step in a little, keeping the torso open. Reach the block, step in a little.

All of that weight on the left leg as we come up. Good. Holding here, strong hip engagement, helps to turn open the pelvis, which turns the spine, turns the chest, creates deep space in the body. Holding here. And then bend that standing leg.

Touch down the right foot. We'll bring the block back in and leave it there for a moment. Turn the feet in, walk the legs together. Feet together, arms up. Exhale, easy chair pose.

Squeeze the legs together. This is a bit of a counter pose from the work we've done opening the legs laterally. Now we're going to use the groins for just a minute. Holding, five, four, three, feeling inside the body. Two, one, and mountain pose.

Rest your body for a second. Shake out the legs. Let's just do a mountain pose. Check in. Reach down to the floor, arms opening from the inner space.

And then relax. Let's put the block away. Step to the front edge of your mat. Feet together. We'll be moving towards downward dog.

Inhale, arms up, big breath in. Exhale, forward fold. Remember, if you'd like to use bent knees, if it's easier for you to hinge, great option. Use those bent knees. Hands to the floor, step back.

Plank pose, take a big breath in. Exhale, bending the elbows. You could place the knees on the floor if you need that extra support. Inhale, upward dog. Let's pause for a full breath.

Downward dog, push back. Release the head, release the neck. Let's hold here a few breaths. From down dog, let's sweep forward into a plank. And we'll be working on full side plank here.

To start, roll the outer right foot to the floor. And we can have the left foot on the floor as you see me doing. If you want an extra challenge, can you stack the two feet together? Holding here, top arm up. Remember, we tried to.

We aim for that arm to be an expression of our inner space. Here's the challenge. As though this weren't already enough. Top leg, can you lift and hold for five, four, three, two, one. Bring it down.

Drop the knees. Take a quick child's pose to rest. Roll out your right wrist. Let's get the second side. Plank pose.

Turning the outer left foot down to the mat. Again, you can keep the right foot on the mat. If you want to level that up, stack the legs. Top arm up from the inner space. Final challenge, if you're ready for it today, top leg lift.

Holding for five, four, three, two, bring it down. Child's pose again. You can roll out the left wrist or both wrists. And hands on the mat. Let's roll up into a dog pose.

And then lower the knees. Let's stretch the legs forward. This is a challenge we met in our previous balancing practice. We'll start with knees bent, hands on the floor. Draw the trunk back from that strong abdomen that we've been working with.

Here we go. Legs up, tabletop first. Then you choose. Can you bring the legs to straight today? Or you could keep them bent.

One arm. Two arms. Five, four, strong abdomen. Three, two, and one. Release.

Good amount of strength in that practice. Let's grab the block for just a moment. We'll be sitting on the block wide way and sweeping both legs off to the right side first. You can stack your right shin on top of the left foot or even just comfortably side by side is fine. You may need a little extra height depending on how comfortable your knees are being folded like that.

Take what you need to be comfortable. Bharadvajasana. Turning to the left side. Here we keep both hips weighted down so we don't want the right hip coming off. And the knees should be well weighted to the floor.

Turning to the left side. Take a few breaths here. Let your mind calm down. Bodies start to slow down a little. And then release.

Second side. Legs can come forward. Shift the legs off to the left. Again, stacking the foot or feet side by side. Whatever works for you.

Turning right side. Keeping the left hip down. Knees should feel some weight. And turn. Tall spine.

Let the mind drop into the space that you're creating through your pose. And then release. Next pose we'll start. Two legs out straight. And then left leg we're going to bring back.

Fold it underneath. Here again, you may need more height. If this just doesn't work for your legs, this pose will do just fine. Janu sushasana. Okay.

Knees close together. Lift up tall. And fold forward. The energy that we've been working on in the straight right leg is present here as well. Quad is strongly engaged.

If you can hold the foot, you can hold. If not, hands on the floor. Or if you find you're stiff in the hips, even just being here and learning to lift up the sacrum is a wonderful place to be. Okay. Come out of your pose.

Reach the left leg long. And then second side. We'll bring the right leg back. Nice tall spine. And folding again.

Remember the options that you've got if the knee is not comfortable folded. If you can grab the foot, please do. A few more breaths here. This pose is helping us to release some of the muscle tension we used earlier in the hips. And then coming up.

Knees to the side, release the leg. And we can put the block away. We'll sit with wide legs for just a moment. Hands beside you, lift your spine, strong legs. And if you need a little height underneath your bottom so that you can come up.

In other words, if your body is here in this shape, you may need some more height under your hips to be able to get some space in the spine. If you are hunting for space by using some props under your hips, you can stay here and work on that lift. If you'd like to come a little forward with me, bring the hands forward. Anchor the buttock bones down. Nice long spine.

If you'd like to go further, you can. But I'm going to keep it here today. Walk the hands back, lean back, grab the knees, pull the legs in, barakonasana. Holding the feet. And lifting the spine.

Allow the knees to relax down rather than try to push them down with elbows. And then release. Let's turn to the side and rest down onto the mat. Take a moment here, let your spine settle. We'll send one leg down long.

Keep a little energy in that leg, second leg down long. Hold a little energy in the legs as you rest out the arms. Tuck the shoulders in and down away from the spine. And then slowly let your legs relax away from one another. Release the hands, shoulders.

Let go of the back muscles so the chest can fall. And you can watch as that breathing rhythm slows down. Tuck the shoulders in and down away from the spine. Tuck the shoulders in and down away from the spine. Tuck the shoulders in and down away from the spine.

If you'd like to stay longer in your shavasana, please take as long as you like. If you feel ready to come out of your pose, you can rest your hands on your tummy. Bend your knees one by one. Turn softly onto your right side and rest your head in your hand. Slowly push your way up from the floor and find a comfortable seated position.

Great job on the balancing poses today. Let me just say that if you're struggling with the balance poses, you can take your poses to a wall if you have one available. Rest your back up against the wall and do the poses in the exact same way. And this will take out the wobbling challenge and allow you to really build the strength that you need to finally tackle the poses in the full. Otherwise, great job.

In our next practice, we'll be working on some new poses and diving deeper into the poses that we've already experienced. Look forward to seeing you then. Have a fantastic day. Namaste.