Day 16: Power 4

Welcome to day 16. How is your body feeling after those backbend practices? I know after that last session, I tell you, I felt very expanded. I would love to hear how you're feeling after that. Please, again, if you can, leave a comment. You may have thought you were all done with core work, but we are going for it again. Core work in the theme of power. We're going to start in cross legs. Take a minute to just check in. Cross legs seated. I'm up on a block to help me get a nice tall spine. Close your eyes and just an internal scan. How's your breath? Is it easy to breathe? You feel any restrictions? How's your mind? Anything in your body talking to you?

And then we'll check back in at the end of practice. Let's open the eyes and we'll start with a seated twist. Taking another block for a bit of support, we'll turn to the right side first. Nice tall spine. Take a breath in and exhale, turning around to the right side. And we're going to add a little sense of the abdomen in this twist where we're not just turning from the shoulders, but we're working from the abdominal wall around into the twist. So take a nice deep breath in. On your exhale, draw the abdominal wall back and around to the right. Soften a little on the inhale. And again on the exhale, drop the abdominal wall back and around to the right. And then release. Go around to the second side. We'll bring the block around. Help us get a nice tall spine. Lifting up on an inhale, exhale. Again, abdomen back toward the spine and around toward the left this time. Soften a little on the inhale. Exhale, abdomen back and working around toward the left. And then release. Uncross the legs. We'll go up the other cross one more time, each side, and working on this abdominal action. Turning right side. Big breath in. Exhale, abdomen pulling back and around to the right. One more.

And then release. It's going to help get us all warmed up for this core work to come. One more time, turning left. Nice tall spine. Breathe in. Exhale, abdomen back and around to the left. One more inhale. Exhale. And then release. We'll come down off the blocks and put them off to the side. Coming into a hands and knees position. We'll do a few cat and cow to warm up the spine. Take a breath in. Exhale. Spine goes up. Inhale. Spine down. Exhale. Use the abdominal wall to draw the spine up. This will help be even a little counter posing from our last back bend practice.

A couple more. Last one. Cat and cow. Exhale. Spine goes up. And inhale. Spine goes down. Let's bring it to a neutral spine and we'll start with a little bit of bird dog. We'll stretch the left leg back. Right hand forward. Draw the ribs and abdomen up. So we've got a nice supported spine. Raise the arm and leg just a little bit off the floor. Reconnect to that spinal hold. Now, how high can you lift the limbs without losing the spinal support of the core? Hold there. Three, two, one. Come down. Second side. Other arm and leg stretching out. Bring up the ribs and abdomen and then lift just a little bit. Reconnect to the core support of the spine and then lifting up. Holding there. Again, lifting only as high as you can keep that nice strong core support and then release. First side. Opposite arm and leg. Ribs and abdominal lift and bringing the limbs up. Holding the support of the spine and release. Last side.

Arm and leg stretching out. Then we lift the ribs and abdomen up. Holding the limbs. Four, three, two, bring it down. Next stop. We'll do a little work with the hip. We'll draw the left knee toward the left elbow, lift and roll back. Draw in a little abdominal curl here and around. Three. A few more. Five. Let's get one more and set it down. Second side. We'll bring the right knee towards the right elbow, lifting the spine. Nice strong support of the abdomen and curling around. As the knee comes toward the elbow, exhale. That helps you lift. Three more. And last one. Set it down. Have a seat for just a second. Come off your hands. Give your wrists a little roll. We've got a couple more in that position. Once again, hands and knees. And then we'll lift out to the side. Left leg. Extend that leg back so the hip is nice and open. Then pulling that leg as far as you can, like toes to nose. Hold there and then sweep back again.

Inhale. Open and exhale. Curling in. We're going to try to keep that leg as high off the floor as possible. Inhale. Open hips. Exhale. High leg. Abdominal pull. Let's do two more. Last one. Rolling open the hips. Exhale. Bring it down. Second side. We'll lift the leg. Stretch the leg back. Turn the hips open as much as you can and then sweep the leg. Inhale to open. Exhale. Try to bring those toes all the way up to the nose. Three more. Exhale. Inhale. Open. Exhale. Strong core.

Inhale. Last one. Stretch the leg back. Exhale. Bring it in. Good. Good. Have a seat for just a moment. Once again, rolling the hands. Letting the wrists relax. From here, we'll lie down. Let the back relax for just a moment. We'll stretch the legs down long under the floor. Legs together. Then bringing the right leg up, we can hold right behind the knee.

We'll pause here. Just let the body get into the pose for a moment. Pressing down the left leg nice and strongly. Then take a big breath in. Exhale. Bring the right leg closer to you. Head up. As though to touch the knee. Release down. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Release down. Two more. Exhale. Head comes up. Nice strong core lift. One more. Inhale. Exhale. And release down. Second side. Left leg up. Grab hold of the leg. Just take a minute.

Pressing down that right leg. Get that good support there. Inhale. Exhale. Drawing the leg a little closer to you. Curling up. Forehead to knee. Release. Inhale and exhale. Coming down. Two more. Exhale to lift. Strong core. And last one. Big breath in. Exhale. Curl. And then release. Let the leg down. Just relax for just a moment. And then we'll bend both knees. Knees into the chest. We'll start with the right leg and right hand. Two fingers and thumb. Grab the right big toe. Left leg straight up. This is thunderbolt pose that I learned from Eric Shiffman. I love his work here. We'll try it together.

Take a breath in. It's like happy baby with the right leg. Pulling the knee down toward the shoulder. Exhale. Lift the head as you lower the left leg about a foot off the ground. And it's as though we're reaching to touch that left foot with left hand. Holding here. Strong core. Five. Four. Three. Two. Release. Let's do the second side. Two first fingers and thumb to catch the left big toe. We draw that left leg down close toward the shoulder. Right leg straight up. Big breath in. Reaching up with the right hand. And following that right leg down toward the floor and holding here. Five. Four. Three. Two. Let go. Once more each side. Bringing the right knee in. Capture with the two fingers and thumb.

Stretching the left leg straight up. Let's lock in on the right leg. Lifting the head and chasing that foot with the left hand holding. Strong curl of the abdominal wall. Five. Four. Three. Two. And release. Last side. Left leg coming in. Two first fingers and thumb. Stretch the right leg up. Drawing down that left knee. Here we go. Arms up. Inhale. Exhale. Thunderbolt pose. Holding here. Five. Four. Three. Two. And one. Rest. Our next stop, we'll start by holding onto the mat nice and strongly. If you bend the elbows a little first and then as you straighten them, you'll see you'll get a nice strong lift to the chest. Two knees come into the chest and then extend straight up. If you find that your legs won't go up straight, it's better to keep them a little bent and we'll work perhaps with a single leg. We'll do this twice so we can get both sides if you're working with single leg. I'll demonstrate with straight legs. We'll start here and pull pubic bone towards navel and we're going to stretch those legs down only as far as we can and still hold that strong abdominal wall. Inhale up. Exhale. Reaching the legs down and up. Exhale.

And up. We'll do ten. Here's four. Five. Worked a lot on this in some of our earlier practices. Now we're taking it to the next level. Exhale down for seven, eight, nine, and one more. Ten. Bend the knees. Take a little rest. So if you're doing just a single side, you'll switch sides. For those who are doing two legs and you'd like a little bit more, we'll take the arms overhead for our next version of the pose. Still same. We've got to keep that pelvis nice and strong. Abdomen connected. Arms up. So our legs up. Take a big breath and exhale your way down. You might not be able to take the legs down quite as far in this round and then come back up. Inhale. Exhale down. Two. Three. Four. Five. Inhaling up. Exhale down. Six. Seven. Eight. Two more. Nine. And ten. Bend the knees. Bring the arms back down. Take a breather. Then some things we were working on in previous practices. We'll be taking the arms out to the sides. Knees into the chest. This is our side twist. We'll start with a breath in.

Exhale. Strong connection to the abdomen. Rolling the pubic bone towards the navel. Squeezing the knees together. Inhale. Exhale. Two legs. Left side. Turning. And we're going to try to hover those knees right over the left elbow. Holding here. Bringing the right shoulder a little closer to the ground. We want to keep that nice and close to the ground and then return to center. Let the feet down for just a moment and we'll go second side. Knees into chest. Take a nice big breath in. Keep the legs together as you go second side. And again, we're trying to hover those knees right over the top of the right elbow. Left shoulder anchored to the ground. And then come out and rest. Now you could repeat that with bent knees or challenge straight legs. Bringing the knees into the chest will start together whether you're bent or straight legs. Straight legs. You can take them up. Once again, that nice strong pubic bone curl towards the navel. Big breath in. Exhale. We're going to try to hover the toes right over the left hand. Shoulders stay on the ground. Hold there. Five, four, three, two, come back. Bend the knees. Set your feet on the ground. Take a breather. Very strong pose. One of my favorite abdominal twists. Second side. Knees in. Legs up.

Big breath in. Anchor that left shoulder. Legs over to the other side. Holding there. Hovering right over the top of the right hand. And five, four, three, two, and one. Coming out. Bend the knees. Let's take a little breather. Relax the arms at your sides. From here, turn to your side. We're coming back into a seated position. And let's get two blocks to help with this pose called Tolasana. Two blocks are going to help us lift. We're going to be in cross legs. The blocks on either side of the middle of the thigh. I'm going to wrap my fingers around the blocks just like this. Again, starting in cross legs position. We'll start by leaning forward over the legs. Take a big breath in and just the hips. We're going to lift. Inhale, exhale. Holding there. Take one more breath in and see if you can lift a little higher.

Come down and rest. That's one. Cross the legs the other way. Tolasana. Again, big breath in. Exhale, lift your hips. Another big breath. Exhale, a little higher. Curling that abdominal wall. Release, let go. First cross. Big breath in. Exhale, hips up. Another big breath in. Exhale, a little higher. And then whichever leg is closest to you, lift that leg. Come down. Recross. Okay, a little faster now. Breath in. Exhale, hips. A little higher. And the other leg closest to you, lift.

Come down and rest. Let the wrists just rest for a second. We've got one more. We're going to hover. It's like level four yoga. Levitation. Hands over the blocks. Let's do it. Big breath in. Exhale. A little higher on the next exhale. Curl. Foot closest to you, lift. Final leg lift. Oh my God. Here we go. Rest. One more side to do. Big breath in. Exhale, hips come up. Inhale, exhale a little higher. Curling that abdominal wall. Inhale, exhale. Foot closest. Final foot. Three, two, one. Let it go. Set the blocks off to the side. We'll get a little bit of a counter pose on this. Keeping the legs crossed, hands behind. We're going to get a little lift. Stretch your knees toward the floor. Open up a little. Head can fall back. Come down, uncross, re-cross. Lift. And rest. Now we're going to aim for boat pose.

Starting, seated, bent knees, legs together. Fingertips touch the floor so we can roll back a little and get that connection we've been working on so far. Leaning back now. Strong lift to the legs. You can either keep bent or extend those legs. Arms up. A little balancing. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six. Holding. Three, two, one. Cross the legs. Take a little break. Let's do one more. Navasana, boat pose. We'll start with bent knees. Legs together. Connect well that lower abdomen. Lift the legs. Choose if you'll extend or keep bent. And then arms. Holding. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and rest. One more time. Let's do that little counter pose. Cross legs. Hips up. You can let the head back and release. One more time. Re-cross the legs the other way. Lift the hips. Stretch the knees toward the floor. And open up. And then release. Come onto the hands. Stretch the legs out for a plank pose.

Big breath in. Dog pose. Exhale. If you'd like to pedal the legs a little bit. And then high heels. Get that nice long stretch and open the abdomen. Now can you keep the length in the abdomen and slowly lower your heels down? Let's hold the dog pose. And bring your feet together. We're going to start to open up now after all that strong core work. Left leg up high. We'll raise the right heel. Elongate as much as you can from hands to heel. Then turn the hips open to the left side. Fully. Bend that lifted left leg. Hold there. And then if you'd like to go a little further with me, we can try to flip the dog. We're going to reach those left toes toward the floor. You have to pivot on your right foot. A nice strong lift and open. Holding. Three, two, one. Reaching the left hand back down.

Returning to dog pose. Bring your feet together for second side. This time right leg up. Left heel super high. Stretch from hands to heel. Elongate the abdomen. And then turning the hips open toward the right side. Fully open. Keep that stretch on. Bending the right knee and elongating the knee now away from the hands. Then if you'd like to take it further, we're going to flip the dog. You have to pivot on the left foot. Stretching the right foot for the ground. Lifting up. Open up the front side body. And then we come out, reaching the right hand for the floor. Dog pose. Inhale forward to plank. Exhale, bend the elbows. Upward facing dog. Let's hold it for a few breaths. Lifting. And downward facing dog.

And feet together again. Left leg up. Big breath in. Exhale, pigeon pose. Bring that leg forward down to the floor. Holding pigeon pose. We're going to do a little bit of a back bend diversion of pigeon pose to counter all the core work we've been doing. Remember if you need a support, if you don't easily go to the ground, a block or folded blanket so you're safe on the knees and hips and holding. If you'd like to take it a little bit further, left arm up. If you feel you're stable enough for another lifted arm, we can bring two. And then hands down. Curl the back toes under. Use your strength to lift into a dog pose. Feet together. Right leg high. Left heel lifting. Big breath in. And exhale, right leg, pigeon pose.

Use your supports. And holding. And if you feel you have the support for a lifted arm, we'll start with the right. If you feel stable enough to lift both, let's do it. And then hands down. Curl the back toes under. Use your strength to come up.

We'll do a brief dog pose. Forward to plank. Bend the elbows halfway down. Chaturanga. Upward dog for our final counter pose. And then last downward dog. And then lower the knees down. Turn over onto your back and grab a block on your way down for a supported bridge. Take the block under at its medium setting that I'm showing here. Raise your hips and place the block underneath the sacrum.

Ah, gently tuck under those shoulders. This feels so good after that strong core practice. So we tuck the shoulders to get a little lift in the chest and allow the abdomen to be soft. And let your breath calm down. You can close your eyes if you want. And then from here, we'll take the block away. Set it off to the side.

We'll find our way into shoulder stand. Hands alongside your hips. Bring your knees towards your chest. Breath in. Exhale. Lift the hips and support your lower back. Tuck your shoulders under. Stretch one leg straight up. Second leg straight up. So this is a modified version of shoulder stand again because we don't have the blanket support here. And that supported bridge that we just did sets us up perfectly. Gets the body ready for this much deeper inversion. Strong legs. No unnecessary pressure on the neck. Bend the knees in towards you. Let the legs unfurl. Release the body down to the mat. Let's find our way towards Shavasana now. Lengthen the hips away from the lower back.

Stretch the legs down. A little tuck of the shoulders. And let that energy just relax. Legs soft. Arms quiet. Hands quiet. And let the energy recede away from the periphery towards your center. So that you just end up following the rhythm of your breath. Stay as long as you can.

Asana. If you're ready to come out with me, bend one knee at a time. Rest your hands on your tummy. Turn softly to your right side. And just rest there for a breath or two. Use your hands. Press yourself up. I'm going to sit on shins just to finish this practice because it helps to really open up the abdomen after the work we've done. Great job today. Strong core practice. Practice number 16. We're on the stretch home now. I look forward to seeing you in our next practice. Have a fantastic day. Namaste.