Ocean of Devotion

How do you own family? I'm really excited to share with you today one of my favorite practices. It has a much more fluid feeling to it and we're gonna start with a beautiful mantra, a very sweet mantra, Je Ma means victory to the mother. So this particular practice today is gonna have a lot more fluidity because we're gonna be opening up and working around the hips and that relates to the second chakra, the Svadhisthana chakra, so it has more of this feminine quality. Again, more fluid, you can just think of fluid, you can think of water, creation, so creating some new shapes today and moving like yourself in a fem, I don't want to say a feminine way but in a luscious way, just don't hold back, we'll explore some fun poses together. We'll start with the mantra, like I said, very simple Je Ma, so I'm encouraging you to sit very comfortably today, let your hands rest on your knees and spine nice and long and then you're welcome to close your eyes here and then just take a couple moments and please join me for three ohms and then we'll do the mantra Je Ma and you're welcome to join me, of course, any time. Jai Ma, Jai Jai Ma Taking a couple of breathing here and see if you can embody both fierceness and grace. When we talk about Shakti, we talk about energy, life, an unstoppable force that is also graceful, powerful, rooted and grounded, so from here I'm gonna do a little pranayama, so continuing to sit up nice and tall, we're gonna focus on the moon, the lunar side of things here, so Chandra Bedana, so you're gonna take the right thumb and just press down onto the right nostril, we're gonna focus on the left side breathing in and then we'll exhale right and breathe in left and we'll just go back and forth a few times like this, right, so focusing on inhale on the left, okay, so take a nice breath into the left side and then close off the left side with your ring finger and exhale out to the right. You can take a little pause at the bottom of the exhale, close off the right side and breathe into the left and closing off and exhale right, a little pause at the bottom of the exhale, closing off the right side, take a nice big breath in and closing off exhale right, one more little pause at the bottom of the exhale, closing off the right side, big breath in and release your hand down and a nice free exhale. Okay, from here everyone we're gonna take our arms above the head nice and long through the spine, look up and then from here a little twist to the right side, so right hand behind you, left hand to your right knee, take a nice breath in, spine long and then breathe out. Now take your back arm up, so the right arm reaches up on the inhale and then cross the arms and take a deep dive, head towards the heart, exhale, interlace the arms and eagle arms and then lift up, bring your elbows and shoulders, shoulders aligned, so the heart is open here and you can tip back a little bit and then as you exhale take it out over to the other side, breath out, again nice breath in, spine lengthens and a little twist there to the left, left arm is gonna lift on the inhale, reach up and then as you exhale cross the arms and let the head soften forward and down, interlace the arms, big breath in and arms like wings out to the side, full breath out and rising up as you breathe in. Okay and open up the eyes and then we're gonna remove the padding from underneath and then from here come into alter pose, so the feet on the floor, hands behind you, press down and lift everything up, full breath in and exhale out and then slowly release the hips down, cross the ankles and then come on to the hands and knees, take a nice breath in, lift up through the chest, tuck your toes under and then from here exhale, lifting through the knees, lifting through the hips, sink the heels back and down, downward facing dog. From down dog let's lift our right leg high to the sky, point through the tips of your toes, press the heel of the hand down and then look forward and a deep stepping of the right foot forward, drop your left knee down and let's lift the arms up as you breathe in and then exhale, let the hips sink down a little bit, soften the right hip back a little bit and then interlace the fingers and reach the palms up, nice full breath in here and then as you exhale, release the hands, bring them forward and then lengthen through the right leg a little bit, so you're breathing into the back of the right leg and really breathing into the back of the body and then press down, lengthen into a low lunge, look up and downward facing dog as you breathe out, left side lifts on the inhale and big breath out, step it forward as you exhale, drop the right knee down and a big breath in to reach the arms up, interlace the fingers, reach the palms up and then let the hips sink down, feel a little lift from the belly up towards the chest, up towards the heart, nice inhale and then the hands come forward and down and lengthen through your left leg, you can point your toes up, relax the shoulders a little bow forward and down, low lunge from there as you breathe in and then let's step the foot forward as you breathe out, soften the knees and then sweep the arms forward up and a little arch back and then the palms meet at the center as you breathe out, take a breath in this time bend your knees and lift the chest, lift the arms and then we're going to interlace the fingers, reach the palms up and then from here R to Utkatasana, nice full exhale, stay on the breath in and then reach forward and down over straight legs as you breathe out, okay we're gonna step back into plank pose this time, breath in, reach the legs back, drop the knees again exhale to lower down, breath in to lift to the chest and downward facing dog, full breath out, take a couple of breathing here and on your next inhale I'm gonna lift the heels, bend the knees, exhale hop step jump or walk your feet forward, bend your knees, sweep the arms forward and up a little arching back and then press down lift up and arch back bring the palms together at the center of your chest okay Utkatasana, breath in, interlace the fingers, R to Utkatasana on the exhale arms and ears aligned here, full breath in and then let it go exhale exhale palms down, a little breath in to bend the knees you can hop step or jump the legs back into a plank pose and then from there lower halfway down or all the way down, breath in to shift the hips forward, the shoulders move back and then downward facing dog on the breath out, okay moving through lift the right leg high step it forward as you breathe out drop your back heel we got warrior one so rise on up, take a deep breath out on the exhale let the hips sink down on your inhale draw the elbows in lengthen the front leg and open up to the chest so there's this great feeling of receiving and then giving it away and then rise up as you breathe in and it's peaceful warrior left arm drops back and down from here parallel your feet flying warrior palms come together and then draw the heels in toes out and a little goddess pose so bring the palms together knees are moving towards the pinky toe and the hips are sinking down and then from there you've got warrior to open up arms chest and pelvis expanding side angle now you can grab a block here it's always nice to have a block for side angle so you press the palm down lengthen through the back leg and the left arm take a nice breath in and from there triangle pose lengthen through the right leg let the chest open enjoy some expansiveness and then from there bend the right knee and exhale downward facing dog left leg lifts on the inhale draw the knee in and step it forward as you breathe out back foot to the floor and arising up on the inhale stay on the exhale breath in lengthens the front leg elbows in arch back a little bit and then offer it up as you exhale through peaceful warrior arching back reverse the warrior lengthen and lift the left arm and then from there we lengthen and lift both legs long arms lifting and then heels in toes out goddess pose exhale notice the tailbone dropping down not back but down feel the lift in your belly from there you've got warrior to expand through the arms chest and pelvis and then take it on back breath in and prepare for side angle pose reach the right arm up and over soften your tailbone a little bit towards your back heel and bring the ribs in a little bit take a full breath in and then from there triangle pose a big swish with the right arm as you lengthen the left leg full breath in full breath out bend the left knee and exhale the hands down downward facing dog can take a little vinyasa here coming through into plank pose can drop your knees or not lower halfway down or all the way down inhale to lift up the chest upward facing and then downward facing dog right leg lifts on the inhale let's step it forward as you exhale warrior to arms chest and pelvis right away nice and wide from there breath into reach up and back and then exhale grab your block slide it forward and lift up to the back leg take a nice breath in flex to the left foot allow the arms and the chest to expand here on the exhale bring the left hand down forward fold for a breath and then we're going to lift the right leg up right away for a tree pose so you can bring the right foot to the inside of your inner left thigh palms together or you can bring the heel to the ankle and a little moment here okay so I'm going to come here for a moment and if you'd like to go a little deeper into the pose you can flirt with little the arms lifting and little soft bend in the elbows from here we have warrior to so the right leg is going to reach back and extend through the arms lengthen both of your legs parallel your feet and then sweep the arms above your head and then from there exhale the heels in toes out bend through the knees and the palms come together for goddess pose now you can flirt with a little movement here from side to side you might lift one heel and then the other engaging the inner thighs press the heels down and then widen the heels lengthen your legs lengthen your arms look up and then bring the prayer through center coming down for prasarita padottanasana you can crawl your arms forward if you'd like letting the head release some of you might bring your forearms down but see if you can press evenly into the inner and outer edge of your foot and then we'll lengthen halfway take the hips to the left side turn your left toes forward and it's downward facing dog full breath out can rinse it out here with a little vinyasa if you like coming forward into plank pose dropping your knees or just lowering all the way down breath in upward facing soften the shoulders back and down and then downward facing dog left side left leg lifts on the breath in and step it forward as you breathe out drop your back heel and rise on up like the Sun lifting and then warrior to from there exhale and then from there as you breathe in reach up and back and then reach forward and down so grab your block and lift the back leg and reach the right arm up see if you can take your gaze up flex to the foot strong and yet soft at the same time and then drop your right leg take a moment here as you exhale and fold and then we rise up we've got tree pose on the other side left leg in and then bring the palms together relax the shoulders see if you can focus your drishti or your gaze just straight ahead towards the horizon great and then from there you take it on back warrior to arms chest and pelvis nice and wide extending and then let's lengthen the legs parallel the feet take the arms up and now heels and toes out and then bend the knees palms at the center goddess pose one more time you can take the arms wide and just a little dance through the arms so you may have noticed most of these goddesses have many many arms so just exploring with all that movement from there let's lengthen the legs lift the arms up as you look up and then bring the prayer through center as you exhale forward and down so feel rooted in the heels but flirt with coming a little bit more forward into the toes lift up halfway take the hips to the right side and low lunge from there full breath in downward facing dog as you breathe out little breath in here big exhale lift your heels on the breath in bend your knees a little hop step jump or walk of the feet forward lift up halfway and then exhale would get tossing from here and come to stand as you breathe out let's take the hands of the hips gonna step the left foot back right away and a breath in to reach up and I'm gonna exhale my hands behind me so you can reverse your prayer you can hold on to your wrists or your elbows so decide what feels good for you today take a nice breath in press into the front foot and a little lift and arching back and then from here let's exhale folding forward and down so make sure your back foot is nice and solid if you need to bring the back foot in a little bit or widen the legs back toes are pointing forward but be generous here with yourself you don't want to feel like you're on a tightrope I'm gonna soften the right hip back a little bit release the shoulders away from the ears and then you lift up halfway on the inhale grab your block press the left hand down and then lengthen your back arm up I'm gonna step the back foot in a little bit more and then let the chest really open here you can take the gaze up full breath in crown the head is reaching forward and then as you exhale take the hands there to the hip and you're just going to come right into a seated spinal twist from here so you can snuggle the knee into the chest some of you may want to extend the back leg that works to take a nice breath in reaching forward into the sitting bones and then a little gaze towards the back and then take a little breath in coming through center and a little navasana here I'm gonna roll back take the legs up and over for a moment and then roll forward cross the ankles come on to the hands and knees and legs and downward facing dog breathing in lift my heels exhale bend the knees look forward and once again make your way forward to the top of the mat and Utkatasana from there and then coming to stand Tadasana feeling that energy you just awakened inside right we got the left side so let's take the right leg back right toes forward hips are folded forward more neutral here breath in to lift up and then from there catch the hands behind you however you did on the other side breath in to lift up and a little arching back and then from there exhale pour forward and down again exploring that balance between effort and surrender fierceness and grace here you can grab your block on the inhale lifting up halfway walking the back foot in a little bit and then as you exhale press down and revolve the chest open so bringing a lot of awareness into my feet inner thighs and then enjoying spaciousness across my chest full breath in and full breath out and one more breath in and then as you exhale come forward and release move the block to the side and then come into your seated twist again snuggle the knee into the chest rolling a little forward as I press down to that left foot I'm lengthening and lifting my spine again you're welcome to extend the bottom leg for a little bit more ease in the pose breath in and breath out nice and broad across your collarbones right inhale and exhale last one breath in and then a little exhale to come out of the pose find Navasana here balancing on the sits bones lift the legs arms reach forward take a breath in lengthen the legs a little bit more as you exhale reach forward inhale and then reach up and back as you exhale rolling forward cross the ankles palms press down can hop step or jump the legs back right into down dog from here we're gonna breathe in come forward into plank pose and then drop the knees and exhale have a seat on your heels for a moment so just a little pause here okay so our next pose is going to be a supported bhakasana supported crow pose so this definitely calls in a little bit more of an energy but again moving with grace at the same time so placing the block out in front of you I'm going to come and bounce on my my feet here my toes my heels are lifted you're welcome to grab a blanket and place it underneath your heels for a few moments here I'm bringing my knees together so I can sit up tall so taking a couple moments here see if I can bring the chest away from the tops of my legs spine is long so I really like to break this down with a lot of breath awareness so as I breathe in I'm gonna open the knees and as I breathe out there's this beautiful gesture of surrender on the inhale I'm gonna lift my hips halfway and on the exhale bend the elbows towards the back of the mat not out but towards the back I can feel a little engagement in my little belly here now as I lift the heels on the exhale I bring the knees towards the backs of my upper arms and then I can balance here on the tips of my toes the next step here is to bring the chin in and let the forehead be supported on the block and then maybe you can lift your feet off the mat keep the elbows moving in keep the shoulders lifting keep a big awareness into your low belly all right feel that lift and spreading of the back of the body and then from there I'm gonna lower back down press the heels down bring the knees together and take a little moment here I'll try that again knees wide on the inhale exhale the palms down breath in to lift up exhale the elbows towards the back knees lift and then from there coming forward and then exhale full breath in full breath out take one more breath in and then as you exhale shift the hips back and the feet come back down to the floor heels on your blanket take a breath in and palms together excellent okay so we're gonna move the block and we're gonna move the right blanket and we're gonna just have a seat and one more navasana so a big lift and from there I'm gonna cross the left leg underneath and right leg on top so this is Gomukhasana I'm going to face you and actually I'm gonna bring that blanket back because it's nice to have the hips a little lifted and supported here right so ideally we're looking to stack these knees that this isn't always possible right so you can lengthen one leg and see if you can get the knee on top this way all right and then we're gonna bring the hands forward and exhale a couple of breathing here and then walking the hands back can lean back and then switch legs again you can start off here right heels in line or extend the bottom leg take a nice breath in and from the crease of your hips hinge forward hands out to the side take a breath in and then let everything release forward and down and then slowly begin to rise up and release can take the legs around I'm gonna come to the side take my blanket off to the side and then press the feet down and alter pose lift up and exhale out and lowering down so I'm going to grab my block make sure there's a block on my side here I'm gonna come to lie down press the feet down and lift the hips from here I'm going to bring the block underneath the sacrum now you can decide how deep you want this you can go Papa bear mama bear or baby bear okay I'm gonna go on mama bear let my hips just rest there sacrum is feeling soft and protected there I'm gonna bring my knees in and then exhale to take the legs up now you can interlace the fingers if you can reach out in front of the block you can hold on to your mat you can hold on to the block but engage your arms here right press the backs of the arms down take a couple breaths here and just allow for the chest to be really bright here and the legs to be engaged soft face take a big breath in knees into your chest as you exhale stay here on the breath in and as you exhale both legs together at the same time breathing out breathing out breathing out press down lift up to the hips remove the block and then from there lower down and you can bring the knees into your chest and from here maybe a little happy baby can reach for the outer edges of your feet soles of the feet point up now if this isn't feeling too comfortable for you you can just clasp across the ankles and maybe hold on to the outer edges of your feet this way and just allow the low back and the sacrum to rest on the earth there a little movement from side to side so this or this again and then bring the knees into the chest great and then you'll walk over to your right side and come on up to sit so you might want to nab your block your blanket once again to sit and we're going to extend the right leg forward for Janusya sasana so I'm going to take my arms up as I breathe in and then as you exhale reach forward and down to keep your heel reaching forward see if you can keep the toes pointing upwards and you can hold on to your ankle your shin or just bring the hands out in front and then reach the arms up as you breathe in take your left hand behind you keep the right arm reaching up press into the left shin and a little arching back and then lower down as you breathe out we have the other side so bring the knee into the chest and then you'll switch sides that's like a little tree pose here a little easier to balance here take a breath in lift up and then from there hinging from the hips exhale folding forward breath in to lengthen and then exhale this pose has a little element of a twist so encourage your belly towards the extended leg and then take the right lung towards the earth and let the head go and then we'll begin to rise up you can take the right arm up and back behind you lengthen and lift the left arm and reach up and back and release down bring the knee into the chest and now we're going to take both legs together and then the feet together and knees out to the side so again nice time to sit right on the edge of the blanket first two fingers will wrap around the big toes lengthen your spine soften the shoulders and then from here again hinging from the crease of the hips you'll just come as far forward as you can right engaging the outer edge of your feet there pinky toe side and then when I come as far as I can I'll let the head go let your elbows just rest if they can the tops of the thighs they're a couple of breathing's here and then from there you begin to rise up and we'll slide the knees in towards each other lengthen the legs you can lift and move some of the flesh from the outer edge of your sit bones there a little bit and then lift the arms and exhale to fold forward can reach for your ankles your shins your big toes take a breath in and then a little exhale to lengthen forward and down couple breathing's here reaching out to the heels and really celebrating the back body the strength of the back body also known as this shadow side the moon side the side of the feminine and a breath in to reach up and then taking the hands behind you right you'll crawl the hands behind you a little bit and then bring the elbows a little closer in and then let your chest sink down a little bit so the shoulders come forward it's kind of like you're hanging out at the beach all right and then point your toes now press the palms down and lengthen the arms and puff up the chest and then from here as you breathe in lift the hips open up the chest and then exhale please cross the legs for a few moments here let the hands rest on your knees you're welcome to close the eyes here just for a moment of absorbing and experiencing that fierce grace and then from there come into our backs for Shabasana so please come to lie down you can place the blanket underneath your knees and arms out to the side widen your legs and take a few deep loving breaths here really letting the weight of your feet sink down the shin bones the weight of your knees your thigh bones your pelvis and they soften your belly your rib cage and all the internal organs allow them to soften as well allow the upper chest and collarbones and shoulders to really relax your throat soften shoulders arms fingers fingertips the neck and the jaw very relaxed the skin on your face your ears and your eyes your forehead your scalp even your hair is relaxed you can continue to take some more breaths here very naturally the the breath is just breathing you it's completely effortless at this point yet even in Shavasana we maintain that balance between effort and surrender and as you continue to relax I'm gonna chant a little bit to you before you rise up allowing yourself to go a little deeper Shri MÄ쳌jema, Shri MÄ쳌jema, Shri MÄ쳌jema, Shri MÄ쳌jema Shri MÄ쳌jema, Shri MÄ쳌jema, Shri MÄ쳌jema, Shri MÄ쳌jema Shri MÄ쳌jema Shri MÄ쳌jema, Shri MÄ쳌jema, Shri MÄ쳌jema Srima, jayma, jayjayma Srima, jayma, jayjayma Begin to deepen your breathing. Draw a little bit of movement out through the fingers and your toes. You might even take your arms above your head, interlace the fingers, give yourself a big stretch as you reach the palms back. You can slide the knees into your chest.

And then rock yourself over to your right side, just embracing that nurturing force. That is both fierce and graceful. And then slowly make your way up to sit. And you're welcome to join me. Srima, jayma, srima, jayma, Srima, jayma, srima, jayjayma Let's bring the palms together at the center of the chest, uniting both that fierceness and that grace as the palms come together.

Let's take a deep breath in together. Om Om and Jai Ma.