For the Love Flow

How do you own family? And welcome back. Today I'm going to share some twists with you that are going to open us up into some back bending. But first, more importantly, we're going to do some chanting to awaken the spirit of the twists that's required, the energy that's required for the twist that's going to take the energy higher up towards our hearts. So I thought we would chant to Ram.

Ram really ignites energy and really the energy of the heart, but through effort, of course. So the words are very simple, Sri, Ram, Jai, Ram, Jai, Jai, Ram. So Jai means victory, Sri means beloved, and Ram is a great king. And when we chant his name, it really awakens a sense of greatness and devotion, most importantly. So remembering where we're really operating from, where we're coming from.

So please join me. We'll start cross legged and let the hands just rest on your knees and let your spine lengthen here. Allow yourself to feel regal in this pose. So notice, if you need to make any adjustments in your hips so you feel comfortable, I do not want you to feel uncomfortable here. Sometimes lifting the hips a little higher can do that, supporting the outer edge of your hips with blocks, but taking your seat here.

And then please allow the eyes to shut for a few moments. And just make your arrival. And we will start with three om's together, so please, please join me. Big breath in. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, ten.

Jai Ram, Shri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram, Shri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram, Shri Ram, Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Let's try it together. Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Take a big breath in. Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Shri Ram Jay Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Shri Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram Jay Ram And you can begin to open your eyes and just notice how the vibration feels after it's moved through your body. So we want to break the barriers between us and them. Twisting really invites you to go a little deeper into relationship.

Everything is drawing inward a little bit more. And we're creating a little bit more lift up towards the heart to expand our capacity to connect with ourselves, let alone everyone else around us. So move this to the side. So we're going to clear out any obstruction from the inside out. And we're going to use Kabbalabhati or this what we're going to call ego eradicator actually.

So we're going to focus on the exhales while we have our arms extended out. Often times we'll do this particular breath with what we call breath of fire, but we're going to really focus on the exhale here. So thumbs out, arms extended. Now if and when your arms get a little tired here, we can lift a little higher, shift gears a little bit, and then we'll hang there until it's time. And on the full breath in we'll take the thumbs together and then we'll take a little twist.

So arms extend wide, thumbs up and nice big breath in and empty everything out and begin breathing in halfway and then strong exhalations. You can begin to slow it down. Take a big breath in, bring the thumb tips to touch and hold here. And on the exhale take a little twist to your right and full empty out. Nice breath in to lengthen the spine and exhale.

And take the arms up and twist to the other side, exhale. Big breath in and breath out. One more inhale and exhale. Good. And then come through center, take your arms up and then from here you can look up and then take your hands behind you, feet to the floor, fingertips point forward.

We're going to take a little breath in and lift everything up, open up the heart and exhale out through the mouth. And then lower the hips down. You can cross the ankles, remove the padding from underneath and then from there come onto the hands and knees. So from here, little cat cow, untuck your toes, shoulders and wrists align, knees and hips. Take a nice breath in and let the belly drop, lift through the collarbones, lift your eyes and then exhale.

Draw everything in. So you round the breath in to look up and exhale. This time we're going to add the leg. Right leg is going to reach back on the breath in and you can even point your toe up here and really open through the chest. And then as you exhale, draw the knee in towards the nose.

And again, a breath in, pointing the toes up, chest is open. Really press the heels of the hand down and look up and then exhale and take one more like that. Full breath in, lifting up, looking up and then from there as you exhale, draw everything in. Grounding down through the heels of the hand, take a breath in and lengthen your left leg up, point your toes and open up through the front of the chest and then exhale, draw the knee in towards your nose. Find a little lift in the low belly and then a breath in to open up and exhale.

Breathing in and breathing out. Last one, pointing the toes up and then draw the knee in towards your nose. From here, tuck your right toes under, lift your right knee and slide the left leg high. Breathing, lifting, lifting, again grounding down through the heels of the hand, let your right heels sink down a little bit and then from there, exhale, the left foot down. Take a breath in, come forward into plank pose, reach the heels back, let the chest open here, shoulders snuggle onto the back of the body and then drop your knees in a little child's pose, bringing the knees together and let the hips reach back and soften the forehead down.

And then from there, let's come onto the hands and knees, we've got a downward facing dog and we can walk the feet forward from here. Take a little breath in, come onto the fingertips, lengthen into a flat back and then exhale, release everything. You can bend your knees a little bit, maybe grab a block and place it out in front of you and then a little twist here. So right knee can bend a little bit and then open through the left side, so lift up and look up here and then as you exhale, switch hands, left hand can come down and then a breath in to reach the right arm up. So a little bend in that left knee, allowing the spine to lengthen, the chest to expand and then exhale to release, coming forward and down.

And then soften through the knees and we're going to swing the arms forward and up and arch back and then let the palms meet at the center. Okay, so we'll prepare for some sun salutations and move this off to the side. And from here, feet pretty close together, ground down, you can lift your toes and then kind of smear them onto the mat. And as you press all four corners of your feet, see if you can lift through the inner arches a little bit and engage through the legs. You can feel that little lift in the belly, up through the front of the body and arms alongside, lining the shoulders and the hips.

And then from here, we'll take the arms wide, lifting up and then swan dive forward, arms are nice and wide, reaching forward and down. And step the right leg back, lift the chest, look up and exhale, downward facing dog, full breath out. Come forward into plank pose and then exhale to lower down all the way or halfway. You can drop your knees or lower all the way down, take a breath in, lifting up through cobra pose or upward facing dog and then from there downward facing dog. Right leg lifts as you breathe in and then step it forward as you breathe out.

Take a little twist here, you're welcome to drop the left knee if you need to and take the right arm up and then exhale the hands down and back foot comes forward, rising all the way up and then palms meet at the center, exhale. And again, breath in to reach up, swan diving forward over the legs on the exhale, left leg back, let the hips sink as you look up and then downward facing dog, palms press down, hips lift, plank pose as you breathe in. Lower yourself halfway down or all the way, breath in to lift up through the chest and exhale downward facing dog, full breath out. Left leg lifts, step it forward on the breath out, a little twist, breath in, let the hips sink a little bit, open up and then exhale the hands down, back foot forward. Rising all the way up, sweep the arms up and let the palms meet at the center, exhale.

And from here, let's bend the knees and take the hips back and reach the arms up. So Utkatasana here, a little bit more demanding, let the heels sink back and down, take your tail back and down, see if you can look forward to seeing your toes and then lift up through the chest, take the arms back. Alright here we go, bring the palms together, stick with me here. Full breath in and then right elbow to the outside of your left knee for a breath, inhale, lift up through center, exhale, twist to the other side, let the hips sink back and down. Breath in to center and then exhale, fold forwards, lengthen the legs, great.

Inhale look up, step the legs back into plank pose, you can lower halfway down or all the way down, shift onto the tops of the feet, hips forward, shoulders back and then downward facing dog, full breath out. Take a couple breaths here, inhale and exhale. Right leg's gonna lift up and then on the exhale bring the knee in towards your nose and step the foot forward, warrior one, back heel to the floor and then reach the arms up. Full breath in here. Okay, from here we're gonna take the back leg forward, right into girdasana, right?

So left arm is under as the left leg is on top and then lift up through the elbows, full breath in, get to squeeze the arms and legs and then draw the elbows in towards your belly. And then let's open back up into Virabhadrasana one, take the left leg back and reach the arms up. Lengthen your legs, parallel the feet and we'll take a little twist, you can take your left hand to your left hip and then exhale your right hand to your left ankle and you're welcome to extend the left arm, you can also bend the left knee a little bit, create some space and open up through the chest. And then exhale, release, let's take it to the other side, bend the right knee, left hand to the right elbow to the right ankle and then reach up. And then exhale through center.

Take the hips to the right side, spiral around, you got downward facing dog, right leg back. You can take a vinyasa here coming forward, plank pose, lowering down, exhale, inhaling to lift up and exhale, downward facing dog, full breath out. Left leg lifts, inhale, big exhale, draw the belly in and up, warrior one, inhale. Right from there, exhale the right leg around, ankle over the knee and take the right arm underneath and lift up through the arms. Lift your hips back and down a little bit more and then take it back into warrior one, right leg back, lift up to the arms, full breath in, lengthen through the left leg, parallel the feet, we're going to take another round of twist, right hand to your right ankle, your hip, left hand to the right foot and you can open up.

Maybe you can flirt with taking the legs, keeping the legs a little longer here, maybe the hands a little bit more towards center, keeping the spine long. And up, take it to the other side. And folding forward for a moment, exhale, hips over to the left, spiral around, downward facing dog, full breath out. Take a little breath in here and out. Take a breath in, lift your heels and exhale, hop the feet forward, utkatasan, breath in.

And take another twist to your right, left elbow to the outside of your right knee, let the hips sink down, lift up through center and exhale. Other side, hips moving back, spine is long. Take a breath in, lift up and then straighten the legs and fold. Breath in, lifts you halfway up and we're going to step the legs back into downward facing dog, right away, full breath out. Bring the knees, the legs forward, drop your knees from here and then untuck your toes a little child's pose here, keeping the knees very close together, let the head release down.

And then coming back onto the hands and knees and you've got downward facing dog. Let's take the right leg up, step it forward and warrior one. Bring your back foot in a little bit, make sure the left toes are pointing forward and lengthen through the right leg. Take the arms behind you, you can hold onto your elbows, the wrists or reverse the prayer. Take a nice breath in and then exhale, come forward.

On the right hip, toward your left heel, press down to the right big toe and feel the energy of that right leg as you press down to the foot, feel the energy lift. And then lift up halfway, let's take a rotated triangle pose. Left hand can come down, excellent time for a block. Place it inside of the foot and then you can begin to reach the right arm up and walk the back foot in a little bit so you feel nice and stable and the chest is open. Can take your right hand to your right hip if you want to go a little further here and let's lift the left leg up.

Take a couple of breathing here holding onto the hip or if you want to go even further you can bend the back leg and maybe catch the inside of the foot, create a little opening in the front of the chest there with a little back bend. From here release and have a seated spinal twist. Right foot presses down so my spine is nice and long, you can find some lift, snuggle the knee into the chest, right hand like a kickstand supporting the back ribs there, full breath in and then a little twist. Feeling that rise of energy up towards the heart, right? And then coming through center, we'll take another little navasana here, another little surge of energy lifting up.

And then from here cross the ankles, bring the hands down, you can hop, step or jump the legs back through plank, lower halfway down or all the way, inhale to the lift through the chest and downward facing dog as you breathe out. Left leg lifts on the breath in and then step the foot forward as you breathe out. Warrior one, full breath in and lengthen through the left leg. I'm going to walk my back foot in a little bit, catch the hands behind me, full inhale to arch back and then exhale to come forward and down. Feeling grounded through the feet and yet energy is lifting up through the legs.

Inner thighs are moving back, shoulders are softening back, lots of space around the front of my body, my head is released, heart is open, I'm going to lift up halfway, grab your block, bring the back foot in a little bit and then from there soften the left hip back and lift through the left arm. Feeling stable in the feet and then from there exhale, left hand to your left hip, little bend in the left knee and then slide the block forward, lift the back leg as you lengthen through the standing leg for a moment and then from there bend on the exhale, maybe catch the inside of the foot, press the foot into the hand, open up the chest, release and exhale to have a seat. Little breath in here, long spine and exhale, twist. Again pressing down to the left foot to support, lengthen the spine and then exhale. Really allotting for the twist to move from your groins, not just the upper chest or the head but from deep within.

Take another breath in and then as you exhale release, coming to center, uncross the legs and surprise, surprise, another Navasana, sorry but this is one of my favorite poses. Take a little breath in here and then from there exhale, cross the ankles, palms press down, you can hop, step or jump the legs back, inhale and exhale and you can walk the hands back a little bit and hop the feet forward, grab your block, place it out in front of you. Bring my feet a little closer together and then I'm going to move the knees away from my chest and take a moment here. So introducing the crow pose and then we want to go a little further, we're going to come into headstand from here. Okay, so with the palms together, just take a moment and draw the knees away from the chest, legs wide, hands come down, alright.

So you'll lift the hips a little bit, draw the elbows back and then you can flirt with coming forward. So if this is new for you, you can hang out here, maybe pluck the toes up, okay, so that's one option. The other is to remove the block, spread the fingers wide, lift the hips, elbows in. I've been really enjoying taking the hands as wide as the mat and then really moving my elbows in and then from here lifting up. I want to draw the heels towards my bum and then play with lengthening through my arms, really doming the upper back.

And then from here, drawing the chin in towards my throat, the crown of the head just softens onto the mat. As I press down into my palms and keep those elbows moving in towards the midline, I can begin to maybe lift the knees and lift the legs up for the tripod headstand. You can take a couple of breathing here, you can flex and point through your toes, keep lifting the shoulders away from your ears, keep the palms really rooting down, find that lift so there's no compression in the neck here. Everything is working with you and for you. Here are a couple of breathing here, you'll take an inhale and then on a big exhale, bend the knees, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, coming back home and then shift the hips back.

Bring the knees together and bring the palms together, a little breath in here, ta-da, that last thing to cross the ankles, bring the hands forward and downward facing dog. From down dog family, let's come forward onto the toes, reach the heels back and then bending from the elbows, lower down, okay, untucking the toes, take your hands forward a little bit, a little more forward than maybe you're used to and then press the palms down and just like a nice wide cobra pose here for a moment, you can fan the hands out a little bit and let the chest really expand, really lengthen back to the tips of your toes, use your legs so you stay out of the low back, a lot of space there, full breath in and full breath out. One more inhale and we're going to lower down on the exhale and then from here, I'm going to take the right forearm forward and this is one of my favorite poses, it is definitely a challenging pose but we have a variation for you, okay, so the right forearm is forward, the elbow and the shoulder are in line over here and then I'm going to reach back for my left foot. So you can reach for the inside of the foot and making sure the knees aren't too splayed apart, they don't have to be right next to each other but you want to keep them kind of in towards the center a little bit more and then from here, you can invite the lifting of the chest more importantly and then from there, flirt with bringing the left heel towards the floor or just hold onto the foot and see if you can twist the chest forward and we're stretching the quadricep here while lengthening that right leg. If you want to go into the full pose, spiral your fingers forward and the elbow points up so this is really deep on the shoulders here, opening up and again, spiral the chest forward, pressing down to the forearm, lengthening to the back leg and the toes and then from there you can release.

Left forearm across, elbow and shoulder aligned, bend to the back leg, reach for the inside of the foot here and spiral the chest forward or hands on the tops of your toes, spiral the fingertips forward, elbows, lifts and then press down to that forearm as you spiral the chest forward. Breathing in here and breathing out, great and then from here, you'll release and then let your forehead soften. From here, you can bend the left leg and the right leg, you can reach for your ankles, take a little breath in and open the chest and then release the legs. See if you can stay lifted, grounding down through the abdomen and lengthen through the arms and legs and then from there, the hands come down, another little cobra pose and then exhale, coming to sit on the heels, we're going to come onto the back here so you're going to spiral around and bring the feet to the floor and I'm going to grab a strap and reach it out in front of my ankles here or my shins and then from here as I press down, from here, I'm going to begin to lift up. Make sure your heels are just a little bit wider than your toes and just enjoy the brightness of this pose.

You can shimmy the shoulders a little bit underneath you, press down into the feet and as you press down into your feet, lift the shins and then the shins as they lift up, the tops of your thighs move towards your belly and then the belly softens into the heart. It's that beautiful bridge that we're crossing, kind of moving from our own personal will into this divine consciousness's will, right, a little breath in here and then release down. When you lower down, let your tail soften towards your heels so let the low belly sink down and then bring your knees together. So you can, for this next back bend, you can grab a block if you'd like, this is one of the alternatives here and you can lift your hips and let yourself be supported and maybe reach for your heels one more time. Take a few breaths here, otherwise we're going to introduce a full wheel into practice.

So I crawl my heels in as close as I can, pigeon-toe my feet in a little bit, really want to support this inner rotation of the thighs, strong foundation so that everything can just blossom. So I'm going to take my arms up and as I exhale, I'm going to bend the elbows, fingertips in line with my shoulders, press the palms down and be mindful of the elbows moving up rather than out to the side. From here, as I breathe in, I'm going to lift my hips and then come onto the crown of my head on an inhale. Bringing the crown of the head onto the floor, elbows moving in, pressing down into my feet and on my exhale, that big letting go, I begin to lengthen through the arms and legs. Bring my chest forward, pressing down through the feet, feeling that energy from below allowing a beautiful blossoming of the heart.

From there, chin can soften in when you're ready and then bring the elbows in towards the center there, lower the hips. Let the knees come together, take your right hand to your heart, left hand to your belly. And we'll do one more. Pressing the feet down, heels a little bit wider, arms reach up and back, exhale, bring your fingertips in line with your shoulders, elbows pointing upwards. Press down into your hands and feet and inhale onto the crown of the head.

On your exhale, lengthen through the arms and the legs. Press down to the index finger, full breath in, full breath out. One more inhale and chin comes in as you exhale, bending through the arms, let the tail sink down, knees together. This time bring your knees into your chest. This time we're going to take the left ankle over the right knee and then take the arms nice and wide and you're going to take that left foot over to the right side.

You can let the knee move away from the chest a little bit and just enjoy the spaciousness there. Soft gaze in the opposite direction. And then up through center and switch legs, ankle over the knee, take a nice breath in here and then take the right leg over to the left side, foot on the floor and then a little gaze over to the right side. And then you'll come back onto your back, snuggle the knees in. A happy baby may feel really nice here, soles of the feet point up, knees move in towards the armpits, release the low back onto the floor.

If that's not happening, just cross the ankles, hold on to the tops of your feet. Bring the knees into center, uncross your feet. And then from here rocking up to sit, spine nice and long and from here going to turn around and explore Marichyasana. So this is a great time to grab your blanket. Some of you could even use a block here, might be nice to lift the hips even higher as much as you need to.

I take the leg a little bit wider so I have space to come forward. Now I take the arms up on the inhale and as I really press down to that right foot I'm going to reach forward. Take a breath in and expand through the arms. Now you can either drop the hands out to the side and let the head go or you can grab your strap or if you need to reach for your hands so you're bringing the right shin out in front of the right leg, reaching for the strap or the fingertips, take a breath in, lengthen through the left leg, lift the chest and then begin to lengthen forward. Take a few breathings here, crown of the head is softly moving forward, a little bit of a twist towards that extended leg and then slowly begin to rise up.

Drop your right knee and then begin to lift up and arch back and lower down. Bring the knee into the chest and we'll switch sides. So again a big breath in, take a dive forward on the exhale, reach the arms wide as you breathe in and the heart plunges forward as you reach for the hands or your strap. Take a breath in and fold forward. You feel that movement down through the left foot and extending out through the right foot.

Soften the shoulders back and enjoy a few deep breaths here in this forward fold and you slowly release out of the pose. Drop the left knee, take the left hand behind you, press down into the shin, lift up and arch back and then exhale, release. Gonna lengthen my legs, ankles are fairly close together, ankle bones touching, little soft bend in my knees, lengthening and lifting through the arms and exhale reaching forward. So you can keep your knees bent more if this is a difficult pose for you. If some of you are hypermobile and you can go a little further, you can reach for the outside of a block, take a breath in and then exhale.

Exhaling a little bit more, reaching out to the heels as the toes point up. Relax the shoulders, soften through your jaw. And then from here as you reach forward, lift the arms up and exhale the hands down and the feet to the floor. Take a breath in for alter pose, lift up and then a big breath out and then lowering down. Couple moments here, you can bring the thumb and index finger to touch and then allow the eyes to close.

Bring the thumb and index finger to touch, it's creating that union between individual consciousness and cosmic consciousness. Take a little breath in, take your hands behind you, left hand around the right wrist, breathe in and then bowing forward and down for yogi mudra. And rising up, okay and it's time to prepare for shavasana, so final resting pose. Please come to lie down. You can place a blanket actually underneath your head today for a little extra support there.

And lying down, let the arms expand, palms face up, legs widen a little bit here. And let the body be breathed. Remember the weight of the body and at the same time it's lightness. You said that yoga is not what we're doing but how we're doing it. So even in this resting pose, we can still experience anxiety, agitation.

Your attention can be pulled in many different directions. See if you can let go with the aid of your breathing, really dropping in to the sweet moment. You've carved out for yourself the sweet moment in time, trusting and knowing that everything is wonderful despite what's happening. Just embracing acceptance for a few more moments. Letting the breath wash over you.

And then allow the breath to deepen a little bit and a little flutter out to the fingers and the toes. Let the head soften a little from side to side. Bend your knees and bring the feet to the floor. Let the knees drop in towards the center. You can take your hips over to the left a little bit and let the knees soften to the right.

Everything just a little close here to the side. And then pressing down and begin to wake your way up and crossing the legs. And bring your palms together. Bring here for a few moments and we will close with the sound of Om together. Big breath in.

Om. Om. Om. Om. Om Om.