Peak Pose Practice

Welcome, everyone. We'll begin in a comfortable seat. Please choose anything that works for you. As you can see, there are lots of options. We have Andrea propped up just a little on a blanket, and we have Amy on two blocks in Virasana, our hero's pose. So feel into your knees, your hips, your body and take what feels best for you. And then once you're grounded, finding a soft gaze or let the eyes close. Begin to feel into the movement of your breath. And gradually intentionally let the breath begin to expand. So the inhales move out in all directions, front, back, both sides of the rib cage, down to the base of the lungs and all the way up under the collarbone. And with each exhale, just letting it all go. Taking these first few moments to transition from whatever came before, to draw your awareness and your energy back home to your body, your center, your breath. And in so doing, we start to connect with that center line with the length of the spine, the central channel, the naughty, a connection with that center will be really helpful throughout the flow of the practice as we move into more challenging balance postures. Contacting that now, kind of drawing the energy in towards the midline. And then sustaining that soft gaze or keeping the eyes closed. Let's draw the hands to prayer at the heart center. If it resonates for you silently, internally setting an intention for your practice. And then simply taking a soft bow forward to yourself for showing up on the mat. And as you're ready, lifting the head, gently letting the eyes open. And with the inhale, let's reach the arms out and up. And then interlacing the fingers, exhale, press the palms to the sky, keep the shoulders soft down the back, the neck really soft and supple. And we'll keep this for a big inhale.

And with the exhale, simply ease over to the right. The left hip bone stays heavy. Your choice, you can keep a soft gaze down to the earth or you might lift the gaze up and under the left arm. Another breath into that left side body. And with your inhale, come back to the center line. And with your exhale, just ease to the left, heavy through the right sit bone, soft gaze to the earth or up and under the right arm. Opening through the waist, the ribcage and up into the shoulder. And with your next inhale, draw back to center. And with the exhale, we'll twist to the right, hooking that left hand to the knee if you're seated or just drawing the left hand to the outer thigh if you're in Virasana. Gently gazing back over the right shoulder, let each inhale lengthen the torso. And maybe there's just a little more space for the twist as you exhale. One more breath. Drawing it back to center, let the arms rise, inhale to reach. And with the exhale, twisting to the other side, gently gazing back, lengthening as you breathe in, gently deepening into it as you breathe out. One more breath here. And then back to center. Again, inhale, reaching the arms to the sky. And from here with your exhale, swing your right elbow underneath your left. You can take the backs of the hands or the palms to touch Garuda arms. With the inhale, lift a little through the arms through the heart. And with the exhale, curl in a little, letting the mid and upper back round, drawing elbows towards heart or solar plexus. Inhale again, rise. And exhale to curl in, breathing across the upper back and the back of the shoulders. Once again, here, inhale, rise. Exhale, curling in. This time, inhale, release the bind and reach all the way back up. And with the exhale, swing the left elbow under back of the hands or palms touch. Inhale, rise, lift the heart, lift the arms. Exhale, curling in, pull the belly back to the spine. Inhale, rise. Exhale, curl in. And then once again, inhale, rise. And exhale, draw it in. With the inhale, release the bind, reach the arms all the way back up. And then take your time, especially if you're up on blocks. Exhale, just release and start to transition forward, up onto the hands and the knees. And with the hands under the shoulders, knees under the hips, finding really strong foundation through the hands, especially base of thumb and first finger. Beautiful. Inhale to lift the tailbone, the heart, the gaze, moving into cacao. And exhale to round, pulling the belly to the spine, letting the head fall, the neck release. Good. Again, inhale, lifting tailbone, heart, gaze. And exhale, round, releasing the head, belly to spine. Let's take three more on your own and feel free to play with us a little bit. You might circle the head, neck, shoulders, hips. You might circle through the whole torso, kind of feeling into what's going on in your body in this moment and taking a few breaths for whatever you feel for. Nice. Yeah, you're welcome to stay with this as long as you'd like. As you feel ready, you'll gently draw yourself back to a neutral spine and then take a big inhale as you tuck the toes and lifting from the center, exhale up and back, downward facing dog. And then play with this as much as you'd like. Pelo the feet a little, shift the hips side to side, check out what's going on in the backs of the legs. We're really deepening into the hamstring muscles to build into our peak pose. So feeling into what's present there in this moment and starting to breathe into backs of the legs. Let's give this three or four more breaths. Nice. Still landing in the body, shedding the day, the distractions, whatever it is, finding the breath. And as you're ready, steady the body and your down dog. And we'll take a nice slow vinyasa to begin with the inhale ripple forward into plank pose. For this first cycle with the exhale, let's lower knees first and then come all the way down to the earth. And with the inhale, just a simple low cobra warming gently into the backbend. And as you're ready on the exhale, moving it all the way up and back into downward facing dog. And then two more cycles, slowly building the pace. Inhale to come forward and plank your choice. Exhale, stay with knees first or shift to chaturanga dandasana. Inhale, stay with your cobra or move to upward facing dog. And as you're ready from the center, exhale all the way back, downward facing dog. One last cycle, inhale forward to plank, lowering knees or chaturanga. Inhale to cobra or upward facing dog. And exhale all the way back, downward facing dog. Nice. Give this a breath again back to center again and again. And then slowly following the inhale, just walking the feet forward to the front of the mat. And as you do arrive, easing down into uttanasana, standing forward fold. The feet are about hips distance. Welcome a gentle bend in the knees. You can drop the hands, you can hold opposite elbows, maybe stay neutral, maybe sway the torso a little side to side. At least three, four, five breaths here. Just continuing to shed those initial layers to let yourself land in the body. Continuing to open through the backs of the legs and the muscles of the back. Good. Another breath here. If you're swaying fine center, if you have your elbows, just let the hands release to the earth. Keep that soft bend in the knees, keep the head heavy and the neck relaxed. And then slowly as you inhale, begin to roll the body all the way up to stand. As you arrive, no rush. Exhale, roll the shoulders down the back. Beautiful. And then heel toe the feet together, take the hands to prayer at the heart center for samasthiti, equal standing pause. Steady gaze, steady breath. Taking a moment here to root down through the feet, reconnect with the center line. And gathering the breath together through the nose, a big inhale. And exhale. Tailbone descending, deep belly rising. With the next inhale, reach the arms out and up. And with the exhale, bow out and down, moving into three cycles of surya namaskara A. Inhale to lengthen halfway, hands on the earth or the shins, rooting the hands, hop or step back and lower knees or chaturanga dhanasana. Inhale to cobra or up dog. And exhale all the way back, downward facing now. We'll give this a full five breaths for the first cycle, savoring it, being with it, breathing into any sticky spots. Heels reaching towards the earth. They don't have to touch. You're just energetically descending as the sit bones lift up and back, shoulders rolling away from the ears, long through the spine and firmly rooted through the hands. At the bottom of the next exhale, soft bend in the knees, hop or step to the front of the mat. As you arrive, inhale just halfway, long spine. And exhale, release back into the fold. With the next inhale, strong center, flat back, rise all the way up, reaching the arms to the sky. And with the exhale, hands to the heart. Again, inhale to reach out and up. And exhaling bow out and down. Inhale halfway, rooting the hands, hop or step back. With the exhale, lower knees or chaturanga, inhale, cobra, up dog. And with your exhale, all the way back, downward facing dog. For this cycle, we'll take three breaths, continuing to warm the body, to synchronize the breath and the body, kind of letting the repetition of the sun salutes become a bit of a meditation for the whole body-mind. Bottom of your exhale, soft bend in the knees, hop or step to the front of the mat. As you arrive, inhale, lengthen just halfway. And exhale, bow and fold. Beautiful. Strong center, flat back, inhale, rise all the way up, reaching it out. And with the exhale, draw the energy home to the heart.

Last one, inhale to reach out and up. Exhaling bow out and down. Inhaling halfway, root the hands, hop or step back. With the exhale, lower knees or chaturanga, inhale, let the heart rise, cobra, up dog. And exhale, all the way back, downward facing dog. Take a moment here. Back to breath, back to center and intention. Another breath or two. And then as you're ready, keep rooting down through the hands, strong through the upper body. With the inhale, we'll take the right leg straight up and back, fairly neutral through the hips for now. And with the exhale, we'll simply step that foot forward and release the back knee down into a low lunge. Hands on the front thigh, strong through the center. So as the hips ease forward, we feel that deep belly draw in and up, which will deepen the opening through the left hip flexors. Taking a few breaths here, tall spine, soft through the shoulders, really deepening into the warming and the opening of the legs. Beautiful. Let's keep this, take a big inhale. And then with the exhale, simply release the hands down to the earth and we'll draw the hips back for Arda Hanamanasana. Beautiful. Hips are neutral, finding your own edge and then inhale, lengthen out through the spine and exhale, deepen into the fold. And we'll take a very slight variation of this pose today. You can keep it neutral if there's tension, tightness through the hips, or you can start to turn the right foot out to the right a little or a lot. Just go slowly, feel it in your own body. What we're aiming to do is warm and open the inner line of that right leg to stretch and open through the inner thighs. Another breath or so here. Beautiful.

And then if the foot is turned out, draw it back to neutral. Beautiful. With the next inhale, start to guide the hips forward, bending the front knee. With the exhale, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, pausing here, feel the strength in the legs, root through the feet, strong center, inhale directly up into a high lunge or crescent pose. And we'll take a moment here. And then depending on your body, your shoulders, feel free to play with any variation with the arms and the hands. You might clasp the hands, draw the elbows out to cactus, play with it, whatever feels best. Beautiful. About three more breaths. Playing with the balance, playing with that center line of energy. Beautiful. That's it. And as you're ready, with the inhale, you'll simply reach the arms straight up, framing the ears. And with your exhale, release, hands to the earth, stepping back into plank. You can take the vinyasa or you can move directly into downward facing dog. Always optional. Then we'll just weave into that on the second side. As you're ready, inhale, take the left leg to the sky. And with the exhale, step that left foot forward, releasing the back knee down to the earth. Take the hands to the front thigh for a really simple rooted low lunge. As you slowly move the hips forward, keep drawing the belly in and up and even very slightly ease the torso back, deepening the stretch through the right hip flexors. Line is tall, shoulders are soft, gentle smile. Yeah, about one more breath. As you're ready, on your exhale, simply release the hands down and start to draw the hips back for ardahana manasana, second side. And again, finding your own edge and then inhale, simply lengthening out through the spine and exhale, deepening into the fold. And then again, if you have the mobility in that left hip, you'll slowly start to turn the left foot out a little or a lot on your own edge, opening through the inner line of the left leg and stretching through the inner left thigh as well as the hamstring muscles. A couple more breaths here.

If the foot is turned out, slowly drop back to the midline. And then with the next inhale, aligning the hips forward, bending the front knee. With the exhale, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, pausing here, root through the feet, feel the strength in the legs, strong through the center. Inhale directly up into your high lunge, crescent pose. Establish the foundation, feel that strength, and then feel free to play with the arms. Cactus or class B side to side, breathing into the shoulders, playing with the balance. A few more breaths. As you feel ready, with the inhale, draw the arms back up alongside the ears. With the exhale, simply release hands to the earth, stepping straight back into plank pose again. You can take the vinyasa or you can move directly back into downward facing dog. We'll meet in down dog. And again, give the body a breath or two coming back to center, feeling the breath. And from here, we're going to keep the feet where they are. And with your next exhale, start to walk the hands to the back of the mat. And when you find it just a really soft supple uttanasana, easy forward fold, just for a breath or two. And then begin to open the feet a little bit wider than hips distance, turning the toes out, the heels in, and very slowly start to sink the sit bones down to the earth for malasana or yogi squat. And you'll see this beautiful variation that Amy is demonstrating. A block under the sit bones can be really supportive grounding. And if there is any vulnerability in the knee joints, this is a wonderful way to protect and support that the spine is tall, shoulders are soft down the back. And then we'll play with the variation here, keeping everything essentially the same, just extending the left arm inside of that left leg, reaching out through the left fingertips and taking a big inhale, reaching the right arm up and out to the sky. Yeah, you're welcome to stay right here as Amy will demonstrate. Or you can play with wrapping and binding around the left leg, both are opening through the front of the shoulders, creating space. Yeah, just different expressions, take what feels best. Beautiful. We'll stay for a big inhale. And with the exhale, simply release, drop back to center and shift to the other side. Yeah, extending out through the right arm, right fingertips and taking a big inhale, reaching the left arm up to the sky. Feel the expanse through the chest and through the front of the shoulders. Sustain that or wrap and bind around the right leg. Yeah, we're keeping a sense of stability and support through an engagement of the deep belly, we're keeping the spine nice and long, and the shoulders soft down the back. One more breath here. Yeah, we'll stay for the inhale. And with the exhale, drawing it back to center, simply releasing the hands to the earth and slowly letting the hips rise, coming back into that forward fold. Take a breath or two here, start to draw the feet back to about hips distance. And then inhale, just lengthen halfway, gently look forward. And with the exhale, walk the hands back to the front of the mat for downward facing dog.

Closing here, take a breath. And then beginning to build the heat, moving into some standing postures. With your next inhale, take the right leg up to the sky. And with the exhale, go ahead and let the hip open, bending the knee, sending the left heel towards the earth. So we get this hip opening through the outer right hip, as well as the hamstring opening with the back of the left leg. One more breath. And then inhale, reach it straight up to the sky. As you exhale, take the right knee outside of the right elbow and draw the belly to the spine, strong through the core. Inhale, take that right leg back to the sky. And with the exhale, step the right foot forward between the hands, bend the back heel down to the earth, opening on the inhale to warrior two, Virabhadrasana B. Good. Sitting down into it, soft through the shoulders, building the strength and the foundation, beginning to build a little more heat in the body. A couple more breaths. Nice. Foundation stays strong with the inhale, reverse your warrior, reaching it back. You might slide the hand down the leg above or below the knee. You might wrap behind the back your variation. And give this one more breath. And then inhale to rise, warrior two. And with the exhale extending out and then down for Trikonasana, triangle pose at the right leg length and place that right hand wherever you'd like on the earth, ankle or a block. And always feel free to ease that back foot in a little if that serves the stance, stability and balance. And a few breaths here. One more breath. Standing through the feet, strong through the center. With the inhale, let's lift it back up into warrior two. Beautiful. Exhale to reverse, reaching it back. Stay here for a big inhale. And with the exhale, hands down either side of the front foot, step back into your plank pose. Lower as you choose or press back into downward facing dog. Inhale to Cobra up dog and exhale all the way back. Downward facing dog. Second side, inhale, left leg to the sky and exhale, opening that hip, bending the knee. And again, the heel doesn't have to touch, but sending it towards the earth to open the back of that right leg while also opening that outer left hip. One more breath. Inhale to reach it straight up. And with the exhale, take the left knee outside of the left elbow, pull the belly to the spine. Inhale, reach it back up. And with the exhale, step that foot forward, spin the back heel down to the earth, right arm reaches forward, open and back for warrior two Virabhadrasana. Softening from the shoulders down through the tailbone and rising from the belly up through the heart.

Nice. We'll give this another breath or two. And then a big inhale to reverse reaching back, breathing space into the side body. One more breath. And then with the inhale, lift it back up into warrior two. And with the exhale, lengthening the left leg, reaching out and then down for triangle second side. And again, place that left hand on the earth, ankle, shin, or as Amy's demonstrating on a block. And then sending tailbone down towards the heel, draw the belly up towards the heart. And roll the whole circle of the rib cage open enough towards the sky. And just one more breath. Pressing through the feet. Inhale, lift it back up into warrior two. Just for a moment, exhale, reverse, reaching it back. Stay for a big inhale. And with the exhale, hands to the earth, step back into plank pose, your choice, lowering through the Vinyasa or moving back into downward facing dog, knees are chaturanga, up dog or cobra, and then all the way back. Beautiful. Give the body a breath or two here. And then again, with the inhale, take the right leg to the sky. Exhale opening the hip, bending the knee. Inhale, reach it back up. With the exhale, knee outside, right elbow, really strong through the center. Inhale, reach it up. With the exhale, step that foot forward, spin the back heel down to the earth, return to warrior two, big inhale. Exhale, reverse, reach it back. Beautiful. Inhale back to your warrior two and exhale directly into side angle. You're welcome to rest right forearm to thigh or take the hand to the earth, inner or outer edge of the front foot or on a block. A few more breaths here. Grounding through the feet, strong through the center. Inhale, take it back up into warrior two. And then from here as you exhale, we'll lengthen that right leg and spin the feet to parallel for prathiruddha padottanasana. Hands to the hips for now. Dropping down through the tailbone, inhale, lift the belly, lift the heart. And with your exhale, fold forward. Taking the hands to the earth about shoulder distance. If you feel for the block, you're welcome to take the hands there. Inhale to lengthen and exhale to fold. As you can see with both Amy and Andrea, the hands are in line with the feet if that's not accessible to you and just wherever the hands can land. And then easing yourself down into the fold, tipping a little weight into the front of the feet and breathing into the whole back body. More hamstring opening. From here, we're going to keep this foundation and then inhale, lengthen it about halfway up. And then with the exhale, start to walk the hands out in front, getting really long through the spine, energetically drawing back through the hips to counter that movement. And then just melting down between the shoulder blades, softening the heart center towards the earth. Sometimes known as hammock pose, getting this sweet release through the heart and more opening through the front of the shoulders and the chest. Another breath here. With the inhale, let the upper body rise just a little. And with the exhale, walk the hands back in essentially under the shoulders. Well, come out of this slowly with a strong center. Inhale again, halfway up. Keep the core engaged. Exhale, take the hands to the hips, press through the feet. Inhale all the way up. And with the exhale, let's turn back into warrior two towards the front of the mat. Feel the foundation. Take a big inhale. Exhale, hands to the earth, step back into plank pose and lower knees or chaturanga. Inhale, cobra up dog and exhale all the way back, downward facing dog together through the nose. We'll take a big inhale and go ahead and open the mouth. Exhale, just let that all go, clearing it out. Second side, inhale, left leg to the sky. Exhale, open the hip, bending the knee. Inhale, back up. And exhale, draw that knee outside of the elbow, strong through the center. Inhale, reach it up. And exhale, step that foot forward, spin the back heel to the earth. Right arm opens you on the inhale, warrior two. Exhale, reverse, reach it back. And with the inhale, rise, warrior two. Exhale directly into side angle, forearm to thigh, hand to earth, inner or outer edge. If you're close to the earth, but not all the way down, you might rest the hand on the block and breathing for three. Pressing and rooting through the feet with the inhale, draw it back up into your warrior two. And with the exhale, go ahead and lengthen that leg, spin the feet to parallel, release the hands to the hips. Just grounding here for a moment. And then with the inhale, reach the arms out and up. And with the exhale, interlace behind the back. Inhale, lifting through the heart and exhale, fold forward. The legs stay really strong here, engaging through the quad muscles to support the opening of the hamstring muscles. Then the arms go up and over. Breathing into it. We'll give it one more breath. And from here we stay in the fold, but simply release the bind and take the hands down to the earth.

Moving very slowly here, we'll start to bend the right knee. Toes are turning out a little bit, moving towards Skandhasana. And you'll see different variations here. We really want to honor Amy's knee, so not coming too far into it. Or really deep bend, sit bones almost all the way to the earth. Again, meeting this at your own edge, mindful of the knees, breathing into the inner thigh muscles, the hamstring muscles. One more breath on this side. And then inhale, drop back to the center line. And exhale, slow bend in the left knee with the toes turning out. Listening to the body, just take it as far as feels best. You'll also see the two variations of hands on the earth, especially if you need more support for that knee or the hands to the heart. We'll give this one more breath. And then inhale, meeting back in the center line. Exhale just to ground here. Inhale, lengthening halfway up. Again, strong through that center. Exhale, hands to the hips. Pressing through the feet, inhale, rise all the way up. And exhale, spinning back to warrior two towards the front of the mat. Beautiful. Take a big inhale. And with the exhale, hands to the earth. Step back into plank pose through the vinyasa or let it go. Knees are chaturanga, cobra, up dog. And all the way back, downward facing down. Another cleansing breath through the nose. A big inhale out the mouth. Exhale. From here, with your next exhale, you'll simply release the knees down to the earth and pause, drawing the hands under the shoulders, neutral spine. So after generating all of that heat, warmth, energy in the body, we're going to start to move it into deeper shoulder opening in preparation for our peak pose. So for now, both hands are rooted. Spine is neutral. We'll keep the left hand down and then with the inhale, reach the right arm out and up to the side. And with the exhale, thread the arm under, coming to the back of that right shoulder, easing down to the side of the head. You're welcome to keep the left hand rooted or inhale, reach the left arm up, breathing into this, opening across the upper back through the back of the shoulders. As those right fingertips, the right arm reaches away or energetically moving in the opposite direction through the back of the heart. One more breath. And then if we've moved the left arm, walked it forward, reached it up, we just draw it back, basically under the shoulder, rooting it down. And with the next inhale, take the right arm all the way up to the sky. And with the exhale, release back to hands and knees, neutral spine for a breath. Give the body just a moment to integrate. And with the next inhale, reach the left arm out and up. And with the exhale, thread it under. Feeling into this side might be a little different. The right hand can root, it can reach up, it can walk out. And then again, as you're reaching out through that left arm, the fingertips, the back of the heart between the shoulder blades moves in the opposite direction, which really deepens the stretch across the upper back through the back of the shoulders. Another moment or two here. If we've moved the right arm at all, we draw it back, planting the hand essentially under the shoulder. And with your next inhale, reach the left arm back to the sky. And with the exhale, release to hands and knees. Again, pausing here, spine is neutral, drawing the energy back to that center line. And then we'll keep this for a big inhale, hips essentially as is with the exhale, walking the hands out nice and long through arms and spine for anahatasana. And take this just as far as feels good.

Releasing down under the forehead or the chin. Let the heart relax to the earth. And that sweet spot right around the back of the heart, right between the shoulder blades, surrenders, softens, melts down. One more breath here. And then very slowly, feel a slight engagement of the core for this transition. Inhale, lift back up onto the hands and the knees. Pause for the exhale. And then big inhale, tuck the toes. And exhale, press it back into your downward facing dog. Give the body a breath here. Keeping the upper body strong and grounded with the inhale again, we'll take the right leg to the sky. Exhale, opening the hip, bending the knee. Inhale to lengthen it up. And again with the exhale, right knee outside of right elbow. Keep the heat building in the body. Inhale, reach it back to the sky. With the exhale, step that foot forward, root the back heel. Inhale, open to warrior two. Exhale to reverse, reaching it back. Inhale to warrior two. Exhale into side angle. Just for that breath. Beautiful. Inhale, we'll take it right back up into warrior two. And from here, with the exhale, hands down either side of the front foot. And pause, lifting the back heel, facing the back knee down to the earth and beginning to walk the hands down inside of the front foot. Good. And then easing down onto forearms and elbows. And you'll see Amy supporting her forearms on the block here. Giving this a few breaths. You're welcome to stay right where you are or as Andrea will demonstrate, the right hand is going to reach back for that left foot. Moving into the bind variation for a deeper stretch through the left quad muscles. Another breath or two. If you do have hold of that back foot, very gently release it. Okay. Here's where we start walking into the full expression of the pose. So if you feel you can go ahead and remove the block. And then we're going to tuck the back toes and lift the back knee, staying low through the upper body. Very slowly start to crawl that right shoulder underneath the right knee and begin just by planting the right hand outside of your right foot. Okay. This is pretty intense in and of itself. If this is your posture, you stay there five or 10 breaths and then just release back to lizard. Try the next stage tomorrow or the next day. Okay. From here, if you feel pretty grounded, we'll spin the back heel down to the earth, stabilizing the body, transfer the weight to that right hand, right foot, and try reaching the left arm behind the back, lifting the right hand, coming into the bind. If you're close, but not quite with the bind, you're welcome to hold onto your clothing or grab a strap if you have it. Again, if this is your edge, this is your peak pose. Stay here, release when you're ready. If you'd like to move forward with us, spinning the back heel up, getting really strong and steady, start to ease the back foot forward. And as you're ready, stepping it all the way to the front of the mat. This can be lots of little steps. This can be a slow crawl, whatever gets you there. We're going to intentionally pause here because a lot going on in the body. The left leg is nice and strong and rooted, mostly long, absolutely okay to have a bend in that right knee. And we see this beautiful bind in both of their bodies, which offers a stretch across the upper back, back of the shoulders, right? So if this is your pose, you'll stay here, maybe just release completely into the fold and focus on that. If you're ready for the balance exploration, you'll root down through the left foot, engage through the core, which helps stability and balance and slowly begin to rise, taking that right leg with you for the ride. The left leg stays strong, use your gaze to steady the body, use your breath. Beautiful. Keep this or if you have the hamstring and inner thigh flexibility as Andrea is demonstrating, begin to extend that right leg out, energy through the ball of the foot. And we'll hold steady for three and two. Let your transitions be a part of your practice. We'll unwind from this really slowly. If the leg is extended, let the knee bend. If possible, keep your bind as you slowly start to return that right foot to the earth. If possible, you'll keep your bind root down through the right foot, strong through the center while stepping the left foot to the back of the mat. You can always release the bind and then step back as well. Fabulous. Stay here for a big inhale and then exhale, releasing the bind. Let's come back down into lizard, releasing the back knee to the earth, giving the body a moment to kind of settle and ground. And then slowly easing out of this inhale, walk the upper body back in and up. Exhale, take your hands either side of your front foot. We'll tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, strong center. With your inhale, take your right leg all the way up and back to the sky. And then with your exhale, let's let that hip have a little breathing room. You can open the hip, bend the knee, take it out a little, circle it around a little. Release all attachment to the second side. And as you're ready, right foot to the earth. Take a nice big inhale. Let it go. Exhale your choice. Stay right where you are. If you feel for the Vinyasa to clear that out, we'll inhale forward to plank. Exhale, lower knees or chaturanga. Inhale, cobra up dog and exhale all the way back. All right. So intention for the left side is focus and just have fun with it. Inhale, lift the left leg to the sky. Exhale, open the hip, bending the knee. Inhale, reach it back up. And with the exhale, left knee outside of left elbow.

Good. Inhale, back to the sky. And exhale, step that foot forward, root the back heel, right arm opens you. Inhale, warrior two. Exhale, reverse, reach it back. Inhale, warrior two. Just for one breath. Exhale, side angle. Inhale, warrior two. And exhale, hands to the earth, either side of the front foot. Good. Here we go. Spin the back heel up, release the back knee down and begin to walk the hands down inside of the front foot. We'll work with lizard first. Stay on the hands, release to forearms and elbows on the earth or on the block. Breathing into any points of resistance, stickiness, soreness, preparing the body. You might stay there or as Andrea will demonstrate, take the left hand back for that right foot, taking a nice deep stretch into the right quad muscles. And if you do have the back foot, gently release. And if you're on the block with the forearms and you feel you can release it, move the block off to the side. And again, we're just progressing slowly and mindfully pausing at your own edge. It might be totally different on this side. Maybe there's a knee injury. Maybe this hip is tighter. Maybe the shoulder is tighter. See what unfolds. So with the forearms down, we begin to crawl that left shoulder underneath the left knee and plant the left hand outside of the left foot and tucking the back toes, lifting the back knee, feel the strength through the foundation and then spin the back heel down to the earth for a little bit more stability. Yeah. Then transferring the weight over to the left hand on the left foot, lift the right arm and wrap it behind the back. Yeah. And then lifting the left arm, reaching up to find the fingertips. Again, if you're close to the biome, but not quite grab a strap or just hug onto your clothing. Yeah. Beginning to inch that back foot forward, take the gaze forward strong through the center and transition the right foot to the front of the mat. Again, we want to pause here for a lot of reasons. Maybe this is where you stay. Right. Also just to look at the fold here and the beautiful stretch that's happening across the upper back and through the back of the shoulders. Right. This is your pose. This is your pose. Enjoy it. If you are ready for the next step, grounding down through the right foot, nice and strong through the core, start to rise and taking the left leg with you and using the gaze and the breath to steady the body and the mind strong through the standing leg. And then if you have the flexibility in the hamstring muscles and the inner thighs, you'll extend the left leg and breathing here as much as possible, lengthening through that central channel and letting the shoulders ease down the back, tall through the spine. One more breath, mindful through the transitions. If the legs extended, bend the knee and then slowly sustaining the bind, release the left foot back down to the earth and sustaining the bind, easing the right foot to the back of the mat and then releasing the bind. Let's meet back in lizard, hands to the earth, back knee releasing to the earth. Take any variation of the pose that feels good. This is about integration, a moment of settling and grounding, even a slight moment of rest. So nothing intense. This is not about maxing out. This is just a moment to settle. And then if you're down on the forearms, inhale, walk it back up onto the hands and with the exhale, take the hands either side of the front foot, tucking the back toes, lifting the back knee, inhale, sweep the left leg back to the sky. And again, opening the hip, bending the knee, whatever feels best here.

Shake it out a little, circle it a little, another breath or two. Just meeting in down dog as you're ready. And again, listening to your energy, listening to your body, stay right where you are or inhale, roll forward into plank. Exhale, lower knees or chaturanga using the vinyasa to clear it all out. Inhale, let the heart rise and exhale all the way back, downward facing dog. Take a nice big inhale and let it all go. Exhale. From here we're moving slowly into pigeon. So inhaling right leg to the sky and exhale, draw it through and down. If for any reason pigeon doesn't serve, you'll simply release, roll onto your back and as Amy is demonstrating, bending the knees, feet to the earth, and then crossing the right ankle over the left knee, looping the hands around the left thigh or the left shin and gently drawing the legs in. Just a little less intense for that knee joint. So whichever variation feels good to you. Another full five breaths here, letting the body surrender into the earth and giving yourself an opportunity to ground and to settle, begin to integrate all that deep challenging work. Another breath or two. Okay. Then we're taking this into a twist and two really different variations. So if you're on your back, you'll simply stay there and let the hips kind of fall to the left. Maybe that right foot gently releases to the earth. If you're in pigeon, you'll slowly inhale, come up, keep the weight on the right leg and exhale, swing the left leg around for a seated spinal twist or artimatsi andrasana. If you're on your back, release and sink into it. If you're in artimatsi andrasana, you can take that elbow outside of the knee, lengthening with each inhale, gently deepening into the twist with each exhale. A few breaths here. Yeah. Those of you on your back simply stay there. If you're in the seated spinal twist, let the inhale draw you back to center and with the exhale, just take a counter twist to the other side for a breath or two. And then we'll slowly unwind in preparation for second side. If you're on your back, simply shifting the legs from your seated twist, unwinding the legs, plant the feet and hop or step back into downward facing dog. For pigeon second side inhale, take the left leg up and then exhale, simply draw it through. If you're on your back's left ankle across the right knee and then looping the hands around that right thigh and slowly drawing it in. Again, in the closing section of the sequence, we want to move more slowly. I'm going to give the body time in these deeper stretches. And we also want to give the energetic body time to settle and to integrate the practice. A few more breaths here. Beautiful. Beautiful. And those of you on your backs, you'll essentially keep the legs as is and just kind of let the legs and the hips roll to the right. Maybe the left foot will land on the earth and that left arm extends out to deepen the twist. If you're in pigeon, inhale, walk the upper body back in and up and exhale, swing the right leg around for the seated spinal twist. Start at a matsi and rasana. You choose your variation. And then in the seated twist, lengthening a little with the inhales and just kind of deepening into it with the exhale for three. And two. If you're on your back, stay right where you are. If you're in the seated twist, let the inhale draw you back to center and exhale, counter twist to the other side for a couple of breaths. And then just slowly drawing it back to center. And if you're on your back, gently rocking yourself up, we're transitioning into dandasana from here. So rocking up or simply extending the legs, grounding down through the sit bones, nice and tall through the spine, hands rooting outside of the hips or if arms are longer than torso, you can walk the hands back. We want to be able to gently press the hands into the earth without the shoulders pressing up into the ears. Again, simply feeling into that center line, gathering the energy after the intense standing balance, feeling the length of the spine, soft through the shoulders. And then to come down onto the earth, we'll simply reach the arms up to the sky. And with the exhale, extend them straight out in front, palms open. And then really strong through the center, we're going to take a slow roll all the way down onto the back, engaging through the core, easing down for five, four, three, beautiful, two, and then all the way to the earth. When you land, just let yourself settle and pause for a moment to help you see better. Amy and Andrea are simply going to turn to the other side. And then we'll slowly set up for a really simple bridge pose. Again, we want the energy in this closing sequence to be grounding and stabilizing and supportive. So planting the feet on the earth with the knees bent, grounding through all four corners of the feet, scooping the tailbone and lifting the hips to the sky. If you want it to be really sweet, restorative grounding, then take a block under the sacrum at any height, arms at rest or the hands clasp under the back, right? So just a little sweetness in a very simple backbend, nothing too intense as we're aiming to integrate and bring the energy into a slower, more grounded space.

A few more breaths here. If you're practicing with us at home and you'd like to stay with us or even move into any other backbending, please feel free. Otherwise, gently release. If you're using a block, moving it off to the side, just letting the body relax down to the earth, pausing here and then drawing the knees in towards the chest as you're ready, gently rocking a little side to side. And we'll just take a simple twist, clearing it all out and countering that gentle backbend. You can keep the knees as is, as Amy will demonstrate, or you can wrap either leg on top, as Andrea will demonstrate, and then let the knees fall to the right and reach the left arm out to the left, heavy through that shoulder, breathing down the length of the spine, releasing through the low back. The head can stay neutral or you can let the gaze follow those left fingertips, really honoring your neck and whatever feels best. And slight engagement through the center. As you inhale, draw the knees back to the midline. Might move the hips to the right just a little. Of course, if the legs are bound, take the other leg on top and then let the legs fall to the left and reach out through the right arm, heavy through the right shoulder. This is all about releasing, slowing down, surrendering, moving towards your rest. Another breath or two here. And then again, as you're ready, inhale, gently draw it back to center. With your exhale, hug the knees in towards the chest again, and let's take a nice, sweet, happy baby. The knees go wide, arms reach inside, hands hold the feet or the ankles. You can keep this really soft and neutral. You can play with it rocking a little side to side. You might even lengthen one leg and then the other with those wide open hamstrings and inner thighs you've been warming so deeply. Stay with this as long as you need to. And as you're ready, transitioning into your final rest, simply extending the legs all the way out and down, let them roll open from the hips, arms rest alongside the body, palms face the sky, letting the eyes close, letting the whole body relax. And as the physical body releases down into the earth, we invite the mind, the heart and all the heart may be carrying. We invite the subtle and the energetic body to relax, at least for the time being, letting it all go. We'll stay nice and soft, just gently together through the nose, fill the body with breath, inhaling. Take a brief hold at the top and open the mouth. Exhale, letting it all go. Just rest, allowing for the integration of your practice and all the benefits seen and unseen.

Exhale, letting it all go. Exhale, letting it all go. Exhale, letting it all go. Exhale, letting it all go. Exhale, letting it all go.

Exhale, letting it all go. Exhale, letting it all go. Exhale, letting it all go. Exhale, letting it all go. And very gently begin to draw your awareness back, allowing the breath to expand, bringing a little bit of movement into the hands and the feet. And as you're ready, with an inhale, extending the arms up and over and reaching out through the fingers and the toes. And then exhale, bending the knees, feet to the earth. And gently roll to the right and slowly guiding yourself all the way back up into any comfortable seat you'd prefer. Find the blanket or the blocks. And we'll sit together for just a moment, transitioning mindfully from the practice into the rest of the day or the evening. Hands rest wherever they're comfortable, soft gaze or eyes closed. Simply being with your breath. And then drawing the hands to prayer at the heart center. And taking a soft bow forward, honoring yourself for showing up for your practice. And thank you so much to our beautiful yogis, Amy and Andrea.

Thank you all so much for practicing with us. Namaste.