Balanced Flow Practice

Welcome, everyone. Let's begin by finding a comfortable seat. As you can see, we have two different options demonstrated here. Please take what feels best for you. And then let your hands rest wherever they're most comfortable and just find a soft gaze or close the eyes. And we'll begin by moving our awareness down into our seat, all points of contact with the earth, feeling into that steady foundation and moving the awareness from the fluctuation of the mind down into root and body and breath. Noticing your natural flow of breath. And then kind of gradually welcoming in a deeper, slower, steadier breath. Meaning to hear the sound of each inhale and each exhale. Drawing you deeper into the body and deeper into the moment. And let's take five intentional Ujjayi breaths together. For now, exhale, just empty all the air out. And then through the nose, a big inhale. Through the nose, exhale. Four more like that together. Inhaling. Exhaling. And again, inhale. And exhale. And with these next two breaths, just washing away the thoughts, any distractions or concerns. And as much as possible, letting yourself just land in your body for your practice. At the bottom of that exhale, drawing the hands to prayer at the heart center. And we'll open together with a gentle Aum. So just clearing any breath out. And together through the nose, inhaling. Aum. And then one more moment of stillness here. If it resonates for you, setting an intention for your practice. Anything at all you'd like to clear out or welcome in. And as you're ready, let the eyes open and begin to transition up onto your hands and your knees. If you have any tenderness in your knees, you're welcome to take a blanket underneath knees and shins, just supporting yourself in whatever way you feel for. And then moving into a few cycles of Cat-Cow. So rooting through the hands with the inhale, lifting the tailbone, the heart, the gaze, shoulder blades sliding down the back. And with the exhale, letting the back round and drawing the belly up towards the spine. Beautiful. Yeah. And then again, together, inhaling, lifting, tailbone, heart, gaze. And with the exhale, rounding. And then three more cycles at your own pace. And feel free to bring any movement into it that resonates for you. Maybe circle the head, neck, shoulders spiraling through the spine a little bit. Maybe circling through the whole torso, just kind of easing into the muscles of the back and the length of the spine. Yes. One or two more breaths. And as you feel ready, drawing the body into a neutral spine, grounding down through the hands, especially base of thumb and first finger, take a big inhale, tucking the toes.

And as you exhale, lift up and back into downward facing dog. And then a good five, 10 breaths here to start to ease into the backs of the legs. So you might paddle the feet, bending one knee and then the other, shifting the hips a little side to side. Whatever feels best, just warming into it, continuing to lengthen the spine and open the back muscles. And as you start to bring movement into the body, just kind of noticing where's the breath flowing freely? Where does it meet with a little bit of stickiness, soreness, tenderness? Two or three more breaths here. Yeah, beautiful. And as you're ready, steady the body in your down dog. We're going to take a few rolls between, between plank and down dog, following the breath. So as you're ready on your inhale, just rippling forward, coming into plank pose. And then from the center, exhale, draw it up and back into down dog. Good. Two more like that. Inhale, rolling forward, synchronizing the breath on the body and exhale, draw it up and back. Once again, inhale to roll forward and exhale to float back. Beautiful. Yeah. Moving on, inhale, take it forward into your plank pose. And this time with your exhale, lower the knees to the earth and then come all the way down. Really modified vinyasa.

With your inhale, come to a low cobra, lifting the heart, shoulders down the back, just to your own edge. And as you exhale, ease all the way back into your downward facing dog. We'll take two more with variations. Inhale, ripple forward into plank. This time, exhale lower knees or chaturanga. Inhale, stay with cobra or upward facing dog and exhale all the way back. Downward facing dog. And taking this last cycle on your own, any variations, just really following the rhythm of your own breath. Nice. Beautiful. Good. Rooting down through the hands. With the next inhale, let's sweep the right leg straight up and back fairly neutral through the hips for now. And with the exhale, simply step the right foot forward. We're moving into a high lunge or crescent pose. So rooting through the feet, inhale, taking it straight up, lift the arms to the sky. Beautiful. And let's hold this for three, descending through the tailbone, lifting the deep belly too. And with your exhale, simply release hands to the earth, stepping directly back into downward facing dog. Keep it simple for now. Inhale, left leg goes to the sky. And with the exhale, step it forward, rooting through the feet. Feel that connection to the earth. Inhale, high lunge, second side. And again, a full three breaths here, descending through tailbone, drawing that deep belly in, beautiful soft shoulders. And we'll stay for the inhale. With the exhale, simply release the hands to the earth, step directly back into your downward facing dog and take a couple breaths here just to kind of settle ground. In a moment, we're going to repeat that, building the pace, intentionally beginning to build the heat and the energy a little bit. Alright, here we go. Inhale, right leg to the sky. Exhale, step it forward, root through the feet. Inhale directly up into your high lunge. Exhale, release the hands to the earth, step directly back into downward facing dog. Good. Inhale, left leg to the sky. Exhale, step it forward, root the feet. Inhale, rise, high lunge. Exhale, release hands to the earth, step back into down dog. Two more cycles. Inhale, right leg to the sky. Exhale, step it forward, grounding the feet. Inhale to rise, high lunge. Exhale, release hands to the earth, downward facing dog. Inhaling, left leg. Exhale, step it forward, strong foundation. Inhale, rise. Exhale, release hands down, step back, down dog. Last cycle. Inhale, right leg up. Exhale, step it forward, rooting through the feet. Inhale to high lunge.

Exhale, release hands to the earth, pausing here. We're going to lower the back knee down. You can pat it if you'd like and then draw the hips straight back for Ardha Hanamanasana. And Kelly is going to demonstrate the use of the blocks here. If you're really tight through the hamstring muscles, this is an incredible source of support. A full five breaths just to ease into it, warming and opening through the hamstring muscles. About three more breaths. Good. And then just slowly as you feel ready with the inhale, start to guide the hips forward, bending the front knee. And then exhale, tuck the back toes, lift that back knee, step directly back into your downward facing dog. Good. As you're ready, inhale, left leg to the sky. Exhale, step it forward. Inhale to rise, high lunge. And with the exhale, release hands to the earth. Again, we'll pause here, lowering the back knee. Again, pat it a little if you'd like. And then start to draw the hips back, lengthening that left leg, Ardha Hanamanasana. Again, always taking the variation that feels best in your body, supporting it. And just easing down into it, lengthening the spine as you fold and breathing into the back of that left leg. Another breath or two. And as you're ready, inhale, guiding the hips forward, bending the front knee. And exhale, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, step directly back, downward facing dog. Good. Big inhale together through the nose and just kind of clearing it out. Exhale out the mouth. Release. Inhale, roll forward into plank pose, washing that away. Exhale lower as you choose. Good. Inhale, lifting the heart up and exhale all the way back, downward facing dog. From here, really slowly with the inhale, we'll just start to walk the feet forward to the front of the mat. And as you arrive, the feet are about hips distance, easy forward fold, Uttanasana. You can drop the hands to the earth. You can take hold of opposite elbows. You might even let the upper body sway a little side to side. Three, four, five breaths here, continuing to ease into it, to release the back body, to shed those kind of initial layers, distraction, tension, fatigue, whatever's going on in the body. Good. Another breath here. And whatever bind you have, gently release it. Let it go. Keep a really soft bend in the knees. Keep the head heavy in the neck relaxed. And then slowly with the inhale, begin to roll the body all the way up to stand. The head is the very last to arrive. And when you do arrive, let the shoulders roll down the back. Good. Gently heal, toe the feet together and draw the hands to prayer at the heart center for Tadasana. Feeling down through the feet, nice and tall through the spine. With your next inhale, reaching the arms out and up. And then interlacing the fingers and exhale, press the palms to the sky. Keep the tailbone descending, draw the deep belly in and up. Beautiful. And if you feel for it, you can welcome a little bit of a backbend through the mid and upper back. Another breath or two here, rising through the heart. And then inhale, we'll just draw it back to neutral and exhale. Start to ease to the right. You can keep the hands clasped where you can hold opposite wrist as Lori is demonstrating. Whatever feels better. Breathing into that left side body starting to open and lengthen through the waist and rib cage. Let the inhale draw you back up to center and exhale. Simply shift to the other side. Keep grounding down through the right foot, breathing through the whole right side body. Another breath or two here.

And then inhale back to center. And with the exhale, simply release the arms, shake it out a little bit, roll the shoulders if that feels good. And then again, home to Tadasana. Bringing the hands to prayer at heart center for Samasthiti variation. Pausing here, together through the nose, take a big inhale, grounding through the feet. Exhale. And then inhale, reach the arms out and up. And exhale, bow out and down, moving into Surinamaskara A. Inhale to lengthen halfway. And with the exhale, hop or step back and lower knees or Chaturanga Dandasana. Inhale, Cobra Up Dog. And exhale all the way back, Downward Facing Dog. For this first cycle of full five breaths, really give yourself time to sink into it, to settle and to continue opening through the whole back body. For three. And two. And at the bottom of your exhale, just a soft bend in the knees, hop or step to the front of the mat. As you arrive, inhale, lengthen halfway. Exhale, deepening into the fold. With the inhale, rise all the way up, reaching it out. And with the exhale, just tracing the midline hands to prayer, heart center. Two more like that. Inhale to reach out and up. Exhaling bow out and down. Inhale, halfway lengthen. And with the exhale, root the hands, hop or step back and lower as you choose. With the inhale, let the heart rise, shoulders way down the back. And with the exhale, returning to Downward Facing Dog. With this cycle, three breaths, grounding through base of thumb and first finger, rolling the shoulders away from the ears, lengthening up through the sit bones as you send the heels towards the earth. One more breath. And at the bottom of the exhale, soft bend in the knees, hop or simply step to the front of the mat. Inhale to lengthen halfway. And exhale, bow and fold. Strong center. Inhale, rise all the way up, reaching it out. And with the exhale, hands home to the heart. Go ahead once again. Inhale to reach. Exhaling bow. Halfway, hands on earth or shins, lengthen, rooting the hands, hop or step back. Exhale as you choose, maybe even skipping a vinyasa. Inhale, lift the heart and exhale all the way back. Three breaths, long spine. Feeling the energy begin to rise, feeling the warmth start to move through the body, opening it all up. And at the bottom of the exhale, soft bend in the knees, hop or step to the front of the mat. Inhale to lengthen just halfway. And exhale, bow and fold. Strong center, flat back. Inhale, rise all the way up. And with the exhale, hands to prayer, heart center. Go ahead directly into Surya B, bending the knees. Inhale, Utkatasana. Exhaling, bow and fold. Inhale, halfway, root the hands, hop or step back. Exhale to lower as you choose. Inhale, lifting the heart and exhale all the way back. Inhale, take the right leg to the sky. With the exhale, step that right foot forward, root the back heel down to the earth, rise on the inhale, warrior one, Virabhadrasana A. Palms open or press and always feeling free to gaze wherever your neck feels happy. It could be straight ahead of the horizon or up past the thumbs, whatever you feel for. This first cycle is intentionally slow, another three breaths here, just easing into it. Right ribcage back, left forward, tailbone descending, belly rising. Beautiful, really strong. Let's stay for the inhale. And with the exhale, release the hands to the earth, step directly into plank, take the Vinyasa or press directly back into downward facing dog. Left leg, inhale to the sky. Exhale, step it forward, grounding down through the back heel. Inhale, warrior one, second side.

And again, just breathing into it, being with it. Notice what's present in your body in this moment, making those subtle adjustments, deepening into the alignment. Yes, good, another breath or two. And we'll stay for the inhale. With the exhale, release hands to the earth, step straight back into plank pose, lower knees or chaturanga. Inhale, cobra or up dog and exhale all the way back, downward facing dog. Taking just a couple breaths here, kind of settling in, reconnecting with your center, with your intention and then intentionally building the pace. Feel free to slow it down. Feel free to skip Vinyasa's. Always what works in your body. Here we go. As you're ready, inhale, right leg to the sky. Exhale, step it forward, root the back heel. One inhale to rise, warrior one. One exhale, hands to the earth, step back and lower. Inhale, cobra, up dog. Exhale all the way back, down dog. Inhale, left leg to the sky. Exhale, step it forward, root the back heel. Rise on the inhale. Release, exhale, hands to the earth, step back and lower. Inhale, scoop the heart up and exhale all the way back, down dog. Again, inhale, right leg lifts. Exhale, step it forward, ground the back heel. Rise on the inhale and release. Exhale, step back and lower. Inhale to lift the heart and exhale all the way back, left leg. Inhale, reach. Exhale, step it forward, root back heel, warrior one. Inhale and release. Exhale, step back and lower. Inhale to the back bend. Exhale all the way back. One last cycle or feel free to rest. Right leg, inhale up. Exhale, step it forward, root the back heel. Inhale, warrior one. Exhale, hands to the earth, step it back, wash it all the way with the vinyasa. Meeting in down dog. Last one, inhale, left leg. Exhale, step it forward, root the back heel. Warrior one on the inhale and exhale, release, hands to the earth, step it back, vinyasa of your choice and then meeting in downward facing dog. We'll pause here for a full five breaths. If for any reason you'd like to release down into child's pose, always feel free. Couple more breaths. Again and again, coming home to center, reconnecting with your breath, with your intention. Then in a moment, moving into our first standing sequence, we'll lead with the right leg on the inhale, take it up and back. Pausing this time with the exhale, go ahead and let the hip open, bending the knee, sending left heel towards the earth. Beautiful. Breathing into that outer right hip, breathing into the back of the left leg.

Enjoy that. And then inhale, reach it straight up. And with the exhale, simply step the right foot forward, spin the back heel down. Warrior two, inhale, left arm forward, open and back. Virabhadrasana B. Nice. Full five breaths here, just sitting down into it, melting from shoulders to tailbone and lifting from the belly up through the heart. Steady, steady mind. Nice. And then big inhale, reverse your warrior, reach it back and just go as far as feels good. Left hand to left leg above or below the knee or left arm crossing in front of the body as Lori is demonstrating. Always a variation that serves a couple more breaths. And then with the inhale, draw it back into your warrior two. And with the exhale, begin to lengthen that right leg, reaching out and down into Trikonasana. And feel free to inch the back foot forward or the front foot back if you need to adjust the stance. Rooting the right hand on the earth or the ankle or as Kelly is demonstrating, it's always super sweet to find a block here. Variation that feels good. All right. Moving into an adjustment. Sending tailbone to heel, opening heart to sky and also extending the heart out. Beautiful.

Another breath. And then we'll keep this foundation. Take a big inhale. And with the exhale, wrap the left arm behind the back. You might find the hip crease. You might rest your hand on your low back or your left hip and then begin to turn the gaze down to the earth, inching the back foot forward, transitioning towards artichandrasana or half moon. That right hand on the earth or on the block. Once you feel really steady and strong, the left arm can stay where it is, or you can reach the left arm straight up to the sky. Yes. And then if you feel really steady and grounded here, Lori's going to transition into chapasana, left hand holding left foot. If you feel for it, let's give this three, four, even five breaths. Just kind of settling in as Kelly is demonstrating that back leg and the full extension is really strong, awake, active, pressing out through the heel. The whole torso is rolling open. Heart is reaching to the sky. Another breath. And as you're ready on an exhale with a strong center, transitioning all the way back into your warrior to take your time, reconnecting down through the feet, just feeling into that foundation. Arms extending wide, heart wide open. Beautiful. Just one inhale to reverse, reaching it back. And with the exhale, hands to the earth, step back into plank pose. Optional vinyasa will meet in downward facing down. Give the body a moment again and again, gathering the energy, coming back to your breath. And as you're ready, inhale, take the left leg to the sky with the exhale, opening the hip, bending the knee, pressing the hands deep into the earth. So the upper body is really strong and supported breathing into that outer left hip as well as the back of the right leg. One more breath here and then inhale, sweep it straight up. And with the exhale, step the left foot forward, spin the back heel down to the earth, warrior two, second side, wide open. Take your time in it, just sinking down into the pose, building the strength in the legs, building the heat in the body. Yeah. Shoulder soft, gaze steady. With your next inhale, reverse, reaching it back. And again, remember the variations. Hand can be on the leg above or below the knee, no pressure on the knee joint itself or the arm crossing in front of the body. One more breath here. And then inhale to rise, returning to warrior two. And with the exhale, lengthen that left leg, reaching out and down, asana, triangle pose, adjusting the feet as needed. You want a really stable foundation here. Hand to earth, ankle, shin, or again, please feel free to use that block. The legs are strong, the heart is rolling open and reaching out in that whole circle of the ribcage rolling up towards the sky. One more breath. And then we keep this foundation really big inhale with the exhale, wrap the right arm behind the back, finding the hip crease, the sacrum or the hip, and then turning the gaze down to the earth, begin to shift that back foot forward, take the gaze forward. And as you're ready, artichandrasana, hand on the earth or the block, keeping that arm bound or hand to the hip or arm to the sky. Yeah. If you feel steady and grounded here, moving into chapasana, second side, taking hold of that foot. And then again, if the leg is extended, feel that strong line of energy pressing all the way out through the heel, it will help your balance. Another breath or two. Re-engaging through the center to support the transition. As you're ready, exhale, float it back into warrior two and just take your time. Feel the feet reconnect down into the earth. Really steady here. Good. With the next inhale, reverse reaching back and with the exhale, hands to the earth, step back into plank pose, knees or chaturanga, cobra or up dog and exhale all the way back. Downward facing dog. Beautiful. Together through the nose, take a big inhale and release out the mouth. Exhale. With the next inhale, taking the right leg straight up and back, fairly neutral through the hips. With the exhale, step the right foot forward between the hands and coming up on the inhale to a high lunge. Strong through the legs for now any variation with the arms and the hands. Just establishing that steady balance and then keep this for your inhale and with the exhale, draw the arms out to the side in cactus.

Feeling a sense of lifting from the back of the heart up and through, supporting that with a really strong center. Nice. Give this a couple more breaths, just easing into it. And then foundation stays steady with the inhale, reach the arms straight up and with your exhale, just take the hands to prayer at your heart center. Good. Another lift. Inhale from the belly up through the heart. Exhale into your twist, taking the elbow outside of the knee, keeping the back leg strong. And here's where you can start to play with different variations. You might stay exactly where you are, hands in prayer, moving into the twist or as Lori's going to begin demonstrating, you can ease that left hand down to the earth outside of the right foot and reach right arm to sky. Beautiful. Let's keep this for a few breaths. If at home you want to take it even deeper, you might move into the full or half bind. One more breath. Foundation stays strong with the inhale, take it back up into your high lunge. So you're unwinding from the twist directly back up to center line. And then with the exhale, simply release the hands down either side of the front foot. We'll pause here and step the back foot in quite a bit in preparation for pyramid. Pretty short stance. And then right foot is barely right of center, left is barely left of center. Give your hips some breathing room. Hands on the earth or blocks as Kelly is demonstrating, just neutral. Let's inhale, lengthen out through the heart. And then with the exhale just deepening down into the fold. Yeah. Gazing at the base of that right big toe or up towards the navel, whatever feels better for your neck. Breathing into the back of that right leg and continuing to lengthen the spine. One more breath. And then start to move this into twisting triangle.

The left hand can be inner or outer edge of the front foot on the earth or on a block. The right hand can come to the right hip and just for a moment, draw that hip back as the heart extends out. Feel that length in the spine. Then with the inhale, begin to reach right arm to the sky. Keep the back leg really strong. Heel anchoring towards the earth. And as the heart reaches open and up, it also reaches out. A few more breaths. I will keep this for the inhale. And with the exhale, simply release hands to the earth, either side of the front foot. Let's give the body a breath with a neutral spine. And then nice and easy. Inhale just about halfway up, bending the front knee. Exhale, simply step the left foot to the back of the mat again in preparation for lizard. We're coming down towards the earth. So the back knee lowers. And then we start to walk the hands down inside of the front foot. Lots of variations in this pose. Go mindfully. If that right knee is really happy, really healthy, it can open out to the right a little as Lori is demonstrating. There's any tenderness, funkiness in the knee. You can keep it hugging in towards the body. And then with the upper body releasing down to forearms and elbows on the earth or on the blocks. And maybe if you want to take it a step deeper, the left forearm or the left hand can stay down. And the right hand can reach all the way back for the left foot, which Lori is moving into now. If you want to add that deep stretch through the left quad muscles, you're meeting your pose at your own edge. Beautiful and perfect just as it is. A few more breaths here. Being with it, letting it gradually shift. If you do have the back foot, let it go really gently. Yeah. And then from your fold inhale, start to walk the upper body back in and up. With your exhale, take the hands either side of the front foot, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee nice and strong through your center.

With your inhale, you're going to take your right leg back to the sky. Good. And then exhale, just kind of shake it out. Let it go. Let that hip release returning to down dog as you're ready. Pausing here if you'd like or clearing it out with a Vinyasa inhale to plank. Exhale, lower knees or Chaturanga. Inhale to Cobra up dog and exhale all the way back. Downward facing now. Second side, inhale, left leg directly up and back. Exhale, step it forward. Feel the earth, strong legs. Inhale, rise, high lunge. Just establishing the posture, the balance, the focus, any variation with the arms. Good. And then keep this for the inhale. And with the exhale, draw the arms out to the side, bending at the elbows for cactus shape. Beautiful. And maybe there's that slight lift from the back of the heart up and through. Nice. As you're ready, inhale, just lift the arms. With your exhale, take the hands to prayer at the heart center. A little more lift. Inhale, rise from belly to heart. And then exhale, twist, hooking the elbow outside of the knee. And again, lots of variations. Maybe you stay right where you are, just feeling into that. Maybe the right hand starts to release down outside of the left foot and the left arm reaches to the sky. Yeah. And of course, if you want to play with the fuller of the half bind, feel free. Give this just another breath or two, really wringing things out internally, lengthening and stimulating the spine. We'll stay for the inhale. Just ground on the exhale. And then with the next inhale, unwinding, coming all the way back up into your high lunge. Beautiful. With the exhale, release the hands down either side of the front foot. And then just step the back foot in quite a bit, shortening the stance for pyramid. Give hip space, sprout through the feet, hands on the earth or the blocks. And then again, once you're rooted, inhale to lengthen the spine and exhale, deepening into the fold, gazing at the base of the big toe or up towards the navel, breathing into the back of that left leg. Ah, the hips are neutral here. Slight drop of outer right hip, slight lift of outer left hip. One more breath. And then moving slowly into twisting triangle, right hand inner or outer edge of that front foot on the earth or on the block at any height. And then we'll take that left hand to the left hip, hooking the thumb into the hip crease, drawing it back as the heart goes out. And then taking the twist all the way up through mid and upper back, left arm to the sky. The back leg is strong. The heel is rooted supporting the opening of the upper body. Couple more breaths. And we keep this for the inhale.

Just gently release both hands down either side of the front foot and give the spine a moment. Just neutral for a breath. As you're ready, inhale, lengthen a little, beginning to bend the front knee and exhale, step the back foot towards the back of the mat and preparation for lizard, releasing the back knee down and then moving into it. Hands inside of the front foot. This is a whole new knee. So really mindful if there are any different issues on this side, knee hugging in or opening out, stay up on the blocks or release down to the earth. If that's enough, let it be enough. If you'd like, left hand comes all the way back for that right foot to add the quad stretch. And then again, we just be with it. Breathe into it. Feel what's there. Give it your awareness. Give it your breath. Three, two. If you have the back foot, very gently let it go. And then from the fold, inhale, tucking the upper body back in and up. Exhale, hands either side of the front foot, tucking the back toes, lift the back knee strong through your center with your inhale, take your left leg back to the sky and then just kind of shake it out. Let it go. Release a bit. We'll meet in downward facing dog as you're ready. Again, feel free to just pause here or inhale forward to plank using the vinyasa to clear it out. Exhale to lower. Inhale, cobra up dog and exhale all the way back, downward facing dog. Let's pause, take a big inhale through the nose and let it go out the mouth. Giving the body just another breath or two here. And as you're ready at the bottom of the exhale, soft bend in the knees. You can hop or simply step through to sit for dandasana, seated staff. The legs extending straight out, hands rooting just outside of the hips or if the arms are longer than torso, you can always walk your arms back, press through the hands there so the shoulders don't press up into the ears. Nice. Also, if the back body is tight, you can prop up on a blanket. Spine is tall, legs are awake, shoulders releasing down the back, gazing at the tip of the nose, the top of the thighs, or you might just close the eyes as we find the earth and reconnect. The whole body engaged. And then as you're ready with the inhale, lift the arms up alongside the ears and with the exhale folding forward into Paschimottanasana, seated forward fold. Many variations here. You're welcome to hold the big toes or the feet as Laurie is demonstrating or you can always take a soft bend in the knees and take hold of the shins if there's any tenderness in the low back, really tight hamstrings. About five breaths here. Breathing into it, letting each breath deepen the pose. And we'll give this one more breath.

And then keeping whatever grip you have with the inhale, just lengthen halfway up. Then with the exhale, release the grip and we'll shift into Baddha Konasana, drawing the legs in, taking the soles of the feet together. Thumbs, inner arch of the feet, fingers wrapping around, kind of rooting down, nestling into the foundation. We'll take a big inhale to lengthen and with the exhale, fold forward. All right, to let the back round and the head fall. If you have a block handy, resting the forehead on the block can be extremely releasing, relaxing for the neck. And then if you are in that rounded fold, lengthen as much as possible from the low back up and out of the pelvis, let the rounding come from the mid and the upper back. The legs, the hips have worked hard for you in this practice, giving them a moment here to kind of release and open. A few more breath. Yeah, and then nice and easy as you're ready with your inhale rising all the way back up. And then exhale, you can draw the hands outside of the legs and take the knees together. And then just gently transitioning all the way down onto the back. And as you land, hug the knees in towards the chest, wrap your arms around your legs, give yourself a little hug, rocking side to side, releasing the low back a little. Just going to reengage through the core, contact those abdominal muscles, make sure they're engaged before we transition into back bending. The legs stay lifted kind of into a chair shape. And then we press the hands into the thighs, the thighs back into the hands. You can make this as intense as you choose, as is or lifting just slightly through the tailbone, drawing the deep belly in and out, maybe even lifting the head and the shoulders and we'll hold for three, engaging through the center to and exhale, release feet to the earth, arms rest alongside the body. Take a big inhale into the belly and exhale, let it go. Take our first back bend together, very simple, gentle bridge. So grounding through all four corners of the feet, scoop the tailbone, lift the hips, the arms can stay at rest or the hands can or lace under the body. And if you'd like a block under your sacrum for a really restorative bridge, always feel free to take it. And then we'll breathe here, opening through the heart, the solar plexus, the belly, the hip flexors, even down into the quad muscles for three. If you are content here, especially if you're on a block, please stay here. Maybe a more restorative nourishing backbend is what you need in this practice. Otherwise, gently remove the block and release all the way back to the earth. Take a breath here and then we'll rise again into bridge, pressing through the feet, scoop the tailbone, inhale, lifting through the hips. Again, arms at rest or hands clasp, kind of crawling those shoulders in and under, maybe for the second expression of backbending, getting a little deeper, letting the hips rise a little more, really strong through the legs, more opening through the whole front body for three, two. If the hands are clasped, release the arms out to the side, melt from the top to the bottom of the spine, back down to the earth. And again, take a breath, let the body settle. Stay with your bridge with or without the block or setting up for full irvedaniarasana. Hands come under the shoulders, pressing down through the feet, really strong through all points of contact with the earth. And as you're ready, inhale to rise. Yes, beautiful. Bring some awareness into your feet, if possible, opening out through the heels, toes in a bit, legs really strong, wide open, breathing into it, three, two, coming down whenever you need to. And with the exhale, just release. When you do land, take the soles of the feet together, let the knees ease out to the side, take the right hand of the heart and the left hand to the belly, really soft gaze or close the eyes and feel that sweet rise and fall of the breath. Beginning to slow the practice down, beginning to integrate and settle. Feel all the energy generated through the flow, through the deep back bending, and let it move through the whole body. One more breath. And then gently we'll draw the knees together, hug the legs in towards the chest, rocking yourself a little side to side. And then to counter that deep back bending, we're moving into a twist. You might keep the legs as is, as Kelly will demonstrate, you might wrap the left leg over the right as Laurie is demonstrating. And then with the exhale, just let the legs fall to the right, reach the left arm out to the left, let the left shoulder be heavy, countering the movement of the legs and the hips. And then the breath moves down the length of the spine, deep into the low back and the sacrum. And just savoring this to engage the center a little bit with your inhale, draw the knees back towards the midline. And then just scooch the hips over to the right, just a little if you have a bind through the legs, take the other leg on top and then gently exhale, let them fall to the left, reaching out through the right arm, heavy through the right shoulder and let the breath move down the spine, deep into low back and sacrum. Yeah, three more breaths or if you can stay longer, enjoy this as long as you'd like. As you're ready, inhale, draw it back to center, the legs are crossed, let them unwind and then exhale, hug the knees in towards the chest again, rock a little side to side and then a slow mindful transition into shoulder stand. If this is not a part of your practice, you're welcome to just come to the wall, take the legs up the wall, otherwise we'll show you a couple variations. Kelly's going to use a block under the sacrum and then once that's really steady and rooted and this can be at any height, the legs just come directly up to the sky. So you're getting the benefits of the inversion with way less intensity. This is a beautiful option if there are any issues, tenderness in the neck or if you just like something a little bit more subtle and restorative. Lori has set up with two blankets that stop right at the edge of her shoulders. So her arms, shoulders, very, very, very upper back are on the blankets while her neck is clear and you're able to see that allows for the natural curvature of the neck, keeps it healthy and happy for many, many years of practice. The legs reach from there, we're pressing through the balls of the feet, deep, full breath, enjoying the sweet benefits of inversions for five, four, three, two, depending on what variation of the pose you're in, easing out of it really slowly and mindfully. If it feels good, you might take halasana plow just for a breath or two to transition down. If you have the block under the sacrum, slowly release the feet and then lift the hips to remove the block before you come all the way to the earth. Take your time transitioning out of all inversions and then gradually as you do release back to the earth, take a moment, neutral spine just kind of settle and reconnect and we'll take happy baby has a final soothing release hugging knees into chest, taking hold of the feet or the ankles might keep this neutral. You might let the body rock a little side to side. You might even play with kind of lengthening one leg out and then the other. It's really all about what feels good here and whatever you intuitively need before your final rest, right? So if your body's calling out for something that I haven't offered, please listen to that. Take it, do what feels good. Another breath or two and as you're ready with an exhale releasing into shavasana.

Legs extend and gently roll open from the hips, the arms rest alongside the body, palms roll open to the sky. If you prefer, if you have any tenderness in the low back, you might keep the knees bent feet wide on the earth and just let the knees drop in towards each other. Take the shavasana that's best for your body and once you've made contact with the earth and surrendered all sense of effort, let the physical body release, invite the mind and the heart and the subtle body to release. And just one last intentional breath together to facilitate one more layer of letting go. So gently through the nose, we'll take a big inhale just for a moment holding that breath in and then opening the mouth, exhale, offering it all the way, letting yourself truly rest. All the way through the mouth.