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Season 1 - Episode 5
Description
In Day 2, we build on yesterday’s work adding standing poses as well as balancing in Tree Pose, to remind us to come back to center when we waver. In our meditation, Margi asks us to set an intention for this 7-day course, to normalize the natural fluctuations of the mind, and to keep bringing the attention back to the breath.
The homework for this course is cumulative, so in Day 2 Margi asks us to again notice our breath 3 times throughout the day, and to also sprinkle our intention for this course into other part of our lives and see how it can affect whatever we do.
What You'll Need: Mat, Blanket (2)
About This Video
Jan 01, 2020
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Transcript
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Chapter 1
Welcome back. Day two. Good track record so far. Let's start by listening to the sound of the bell again and inevitably things will happen while I ring in the sound of the bell. You might remember about an email you were supposed to write or somebody might come clonking into the room but see if you can just let everything exist and at the same time highlight your attention to listening to the sound of the bell from the beginning to the end. Deepen your breath. If your eyes are closed gently open your eyes. So as you're ready reach your arms up, big breath in and as you exhale pull the hands to heart center. Again breathing, moving, moving meditation. Exhale hands come to heart center and one more time inhale free in the arms long in the spine as you exhale hands come to heart center. Great. We'll review the six motions of the spine from hands and knees. So again shift onto your hands in your knees. You're welcome to put a blanket underneath your knees if they're at all sensitive. Rooting clearly through your hands index fingers pointing straight forward and then reach back a bit through your toes then back bend lifting the head and the tail with an inhalation and as you exhale press into the floor around your spine dropping the head and the tail. Inhale open into the back bend there's a little pause and as you exhale round your spine. Just one more like that inhale and exhale and then we'll come into a neutral spine and we'll do the same twist as yesterday with an inhalation left arm goes up and as you exhale thread the left arm under take a deep breath in here as you exhale rotating perhaps a bit more. One more inhale and as you exhale come back onto hands and knees for the second side. Inhale the right arm rises and as you exhale thread the right arm under take a deep breath in here a smooth exhalation another inhale and then as you exhale come back onto your hands and your knees right leg goes back toes onto the mat and then take your right leg across your midline and look over your left shoulder side bending. Breathing in here and breathing out and then come back to the center keep your right leg back still we're going to shift the left arm reach it forward and float the right leg up about parallel to the ground. Feel here a connection from around your belly button deep core to the left fingers and to the right heel and then as you exhale bring your hand down bring your knee down second side left toes find the mat and then take your left leg across your midline look over your right shoulder opening through the left side waist each rib opening even the left side of the neck open continuing to find the breath any moment and then bring the hand the leg back float the leg up about parallel to the ground and reach your right arm forward. You can find a connection between the length through the right fingertips and the length back through the left heel and then bring your hand down bring your knee down we'll walk the hands forward about three inches tuck the toes and revisit our downward facing dog lifting the hips up and back. As you inhale feel the hands pressing into the mat and as you exhale so you can sink the center of your heels in the direction of the mat they probably won't reach but they're going in that direction again inhale pressing the hands and exhale lengthening back through the heels then the crown of the head will glide forward to bring you into plank position as you exhale let your legs pull you back into downward facing dog again like that inhale plank position see if you can roll your inner arms that's your biceps forward and then keep them somewhat forward as your legs pull you back into downward facing dog one more time like that inhale brings you to plank position and exhale inner arms stay forward as the legs pull you back into downward facing dog from here we'll walk the hands back to the feet letting the knees bend and holding on to the elbows here we'll first just sway from side to side a couple of times when you sway to the left the right back gets longer when you sway to the right the left side of the back gets longer and then settle right in the center from here we'll drop the arms roll up feeling that you have something heavy in your back pockets as you roll up bone-by-bone the arms passive like a ragdoll and coming all the way up to stand we'll turn the palms to face out and do our couple of half sun salutations with an inhalation reach up as you exhale open the arms fold forward it's always a good idea to bend your knees folding forward if you feel tight in the back or the hamstrings inhale lengthen your spine the hands gently resting onto the shins as you exhale fold feeling the weight of your head as you inhale come all the way up to stand feel the arms make a big circle to reach to the sky exhale hands to heart center and down to your side two more inhale exhale we fold inhale we lengthen exhale release the spine over inhale feel the feet pressing down as you come up feel your hands meet at the top exhale hands to heart center this last one I'm gonna be quiet seems really listen in and feel your breath okay the next pose that we're going to do is tree pose it's a balancing pose you're welcome to put your hand onto a wall or we'll do a version that doesn't take too much demand as far as balance goes but start by feeling your two feet firmly rooting into the ground let's bring the hands onto the pelvis and then bend your right knee and let your right leg rotate out only as much as it will go without pulling the right half of the pelvis back the pelvis stays in mountain pose the right thigh rotates to the side and then press your right heel into your left low shin and feel the left leg very firm that's the trunk of the tree you're welcome to stay right here slip the foot up onto your calf you can actually put it anywhere along the leg maybe best not to put it right on the knee because the knee is you want to keep it the structure up and down but if you would like to pull the foot up higher you could bring your foot up into your inner thigh and then bring your hands to prayer feel your left outer hip hugging in towards the right foot and the right foot pressing back into that leg and I kind of like a tube of toothpaste the right foot pushes in the left leg pushes in also and the spine lengthens in return and then bring your knee forward and step down feel the joy of having two legs underneath you take a breath in as you exhale hands to the hips bend your left knee rotate it out it'll probably go somewhere in the diagonal depends on the shape of your hip socket how far out it will go somewhere in the diagonal and then you can decide whether to keep your toes on the ground or to slide your foot up the leg we'll join the hands and again feel that union of right right leg coming in left foot coming in that joining together creating a length that goes all the way up as if it pierces up through the crown of the head and now staying in the tree pose it's fine to fall over it's fine to wobble this pose is designed to bring you to knock you over but you just come back come back find the breath find your roots and then we'll bring the knee forward and put the foot down from here step your feet wide more or less feet underneath the wrists that can be kind of a rule of thumb measurement but of course we all have different length of limbs but pretty wide with the feet and then the pose that we did yesterday the wide-footed forward bend press Sarita padottanasana it's called in Sanskrit Sanskrit press your pelvis down lift your chest up take a breath in with strong legs as you exhale come halfway forward inhale here sensing the length of the spine and legs and as you exhale fold releasing the spine letting the weight of the head descend down shifting from side to side trying to keep the pelvis low and level so you could serve a little cup of tea on your sacrum without it your sacrum here in the lower back without it tipping and then come to the center and just take your hands and walk them forward any amount forward so you get length in the spine the spine looking something like downward-facing dog as the legs continue to be in the spread open pose we'll walk the hands back and then onto the hips and with strong legs inhale come all the way up and we'll step the feet together when you have your feet in mountain pose they can either be all the way together or a couple of inches apart whichever makes you feel more stable we do a couple more standing poses that begin with the legs out wide so come back into the wide stance first one we'll do is warrior two so from the very top of the right leg turning have your toes point straight towards the short edge of the mat and then as you inhale reach your arms up look at your right knee and have it track right over the center of the right heel so the shin ends up perpendicular to the ground let your eyes rest over your middle finger and feel the roots of your feet and the lightness up through your spine and the crown of your head and then of course the breath holds our attention in the posture with your next exhalation straight in your front leg relax your arms turn your right toes forward and in just a little bit and the whole left leg turns out inhale extend your arms again look at the left knee and guide it right over the center of the left heel see if you can feel a little sense of weight dropping down through your right sitting bone and length up through the very deep core of the body the eyes rest over the left middle finger and fill the pose with your breath with your next inhalation straighten your front leg relax your arms we'll turn the left toes forward and slightly in the right toes out this is side angle it starts like warrior two so extend your arms and then as you exhale bend your front knee from here the pelvis tips over the thighs place your right forearm onto the ground if you are a very mobile person you might bring your hand to the ground but otherwise forearm onto the ground I mean forearm onto your thigh turn your belly up towards the ceiling and then reach your left arm up towards the ceiling turn the palm and reach your arm up and over your ear two deep breaths inhale exhale the chest turns inhale and exhale and with your next inhalation come all the way up relax your arms right toes turn forward and slightly in left leg turns out inhale expand your arms exhale Virabhadrasana or warrior to take a breath in and again the legs stay stable the pelvis tips form to the thigh or hand to the ground and then the other arm goes up the palm turns and reach up and over extended side angle it's got a great name you want to extend from the rooting of your right foot through each fingernail breathing in exhale the belly turns inhale and exhale with your next inhale come all the way up turn your left toes forward we'll step the feet together mountain pose okay so I'm going to step back to the front of the mat do part of a half sun salutation so the arms go up we fold forward always fine to bend the knees root your hands and then step back into your downward facing dog breathe here come to plank position and then we'll lower again you can either lower with straight legs or bring your knees to the floor first lowering down onto your belly we're going to slide the elbows forward so the elbows are right underneath the shoulders forearms parallel to each other hands open like downward facing dog this is called sphinx pose the chest is open you want to lengthen really strongly the tailbone back towards the heels so you're not cramming into your low back just feel the openness of the front of the spine the front of the heart and then widen your elbows to the side stack your hands rest your head for a moment we'll roll over and do the my beloved inversion that we did yesterday today yesterday I used one blanket today I'm gonna use two blankets underneath the pelvis all of these poses that we do are to be played with and and explored no two days have to be the exactly the same from here I'm gonna bring one leg up and again it can be bent or straight the other leg comes up I try to leave my pelvis just resting down onto the block versus tucking the pelvis keep the pelvis resting the back of the pelvis resting onto the blanket roll the shoulders just gently under so again the collarbones chest are open and then just be here feeling whatever it is that you feel in this inversion bring awareness to the soles of your feet and then bend your knees and feel those soles of the feet meet the mat lift your pelvis slide the blankets out lower down and then just a couple wind shield wipers the knees from side to side and then come to the center give your knees a little hug into the chest take a breath in let's exhale with a sigh ha and then extend your legs if it's at all uncomfortable for you to extend your legs put some of your rolled blankets underneath your knees just be still here just for a moment before we start our meditation practice let your breath deepen bend your knees soles of the feet to the mat and roll over to your side and then press down into the ground coming up with a relaxed head soft heart and we'll find a seat now for our meditation practiceChapter 2
welcome to day two of our meditation practice I'm going to start today by asking you a question and just let the answer come to you you don't need to go out searching or grilling into your mind just see what see what arises why are you here what's brought you to do this seven-day committed practice the Buddha said first thought best thought so we'll just go with whatever came up for you and if you just don't know that's also fine if I feel like you just craft whatever came up for you as an intention a seed that you're planting into your practice for the rest of our time here together and then it goes on for the rest of your life also and like if you plant a apricot seed you won't get a cherry tree you get what you plant so it's really helpful to create intentions called we call it Sun Kalpa intention for the practice and that will help you guide your way through the practice and in turn through your through your life so just kind of honing in and of course the intention can change but for right now just make it a word or a short phrase like I'd like to feel more calm calm in my life for example I'd like to have more energy I'd like to be more compassionate or kind to others I'd like to be more gentle with myself these are just some examples yours can be anything there's no no wrong okay I'm gonna ask you to recall that intention so just remember it and then I just want to say you probably noticed in yesterday's meditation or if you've been meditating that the mind thinks and that's what the mind does just like fish swim your mind thinks so it's the most come to say the most common mistake in meditation to think that everything's gonna go blank and we're gonna be out floating on a cloud the truth is is that your mind can cultivate thoughts and will cultivate thoughts sometimes they come rapid-fire sometimes there's a little space between them but I just want to make sure that to normalize thinking for you so that you're not setting yourself up for failure if you think you're gonna just empty out completely and it be in some blissful state chances are that won't happen so back to the idea yesterday that I posed of radical acceptance as we sit today will anchor in the body anchor in the breath and then we'll just see where the mind goes sometimes it's kind of wild to watch the mind and where it where it goes and and it can take you on a journey all the while though we want to not let the journey get far away when you notice your thinking notice where it's going and then I'll remind you to come back to feel your body and feel your breath so if you haven't already get into a comfortable seat that you can can be relatively still in for a few minutes and feel your roots what's touching the ground but the spine lengthen and feel some openness across the chest across the face across the shoulders anchor our mind in our into our body and since the breath is always rolling it can be a good focus to rest the attention on the breath and then we'll watch the thoughts percolate kind of like a bubble each thought as a bubble oh I'm thinking about the email I forgot to write oh I'm thinking about where I'm going tomorrow oh I'm worrying about this notice what comes up and then kind of like you can pop a bubble or it'll pop on its own let it go and come back to your anchor of the body breathing your thoughts are part of the meditation and there's richness in noticing them and with kindness guiding yourself back if your eyes are closed you can let them open thank you so day two off the mat first of all the homework is all cumulative so go backChapter 3
find your breath at different times in your day and I'd love to know how that went for you so if you want to write me a comment I'd love to hear please write down your intention that you created you can hone it or craft it or change it but write it down and you could post it onto wherever you spend most time if it's at your computer your kitchen or wherever it is just so that you remember it and see if you can kind of sprinkle it into other parts of your life can see how that goes for you sometimes it might not make sense to do that but you can play around a little bit and see how your intention can can affect whatever you do in your day remember to take your breaths especially when life starts to kick up and you feel a little anxious or things start to get hectic please find your breath remember your intention and enjoy your practice thank you so much for spending this time with me and I can't wait to see you tomorrow for day three namasteMindful Movement
Mention
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Margi Young (Teacher) |
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Sandra Židan |
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Cato V |
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Elizabeth H |
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Fabian H |
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Sally M |
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Glenford N |
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Charlotte M |
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Francie S |
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Corinne M |
Comments
Skip to Latest
Hi Margi. Today I flowed through the practice and meditated on gratitude. I was reminded of the Rumu quote ".first last outer inner only that breath breathing human being" Namaste
4 years ago
Hi Margi - I’m excited about this practice! I only remembered to do the breath homework at night when I was catching up on the news before bed. That proved to be a good time for some calming breaths after all.
4 years ago
Hello
I am enjoying your pace, language, and meditation practice. I feel more grounded when I am done. Thank you.
4 years ago
corinne Wow... doing breath work during the news is an advanced practice! Good job! Thank you for practicing. Margi
4 years ago
Francie Thank you. I am grateful that you wrote and that the practice is grounding you. YAY. We need that! Margi
4 years ago
Glenford Thank you for sharing the Rumi quote. He is so great. Take good care, Margi
4 years ago
Hi Margi. I'm now doing the "Move to Meditate" series, season 2 with Lydia Zamarano. Hope you're well and taking care of yourself. Namaste
4 years ago
Only day 2 but I just feel so centered and am excited about every new aspect - Just wonderful!
4 years ago
Glenford You are on a roll! So glad. I'm glad we are walking the path together! Margi
4 years ago
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