Experience the Practice

So let's start by sitting to the heels, knees about hip width apart, and take a moment, place your attention on your navel, the eyes can be slightly open or closed, tongue lightly touches your upper palate. Take one deep breath to the navel, exhale from the navel, and allow yourself to fold into child's pose, arms back, forehead can touch the floor, take one breath here, deep slow inhale to the navel, exhale fully, very slowly sweep the arms out in front, as we make our way into downward facing dog, the hands are shoulder width apart, the fingers comfortably spread, tuck your toes, and lifting the hips, begin to wake up your body, open up the backs of the legs, make a nice connection with the floor, through the palms, and warm up the lower body, lift the heels, open up the toes, the arches, put a little bend in the knees, wake up the ankles in the knees, slowly straightening the legs, spread the toes, and allow the toes to settle, relax the toes. You inhale, imagine that you're initiating the inhale from the palms, so the palms merge with the floor, draw the in breath in to the lower abdomen, and as you exhale from the lower abdomen, navel back, think legs, thigh bones back, heels towards the floor, inhale from the palms to the navel, as you exhale, follow the breath, navel back, exhale, think legs, legs, take one more breath here, deep slow inhale, the center of the body, navel gently expands, and as you exhale, the navel draws back, the outcome of the exhale is udiyana bhandha, legs, and the shoulders start to get a little tired, you can just shift in the plank, and this will give your shoulders a break, and when you shift in the plank, check in with the hands, make sure all the fingers are playing their part, if you tend to fall in on the shoulder blades, I want you to resist that, that mid space between the shoulder blades lifts up, navel is gently drawn in, after a breath or two here, work back into down dog, exhale fully, navel back, and then lifting the balls, the heels come up onto the balls of the feet, around the back, slowly we're going to lower ourselves all the way to the floor, allow the knees to touch the hips, the abdomen, as you point the toes back, you can reposition the hands if necessary, they're near the chest, and then as we make our way into an arch, up dog, inhale, now this is kind of like a combination of up dog and cobra, the knees can touch the floor, as the arms straighten, the heads the last to adjust, the neck and head slowly tip back, inhale, after you touch that, put a little bend in the elbows, take the weight into the palms, tuck the toes, exhale pull back into down dog, take one more in breath, deep inhale, exhale fully, heels lift, look the space between the hands, step the feet to the hands, lengthen, inhale, watch the back of the neck, keep lengthening the back of the neck, exhale, navel in, head in towards the shins, apply a little pressure to the feet, as you rise up, sweep the arms overhead, inhale, breathe all the way down to the feet, exhale slowly bring the hands down, head level, from here look down, take your toes out, heels out, toes out, heels out, the feet should be a little wider than the hips, as we work into udiyana bandha kriya, you're going to tip the head back, inhale, and let's ground down with one extra breath here, exhale slowly bring the hands down, head level, inhale, head back, arms are light, exhale, as you bring the hands down the center line, bend from the back of the knees, hands to the thighs, thumbs are on the inside of the thigh line, look into the navel, soften the navel, and then on empty without breathing navel back towards the spine, as you come out of this, don't allow the navel just to dump completely, release it just half way like you got a little invisible belt, so you stay on your center, you receive the in breath, inhale, and then exhale, bend from the back of the knees, hands to the thighs, relax the abdomen, chin in towards the throat, on empty, navel back, as you come up you just release the navel just slightly, rise up, relax the tops of your shoulders, head back, inhale one more, exhale all the way down, exhale completely, exhale the stronger the exhale, the more complete the exhale the deeper the udiyana, as you rise up, straighten the legs, head back, inhale, as you exhale the hands are going to dive down, about throat heart level you're going to shift your heels in, the hands turn, toes in, heels in, and you're going to go into a deep squat, as you drop into the squat you're going to lift the heels and you're going to place the hands flat, fingers turn back, if you have the opening the outer edges of the hands touch, if this isn't working you can separate the feet, if it's difficult to the squat with the feet closer together adjust when necessary, now we're going to do a funny breath here, it's an interesting breath it's called kakimudra, inhaling through the mouth, on the inhale, perch the lips and it's like you're drinking the breath, look up you seal the lips, eyes can close or they can just stay slightly open, exhale slowly draw the chin in towards your throat, at the end of that exhale the navel draws back, perch the lips inhale it's like you're drinking the breath through the mouth, inhale, hold it in seal, slowly exhale chin in, exhale fully, one more inhale, hold it in, as you exhale release the hands, feet together, fold in, exhale head in, navel in, as you rise up apply a little pressure to the feet, inhale, inhale, palms touch lightly, exhale slowly compress down, head level and we'll move into some side bends, right arm on the inside, left on the outside, when the hands touch bend at the elbows take the arms overhead inhaling, on the exhale as the hips shift to the left bend at the waist look down, exhale, inhale up as you get to the center line as you pass the center line switch the arms left and front of right exhaling begin to stretch through the arms, straighten through the elbows hips shift to the right look down bend to the left, two more rounds inhale up switch the arms right in front of left exhale straighten through the elbows exhale to the right look down inhale up elbows bend switch left in front of right as you shift to the left bend off to the left exhale look down straighten through the elbows, one more round inhale right in front of left exhale bend to the right look down one more round inhale switch left in front of right exhale to the left as you inhale the center balance the head watch the frontal ribs that you're not over projecting exhale the hands come down as they turn in at the heart space you're going to step the feet out slightly wider than the hips exhale fully as the arms come out we're going to intertwine the arms right elbow over left intertwine the forearms sharpen the tip of the right hand inhale fingers up as you exhale we're going to go into a deep squat exhale slowly squat draw the elbows in towards the navel exhale fully to release the arms and switch the arms you're going to come up a little in your stance just enough so you can stay in the legs and you can make space so you can switch the arms left over right intertwine inhale sharpen the left hand fingers up and then drop back a little deeper into the squat elbows pull into the navel exhale fully as you release the arms stay in the legs inhale rise up head back exhale palms down from here you're going to release the hands and they're going to rise up real lightly from the top of your wrist as they come up inhale inhale rise up about chest level fingers gently spread just a little space between the fingers and as you exhale you're going to drop into a nice squat we're going to be holding this for approximately one minute the arms reach out gently if your shoulders are up with the ears drop the shoulders down and then be in touch with your pelvis watch that the tailbone isn't sticking back it's not overly tucked you want to find that neutral position in your pelvis again shoulders relaxed and then breathing into this if you feel this in the knees definitely straighten the legs more you can be this deep you can be a little higher if you like but over time you'll drop in to a depth that feels right for you if you find that you're tipping too far forward into it you've gone too deep into it this will start to heat the body up deeply breathe through the navel exhale from the navel inhale to the navel exhale from the navel a few more breaths gaze is soft tongue lightly touches your upper palate one more inhale as you exhale release the hands slowly straighten the legs exhale fully you're going to look down and you're going to shift your right heel in from here step with the left leg left foot behind the right leg lift the back of your left heel as you drop into this stance this is a deep squat it's called Vani as you drop in it's a tight stance that back left knee just grazes the front calf as you drop in right elbow over left intertwine your forearms and drop into a depth that feels right for you again if you feel this in the knees you can come up if you find that you're tipping too far forward definitely adjust try to sit back to that heel without collapsing in the stance inhale to the navel exhale fully keeping the arms intertwined lift the elbows without taking the shoulders up to the ears one more breath exhale fully inhale release the forearms and as you come up slowly rise up exhale stay in the legs as you step the left foot out toes turn out right foot behind the left leg and again it's a tight stance watch that the foot's not too far back this front calf is in touch with a back knee it's much like Gomukhasana the seat as you drop into this stance left elbow over right intertwine the forearms tighten it up at the very end you're sitting back to the heel but you're not just collapsing into it when you get as low as you can go apply a little pressure through the soles of the feet this will help protect the knees it'll stabilize you as you inhale to the navel exhale from the navel the outcome of the exhale is udiana gently draw the navel back inhale exhale back inhaling exhale and last inhale as you release the arms stay in the legs exhale slowly release the arms step the right foot out feet together inhale and as you fold the hands can slide down the legs exhale uttanasana inhale bend the knees lift the left heel and with the right hand take hold of the left heel turn the left foot back this is known as the fifth position in ballet the knees bend once you set the feet up slowly straighten and make a connection from the head of the tibia the head of the shin bones down to the soles of the feet lengthen and then fold on the exhale take an extra breath inhale exhale look to the feet lift the left heel as you take the left foot back left hand to the right heel bend the knees turn the right foot back knees bend to position the feet conscious of your knees slowly straighten the legs inhale exhale fold take an extra breath deep inhale exhale fully navel back completed that breath lift the ball of your right foot pivot on the heel slide the right foot back to the left inhale lengthen out as you exhale fold in to rise up all you have to do is put a little pressure through the feet inhale up exhale palms down into surya namaskar from the warm-ups we go into the sun salutation inhale up palms together exhale slowly draw the hands down the center line towards your center as the hands pass the waist they separate from one another fold in exhale inhale bend the knees hands flat step back to plank exhale lower down chaturanga now allow the knees to touch lightly but don't leave the hips behind slowly slide into this as you shift forward onto the tops of the feet slide the hips forward to a comfortable point watch that you're not over hardening the glutes from the elbows make a connection to the palms arms are like pillars the head is last to adjust inhale then as you exhale put a slight bend in the elbows lower down to a comfortable point navel slightly back exhale back to down bottom broaden the tops of your shoulders check in with your hands keep the hands merging with the floor inhale to the navel exhale gudiana take one more breath here inhale and complete exhale legs think legs heels lift look to the space between the hands step feet to the hands feet together lengthen out inhale keep lengthen the back of the neck exhale fold apply a little pressure through the soles of the feet rise up inhale arms overhead head back palms touch slowly exhale the hands come down relax the frontal ribs so you're not over projecting the ribs the hands pass the waist dropping into utkatasana sit into this squat root your heels arms overhead inhale the hands touch look to the thumbs exhale pull the hands in towards the navel slowly straighten head in apply a little pressure through the feet rise up on the inhale arms overhead palms touch slowly exhale the hands come down palms down as we move into surya namaskar b sun salutation b knees bend utkatasana inhale arms overhead look to the thumbs palms touch exhale hands pull in folding uttanasana exhale knees bend hands to the ground step back plank chaturanga exhale lower knees can touch if necessary as you arch make your way into the tops of the feet arms straighten neck and head are the last to adjust inhale as you dip tuck your toes exhale pull back right foot steps up left heel lands into virabhadrasana one right knee bent at a right angle as you come up you're inhaling your arms come out and up in this first round let's hold for an extra breath or two palms can touch as you bend the right knee arms can straighten if you're comfortable with it the gaze can go to the thumbs take an extra breath inhale and as you exhale there's a little resistance as you come down this will keep you in the bones exhale all the way down hands meet the floor left leg straightens right leg back lower chaturanga again it's okay if the knees touch slide the hips forward looking down as you make your way into the tops of the feet arch the spine inhale tuck your toes dip take the weight into the palms pulling back exhale left footsteps up land the back heel bend the left leg as you rise up inhale sit into the hips hands are going to meet overhead again it's okay if the elbows touch as you set up for this if you're comfortable you can either look to the hands if not look straight ahead take an extra breath inhale slowly release down with the exhale exhale all the way down step back with the left leg from plank lower to chaturanga upward dog onto the tops of the feet as the arms straighten make a connection from the elbows to the palms back and head adjust last inhale dip exhale pull back to down dog take one breath here one long breath inhale fully exhale slow exhale lower abdomen draws back lengthen the waist down empty heels lift knees bend step the feet to the hands lengthen out inhale fold in exhale utkatasana knees bend root your heels as you squat arms come overhead palms touch use your legs slowly straighten the legs exhale fully watch the ribs the frontal ribs that you're not over projecting the ribs stay balanced in the feet round two inhale sit into it hands overhead inhaling match the breath with the movement exhale exhale bend in navel back now this is a short little inhale inhale just take what you need step back with the exhale chaturanga the breath gets a little longer inhale upward dog dip to a comfortable point exhale it's a longer exhale right foot up land the back heel Virabhadrasana one the hips are square as you come up I'm not leading with the head I keep the chin in and I rise up inhale inhale now right about here I start to drop the shoulders back down and back down head back palms touch exhale all the way down again there's a little resistance so help strengthen the bones step back legs are straight chaturanga upward dog inhale glide up dip tuck your toes pull back exhale on empty left foot up big step land the back heel hips are square as you come up inhale the long inhale inhale palms touch slowly exhale all the way down it's a long exhale step back you're empty rise up with the next inhale from chaturanga upward dog neck and head are the last to adjust inhale as you dip take the weight into the palms pull back exhale adjust on the inhale broaden the tops of the shoulders palms merge with the floor inhale exhale from the navel think legs thigh bones back inhale one more breath exhale on empty heels lift look between the hands step the feet to the hands lengthen fold exhale lutkatasana sink the hips root your heels arms come over overhead watch the shoulders relax the tops of the shoulders look to the thumbs straight arms exhale use the legs slowly straighten exhale fully one more round with the breath inhale sink into the hips palms touch follow the hands exhale straighten the legs fold into the legs inhale bend the knees palms flat step back plank to chaturanga exhale udvamukha upward dog inhale exhale pull back from your center pull back exhaling right foot up virabhadrasana one come up with the inhale touch overhead now on the exhale we're going to go into what I call the one inch lunge you're going to bring the hands down you're going to pivot the right leg stays the same you're going to pivot on this back foot so you come onto the ball of the foot the arms release downward gently and I call it the one inch lunge because you get the knee almost an inch above the floor you don't have to go all the way that to that level but listen to your body watch that you're not over projecting the ribs this is soft take an extra breath here inhale and then exhale release the hands to the floor step the right foot back chaturanga inhale upward dog exhale back tuck the toes pull back left foot up land the back heel virabhadrasana one inhale up the hands meet look up to the thumbs sink into the hips stay in the legs exhale fully and as we transition to the one inch lunge the hands come down all you do is pivot on the back that back right foot so you're on the ball of the foot and then lower to a degree that feels right for you stay upright with the upper body take an extra breath one more inhale and then as you exhale the hands meet the floor step back chaturanga watch that you're not collapsing in the shoulders inhale I'm okay if the knees touch as you shift forward on the tops of the feet the arms straighten the end of that is if your arms straighten if you feel good with it the knees can lift head back dip exhale back make the necessary adjustments check in with the tops of your shoulders the palms flat inhale to the navel exhale fully take one more breath deep inhale exhale fully heels lift lightly step feet to the hands lengthen inhale exhale fold then from the back of the knees root your heels abdomen off the thighs arms overhead inhale look to the thumbs use your legs exhale slowly straighten stay on your center hands come down slowly exhale from the sun's citations we're going to step the feet out hip width apart do two standing forward folds padangusthasana hands on the waist without over projecting your ribs all you're going to do is simply tip the head back inhale and hinging at your hips exhale fold as you fold slide the hands down and go for your big toes with the forefinger middle finger and thumb grab on the inside of the big toes once you catch the big toes lengthen out again watch the back of the neck avoid jamming the back of the neck work more on lengthening the back of the neck inhale lengthen the torso let your center take you in navel draws back exhale direct the crown of the head towards the floor take three breaths notice the tops of the shoulders if they're creeping in on the ears try to make space between the shoulders and the ears and be careful that you're not muscling this through the arms you're pulling with the two fingers but you're not pulling too much from the upper arm bones exhale fully one more breath inhale exhale soupta padangusthasana lengthen out inhale step on the hands now you're going to turn the palms up this is a great counter after you've done a number of chaturanga updogs palms face up try to get the feet fully on the palms of the hands if the knees need to bend you can bend the knees if you have the opening you can straighten the legs once you've set the hands apply a little pressure through the balls of the feet this will trigger the legs inhale and to make your way in all you have to do is bend at the inner elbows exhale fold inhale exhale take one more breath if you find that you're falling back into the heels apply a little more pressure to the balls of the feet exhale fully lengthen the spine on empty lift the spine inhale take the hands to the waist exhale and with a flat back all you have to do is apply a little pressure through the soles of the feet rise up inhale to standing exhale release the arms step the feet together and we'll go through some basic stances hands meet at the heart as the knees bend step back with the right foot into trikonasana feet at least three and a half no more than four feet apart arms are out exhale once you've created that extension I actually want you to take the hands to the waist and then adjust your feet right foot turns to the right heels line up the left foot turns in slightly release the hands from the waist and take the arms up shoulder height inhale now reach more through the inner arms exhale as we make our way in inhale reach out but watch that you're not over projecting this right side of the ribs reach out just enough so you can keep length them equal length on both sides of the torso the right hand is going to release to the ankle left arm is vertical if you find that the left side of the torso is humping up got to create more length on the right side the right hand of the ankle is key this will keep you in the bones it'll prevent hyper extension of the right leg look to the left thumb if you're comfortable with that gaze two more breaths inhale exhale one more inhale exhale as you come up apply just the right amount of pressure through the soles of the feet inhale up as the right foot pulls in turns in the hands to the waist exhale left heel in use your eyes to adjust the feet heels line up and then on the inhale the arms come up shoulder height watch that they're not up at the ears relax the shoulders then reach more through the inner arms as you reach out on the next in breath reach out you don't have to go too far out and just reach out to a comfortable point and allow that left hand to come down to the ankle and then right arm vertical gaze goes to the right hand inhale to your center exhale inhale exhaling rise up with the next inhale stay in the legs as you turn that left foot in hands to the waist exhale turn the right foot to the right pick up the back foot so you can square the hips there should be a thin line that divides the inner right foot with the back inner left heel hips are square as we move into twisting triangle arms out now I like to keep the head right over the hips avoid reaching out with the head here all you have to do is turn from the waist you inhale you inhale you inhale the twist is already happening and on the exhale the left hand is going to release to the floor for some of you the hand might go to the inner foot and go to the top of the foot eventually the hand meets the floor in the outer foot the right arm goes vertical and then I'm going to do a variation here where you actually look down to your left hand inhale to your center and watch my navel as I exhale the navel turns watch your navel feel the waist turn with the exhale take an extra breath inhale to your center exhale as you exit the right leg can bend this will protect the knee right knee as you come out turn this time keep the arms up left foot turns all the way to the left the left foot is straight you can pick up that back foot so you're able to square the hips again avoid leading with the head keep the head over the hips inhale turn from your waist and then exhale release the right hand to the floor inside of the foot top of the foot or the outside check in with the left arm avoid taking this arm too far back it should be vertical as you take the gaze to the right hand inhale and then from the navel exhale turn the waist inhale exhale as you exit left knee can bend inhale left foot in exhale hands to the waist take the feet a little wider as we make our way into parsvak konasana you're going to turn the right foot to the right it's a Virabhadrasana warrior two stance as you bend the right leg the right heel should intersect the left mid arch take the arms up inhale and as you exhale your right hand can meet the floor other variations include taking the right elbow right forearm to the right thigh or the right hand to the inside of the foot if you can make your way all the way down allow the left arm to straighten overhead create a nice clean angle from the outer left foot all the way to the left fingertips stay with your breath one more inhale exhale as you come out of this staying the legs inhale up straighten the right leg again you can take the hands to the waist as you set your base use your eyes left foot to the left as you bend the left leg check that your left heel intersects the right mid arch you sit into the stance arms can come up inhale and then release the left hand either to the inside of the foot outside or you can take the forearm to the thigh avoid allowing your left hip to kick out try to take the left hip in line with the left knee and then the right arm comes overhead there's a slight spiraling of this right arm so it keeps the right shoulder open gaze can come under come under the right arm looking up clean line from the outer right foot to the right fingertips stay with your breath one more inhale exhale fully come up slowly rise up stay in the legs left foot turns in and now we're going to go for the twisting version parts of Akonasana this is a variation we won't go for the full posture hips or squares of Virabhadrasana one stance as you bend the right leg left foot turns in deep back heel on the floor turn from the waist take your left upper arm bone back of the upper arm bone to the right thigh and then bring your palms to a prayer as you straighten through the forms make a connection from elbow to elbow turn from the waist keep the feet plugged in two to three breaths here stay in the legs breathe to your center one more exhale fully as you release come out slowly right foot turns in right left foot turns out again you can square the hips adjust the feet accordingly the right foot turns in this is a warrior one base again there's a thin line that runs from the inner left foot down to the inner right heel divides the feet as you bend the left leg take the upper right arm bone back of the arm bone to the left thigh palms meet forms together forms in one line three breaths stay in the feet inhale exhale one more inhale exhale as you release stay in the legs come out left foot in arms out feet parallel hands to the waist exhale fully now I'm going to turn around so you can see me in the front we're going to make our way and do a forward bend sequence prasarita padottanasana hands are on the waist legs are straight feet are parallel again without over projecting your ribs all you're going to do is tip the head back inhale and as you hinge at the hips make your way down release the hands to the floor exhale hands are about shoulder width apart fingers point forward exhale direct the top of the head towards the floor eventually eventually the top of the head will meet the floor elbows over the hands inhale reinforce your legs from the top of the shin bones down to the feet exhale fully lengthen out lengthen the spine out take your arms out nice a wingspan back of the hands to the floor inhale as you exhale from the navel let the neck and the head release exhale fully next inhale take your arms behind the back interlace the fingers I prefer to keep the heel of the palms together this will keep space between the scapula lengthen out inhale and as you fold make your way in release the neck and head exhale forearms heavy exhale as you inhale reinforce your legs think legs on the inhale focus more on the arms on the exhale one more breath inhale legs from the shins to the soles of the feet exhale forearms heavy take the hands to the waist rise up with the next inhale as you do so you're gonna suck your heels in exhale release the hands down and just a few more stances to finish this sequence as we drop into this we call deep pore stance you're going to drop into a deep pore stance heels in toes out hands come up to the heart turn the palms away exhale release the arms out it's called spreading your wings the arms are in line with your thigh bones if you press the walls away if the arms are in this position you'll tend to squeeze the shoulder blades you want to make space between the shoulder blades here bend at the wrist let's hold for a few breaths deep inhale exhale one more inhale exhale now stay in the legs bend at the elbows pull the hands in and release the hands to the thighs thumbs on the inside and you can come up a little bit for a moment give yourself a break and then drop back in now take your right shoulder forward this is a little twist it feels nice to take the right shoulder forward left back touch that and then pull the right shoulder back take your left shoulder forward exhale you'll get a little twist in the torso here what this is really setting you up is for the next move this is called Virabhadrasana mandala as you drop the right shoulder into this next move we're going to be making our way into Virabhadrasana as you drop the right shoulder and you're going to step your left foot out you're going to shift your right heel back bend the left leg till it's at a 90 degree angle the back leg straightens the right shoulder comes very close to the right knee left knee and then as you rise up with no hands you rise up into Virabhadrasana one the very top tip the head back and then on the exhale drop in as you drop down shoulder about knee level it's all footwork here right heel steps in left ball of the foot right ball of the foot steps out left heel shifts back you're in vira one on the right side now shoulder in towards the knee and then as you rise up it's all legs feel the power rise up legs waist spine neck and head are the last to adjust inhale and then we'll get a little rhythm happening here exhale drop in it's all footwork left heel right ball of the foot left ball of the foot right heel as you make your way into warrior one no arms inhale up handstand the thighs exhale make your way down right heel steps in the right leg bends left foot steps in right foot steps out now as you shift their left heel back that leg straightens rise up with the inhale power comes from the ground up inhale one more round exhale drop in left right ball of the foot left ball of the foot right heel shifts back inhale come up now this last round allow the hands take an extra breath exhale hands to the heart and then inhale take it up straight up inhale and then exhale release the hands back to the thighs left hand to the left thigh right hand to the right thigh footwork make your way to the other side square the hips rise up inhale stabilize exhale and then hands at the heart reach straight up from the heart space inhale stay in the legs head back exhale all the way down chaturanga hands meet the floor left leg straightens right foot back chat upward dog over the tops of the feet arching inhale head back tongue to the palate take the weight into the palms tuck your toes it's okay if the knees touch through these transitions pull back downward dog exhale fully inhale exhale fully udiana heels lift lightly step the feet to the hands lengthen inhale watch the back of the neck fold deeper on the exhale apply a little pressure to the feet use your bones for leverage rise up inhale exhale now I'm going to take a little deeper into the hips you're going to step the feet out about hip width apart just like prasarita parottanasana hands on the waist kick the head back in there exhale fold as you inhale lengthen the spine out lift the spine hands could be in touch with the floor and we're going to take the feet out as far as you comfortably can into what we call samah konasana samah means even kona means angle it's an even angle pose so the feet are parallel the wide splits now be conscious of your knees and the inner thighs to protect the inner thighs and the knees there's a slight grip in the quads this will help back up the inner leg line and from here get as low this first round I recommend going about 70% in you don't have to go all the way in 100% I actually don't recommend that if you feel comfortable with this you can do three push-ups like chaturanga like movements where you exhale down inhale up again exhale down you might find you get a little wider stay in the feet inhale up one more time exhale down you might find a little more depth inhale up if you're comfortable with this you can turn the hands back for a breath or two again keep the legs quads turned on stay with your breath inhale exhale keep the thumbs where they're at just turn the hands forward inhale exhale last one go a little deeper now as you press up I want you to slide the feet back in just a few inches and then we're gonna be turning into a lunge this is a nice lunge you're gonna turn the left foot way out you're gonna land the back knee and then we're gonna walk this right hand out at least two to three feet the back foot you're on the top of the back foot and once you've made enough space between the left foot and the right hand you're gonna release your hip into this it's a little lunge and then you get a little twist in here and you're gonna allow your left form to rest on the left thigh like so just take a breath or two here and to get to the other side tuck your back toes and work with the floor walk yourself over to the right side look to the right foot shift that right heel in land the right heel this foot turns out the right foot turns out as you land the back knee next step is to make just the right amount of space between the right foot and the left hand so you can release the left hip into this on the top of that back foot and just allow this hip to release into it you'll get a nice opening on the side of the left torso as you do so the right form rests on the right thigh and it's a breath or two here it should feel nice when you feel balanced on the side slowly come back to samo konasana if you want to open the hips I highly recommend repeating this sequence and this time you go a little deeper you might go 80 to 90 percent and some of you may be able to come to the forearms like so some of you may want to stay in the hands take a couple breaths and then we're going to make our way into a deeper hip opening known as hanuman asana hanuman is the monkey god and as you turn to the left there's some variations here if your body is not opening up to this position you may want to start with half a hanuman where the back leg is bent and you open up the front leg and this may be where many of you start off with over time as the hips start to open up you might find you get a little more depth you might find you get a little more depth keep the hips square over time you'll make your way in again I recommend initially not going a hundred percent in on the first round the ball of this front foot is not over hardened it's soft you reach through the heel and the back the hanuman really sets you up either for forward bends or backbends it's a nice kind of fork in the road will that will take you into either forward bends backbends or both some of you if you feel comfortable with it and you fully release into this you can tip the head back on the fingertips that's more of a back bend if you want to fold into the front leg you can exhale in from the navel and then we switch you come out tuck your back toes pivot stay in touch with the floor again level one back knee can be bent and just focus more on opening up the front leg without over hardening the ball of the foot stage two you go a little further about three quarters of the way in over time you can make your way fully into this again watch the ball of that front foot it likes to harden and that'll actually start to affect the planar fascia tendon and it will affect the whole leg line that runs up the back of the leg if that's too hard so you want to soften the ball of the foot hips are square if you want to touch the back bend aspect in Hanuman stay on the fingertips you can tip the head back and now if you want to go more into the forward bend you can exhale you can fold the last side I kept the hands pretty close right about here eventually you can reach out to the foot so there's variations here work with your body don't forget about your center keep the breath involved inhale exhale and then coming up last round samokonasana this one you're gonna get a little deeper now again the variations you can stay in your hands you can go to the forearms over time as your body releases into this you find your way into it fully you can lay your upper body to the floor and you can take the arms out palms face down stay with your breath after a few breaths hands underneath the chest come up we're gonna do one more Hanuman and you'll find this is something you can repeat we're just doing two rounds of the Hanuman and we did three rounds of samokonasana this can be repeated three to five sometimes ten times and you'll find each time you go and you get a little more depth and you don't have to spend long a long time in each position you can just as long as you have integrity of the breath you can be here one breath in now exhale fold in here tuck your back toes slide the right foot back downward facing dog exhale fully 15 forward to plank slowly lower to the floor now we're gonna do one round of Dhanurasana if you find that this is too intense in the frontal hip bones in the pubic bone area you can put place a blanket underneath the lower abdomen hips on Dhanurasana there's variations here you can grab the outer ankles some of you may want to grab the inner ankles you're open to take whatever variation you feel works with your body now once you grab the ankles watch that the knees don't splay out too much take the knees in so they're about hip width and then place the majority of your attention on the lower abdomen pubic bone area and as that point merges with the floor slowly make your way into this back pin the thighs lift the chest lifts I prefer to keep the entire abdomen off the floor there's some variations where the ribs lift off the floor in this variation or just keeping the entire abdominal wall on the floor breathe to the navel you can start to lift the head up a little more last few breaths exhale fully as you release the legs you can place the hands underneath underneath the head and take a breath or two here relax relax the sacrum slide the hands underneath the shoulders they can be slightly behind the shoulders and then make your way into an arch that feels right for you can be in between a cobra and an up dog the knees can be in touch with the floor let the sacrum release arms straight head back in there as you exhale elbows bend tuck your toes pull back exhale fully lowering down to the knees shins we're going to first make our way into what we call mandu kasana mandu kasana is a seat it's known as the seated frog and mandu kasana the knees are wide the big toes touch and you can take your heels with the thumbs and just take the heels out so you create like a banana leg shape with the feet and you can sit between the heels this is mandu kasana it's a very powerful seat it's great for opening up the hips we're going to enter into a bouncing position known as maya rasana through mandu kasana the reason we took danya rasana was to prepare the abdomen to take weight and the next pose which is known as maya rasana maya rasana is known as the peacock and it's a very powerful pose for the liver there's many variations to this and i recommend taking this slowly it's a very powerful pose one of the most respected poses in hatha yoga and in the beginning it may not feel like you're even getting close to this close to this but there is stages that should be respected and stage one is just simply turning the hands back like so fingers turn back the outer edges of your hands touch that's stage one stage two the knees can pull in a little bit and then what you're going to work on doing is actually taking the elbows into the abdomen this is stage two and eventually the top of the head top of the forehead lightly touches the floor stage three you take the knees a little wider and you start to give more weight into the abdomen so that's the very beginning stages to this practice you want to really be respectful to your wrists and this is a position that you don't repeat too many times in one practice in my personal practice i just repeat this one time and then i move on but if you do this daily it'll get easier and easier now the full form is where you're actually going to be taking the elbows to the abdomen and the legs are going to lift off the floor so there's another stage before the full form that i didn't show and that's positioning the hands bending the elbows not releasing the head to the floor and straightening the legs back and then you can release out of that that's stage four the last stage is going to look a little more intense and something that's really important watch my navel here i'm going to exhale i'm going to do an udiana bandha and then i release the bandha and i create a nice bulb in the lower abdomen i want this to be actually expanded to take the weight so it looks something like so i place the hands to the floor i'm going to exhale fully from the lower abdomen and then udiana bandha and then i'm going to punch the navel forward i'm going to take the elbows to the navel and then as the knees go wide they'll start to lift off the ground and then the legs straighten knees straighten and then stay with your breath the eyes are soft stay balanced in the hands slowly release as you land back into mandu kasana interlace the fingers stretch down bend at the elbows stretch up it's always nice to do a little counter pose here i like to circle the wrists both directions and then one more counter is circling the wrists like so and then you reverse it from here you're going to place the hands back to the floor release yourself into an arch upward dog back to down dog and coming through we'll make our way into pashimo tenasana the legs straighten you're going to take hold of the big toes the forefinger middle finger in the thumbs reach through your heels ground your thigh bones watch that you're not over hardening the balls of the feet and then we're going to go back into that breath we did at the beginning of the practice known as the crow's breath kaki mudra through the mouth inhale slowly hold it in as the head goes level from the navel slowly exhale draw the navel back the elbows bend gently thigh bones grounded exhale fold you want to find more depth you can take the hands over the tops of the feet inhale elbows bend exhale fold one more variation you can interlace the fingers and then go in a little deeper exhale fold forehead meets the shins the elbows can rest on the floor keep the tailbone rooted coccyx rooted inhale along the spine exhale fully one more breath inhale exhale find a little more length inhale slowly sitting up position myself legs straight exhale fully hands to the heart reach to the heels slowly lower yourself back to the floor exhale fully into the exhale the hands can release down to the hips you're going to bend your right leg you're going to take hold of the right big toe with the forefinger middle finger and thumb left hand on the left thigh straighten the right leg to a comfortable point some of you may not have the opening a belt can be used here in those cases otherwise if you can hold on you have a hold of the big toe watch this right shoulder that it's not up at the ear drop the right shoulder left hand on the thigh exhale fully reach to the left heel and then you're going to make your way up using the abdomen now on the exhale pull your upper body in towards the right leg pull the right leg a little closer left hand down the thigh this will engage your abdomen take a breath here exhale fully release the upper body back to the floor and then release the right leg out to the right to a comfortable point one breath here exhale it's called supta parangusthasana the sequence we're going to add a twist into it this twist you're going to switch hands so the left hand meets the right foot I want it to meet the outer foot if you can you're going to drop the right leg to the left as you do so shift a little more on the outer left hip so you're more on the outer left hip now and then land the right foot to the floor take the outer edge of your right foot to the floor this will open up the iliotibial band in chinese medicine this is the gallbladder channel the right arm is going to release out the palm can be up and the head turns to the right draw your right hip especially if it likes to cock up and close the right waistline draw the right hip down take an extra breath here the end of the exhale shift back onto your back take hold of the foot with both hands and this is like an upside down hanuman it's udva hanuman elbows bend reach to the left heel take yourself up release slowly as you release the right leg with control allow the right leg to slowly release to the floor bend the left knee take hold of the left foot big toe the forefinger middle finger and thumb straighten the left leg reach through the heels slide the right hand down the right thigh as you bend the left elbow taking the upper body closer to the left leg exhale back slowly release the left leg out to the left one breath and then slowly take that left leg vertical switch hands take hold of the left foot with the right hand shift more into the outer edge of your right foot place the it meets the floor place the left foot to the floor and try to take the outer edge of the foot to the floor again this will open up this whole line outer leg line once you've positioned you feel positioned in the twist the head turns to the left the left arm is out at shoulder level palm up again draw the left hip down if it likes to cock up and close the waist draw it down into the exhale knees left knee bend take hold of the foot with both hands reach through the heels inhale make your way up exhale take an extra breath and release exhale as you let go of the left foot with control allow that leg to lower down slowly slowly release exhale fully it's taking this last few minutes to completely relax you can lift the sacrum if you need to and just reset it and allow the sacrum to relax completely position the hands in a way that feels right for you the arms can be out slightly from the sides palms up you're welcome to take one hand to the heart and one hand to the navel you can take the hands into a diamond shape where you join the forefinger and the thumb and you lightly place the hand right at the navel point if you find that you need to reset the head and then relax the base of the skull do so allow yourself to settle completely eyes closed jaw relaxed let go of your breath completely release your time if you feel like you want to stay in shavasana you're welcome to hold this longer if you want to come out slowly begin to bring some movement to the hands and the feet gently tip the head side to side as we make our way out of this bend the knees roll to your right slowly the assistance of the hands feel your way up into a simple seated position you can sit cross-legged comfortably you can sit and lotus whatever you're feeling is most comfortable for you take a moment sealing your practice hands meet at the heart gently touching the spiritual eye heart space namaste