Grounded Earth Energy

Hey, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me here today. We'll get started with our practice in just a minute or so. So nice to see so many of you from everywhere. It's such a beautiful time to be able to connect with you all. And thank you, Yoga, any time for having me. I'm here in Joshua Tree. Hopefully you can see some of the nature out my window. Yeah, it's been nice to kind of have a place to be here during this time. And it's been fun to hear from all of you online as well. So hope all of that is going well. Hope you're all staying healthy and safe. So this morning, wherever you are, it may not be morning. I always do that. It's hard to adapt. But today, we'll move through practice, soulful flow practice these next eight weeks to really kind of tune into the elements. So the one thing that I'm realizing a lot of here is how much a part of the elements you are when you're in the desert. A day doesn't go by where I don't see a snake or lizard or a rabbit or a coyote. There's just so much life happening here. We had a big dust storm the other day where I was sitting in my studio and all of a sudden it started to shake and this big dust storm just blew through like 30 seconds. But I literally thought that was it. That was the moment of my time was up. But so just really today in particular, wanting to start with the quality of earth in this grounding way. So our practice this morning or today will be all about grounding, rooting into the earth element and just kind of knowing that no matter what is going on, even in that dust storm, that there's a way to come back to center. So if you would please join me on our backs. We'll start in Supta Baddha with an asana. We'll bring the soles of the feet together and just let the knees open up wide. Coming right into your hips for a moment. If that feels like too much too early on the hips, just straighten your legs out long on your mat. And then let's bring one hand to the low belly and one hand to the heart space. And if it feels comfortable for you to close your eyes, just go ahead and start to shift your gaze to the internal space. And perhaps for the first time today, just noticing that you're breathing, feeling the rise of the inhale, the expansion. And just letting go the grounding quality of the exhale. As you tune into the breath, just begin to notice the parts of the body that feel connected to the earth right now. So the back body, the spine, the back of your head, your feet. And can you let those spaces, those parts of the body become just a little bit more supported, a little bit heavier, a little more grounded. And then let's start to tap into the breath together. So we'll allow a big full breath in through your nose, filling up. And then open the mouth, let something go, sigh it out. And again, big full breath in through your nose. Open the mouth, let something go, sigh it out. Every exhale feeling a little more supported here. Big breath in through the nose, deep sigh out the mouth.

Beautiful. And then just start to tune in to Ujjayi breath or just the natural rhythm of your breath, whatever feels more supportive to you today. And then briefly checking in with an intention for your practice or some kalpa. Is there anything you'd like to call in or perhaps let go of so that you can just become a little bit more present in your practice today? Sometimes it's nice to just check in with the question, what do I need? What do I need right here in this moment? Couple more breaths. Beautiful. And then as you're ready, we'll start to move. So interlace your fingers, press the palms of your hands toward the wall behind you and then straighten out your legs. Long on your mat, just taking a nice full body stretch, allowing a big full breath in here. And then sigh it out, let that go. And then gather your knees into your chest. And as you do that, we'll rock a little bit from side to side and start to notice how does your lower back feel? Area that many of us tend to hold tension in. Notice if that's true for you. And then maybe start to take your knees in circles in one direction, massaging through the lower back. And then you can take them in the opposite direction, just kind of noticing how that feels the earth beneath you. Nice. And then bringing your hands to the backs of your knees, start to rock up and down along the length of your spine. So you can take that a few times. If it doesn't feel good to rock on your spine, just simply sit up. That's fine. Otherwise, maybe it feels nice to just give the spine a little love and then we'll meet seated. So take your time to make your way into a comfortable cross-leg seated position. And then just take a moment to ground right here. So feel your sitting bones rooting down on the earth, maybe wiggle a little bit from side to side to feel that. And then once you find that center, reach your left arm out to the left and reach your right arm just up and over your ear. So you're taking a nice stretch through the right side body and you're grounding down through the right hip, breathing into the side ribs. Oh, nice. And then bring this up into a twist. So the right hand will come behind you. The left hand will come to the outside of your right knee. You're sitting up nice and tall and just feeling a little bit of a rotation and spine. Keep rooting down through both sitting bones as you do that. Good. And then gaze forward, release the arms and just walk your hands in front of you, any amount. So just coming into an easy forward fold, grounding through your hands and back through your sitting bones. So you can let your head and your neck and your shoulders relax. Good. And then just roll your way up and then change the crossing of your legs. And we'll just get into the other side. So reaching your right arm out to the right, sweep the left arm up and over your ear, rooting down through both sitting bones so that you're lengthening through the left side body and allowing the breath to move into the left rib cage. Good. And then right up into that twist. So left hand behind, right hand on the outside of your left, sit up nice and tall, lengthen through the spine, allow a big full breath in. As you exhale, just a little bit more, easing into the twist, no force. Good. And then gazing forward, let that go. And again, just kind of crawl your hands forward, come into a nice easy fold, but root back through your sitting bones, really ground through your hands and just let your head and neck just release down. So maybe even tucking your chin down toward your chest. Beautiful. And then walking your hands back up and let's come to all fours. So meet me in a tabletop position. We'll bring the shoulders right over the wrist, hips right over the knees, spreading the fingers wide and start to move into some cat cow to warm your spine. So as you're ready, inhale, arch the back, drop the belly, lift the gaze. As you exhale, navel to spine, press the floor away and just round. And then try that again with the breath. The inhale glides you forward. So you're arching through the spine, lifting the heart. And as you exhale, draw the navel to the spine, press the floor away and round. Maybe shift your weight back a little bit. Go one more. As you inhale, belly drops, heart lifts. As you exhale, navel to spine, maybe shift your weight back coming in toward a child's pose and just wiggle in. Again, just feel that connection with the earth and the invitation to come toward child's pose at any time. As we start to pick up the pace and flow a bit, it's going to be a nice grounding place to just revisit whenever you need it. You don't even need to need it. You might just want it. Good. And then come back up to all fours. So we'll find our tabletop position. From here, let's reach the left leg back.

So tuck your left toes under and then just start to shift your weight forward and back, forward and back a few times. You're feeling into the back of your left leg, the calf muscle. Good. And then shoulders right over wrists. We'll spin onto the left heel, bring the weight into the right hand for Ardavashi Stopsana, side arm balance. Good. So you reach that left arm up and then maybe take it over your ear. You feel that nice stretch in the side body, but you're staying really grounded through that left foot. Engage the core a bit just to protect the spine and then breathe into the sensations wherever you're feeling. That's so nice. And then as you come out of here, we'll bring the left knee down, keep that left arm lifted. Let's thread the left arm under the right arm, coming into a shoulder stretch, bringing the left side of your face down to the earth, left shoulder lands. Maybe walk that right hand in front of you and just press through the entire hand, letting your hips stay even. And then just breathing here, breathe into that left shoulder, into any sensations that you're feeling. Couple more breaths. Good. And then take your time to just come out of that side. We'll press it back up to hands and knees and move into the other side. So right leg floats back, tuck your toes. And then again, just start to shift your weight forward and back a few times. So you're feeling into the back of your right leg, opening up through the calf. Good. And then shoulders right over wrists, spin onto your right heel. You might kickstand your left shin back a little bit. And then weight into your left hand, sweep the right arm up, and then take it right over your right ear. You know, that line of energy from fingertips to back heel, and at the same time really grounded and supported here. Breathing into the ribcage. Beautiful. And then coming back your center, right knee lowers, right arm stays lifted. We'll thread the right arm right under the left, land on your right shoulder and the right side of your face. And then walk your left hand forward, press through your left hand. You can kind of even use that to traction back a little bit through breathing into the right shoulder and really anywhere else you feel this. There's a lot happening here. You have a twist, shoulder stretch. Bring it in my left arm as well, upper arm. Beautiful. And then take your time. Press your weight back up to all fours. And then let's stretch both legs back, coming right into plank pose, top of a push-up. And you're always welcome to lower your knees here. Otherwise just find your plank. We'll start to shift the weight forward and back a few times, just like we did when we were working with one leg. This time both legs lifted, obviously quite a bit of a different sensation. So engaging through the core, breathing. Good. And then simply lift the hips up and back into your downward facing dog. In this first dog, any movement at all that feels good, maybe pedal it out. Maybe sway your hips from side to side or shake your head yes and no a few times. Just feel into this posture like it's the first time you've ever come to downward facing dog. What would that feel like for you? And the hamstrings are tight. You're always welcome to soften the knees or step your feet a little wider. Just want the spine to be nice and long, head, neck, shoulders. Relax. And then on your next breath in, let's come right back to plank pose where we were, top of a push-up. And then we'll move with the breath here, starting to warm the joints. As you exhale, lift your hips up and back down dog. And again, inhale, glide forward to plank pose. Exhale, lift the hips up and back, downward facing dog. One more like that. Inhale, glide forward to plank. Exhale, downward facing dog. Beautiful. And then this time as you come forward to plank, let's lower the knees, hug the elbows in, lower all the way down to the belly. Good.

Setting up for low cobra. So scoot your hands back just a bit, let the wrist be right under your elbows. And then press into the tops of the feet, draw the shoulders back, start to peel the chest up. As you exhale, lower down, feel the earth beneath you. Two more like that. Inhale, roll up with your breath, linking the breath to the movement. Exhale, roll down. Good. One more, keeping the core engaged, protect your spine. Inhale, lift up and exhale, release and lower. So nice. Press back to down dog. We'll meet there, either coming up through plank or hands and knees. And then just start to walk your hands back to your feet. So coming to a forward fold at the back of your mat and you can bend your knees any amount here. There might be deeply bent. Just let everything melt down. Maybe hold opposite elbows. Maybe roll a little bit from side to side. Shake the head yes and no. Just gonna let everything melt down. So you're giving it away to the earth off the crown of your head. Good. And then opposite arm on top. If you're holding the elbow, just take a couple more full deep breaths, wherever you're at. Really just the invitation to feel into this practice today. Let it be your own practice. I'm here to guide you, but everything is optional. Everything is optional. You're your own best teacher. Good. And let's come back to downward facing dog. We'll meet there. Good. And then as you come to down dog, float your right leg up and back. Bend your knee and open up through your hip. Keep pressing through both hands and you might roll out your foot a few times or you're welcome to take some big circles with that right leg. Start to feel into the right hip. Beautiful. And then straighten through your right leg. Square up your hips for a moment. Allow a big full breath in and then gather your knee in towards your nose and hover for a moment, the top of a pushup. Now we'll gaze forward, step the foot all the way through between your hands. So we're in a lunge here, lower your back knee down to the earth and just take a moment to walk your hands up onto that right thigh. And you're welcome to stay right here. Just find your rooted energy or start to sweep your arms up for Anjaliyasana. And today we'll interlace everything but the index fingers for steeple mudra. And as you do that, when you soften the shoulders down the back, keep your core engaged to protect your spine. And then maybe tilt up and over to the right side. So you're coming right back into that side body stretch, sending the breath through the left side. Beautiful. And then come up through center, allowing a big full breath in, lift the heart, maybe lift your gaze. And then as you exhale, lower hands down, frame the front foot, shift your weight back, split Arda Hanamanasana. And as you do that, you're drawing your right hip back. Feel free to keep a bend in your right knee. We're just starting to open up through the hamstring here. Maybe spread your toes and breathe into this. And if it would feel good to kind of come in and out of it a few times, go for it. I'm going to hold here and just breathe a couple more breaths. Again, with every exhale, letting go a little more. So nice. And then re-bend through your front knee. We'll step back to down dog. So tucking the left toes, lift the knee up, right foot steps back to meet the left. And let's glide forward to plank pose again, top of a push-up. Slow lower all the way to the belly. Hug the elbows in.

Maybe the knees stay lifted this time. Cobra pose, inhale, bhuzhongasana. Peel the chest up and exhale, reaching up and back into downward facing dog. Good. Allowing a big full breath in here. I'm going to open the mouth, sigh it out, let something go. Left side, inhale, left leg lifts. Bend the knee, open up through the hip. Maybe matching any movement that you took on that first side with the ankle or some big circles with that left knee. Just feeling into the left side. Nice. And then straightening that left leg as you're ready. Allowing a big full breath in. Knee to nose, round through the upper back, holding for a moment. Lift the knee up a little bit higher, create some space and then step that foot all the way through between your hands. Nice work. Lower your back knee down and just walk your hands up onto your left thigh this time. We're stacking the left knee over the ankle, keeping the core engaged to protect the spine. And you're welcome to stay right here. If this feels really grounding and supportive, stay here. If you want to add the arms, add the arms, sweeping them up, interlacing everything but the index fingers. Draw the shoulders down your back. Allow a big full breath in. Maybe, maybe tilt to the left if that feels good. So you're breathing into the right side, the right ribcage. Nice. Take a big full breath in, come back through center, lift the heart, maybe lift the gaze. As you exhale, lower hands down, frame the front foot, shift your weight back, half split. Ardha Hanamanasana. Good. And then again, you're drawing the left hip back, breathing into the back of your left leg, maybe spread your toes. And if you want movement, if you want to move in and out of that a few times, go for it or just hold and breathe. Very nice. And then rebend through your front leg. We'll come back to our lunge and just step back to downward facing dog. Left foot meets the right. Glide forward to plank pose. Lower all the way to the belly. Nice and slow. Hug your elbows in. Untuck your toes. Peel the shoulders down the back. Peel the chest up. Cold breath. Beautiful. And then downward facing dog. Lifting up and back. Breathing. Let's breathe together, allowing a big full breath in. Maybe tongue out lion's breath. Release. Good. Slow walk to the front of the mat. Really feel the soles of your feet as you come to the front of your mat. And you spread the toes even. And then as you come to the front, bend your knees deeply. Let everything hang heavy and roll up slowly. One vertebra at a time. As you get to the top, hovering the shoulders up toward the ears. As you exhale, sigh it out, roll them down your back. Just take a moment to draw your hands to your heart center. If it feels safe to close your eyes, go ahead and let the eyes close. And then just start to feel your feet. So you can rock your weight forward and back a few times. And start to find stillness when you can find that centered quality. Maybe lift up your toes, spread your toes, place them back down on the earth to really ground. Then soften the knees a little bit. Let the tailbone melt down. Just lift up through the heart space. Let the shoulders relax. Reaching up through the crown of the head. So there's this supported quality beneath the soles of the feet. You can feel the roots rooting down into the core of the earth. There's this lightness and ease in the upper body. So we'll move with that. Moving into some grounding moon salutations. As you're ready, you can blink the eyes open. And we'll drop the arms down by the side and then sweep them up, allowing a big full breath in. As you exhale, soften and fold right back in, Uttanasana. Good. Step your left foot all the way to the back of the mat and then lower your back knee down. You can keep fingertips down or inhale, sweep the arms all the way up. And then as you exhale, we'll come back to down dog. So planting the palms, step your right foot back to meet the left. Come forward to plank pose. Now, if you want to pick up the pace and the heat a little bit, you'll take Chaturanga. I'm going to lower all the way to my belly. I'm going to take Cobra on the inhale. If you're ready for up dog and you want that, go for it. Otherwise, let's meet back and down dog. Roll over the toes, lift the hips up and back. Beautiful. So staying with the lunar side, left side, inhale, left leg loops. Exhale, step it all the way through. Same thing here.

Lower your back knee down on Jnayasana. Inhale, arms sweep up and exhale. This time, step the right foot to meet the left forward fold front of your mat. The root down through the feet to rise up to stand. Inhale, arms sweep up. Exhale, gather hands to heart. Good. Taking it to the other side. Inhale, arms lengthening. Exhale, soften and fold, uttanasana. Step your right foot to the back of the mat. Let your back knee lower down. Inhale, arms sweep up on Jnayasana. Exhale, downward facing dog. Right foot meets the left. Come forward to plank pose. Lower through your vinyasa, cobra or up dog. Inhale, downward facing dog. Exhale, good. Right leg lifts, big full breath in. Exhale, step it through. Lower your back knee down. Inhale, arms lift. Good. Forward fold front of the mat. Step your left foot to meet the right. Beautiful. Root down. Rise up, arms sweep out and up. Gather hands to heart center and then just take a moment. Pause. Breathe. Notice what comes up for you. Maybe the heart rate is starting to elevate a little bit. With all that movement, can you still stay centered and grounded and supported? The earth is always there. Now let's take one more round and then we'll pick up the pace just a bit and flow, but rest whenever you need to. Inhale, arms sweep up. Exhale, forward fold. Left foot steps back. Back knee lowers. Inhale, low lunge on Jnyasana. Exhale, down dog. Right foot meets the left. Inhale, plank pose. Exhale, your vinyasa lowering through. Inhale, cobra or up dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Left leg lifts. Exhale, step it through. Back knee lowers. Inhale, arms lift. Step to a forward fold at the front of your mat. Root down to rise. Inhale, arms sweep out and up. Gather your hands to heart center. Last side, right side. Inhale, arms lift. Exhale, forward fold. Good. Step the right foot to the back of the mat. Back knee lowers. Arms sweep up. Inhale, on Jnyasana. Exhale, down dog. Good. Inhale, glide forward to plank pose. Lower through. Your vinyasa. Cobra, up dog. Inhale, down dog. Exhale, lift it up. Right side, inhale, right leg lifts. Exhale, step it through. Back knee lowers. Last time, inhale, on Jnyasana. Sweep it up. And exhale, forward fold. Front of your mat. Root down to rise. Arms sweep out and up. And then hands to heart. Take that moment of brief pause. Check in. Maybe one hand to heart, one hand to belly. And then just breathe. Breathe and become aware of the sensations that arise. The residue of the movement, the echo of the pose. So nice. And then let's ground into chair pose. Utkatasana. Weight into the heels. Arms sweep up. So drawing the weight back toward the heels as you lengthen through the spine. Draw the tailbone down. And engage through your core. And then maybe sink it down just a little bit deeper. Holding for five, four, three, two. Big breath in. And then let that all go. Utkatasana. Fold over your legs. Then come halfway up. Inhale, lengthen. Plant your palms. Step or lightly float back. If you want to move through Chaturanga, go for it. You can skip these vinyasas all together. And we can always just meet right back in down dog. So let's all meet there. And just hold for a couple breaths. So start to feel the earth beneath your hands, spreading the fingers wide, pressing through inner hand as well as outer hand. Let the heels get heavy so they start to disappear behind your toes.

Good. And then float your right leg up to the sky. Take a big full breath in. Step it all the way through between your hands. Nice. Let's set up for warrior two. So we'll spin the back heel down. Lead with your left arm. And just come all the way up. Good. And as you land in warrior two, just take a moment to center the weight coming toward 90 degrees in that front leg. Really sealing the outer edge of the back foot down on the earth. So feel the soles of the feet grounding, but this lightness and ease in the upper body. And then take your drishti, your focal point right over your middle finger. Maybe close your eyes. And just notice the desire to maybe want to come out of here. Can you stay just for a couple more breaths? Beautiful. And then keep the legs how they are. Flip your front palm, just tilt back. Reverse warrior. Hold here for a moment. Just feel that nice stretch through the right side body. Beautiful. Extended side angle, either elbow to top of the thigh or fingertips might come to the inside of your front foot. Want to be in a place where the spine can be nice and long, but don't lose the integrity of the spine. Reaching left arm right over your ear. And then find some space between your shoulder and your ear. One long line of energy from fingertips to back heel. Beautiful. And then root down to rise. Reverse warrior. Come all the way up and back. Good. Circle it down to the earth, runner's lunge. And just step back through your flow. So right foot steps back to meet the left. Lower halfway or all the way down. Inhale, low cobra or up dog. And exhale back to your downward facing dog and we'll meet there. Nice work. And then just taking it to the other side. Inhale, left leg lifts. Exhale, step it all the way through. Warrior two. Spin the back heel down. Right arm guides you up and open toward the side of your mat. Again, just taking a moment to really land. Feel the earth. Feel supported. It's one of those poses that I kind of like to flow through a little bit. So what would it feel like to stay here, to ground and to breathe through maybe a little discomfort.

No pain, of course. But maybe we need to stay a little longer sometimes. Good. And then keeping the legs where they are nice and rooted. Flip your front palm. Tilt back. Reverse warrior. Hold for a breath. Maybe sink down a little deeper into that left knee. Good. Extended side angle as you're ready. Either elbow to thigh, fingertips to the earth. Right arm reaches up and over your ear. Long line of energy from fingertips to back heel. And then find your breath. Feeling the posture with your breath. Finding that space. Good. Root down to rise. Reverse warrior. Reach it up and back. And then just circle it down to your runner's lunge. Step back, left foot, vinyasa or skip it and just come right to down dog. And we'll meet right there in your downward facing dog. Good. And then you start to walk your hands back to your feet again. From here, we'll take the peace fingers onto the big toes. So the first two fingers in your thumbs. On an inhale, lift halfway up. As you exhale, just let the elbows splay out to the side. Let everything melt down over your legs. Breathe for a few full deep breaths. Shifting a little bit more weight toward the balls of your feet. Taking this time to reconnect. Reconnect with your breath. Whatever is arising for you. Good. And then slowly just walk your hands back out. Downward facing dog. Let's move on. So move from the back of the mat, adding on to what we've already created. So inhale, right leg lift. Exhale, step it through. Coming back up to warrior two. Take a moment to land to arrive. Good. Flip your front palm tilt back, reverse warrior. Some extended side angle. Your elbow to thigh or fingertips might come a little deeper into the inside that front foot. And then moving through up and back, reverse warrior. Straightening through your front leg. Feel that length through the right side. And we'll move into triangle pose. So you might shorten your stance just a little bit and bring that right hand below the knee. Left arm lift straight up. And then just land here. Hold for a few breaths. Reaching through the crown of the head and back through your left heel. And you can soften your right knee a little bit. So you're engaging through the quadriceps. And then expand. This pose is all about taking up space. Beautiful. And then let's move into half moon from here.

So bringing your left hand to your hip, we'll gaze down, put a bend in that right knee, and then reach forward. Fingertips land right under the right shoulder. Flex through your left foot a lot like you're stepping on the wall behind you. And then reach your left arm up. Good. So try to stay light on your left fingertips. You might even float that hand up an inch or so, playing with your balance. Nice. And then let's land back in chair pose at the front of the mat. So let your left foot meet the right, wade into the heels, Utkatasana, arms sweep up. Good. Draw your hands to your heart center. And then we're twisting here, left elbow on the outside of the right thigh, and then just drawing that prayer in front of your heart center. And just take a look at your knees, make sure they're even, letting a little bit more weight sink back into the heels. So nice, everyone. And then just let all of that go, fold over your legs. Heel to your feet a little wider. And then maybe you're stepping your feet into the palms of your hands, Adahasasana, letting the toes come up towards your wrists. And maybe giving your wrists a little bit of a massage with your toes. And just taking a moment again to just pause and notice, reset. The fluidity, we find stillness, find ease, just a little bit of support. Now release your hands. We'll come halfway up, heel to the feet back together, move through your Vinyasa, either stepping or if you want to float it back through Chaturanga, go for it. However you choose, we'll meet back in downward facing dog. Just take your time to arrive there, allowing a big full breath in. And then let something go with the exhale, sigh it out. Good, left side. Inhale, left leg lifts. Step it all the way through, setting up for warrior two. And we'll flow through what we've already done. Flip the front palm, tilt back, reverse warrior, extended side angle on the exhale, just moving through.

Good, root down to rise. We'll straighten through the front leg, reverse triangle. Feel that length in the side body. And then keeping that length, reach forward, let the left hand come below the knee, right arm lifts up. And then expand, take up space, breathe. Just be deliberate with your gaze so you might come up toward your fingertips. If that doesn't feel good in the neck, just gaze straight in front of you or even down at that left foot if that feels better. So nice. A couple more breaths, expanding even a little bit more. Great. And then right hand to hip, gaze down, put a nice bend in that left knee. We'll reach forward with the left fingertips, float your right leg up. Ardachandrasana, halfway. Maybe float your right arm up toward the ceiling and really ground down through that left foot. So feel free to soften your left knee a little bit. Maybe play with lifting the left fingertips up off the earth an inch. That immediately makes me lose my balance, but try it. So okay to fall out, we just come back in. Chair pose, front of the mat, right foot meets the left. Utkatasana, arms sweep up, gather hands to heart center. And then we'll take that twist, the right elbow on the outside of the left thigh. Let the knees be even, drawing the hands in front of your heart. Breathe. Find your breath. Just a couple more breaths here. Maybe sink it down just a little bit deeper. Big full breath in. Let it go. Long breath out. Good. And this time we'll step the feet as wide as your yoga mat. Let the toes come out and the heels come in. And then just start to sink it down into Malasana, a yogi squat, bringing your hands to your heart center. That's too much on your knees. You can come up out of it and just come into a higher squat or even walk your hands forward, letting the weight come forward a little bit. Hands to heart, maybe close your eyes, lengthen through the spine. The tailbone melt down as you reach up through the crown of your head. So good for the low back. Tune into the heart space. A couple more full deep breaths here. Maybe coming back to your intention. What do I need here? Good. So welcome to stay right here.

If you want to stay here, go for it. If you want to play with an arm balance, I'll bring us into Bakasana, Crow Pose. And you might just stop anywhere along the way. It'll give us kind of a progression into the posture. So flattening out the palms of your hands, really rooting down through your hands. We'll bring the knees to the upper arms and kind of use that to squeeze the upper arms in. And then you're gazing forward, starting to shift the weight forward, making that chaturanga with the arms. And then maybe just bring you a little weight into the hands. You might lift up one foot and then place it back down and then lift up another foot and place it back down. Or maybe both feet lift and you find your balance for a half a second, a couple seconds, and then forward fold to come out of there. Feet down, let everything melt down. Maybe sway a little bit side to side. Let that go. Soft knees, roll up nice and slow. One vertebra at a time, come to the top of your mat, shoulders up towards your ears, and then just let that go. Good. So let's take Tree Pose, probably one of the most rooted poses I could think of. We'll play with our balance a little bit here. So we'll start by letting the right foot get nice and heavy and feel that centering of the weight all across your right foot. Maybe spread the toes, lift them up, place them back down on the earth. Good. And then reach for your left ankle. We'll bring the foot to the inner upper thigh, the calf, or even kickstand it down to the earth if that feels supportive for you today. And then feel the roots beneath the soles of your feet going all the way down into the earth. Maybe hands to heart. Find one point to focus your gaze, hugging everything in. Good. And then if you want to test your balance, maybe the arms sweep all the way up. Maybe you lift your gaze up toward the ceiling. And if you really want to fall out of it, maybe close your eyes. You're not going to do that. Good. And then start to bring your left knee in towards your chest, draw the low belly in and up. We're stepping back to Warrior I. So left foot finds the back of the mat, and you're grounding down through that back heel. And then take your hands behind your low back, interlace, draw the shoulders back, take a big full breath in. And then humble Warrior, bow forward. Take a nice long hold here to really feel the shoulder stretch, the feet grounded, crown of the head melting down. Allowing just a few more full deep breaths here. So nice. And then release your hands down to the earth. Come on to the ball of your back foot, lower your back knee down for a moment. And we're right back into that low lunge. And then arms sweep up. Good. Hands find the earth, shift the weight back. Half split, Ardha Hanumanasana, hamstring stretch. Good. Re-bend and step it back to your downward facing dog. Beautiful. You can hang here if you want a cleansing vinyasa. We'll come forward to plank, lowering through, clearing that away. Inhale, cobra or up dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Nice work. Rising up onto the toes, big bend in the knees. Look forward, step or lightly hop your feet to your hands, front of the mat. Inhale halfway up. Exhale, fold and then just soften your knees. Roll up one vertebra at a time. Let the head be the last thing to arrive. Shoulders come up with you and then let that go. Roll them down the back and we'll set up for our second side tree pose. It's time just concentrate on that left foot. Maybe spread your toes. Think about grounding through big toe to outer heel, little toe to inner heel. And then we'll reach for the right ankle and either kick standing the toes down, bring it to the calf or bringing it to the inner upper thigh. Just try not to press your foot into your knee. If you can help it, just protect your knee. Drawing hands, maybe to heart center, find your drishti, your gaze. If you want to play, you can reach the arms up. If you can see out my windows, you can see that the trees are all being swept away by the wind right now. So maybe that's how you are right now as well, swaying from side to side, falling out of it. Know that they may go with the breeze. And then draw your right knee in towards your chest. Draw the low belly in and up. Good. And then hands to heart center. Let that go. We're going to step it back to warrior one. So right foot finds the back of the mat, arms sweep up. You're stealing the outer edge of that back foot down. And then hands behind the low back, maybe taking the opposite thumb on top, the one that feels a little awkward. And then just start to draw the shoulders back. Lift the heart, lift the gaze, and then humble warrior, devotional warrior. Hold everything over that front leg and you can kind of rest your torso on your left thigh or take it to the inside of that front thigh. And just hugging that left hip in and breathing. Letting the crown of the head melt down. A couple more breaths. Where can you let go just a little bit more. Good. Release your hands down, frame the front foot, come onto the ball of your back foot, let the back knee lower. And then gathering energy, reach the arms forward in a hungry nyasana. Exhale, half split, hands down, shift the weight back and fully breathe. Maybe let out a sigh. You did it. And we'll come back to downward facing dog. If you want the vinyasa, go for it. Maybe it feels good to cleanse that side, moving through or just holding down dog. We'll meet there. A couple breaths. Good. And then as you're ready, float your right leg up and back. Put a bend in the knee for a moment. Just open up through the hip. Good. And then draw your right knee to your right tricep. So you're tapping the right knee to the right elbow, outer right arm. And then step your foot to the outside of your right hands. You're in this wide lunge. And we'll set up for lizard pose. So you can bring the palms of the hands down. You might just stay right here. This might feel like enough. It's a little bit more energizing. Or you can start to lower your back knee down. Maybe the forearms lower down to a block or the earth. Just getting low, getting into that outer hip. So many variations of lizards. So find what works for you. If you've found that you've come too far, just back out of it. Maybe you might take a quad stretch, bending through that left knee, reaching back with your right hand, holding onto the foot. And just breathe. You have so many lizards that live on our property. We've started to name them. They're very cute. It's that low quality, that earthy quality. They scatter and find little holes in the ground that they can hide in at any time. Releasing that as you're ready, we'll come right into single pigeon from here. So you're just heel toeing the right foot all the way to the other side of your mat, flexing through the right foot. If this just isn't the hip opener for you, feel free to come onto your back, take thread the eye of the needle or any other hip opener that feels right. Otherwise, just taking a moment at the top, wiggle in, settle in. Good. And then if and when there's the invitation to walk the hands forward, go ahead and deepen into the stretch. Just listening into your body. What do you need here? I'm just kind of observing what comes up when we move from our flow, which we did quite a bit of this morning, into more stillness, held postures, where the mind goes. There's this great mantra by Thich Nhat Hanh that says, I have arrived. I am home. We root into this first chakra practice, the root chakra, considered the home not only of the physical body, but the spiritual body. I have arrived. I am home.

A couple more breaths. Good. And then taking your time, no rush at all. If you want to stay there a little longer, please do. We'll peel our way up and just make your way back into down dog and pedal it out. You might shake that right leg up behind you, letting go of that right side. And we do take a moment here to notice the right side versus the left. How that feels. Beautiful. And then we'll move into the left side as you're ready. Inhale, left leg lifts, and the knee open up through the hip, revealing into the left hip. Good. And then tap your left knee to your left tricep and hover for a moment. Top of a pushup. Good. Tap your left foot to the outside of your left wrist. And we're moving toward lizard. So maybe matching whatever you did on that first side, or maybe this side feels completely different and you're doing something completely different. That's totally fine. Just honoring what it is that your body is asking for right now. I'm going to come low and lower my forearms down. And if you want that quad stretch, you'll bend through the right knee. You might need to come back up onto your hands to do that. Sometimes it's a little much and then reach your left arm back, hold your foot, and then maybe you wiggle back in onto the forearm and always have a couple of books or blocks under your forearm and breathe into the sensations.

Good. And then just take your time. Wiggle out of there. Come back up onto the palms of your hands. Heel to the left foot to the left side of your mat. It's not a very graceful way to get in there, but just find your way into the left side of hip opener. And if you took something different, feel free to honor that. It's the only place you really don't want to feel a single pigeon that is in the knee. So if you have anything going on in your knees, please just come onto your back. Take, thread the eye of the needle. And then just taking a moment up at the top to arrive, intuitive alignment, and then wait for the invitation to go a little deeper. That arrives and move into the posture. You can bring forearms down. You might stack your hands and let your forehead rest on your hands or a block. And I can certainly notice that the left side feels quite different. A lot more stuck there. Once you kind of scan the body and you notice the sensations, can you then move into the breath? Allow yourself to move into the present moment. Maybe with the mantra, I have arrived. I am home. A couple more cool deep breaths here. Feeling the support of the earth come up to meet you. Take your time. Peel your way up. If it would feel okay to just let the weight come off to one side, bring the legs out in front of you, go for it. If you're kind of like, no, I need that down dog to balance it out, then absolutely go for that. Otherwise we'll meet seated at the front of the mat, stretch the legs out long in front of you. Flex your feet and wiggle in up on your sitting bones. Reach your arms up, stretch up through your fingertips, and then just move into Pashimottanasana. Letting the hands fall wherever they fall as you fold in, balancing the right and the left, breathing through the backs of the legs. Exhale, releasing into the fold just a little bit more. As you're ready, we'll rise up, reach your arms forward. Let's slowly lower onto our back on the count of four. So you're engaging through the core. Keep the heels connected to the earth, and I think I said the count of four, but I meant five. We'll lower for five, four, three, two. Notice where the feet want to lift and release into one. Nice work. Hug your knees into your chest and just give yourself a little rock side to side. Notice how the back body is feeling now. Let's move into a couple rounds of heart-opening postures. So we'll start with bridge pose, bringing the soles of the feet down to the earth. Walk your heels in towards you, and you can brush the backs of the heels with the fingertips. And then pressing through the soles of the feet, lift your hips, chest towards the chin. Maybe the hands come underneath the low back, interlacing, drawing the shoulders down the back. And then breathe.

Really in this posture, can you feel the soles of the feet? Can you feel the parts of the arms that are making contact with the earth? Shoulders. Rounding down to lift up, rooting down to rise. Beautiful. And release the arms first if you're interlaced, and see if you can roll down super slowly. Upper back, mid back, low back. Good. Step your feet as wide as your mat. Let the knees knock into touch. Take a moment here. Pause. Maybe hands to low belly. And just observe. Observe the echo of the posture. Where does it land? Do there's an uptick in energy? Where are my thoughts? Let's take another round and step the feet hips distance or to walk the heels in towards you. Pressing through the soles of the feet, lift your hips. Maybe interlacing behind the low back, drawing the shoulders down. Heart lifts. And you're rooting down to rise up. Feel the depth of the breath. Good. Releasing arms first, slowly lower, upper back, mid back, low back. Beautiful. This time, reach your arms all the way up over your head. Let your knees drop to the right side. And start to windshield wiper the knees from side to side. Feel that release in the spine a couple times, right to left. Good. And then as you come back through center when you're ready, let's hug the right knee into the chest. Let the left leg go long on your mat and give your right knee a squeeze in for a moment. Maybe straighten that right leg up toward the ceiling. You can interlace behind the right thigh or the calf. And just give yourself a little hamstring stretch. The shoulders relax. Good. And then hugging your right knee in with your left hand, draw your right knee across the body. Maybe roll all the way to the left side for a moment and then peel your right arm open to the right as you gaze over the right shoulder. Find your twist. This final twist here is great. We're just ringing it all out. All that energy, that prana, that life force, you built out. Winding it all out, detoxifying it. Every inhale, find a little bit more length and with every exhale, soften and let go just a little more. Good. And then unravel as you're ready. Neutralize the spine, stretch your right leg long on your mat and then gather your left knee in toward your chest. Give it a squeeze. And then maybe straighten out that left leg for a moment, interlacing behind the back of the left leg hamstring stretch. The shoulders soften, relax through the face, the jaw, the eyes. Good. And then hug your left knee back into your chest with your right hand. Draw it across the body. Maybe roll all the way over to the right side. And then just start to peel that left arm open and to the left. Maybe take the gaze with you over the left fingertips. Allow yourself even full deep breaths here to ring it all out. Take your time to unravel, come back to center. Bring the soles of the feet to the earth as you neutralize the spine and then just hang there for a moment. Feel the soles of the feet rooted down. And bring the palms to face up on either side of your body. Feel the parts of the body that are supported. You have arrived. You're home. Gather your knees into the chest one last time. Maybe closing with a happy baby as I so often do because I love it. Hold onto the outsides of the feet, knees wide, let the low back soften down. Relax the shoulders. Maybe rock a little side to side or just find stillness. Maybe it feels good to just let the spine be supported here. Much of the spine as you can resting on the earth. Any last movement that the body is asking for to feel complete in your practice, honor that wherever you are. And as you're ready, we'll gather the knees back into the chest. Draw your nose up towards your knees. Hug everything in. Hold your breath up at the top. So big full breath in, holding the breath and then sipping a little bit more air and then open the mouth, side out, releasing everything for Shavasana. So legs go long on your mat. Let your feet just kind of roll open like books, softening through the low belly. You can bring your palms to face up on either side of the body. Let the arms fall away from you. You pick up space here. And the softening through the palms of your hands and see if you can notice the vibration from the inside out. Relaxing shoulders, eyes closed if that feels safe for you. Otherwise you can just find one point to rest your gaze. And then let the body get heavy. Let the earth come up and hold you. Letting go, letting be just rest. But I'm sorry that the eyes come up and I don't want to make thissplendent.

Begin to deepen your breath. Start to tune into the sounds around you, you know, because it's so apparent that things are whipping around outside my window right now. See if you can notice the temperature of the space that you're in, tuning into your senses. And you can invite any movement back in, so the fingers, the toes, ankles, wrists, and reach your arms up over your head, again, making that nice full body stretch, allowing a big full breath in here. Open the mouth, sigh it out, let it go.

Bring the soles of the feet to the earth, take a moment to feel the soles of the feet rooting down, maybe roll over to other side, taking a moment on your side to pause to notice what you notice. And then with that ease of Shavasana, just pressing your way up to a comfortable cross leg seated position again, finding your sitting bones, sitting up nice and tall, the spine. We'll gather our hands together in Anjali mudra, in front of the heart, mudra, gratitude, taking a moment to just bow your head in toward yourself, acknowledging yourself for showing up for you in this way today. Thank you so much for joining me from wherever you are, it's been such an honor and a pleasure to meet in this new way. We'll bring our hands to the third eye, the light and love in me, greets and honors, the light and love in each of you, namaste everyone.