Easing into Stillness

Welcome, everyone. Yoga Anytime Live. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for tuning in and taking this time for yourself to practice. Thank you to my Yoga Anytime team for all your support today with broadcasting. Just so grateful to be here. I'm here in my home living room. Please make sure you have whatever you like for your practice. And today we'll just need a blanket to sit on or something supportive and comfortable for seated meditation. So we'll begin seated. Just find a comfortable seat. And the theme today is really a more of a moving meditation. So easing into really this quality of stillness. I find for me especially those moments when I don't feel like practicing when I don't feel like getting on my mat or taking the time to slow down and drop in. Those are the times I need to practice more than ever. So I'm really feeling that today. And just want to start by diving right in. So we'll take a few moments to sit and just notice what has our attention. Then as you settle, you might rock a little bit forward and back on your sitting bones. I've been inviting a quality of length up through your spine, really finding that ease up through the base of your skull, be softening a bit through the eyes and the jaw. I'm just allowing the mind to naturally begin to settle. And as the mind begins to settle, notice the quality of your breathing, becoming aware of any sensations through your body today. Those sensations might be in the physical body. Those sensations might be a bit more subtle, right? In the subtle body, maybe a wave of emotion, thought patterns. Nice. Just a few more moments here. From here, join the hands together at the heart.

I invite you to set perhaps an intention for your practice as a way to kind of align your energy, your focus. Making a few moments here to listen inwardly for any whispers in the heart. Beautiful. Still allow for an inhale. Nice, generous exhale out of the mouth. From here, as you're ready, we'll come into a Sukhasana. So a simple shin to shin is easing into a forward fold here. So flexing your ankles a little bit, you might wobble into your sitting bones and then walking your hands forward. Nice and easy. Just start by leaning a little bit from side to side, exploring the sensation, the landscape through the hips and the pelvis. You might come up onto your fingertips and with your inhale, find a little bit more traction and length through your spine as if you're kind of drawing the heart, the chest forward, lengthening out of your low back. And then with an exhale, soften the jaw, the belly, the sitting bones, and let your back around here, maybe releasing the weight of your head.

Taking a breath into the back of your body. And just beginning to breathe into wherever you feel the sensation. Most likely, if this is your first forward fold of the day, the body feels a bit sticky, maybe achy, like a dull, sweet stretch. And then from here, let's walk the arms over to our right, over that right knee. You might stay on the fingertips as you inhale again, traction the heart forward, and then exhale, rounding, releasing the forehead towards your right knee for a few moments. Let that left sitting bone and hip release, get heavy towards the earth. From here, as you're ready, keep walking it over to the right for our side bend, round your right hand, and with your inhale, sweep your left arm in front of your face and up. And just start by reaching and lengthening a bit more through the fingers, maybe letting that left sitting bone and hip kind of root towards the earth. Feel how you can soften the right shoulder blade into your body. Beautiful big stretch here. You might stay with this. You might let your back round a little bit, revolving towards the earth, feeling how that sensation moves. Maybe spiraling up through the heart, feeling your bottom lung reach up.

A couple more moments here, waking up the side body, just intercostal muscles, bringing a bit more awareness into the lungs and the diaphragm. And then as you're ready with the inhale, reach with that top arm, let it carry you up. Take a moment to pause, allow for a clearing breath. Nice, full exhale. And then let's just lean back and free the legs and bring the opposite shin in front. We'll find the same pattern on the other side, wobbling into the sitting bones. And then as you're ready, easing forward, nice, easy forward fold. And you might spread the fingers wide, come up onto the fingertips, and with your inhale, find that length and traction through your spine. Nice and long through your neck. Exhale, round. Let your back release, let the head release. A couple of breaths into the back of your body. Just notice what you choose to do with your hands. They might be facing down towards the earth, which tends to be, feel very grounding. You might explore when the palms turn up towards the sky. A little bit more receptive. From here, as you're ready, walking the arms over towards the left a bit more over that left knee.

And you might come up onto the fingertips and with an inhale and a drag and draw the heart forward over the left knee. And with your exhale, let your back round. Maybe releasing the weight of your head, letting that right outer hip sitting bone find the earth. Breathing. And then as you're ready, walk the left arm out to your side for the side bend. Inhale, sweep the right arm in front of the face and up. Start by reaching and lengthening. Again, exploring the whole landscape of sensation through the side body, through the hip. It might feel good to round forward a bit. Maybe spiraling the heart towards the sky opening. Just finding what feels good. We're exploring that edge of sensation. A couple more moments. Find a place where your neck feels good.

For me, usually it's looking down a bit. As you're ready, inhale, reach with your top arm and exhale. Let it release. Take a moment, clearing breath. Nice, full exhale. Let it go. We're going to do a simple twist with your inhale. Stretch both arms up towards the sky. Feel that length and space. Exhale, let's twist to the right. Left hand finds the right thigh.

Right fingertips might reach downward towards the earth. You might bend the elbow and wrap the top of that hand around the lower back. Inhale, feel the spine draw into your back a little bit more. And then exhale, gentle twist to the right. Nice, softening the eyes. And then stay on the twist. Slowly rotate the head forward over the heart and then maybe stretching over your front shoulder as you breathe in. And then exhale, unwind, clearing breath. Nice, last side. Inhale, arms stretch up. Exhale, let's twist to the left. Right hand finds the left thigh. Again, left fingertips might reach towards the floor. You might bend the elbow, wrap the top of the hand. Inhale to lengthen and exhale, gentle twist. And you feel that rotation, really from the base of your spine, the tailbone, turning of the ribs, the lungs, the heart, maybe the head and the gaze.

If you can soften a little bit through that right hip. And then stay on the twist. Slowly let your head rotate forward. And if it feels good, continue rotating over that front shoulder, breathing in. And then exhale, unwind. Let's take a few shoulder rolls up, back and down. Nice. And then lean back, free your legs. It might feel good to do a little side to side shimmy here. Releasing the hips, the spine. I'm going to focus a bit on side opening, side bending, hip opening, and releasing the spine through twisting. As you're ready, join me in a tabletop. Just make our way onto the hands and the knees. And you might bring a blanket under your knees for support, spreading your fingers wide. It might feel good to tuck your toes under just to begin to stretch and get into the bottom. So the feet here, flowing in and out of cat cow. As you're ready, drop the belly, arch your back, coming into that back bend, feeling the space through the collar bones, sitting bones. And with your exhale, let your back round and stretch, releasing the head. Nice full breath into those mid ribs. And again, with your inhale, drop the belly, lift the heart, the sitting bones, feel that length. And then exhale, pull the navel into the spine, press the floor away. You might find more of an active child's pose, feeling that kind of sweet traction through the mid-low back. And then continue a handful of rounds, finding your pace today, your rhythm.

Be nice to soften the gaze inward as you feel into the sensation, the movement through your spine. Always notice how the sensation changes with repetition, how there's a bit more mobility, a bit more space, opening, awareness. It really doesn't take much to feel a bit better, to shift our energy, our mood, our focus, our perspective. Nice. And then from here, just come into a neutral position through your spine, moving into a side opening here, side plank variation. So first, we'll just reach back through the right foot like we tend to do, tuck the toes under, and just feel into the back of that right leg line, stretching through the heel, pressing through the ball of the foot. We'll take this into our side plank. So from here, transfer the weight into your left arm, and then stretch your right arm up towards the sky. That bottom hip and foot might open more like a kickstand. Feel how you can reach from the heart into both hands. This feels so nice. Feeling that energy through your right leg, grounding through the outer edge of that right foot. You might stay with this, you might sweep the arm down towards the earth overhead, and then feel how you can rotate the rib cage and open. Maybe there's a few arm circles here, you're really initiating the movement from your shoulder joint, and then feeling that turning through the rib cage. Ah, it feels so good. Maybe there's one more pause and length and root through the outer right edge to the fingers. One more inhale, exhale, slow release that right arm, spin onto the ball of your back right foot, draw that knee in. Let's take a few rounds of Cat-Cow again. Just kind of wash that through the spine. Inhale to arch, lifting the heart, the sitting bones. Exhale, curl around, stretch. Maybe one or two more rounds rippling through the spine, riding the wave with a breath. Beautiful. Now the next time you come into a neutral position, spread the fingers again, extend out for your left leg, and let's just start by rocking a little bit forward and back. Feeling into that left leg this morning or today, whatever time it may be, transferring the weight into your right arm, stacking the right shoulder over the right wrist, opening up through the hips, and then maybe stretching that top left arm up to the sky. Again, that bottom foot can kind of open like a kickstand. You're rooting, you're reaching, you're lifting out of the bottom wrist, breathing. So if you're expanding your wings, feel so nice. Stay with this or sweep your left top arm down to the floor overhead and then feel that turning of the torso, the bottom lung rooting, reaching. Maybe there's a few arm circles with that top arm initiating from the left shoulder joint and then feeling that corresponding opening and movement through the upper body. Maybe there's one more like this and then you want to pause, root, breathe, feel that inner space, easy through the neck. With your exhale, release that left arm down to the floor. Slowly spin onto the ball of your back left foot and back into your tabletop. Another round of cow here. Maybe pressing back and releasing into a child's pose. Inhale to arch, exhale to curl and round. Find one more. Inhale to arch, exhale. This time we'll round back together towards the shape of child's pose and any variation of child's pose that feels good for your knees, your hips, your feet.

Let's add in just a little bit of a wobble. Connecting in with the back of your body as you draw your awareness into the back of the body, the low back, the sacrum, across the hips. Just noticing how the breath responds from your child's pose. Stretch your arms forward and then round your spine up. Round, round, round, coming back into our tabletop, setting up for a plank here. Spread the fingers wide. You might keep your knees on the earth. You want to explore some strengthening work. Extend back through your legs, strong active legs, shoulders over the wrists. Draw the deep low belly up towards the spine. Yeah, reach back, lengthen forward, feeling that buoyancy through the heart and the lungs. Let's inhale and with your exhale, downward dog. Finding your way back and up. You might pedal the feet out. I'm stretching the back of the legs. In this first down dog, it might feel nice to come high up onto the balls of your feet. Really feeling that energy through the legs, releasing the neck and then letting the heels begin to get heavy towards the earth. You might bend the knees here as you wiggle and reach the sitting bones towards the sky.

Shoulders lifting up, away from the ears. Now from your plank or from your down dog, join me in plank, shifting the shoulders over the wrist. You can always lower your knees to the earth. Let's do that as we lower down onto the belly. A few rounds of rolling cobra, tops of the feet on the floor. Roll the shoulders up the back, press the palms down and inhale, lift the heart, baby cobra. Exhale, lead with the heart, lower down. Let's find two more rounds, baby cobra. You might kick through your feet, press through your palms, inhale, lift the heart. Rod through the chest and collar bones, lead with the heart, lower down. One more, press through the palms, inhale, rise up, cobra and then lead with the heart, lower down. As you're ready, tuck the toes, press up onto the knees, round back into your child's pose a few moments. Finding a counter pose to the back bend. Maybe there's another wobble here from side to side. You might stay in your child's pose a bit longer. You might draw your chin into your chest and roll up for a moment towards Vadrasana. If this feels agreeable with your knees sitting up on the heels, feel that length in the spine. You might stay right here. You might explore drawing the tailbone under, walking the hands back behind you. Chin in towards the chest. As you draw the chin in towards the chest, feel how you can lift and open the chest a little bit here. You might stay right here. If and as it would feel good for your neck, you might slowly begin to bring the gaze up, maybe letting the weight of the head release. Feeling that extension through your spine, front of the spine. And then slow chin into the chest, walking your hands back up using your core for support. And let's come into a wide downward dog variation. Fanning the fingers out. So we're in that natural external rotation. Talking the toes, lifting up, walk the feet wide. And I love this variation of down dog. And just start by bending your knees. So with your feet as wide as your mat, bending your knees, wiggle and lengthen. Feeling that long line of energy through the spine as you release the weight of the head. Feeling the thigh bones begin to drop back and maybe the legs are straightening a little bit. Just letting the head release below the heart in this inversion. Breathing. Take your time. We're going to walk our hands back towards our feet, moving in the direction of our squat, malasana. Heels turn in, toes turn out, bend your knees and begin to feel into your hips a bit more. Sinking down. You might lean a little bit from side to side here. Joining me for a twist if you'd like. Grounding your left hand and inhale, sweep the right arm up. Oh, this feels so good. Let the right hip open. Maybe circle out the wrist. You might look down towards the earth. You might look up towards the sky. A bit more of that side body opening. Exhale, release the right hand. Open up with the left arm and maybe circle out through the wrist. Looking down, looking up, finding a bit more length and opening. Beautiful.

Release. Toe heel to feet a little closer underneath the hips. Forward fold. Bend the knees. Let the head release. Hands might find the elbows and maybe there's a little sway that wants to happen from side to side here. Beautiful. Releasing the hands. Soft bend through your knees, rolling up slowly and mindfully through the spine. Bend the knees. Chin into your chest. Take your time to slowly unfurl. Feeling the heart. Feeling your shoulders. Feeling your head and letting the palms open. Just take a few moments. Let the blood, let the energy settle down towards the earth. Letting that ease through the base of your skull. Beautiful. Bringing it into the shoulders and the neck a little bit more. So from here, let's just start by squeezing the shoulders up around the ears and exhale, dropping them down. Inhale, roll the shoulders up. Give them a squeeze. Exhale, drop. Let's do one more. Shoulders drop. Squeeze. Exhale and drop. A few shoulder rolls back one at a time. Just putting a bit more mobility through the upper body. Loosening up the shoulder girdle area. And then reverse. Back up and forward. Feeling into the shoulder blades, the back of the heart. Nice. And then let's rub the palms together. Rub, rub, rub.

Bring that energy and then let's reach out. Extend. Finding that internal rotation. Roll the shoulders forward. Press through the feet. Feel that external rotation, that opening across your chest. Let's do that again. Roll the shoulders forward and then press through the feet and open. One more. Roll the shoulders forward. Press through the feet. Open. Come back and press. Reach out. Reach out from the heart into the heels of the hands. Drawing the fingers towards the ears and then draw the fingers in. Stretch the top of the wrist, the forearms. Taking a breath in. One last time. Press and reach out. This time we'll spin the fingers down towards the floor. Moving a bit deeper into the tendons. You can feel it and then fingers draw in.

Hands draw in. Stretching the top of the wrists. A nice counter pose to you. Spending perhaps a bit more time on the computer. Inhale. Exhale. Release the arms. Roll the shoulders up. Exhale. Drop them down. Let's interlace the fingers. Stretch the arms up towards the sky. Feel that lift from the inner arches all the way up through the spine. Brightening up through the heart. Press through the feet up through the spine. Palms in the hands reaching towards the earth. Inhale. Exhale. Side bend over to the right. Finding a bit more space through the left side. Beautiful. Inhale. Come on up. Exhale. Over to the left. More space through the right side. One more in each direction. Over to the side.

Maybe the gaze looks down. Inhale up and over to the other side. Nice work. Inhale up. Slow. Exhale. Release the arms. Find that internal rotation. Interlace your fingers behind your back. You can also work with a strap. Inhale. Lift up through the chest. Stay here. Exhale. Bend your knees. Forward fold. Uttanasana. Releasing the head. Stretching the arms up out and over. Tapping into your legs here. You might feel how you can draw the navel towards the spine as you deepen the fold at the hip hinge. Maybe shifting some weight forward into your toes. Your feet. And feeling the shoulders lift up away from the cervical spine. Beautiful. Slow bend the knees.

Release the hands. Forward fold. As you inhale, just slide the hands up the shins. Find half arch. Lengthen your spine. Press through the heels. And then exhale. Forward fold. Good. Standing twist. Bring your left hand down to the floor. Bend your left knee and stretch your right arm up towards the sky. You can kind of pull the right hip back. Again, you might look up. You might look down. Feel so good. Inhale. Exhale. Slow release. Slide the hands up the shins. Again, inhale. Half arch. Lengthen. Exhale. Bend the knees. Forward fold. Ground the right hand. Bend the right knee.

And then stretch that left arm up towards the sky for a standing twist. Feeling that turning of the rib cage. Notice what you choose to do with the head and the neck. Inhale. Exhale. Slow release that left hand. One more time. Inhale. Slide the hands up the shins. Half arch. Exhale. Forward fold. Bend the knees. Inhale. Let's sweep the arms up to the sky. Reverse swan dive. Press through the feet. Reach up and lengthen. And then exhale. Draw the hands together at the heart. Making your way towards the top of your mat for a few rounds of sun salutations. Standing shapes. Moving into our warrior two flow. Take a few moments here. Clearing breath. Inhale. Nice, full exhale. Moving with the breath on an inhale. Sweep your arms up towards the sky. And with your exhale, forward fold. Hinge at the hips. Maybe a soft bend through the knees as you release your head. Inhale. Draw your hands up your shins. Half arch. Lengthen. Exhale. Bend your knees. Let's step the right foot back towards the shape of the lunge. Left knee bends.

Moving into our warrior two from here. Pivot onto the outer edge of your back right foot. We'll sweep that right arm up and let it carry us up into our warrior two. And take a few moments. So that left heel is in line with your right inner arch. Lengthening through the inner left thigh bone. Warrior dance. With an inhale, press through the ball of your left foot. Reach the arms up. Exhale. Left knee bends into your warrior two. Again, inhale. Press through the ball of the left foot. Reach the arms. Exhale. Warrior two. Let's find three more rounds moving with a breath at your own pace. Inhale. Press. Lift. Exhale. Warrior two. There's one more here. Exhale. Warrior two. Moving into our reverse warrior. Reach the back hand down the leg. Inhale.

Reach that top left arm up towards the sky. Feeling all that length through the left side body as you inhale. Exhale. Side angle. Left forearm onto the left thigh. Sweep that right arm over the ear. And then feel that turning of the rib cage. Rooting. Breathing. Easy in the neck. Strong through the legs. Inhale. Back into warrior two in reverse. Moving into our triangle pose. Press into the ball of your left foot. Straighten the left leg. You might toe heel the back foot in a little closer. Inhale to lengthen. Exhale. We're reaching into our trikonasana triangle. Feeling that extension. Left hand might find the shin, the ankle. You might pull in a block. Maybe reaching that top right arm up towards the sky. I love this shape.

Really taking up space here. Notice what you prefer to do with that top arm. It might be reaching. You might find that internal rotation through your shoulder. Bend the elbow and maybe you're wrapping. You're bringing it around the sacrum or wrapping it around that front thigh. There's a stretch through the neck here as you draw the left ear towards the left shoulder. Ooh. And gently nodding the head. Feeling that big stretch through the right side of the neck here. Breathing. Take your time slow. Reach that right arm back up to the sky if it's wrapped. We're gonna sweep it down. Our transition here is through a long pyramid. So spin onto the ball of your back foot. The left leg is forward. The right leg is back. The hips are facing towards the front of the mat. You might inhale arch and lengthen and then exhale. Just let your back round. Forehead releasing towards that left shin bone. Big stretch in the front leg.

Beautiful work. As you're ready, step the left foot back into your down dog. You might pedal out your feet a little bit. Bending the knees. You might stay in down dog. Lower onto the knees in child's pose or join me in a plank. As you inhale, shift the shoulders over the wrists. As you exhale, lower the knees. Lower onto the belly. Cobra. Press through the palms. Inhale, lifting up through the heart and the chest. Exhale, lead with the heart. Lower. Tuck your toes. Press up, finding your downward dog. Couple of breaths here. From your down dog, as you're ready, go ahead and walk your feet towards your hands. Once you arrive, inhale, bring the hands up the shins. Half arch to lengthen. Exhale, bend the knees, forward fold. Bend the knees. Reverse swan dive. Press through the feet.

Sweep the arms up. Gather and reach. Exhale, hands to the heart. Taking a moment to pause and feeling your own internal rhythms. Heartbeat. Energy. Feeling our way into our second side. As you're ready, inhale, arms sweep up. Exhale, dive forward and in. Releasing your head. Inhale, draw your hands up your shins for half arch. Lengthen. Exhale, bend your knees. Step your left foot back. Right knee bend. Shape of the lunge. Moving into our warrior two. Pivot onto the outer edge of your back left foot. Strong legs. Use that left arm to sweep you up. Coming into your warrior two. Getting the stance and the alignment just right for you. Palms might turn up and let's dance. Inhale, press through the ball, the left foot. Right foot, right leg straightens. Exhale, right knee bends. Warrior two.

And inhale, press through the ball, the right foot. Arms reach. Exhale, warrior two. Let's take three more rounds with the breath. Inhale, pressing, lifting and lengthening. Exhale, bending, opening and rooting. Maybe there's one more warrior two dance. Eventually pausing in the shape of warrior two. Move into reverse. Slide the left hand down the back leg. Inhale, right arm reaches. And then exhale, side angle. Right form onto the right thigh. Sweeping the left arm over the ear. Returning the rib cage. Breathing. Strong through the legs. Inhale, back into your warrior two. We'll reverse again and then press through the ball of that right foot. Straighten the right leg. You might toe heel your back foot in for triangle pose. Inhale to lengthen. Exhale, begin to reach. And then right hand might find the shin, the ankle or a block as you reach your left arm up towards the sky. Any variation here in your triangle pose with that top arm. Today I'm going to find that internal rotation. Then the elbow. You might bring the back of the hand to your sacrum where you might experiment with wrapping that hand around the thigh bone. Maybe softening the right ear towards the right shoulder. Nodding the head gently. And breathing. When you feel ready, free that top arm up to the sky. Release it down. Coming into our pyramid pose. Long pyramid. Spin onto the ball of your back left foot.

And right leg forward, left leg back. You can kind of pull that right hip back. You might lengthen the spine. And you might choose to round your back. Releasing the forehead towards your right shin. Feeling that big stretch through the hamstrings. Beautiful. Grounding your hands, bending your front knees. Step back, downward dog. Pedal the feet. And you're welcome to stay right here. Lowering the child's pose. Join me in a plank pose. Shoulders over the wrists. You might lower the knees or you might come into a chaturanga. Drawing the elbows in. Inhale to cobra or maybe an upward dog would feel nice today. Lifting the thighs. Feeling that space through the front of the spine. Exhale. We'll meet in downward facing dog. Full of breaths here. And then as you're ready from your down dog, walk your feet towards your hands. Once you arrive, inhale, draw the hands up the shins half arch. Exhale, bend your knees forward fold. Strong through the legs. Inhale, sweep your arms up. Gather the energy. Reach and exhale. Hands together at the heart. Take a moment to pause. Notice how you feel. Beautiful. Let's step the legs out wide. Coming into our horse stance or goddess stance. Bringing the heels in, turning the toes out. Finding that external rotation through the hips.

So knees tracking over about the second third toe. And then let's join the hands together at the heart. Nice. Finding a sun salutation variation here. The hands of the heart will inhale. Exhale, press the hands down towards the earth. With your inhale, press through the feet. Straighten the legs. Reach the arms up. And exhale, bend the knees. Hands to the heart.

Hands at the heart. Inhale. Exhale, press hands to earth. Inhale, straighten the legs. Sleep the arms up. A little balance here. And then exhale, bend the knees. Hands together at the heart. Let's find one more like this. Inhale. Exhale, press hands to earth. Inhale, press through the feet. Straighten the legs. Arms reach.

Exhale, hands to the heart. Softening the eyes and the jaw. Feeling the heart rise up towards the thumbs. Ease in the neck. And then let's bring the hands onto the legs. Kind of sink down. Catch yourself. With a little twist and dip action. So we'll inhale to lift. Exhale, twist to the right. Dip the left shoulder forward.

Press through the feet. Back through center. Exhale to the left. Dip the right shoulder forward. One more in each direction. Inhale up. Exhale, twist and dip to the right. Inhale up. And exhale, twist and dip to the left. Nice. Inhale up. Press through the feet. And then bring the feet forward. Coming into our wide forward fold. Inhale, reach the arms out.

Roll the shoulders forward. Find that interlace behind your back. Inhale, lift the heart. Exhale, hinge at the hips forward fold. Finding our Prasarita Padottamasana variation. You might bend the knees here as you again reach the arms up out and over. When you're ready, gently releasing the hands towards the sacrum.

Releasing the hands to the earth. And then crawling the hands out for hammock pose. Shifting the hips back away from the hands. We're in this down dog variation. Heart softening towards the earth. Be feeling that sweet traction through the neck. As you're ready, bring the hands back underneath the shoulders.

We'll find one last standing twist here. So bring the left hand underneath the face. And as you're ready, sweep the right arm up to the sky for a wide standing twist. Feel that bottom left lung spinning up. You just notice what you choose to do with your head.

Looking down, looking up. Inhale, exhale, release. Right hand under the face. As you're ready, sweep the left arm up to the sky. Feeling that bottom right lung spin up. Maybe looking down. Maybe looking up. Inhale here, exhale, slow, release.

We'll toe heel the feet a little closer. One last melasana squat pose. Heels turn in, toes turn out. Again, you're finding a variation that feels best for your knees, your ankles, your feet. Might even slide a blanket underneath your heels or a block under your sitting bones. Maybe bringing the hands together at the heart.

Nice, full exhale. I'm finding a graceful transition down to the floor. So however you'd like to get there, releasing. Nice work. And stretching your legs out for a moment.

We'll take a moment in dandasana staff pose before we come on down. So feeling that energy through your legs, drawing the toes towards your face. Feeling that length, just like in dandasana up through your spine, crown of the head. From here, let's roll onto our backs slowly. Taking your time, rolling down where you'd like to get there.

We'll set up for a bridge. As you're ready, go ahead and bend your knees, ground the soles of your feet. Arms down alongside the body. As you're ready, we'll inhale and exhale, curl the tailbone under, press through the feet, lift your pelvis up, coming into our first bridge. Now your palms might press down into the floor.

You might prefer to roll and tuck your shoulders under the back, finding that interlace around your sacrum. Feeling that internal rotation through your thigh bones. We're spreading the effort evenly through our body. And the play here, see if you can relax some of that natural gripping that tends to happen through the glutes, right, through the buttocks. Really tapping into the strength and support of your legs, grounding your feet.

Beautiful. Now to release, let's come high up onto the balls of our feet. So lift your heels up off the earth, release your fingers, stretch your arms up to the sky. And as you're ready, roll and round your spine down slowly, upper back, mid back, low back, sacrum and arms. Take a moment to pause and notice.

Now it might feel good after you come into bridge to stretch your legs out. Maybe open the palms, finding one more round of bridge. If and as you feel ready, go ahead and bend your knees, round the feet, spread the toes, heels in line with the sitting bones. Just allow for an inhale and with your exhale, curl the tailbone under, press through the feet, lift up into bridge, feel the front of the body lengthening. Again, palms might press down as the fingers reach towards your heels.

You might roll and tuck the shoulders under again. If you prefer a more kind of restorative bridge, you might bring a block under your sacrum. It's always a wonderful option. Feeling that space and opening through the chest, the sternum lifting towards the chin, breathing, and finding this balance of ease and effort, effort and ease in each asana, in each shape. When you feel ready to release, gently release the fingers, come high up onto the balls of your feet.

Again, lift the heels, stretch your arms up, round your spine down slow. Start with the upper back, mid-back, low back and arms. Nice. It might feel good to straighten the legs out or maybe stretch your legs up to the sky. Oh, that feels good.

Kind of point and flex the feet, releasing the hamstrings, back of the knees after all that engagement. And then from here, bring the soles of the feet together, let the knees fall wide. We're going to find a few rounds of what I like to call butterfly sit-ups. So just to kind of find a counterposed bridge, little core work. So from your supta baddha konasana, interlace your fingers behind your head, like you're lounging at the beach.

And then just let the elbows release down towards the earth. And in your butterfly shape, go ahead and find your backbend here. So find what we would call like the cow, the cat cow, how about lifting the lumbar spine up towards the sky, opening the lungs and the throat. And then with your exhale, we're going to do a sit-up, manually lift your head up off the floor. And as you do that, bring your knees together, ground your feet and draw your elbows towards each other.

Try everything in and then slow on the inhale, open the hips, the knees, the elbows and arch the back. Exhale, curl up, lift up, draw the elbows together, draw the knees together, ground the feet. Inhale, open wide, arch the back, open the lungs and the hips. Exhale, lift up, curl up, ground the feet, draw the knees and elbows together. Let's find two more rounds together.

Open up, inhale, arch the back, exhale, curl up, lift up. And one more like this, open arch. You got flying, swimming, butterfly, exhale, curl up, lift up. Nice, and then release. Beautiful, release the arms.

Let's go ahead and ground the soles of the feet. From here, bring the left ankle across that right thigh, opening up through the left hip. From here, you might rock a little bit from side to side on the inner outer edge of your right foot, moving towards a deeper hip opening and a spinal twist. As you rock it back through center, go ahead and lift and draw your right thigh in towards your chest. Coming into our figure four, reflexing your left ankle there, weaving your left hand through the window, finding the back of your right thigh, maybe working with a strap.

Rock it over to the right a little bit as you find a little bit more space through the outer left hip. Yeah, and then rock it back through center, breathing into where you feel it. And notice where you can soften a bit. Nice. From here, we'll transition towards an eagle wrap spinal twist.

Now it sounds fancy. So from your figure four, from the eye of the needle, go ahead and release the hands. Keep your left ankle where it is, and then we're just going to wrap it. So keep wrapping that left leg. We're going to shift the hips to the left and then roll onto our right side.

Go ahead and stack the arms, roll onto the side of your head, and then slowly let that top left arm circle overhead and open. Coming into your eagle wrap spinal twist. Sometimes it can feel nice to bring that right hand just to kind of ground the outer left hip there. Of course, if you feel like there's too much torque on your back, it's bringing too much sensation into your low back and spine. You can always unwrap the legs and just stack the knees on top of each other.

Allow for an inhale. And with your exhale, softening the belly. The feeling that natural kind of turning and rotation that begins to happen. As the left shoulder blade releases towards the earth, then you might begin to feel the ribs, the heart and the lungs, even the gaze turning towards the left. Let's think about here like a sunflower growing towards the sun.

A few more moments here, breathing into where you feel it. And you are welcome to stay here a bit longer. When you feel ready to unwind, just slowly unwrap your top left leg. Stack it on top of that right knee. You're just going to lead with the top left leg and let the bottom leg follow.

Just reorganize your body. Good. And then we'll feel into the second side. Bring that right ankle across the left thigh. You might start with a little bit of rocking side to side. And this might feel like a natural kind of counter pose to the eagle wrapped twist.

Your head might rock in one direction or the other. You might choose to stay with this. You might draw your left thigh in a little bit closer. See what it feels like to flex your right ankle. Maybe weaving your right arm through the window, finding the back of the thigh or the shin or working with your strap there.

Tip it over to the left a little bit as you find a little bit more space and opening for the outer right hip. And re-softening the eyes and the jaw with endless. Okay. And I'm rocking it back through center. A few more moments here. Letting that hip release in its own timing, its own way.

Meeting yourself right where you are in this moment. You might stay here a bit longer. When you feel ready, releasing the hands, keep the right ankle where it is. And we're going to explore the wrapping, eagle wrap. So wrapping that right leg over.

We're going to shift hips to the right a little bit as we tip everything over to our left, rolling onto the left side, stacking the arms. And then we'll circle the arm overhead and let it open. And arrive with an inhale, then settling and deepening with an exhale. But if this feels too much on your back today, you might unwrap your legs and just simply stack the knees on top of each other. Really soft in the back of the eyes, feeling the space between your eyebrows and the base of your skull.

You might become aware that the side feels different than the other side. Noticing how the sensation changes with time. Right, so you might feel that right shoulder blade releasing, allowing gravity to assist. And then you might be able to feel that right shoulder blade releasing. And allowing gravity to assist.

Letting the belly soften. And we're kind of wringing out the inside, our internal organs, the lymphatic system. And as we come out of the spinal twist, there's a fresh soaking, a circulation of blood upon our teeth. It gets flush through our system. You might stay here a bit longer in the twist.

When you feel ready to unwind, start by just unwrapping the top leg. Lead with that top leg and let the bottom leg follow. Again, you might ground the feet, reorganize your pelvis and hips, hug your knees into your chest. Now, if there's anything that would feel good, as you make your way into our final relaxation or seated meditation, take your time. Might be a happy baby.

There's a windshield wipers that want to happen. Who that might be. And depending on your energy, your day or evening, you might just simply stretch your legs out, maybe pulling in support for your shavasana, some warmth and weight. You might choose to join me in a seated meditation as you roll to your side and come on up. Maybe bringing a blanket underneath you or support.

And really allowing yourself to take up space. And if you're seated, inviting a quality of length up through the central channel, that subtle shishumna nadi up through the spine, bringing that ease and space through the base of your skull. Just consciously resting in the space you've created through your practice. Allowing for a deeper physical and emotional relaxation and ease. So the yoga is the process of quieting and stilling the fluctuations of the mind.

We're establishing the mind in a quality of stillness. And the sutra suggests that stillness develops through abhyasa, abhyasa, the effort of remaining present, practice and vairagya, this kind of loosening of attachments, clinging, the ability to consciously let go. If you are resting in the shape of shavasana, you are welcome to stay there as long as you'd like, lingering in this relaxation. And if you're seated, you might bring one hand to the heart and one hand to the belly. And you're thanking yourself for showing up, joining the hands together at the heart. Just allow for an inhale, a nice full exhale, bowing the head towards the heart.

Thank you so much for joining me, really taking the time to slow down, feel in, ease in towards the quality of inner stillness and calm. Have a beautiful day. Namaste.