Relaxed and Aware

Welcome. In our practice today, we're going to focus on finding this balance of relaxation and awareness or focus simultaneously. So we'll begin our practice in a seated meditation with some breath awareness and centering. And then we'll make our way down to the floor for just a nice opening, kind of groovy, fluid floor sequence to warm the spine and the joints. And then kind of begin to build a little bit of heat and strength as we play with some balancing postures and shapes. How does that sound? All right. So join me in a seated position. You might sit up on a blanket or a bolster, a cushion, whatever feels nice for you and take a few moments, just allow yourself to rock a little bit forward and back, feeling yourself have arrived in your space in your practice and your body. Every day is a little different or maybe a lot different. So just take a few moments to just feel yourself, the different parts of yourself arrive and center. Nice. And then invite a quality of length up through your spine. And with your exhale, let your shoulders soften a bit, be finding a little bit more ease through your mouth and your jaw. And then finding the placement of your skull where it feels balanced over the spine. So you might kind of feel into drawing the head back like a turtle or tortoise. And I feel that widening through the base of your skull and then softening the chin down ever so slightly. You might visualize or imagine the base of your skull gently lifting up and back. Just allow for an inhale. Nice full exhale here. We'll sit here for a few minutes and begin to notice what has your attention. And it might be thoughts swirling around, maybe sensations through your body. Maybe an ebb and flow of emotions moving through you. Noticing where in the body, the physical and subtle body, you can maybe soften and release any tensions. Whether it's physical tensions or maybe even emotional tensions, worries, anxieties. Begin to let your attention stay tethered to the breath for a few minutes here. Notice the quality of your breathing. And without any strain or force or manipulation. Just softening through the eyes, the belly, even the hands. Just noticing as you bring your attention towards the breath, noticing any resistance. Again, it's the nature of the mind to be dispersed in time, wild and crazy all over the place. So in yoga, the breath being one of really the primary techniques to tether our attention, that wild crazy monkey mind into the body where life is unfolding here and now in this moment. In meditation, we're learning to work with our minds more skillfully. Just noticing how the quality of your breathing changes with some attention.

Keeping it relaxed through the neck and the shoulders, the upper chest. As you become aware of the movement of the breath in the belly. Even noticing the sensation of the breath moving through the nostrils. Noticing when the mind wanders away from the breath and just gently, lovingly bring it back. Noticing how the breath changes the shape of the body moment to moment. Just finding a bit more in your ease, tenderness, patience, peace in our homes and communities and families, our planet. It begins with peace within. Peace and love within. It's one of the primary teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Our teacher Ravi shares one of the definitions of yoga. Yoga is breaking the bonds with suffering. And that begins with ourselves. Last few moments here. You're tuning towards the quality of your exhalation. Finding that ease through the base of your skull. Nice and wide through the lower back and the sacrum. Allow for an inhale. Nice, full exhale. With us joining the hands together at the heart. Taking a moment to set an intention for your practice. Aligning and focusing your energy. Breathing in. Exhale, maybe a soft bow forward and in towards the heart. Join me on your back. Start with a sweet floor opening. As you come onto your back, it might feel nice to have a blanket under your spine. Just allow the spine to move more on the sticky mat. As you come onto your back, bend your knees, ground the soles of your feet. Let's open our arms up into the shape of cactus or gold post arms. Warming the spine with cat cow. Keeping your feet and pelvis on the earth, roll the pelvis forward, arching your back up off the floor. With your exhale, gently curl the tailbone under. Keeping your pelvis on the earth as you draw the navel towards the spine. The head might rock back and up. Roll and tilt the pubic bone downward and forward as you arch your back. Lifting the lumbar spine. Chin softens towards the heart. Exhale, curl the tailbone under. Navel to spine. Find a few more like this. Arching the back. Chin softens down. Lifting the lumbar spine. Opening the lungs. Exhale, curl the tailbone under. Navel to spine. Maybe one or two more like this. Nice fluid movement. Jaw softening. Just allowing for this cranial sacral rocking and movement. Be spreading your awareness between the movement of your skull and the movement of your pelvis. It's noticing how the range of movement changes with repetition. Nice. And then just relaxing the effort. We're going to move into what we call the shimmy. If you're not quite sure, you can turn your head and take a look. It's going to press through our feet and just begin to rock up and down. Up and down, up and down. Your arms might stretch out to your sides here. And so it's less in your pelvis and more in your feet. And finding that ease in the neck. So your head's rocking and moving along for the ride. It's kind of like you're riding a horse. You're trotting on a horse.

Up and down. A few more moments here. Keeping it soft and relaxed and fluid. Shimmy. Up and down. Up and down. Good. And then pause and relax the effort. Turn the palms up. And notice how you feel. Might feel some warmth or sensation. Vibrations. Just an overall sweet feeling in your body. This is a very gross or mechanical way to help stimulate the nerves of the parasympathetic, the rest and digest response. That emanates out of our sacrum and moves up through our spine into our brain stem. Helping us feel sweet and spacious. Let's take one more round. Shimmy. Up and down. Maybe a little bit faster. Just enjoying the ride. It's less in the pelvis and more in the legs. You're using the legs to kind of jump start the body. And I always think about like a child having a tantrum on the floor. You're just kind of like, I don't want to take a nap. You really need one. Your head's rocking. Your pelvis is moving. Last few moments here. Shimmy. And then just relaxing the effort. Notice how you feel. Nice. Allow for a clearing breath. Inhale. Nice full exhale. Stretch your legs out on the floor. Reach your arms overhead. We'll just find a full body stretch here. Lengthening for a moment. Let it feel nice. Good. And then as you're ready from here, go ahead and bend your left knee. So keep your right leg long on the floor. And toe heel your left foot a little wider. So it's maybe as wide as your mat. And then stretch your arms out. So your hands are right in line with your shoulders. And then let's turn the palms down towards the earth. We're going to find a groovy fluid twist here. So what you'll do is you'll just let that left knee move across the body a little bit towards the right. Keep the foot grounded. And you're just going to press on to the inner edge of that left foot as you arch your back. So you're finding a bit of a twist here. And then send the head and the gaze over towards your left hand. And then just release onto your back. And let the left knee and hip open a little bit like a casual tree. And let's do it again. Roll onto the inner edge of your left foot. Arch your back like you would in your cat cow. And then look over your left shoulder. Getting into that mid back area. Low back. Again, roll onto your back. Open that left hip and knee. Casual tree. And then exhale. Press through the inner edge of that left foot. Nice twist through the spine. Looking towards the left. Let's find about five more rounds like this on this side. Nice fluid movement through your left hip joint. Exhale to twist. Head and gaze to the left if that feels good. Roll onto your back. Open that left hip and knee. Exhale kind of pumping through the sacrum, the low back, the kidneys. Maybe about three or four more. Rolling onto your back. Opening the left hip. Exhale. Press through the inner edge of that left foot. Twisting. Looking towards the left shoulder and hand. Let's find about two more at your own pace. Pressing, arching on the exhale. Twisting. And really find that ease for your neck. So letting your head stay heavy. And just kind of rock from side to side. Good. And then just roll onto your back. Stretch the left leg out on the floor. Maybe let the palms turn open. Take a moment to pause and notice how you feel. Tracking the feeling tone down through the left side of your body. Noticing any changes in circulatory rhythms. Blood, lymph, prana. Clearing breath. Inhale. Exhale everything. Let's feel onto the second side. So keeping your left leg long, bend your right knee and toe heel that right foot just a little wider. Maybe as wide as your mat. Turn the palms down. Hands out in line with the shoulders. And let the right knee move across the body.

Keep the foot on the floor as you press through the inner edge of that right foot coming into your twist. Arching the back. Maybe looking over your right shoulder. And then roll onto your back. Let that hip and knee open. Casual. Tree. And then exhale. Press through the inner edge. Arch and twist. And then roll onto your back. Open. Let's find about five more. Pressing. Arching. Turning to the right. And then unwinding onto your back. Nice and easy through that right hip joint. Press. Arch. Exhale. Twist. Roll onto your back. Maybe three or four more. You might play with the pace and the rhythm. Coordinating with the breath. Getting into that fascia, the connective tissue around the spine. Pressing. Arching. Exhale. The twist. Roll onto your back. Right hip and knee open. Let's find about two more. Pressing. Arching. Pressing. Roll onto your back. You're finding that appropriate edge of sensation. Maybe one more. Press. Arch. Twist. Find that good stretch. And then roll onto your back when you are complete. And then just stretch that right leg out on the floor. Open the palms.

Exhaling breath. Nice, full exhale. From here, as you're ready, go ahead and hug your knees into your chest. Rock a little bit from side to side. Kneeling into the back of your body. Nice. From here, we're going to roll onto our side into a lounging Buddha. Just find your way onto your side. We're going to do a little bit of hip strengthening, hamstring stretching. So you might have a blanket underneath you. It's also a nice balancing pose here. So stretch your legs out long and you might come up onto your forearm there as you support your head with your hands. And then make sure your feet are right in line with your hips. And then flex your feet a little bit here. Good. And then we're just going to lift the top leg by that internal rotation. So your toes are pointing forward and maybe even down a little bit. You can feel it right through there. And then lower down. Good. And then we're going to lift. We flex and lower. Let's find three more. Lifting and lowering. Lifting and lowering. And one more. Lifting and lowering down. Good. And then from here, we're going to stretch the leg up towards the sky externally. Rotate it now. So toes facing towards you might have your hand out in front of you balancing might be useful to have a strap or a belt for this. If it's available, you might play with reaching up towards the shin. Maybe your big toe or your foot there. Breathing. Big balance here. Softening the face a little bit. And notice the quality of your breathing. Tuning your attention towards the sensation of the breath and the bottom lung and that bottom nostril. Two more moments. It's common to fall out of this one. Good. And then just slow release the foot. Nice. And then we'll make our way to the other side. So you might roll onto your back and flip over. I'm just going to switch directions so I can see you. And just start in your lounging Buddha. Getting the alignment of your body just right for you. You might look down, stack your knees and your hips, knees and feet. Taking a moment to settle. Rebalancing with that front hand and then lifting the leg, top leg. Flex the foot. Toes facing forward or maybe down a little bit in that internal rotation. And then lower. Again, lift. And lower. Find three more lifting. And lowering. Lift. And lower. One more lift. And lower. And then turning the foot out. External rotation through the hips. Stretching the leg up. Here's where you might grab your strap, your belt. Maybe reaching up towards the foot or the toes. Breathing. Now lengthening the underside of the body. And maybe tuning your attention towards your bottom lung. And the sensation of the breath through your bottom nostril.

We're balancing the effort and the ease. A few more moments here. A little softer in the eyes. And then slowly release the foot. And lower down. Nice work. From here, let's meet in a tabletop. So whatever position you might be in, just join me in tabletop. We'll meet here. And you might have a blanket under the knees for support. We're going to start to flow a bit more. Building some heat and strength through the body. So just start by spreading your fingers wide. You might tuck your toes under. Start with cat cow arching the back. Exhale, curl and round. Again, inhale, dropping the belly, lifting up through your sitting bones. Find that space through the front of the body. And exhale, curl and round. Breathing the back nice and wide through the mid back and the kidneys. And then continue moving at your own pace. Softening the gaze inward. Warming the spine. A few more rounds here. Cat cow. Nice. And then come into a neutral position. Spreading the fingers wide. Come back through your right leg and go ahead and tuck your toes under. You can stay here. Begin to walk your left fingertips out. Tenting your fingers. Draw the navel into the spine. Feel the core muscles begin to turn on. Stay here or lift your right leg. You can find that internal rotation. Toes facing down. And then maybe you're lifting the left arm up. Palm facing you. Inhale to reach and exhale, release. Nice. Left leg reaches back. Stabilizing.

Walking the fingertips out. Navel spine stay here. Or lift that back left leg. Draw the toes down. Internally rotate. And then maybe you're reaching that right arm forward. Palm facing you. Inhale to lengthen. Exhale, release. Let's find two more rounds. Right leg reaches. Left arm reaches. Inhale, extend. Exhale, release. Left leg, right arm. Inhale, extend and reach. Exhale, release. One more round. Right leg, left arm. Inhale, extend. Exhale, release. Left leg, right arm. Inhale, extend. Beautiful. Exhale, release. Let's lower on to our belly for Sphinx pose. Giving the wrists a break. Walking the arms out in front of you. Elbows just in front of the shoulders. Using your arms here to help find a little bit more traction through your spine. Shoulders softening down the back. And then see what it feels like to relax the weight of your head a little bit here. Now your palms might turn down towards the earth. Or you might experiment with turning the palms up towards the sky. Nice full exhale. Releasing the jaw, the belly. Notice if you can soften any gripping through the buttocks, the glutes. After that strengthening work. A nice counter pose to all the forward rounding of our shoulders and upper back. More inhale here. Exhale, slow lower down. Slide the palms underneath your shoulders. Forehead to the earth. Tuck your toes under. Press up onto your knees. And then round back into a child's pose for a few breaths. Knees might be together or wide. Any variation of your child's pose. Sinking the hips back. And you wobbling a little bit here. Breathing into the back of the body. You're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like when you feel ready. Come back into your table top and we'll move towards the shape of plank pose. And you're welcome to keep your knees on the floor. Drawing the shoulder blades down the back. Navel to spine. You might extend for your legs and come into your plank pose. Feel how you can draw the deep low belly up towards the spine. Energize through your legs. And feel that buoyancy up through the heart and the lungs. Inhale, exhale, back and up into your downward facing block. And then this first downward dog, go ahead and walk it off. Pedal the feet. Feeling into the back of the legs here. Really releasing through the neck. Settling into your downward facing dog. And as you're ready, let's inhale. Stretch the right leg back and up. And it might feel good to open the hip and bend the knee here. Grounding evenly through the arms, the hands. Breathing. And go ahead and stretch that right leg back up towards the sky. Square your hips. Let's inhale together. And then exhale. Draw your right knee towards your nose. Round your upper back. Shoulders over the wrists. And then go ahead and step that right foot through between the hands. It's not easy to do that. So just kind of help it along. Reach back through that left heel. Lengthen forward through your heart in the shape of the lunge. Feeling the strength of your legs. And then lower the back left knee down. Moving into our low lunge. You might stay low with your hands on the floor. You might begin to rise up. Maybe hands on that front right thigh. Maybe you inhale, stretch your arms up. Low crescent lunge. Feeling that lift and support from the back of the heart. Feeling the energy out through your fingers. Inky fingers. Spacious in the throat. Beautiful. Inhale, reach. Exhale, release. Twisting lunge. Ground your left hand. Tuck your back, left toes under. Sweep your right arm up towards the sky. Don't feel like you can reach back through that left foot. Forward through your heart. Feeling that twist from the deep low belly. Maybe looking down. Maybe looking up. Really customize it for your body.

One more inhale. Exhale, release your right arm down. And let's find our way back into downward facing dog. However you'd like to get there. You're welcome to stay in downward dog. Lower into child's pose. Or join me on an inhale into plank pose again. Shoulders over the wrist. Strong through the legs. Drawing the deep low belly up and in. Let's lower the knees. And lower onto the belly. Elbows into the ribs. Cobra. Tops of the feet on the earth. Roll the shoulders up. Press through the palms. And lift up through the heart. Nice and broad through the collar bones. Lead with the heart. Lower down. Tuck your toes. Press up onto your knees. Let's meet in downward facing dog. You're just arriving in down dog. Pedal the feet. Walk it off. We'll find that pattern on the left side as you're ready. Stretch your left leg up. You might stay here. Or open the hip, bend the knee. Just enjoy that big stretch through the body. Breathing. And then go ahead and stretch the left leg back up towards the sky. Square your hips. We'll inhale together. And then perhaps exhale knee to nose. Hover. Shoulders over the wrist. Pulling into the abdominals. And then find a way to step that left foot through between your hands. And just help it along. Wiggle back through the ball of your right foot. Tap into the strength of your legs. Your left hip there. Lower the back right knee. Stay low in your lunge. Feeling that big stretch through the back right thigh hip flexor. You might come up onto the thigh. Find that ease in your neck. If it would feel good. Inhale, sweep your arms up. And can you feel that lift from the deep low belly? That pelvic floor all the way up through your spine. Easy through the neck. Beautiful work. Breathing wherever you are. Smiling wherever you are.

Inhale here. Exhale. Release the hands. Twisting lunge. Ground your right hand. Tuck your back right toes under. Lift your back right knee. And sweep that left arm up towards the sky. You might even toe heal that left foot just a little bit wider to give your hips more space. Feeling that twist from the deep low belly up. Enjoy the stretch. Can you feel that back right thigh really plugging and lifting up into the hip joint? Maybe looking down. Maybe up. One more inhale. Exhale. Release your left hand down. Find your way back into downward facing dog. And you might stay here. Pedaling out the feet. Finding child's pose. Or join me in a plank pose. Shoulders over the wrist. Strong line through the body. Lowering the knees. Elbows and cobra. Inhale. Press through the palms. Lifting up. Finding your edge. And exhale. Lead with the heart. Lower down. Tuck the toes. Press up onto the knees. Downward facing dog. From downward dog. Walking the feet towards the hands. Nice and slow. Finding your time. Nice. Soft and through the knees. Forward fold. And together as you're ready bend the knees. Chin into the chest. We'll roll up slowly together. Just tap into the strength of your legs. Rounding your way up. One bone at a time. Head last. Feeling the heart. Feeling the shoulders. Feeling the head. Just take a moment to pause. Letting the blood and the energy settle back down into the feet and the earth. As we move towards some strengthening and balancing poses here. Spreading the toes. Inhale. Stretch the arms up. Moving towards chair pose. Now before you sit down in your chair feel how you can find a little bit more lift through your spine. As you draw the navel towards the spine find that fullness in your back ribs. Inhale. Reach. Exhale. Bend the knees. Hinge at the hips. Shift the weight back towards the heels. Feeling the glute muscles engage a bit here.

Nice full breath into the back of the body. Long through the neck. Inhale and chair. Exhale to your forward fold. Releasing the head and the hands. Now as you inhale slide your hands up your shins. Lengthen your spine half arch. Exhale. Bend your knees. Ground your hands. Let's step the right foot back again into a lunge. Left knees bending. Wiggle back for the ball of your right foot. Before we lower the right knee just tap into the strength of your legs. And then lower the back knee. Nice. You might stay low here again. Might rise up onto that front thigh. If you'd like to inhale stretch the arms up towards the sky. Get any variation with the arms you might be reaching. You might bend the elbows. Find the interlace. As you open a bit more through the chest. The lungs and the shoulders. Nice. Feeling the space. Beautiful. Releasing the hands. Let's draw the hips back. That'll feel nice. Extend through your left leg. Toes drawing towards the face. Hamstring stretch here. Allow for a nice full. Moving in the direction of a high crescent lunge. Bend the front knee. Tuck the back toes. Lift the back knee up. And you might toe heel that front left foot a little wider. Now you're welcome to stay right here. You might play with your strength and balance as you hug that left hip in. And maybe hands on the hips. Coming up towards your high crescent lunge. You might bend the back knee. Still at the tailbone draw under. Find that length in your spine. Hands might stay on the hips or you might inhale stretch your arms up towards the sky. Beautiful. Feel that lift up through the central channel. Space just in the throat. Easy in the neck. From here bring the hands together at the heart. You might stay right here. You might play towards the shape of warrior three. So really strong through that back leg. Hinge forward. And as you hinge forward you might walk that back foot in a little bit. Stay here. Or lift that back right foot up. Really hug into the left hip. Draw the toes down towards the floor. Brightening up through the heart. Warrior three play. Good. And then come back up to stand. And maybe drawing that right knee in towards the chest. And lower down. Nice work. Shake it out for a moment. Pause. Notice how you feel. Let's find another round of chair. Spreading the toes. Inhale.

Stretch your arms up. Breath through the feet. Lengthen up through the spine. And then exhale. Bend your knees. Hinge at the hips. Chair pose with katasana. Finding that fullness in the back of the body. Long through the neck. Inhale here. Exhale. Forward fold. Releasing the head. Inhale. Slide the hands up the shins. Lengthen your spine. Exhale. Bend your knees. Step your left foot back. Right knee bends. Wiggle back through the ball. That left foot. Going through the right hip. Feeling the strength in your legs. Lower the back left knee down. Stay low. Or rise up. Hands might stay where they are. Or you might now stretch the arms up into your low crescent lunge. Any arm variation here, hands might reach. You might bend the elbows. Bring the hands behind the head. As you open through the lungs and the shoulders.

Front of the body lengthening. Breathing here. Another breath or two. Nice. Inhale. When you're ready, exhale, release the hands down. Draw the hips back. Extend through your right leg. Drawing the toes towards the face. Half split hamstring action. Kneasy in the neck. Take your time bending that front knee. Set up for the high crescent lunge. Tuck the back left toes. Lift the back knee. Find the strength in the legs. Maybe your toe healing that right foot a little wider. You're welcome to stay low or begin to rise up. Hands might start with the hips. As you bend the back knee, curl the tailbone under. Feel that length in the spine. And then extend back through that back leg. Hands might find the heart or reach towards the sky. You might feel a little or a lot of wobbling. On this side I have a bit more wobbling. Feeling that support and lift through the back of the heart. Steady the gaze. From here, playing towards our warrior three. Hands find the heart. Hinging forward. Maybe shifting the gaze down. Stepping that back left foot in a little closer. You might stay here. Play with pressing through that right foot. And lifting up towards your warrior three. This back left toe is drawing down towards the floor. Whoops. It might fall out of it. Nice. Inhale. And then we'll come up to stand. And then maybe play with bringing that left knee towards the chest. So you press through the right foot, lifting. And then exhale. Release. Take a moment to pause. Maybe opening the palms. Arriving into Vasana. You moments here. Feeling that internal heat. Nice, full exhale. From here let's play with more balancing and tree pose. Grounding through your right foot. Opening up through the left hip. Pressing the left heel towards the inner ankle. Maybe it's the calf. Maybe it's the upper thigh. Refirming that right hip. And then bringing the hands together. Finding your Drishti. Spot to focus your gaze. Feel that brightening up through the heart. And releasing the effort and the ease. Relaxed and aware. Relaxed and focused at the same time. Nice. Let's allow for an inhale. Nice, full exhale. Relax the effort. Shake it out for a moment. Feeling into our second side. Grounding through your left foot. Spreading the toes. Opening your right hip. And that external rotation. Pressing the heel towards the inner ankle, the calf, or maybe the upper thigh. This is a different side. Might be in a different place. Hands together. Soft, steady gaze. Looking to find effort without strain. Yeah. Notice the quality of your breathing. Quality of your gaze. Pressing in the center. Again, the wobbling and wiggling is good. It's strengthening not only on the body, but on the mind. Our concentration. One more inhale here. When you're ready, exhale. Release. Take a moment. Shake it out. Nice, full exhale. Letting go. Releasing. Let's find our way towards the top of the mat. Spreading the toes. Hands together at the heart. Sun salutation to the earth. For some back bending. Hands at the heartless inhale. Stretch the arms up towards the sky. Now with your exhale, forward fold. Hinge at the hips. Maybe a soft bend in your knees. Releasing the head and the hands. With your inhale, slide your hands up your shins, half arch. Let your spine lengthen. Exhale, bend your knees and step back into your downward facing dog. However you'd like to get there. Take a moment or two in your down dog and walking it off, pedaling out the feet. Moving in the direction of plank pose. Inhale, shifting shoulders over the wrists. Adjusting your legs. Strong through the legs. Deep low belly draws up and in. And lowering the knees. Lowering down onto the belly. Moving into locus. Forehead on the floor. Reaching your fingers towards your toes. Again, finding that internal rotation through your thigh bones. That long line of energy. And then from here as you're ready, inhale, lift the heart above the floor. And you might add the legs. And feel that as you reach through your fingers and your toes, you're really drawing the back of your body in towards the spine. Beautiful. The inhale lifts you up. And the exhale lowers you to the earth. Maybe forehead or one cheek and ear to the floor. Allow for an exhale. Again, you're welcome to stay here. Remove towards the second round of locus. Maybe the previous variation or interlacing the fingers behind the back. And with an inhale, lifting the heart. Lifting the legs. You might look down towards the floor so the back of your neck can really lengthen. You're reaching out through the crown of the head. Beautiful. The inhale lifts you up. And the exhale lowers you to the earth forehead or opposite cheek and ear towards the floor. Allow for a nice full exhale.

You might stay here. You might join me for one more round of locus. Or add on towards your bow pose. If you're moving towards bow pose, go ahead and bend your knees. And as you bend your knees, reaching back for your feet. You might find the toes or the feet or the ankles. And then bringing your knees in line with your hips. Feel like you can draw the tailbone towards your heels. As you kick back towards your feet, inhale lifts the chest. Beautiful. And as you lift the chest, you might lift the thighs a little bit more. Feeling that big stretch and opening through the chest and the shoulders. Maybe playing with kicking back towards the feet a little bit here. The inhale lifts you up. And the exhale lowers you down. Beautiful effort. Releasing through the legs, the spine. Nice full exhale. From here, we're just going to roll onto our back for bridge before we find a counter stretch. So find your way onto your back. Heading out for bridge. Set to Bandhasana. Bringing your heels in line with your sitting bones. Arms down alongside the body. You might take a few rounds of arching and curling like we did in the beginning of our practice. Cat-cow movement through the spine. Inhale together. As you're ready, exhale, curl your tailbone. Press through the feet. Lift the pelvis up. Coming into your version. Another variation of bridge. Again, palms might press down towards the floor. You might roll and tuck the shoulders under the back, finding that sweet interlace around the sacrum. Tapping into the strength of your legs. See if you can relax some of that gripping through the glute muscles, through the buttocks. Really spacious through the throat. Feeling the quality of the breath through the lungs and the heart. Nice. When you feel ready to release, come high up onto the balls of your feet. Lift your heels up. Release your fingers. Stretch your arms up towards the sky. Round your upper back. And then just slowly roll your spine down. Upper back, mid back, low back and arms. Nice. Take a moment to pause and relax the effort. Clearing breath. Inhale. Nice, full exhale. From here, let's interlace our fingers behind our head, opening up through the shoulders again. And then arch the back up off the floor.

And with an exhale, let's do a sit-up. Lift the upper body and manually lift your head. Draw the elbows towards each other. Scoop the tailbone under. And then slow lower down. Arch your back. Coming into the back bend. Exhale, lift up, curl up. Let's find three more. Lowering down, open the elbows, the lungs, arch the back. Exhale, lift up, curl up, squeeze. Open the elbows, arch the back. Nice, full breath in. Exhale, lift up, curl up.

Let's find one more together. Arch in the back, opening. And last one. Exhale, curl up, squeeze, and then just slow lower down. Releasing the arms. From here, let's draw the knees into the chest and rock a little bit from side to side. The grounding the feet. Let's bring the right ankle on top of that left thigh. Let's do a little side to side rocking here. Spinal twist action. Finding that ease up through the neck. Head might rock away from the knees or with the knees. Now from here, just let the whole shape tip over to your right. So grounding, solo that left foot down. And then go ahead and stretch and reach up through that left arm.

So the left arm can be more at a diagonal shape. And maybe if it's right there with your right hand, you might grab your right ankle. Nice. I feel like you can send the knee away as you open the hip. Breathing into where you feel it. Softening through the jaw. For me, I feel a big stretch through that outer left hip, through the piriformis, side body, up into the left side of the face. Beautiful. And you might stay here a bit longer. If it would feel nice to come into eye of the needle, you can let the shape come back through center and then draw that right thigh into your chest. Flexing the left ankle. Maybe there's a little wobble. You weaving that left arm through, finding the back of the right thigh or shin. You might stay low. You might draw your chin into your chest for another abdominal.

We're head towards the shin bone. Lowering down. More moments here. Breathing into where you feel it. Nice. We'll exhale, releasing any tension. A little more inhale here. Exhale, go ahead and release the leg. Ground the right foot and just ground the left foot. Let's take a few rounds of cat cow. Arching and curling. Arching the back. Exhale, curl. And inhale to arch. And exhale, curl.

Nice. And then just bring the spine in a neutral position. Bring that right ankle across the left thigh and rock from side to side. Arms might stretch out. And finding that ease through the neck. Eventually you might tip it over. Let the whole shape tip over to the left. So you're grounding that right foot down towards the floor.

Or maybe stretching your right arm more at a diagonal line. And if it's right there, maybe you're using or reaching your left hand on the right ankle there. Just kind of roll the knee away. Hip open. And breathing into where you feel it. And allowing the back of that right lung and shoulder blade to release towards the floor. Just enjoying this stretch. And you are welcome to stay here a bit longer.

If you'd like to come back up, let the whole shape rock back through center. And then draw that left thigh in towards the chest. Flexing your right ankle. Just let yourself rock a little bit. Maybe weaving your right arm through. Finding the back of the left thigh or shin. Flexing the right ankle. You might stay right here. You might draw the chin into the chest.

And lift up one more time. Bringing the forehead towards your right ankle. Curling up. Opening through the right hip. And then slow with your exhale. Lowering down. Few more moments here. Feeling that right hip release. And open. In its own way. Its own timing. Allow for an inhale. When you feel ready, exhale. Just slow release.

Ground the sole of the left foot. Ground the sole of the right foot. Let's take one more round of Cat-Cow. You might open the arms back up. Into your cactus. Arching and curling. Inhale to arch the back. And exhale. Curl. One more like this. Drawing the knees into the chest. If a happy baby would feel nice.

You might reach up towards the outer edges of the feet. You can find the variation of holding on to the inner legs. Rocking if that feels nice. Another option here would be to bring the soles of your feet together. And let your knees fall wide into Supta Baddha Konasana.

You might gradually make your way into this shape. You're bringing one hand onto the belly and one hand around the heart. Nice, full exhale. Settling. Receiving the support beneath you. You are welcome to stay here a bit longer.

Stretching out the legs for Shavasana would feel really nice. You might take your time. Stretch the legs out. Really setting yourself up with any support that would feel nice under your spine or covering yourself up. Really allowing yourself to take up space. Resting in the inner space you've cultivated through your practice. Setting your steady focus and attention that Dharana gently soften as your awareness expands.

You might rest for a few more minutes in Shavasana. Transitioning towards a seated meditation would feel nice to close. You might gradually find your way there. Honoring your body, your energy. Allow yourself to be as relaxed as you can be.

You are welcome to stay here for a few more minutes. One of my favorite sayings from the Buddha and to meditate is to listen with a receptive heart. Finding that ease through the base of your skull. Spaciousness through the pelvis and the sacrum. If you are resting in the shape of Shavasana, I really encourage and invite you to stay and linger. You have the time and the space. Feel ready to transition.

Join me in a seat. Once you arrive in your seat, let's join the hands together at the heart. Thanking yourself for showing up today and practicing. Thanking each other for showing up and holding the space. May our practice nourish us and ripple out.

I'm sharing the sound of Aum. Let's exhale empty. Breathing in. Thank you so much for being here. A beautiful day. Namaste.