Centered & Strong Flow

Welcome, everyone. It's such a joy to be with you this morning, this afternoon, this evening, wherever you may be in this big, beautiful world. We're going to be playing with kind of finding an internal strength and maybe even buoyancy, like a lift from the deep center. And then we're going to explore how that can support us when we're feeling a little unstable, a little wobbly, finding and establishing balance, right? So to start, let's just ground and drop in, right? Really contact the breath, which will be our ally throughout this journey. Grounding through the sit bones, nice and tall through the spine, just lift your shoulders up a little and then draw them back and down, sending a message right away, but it's okay to release through neck, shoulders, upper back. Hands are wherever they're comfortable, gaze is soft, our eyes are closed. And for now, just notice your own natural rhythm of breath, meeting yourself right where you are in this moment, allowing it all, welcoming it all, creating space for it all. There's no better way to be. It's just what is right here right now. And then begin to expand the breath a little bit, welcoming in Ujjayi, victorious breath, moving the inhales out in all directions, softening and settling with your exhales. Really simple pranayama. The idea is simply to balance the inhale and the exhale. The duration is up to you to see if you can draw them into balance. A few more moments of stillness here. If it serves, you might silently count the breath so that you pace your inhales and exhales evenly. You might not need to, you might not want to, you might just have an internal sense of the rhythm of the breath. Whatever helps you contact the rise and fall of each inhale and each exhale, and whatever helps you bring them into equal measure. Sustaining that soft gaze or keeping the eyes closed, take the hands to prayer at the heart center. And then open together with a gentle exhale, empty all your breath out. And then together through the nose, a big inhale. Just another moment of stillness. If there is anything specific in your personal world that could use a little balancing, a little harmonizing, maybe that's your intention for this practice. If there's something else entirely that's calling out to you, listening for that. Clarifying intention, distilling it down and give it a physical home, let it root in the body. So it's really easy to return to when you get distracted or fatigued or agitated or whatever it is. Give yourself a foundation. And then as you're ready, let the eyes open or lift the gaze. Take a really big inhale and let's reach the arms out and up. At the top, interlace the fingers and exhale, press the palms to the sky. Keep the neck and shoulders soft. Stay here for a big inhale and lift up through your heart. And then as you exhale, round the back, pull the belly back to the spine and press the palms forward. This is kind of like a seated cat cow, just rounding and arching the spine. Inhale to rise, lift, lift, lift through the heart, through the gaze. With your exhale, round, pull the belly back to the sky. Take a couple more. Big inhale, heart rising. Exhale, rounding, belly to spine.

Again together, inhale to rise. Exhale, round, curl it in, belly to spine. Let's just pause here. Feel the draw of the belly back in and up. Feel kind of a hollowing out from that deep low belly. You can take your own natural breath rhythm as we pause. I just want to feel into that lift of the century here for a moment. Some of you know Uddiyana Bandha. Some of you don't. It doesn't matter. The essence here is just a drawing in and up of that deep low belly. All right. Pause, feel into that for a moment. And then with your next inhale, no rush, rise again. Lift, lift, lift through the heart, through the gaze. And then with the exhale, let's rock it forward, lifting up onto the hands and the knees, hands under the shoulders, knees directly under the hips. Neutral through the spine. And then you might walk the hands forward just a little bit, depending on your proportions. Take a big inhale, tuck the toes. And then with your exhale, lift it directly up and back into downward facing. We're going to give this a full 10 breaths. Just easing in. Get a fair amount of warming through the spine and not seated. But you're continuing to lengthen here. And then of course, beginning to open through the backs of the legs. So paddle the feet, shift the hips side to side, maybe spin on the balls of the feet. Feeling in, tuning in. Just easing into the movement of the body. See what's there. Yeah, a few more breaths. Remember to move that breath throughout the whole body. Warming and opening. All right, let's take a breath just to steady in down dog, finding stillness. Very slowly. It's like a little mini walking meditation. As you inhale, start to step forward to the front of the mouth. Feeling each step as you go. Take your time. And when you do arrive, easy forward hold. Soft bend in the knees, feet about, hips distance, hands can drop or hold opposite elbows. Keep surrendering the weight of the head. Relax that neck every chance you get. A few more breaths here. Maybe sway, maybe clasp elbows, always up to you. Yeah, then as you're ready, finding center again, if you have any bind, let it go. If you're swaying, just come back to the midline. Keep that gentle bend in the knees and keep the head heavy. Very slowly as you inhale, begin to roll the body. All the way to stand. Take your time. Head is a very last thing to arrive. And then when you do arrive, roll the shoulders back and down. Good. Just shake it out a little. And let's meet in samastitihi. Feet together, hands to prayer, heart center, drop tailbone, lift, deep low belly. And just the breath here for a moment. Through the nose, inhaling. Through the nose, exhaling. Surya namaskara A. Inhale to reach out and up. Belly in, flat back. Exhale, bow out and down. With your inhale, lengthen halfway, really reach through the heart. Root the hands. This first cycle is really slow and mindful. Step back on your exhale into your plank pose and just pause. Take a big inhale here. Exhale, lower knees or chaturanga dandasana, halfway or all the way to the earth. Inhale to cobra or upward facing dog. And with your exhale, take it all the way back, downward facing dog. Full five breaths, continuing to warm and open, dropping in. One, four, see what's there. Three, two, bottom of your exhale, soft exhale, soft bend in your knees. You can hop or step to the front of your mat. And as you arrive, inhale, lengthen halfway, reach through the heart. Exhale, bow and fold, surrender the weight of the hand. Strong through your center. Inhale, come all the way up, reaching beyond the fingertips. And with your exhale, draw the hands to prayer, heart center. Two more like that. Inhale, out and up. Exhaling, bow, out and down. With the inhale, just halfway, extend through the heart. Rooting the hands, hop or step it back. With your exhale, lower knees or chaturanga. With your inhale, cobra or upward facing dog. And exhale, all the way back, downward facing dog. Another full five breaths, just warming the body. Beginning to soften the thoughts. Dropping deeper within. Yeah, three, two, bottom of your exhale, soft bend in the knees. Hop or step it forward. As you arrive, inhale, long spine, reach it out. Exhale, return to your fold. Strong through your center, flat back. Inhale to rise, all the way up, reaching it out. And with the exhale, hands to prayer, heart center. Once again, inhale, reach and rise, lift up. Exhaling, bow, out and down. With the inhale, lengthen, just halfway. With your exhale, root the hands, hop or step it back, and lower, knees or chaturanga.

Inhale, cobra or up dog. Exhale, take it back, downward facing dog. Five breaths, long spine. Pull the shoulders away from the ears. Reach the heels towards the earth, doesn't matter if they ever touch. Lift the sit bones to the sky. Three, two. All right, from here, keep grounding down through the hands. With your inhale, reach the right leg of the sky. With your exhale, open the hip, bend the knee. Just one breath here. And then inhale, reach it straight up. And with your exhale, just step that right foot forward between the hands, lower the back knee, simple low lunge. Let's start with the hands on the front thigh. Easing the hips forward and drawing that deep low belly in and up. Really want to make contact with the left hip flexors. And with that energetic lift of the deep low belly that we took seated, right? Keep letting that rise. If you want to just focus on that, stay here. If you'd like, add the arms. Inhale, reach, extending through the fingertips. A couple more breaths. Yeah. And then with your exhale, just release, hands to the earth, pull the hips straight back. Ardha Hanamanasana. Breathing into the back of the right leg, opening hamstring muscles. Inhale, extend through the heart and exhale, deepen into the fold. A few more breaths.

All right. We're just going to float between these two, kind of deepening with each repetition stay connected to the strength of the legs and the lift of the center that will support you through the flow. As you inhale, come forward, low lunge, reaching the arms up. As you exhale, release, hands to the earth. Ardha Hanamanasana, pull back. A couple more. Inhale to rise, reaching it up. Exhale, release, pull the hips back. Again, inhale, low lunge, rise, lift that center. Exhale, release, hands to the earth, Ardha Hanamanasana. From here, with your inhale, just draw it forward into that low lunge. Keep the foundation as it is with your exhale, just release, hands to the earth. Then tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, reengage through the legs, and from your center, inhale, take it up into a high lunge, press and pause. Exhale, sit a little deeper, guide the hips forward, lift from that deep low belly. Just establish this. Again, feel into that central energy. Lift from the deep belly all the way up the spine. Then we're going to play with this a little bit. You're more than welcome to stay right where you are or just explore and have a little fun with it. In a moment, we're going to rise up to stand on this right leg, taking the left knee in towards the chest. Looks a little something like this. Big inhale. Exhale, press off the back foot, rise up, clasp, left knee in the chest. Just pause for a moment, check that out. Now we'll take it a couple more times. Stay here for your inhale. Exhale, transition it back to your high lunge. There we go. Big inhale here. Exhale, rise to stand on the right leg, take the left knee into the chest. Yes, stay for your inhale. Exhale, go back to your high lunge. Yes, there's the balance. Stay for your big inhale. Once again, exhale, draw it forward, hug the knee into the chest. Big inhale here. And exhale, take it back into your high lunge. Excellent. If you felt fabulous, we're playing with the edges, moving just beyond the comfort zone. Always a good thing. Stay for a big inhale. Exhale, release hands to the earth. Just step it straight back into plank pose. Stay here, belly to spine. Inhale. Exhale, lower as you choose. Inhale, cobra up dog. And exhale, take it home. Downward facing dog. I'm taking a couple breaths here. Let that all go. Let any attachment to the second side go. Just having fun with it. Keep rooting the hands. Inhale, reach left leg to the sky. Exhale, open the hip and the knee. Just one breath.

And then inhale, reach it up. Nice and simple. Exhale, step left foot forward. Lower the back knee. Low lunge. Starting with the hands on that front thigh. Guiding the hips forward. Feel the lift of the deep belly. Breathe into those right hip flexors. Yes. And then if you want to just keep it right here, please do so. If you want to add the arms, inhale, put it up. A couple more breaths. With your exhale, release. Hands to the earth. Draw the hips back. Ardha Hanumanasana. Inhale, shine through the heart. Exhale, deepen into the fold. Really opening through the back of that left leg. That will serve us on the adventure to come. Breathing here. Three. Two. All right. Flowing between them. Stay connected to foundation and center. As you're ready, inhale to come forward. Rasa, low lunge. With your exhale, hands to the earth. Pull the hips back. Ardha Hanumanasana. A couple more. Inhale, come forward. Low lunge. Exhale, release. Hips pulled back. Again. Inhale to rise. Reaching it up. Exhale, hands to the earth. Draw it back. Okay. This time with your inhale, just come forward. Low lunge. Rise, rise, rise. Keep the foundation nice and easy as you exhale, hands to the earth. Then tuck the back toes. Lift the back knee. Super strong through foundation. Inhale from your center. High lunge, press and pull. Exhale, deepen in. We're really warming those hip flexors. Sink through the sit bones. Ease the hips forward. All right. Before we go anywhere, just connect with that center again. Lift deep low belly. Feel the central channel. And here we go. Stay for a big inhale. As you exhale, press off the ball of that right foot. Rise to stand on the left leg. Draw the right knee in. Just pause. Slow through the first cycle. Big inhale. Exhale, float it back. High lunge. Stay for your inhale. Exhale, rise to stand on that left leg. Hug right shin in. Stay for the inhale. Exhale, floating it back. High lunge. Last cycle.

Big inhale. Exhale, rise to stand. Hug it in. If you fall, fabulous. Big gold star. Stay for your inhale. Exhale, float it back. High lunge. Excellent. Pausing here. Take a big inhale. Let the heart rise. And then exhale, hands to the earth. Step it straight back. Pause in your plank pose. Inhale. And through the vinyasa. Exhale to lower. Inhale, heart rising. Exhale, all the way back. Downward facing dog. Excellent work. Just pausing here for a moment. Gather the energy. Hear the breath. Feel the breath. All right. Keep grounding through the hands with your inhale reach. Right leg to the sky. Exhale, open the hip and the knee. Inhale, rise again. Exhale, step the right foot forward. Spin the back heel to the earth. With your inhale, just let the left arm open. And exhale, settle in. Just for a moment. Okay? Then inhale, lengthen the right leg. And exhale, extend it out and down. Triangle pulse. Left arm reaches to the sky. And we're simply holding the classic pose for now. Really focusing on the opening of the hamstring muscles and the inner thigh. And then expanding out through the rest of the body. Draw that deep belly in and up. Send the tailbone towards the left heel. Three. Yeah. Engage through your center. Press through your feet. Inhale to float up. And as you exhale, simply spin the feet to parallel. Hands to the head through prostrated. Dropping down through the tailbone. Inhale, lift the belly, lift the heart. And exhale, simply fold hands to the earth. Then inhale, reach halfway up. And exhale, deepen into that fold. More breath into the backs of the legs. Quad muscle strong, weight into the front of the feet. Just touching and establishing foundation. And then we deepen it. Inhale, halfway. Exhale, turn toes out, heels in. Start to bend that left knee and ease the hips over to the left. Yeah. Right toes can spin up, only go as far as is wise for that knee. Breathing three. Keep that lift from the foundation all the way up, central channel two. Yeah. As you're ready, inhale back to that center line. And exhale, slowly ease to the other side. A few breaths here. A little awareness down into the root. Lift all the way up through the center. Great. Two. Okay. Take the inhale, just draw it back to center, feet parallel, hands grounding. Exhale to steady. And then inhale, just come halfway up. And exhale, we're going to stay low, pivot back to the front of the mat and just step directly back into plank pose. Stay here for your inhale. Exhale, lower knees or chaturanga dandasana. Inhale, cobra or up dog. And exhale, take it back, downward facing. One breath, big inhale. And let it go. Yeah. Back inside.

Inhale, left leg up. Exhale, open the hip, bending the knee. Inhale, back up. Exhale, step that foot forward, spin the back heel down to the earth. Right arm opens you, inhale a warrior two. Exhale, settle just for a moment, grounding. And then inhale, lengthen the left leg. Exhale to reach out and down, triangle second side. Classic pose. Just settle in and find stillness. Breathing into left hamstring muscles and inner thigh muscles. When expanding out, breathe. Good. Strong through your foundation. With your inhale, just rise up. Exhale, spin to the left, hands to the hips. Dropping down through the tailbone, inhale, lift, belly and heart. And then exhale, folding again. Again, just root. And then we're gonna move this into a twist. Root the right hand basically under the heart. And then with your inhale, reach left arm to the sky. Just a little warming and opening through that thoracic spine. Reaching it out, three, two. With the exhale, release the left hand roots down. Inhale, reach right arm to the sky. Heart wide open, breathing, two, three. Two. And release back into the fold. From here, inhale just halfway. And then exhale, pivot back to the front of the mat. Step directly back into your plank pose. Pausing here, big inhale. Exhale to lower. Inhale, lift the heart, shoulders melt down the back. And exhale, downward facing down. Excellent. Take a couple of breaths, come home to your center. All right, from your down dog, soft bend in the knees, bottom of the exhale. Hopper step the feet forward as you arrive. Inhale to lengthen it halfway. Exhale, return to your hold. Take one breath here, just let it all go. And then deep bend in the knees. Inhale, ud katasana. Strong legs, strong glute muscles. Lift that deep low belly, weight back into the heels. Just generating a little heat, breathing through. And just as we did seated, interlace the fingers. Inhale, lift a little through the heart. And then as you exhale, ease forward, hollow the belly, press through the palms. Good. Inhale to rise again. Exhale, hollow the belly, press through the palms. Do that again. Inhale, rise. Exhale, bow about halfway. Good. Inhale to rise, ud katasana. Pause. Exhale here. And just stay with your breath. And very slowly with absolutely no pain in the knee joints, you're going to start to sit down towards the earth. This is going to look really different for different bodies. There's nowhere to get listening to your own edges. Maybe it's just a couple inches closer. Maybe deep and deep and deep and deep in until the sit bones almost touch the back of the heels. See if that's available. No strain. Breathe into it. Then we're rising all the way back up before you do reconnect with that center energy, that deep low belly lift. Then inhale, press through the feet and rise, rise, rise, rise, rise. Exhale, open arms, open heart, offer it up. Exhale straight back to center line. And as you exhale, just drop the arms, shake it all out and let it all go. Okay. Samastitihi, feet together, hands to prayer, heart center. Here's the adventure. And let's move into it with a sense of curiosity and play. There's no right or wrong or better or worse. Just exploring. Left leg is strong, rooting down into the air. And right knee hugs in towards the chest. Yeah, fall here, wobble around, fall out of it. Just keep coming back. Feel the lift from the deep belly. Feel the opening you've created in the left hip flexors supporting that lift and length. And then keep the leg hugging in. Just take the hands to the hips. Inhale, extend the right leg out. Exhale, bend the knee. Couple more. Inhale, extend. Exhale, bend. Inhale, extend. This time, picture your warrior three. As you exhale, start to bend that right knee and reach the right leg straight back as you bow the upper body parallel to the earth. Here we are, warrior three. And knee arm variation. Even hands to the earth if you want the support. Extend through your heart. Press through the back heel. Breathe into it. Three, two, standing splits. Hands to the earth, sail that right leg to the sky and release the upper body towards the left leg. Just go as far as feels good. Then you can keep the hands where they are or you can hold that standing ankle, playing with the balance a little bit. Breathe or two. It's really exciting. You move the hands, take them back to the earth just in front of that left foot. Inhale, extend the right leg a little higher. Then exhale, bend both knees and curl in. You're not coming all the way down, but almost. Tiny little ball of energy.

And then inhale, reach right leg back to the sky. A couple more. Exhale, curl in, belly to spine. Inhale, reach it up. This time, exhale, curl in. You're welcome to stay right there. You're welcome to go back to standing splits or play with me here. Hands draw basically alongside that left foot. And as you transition, they may walk back a little bit. The right knee hugs in towards the chest. That lift of the deep low belly is key here. Start to flex the right foot. Let it barely graze the earth and then extend right leg straight out. Feel free to just sit down. Feel free to release the right heel to the earth or if you can, hover, hover, hover. Belly in and up. Three, two, and then we get to unwind. Just reversing the step. So hands come forward a little bit. Hug the right knee in towards the chest. Lift from that deep low belly. Walk the hands forward. Inhale, reach right leg all the way back to the sky, standing splits. And then we transition slowly. Warrior three, draw the hips to neutral if you let them open. Chest parallel to the earth. Any arm variation. Three, two, coming all the way to stand, drawing the right knee in towards the chest again. As you go, interlace the fingers around the shin, hug it in. Tall spine, big inhale. And exhale. Really shake it out a little bit. Excellent work. See how the second side goes. Samasthiti, feet together, hands to prayer, heart center. Enjoy the ride. Root through that right foot, strong right leg. Hug the left knee in towards the chest. Pause. And that lift from the deep low belly. Feel your center line. That's really what we're cultivating. The rest is just for fun. Hands to the hips. With your inhale, extend that left leg out. With your exhale, bend the knee. Inhale, extend. Exhale, bend. Inhale, extend. And then slowly exhale, bend the knee. Start to reach the leg straight back, chest parallel to the earth. Warrior three, second side. Any arm variation. Forward, out, back, even clasping behind you. Lift the inner left thigh. Drop the outer left hip. Three, two, standing splits. Hands to the earth, reach left leg straight up. And then play with it if you'd like. Hold the standing ankle, challenge the balance, or just hold steady as is. Three, two. All right, hands on the earth if you've transitioned. Stay for a big inhale. Exhale, curl it in. Tiny little ball of energy, almost all the way to the earth. Inhale, left leg back to the sky. Exhale, curl it in. Inhale, reach it up. Here's the transition. Just feel it from the inside out. Drawing left knee towards the chest or to walk the hands back. That transition point is really personal, really intuitive. When the hands go back and when the knee comes through. So feel into it and maybe you fall the first few times and then find it. Left leg extends. You're welcome to sit down or lower the heel or hover. Draw belly in and up. Tall spine, breathe three. Two. And then we unwind those steps. Draw left knee in. Walk hands forward. The lift from that deep belly is critical here. Pull it in and up as the foot swings back.

Then extend it all the way to the sky. Standing splits. Yup. Try it a few more times if you'd like when you're ready. Transitioning warrior three. Press through that left heel. Shine through your heart. Reestablish. And then we come all the way to stand. Draw left knee in towards the chest. Interlace the fingers around the shin. Hug it in. Big inhale. And exhale. Let it go. Really, really strong work. Let's meet in Samastitihi. Hands to prayer at the heart. Feel your center line. Feel the lift from deep belly. Your own inner strength, buoyancy, center, resource, and resilience. And then nice and easy. Inhale, reach arms out and up. Exhale, bow out and down. With your inhale, just halfway. And with your exhale, just hold. Right? Open the feet a little wider than hip systems. Turn your toes out, your heels in. Malasana, really squat. Okay? Moving it down into the hips. They've worked hard for us, holding steady in all those standing postures. Now we start to release them. You can support the heels. You can take a block under your sit bones. Hands to prayer at the back. Just a few breaths here. Rest in the stillness. And then hands to the earth. Just let the back round and let the head fall. Seemingly so simple that because of the foundation of the body, the rounding of the back in this position creates an incredible opening from the back of the skull all the way down the connective tissue to the top of the hips. Good breaths here. Winding, any tension, gripping, contraction in the back. All right. We're going to transition back to down dog from here. You have a couple options. You can simply let the head stay heavy. Sail the hips to the sky. Return to your fold and then hopper step back with or without the vinyasa. Or those of you who love the arm balance, stay in your squat. Root the hands. Just lift the hips. Make that shelf with the upper arms and let's take crow. Look forward. Same lift from that deep center. Draw it in and up. Hover, hover, hover. And then you can step back or shoot back. Chaturanga, dandasana. Inhale, lift, buffer. And exhale, downward facing dog. Through the nose, inhaling. And exhale, let yourself release. Knees to the earth, hips to the heels, child born. Exhale. Hold the body a moment. Lay it all down. Feel the rise and fall of your breath. Mm-hmm.

And then let's continue to move it a little deeper in the legs. Just for a moment. Inhale, rise to your hands and your knee. Tucking the toes. Exhale, lift up and back. Downward facing dog. With your inhale, reach right leg to the sky. And with your exhale, draw right knee and right shin forward for pigeon. Sliding block or blanket underneath. Right hip, glute area if you'd like. And then once you're rooted, really tall spine. Inhale, lengthen. And exhale, extend out and down. Good. Breathe into right hip and glute muscles. Go back, inner thighs. And then ease down into it. Look deeply, intensely through this flow. So we want to give ourselves nice, long, deep openings to help balance it all out. Take your time here. Five, and four, three, and four. And then we slowly unravel. Inhale, walking the upper body back in and up. We'll keep the weight on that right leg. And as you exhale, start to swing the left leg around for a seated twist. The left foot can come outside of the right knee or just in front of the shin. It's up to you. Okay? Then even weight on the sit bones or as close to it as possible. Inhale, reach right arm up. And exhale. Twist to the left. Hook the elbow outside of the knee or just wrap the arm around the leg. Gaze back over the left shoulder. Let your inhale lengthen you. And as you exhale, just gently deep into your twist. Stay in your twist. Inhale, just turn to look forward. And exhale, a counter twist to the other side. You can stay tall or you can let the back round and let the head fall. Another breath or two. Good. Unravel. Turn it back to the center. Unwind the legs. Gently plant the feet. Just a moment in Navasana to transition. Hold behind the thighs. Lift from the back of your heart up and through.

Pick it up. Strong center. Big inhale. Reach up. Exhale, cross the ankles. Roll forward. Step back into downward facing down. Take a breath. Inhale, left leg to the sky. Exhale, second pigeon, second side. Take any support you need or want. Get nice and rooted through the foundation. Take a big inhale, lifting through the heart. And then exhale, walk it out and down. Breathe into it. Surrender into it. These deep long holds towards the end of practice are obviously really beneficial for the physical body. In this specific case for hip and glute muscles and that kind of whole bowl of the pelvis. They're also really beneficial for the nervous system, for the energetic body. So we begin to integrate. Inhale and settle. Okay, one breath. Take your time. Rising when you're ready. On your inhale, walk it up. Weight over to the left leg. Exhale, swing the right leg around, stepping right foot outside of the left knee or in front of the shin, up to you. Even weight on the sit bones. Inhale, reach, left arm up. Exhale, arabats and rasana. Gently hug the leg or poke the elbow outside of the knee. Root those right fingertips as you gaze back over right shoulder. Lengthening as you breathe in. Deepening a little as you breathe out. Great. Stay in the twist. Inhale, just turn to look forward. And then exhale, a counter twist to the other side. You can stay tall or let yourself round and let the head fall. Inhale, come on back to center. Exhale, unwind the legs. And again, just for a moment, passing through navasana. Hold behind the thighs. Lift behind the heart. Pick it up. And then inhale, arms reach. Exhale, cross the ankles, roll forward directly back. Downward facing dog. Please feel free to stay right here or one last vinyasana. Inhale to plank. Exhale, knees are chaturanga. Inhale, lift the heart.

And exhale, downward facing dog. Excellent. From here, soft bend in the knees, bottom of the exhale, and then hop or step all the way through to sit and simply roll all the way down onto the back. When you land, hug the knees in towards the chest. Wrap your arms around your legs and rock the body side to side. Okay. From here, we're going to move into a closing inversion. And I want to give you a few options. The first, the most gentle is to simply shift to the wall, take your legs up the wall, let yourself restore. The second is to release feet to the earth. To root down through the feet, to scoop the tailbone, take a block under your sacrum, and then lift the legs straight up from there. It's kind of a middle path inversion. Or if you have a practice of shoulder stand and you're feeling for it in this moment, we're going to come into that together. A little controversial here, the ashtangis basically never use props, and the iron bar path insists on props here. I'm going to leave it up to you. If you believe in, if you really enjoy a blanket under the back, you take that blanket right to the edge of the shoulders. If not, it's your call. As you're ready, arms alongside the body, hug knees into chest, sweep the legs up and over, coming into a halasana. Okay. You're more than welcome to just work with this. Release down when you're ready. If you'd like to move towards shoulder stand, crawl the shoulders in and under, take the hands to the back, and then start to lift the legs to the sky. Yeah. And remember, legs up the wall or block under sacrum and legs up from there. Beautiful option. Either way, legs are rising and extending. If you're in full shoulder stand, let it be active. Really reach up and out through those legs, through the balls of the feet, and let's stay with it. Shifting the energy, shifting the perspective. A few more breaths. All right. If your legs are up the wall, if you're on the block, just sustaining. If you're in shoulder stand, draw the legs back down over the head, returning to halasana.

Cross the hands behind the back or just rest the arms alongside, right down on the earth. Take a few breaths here. Beautiful stretch through the back. And then a slow roll down through fish paws. So the arms are on the earth, palms pressing into the earth. As the spine rolls down, the hips land on the forearms and the wrists, and then slowly, like a teeter totter, as the legs lower, the upper body of the heart lifts. Yeah, coming to the back of the head, weaving back towards the third eye, breathing three. Two. And then to come out of it, press forearms and elbows into the earth. Then lift the head, draw a chin to the chest and ease all the way back down. If your legs are up the wall, you could choose to stay there through part of or all of your shilasana. You have a block under the sacrum release when you're ready. Well, simply meet on the earth and then draw the legs in towards the chest, wrap arms around the legs and rock gently side to side. Just one final release of yourself, a really loving hug. You worked hard, dug deep. Yeah. Thank yourself for showing up for the practice. And then as you're ready, just gently letting it all go, finding your final rest, shilasana. If you'd like the blanket under the knees, take that. If you'd like the blanket over the body, take that. If you like covering the eyes, take that. Let yourself be comfortable and supported and warm and grounded. And then just letting it go. Legs rolling open, arms roll open. And as the eyes close, the awareness goes way, way beyond. Just kind of leaving it all behind, letting it all go. The body is effortless, the breath is effortless, allowing for really deep replenishment. Just rest. Just rest. Just rest. Just rest. Just rest. Just rest.

You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Bring a little movement into the hands and the feet, and then with an inhale, reach the arms up and over, extending through fingers and toes. And with your exhale, bending the knees, feet to the earth, and gently roll to either side. You're welcome to stay there as long as you'd like, just pause, rest, making the transition up to a comfortable seat in your own time. And take any seat that feels good, feel free to prop up the sick bones if you'd like. Rest the hands wherever they're comfortable, soft gaze or close the eyes.

I'm going to take a couple moments of stillness here together, hands at rest, spine tall, and return the awareness to that deep center that resides at the seat of the belly. Are you a little bit more in touch when you feel that buoyancy and that lift, like your own little personal source of energy? Really letting awareness follow breath. Drawing the hands to prayer at the heart center. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for joining me.

It is a pleasure and an honor to share the practices live and online. I love hearing your comments, your experiences, so continue to reach out, let me know how you're feeling, how it's moving through your body, your experience. And continue to take care of yourselves and one another. Let's close together with a gentle inhale, exhale, empty it all out. And together through the nose, a big inhale, oh, forward, soft bow forward to seal the practice, Namaste.