Yang & Yin Flow

Namaste and welcome, everyone. I'm so happy to be with you practicing today wherever you are, whatever time of day it is. It's morning here in Manhattan Beach for about 10.30 a.m. and I'm just really happy to share the season together. And today we will move through a really well-rounded practice that focuses on both the yang elements. So we'll start with that kind of fiery warming, sun salutations, twisting, kind of building that heat in the body before then moving into the opposite side of that. So the yin cooling and we'll do some some really nice held stretches that will allow us to get into the hips, the legs, and the back. So let's get started on our backs. As you're ready, we'll come on back to Supta Baddha Konasana. Take your time to relax in as we start by stopping and checking in. And as you come onto your back, you bring the soles of the feet together, letting the knees go wide, maybe letting your hands fall somewhere on the body or bringing your palms to face up on either side of the body. And just start to notice how you feel. How do you feel in this moment? How's the physical body feeling as you scan from the tips of the toes all the way up through the crown of your head? Noticing if there are any areas of tension in the body. Also any areas that might feel nice and relaxed and open. And as you scan, allow yourself to bring the awareness just to the natural rhythm of your breath. The rise of the inhale, the fall and that letting go quality of the exhale. And maybe start to tune into your yogic breathing, allowing the breath to start to move in and out through the nose. And as we move into this yang element, allowing the breath to warm the body from the inside out. And if there is an intention that you'd like to set at the beginning of this week, new intention, go ahead and call that in here. It's always a nice time every time we practice to begin again. Allowing a few more full deep breaths just to arrive. Acknowledging yourself for showing up for you right here, right now. Beautiful. And then bringing your hands to the outsides of your knees, start to hug your knees into your chest, give them a squeeze. Maybe rocking a little bit from side to side or taking your knees in circles in one direction and then the other. Just noticing how the lower back is feeling this morning. Beautiful. And then keep your right knee hugged into your chest and just let your left leg go long and you can relax that leg down on the earth for a moment. And as you squeeze the right knee into your chest, notice how that feels. You might move the knee open to the right a little bit, getting into the hip. Beautiful. And then bringing it back through center, we'll switch sides. So let the right leg go along on your mat, hug your left knee into your chest. Give it a squeeze, let the shoulders relax as you do that. Good. And then again, open the left knee to the left a little bit and then drawing it in towards you, feeling into the left hip. Good. And as you come back through center, draw your right knee and let the left leg go long, but float the left foot up off the earth an inch or so. So we'll start to get into the core right away here. So we call in that heat. Good. And then switching sides, left knee and right leg hovers up off the earth as you straighten through the right leg. Beautiful. And then just start to slowly move from side to side as you engage through the core, drawing the low belly in and up. So left side, right side. Good. Now you can stay right here, just working with the legs and gently working with your core. And if you want a little more right away, interlace hands behind the back of the neck, lift the head, neck and shoulders up off the earth and just start to take this into yogi bicycles. So we're getting right into that twisting in the practice, opposite elbow, opposite knee as you move from side to side. Good morning or afternoon or evening. Good. Let's take a couple more rounds, right and left.

One more full round wherever you are. Beautiful. And then to counterbalance, we'll bring the soles of the feet to the earth and just press it up into bridge pose. So as you press through the soles of the feet, lift the hips up and you can press the palms of your hands into the earth as you lift up and just feel that opening in the entire front of the body. Good. And then as you lower the hips slowly down to the earth, reach your arms all the way up over your head, step your feet a little bit wider and just drop the knees to the right side. Nice, easy twist. Beautiful. And then you can drop the knees to the left. And then at your own pace, just start to windshield wiper your knees from side to side, just a few times, warming the spine a little bit and the hips should feel nice. Good. And then just finishing up with the knees dropping to the left when you're ready. We'll come back through center, hug your knees into your chest, and then you can just start to take this into a rock up and down along the length of your spine. Build momentum as we come to our tabletop position, making your way slowly to all fours. Good. And then setting up here, shoulders over wrists, hips over knees. Let's cross the right knee behind your left knee. So the legs are crossed here and we'll come into a wrist stretch. So in the right hand, start to turn the right fingers out toward the side of your mat. And you might stay right here or you can go a little deeper by turning the fingers in towards you and then pressing the right palm of your hand down to the earth. And then just to move around a little bit.

So I'm going to take some circles either clockwise or counterclockwise. And then just notice where you feel this. So the hip, the wrist, slowly starting to wake up the body, feeling into the sensations that arise. Good. And then coming back to center as you're ready, we'll turn the right hand forward. Fingers face the front of the mat and then float your right leg back to center. Float your right leg back so it's up off the earth. Pressing through both hands, flex your right foot and then engage through the core. Bring the weight into your right hand and reach your left arm forward. So you're finding a bit of a balance here. Reaching forward with your left fingertips back with your right heel. Core is engaged and let's hold for five, four, embrace any wobbling, three, two, and one. Nice work. So left hand down, right knee down. Just shift it back to child's pose for a couple breaths. Letting the hips sink back towards your heels. Let the head, neck, and shoulders relax. Feeling the earth beneath you as you settle in here. Maybe wiggle a little bit from side to side. Good. And then make your way back to all fours as you're ready. And we'll set up for the second side. So crossing your left knee behind the right, crossing the legs there. And then start to turn the left fingertips open toward the side of your mat or they reach toward you, facing toward you as you press the palm of the left hand down. And then just again, move in a way that it feels good to move. One direction and then the other, just moving the energy around. Good. And then coming back through your center, face the left fingers toward the front of your mat, uncross or the legs. So you're floating that left leg up, flex your left foot, engage through the core, find your balance for a moment. You can keep both hands down or if it feels okay, bringing the weight into the left hand, reach your right arm forward. Beautiful.

And so you find that long line of energy from fingertips to back heel, engaging for five, four, three, two, and one. Good. Right hand down, left knee down. One more child's pose. Let the hips sink back to your heels, reaching the arms forward. Maybe wiggle a little bit from side to side and then see if you can start to allow the breath to expand through the back body, the back ribs, back of the heart. Nice. And then just know as we start to pick up the pace and create some heat in the body that you can come back here at any time. Good. Come up to tabletop, walk your hands in front of your shoulders a little bit, tuck the toes and we'll come into our first downward facing dog, lifting the hips up and back. And then just move around in a way that it feels good to move. And your first downward facing dog, maybe pedal it out, maybe sway your hips from side to side, shaking the head yes and no. Starting to open through the backs of the legs. And if the hamstrings are feeling a little tight today, feel free to bend the knees as you lift your sitting bones up toward the ceiling sky. Good. Pressing through the inner hand as well as your outer hand. And then on your breath in, let's come forward into plank pose, top of a push up, take a moment to land here, top of a push up, shoulders right over wrists, hips in line with shoulder blades. You're always welcome to lower the knees down to the earth for support if that feels good for you. Otherwise, feel that length in the spine, big full breath in here. And as you exhale, just lift the hips up and back into downward facing dog. So we're starting to warm the joints as we move with this a few times. Inhale, glide forward, plank pose, top of a push up. Good. Exhale, downward facing dog, hips up and back. Let's do one more. Inhale, gliding forward, plank pose. Nice work. Lifting hips up and back, down dog. Beautiful. Now pick up your hands, walk them back to your feet and we'll just find a nice forward fold at the back of the mat. So let the knees soften any amount. Let the torso just drape down. Maybe hold opposite elbows. Maybe sway it side to side or shake your head yes and no. And letting a little weight shift off toward the balls of your feet. Beautiful. And then taking your time, slowly walk your hands forward, back into downward facing dog. Feel the earth beneath your hands as you come forward. Nice. And then as you land in your down dog, let's float the right leg up and back and you put a bend in the knee, open up through the hip for a couple breaths. Breathing into this right side, letting the shoulders stay level. So you're pressing through both hands. Good. And then start to straighten that right leg, gaze between your hands. We'll step the right foot all the way through, setting up for a lunge here. Come up onto your fingertips. And as you come onto your fingertips, you can feel that length in your spine. So staying on the ball of your back foot. Good. And then let's move into a twist. So planting your left hand down, sweep your right arm up, twisting from the navel up.

Good. And then keep hugging that right hip in, stay active in your left leg. So nice. Maybe roll out that right wrist a few times. Beautiful. And then take the top arm over your ear for a breath, lower the hand down to frame your front foot, and then just start to shift your weight back as you press into the left heel and straighten the right leg any amount as you fold in for a nice stretch over both legs. Good. And then re-bend through your right knee. We'll do that one more time. Come into your twist, plant the left hand down, sweep the right arm up, take the top arm over your ear, take the top arm over your ear, lower it down to the earth, shift the weight back, press into the left heel as you fold in any amount. Nice. And then we'll re-bend, come back to the lunge, downward facing dog, plant the palms, step the right foot back to meet your left. Good. Plank pose on the inhale, top of a push-up. And then hugging the elbows in, welcome to lower the knees. Let's slowly lower all the way to the belly. Nice. Untuck your toes.

Coming into cobra pose, start to draw the shoulders back, keep hugging the elbows in, peel the chest up off the earth, any amount. And think about length here as you lift up. Good. And then as you exhale, lower it back down and we'll come back to downward facing dog, either coming up through hands and knees or plank pose. If you feel ready for that, lifting the hips all the way up and back. Nice work. Give a big full breath in here. And open the mouth, sigh it out, release, let it go. Good. And then just taking that all to the second side. So floating your left leg up, bend the knee, open up through the hip, breathe into the left side. Notice if the side feels any different for you. Keep pressing through the hands, let the shoulders stay level. Good. And then you can straighten that left leg, any amount. Gaze between your hands, step your left foot all the way through. One step, bunch of steps, doesn't matter. Just come on into your lunge. Good. And then coming up onto the fingertips, lengthen through the spine here. Stay on the ball of the back foot. We'll set up for our twist on this side. So planting the right hand down, sweep your left arm up, twisting from the navel up, keep hugging that left hip in, stay active in your right leg. Maybe roll out that wrist a few times, one direction and then the other. Good. And then top arm over your ear, feel that length in the side body.

Lowering your left hand down, press it back, fold over both legs, pressing into that right heel as you let everything just melt down. Good. And let's do that one more time. So re-bend through the left knee, plant your right hand down, sweep the left arm up, top arm over your ear. Good. And then lower it down, stretching into both legs, press back through that right heel as you fold in. Good. And then re-bend through the left knee, downward facing dog, left foot steps back to meet the right. Plank pose, inhale, lower all the way to the earth. Exhale, cobra pose. Inhale, peel the chest up, lengthening and moving it back to downward facing dog. We'll meet there. Beautiful. Take a big full breath in, long breath out, release, let something go. Good. Slow walk to the front of the mat this time, finding a forward fold as you get to the front of your mat, soften your knees any amount. Let the head hang heavy and then just roll up nice and slow. One vertebra at a time. Let the head be the last thing to arrive. Good. As you get up to the top of the mat and draw the shoulders up towards your ears, take a big full breath in and just exhale to release the shoulders down the back. Find tadasana for a moment, letting the soles of the feet really find the earth. So feel really grounded here. And then we'll start to move into our warming sun salutations for Surya Namaskara A. So feet together at the front of the mat. As you're ready, inhale, sweep the arms up, feel the length in your spine, feel the lift in the heart space. Good. And then as you exhale, soften the knees a little bit, uttanasana, forward fold. Good. Inhale, lift halfway up, maybe walk your hands up onto the shins for this first one. Good. And then exhale, plant your palms, plank pose, step the feet back, shift the weight forward, either coming all the way down or maybe moving through chaturanga halfway down this time. Cobra or upward facing dog, inhale. Good. Downward facing dog, exhale, lift the hips up and back. Start to let your heels get nice and heavy. Maybe start to find stillness here in your down dog, finding one point to focus your gaze. Good. A couple breaths.

Beautiful. On your next breath in, let's rise up onto toes, big bend in the knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands, front of the mat. Inhale, lifting halfway, lengthening, offer the heart forward. Good. Exhale, uttanasana, fold. Root down to rise, inhale, arms sweep out and up. As you exhale, draw your hands to your heart. Good. Let's take two more rounds. We'll start to pick up the pace a little bit as we start to link the breath with the movement. So let the breath guide you as we move through. Inhale, arms sweep up. And then as you start the exhale, forward fold. Good. Inhale, halfway. Exhale, your vinyasa, plant the palms, step or maybe lightly float it back through chaturanga. Inhale, cobra or upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Breathe, allowing down dog to be a reminder to come back to the presence, the present moment with the breath. Good. Inhaling and exhaling. Beautiful. On your next breath in, rise up onto toes, bend the knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands, front of the mat. Inhale, halfway. Exhale, release. Good. Root down to rise, inhale, arms sweep out and up. And then again, just gathering hands together in front of your heart. One more round with the breath. Inhale, arms lift, gaze lifts. Exhale, diving forward, uttanasana. Inhale, halfway, arda uttanasana. Exhale, plant the palms, step or lightly float back, chaturanga.

Cobra or upward facing dog. And downward facing dog, lifting the hips up and back. Breathe here. Always a nice place if you'd like to lower the knees. Lower the knees. Just be in a place where you can observe. Notice the movement. Good. And then as you're ready, we'll rise up onto toes, bend the knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands, come back to the front of your mat. Inhale, lift halfway up. Exhale, release. Root down to rise, arms sweep out and up.

And then gathering hands together in front of your heart and just taking a moment here to pause. To bow the chin down towards your chest. Maybe one hand to heart, one hand to belly, and just go inward. That movement, that heat that you've built up. Where does it land? Perhaps coming back to your intention. If there's a dedication that you'd like to set for your practice, maybe do that here. Feeling the heartbeat. Good. And then blinking the eyes open. If they're closed, we'll come right into chair pose. Utkatasana. And as you come into chair, just draw the shin bones back. Take a moment, peek at your toes. Make sure you can see them. If not, shift the weight back just a little bit more and then we'll draw hands to heart. Taking a twist here, left elbow on the outside of the right leg. Drawing the prayer in front of the heart center. Just a couple breaths, not a long hold.

Big, full breath in. And then as you exhale, release into utkatasana. Forward fold. Good. On an inhale, come halfway up, lengthen through the spine, and then we'll move through vinyasa or skip it. You can always step it right back to down dog. Otherwise, chaturanga, inhale, cobra, or up dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Nice. And let's float the right leg up from here. Big, full breath in. And as you exhale, step the foot through between your hands. Now we're setting up for crescent pose. So I like to step my left foot to the left a little bit, widening the stance just a bit for balance. And as you're ready, you'll float the arms up. So find that balance wherever you are. Let the left knee soften a little bit as the tailbone melts down. Good. Let the shoulders relax as you energize up through the fingertips. And then we'll take a nice twist from here. So reaching your left arm forward, reach the right arm back, and then the torso starts to spin open to the right side of your mat. So nice. And then keeping this shape, we're just going to tilt it back. So the right hand finds the back of your left leg. Left arm reaches up and over your ear. Big, full breath in here. Nice. And then just circle your hands down to the earth. Plank pose. Your vinyasa, feel free to modify however you'd like as you inhale, cobra or up dog.

And the exhale brings us back. Downward facing dog, home base. Good. And we'll breathe in together in through the nose. And then lion's breath. Stick out your tongue. Let something release here. That detoxifying energy. Letting go of whatever you need to let go of. Rise up onto toes. Big bend in the knees. Look forward. Step or lightly float to your hands, front of the mat. Halfway up. Inhale. Release. Exhale. Come right into chair pose. Standing up for the second side. Utkatasana, arms sweep up. Good. Draw your hands to your heart center.

And then keeping that length in the spine, hook the right elbow this time on the outside of your left thigh. Draw that prayer in front of the heart. Elbows are stacked. Breathing. Just a couple breaths. Good. Taking a big, full breath in. And then let the exhale release into forward fold. Utkatasana. Good. Come halfway up. Inhale. Lengthen through the spine. And then move it through your vinyasa. Step or lightly hop back. Chaturanga. Inhale. Cobra or upward facing dog. Exhale. Lift it up and back. Downward facing dog. Good. Left side. Inhale. Left leg lifts. Exhale. Step it through. Good. And then find your base. So again, you might step the right foot to the right a little bit. Steady foundation. Feel the earth once you have that. Reach your arms up. Finding crescent pose. Good. And the alignment is to have that right knee soften a little bit so the tailbone can melt down. You can draw the low belly in and up, protecting the spine. Let the shoulders release a little and energize up through your fingertips.

Nice. Once you feel steady, we'll move it into a twist. So right arm forward. Left arm back. Letting the torso spin toward the left. Open it up. Nice. And then from here, tilt it back. Left hand finds the back of the right leg. Right arm reaches up and over your ear. Beautiful. And then just release. Step it back. Plank pose. Chaturanga. Cobra or upward facing dog. Inhale. Down dog. Exhale. Big breath in.

Lion's breath. Tongue out. Release. Good. And then walk your hands back to your feet. We'll take a little detour here before moving on for another round. So step your feet as wide as your mat. Toes out. Heels in. Let's sink it down into malasana. Yogi squat. Knee into the hips a little bit. Notice where you feel this in your body. Maybe hands to heart. And maybe close your eyes as a way of just shifting your gaze to the internal space. Let this be a feeling practice. Physical body. The emotional body. The energetic body. Subtle body.

Working through the layers and with the layers. A couple more full deep breaths. Feel that downward flow of energy. Earth energy. And then bring this into a nice wide leg fold as you're ready. We'll parallel the feet. Just let everything melt down over your legs. Maybe sway it out side to side. This is a way to release. Good. And then let's move it forward back into downward facing dog. Take your time as you walk your hands forward. Finding down dog. Good. And then rising up onto toes. Big bend in the knees.

Step or lightly float to your hands. Coming back to the front of the mat. Inhale halfway. Exhale release. Good. Chair. Utkatasana. Arms sweep up. And then same beginning. Hands to heart. We'll twist it to the right. Left elbow on the outside of the right leg. Stacking the elbows. Bring that prayer in front of your heart. And just make sure the knees are staying even to one another. Good. Big full breath in. Exhale forward fold. Let that go. Good. Inhale, lift halfway up. Lengthening through the spine. Exhale your vinyasa step or lightly float it back. Chaturanga. Inhale cobra or upward facing dog. Exhale down dog. So let's take the same beginning and then we'll add on a bit. Inhale right leg lifts. Moving with the breath. Exhale step through.

Inhale bring it up to crescent pose. And then the exhale brings us into the twist. So left arm forward. Right arm draws back. Good. Take a moment to land. And then reverse it. Inhale, exalted warrior. Tilt it up and back. Good. And this time we're opening it up to warrior two. And so just bending it open to face the side of your mat. You might need to adjust the feet a little bit. And then softening the shoulders. Energizing forward and back. Centering the weight. Just letting that front knee land over the ankle. Beautiful. And then keeping the legs how they are. Let's reverse our warrior. Flip the front palm. Tilt it back. Feel that length through the right side. Extended side angle. Either elbow to top of the thigh. You might go a little deeper with the fingertips on the inside of that front foot. And then that left arm might reach straight up. Or if it feels okay in your shoulder, you can reach it up and over your left ear. Good. And then feel that nice line of energy from your left fingertips back to that left heel. And just breathe into the shape. Find some space here. Good. Beautiful. And then root it down to rise. Reverse warrior. Come all the way up and back. And then just circle your hands down and through your vinyasa. Stepping right foot back.

Moving it through chaturanga. Inhale, cobra or upward facing dog. Exhale. Downward facing dog. Nice work. Big full breath in. Inside out. Let it go. Good. Rise up onto toes. Bend the knees. Look forward. Step or lightly float to your hands. Come back to the front of the mat. Inhale, halfway. Exhale, release. Chair pose, utkatasana. Bend the knees. Reach the arms up. Draw the prayer in front of your heart and we'll take our twist to the other side. Right elbow on the outside of the left. Drawing the prayer in front of your heart. Stacking the elbows.

Knees are even. Big full breath in. Good. Exhale. Let that go. Release uttanasana. Inhale, lifting halfway up. Lengthening through the spine. Exhale, move it through. Step or lightly float back. Chaturanga. Cobra or upward facing. Downward facing. Release. Good. Left leg lifts. Inhaling. And then moving with a breath. Exhale, step it through. Stay on the ball of your back foot. Coming up into crescent pose. Inhale, arms sweep up. And then twisting. Right arm forward. Left arm back. Tilt it back. Exalted warrior. Inhale. And then open it up. Warrior two. Exhale, find your intuitive alignment here. And then move around a little bit. But find a place where you can settle in. Find a place where you can find stillness and breathe. Let it be about the breath. And keeping the legs how they are, fling, fling, fling, fling. Exhale, legs how they are. Flip your front palm. Inhale, reverse warrior. Exhale, extended side angle. Matching whatever variation you took on that first side. And once you find your way in to the posture, find some stillness. Come back to the breath. Some space between the breath, between the thoughts. Really feeling the feet grounding down into the earth. Good. And the legs stay the same. Strong in the legs as you reach up and back. Reverse warrior.

Inhale. Good. And then just circle it down. Step it back. Chaturanga or skip it. Feel free to come right back. The down dog, you might have hit your chaturanga quota for the day. Inhale, big full breath in. Long breath out, release. Good. Again, inhale. Exhale, release. Walk your hands back to your feet. Step your feet about hips width apart. And then maybe take your peace fingers to your big toes. Wrap them around. First two fingers in the thumbs. If not, any forward fold is great. Big breath in. Exhale, elbows out to the side. Let everything melt down over your legs and breathe. Letting this be a moment to go inward, to release. That bowing in, that calming of the nervous system. And the break between the movement more than anything. Good. And then walking your hands back slowly to downward facing dog. Take a moment to land, to arrive, to press through your hands. Good. And we'll rise up onto toes. Bend the knees deeply. Step or lightly float to your hands. Come back to the front of the mat. Inhale, halfway. Exhale, fold in. Coming back to chair pose, utkatasana, arms sweep up. Last round with this, draw your hands to your heart.

Keep the length in your spine and then take the twist, left elbow on the outside of the right. A little different this time. Start to let your right foot get heavy. Come up onto the ball of your left foot. Good. So that left heel is lifted and then super slowly be a tough transition. Lift that left leg up and then reach it back for a crescent prayer twist. Maybe you went a little slower than I did. Good. And if you want to lower that left knee down to the earth for support, go for it. Otherwise we're up in this twist. Just a couple full deep breaths. Active in your left leg. So beautiful. And then gaze down. How are we doing? Hands to the earth, pyramid pose. Step your left foot in and to the left a little bit. Straightening both legs, letting everything melt down over that front leg. And try to get the entire left foot on the earth if you can. And as you draw that left hip back, or the right hip back, let the left hip roll forward so the hips stay level. And you might stay right here. You might have a couple blocks under your hands. Or we'll revolve our triangle. Left hand to the inside or outside of that front foot. Bring the right hand to your hip for a moment. You might even bring that right thumb into the right hip crease. And then as you lengthen through the spine, start to peel the chest open to the right. Maybe reach that right arm up. And if you're wobbling, then we are in this together. Because I am. Good. A couple breaths. And then go ahead and let that go. Release back into that fold, pyramid pose. And then gaze forward, walk your hands forward for standing split just briefly. Lift that left leg up. And then bending both knees, we'll set up for a seated twist. Draw the left knee behind your right ankle. And then have a seat. Find your sitting bones on the earth. Do what you need to do to set up here. And you can always straighten that left leg in front of you if that feels better in your body. Otherwise, when you're ready, sit up nice and tall. Bring the right fingertips behind you. Reach your left arm up. Feel the length here in your spine. And then go ahead and twist to the right. Either hooking the elbow on the outside of the right leg, or you can hug that leg in. With every inhale, find length in the spine. With every exhale, ease into the twist without force. Ringing it out, detoxifying. Good. And then we'll counterbalance by gazing to the front of the mat first. Slowly release the twist. And then bring the hands on the outside of your left hip. Let the elbows soften. Let the head release down. Should feel pretty nice. I love this counterbalance. Good. And then come on out of there. Step the soles of the feet to the earth. Sit up nice and tall on your sitting bones. Long in the spine. And then we'll move into Navasana. You can bend the knees. Parallel the shins to the earth. Spread your toes. Maybe reach your arms forward. Draw the shoulders back. So feel the lift in the heart space here. Maybe the legs are straightening out, but maybe not. That can be a little intense on the hip flexors. So just see where you're at today and breathe for five. Maybe close your eyes. Four. Three. Two. Beautiful. One. Release the feet back down to the earth. Sit up tall. Walk your hands behind you. And then lift your hips. Big, full breath in. Reverse tabletop. Release the head backs. Pick out the tongue lines. Breath. Good. And then hips lower down to the earth. We'll cross at the ankles. Now if you'd like a Vinyasa here, of course, go for it. Step her lightly. Shoot the legs back as you move through. Or maybe you're stepping right into your down dog. Inhaling. Exhale.

Rising up onto toes. Big bend in the knees. Look forward. Step her lightly. Float to your hands. Come to the front of the mat. Inhale halfway. Exhale. Release. Last side. Utkatasana. Chair pose. Weight into the heels. Reach the arms up. Draw the hands to the heart. Keep that length in the spine. Right elbow on the outside of the left leg. Draw the prayer in front of your heart. Breathe. And then start to let that left foot get heavy this time. Come up onto the ball of your right foot. And then slowly, slowly, slowly find one point to focus your gaze. Reach that right foot up. And then step it back. Whew, that's a transition. Good. And if you need to adjust, adjust. If you'd like to lower that left knee down for support, go for it. Otherwise, we'll be here just a few breaths. Breathe into this detoxifying twist. Feel the heat that you've generated. At least I have. Good. And then gazing down, hands down. Pyramid pose. So step the right foot in into the right a little bit. Holding over both legs. Draw the left hip back this time. Right hip rolls forward. You might even pick up your left hand, take it to the low back, and just kind of see if your hips are even. You can always bend a little bit in that left knee. This is a great pose if you have a block. As we move into revolved triangle, taking a block under the right hand. Otherwise, right hand to the inside or outside of your front foot, left hand to your hip. Maybe bring that left thumb into the hip crease. So you're going to draw that left hip back and then lengthen through the spine. Start to peel the chest open to the left. Maybe reaching that left arm up. Revolved triangle. Breathe, breathe in it. Big breath in. Long breath out. Nice work. Walking your hands forward for standing split. Reach your right leg up. And then setting up by bending both knees. We'll set up for that seated twist. Let your sitting bones find the earth. Walk your hands back. Whatever you need to do to come into this shape. Sit up nice and tall. Left fingertips behind you. Right arm lifts up and then twisting to the left. With every inhale, find that length. Reach up through the crown of your head. With every exhale, release into the twist just a little bit more without force. Bringing it out. Beautiful. And then gazing to the front of your mat.

Slowly release your twist. Bring your hands on the outside of your right hip. Soften the elbows. Crown of the head melt down. And breathe. It should feel really nice here to release. And then coming back, we'll bring the soles of the feet to the earth. Sit up nice and tall in the sitting bones. Lengthen through the spine. One last time, Navasana. Lifting the legs up. Maybe reach the arms forward. Feel the lift in the heart space. Maybe close your eyes. Just a couple breaths. Let the heart beat slow a little bit. Good. And then soles of the feet to the earth. One more. Tabletop, reverse tabletop. Lift the hips. Big full breath in. Tongue out, lion's breath. Good. Hips lower. Nice work. Cross at the ankles. And go ahead and step it on back or move through Vinyasa if you want it. To downward facing dog, just briefly stretch out the legs. And then lower your knees to the earth. If it feels okay, sit back on your heels. You can untuck your toes or keep them tucked if that feels better for you. And then just take a moment. Either resting the hands with the palms facing down for more of a grounded energy. Or perhaps you flip them up for receiving energy, calling in what you need here. Maybe gently let the eyes soften and close. Just transition from the yang part of our practice to just more of that yin-like energy in these next few postures. So let's stand up on the knees as you're ready. We'll move into an expansive camel pose here, heart opener. So taking the knees about hips distance. Let your hips be over your knees so that they're in line. Bringing your hands to your low back either hands facing up or down on your low back. Hug the elbows in. Lift the heart. You might tuck your toes. You can stay right here as the sternum reaches up toward the ceiling. If it's in your practice to move in a little bit deeper, maybe walk your hands to find your heels. Keep lifting up through the sternum like there's a string coming up to the ceiling. Keeping the hips stay over the knees. Breathing. A couple more breaths. You got this. Beautiful.

And then as you come out of there, you can lift from the core. From the core. And then counterbalance. Take a moment. Sit back on your heels. And just breathe. Maybe close your eyes. Notice where that lands in your body. Good. And then take your time. Let's move in to sleeping swan. So we'll come to downward facing dog as we move in to just this held posture. We'll stay a little bit longer today to start to move into the connective tissue. So sweeping the right leg up as you're ready. Big breath in. Draw your knee in toward your nose. And just start to lower the shin down. So I'm going to keep it a little more relaxed today with the foot coming in toward the body. If you want to move it up into more of that single pigeon paralleling the shin toward the front of the mat, feel free to do that. Otherwise, just take a moment to land to find what feels good up at the top here. If you need any props under that right hip, feel free to honor that. And if this is just not the hip opener for you, feel free to come on to your back and take thread the eye of the needle. Otherwise, when there's the invitation to go a little deeper, maybe walking your hands forward and going a little deeper. And we'll be here for a couple minutes. See if you can let your muscles relax. So the muscles are relaxed as we deepen into the posture. And then once you're there, see if you can allow the breath to anchor you to this moment. Breathing with the posture. And if it helps to work with the mantra, something simple to focus the mind, could be as simple as in on the inhale and out on the exhale. Or maybe it's let on the inhale go on the exhale. Notice the thoughts as they arise, which they will. It's the nature of the mind. Let them just float by without judgment, without attachment, becoming that witness, the observer of what's occurring. And as much as you can, bringing it home to the breath. Take about five more full deep breaths here on this side. Beautiful. And then super slowly make your way out of that posture and take your time, right? You'll probably feel something on the way out. And then just let your weight shift off to the right hip and we'll set up for half butterfly. So bringing the right foot to the inner upper left thigh. And then letting that left leg go long and you can let your foot relax a little bit. Let the torso start to spin toward that left leg. And then when you're ready to start to walk your hands forward and maybe holding on to your ankle or your foot as you come in to this fold for half butterfly. And so this is a focus here on obviously the back of your left leg, the hamstring. You got that hip opener happening on the right side, but also a really nice effective posture for low back for the low back. Any pain that you're having in the low back, try doing this for three to five minutes every day. And again, as you hold these postures a little bit longer, allows you to go a little deeper into the release. Letting the breath guide you, guide you to go maybe a little deeper or to get a little bit stiller. Listening inward to the wisdom that resides within. Take about five more breaths here.

So nice. And then leading with the heart, super slowly peel your way back up. Hello. And then we'll move into a Gomukhasana. So letting the left knee come on top of the right knee as you draw the heels in towards you. Now this is just too much. This pose is not for everyone. Go ahead and just cross the left shin in front of the right shin. And then you can kind of move into a fold from there if that feels better for you. Otherwise you're drawing that left knee on top of the right or the heels in towards you, wiggle in, feel the sitting bones. And I'm just going to stay upright, letting my hands rest on my legs. Sometimes it's nice to bring your hands to your feet. You can even use your thumbs to massage the bottoms of your feet if that feels good. Eventually finding a place where you can stay and observe. Maybe let the eyes close. Coming back to your breath. Just noticing the sounds and the space around you, both near and far beyond the space that you're in, the life that's happening all around you. And then coming back to the sound of the breath. Letting everything just merge together. One symphony of sounds. Good. And then take your time. We'll come back to Down Dog. However you choose to get there, I'm just stepping it back. Take a moment to stretch into your legs and breathe. And we'll set up for the second side. So sweeping your left leg up, big breath in. Draw the knee in towards your nose. Let the shin come down toward the earth, either bringing the left foot in towards you or parallel the shin. You can come toward the front of the mat. Just time us here. Balance it out. Take a moment up at the top. Find your intuitive alignment, whatever you need here. And then when there is the invitation to go a little bit deeper, release into the posture. Taking your time as you walk your hands forward. Just breathe. Breathe and notice. Breathe and allow. Perhaps noticing if this side feels a little different from the first side. Most likely. And then what arises for you here? Notice any resistance that may appear. Can you become curious about maybe what habits you have when you come into these slower held postures? They can often feel even more challenging than the heated postures, at least for me. But that sense of curiosity. And then allowing yourself to notice that and come back to your breath. Five more full deep breaths. And then as you're ready, nice and slow, peel your way up. Take the weight off to your left hip, bringing the right leg out in front of you. You can straighten that right leg long and just let that right foot relax. So muscles relaxed versus flexing the foot and engaging the muscles. You want them to soften and release here. Left foot to the inner upper right thigh.

And then just walking the hands forward as the torso drapes down over that right leg. Let your foot relax, maybe holding your ankle or your foot or letting your hands fall just wherever they fall. And soften and let go. Releasing any effort of the breath is coming back to the natural rhythm of your breath. A couple more breaths right here. All right. And then taking your time, come on back up. We'll come into Gomukhasana. Let the right knee come on top of the left or you're finding the right shin in front of the left for Sukhasana. That feels better for you. Drawing the heels in towards you, wiggle in, feel your sitting bones. Maybe bringing your hands to your feet or resting your hands on top of the thigh. You can stay upright if it feels appropriate for you today to walk your hands forward and do it. Listening into what you need here. Maybe let the eyes soften and close and just breathe. Couple more breaths.

And if the eyes are closed, you can gently blink them open and just kind of notice where your eyes go. The colors, space around you. And slowly reaching your legs out in front of you. Nice and long. You can let the legs soften. Try not to engage too much in the muscles. And then just walking your hands forward, moving into Caterpillar, forward fold. Let your hands maybe find your ankles or your feet. Let your head, neck, and shoulders relax. Just breathe into the backs of your legs. Beautiful. And then as you inhale, just slowly come up onto your back. We'll finish with one last twist to wring it out. So crossing your right leg on top of your left, bring your arms on either side of the shoulders, palms facing up. And letting both knees drop to the left side for eagle twist. If that's too much of a pull on your lower back, just go ahead and uncross your legs. You can stack at the knees. So wringing out and letting go of all that you've built up. Beautiful. And then take your time to unravel feet to the earth, neutralize through the hips. And then moving to the second side, crossing your left knee on top of the right, dropping the knees to the right, wring it out. Maybe gaze over your left shoulder, the shoulder release and soften down to the earth. Eagle spinal twist. Beautiful. And then unraveling from there, coming back through center, hug both knees into your chest, Apanasana. Give them a squeeze and draw your nose up towards your knees. Big breath in. Hold the breath at the top and then sip in just a little bit more air and let it all go. Sigh it out. The legs go long on your mat. Let your feet roll open. Shavasana, palms face up on either side of the body. Allow yourself to let go of any effort letting be. Just rest. And Letting the breath begin to deepen, bringing the awareness back to the physical body, inviting any movement, this organic movement back in, taking a moment to notice what you notice and how you feel. And take a nice full body stretch as you're ready, reaching arms up over your head, big full breath in, exhale, release, making your way up to a comfortable cross-leg seated physician, gathering hands together and Anjali Mudra in gratitude for this practice, for showing up for you today.

Thank you so much for sharing in these practices with me. Namaste and have a beautiful rest of your day. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Bye everyone. See you next week.