Compassionate Flow

Namaste and welcome, friends. Thank you so much for joining me today, this Monday, wherever you are. It's the morning here in Manhattan Beach, California, and I'm so excited to be practicing with you in this flow today. So we're moving up the chakras and the energy centers in the body, and today we're going to be taking our focus to the heart space. So we're going to move through a compassionate flow today that really focuses on just this heart energy center and self-love. This place is all about moving from a place of empathy of compassion and really just taking care of yourself as we move through postures that are heart opening, back bending, more expansive to counterbalance the everyday posture of life, which is right here. We'll look at opening up the front body as we move through this practice today. So if you have a block handy, it would be great to have that with you during your practice. If you don't know worries at all, I will provide some modifications without the use of a block as we begin. So if you would, please join me on your back. We'll roll back. If you have your block, go ahead and take that with you. And we'll take the block under the sacrum to begin. So I like to take it to the lowest height and just bring it to the very low back, coming right into supported bridge pose. And if you don't have a block, just go ahead and take your feet as wide as your mat. Let your knees knock into touch and you can just take a moment to place one hand to the heart, one hand to the belly. Otherwise feet are about hips distance apart, pressing through the soles of the feet, low back supported. And then bring the palms maybe to face up on either side of the body or again, maybe one hand to heart, one hand to belly. And then let the shoulders just draw down your back. Take a moment to tune into that heart space, either the physical heart, which sits just left of center or the energetic heart, Anahata, which sits just behind the breastbone. And if it feels comfortable for you to close your eyes to begin, go ahead and let the eyes soften and close, letting the gaze shift to the internal space. And then begin to tune in to just the natural rhythm of your breath, the rise of the inhale, the fall and the letting go of the exhale. And with every exhale allowing yourself to release into the support beneath you just a little bit more. And as you bring the awareness to the breath, notice if the breath naturally begins to deepen. Maybe moving right into Ujjayi breath, letting the breath move in and out through the nose. And then just checking in for a moment with the heart space. How's your heart today? Does it feel a bit heavy or light or somewhere in between? And then maybe the question of what is your heart's desire in this moment as we begin our practice, maybe setting that intention of your heart's desire. Anything you'd like to call in, anything you'd like to let go of here as we move into our practice, dedicating this time to yourself for the next hour or so. Allowing just a few more full deep breaths here as you relax a little bit deeper and let go a little bit more. Beautiful. And then as you're ready, if the block is underneath you, you can lift the hips just enough to slide it out to the side of your mat. And then let's all gather the knees into the chest. So drawing the knees in, give them a hug Apanasana and you can rock a little bit from side to side. Start to massage through the lower back. Notice how your back body is feeling this morning. If it feels good to take the knees in circles in one direction and then the other, feel free to move around a little bit. Notice how you're feeling just on a physical level. How's your body today? What do you need to start to create a little more space, a little bit more ease and just inviting that in right here. Beautiful. And then start to take your rock up and down along the length of the spine. And you might take that a few times to build momentum or just simply sit up. Let's make our way into a comfortable cross-leg seated position and just taking a moment to land. So feel your sitting bones rooting down. Feel the length in your spine up through the heart, through the crown of your head. Let's take some seated cat cows. So letting your hands rest on your knees. As you inhale, just start to tilt the weight forward. You can arch through the spine, lift the heart, lift the gaze. And then as you exhale, round through the spine. Kind of let the shoulders creep up a little bit. Feel that opening in the back body. And then just moving with that with the breath. So the inhale brings you forward, tilting forward, arching. And the exhale brings you back, rounding through the spine. A couple more like that. Inhale forward. Feel free to close the eyes, letting the gaze shift to the internal space. Exhale, rounding back into cat pose. One more. The inhale brings you forward, tilt it forward. Let the pelvis tilt forward. And then as you exhale, round it back. Good. And then start to take this into some circles. So just moving around into Sufi rolls, shifting the weight around. Just to start to open up through the hips, through the lower back. And again, maybe the eyes are closed. You're letting your head, neck, and shoulders just kind of release into the movement here. And then at some point you might choose to take the circles in the other direction. Just taking these as big or as small as it feels good for you. And if there's any place along the way that kind of feels good to linger in a little bit, getting into maybe some stuck energy, go for it. Find that linger. Otherwise just move like you, moving away. That feels good. With compassion, with love. Good. And then start to let the circles become a little bit smaller as you come back to your center. Take a moment to land and just notice. Beautiful. And then let's come to all fours. So just taking our time slowly moving into a tabletop position as we build from the ground up, move around a little bit here. As you find your tabletop, you can turn the fingers out to the sides of your mat, stretching into your wrists a little bit.

Beautiful. And then turn the hands to face the front of your mat. Let's stretch the left leg long. So tuck your toes, start to shift your weight forward and back a few times. Feel into the back of your left leg. Beautiful. And then as the shoulders land over the wrists, turn onto your left heel, bring the weight into your right hand. Art of Ashi Stasana, reach your left arm up. Good. And then take it over your ear for a breath. Feel that side body stretch, breathing into the side body. Beautiful. And then if it feels okay, float your left leg up, bend your left knee, find your left foot with your hand, kick the foot into the hand. And then again, just feel that opening across the chest, across the heart space and then maybe drop your right ear to your right shoulder. Breathe into the side of your neck. It should feel pretty nice. Opening up the left side of your neck. Nice. And then go ahead and release that. Just come back to all fours, left hand down, left knee down. Shift back to child's pose for a moment. Let your hips sink back to your heels and send the breath all the way through the back body, opening up the back of the heart, breathing, expanding. And at the same time, feeling that support, whatever's beneath you. Beautiful. And then slowly round your way back up to all fours and we'll just take it to the other side. So reaching your right leg back, tuck your toes for a moment. Start to shift the weight forward and back a few times. Feel into the right leg, the calf, the hamstring. Notice how this side feels. Good. And then shoulders right over wrists. Spin onto the right heel. Weight into your left hand. Ardavashisthasana. Reach the right arm up and you take it over your ear. Feel that side body stretch. Breathing here. A couple full deep breaths. Beautiful.

And then if you did so on the first side, float the right leg up this time. You can bend the knee, open up through the hip, find that foot, kick your foot into your hand, and then expand through the heart space. Maybe gaze up, maybe drop that left ear down toward your left shoulder. Breathe into the outer right neck. Hopefully that feels like a nice stretch in the neck, a place we often can hold a little tension. Beautiful. And then go ahead and release right hand down, right knee down, shifting back to child's pose. Let your hips sink back toward your heels. Again, feel that opening through the back of your heart. Breathe to expand. Good. And then coming up to all fours. Let's take a moment to stretch both legs back, coming into plank pose. And then same thing here, if you will, start to shift the weight forward and back a few times. Obviously this time we're feeling the core a little bit, strengthening through the legs and allowing a big full breath in here. And then as you exhale, simply lift your hips up and back into our first down dog. Beautiful. And as you come to down dog, move around, feel into the legs, and we'll allow the sitting bones to reach up toward the ceiling. So if that means softening the knees and bending the knees, go for it. It's letting the spine be nice and long, pressing through both hands evenly, the inner hand, the outer hand, letting the heels start to get a little heavy here. If there's still movement that needs to occur, then honor that is feeling into your body today. And again, just with that inquiry of what does my heart need today, in this moment. Beautiful. And then as you're ready, let's float the right leg up and back. Take a moment to bend through the right knee, open up through the right hip, keep pressing through both hands, let the shoulders stay level, and then straighten that right leg any amount. You might flex the right foot to square off your hips. Draw the knee into your nose, round through the upper back. So opening through the back of the heart as you hover top of a push-up. Good. And then sweep that right leg up and back, big breath in. Good. And then we'll step the foot through between the hands, one step, bunch of steps, doesn't matter. Good. And then come on to your fingertips for a moment, lengthen the spine, and then let the left knee lower down. Now you can keep the left toes tucked, or you can untuck and press through the tops of the feet. If you have a couple blocks, you might take them under your hands. Otherwise, fingertips on the earth is great. You can just move around a little bit here. So feeling into the left, so as the right hip, as you come into your lunge, as you inhale, see if you can reach the heart forward a little bit, and then keep the heart reaching forward as you shift the weight back into Arda Hanamanasana, lifting up the right toes coming on to that right heel, or maybe your toes are on the earth today, so that the entire foot is pressing down. It's just a different sensation. To me, it's a little more intense. See what feels best for you. Keep reaching the heart forward, and then we'll move with this a couple times with the breath. So the inhale brings you forward into that low lunge, lift the heart, lift the gaze, and the exhale glides you back Arda Hanamanasana. Go one more inhale, gliding forward, rebend through the right leg, lift the heart, lift the gaze, exhale, draw it back, breathe into the back of the right. Beautiful. And then come back to your lunge, stack the right knee over your right ankle, and just start to walk your hands up onto that right thigh. Engage the core to protect your spine. Now you're welcome to stay right here if this feels supported to you. Otherwise, sweep the arms up as you do that. Soften the shoulders, feel the lift in the heart, bend the elbows to cactus your arms. So there's a little more expansion through the heart space. And then maybe take hands behind the low back, find that interlace, or you can also hold opposite elbows if that feels better for you. Draw the shoulders down the back as you lift up through the heart. Big, full breath in. Beautiful. And then release your hands to frame your front foot. Tuck your back toes, lift the back knee up, and then we're stepping to a forward fold at the front of the mat. So stepping the left foot to meet the right. And let's hang here for a moment. So letting everything kind of melt down over your legs. Feel free to soften your knees any amount here. You might step your feet into your hands or just let the hands dangle down. Good. And then as you're ready, soften the knees deeply, roll up slowly, one vertebra at a time, letting the head be the last thing to arrive. And let's bring the shoulders up towards your ears and just let them roll down your back for a moment, finding tadasana, taking a moment at the front of your mat to breathe. Feel your feet on the earth, feel your heartbeat, and draw your hands to your heart center. And on an inhale, sweep the arms all the way out and up. As you do that, feel a lift through the upper back, tilt back a little bit. At the same time, rooting down through the feet and then soften through the knees and just fold over your legs. Uttanasana. Good. Come halfway up, walk your hands up onto your shins, lengthening through the spine.

Offer the heart forward, draw the shoulders back. Good. And then step it back, plank pose. Top of a pushup. Take a moment to land in your plank. Good. Start to shift the weight forward and back, forward and back a few times. Beautiful. And then just lifting your hips up and back will come right back into down dog, setting up for our second side. So let's take a moment to land, inhaling through the nose. Open up the mouth, sigh it out, release, let it go. Nice. And then left leg floats up and back as you're ready. Bend the knee, open up the hip. Breathe into this side. Notice how this side feels. Any different? Any tension? Any lightness or ease? Just observing all of it. Good. And then straightening the left leg out, square off your hips. You can flex through that left foot. Big breath in. Exhale, knee to nose, round through the spine as you come forward. Beautiful. Three leg dog, inhale, sweep it up and back. Nice. And then stepping the foot through between your hands. Take a moment to land, come up onto your fingertips, and then let that left knee lower to the earth. Take a moment here, maybe wiggle a little bit from side to side. Just feel into the second side. The psoas, the left hip, reaching the heart forward as you come up onto the fingertips, allowing a big full breath in. Good. And then the exhale brings you back. So again, maybe the foot's grounded on the earth today, or maybe you're coming up onto that left heel, drawing the left hip back, breathing into the back of your left leg.

And feel free to keep a bend in this left knee. You're just finding the sensation, the sensation in your body, creating some space. Beautiful. And then let's move with the breath. So the inhale brings us forward, rebending, lift the heart, lift the gaze. Exhale, glide back, Ardha Hanamanasana. Go one more inhale, let the breath guide you, bring it forward, rebend, lift the heart, lift the gaze. Exhale, keep reaching through the heart space as you draw that left hip back and fold over your left leg. Nice. And then go ahead and rebend. Stack the left knee over the left ankle, start to walk your hands up onto that left thigh and find your balance. Good. And you might stay right here. This might feel nice and supportive for you today, staying low. If you feel like you want a little more, sweep the arms up, soften the shoulders, relax your gaze as you do that. Good. And then bend your knees to cactus your arms and just let that be a little bit more of an opening through the chest, through the heart space. And maybe release hands behind the back, find the opposite thumb on top. Draw the shoulders down as you lift up through the heart space. Big, full breath in. Nice. And then stepping, reaching hands forward, and then we'll step the right foot to meet the left. Again, coming back to that forward fold, front of the mat. Nice one. Come halfway up as you inhale, lengthen through the spine, offer the heart forward. Exhale, release it down. Good. Root down through the feet to rise. Come all the way up, arms sweep out and up. And then gather hands in front of your heart. Take a moment to pause here at the front of your mat and breathe. Feel into the heartbeat. Feel into your breath. Feel the earth energy as you ground down through the soles of the feet, maybe shifting the weight forward and back a few times. Beautiful. And then let's move through the heart space.

We'll come into some modified surya namaskar sun salutation. So as you're ready, inhale, sweep the arms all the way out and up. Lengthen through the spine. As you lift up, see if you can feel that lift through the upper back. So sternum reaches up toward the ceiling. Good. And then dive forward, leading with the heart into uttanasana, forward fold. Come halfway up, inhale, lengthen, either fingertips on the shins or the earth. Plant your palms, step back, plank pose. Take a moment to land in your plank. Again, shift the weight forward and back a few times. Beautiful. And then from here, lower your knees down to the earth. Let your hips sink back to your heels for a moment. Come into child's pose. Just briefly feel that opening through the back of the heart and then gaze forward between your hands. Stay low on the earth and just kind of glide your way through into a low cobra. Draw the shoulders back, hug the elbows in, start to peel the chest up off the earth. Beautiful. And then as you exhale, lower back it through to downward facing dog. We'll meet there, allowing a few full deep breaths, maybe pedal it out through the feet still, or maybe you're starting to find stillness in your down dog. Finding one point to focus your gaze, your drishti. Inhaling here, exhaling to release. Good. And then rising up onto your toes. Big bend in the knees. Look forward, step, or you can lightly float your feet to your hands.

Come to the front of the mat. Inhale, lifting halfway, offer the heart. Exhale, release. Good. Root down through the feet to rise all the way up. Arms sweep out and up, and then gathering hands together in front of your heart. Good. Let's move on from here. Inhale, arms sweep up, root down to rise up. Feel the lift in the upper back. Exhale, diving forward. Uttanasana. Inhale halfway. Plant your palms again. Step back to plank pose, top of a pushup. Take a moment to land. Shift the weight forward and back a few times. Turn on the core. Good. And then the next time your weight shifts forward, shoulders over wrists, you might lower the knees. Otherwise, hug the elbows in. Take a slow lower all the way to your belly. Nice work. As you get down to the bottom, untuck your toes, pressing to the tops of the feet. Start to peel the chest up off the earth. Hug the elbows in. Bujangasana. Beautiful. As you exhale, bring it up and back. Downward facing dog. Let's breathe together. Inhaling. Exhale, release. Good. Another two breaths. Inhaling. Exhale. And stillness. Focus the mind on the breath. Inhale. Exhale. Good. Rising up onto toes. Bend the knees. Look forward. Step or lightly float to your hands. Come to the front of the mat. Inhale halfway. Exhale, release. Root down to rise. Arms sweep out and up.

Beautiful. Hands together in front of your heart. Let's take one more round with this. Little bit of a different variation. Building into the power of the body. Inhale, arms sweep up. Exhale, soften and fold. Good. Inhale, offer the heart. Come halfway up. Plant your palms. Plank pose. Step it back. Good. Shift your weight forward. This time, maybe halfway down. Welcome to lower the knees. Chaturanga. Inhale, cobra or upward facing dog. If you feel ready for that, straighten out the arms. Firm the thighs up off the earth. Beautiful. And then rolling over the toes. Lift the hips up and back. Downward facing dog. Good. Take a moment to breathe here. We'll breathe together if you'd like to lower your knees. Feel free to do that. Otherwise, three breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Inhaling for two. Exhale. Good. And again. Inhale. Nice work. Let it go. Exhale. Rising up onto toes. Bend your knees. Look forward. Step or lightly float to your hands. Come to the front of the mat. Inhale, offer the heart halfway. Exhale, release. Good. Root down through the feet to rise. Come all the way up to stand. Reach your arms out and up. And then gather your hands together in front of your heart. Taking a moment here to pause. Maybe bringing one hand to the heart, one hand to the belly, tucking the chin down towards your chest. Just take a moment to go inward. Breathe. Perhaps close your eyes. Feel the heartbeat. Back to your intention. Beautiful. And then today as we move through our standing flow, we're going to move from the front of the mat. So a little different today. As you're ready, sweeping the arms up, take a big full breath in. Feel that lift through the upper back. Maybe take your gaze up toward the ceiling. Good. And then just one more time, draw your hands back to your heart center. So just that idea of lifting from the side waist as we're at the front of the mat, let the sternum reach up toward the ceiling as we flow. So bring the hands to your lower back. And you can bring the fingertips to face up or down, whatever feels more supportive for you. Hug the elbows back. Root down through the feet. Take a big full breath in. Feel the heart lift up. So again, up and out of the side waist, sternum lifts, gaze up. And then soften your knees as you fold, Uttanasana. Come halfway up as you inhale, lengthening through the spine and then step your left foot to the back of the mat. So we're setting up for crescent pose here. You can step the left foot to the left a little bit. Find your base, find your strong support here. And then as you're ready, as you have your balance, sweep the arms up. Beautiful. And just take a moment to land. So let the back knee soften a little bit. Let your tailbone melt down. Let the shoulders relax. Feel the lift in the heart. And then what we did when we were grounded in that low lunge, start to bend the elbows, cactus your arms. Feel the lift up through the heart space. And then again, hands behind the low back. Maybe find that interlace or opposite elbows. Draw the shoulders back. Lift up through the heart. Take a big breath in. And then bow forward, humble crescent. Let the crown of your head melt down. Now this is a balancing pose. If you lose your balance or you're feeling pretty wobbly, feel free to lower that back knee down. Good. And then the inhale lead with the heart comes all the way back up to crescent. Arms sweep up. And then moving into a twist from here, bring your left hand down on the inside of your front foot. Sweep your right arm up, twisting from the navel up.

Good. And then just take a couple full deep breaths here. If it feels good to kind of move that right arm around a little bit, go for it. Getting into that right shoulder. Nice. And then as you lower your right hand to frame your front foot, we're stepping the left foot to meet the right forward fold front of the mat. Come halfway up on the inhale, lengthen through the spine. Exhale, forward fold. Good. Root down to rise. Arms sweep out and up. Take a big full breath in. And then gathering hands together in Anjali Mudra in front of your heart. Good. And then just taking it to the other side. So again, hands start at the low back and we'll start to flow with this. Draw the elbows back. Root down through the feet. Lift the sternum. Lift the gaze. Tilt back. Big breath in. And then let the knees soften as you fold into Uttanasana. Good. Come halfway up. Inhale to lengthen. This time step your right foot to the back of the mat. Find your stability here. Setting up for crescent pose. Arms sweep up. Take a moment to land. Good. Soften the knee. Let the tailbone melt down. Shoulders relaxed. Energize up through your fingertips. And then moving with this. So elbows bend as you cactus the arms. Feel the opening through the heart space. Hands to the low back. Interlace. Draw the shoulders back to lift the heart. Big giant breath in here. And then the exhale allows you to bow forward for a humble crescent pose. Nice. And again, always welcome to lower that back knee down. Lead with the heart as you come all the way back up to crescent. Arms sweep up. Good. And then coming into your twist. Right hand down. Left arm lifts. Twisting from the navel up. Good. And then if it feels good again, you can move that left arm around in circles. Feel into your left shoulder. And then eventually as you're ready, lower the left hand down. And then again, stepping the right foot to meet the left into your fold. Uttanasana. Let it go. Good. Inhale, lift halfway up. Lengthening through the spine. Exhale. Release and fold. Root down through the feet. Rise up. Arms sweep out and up. And then gathering hands together in front of your heart. Just taking a brief pause. Tune into the heart space.

Your heart beat. Breathing. Intention. Maybe a dedication for your practice today. So we'll stay with that pattern and just start to pick up the pace a little bit and flow with the breath. Adding on a little bit with each round. So as you're ready, starting with hands to low back. Hug the elbows back. Lift up through the sternum. Lift the gaze. Arching back. Good. And then soften the knees as you fold. Uttanasana. Come halfway up. Inhale. Lengthen through the spine. Start by stepping the left foot back. Setting up for crescent pose. Inhale, arms sweep up. Good. Exhale. Bend the elbows. Cactus the arms. Sink down a little deeper. Exhales behind the low back. Interlace. Inhale as you lift the heart. Exhale. Bowing forward. Humble crescent. This time let your left arm guide you up and open. We'll come up into warrior two. Taking a moment to land. If you need to adjust your feet a little bit, go for it. Finding 90 degrees in that front leg. Front knee over ankle. Just as much energy in that back leg, sealing the outer edge of the back foot down. And then find your gaze. Your drishti. And then moving with this, draw your hands to your heart space. Straighten your front leg for a moment just to get out of that hip. And then with your breath, exhale, deepen your warrior two as you reach the arms away from you. And then maybe close your eyes.

We'll do that two more times. So the inhale draws the energy inward. The exhale, press away into warrior two. Strong. Good. Inhale, draw it in. Hands to heart. Straightening the front leg. Exhale, deepen warrior two. Beautiful. And then from here, flip your front palm. Just tilt it back. Reverse warrior. Light on your back fingertips. Maybe bend a little deeper into that front knee. And then circle hands down. Pause in your runner's lunge. Come onto the ball of your back foot for a moment. And then coming back into that twist. Left hand down. Right arm sweeps up. Open the chest to the right. Either stay here or start to turn all 10 toes to the right side of your mat. So you're coming to the knife edge of your back foot. You can stay right here or start to let that left hip sink down toward the earth. Reach your right arm back and take a gaze at your fingertips. So different sensation here. You probably feel it in the right hip, left hip, wherever else. And then bringing it back around to your runner's lunge. Face the front of your mat. We're coming to the front of the mat. Maybe standing split this time, briefly lifting your left leg up. Step it to meet the right. How are you doing? Come halfway up. Inhale, lengthen. Gathering energy. Exhale, release and fold. Nice work. Let it go. Root down through the feet. Rise up to stand. Arms sweep out and up. Hands to heart. Take a moment to pause. To observe, to breathe, to feel your heart. These moments of checking in, of noticing, of arriving. Beautiful. And then we'll take it to the second side as you're ready. Hands to low back. Feel that lift. Try not to dump into the low back as you do this. So hug the elbows in. Lift up and out of the sideways. Tilt back. Maybe going a little deeper. And then as you release, soften the knees and fold in. Come halfway up. Inhale, lengthen. Good. Stepping your right foot to the back of the mat. Setting up for crescent pose. Starting to flow with the breath. Inhale, arms sweep up. Exhale, cactus arms. Hands behind the low back. Interlace. Bowing a big full breath in as you draw the shoulders back. Lift the heart. Exhale, fold in. Bowing into yourself. Humble. Devotional crescent. And then we're opening it up to warrior two. Let the right arm guide you. Up and open. And again, just taking a moment to land, to arrive. Center your weight. To find your drishti. Behind the strong energy in the legs. And then let's move with the breath. Hands to heart. Straighten the front leg. Gathering energy. Exhale, press away. Warrior two. Maybe close your eyes. Starting to move the energy inward. Hands to heart. Straightening. Exhale, press away. Good. Last one here. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. Good. Keep the legs. Flip the front palm. Tilt it back. Reverse warrior. Maybe bend a little deeper into that front knee. Beautiful. And then circle it down. Pause in your runner's lunge. Come on to the ball of your back foot.

Planting right hand down this time. Sweep the left arm up. And you can stay here. If this feels like enough for you, perfect. Stay right here. Otherwise, turn all ten toes to the left side of your mat. Come to the knife edge of your back foot. And then start to let that right hip melt down a little bit. As you reach your left fingertips back, gaze over your left hand. Oh, I feel that. Good. And then come back to the front of your mat as you're ready. Again, stepping to the front of the mat. Maybe floating that right leg up for a brief standing split. Stepping right foot to meet the left. Come halfway up. Inhale, lengthen. Offer the heart. Exhale, release. Beautiful. Root down to rise. Arms sweep out and up. Gathering hands together in front of your heart. Taking again that just brief moment here to breathe. To feel into the body. Become the witness. The observer. Oh, that's occurring. We have one more round with this adding on just a bit. You're doing great. You're ready. Sorry, bring hands to the low back. Let's start there. Draw the elbows back as you lift up through the heart space and then soften the knees and fold in. Good. Inhale, halfway up. Starting with the left foot, step it to the back of the mat. Same beginning. Let's move with the breath. Inhale, arms sweep up. Exhale, bend the elbows, cactus the arms. Hands behind the low back, interlace. Draw the shoulders back. Big breath in. Exhale, release. Good. Open it up to warrior two. Take a moment to land here. And then just one round. Move with the breath. Hands to heart. Big breath in. Exhale, press away. Warrior two. Good. Flip your front palm, tilt back. Reverse warrior. Start to straighten through your front leg for reverse triangle. Feel that length through the right side body and keeping that length. You might shorten the stance a little bit. We'll come into triangle pose. Reach, reach, reach. Hand below the knee. Left arm lifts up. Let me take that gaze up toward your fingertips. You might take that left hand behind the low back for a half wrap and see if you can start to let your heart spin open toward the side, maybe even up toward the ceiling a little bit. Keep engaging your quadricep. Lift up on your kneecap.

Beautiful. And then let's take this into our half moon. So putting a bend in that right knee. Reach the right fingertips to land right under your right shoulder. Float your left leg up. And maybe you're taking that chapasana variation today. Bending through the left knee, kicking the foot into the hand. Breathing, expanding through the heart space. So nice. Soften your right knee. Handy amount. As you transition nice and slow all the way back to reverse warrior. Reach it up and back. Beautiful. And then circle hands down to the earth. Runner's lunge. Come onto the ball of your back foot. Good. And then planting your left hand down. Sweep the right arm up. Again, you can stay right here. Or maybe a little different this time. Roll to the outer edge of your back foot. Turn all ten toes to the right. Maybe float your right knee up toward you. And then maybe step your right toes behind you to flip your dog. Wild thing. Feel that lift through the heart. Good. Reaching that right arm over your ear. And then as you unravel, we'll come to plank pose nice and slow. Chaturanga if you want it. Feel free to skip it. We'll come right back into our downward facing dog. Meeting there, breathing. Good. And then walking your hands back to your feet. Taking a little detour here. Step your feet as wide as your mat. Toes out, heels in. If you have a block and you'd like to sit on your block for malasana, go for it. Otherwise just sinking the hips down. Take a moment to land here. And draw your hands to your heart. Maybe soften the eyes closed. Go inward for a moment. Feel your heartbeat. And there's this beautiful roomy quote that I may hack a little bit, but it's something along the lines of, our greatest strength lies in the tenderness of our heart. So see where that lands for you. Our greatest strength lies in the tenderness of the heart. Forward fold when you're ready. Parallel your feet. Let everything melt down over your legs. Maybe sway it side to side. Go ahead and release anything you're holding onto here. Softly walk your hands forward into downward facing dog. As you arrive, we'll rise up onto the toes, bend the knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands. Come back to the front of the mat. Inhale halfway up. Exhale, release. Forward fold.

Good. Root down through the feet to rise. Arms sweep out and up. Hands gather in front of the heart. Taking our last round here as you're ready. Hands to low back. Hug the elbows back again. Feel that lift in the sternum. Maybe look up. Maybe you're finding the wall behind you as you tilt back. Good. Soften your knees and fold. Uttanasana. Good. Come halfway up, lengthening through the spine. Step your right foot to the back of the mat, setting up for crescent. Inhale, brings you up. Arms sweep up. Exhale, cactus the arms. Feel that opening. Good. Hands behind the back. Find that interlace. Draw the shoulders back. Lift the heart. Exhale, humble crescent. Bow forward. And then opening it up. Warrior two. Take a moment to land. Find your alignment. And then moving with the breath. Inhale, hands to heart. Straighten the front leg. Exhale. Deepen into warrior two. Flip your front palm tilt back. Reverse warrior. Start to straighten through your front leg. Feel that great length in the left side body. And then keep that length. You want to shorten your stance a little bit. Go for it. And then letting the left hand fall below the knee. Right arm lifts. Lean back. Take up space. If you want to take that half wrap, right hand comes below the back. Draw the right shoulder back. Let the heart spin toward the sidewall, up toward the ceiling. Reaching through the crown of your head. And then we'll make that slow transition into our balancing pose. Put a bend in your left knee. Reach the left fingertips forward. Letting the fingertips land right under the left shoulder. Float your right leg up. And then maybe you're taking that chapasana variation. Finding the right foot with your right hand. Kicking the foot into the hand. Feel the expansion across the chest. Breathe. Wowzers. Embrace the wobbling. Feeling the heat that might be generated in the body. Soften your left knee. Bring it all the way up and back. Reverse warrior. Find your stability here. Good. Circle down. Find your runner's lunge. Come onto the ball of your back foot. Good. Plant your right hand down. Sweep the left arm up. Either stay right here. Take all 10 toes to the left knife edge of your back foot. And then you're lifting that left knee up into the side body.

And then stepping the left toes behind you as you flip your dog. Feel that lift in the back of the heart as you lift up. Good. Breathe. More than anything, the breath. Beautiful work. Come back to plank pose. Nice and slow. Your choice. Vinyasa if you want it. Otherwise, lower the knees either sitting back on your heels or taking a nice child's pose. Take a moment to land, to breathe, to observe. Feel your heartbeat, that inquiry, that observation. These pauses between the movement. A lot of movement today. Just notice where that lands for you. Letting go a little more with every exhale. Welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. Otherwise, meet me in downward facing dog. No rush. Tucking the toes. Lift the hips up and back. Feel free to pedal it out. Let's take a slow walk to our hands. You might even keep the legs straight to really feel into that stretch in the backs of your legs. And then soften your knees here. Roll up slowly. One vertebra at a time. As you come to the front of the mat, shoulders up to ears, roll them down the back. Bring the palms to face forward and then really feel into your feet here. Shifting the weight forward and back a few times. And play with our balance while still with this intention of opening the front body. So let's set up for dancer pose. Bringing the weight. We'll start by letting the right foot get nice and heavy. And then if you have a wall and you want to take your hand to a wall, of course, feel free to do that. Otherwise, let's bend the left knee. Weight into the right foot. Find your foot or your ankle. Hug the knees together. Find one point to focus your gaze. Maybe reach your right arm up and you might stay right here. This might feel like enough for you. Otherwise, start to kick the foot into the hand as we have been doing. Can let the torso lower slightly, but keep it lifted. Keep the heart space open. And just take a moment to find your balance. Try not to lock up through the joints. Good. And then soften that right knee. Step your left foot to the back of the mat. Crescent pose. Nice work. And then just draw the hands down to the earth. We'll take a pyramid pose. Let the left foot into the left a little bit. Drawing the right hip back as you let the left hip roll forward. Folding over both of your legs. Just neutralizing here. Feel the evenness in your hips. That hamstring stretch should feel nice. Nice work. And then walking your hands forward, maybe float that left leg up for a moment. Big breath in. Step your left foot to meet the right. Roll up slowly. One vertebra at a time. As you get to the top, shoulders up to ears. Let's just stretch the shoulders a little bit. Draw them down the back. And then again, just take a moment to find your feet. Shift the weight around. Start to bring the awareness to the left foot. Really grounding down through the left and spread your toes. We'll bend the right knee. Find the right foot. And you can hold onto a wall or maybe reach that left arm up. Start to kick the foot into your hands.

Tilt the torso forward. Find your drishti. Holding. Breathing. Try not to hold your breath here. Beautiful. And then soften that left knee as you try to make that slow transition. Right toes find the back of the mat. It's not always so slow. Good. And then go ahead and let the hands find the earth. Step your right foot in and to the right a little bit. Pyramid pose. Draw the left hip back. Let the right hip roll forward. Breathe. Releasing as you breathe into the backs of your legs. Breathe into the sensations that arise. So beautiful. And then walking your hands forward. Floating the right leg up. Standing split, ready. And step your right foot to meet the left. Roll up slowly. And this time as you get to the top, just circle the arms out and up. We'll dive all the way back in. Uttanasana. Come halfway up. Offer the heart one more time. Arda Uttanasana. Good. Plant your palms. Step it back through your vinyasa or maybe you're skipping it. And coming right into down dog. If you're moving through chaturanga. Inhale. Cobra or up dog. Exhale. Downward facing dog. Nice work. Lower your knees down to the earth for a moment. Find a tabletop position. And then lower your forearms down to the earth. Let your shoulders come over your elbows. Pressing through the hands or you're welcome to interlace your fingers.

And then stretching your legs back. Finding forearm plank. Just briefly. Make sure the shoulders are hugging over the wrists. Hug the elbows in. Engage the core. Embrace the shaking. But see if you can let it be about the heart. You're reaching the heart forward. Good. Couple more breaths. Oh baby. Feeling this. Good. And then let your hips lower. Sphinx pose. Sweet relief. Walk your hands forward a little bit. Let your elbows come in front of your shoulders for sphinx. And see if you can draw the hands back a little bit so you're drawing your mat towards you as the heart reaches between your arms. Keep the legs engaged. Protect your spine. Just a couple breaths. Feel that perhaps slight pressure. The low back. Actually really good posture for low back tension. So nice. And let's move into a shoulder stretch from here. So you can lift up for a moment. Reach your left arm out to the left. Bring the palm of your hand down to the earth and then tent your right fingertips. Bend your right elbow. And then roll to your left hip. Bend your left knee. Step the, or excuse me, roll to your left hip. Bend your right knee. Step the right toes behind you. Breathe into your left shoulder. A couple full deep breaths here. Nice twist happening. A shoulder stretch. Letting the heart spin open. Nice. And then take your time. Roll back towards your belly and we'll just take it to the other side. So reaching your right arm out to the right. Palm facing down. Tent your left fingertips. Rolling to your right hip. Bend your left knee. Step your left toes behind you. Just reversing the side. Noticing how this side feels versus the first side. Hopefully it feels like a pretty nice release. This is one of my favorites. So nice. And then come back through center. Take a moment to land on your belly. We'll set up for just a few more heart opening poses here. Reaching the arms back behind you. You can find an interlace that we've been working with or just reach your arms back actively. And then shalabhasana, just to peel the chest up off the earth. Draw the shoulders back. You might add the legs.

Spreading the toes. Let the chin tuck so the back of the neck is nice and long. Engage your core. Breathe for five, four, three, two. Nice work. Release one cheek to the earth or you can stack your hands. Let your forehead rest on your hands. Gently sway your hips from side to side. Feel that release. Maybe sigh it out. And you can stay with shalabhasana or in this second round maybe bend your knees. Find your feet and your ankles as we've been working with. And then draw the shoulders back. Peel the chest up. Kick your feet into your hands as you lift up. Keep that length in the back of the neck. Be in a place where you can breathe for five, four, three, two, one. Release. And reverse windshield wiper your knees from side to side. Let that go. And then meet me in child's pose just to counterbalance. Notice the opening in the back body as you counterbalance, letting the hips sink back to your heels. Good. Coming up to all fours and moving into our hips from here. So just taking the right shin behind your wrist. Start to parallel the shin toward the front of the mat and you can just kind of wiggle that left leg back. Setting up for pigeon here. If you want to take mermaid or royal pigeon up at the top, you're welcome to bend that left knee. Find the foot. You might hook the foot into the crease of your left elbow, maybe reaching that right arm up. You might find the fingers hooking. And if that just doesn't feel good or it feels a little too deep, then maybe move right into single pigeon. I'll be here for a few full deep breaths. So breathing into that right hip. Starting to make that transition from a whole lot of movement to these more held, stiller postures. Notice maybe what comes up for you here in the mind, the body. Can you anchor in with the breath, with the heart? Tenderness with compassion. Allowing for a few more breaths here. Good. And then take your time. No rush at all. Peel your way back up. Let's just come to down dog to let go of that side and you pedal it out or you can shake that right leg out into the sky. Just letting go of that first side, whatever you need to let go. And then we'll come in the same way as we did on the first side. So lower your knees down to the earth as you're ready. Sliding the left shin behind the wrists and then wiggle that right leg back. Taking a moment to settle in up at the top. If you'd like to take any props under your left hip, feel free to do that. And again, if you want to play with royal pigeon or mermaid up at the top here, staying with that heart opening and we'll bend the right knee, find the right foot with your right hand. And this side feels a little tighter for me, so I'm kicking the foot into the hand. I'm just going to reach that left arm up. Stay centered. Breathe. And then when you feel ready or if you're already there, walking hands forward into single pigeon. Breathe into the left side. Notice if this side feels a little different, most likely two sides are not created equal. There's a lot going on on the right versus the left and honoring those differences. Breathing into the space that you're creating. A few more full deep breaths on this side. Anchoring back to your breath. Good. Take your time. We'll make our way back to downward facing dog to balance it out, pedal it out, shake it out. Whatever you need to let go of that side. And then we'll come to seated at the front of the mat. You might hop your feet forward crossing at the ankles and then just bring the legs out in front of you or however you choose to get to your seat. Totally up to you. And then we'll sit up tall in the sitting bones. Flexing through the feet, reach your arms up, take a big breath in and then can you lead with the heart versus your head as you come forward? Maybe finding your ankles or your feet or your shins, wherever the hands fall is great. And then on an inhale, lengthen, reach the heart forward and then exhale, just release into your fold, Paschimottanasana. Breathing into this, to the backs of the legs, the hamstrings, a couple breaths. Beautiful. And then leading with the heart as you inhale, come on up, keeping the heels connected. Let's take a slow lower to our backs for five, four, three, two, and release. Step your feet as wide as your mat for a moment. Reach your arms up over your head and just start to windshield wiper your knees from side to side. Feel that gentle release. Dropping your knees off to the right for a couple breaths. Staying here, picking up your right foot, place it on top of the left thigh. Breathe into the left hip. Bringing it all out. And feet to the earth as you're ready, drop your knees over to the left side, either staying right here for a couple breaths or pick up the left foot, take it on top of the right thigh. Breathing into the right side body, couple breaths. Beautiful. And then back through center, knees in, give them a squeeze, nose up to knees, big full breath in, and release everything. For our final resting pose, Shavasana. Letting the legs go long on your mat. And just take a moment to bring the palms to face up on either side of your body. The shoulders release.

And then bringing the awareness to the palms of your hands for a moment. Sensing any movement from the inside out in your hands. And then drawing that sensation, hands to heart, all the way up from the palm of your hand through the heart space. Feeling that connection. And then allowing yourself to just let go. Let be. Just rest. Just rest. Thank you. Allowing your breath to deepen, inviting any movement back in.

And reaching arms up over your head, take a nice full body stretch, inhaling here. Side out, exhale. Just take your time to make your way to a comfortable cross-leg seated position, maybe rolling to one side or just simply sitting up. And we'll gather hands in Anjali Mudra, friend of the heart bowing your head towards your hands in gratitude, acknowledging yourself for showing up for you with compassion and with love. Thank you for sharing these practices with me.

Namaste. Thank you, thank you, thank you.