Vata Balancing Practice

Talk

So I'm actually so grateful that we have this technology at this time and we can still connect to each other. I feel like that's the most important thing is to stay connected. I love this so much. Treat yourself like a baby and be around good people. So tell us a little bit about our practice today, what we'll be doing and what we might need to set ourselves up for success. So for today's practice, you will need two blocks and your mat and the practice today, as I mentioned, is going to be kind of low to the ground. One of the things that I really like to incorporate at this time of year is a few arm balances, because arm balances are strength building and very centering and work on your focus. And yet they're not too far away from the ground. It's not like doing a handstand where you there's that element of like, oh, okay, the ground is so far away from me. They're a little bit closer and more earthy. So we'll be doing some stuff to warm up the wrists and the arms and the shoulders. And then we're going to move a bit, um, in a slow and low way. And I'm so excited to share it. Oh, Ali, it's such a delight to see you in this way. And I cannot wait for the next time I get to see you live. The floor is yours.

Practice

And take a really full breath in. And then go ahead and open up your mouth and just let it go. And then stretch your arms out long in front of you, about shoulder height. And spread your fingers out super wide. And then make a fist with your hands. And I'm flexing my wrists so my forearms start to engage there a little bit. And then open up your hands. And then close up your hands. And open up your hands. And then start to just stay with that movement, closing and opening and closing and opening. And you might start to feel a little heat building in the forearms, but this is really nice to warm up the wrist. So see if you can stay with it for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. And then release and just shake it out, shake it out, shake it out. And then inhale and reach your arms up. And on the exhale, bring the arms out into cactus arms, so about even with the shoulders. And notice if the wrists have dipped a little bit forward. Try to get them to be straight up in line with the elbow and elbow in line with the shoulder. And then here we go again. Close the fist and open and close and open and close and open and close and open. And then let's stay with that for 10, 9, 8, 7, stretch the fingers, 6, 5, feel the brightness in the hands, 4, 3, 2, and 1. And then let that go and shake it out.

And then we're going to combine the two. So reach the arms up, bring them out into those cactus arms again, and then bring your cactus arms around in front of you about shoulder width apart, just like we were doing when the arms were straight. And notice that the shoulders might want to go and round into that. So see if you can plug the shoulder blades down and back, still keeping the elbows buoyant. And then close your hands and open them up and close and open and close and open and close and open and stay with it. And this is called 10, 9, 8, 7, you can do it, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. And then release and shake that all out, shake that all out. And then one block can go towards the back of your mat and one block can go towards the front of the mat. Let's meet on hands and knees. And right away, tuck the toes under, lift the hips up and press back into your first downward facing dog. And then you can pedal around in the feet for a moment, swinging the hips a little bit from side to side, whatever feels right for you here. And then we've already woken up the hands and the forearms and the shoulders. So wrap the shoulder blades back and down and see if the eyes of the elbows can roll in towards each other, keeping a little bit of emphasis on the thumb and index finger side of the hand. Listen for your breath. And then let's roll out long plank pose. Drop your knees kind of more parallel today and take a child's pose. From here, take your hands underneath your shoulders, roll up to sit on your heels or on a block, reach your arms up. And this time you're going to take a gentle twist, left hand to the outside of the right thigh, right hand back behind you. And it's early, so this can be easy here, wrapping the right shoulder blade back, maybe turning the gaze towards the right shoulder. And then reach the arms back up on the breath in on the breath out, place your palms down, come up to stand on the knees and step your right foot forward and you're in a lunge. Tuck your back toes under and straighten out your back leg. Open up your right arm and come into a lunge twist. And you can take the gaze up towards the right hand if that feels okay for your neck. But even here, feel the strength of the legs. So pull the thigh bones into the pelvis so that you're pulling out of the joints. Go ahead, place your right palm down, hop your back foot in a little bit and lengthen out both legs. And if you need to be on fingertips here, you can do that. Or it might be a slight bend in the right knee if the hamstring needs more room. Drop your head and listen for your breath. Let it be a soothing sound within your ears. And then bend your right knee and let's step back, plank pose. Lower all the way down to the ground. You can drop your knees first. Point the toes, roll the shoulders back and lift up baby cobra. It's almost like I'm using the hands to tug back a little bit to reach the chest forward out of the hips more. But the legs and the pelvis stay heavy. Lower back down, move through hands and knees. We'll meet up in downward facing dog. Let's try the other side. Roll it out, plank pose. Drop your knees, child's pose. Take your hands underneath your shoulders, roll up to sit on your heels or on your block and reach your arms up. On the exhale, take your twist right hand to the outside of the left thigh, left hand back behind you. And the gaze can move back over the left shoulder. Twisting at the neck, you almost want to feel like the collar bones are moving in opposite directions so you have that broadness through the chest. And then reach the arms back up. Place the hands down, coming up onto the knees, step your left foot forward. Tuck the back toes under and straighten out your right leg. Open up the left arm and take your twist, gazing up towards the left hand. The twists are really nice if you are somebody who happens to have a lot of dryness. The twists will lubricate the internal organs a little bit and get some of that fluid moving. Place your left hand down, hop your back foot in a little bit and straighten out both legs. And again, keeping the left knee bent a little bit if your hamstrings or lower back needs a little bit more space. Otherwise, let the head drop and allow the legs to hold you up. Feel their stability. And then bend your left knee and step back. And pose. Lowering straight down or drop your knees first. Roll the shoulders back. Keeping the pelvis heavy. Feeling that connection. But the strength of the back muscles to hold you up. Lower back down. Move through bent knees. Downward facing dog. And then start to walk your feet forward one step at a time. You can bend your knees as much as you need to here. Coming all the way to the front of your mat. I like a little between my feet here. Instead of keeping the feet all the way together, it might be a little bit less than two fists distance between the arches of the feet. I find that makes me feel a little bit more stable. And then hands can come up on to shins. Lengthen the spine forward. Even if you're bending your knees. It might be a little bend of the knees to feel that extension from the tailbone through the crown of the head. Take your hands to your hips. Draw your elbows back. See if you can keep the body weight over the balls of the feet here and make your way up to stand so the legs are working. Find your Tadasana. Build it from the ground up. The spread of the toes. The lifting of the thighs. The anchor of the tailbone and pubic bone dropping down. And with all that stability underneath, you find the lift and lightness in the side waist. We'll move into some variations of Surya Namaskar. Inhale, reach the arms up. On the exhale, pull a prayer into you and fold your way down over your legs. Step your right foot back into a lunge. Down dog with your breath out. Sliding out into plank pose. You can lower Chaturanga or to the ground here. Upward facing or you'll stay with your Cobra. Downward facing dog with your breath out. Reach the right leg up. Step it between your hands. Open up your right arm and twist. Place the right hand down.

Step your left foot forward to meet your right with a long spine. Exhale, bowing forward into your legs. Swing back up with the breath in. High prayer. Look up. See it. Arms by the sides. You're right back in your Tadasana. Inhale, reach up. And exhale, folding right through. Send the left leg back to a lunge. Down dog with your breath out. Inhale, pulls you forward plank pose. Lowering halfway or all the way. Upward facing or Cobra. Downward facing dog with your breath out. Reach the left leg up. Step it in between your hands. Open up your left arm and twist. Place the left hand down. Step the right foot forward. Look forward. Reach out and exhale. Bow in. Back up on your breath in. Pressing down through the feet. Arms by the sides with the breath out. Let's take one more round like that. Inhale, lift up. And exhale coming down. Step the right foot back into a lunge. Down dog with your breath out. Plank pose. Link one to the next. Chaturanga. Urdvamukasvanasana up dog. Pressing back. Adho mukasvanasana down dog. Lift your right leg up. Step it between your hands. Open up your right arm and twist. Place the right hand down. Step the left foot forward. Long spine. Exhale to fold. Back up with your breath in. Arms by the sides with your breath out. Inhale to reach. Exhale to bow. Send the left leg back into a lunge. Downward facing dog with your breath out. Plank pose. Lowering halfway elbows straight back. Flip the feet and lift the inner thighs up dog. Hips go high down dog. Reach your left leg up. Step it between your hands. Open up your left arm and twist. Place the left hand down. Step your right foot forward. Long spine. Exhale to fold.

Back up with your breath in. Arms by the sides with your breath out. Let's take it into utkatasana. Bend the knees. Sink the hips back and reach the arms up. Let's be here for a breath or two. It's up to you how deep you go here. It's nice to think of the hamstrings lifting up onto the thigh bones. You have a little bit more of a circumference of support. As the tailbone reaches back, the arms reach up. Stretch the fingers. You might even take the gaze up and then push down into the feet. Rise up. Long legs. A big lift. Exhale. Fold yourself forward. Come on down. Up onto the fingertips and look forward. Hopping or stepping. We'll take it through a vinyasa or you can step right back into down dog if that's what you need today. Make your practice so personal. You've made it to your mat today. Allow it to soothe you. Let's reach the right leg up. We'll build a flow. Stepping forward, come into a lunge. Open up your right arm and twist. Place your right hand down. Spin your back heel down. Come on up. Warrior two but then straighten out your right knee. So you feel that pumping of the legs. Thigh bones pull into the pelvis, reaching back through the left arm. Keep your reach back through the left and bend your right knee. Come back into warrior two and see if you can go in a little bit deeper today. Allowing the right sit bone to land. But still keeping the drawing in of the heels so the legs feel charged. Inhale, reach both arms up and turn your right toes to meet your left. Fly, lift the arms, look up. We're coming into a goddess pose with those same cactus arms. So turn the toes out, bend the knees. There's your bright hands and then guess what? Close and open them up. Stay in it. Close and open. Close and open. And then let's take ten a little faster. Nine, eight, seven, keep the bend of the knees. Six, five, four, three, two, and one. Good. Straighten out the legs. Reach up through the arms. High prayer again. Warrior two, lift up and over. And you might want to adjust the feet. Take a little bit more space between the legs. Turn your right palm up. Leaning back. Peaceful warrior. Reach to the side waist. Spin your hands all the way down to the ground. Step back and you have a vinyasa or right into your downward facing dog. It's up to you. Let's try the left side. Reach your left leg up. Step it forward and come into a lunge. I had staying low to the ground.

Open up your left arm and twist. Place your left hand down. Spin your back heel down. Circle the arms up warrior two and then straighten out your left leg. Tugging back through the right shoulder. Bend the left knee against that. Right. So with yoga, we're always looking coming back into your warrior two. We're always looking for that blend of flexibility and strength. And the gaze can move right over the left middle finger. Breathing into your warrior two. Such a strong pose. Powerful pose. Turn the left palm up and reach both arms up. High flying warrior. Reach up through the arms. Bending the knees. Coming back into your goddess pose. Open up through the fingers and then close and open and close and open. Close and open. Close and open. Stay with it for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. Good. Reach the arms up. Flying warrior. Turn the toes parallel. Get long through the side waist. Warrior two. Front of your mat. Left palm rolls upward. Peaceful warrior. Reaching back.

See if you can keep a deep bend in that left knee. And then stretch your exhale all the way down to the ground. Chaturanga or right to dog. And then we're going to take that sequence and build on it a little bit. Lift your right leg up. And step forward. Coming into your lunge. Open up your right arm and twist. Place the right hand down. Spin the back heel down. Warrior two but with straight legs. And then bend your right knee. Come back into warrior two. Flying warrior. Lift everything up and look up. Goddess pose. Pull the elbows back. Cactus the arms. You can give this some movement or stillness if that feels right for you. 10 times. In and out. 1, 2, close and open. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Straighten everything out. Lift up. Look up. High prayer. Warrior two. Front of your mat. Peaceful warrior. Leaning back. This time we're taking it into a triangle pose. So lengthen out the right leg. Lift up and out of the hips. And right hand can come down to a block or your shin. Leaning back. Open up the chest. So one thing that I'm working on in my own practice is I try this. Bend your knees just a little bit and slip the tailbone a little further underneath you and then see if you can lengthen your legs more from the lift of the inner thighs and less from thinking of like locking the knees. Keep the muscles active. Keep the breath full. And then left hand to left hip. Walking the right hand forward. You can grab your block here. Sometimes that's nice to just get a little bit more extension through the underside of the waist. You'll lift the left arm up. And if you're feeling it today, gaze can move up towards the left hand. And then go ahead, bend your knees and step your left foot to meet your right. Folding forward over your legs. Drop the head. Block can move right underneath the left hand here. More towards the center of your mat and lift your right arm up. You're in a twist. I'm bending my left knee here and shifting the weight forward into the ball of the right foot. Feeling that stretch in the outer hip. And then let's try the other side. Right hand down, left arm up. Twist it right over. From here, thread your left arm underneath your right. Eagle wrap your arms and come on up to stand. And then same as we did in the beginning. Plug the shoulders back and keep the elbows lifted. From here, step your left foot behind your right so you're cross-footed but beyond the ball of the left foot. Squeeze the inner thighs tightly together. And then I'm keeping the back heel lifted. I'm going to start to bend my knees. And I'm trying to come as straight down as possible. Right? If you've got knee stuff, you'll keep it a little higher. When I can't get any lower, it's almost like a cross-legged squat. Place the hands down and lift the hips to straighten out the legs. My left foot is still crossed behind my right. From here, we're going to move into a cross-ankled crow. So it's our first arm balance. And it sounds fancy, but it's just like regular crow. You just happen to keep the ankles crossed. So those same strong hands, strong fingers. I'm tipping my body weight forward, keeping the ankles crossed. And I find that the squeeze of the ankles gives me a little bit more lift. If you want it, change your feet in the air. If it's too much, you'll come down. And then maybe uncross the feet. Place them back down.

Hang over your legs. Uttanasana. Drop your head. If you need to flutter through the lips, you can do that. Shaking out through the head. And then step your left foot back into a lunge. Plank pose. You're going to have some options here. Some of you will come into a side plank on your left hand and left foot. Some of you might put the left knee down and take a side plank variation. If you want to take it a little bit further, lower your right forearm and your left forearm so you're closer to the ground and you're in plank on your forearms. And then if your shoulders are feeling okay with it, left hand comes over towards the right elbow. You're going to roll onto your left hand and your left arm in a side plank variation on the forearms. A little bit lower to the ground for that earth element connection. Great arm lifts. And then I'm coming back into plank on my forearms. If you took regular side plank, you can come back into regular plank. Left hand, right hand, regular plank for everyone. Drop the knees. Child's pose. Coming back. Staying low and reconnecting to breath. Back onto hands and knees. Tuck your toes under. Lift your hips up. Downward facing dog. Let's try the other side. Reach the left leg up. Stepping forward into your lunge. Open up your left arm and twist. Place the left hand down. Spin your back. Heel down. Warrior two with straight legs. Feeling the work of the legs. And then bend the left knee and your back in warrior two. Reach the arms up nice and long. Look up. See it. Cactus the arms. Goddess pose. Bring the hands in. Close the fist. Open them up. Close and open. And stay with it for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Straightening out the legs. Reach up through the arms. Look up. Join your prayer. Warrior two. Front of your mat. Peaceful warrior.

Lean back. Right into the triangle pose. Extending. Press down into the left foot. To lengthen out the left leg. Lifting through the right arm. And then if you liked that little variation that we tried on the other side, you can do it here. A little bend of the knees. Tailbone wraps underneath you and the chest opens and extends out of the hips. Find your breath. And then go ahead and take your right hand to your right hip. Walk your left hand forward. And block could be lovely here for artichandrosana. And if you're using the block, I've got it about 8 to 10 inches or what I'd say about 12 to 20 centimeters to the left of my left foot and then lifting up through the right arm. And gaze might move up. And it could be wobbly. And that's part of it. And then bend your knees a lot and step your right foot to meet your left. Folding forward top of your mat. Uttanasana. Standing forward bend. Block moves more towards the center. Right hand down. Left arm up. And let's twist. Twisting the right knee. And then left hand down. Right arm up. Twisting right over to the other side. Thread your right arm underneath your left. Eagle wrap the arms. Come on up to stand. And be there, right? Gaze is steady. Never underestimate the discipline of the senses to bring us into the moment. And then step your right foot behind your left. You know, like use all the parts of yourself in your practice. I'm on the ball of the right foot. My left heel is down. And then I bend my knees. And I'm working to try to stay as upright as possible, even as I lower. So we're not sinking into the ground. We're accepting its energy but still staying lifted. Hands down, straighten out the legs. Right foot crosses behind the left. Drop the head. Relax your neck for a moment. And then let's try that cross-footed crow again. So ankles stay crossed. Knees open. Plant the palms down. Bright fingers. Spread the thumbs away from the index fingers and see if you can lift the feet up. Body weight is way forward into the tips of the fingers. Maybe change the feet in the air. And then uncross them. Place them down. Fold forward. Standing forward bend. Uttanasana. Top of your mat. And breathe. Sometimes that's the consistency that we need in our life is tapping into the awareness of the breath. Step your right foot back into a lunge. Plank pose. If you tried it on the other side, you'll try the variation on your forearms. Otherwise, regular Vasisthasana. But if you're trying it, left forearm down, right forearm down. Right hand comes over to the left elbow. Rolling onto the right elbow. Lift up through the left arm. Pull out of your right shoulder by squeezing the right side of the waist up. Legs stay strong. Feet bright. Back into regular plank or plank on your forearms. We'll all meet up in a regular plank. And then drop your knees. Little bit more parallel child's pose. Walk your hands back underneath your shoulders. Roll up to sit on your heels. And then your block may be right by in the back there. You can come to sit on your block. This time we're coming into Virasana. So knees come together. Feet right outside of the hips. And I've got my block on the lowest height. And I'm just sitting there at the very edge of it. And then I step my right foot forward. So my left leg stays in Virasana. Right foot steps forward. Reach the arms up. And then you're going to take a similar twist to what we did in the beginning. But this time it might be the left elbow to the outside of the right thigh. Right hand back behind you. And if for some reason your right fingertips don't touch the ground here, you can fold the right arm behind the waist and stay with it that way. Press down into the right foot. Press down into the left shin.

Get a little bit more lifted and then twist into it. Let's take one more breath in. Lift a little higher. Breath out. Twist a little deeper. And then come back around to center. Little different this time. Pop up the right heel so you're on the ball of the right foot and clasp your hands around the arch of your right foot. Lean back a little bit. And then begin to extend your right leg. And it might stay bent. If you're feeling it today, the right leg could extend all the way coming into a crunchasana. And then I'm taking the left hand to the outside of the right foot. Lift the right arm up and reach it back behind you. Spreading through the fingers. That same bright hand there. Extension out of the chest. Right arm comes back around. Just like we crossed our ankles. Cross your right wrist over your left and you can hold onto your shin or your thigh. Take a breath in and on the breath out, see if you can draw the right leg in just a little closer. Maybe dropping the head towards the knee. Make that connection between lower and upper. And then place your right foot down. Step forward. You're back in a lunge. Hands on either side of your right foot. Tuck your left toes under. Straighten out your left leg. And then hop your back foot in a little bit and straighten out both legs. And we're back in that parsvottanasana like we did at the beginning of practice. This time block can go to the outside of the right foot for revolved triangle. Left hand down. Right arm up. And I'm squeezing the inner thighs towards each other here. Legs are working a lot. Send the tailbone back, the crown of the head forward and twist a little bit deeper. Staying active in the outer left heel. And then place both hands down on either side of your right foot. Bend your left knee. I'm sorry, bend your right knee and drop your left knee down. Point your left toes. Climb your hands up on top of your right thigh. Draw in and up with the thigh bones and then reach your arms up. And cactus the arms. And then here's that moment to open up the chest after the arm balancing. So pull the elbows back. Lift the chest. Lean back. Heart stays bright, but your legs, they've got you. So let the right knee bend. Allow the left hip to open. Gaze could turn up here. Breathe into that. And then reach the arms back up. Plant the palms down. Step back. Downward facing dog. And the block can stay right where it is. You might even use it to frame the feet. So inner edges of the feet on the outer edges of the block. Roll out, plank pose. Knees stay more parallel, child's pose. Roll up to sit on your heels, coming into your Virasana. I'm even taking the calf flesh and rolling it out a little bit. And then I step my left foot to the ground with my left knee bent. Inhale the arms up. And on the exhale, taking your twist. Right elbow to the outside of the left thigh. And the right hand can stay bright and energized here. Always moving over the left shoulder. Breathe and let yourself twist around. So good. So detoxifying for the body. And there's no need to force or strain. We're just wrapping the left ribs back, right ribs forward. One more breath. And then reaching both arms up. Place the hands down. Pop up the left heel. Catch the underside of the left foot with the both hands. Lean back a little bit and begin to straighten up through the left leg. And again, left knee can stay bent here if that's a better fit today. Otherwise working to straighten out the left leg coming into that crunchasana. And roll the shoulders back and down. Keep the gaze straight out at the foot or you might tip it upward. And then left arm lifts. Reach it back behind you. And notice the left leg might want to cross into the right leg zone.

Keep it directly in line with the left hip if you can. And then left arm comes up. I'm crossing at the wrist. Left wrist on top to catch the foot one more time. Gaze is forward or up. Deep breath in and on the breath out your elbows might bend out to the sides as the left leg comes in a little bit closer. Breathe into any deep sensation you find there. And then bending the left knee, stepping the left foot back down. Pushing forward, come into your lunge, tuck the back toes under, straighten out your back leg. And then hop your back foot in a little bit and straighten out both legs. Find your block again for that revolved triangle. And block can go inside or outside of the right foot depending on how deep you want the twist. And then lift the left arm up. And take the gaze up towards the left hand, pulling back through the outer right foot. Reaching up. Extend the spine forward and the right heel back. You can even feel that diagonally moving through the body. Stay for one more breath. Tailbone back, crown of the head forward. And then bring the hands back down. Block and move off to the side. Bend the left knee, drop the right knee down. Climb the hands up on top of the left thigh. And it's almost like I back up out of the shape a little bit so that I can feel that pulling in at the top of the thigh bones, straight into the pelvis. From there, reaching the arms up, cactus the arms, and lean back. And see if you can bend the left knee a little bit deeper. Feeling that release in the front of the right hip. Lots of breath here. And then place the hands back down. Tuck the back toes under. Straighten out the back leg. Downward facing dog. And you can slide the block that's at the back of the mat off to the side. And then wash yourself through one more vinyasa if you want. Plank pose to chaturanga. To upward facing dog. Pressing back downward facing dog. Roll out to plank. And lower straight through chaturanga onto the ground. Just let yourself be held there for a moment. I like to come up to a sphinx pose here. Just to stay connected to the work of the forearms. The opening of the hands. Reaching back through the inner line of the leg. Take a breath or two. And then release that. We're moving into shalabhasana so you can reach the arms back. I know some of you like to interlace the hands here. You can try that. And lift up your head and your chest and your legs coming up into shalabhasana. Brighten through the hands if you're not clasping them. And squeeze the shoulder blades. Exaggerate that opening of the shoulders. For so many of us we're starting to allow the shoulders to slope just from the use of electronics. So keep the chest super bright here. One more breath. And lower yourself down. Hips can take a little shake.

You might turn your head to one side. Whatever feels right for you there. And then one more time bringing the head back into center. Reach back through the arms and lift up through your head and your chest and your legs. Shalabhasana. Stretch back through the hands. If you interlace the fingers, change the interlacing of the fingers. And then you can stay there or bend the knees and reach back for your ankles. Draw the knees in a little closer to each other. Coming up to dhanurasana. Kick back through the legs. Lift up through the feet. Let your belly breathe into the ground here. Staying for one more breath. And then release that and lower yourself down. Give the hips a little bit of a wiggle. And then you can take your arms back out into that cactus. Laying your right ear down. Take your left arm underneath your left shoulder and roll towards your right side. Keeping the right arm exactly as it is. If it feels like the neck is at a funny angle for you, you can lift the head up a little bit. But this is a big chest opener. Big shoulder opener. I'm stepping the left foot back behind the right leg and opening through the chest. And keeping it a little bit more active here by pressing into the right hand and moving the right side of the chest. Forward, forward, forward. It's almost like a variation of that vasisthasana side plank that we did on the forearm here. But this time we're working into the stretch. So let the shoulders open. Breathe into it. And then release yourself back into center. Have a moment there. A lot of big muscles in the chest. And then take the left hand down like a cactus. Right hand goes underneath the right shoulder. Roll towards your left side. Soul of the right foot can come to the ground behind the left leg. And then I'm pushing into my right hand to keep this a little bit more active. Reaching forward through the chest, pulling back through the heel of the hand. Push down through both hands so that you're not dropping into the shoulder joint. But the hip, the left hip is staying connected. One more breath. And then come on back towards the middle. And give everything a little shake. And then you can flip over onto your back here. And let's keep a block close by. Step your feet down to the ground with your knees bent. And then grab your block and place it underneath you in a restorative half wheel. And I like the middle height. It's up to you if you'd like to go a little higher or a little lower today. Wrap your shoulder blades underneath you and extend this crown of the head towards the back of your mat. Give yourself a little space for the throat. Turn the palms up. And just allow the block to hold you up here. Feeling something sturdy underneath you. Feet on the ground.

Our practice, it calls us back to ourself. One of the most magical instrumental tools for transformation. And sometimes we do have the privilege of practicing for 45 minutes or an hour. But I do know this, even a few minutes can make a difference. Give yourself a couple more breaths here. If you feel like you need something more active, come off the block or hands can come down by the head and you might lift up into a full wheel. Just keeping in mind sometimes something a little bit more restorative can be so replenishing, feel so nourishing. Chest is open. Palms are up. Feel the movement of the belly. Just a couple more breaths here. And then you might walk your feet in just a little bit closer. Push down into the feet, lift the hips. Block can move off to the side and let your sitz bones come down. Let's meet up in a constructive rest. That means your feet are a little wider than your hips, knees together, hands at the lowest part of your belly. Just take this moment to allow the spine to neutralize itself. There's no need to press the lower back down. Have that slight lift just to realign the sacrum. And then let's move the feet in just a little bit closer and draw your right knee in towards your chest. It doesn't have to be a big squeeze. It's more of just a folding of the leg in a little bit. And then interlace your fingers behind your right leg and stretch your right leg up towards the ceiling. So almost like we did in that crunchasana. And you can roll the ankle out here and then roll it in the opposite direction. And if the knees needs to stay bent, you'll do that. And if that feels like enough, you'll stay there. If you want, straighten out your left leg and you can take the hands and slide them up a little higher, maybe towards the calf or the ankle, breath in and on the breath out, bringing the nose up just like the crunchasana. And if you can draw the leg in a little closer, great. If it needs to stay where it is, great. And then bend your right knee, step your right foot down and bring your left leg in. Notice how beautifully the breath adjusts to the lesser physical demand on the body. Interlace your fingers behind your left leg. And you might even change the interlacing here and then stretch your left leg up, roll out the ankle, roll it in the opposite direction.

And then if you want it, keep the right knee bent and the right foot on the ground, otherwise lengthening out the right leg. Walk the hands up towards the calf, towards the ankle, anywhere a little bit further, breathing in, press the back of the right leg down and draw the left leg in, any amount. Elbows can bend out to the sides there, nose towards the knee. And then bend your left knee and step your left foot down, step your right foot back down and bring both knees in towards you. Give them a squeeze. Give yourself a little hug. You might even wrap the forearms all the way around here and catch your elbows, pulling yourself into a tight little ball. And then coming into your happy baby, outer edges of the feet. And coming back to that feeling of treating ourselves like a baby with kindness, with gentleness, but that commitment to consistency. And when times get uncertain, having the consistency of a regular yoga practice is such a gift. Draw your knees back in towards your chest, give them one more squeeze. Nose can come up to meet the knees, tight little balls, squeeze yourself in and then place the feet down, lengthen the legs out, turn the palms up and come right into your shavasana. And I'm going to actually come up to sit and just hold the space. Let yourself go. Let yourself be there. You might need one final just like big exhalation to drop in. And then let go. Allow yourself to be breathed. What a gift. Thank you. You You You You If there is something else that you can let go of Just to feel yourself held by the steadiness of the ground beneath you You Let it go It's it's not that it's that simple It's just deciding to let it go but allow the release of the body To leave its imprint That there can be this loosening of tension of holding And it might be gradual You Those are the lasting changes The daily small actions that guide us towards balance Same way the earth is so gently and gradually Moving towards the equinox Sometimes it seems like the change is happening so slowly That it's hard to notice You May we trust the process today trust the vinyasa krama One step to the next to the next to the next You allow your next breath to come in a little bit bigger Exhale it away And then if you need a little bit longer on your back today if you need to rest a little bit longer I Encourage you to rest a little bit longer Otherwise you can begin to make some movement through the fingers and the toes Walk the soles of the feet in and place them on the ground Let yourself spill right over on to your right side curl up for a moment there Have a breath And then use the arms against the ground to press yourself back up to sit A gentle rubbing of the palms together Taking hands back into Anjali mudra and the fingers still stay bright Your palms might feel warm against each other It's bringing of the hands together Representing that balance right there in the middle Press the thumbs into the sternum roll the shoulders back let your head bow and slightly in gratitude for this time that we share together and the privilege of Practicing yoga together feeling that connection Let's breathe in for a closing. Oh inhale Thank you so much for sharing your time with me big. Thank you to yoga any time for the rest of your day Big. Thank you to yoga any time for sharing their global community I'm so grateful Namaste