Feeling Held and Centered

So for today's practice, you'll want to blanket, mostly you'll want to blanket so that you can be able to drop your knee and it's soft. I always have my little cushion here with me, but you don't necessarily need something to sit on. So we're going to focus on releasing some of the holding, some of the grip and the neck and the shoulders. We're going to start with lying down. So bend your knees, soles of the feet on the floor, reach your arms out in front of you and roll it on back down.

Okay. Arms are down along your side. Okay. Let's start with a little bit of understanding of the tailbone. Spread the toes wide, inhale here.

And as you exhale, give a little rooting down through the feet as you curl your sit bones under and let your sit bones draw towards your knees. And as you inhale, roll the pelvis forward and let your low back arch. As you exhale, curl the sit bones under so your low back will press a little bit into the floor and you'll draw your sit bones under. And as you inhale, you'll roll the pelvis forward and you'll let your low back arch. Okay.

Continue like this for a little bit, just this small little movement. So our play with trying to sort of relieve some of the holding around the neck and the shoulders tension, right? Tension is a way we feel held tension, whether it's in the body or the mind or the emotions. Tension is a way that we can be certain of things. So as we find ourselves in times that are feel extra uncertain, extra obviously strange and unusual and unpredictable, as we become aware of the actual temporary nature of everything, it's not unusual to kind of grip down.

Okay. So a couple more moments here. So you're moving your tailbone and just start to see, are you aware of how the movement at the base of the spine affects the movement up through the whole spine? So that as you curl your sit bone under, you can kind of feel how that affects the head and the neck. And as you roll the pelvis forward, you feel how it affects the head and the neck.

Just a few more moments, draw your attention towards the small detail. Nice. Okay, beautiful. Let that ease. And we're going to make our way into the shimmy.

A lot of you know this. The play here is you're going to start to press into your feet to create a rocking motion in the lower back, the sacrum region and the neck region. So the feeling, right, it's this rocking motion, the temptation is to kind of use too much of your butt. Let your butt be soft. You're not using your butt to do this.

You're just using the heels and you're creating this rocking motion in the sacrum region and the neck. Base of the skull, base of the spine. Nice. Okay. A couple more moments here.

Let it loosen up a little bit in the jaw, let it loosen up a little bit in the face. Okay. Let it stop. And often, it's not guaranteed, but often the result when you stop that shimmy is you can get this kind of soft euphoric feeling. Okay, let's do that again.

Use your heels. And you're creating this like rocking motion. If you've ever had the, if you've been lucky enough to ride a horse, it's a little bit like you're riding a horse. And, and like Stevie and get a little bit looser. Uh-huh.

Yeah. Okay. And pause and, and let it get gooey in the jaw and let it get kissable in the lips and kinder in the eyes. That motion in the spine encourages the release of the serotonin, the endorphins, the joy hormones. So the invitation here is, can you let yourself kind of slip into that?

Nice. The ask in today's practice is that you remember this feeling. Keep your left foot on the floor, bring your right ankle up on top of your left thigh, roll that right hip away and draw the left thigh in. Don't use your hands just yet. Just kind of let it be easy.

Rock and roll a little bit from side to side. And put your left foot down, right foot back down on the floor and switch sides. Left ankle up on top of right thigh, draw the right thigh in and wobble. I'm not using your hands just yet. Just kind of easy.

Do you remember how to soften the jaw? Like kind of like find that post shimmy feeling. Yeah. Super nice. Okay.

Switch again. Right foot comes back down and switch. Right ankle up on top of that left thigh. Wobble. Yes.

Now this time, if it would feel good, grab the edge of your right hand through the triangle of your leg. Catch around the back of that left thigh and draw that left thigh in a little bit to increase the opportunities. Still wobbling. And remember how to relax through the jaw and the throat and the neck. Remember that post shimmy?

Gooey. Super nice. Switch. Left ankle up on top of right thigh, draw the right thigh in, catch around the back of the thigh, wobble. Still pretty casual.

Just kind of getting in the mood still. Easy in the eyes. Yes. Super nice. Okay.

This next one, we're going to hold a little bit longer. So switch again. Right ankle up on top of left thigh, draw the left thigh in, catch around the back of that left thigh. And this time, draw the left thigh in a little bit and then remember the action in your tailbone. So curl the sit bones under a little bit.

So that'll draw your left thigh in more. It will increase the opportunity in your right hip. And then roll the pelvis forward, let the low back arch. So you're going to kind of let the left thigh move away from you as you arch. Yeah.

Okay. Curl in. Draw the left thigh in, use the sit bones curling up to help. And then roll the pelvis forward, let the low back arch, let the left leg move away. Okay.

Beautiful. One more kind of round of this, draw the left thigh in, curl the sit bones up. Now the play here is can you have a feeling of keeping that left thigh in and then like slowly, can you let the low back kind of roll back down towards the floor? You're not going to go all the way into the arch, but you're just going to kind of let your sit bones land again. Little post shimmy, soft in the mouth and the jaw.

Yeah. Beautiful. Let the left foot come back down to the floor. Take the right leg out a little bit, a couple ankle circles can usually feel good. Okay.

Let the right knee bend, place the foot back down on the floor. Big deliberate inhale. Exhale, let it happen. Sorry about that. If you can hear that, that's my neighbor.

That's the sound of fall here in OI, the cleaning up of the leaves. Let the left ankle come on to the right thigh, let the right thigh draw in and wobble. Okay. Yes. Catch around the back of the right thigh, draw the right leg in.

And then again, you're just kind of, you can feel that in your left buttocks, hip region, and then we're going to add the tailbone. So see how you can kind of draw the sit bones under, can even kind of curl that right thigh in a little bit more to feel more in the left hip. And then you can roll forward, letting the low back arch, let the thigh move away and then curl, draw that in and then roll that pelvis forward. Let the low back arch, let the thigh move away. Now this time, curl that leg in.

And now keep that curled in so you can feel the opportunity in the left hip. And then just slowly kind of see if you can roll your low back back to the floor, not moving all the way into the arch, but just kind of like settling. Yeah. Okay. So nice.

Beautiful. Let the right foot come back down to the floor. Left leg up to the sky. Shake it out a little bit. Couple ankle circles.

Let the foot come back down to the floor. Big deliberate inhale. Exhale let all happen and soften the jaw again. Kind in the eyes, kissable in the lips. Beautiful.

We'll come up towards the seat. Cross the ankles. Inhale, roll back. Exhale, roll up to sit in. Come into your version of sukhasana, shin to shin.

Nice let your hands come right on where your shins and your knees meet. And let's remember that little cat cow that we found on the floor. So inhale here. And as you exhale, just kind of curl and round the spine a little bit. And as you inhale, roll the pelvis forward and let yourself arch.

And as you exhale, hold onto the legs and curl. And as you inhale, roll the pelvis forward and let your lower back arch. Now on this next one, exhale, curl. Okay now feel how you can kind of, you can roll your hips open a little bit. And then like keep that feeling in the hips as you slowly roll the pelvis forward.

Let your heart bloom. Let your hands come out in front of you. As your hands come out in front of you, let an inhale happen here. And then exhale, let a, do that again, inhale, lengthen, exhale, let a. And before you go too deep into it, remember that post shimmy, gooey in the jaw, soft in the back of the neck.

If it's appropriate for you, elbows might come down onto the earth. Hands down can give that sense of I got this, I'm going to make it, I'll survive. Which might be the appropriate feeling for you. If it feels safe, try turning the palms up, soft in the hands, easy in the eyes, easy in the jaw. And so again, tension is a completely natural response.

It's a way of feeling held. It's a way of knowing, of feeling like you know what's happening. The grip concretizes and can actually, and this seems strange, but can give us the illusion of feeling safe. Okay, inhale, lift up a little bit, exhale, start to walk it over to a side. As you walk it over to that side, you'll feel it in the opposite hip.

Drop the forearm or the side you've just come over to down on the earth. Let the opposite hip come up, circle this top arm up in front of your face and up out and over and let the elbow bend. Now just kind of feel how you can sort of roll that hip away and reach out through that arm. Today we're going to do something a little bit different. So reach the arm up towards the sky, roll the shoulder forward, bend the elbow and bring this hand behind you so the palm is facing away from you.

And then let the back round a little bit, curl the sit bones under so that little rounding, let the shoulder come down towards the earth. And as you inhale, roll the pelvis forward and let the heart lift and let the shoulder roll back. And then do that again, exhale, roll this down. And then inhale, roll it open, roll that left hip away, roll the heart open. Let that left shoulder roll back.

Now keep the shoulder rolling back in the heart open and then let your gaze fall down towards the earth. Yeah, beautiful, slow, release this left arm up towards the sky, or sorry, the top arm might not be your left. Reach it up out and over, yeah, take a look down at the earth and inhale, bring it all the way back up and pause. Big deliberate inhale, exhale, let a bit of a, nice, usually there's like a really sweet after effect after that side bend, so don't miss it. Cross the legs, opposite leg in front, wiggle a little bit, hands right where the knees and the thighs meet, inhale, let the heart open, arching, exhale, let it get round.

Inhale, letting the heart open, exhale, let it get round, yeah, inhale, letting the heart open. Exhale this time, letting it round, and as you round, like feel what your hips do, they externally rotate a little bit more easily. See if you can maintain a feeling of that as you roll the pelvis forward and draw the heart up, walking the hands forward and try not to be too ambitious right away. Remember how to soften the jaw easy in the neck, right here might be the perfect spot. You might walk the hands a little bit more forward, some of you might, it might be natural to let the elbows come towards the floor.

Again, palms down can sometimes feel safer, palms up, tenderness in the hands can sometimes just invite new possibility. Yeah, and tension is incredibly intelligent, tension knows not to relax until it senses a greater tension, let a bit of a happen. And so one of the very first suggestions in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, inhale, let it lift a little bit, exhale, walk it over to the side, bring that forearm down to the floor, hip over, circle this top arm up out and over, kind of feel you can roll that hip away and reach out through that arm, one of the very first suggestions in the sutras on how one might like calm the chitter chatter, vrittis of the mind is sweetheart, why don't you try trusting a little bit, reach your arm up to the sky now, roll your shoulder forward, bend the elbow, bring the hand behind you. Try my palm facing away from me and then see how it feels to exhale and round like roll round your spine, let that shoulder drop towards the earth and then inhale, how does it feel to arch the spine, roll the pelvis forward and draw the heart up, and then how does it feel to round, roll forward, and then how does it feel to arch, roll the heart up, yeah. Nice rounding and on this next one arching, rolling that pelvis forward, drawing that heart open, letting that shoulder roll back, feel the hip roll away and then if you're still looking up at the sky, let your gaze come down towards the earth, beautiful, gorgeous, slow release this right arm up towards the sky or the top arm, sorry to call that right, but probably on the left, reach that arm up, out and over, yeah, gorgeous, take a look down towards the earth, let it inhale, bring you all the way back up, big deliberative now, exhale, let it happen, yeah, but of course trust is not something that necessarily seems smart or intelligent or safe, so let's make our way to Uttanasana, separate the feet, we're going to make our way through Malasana towards Uttanasana, draw the sit bones up, toes are pointing straight forward, bend the knees, let the head drop, so we want to slow down the transition from the earth to the sky just to avoid dizziness, bend the knees a little bit, head drops in the day, and that's why the yogis have this word shrada, shrada, which translates as faith, but instead of being like a blind faith, it's a faith based on experience, bend the knees, hands into the legs, chin into the chest, roll it on back up, feel the belly, and feel the heart, feel the throat, and feel the faith, super nice, so let's try this, turn, like I'm just going to turn so you can see what I'm doing, so feet are about hip distance apart, let one of your hands reach out to the side, roll that shoulder forward, just like we did before, roll that shoulder forward, and bend the elbows so the hand just comes to sit behind you, and then do the same with the other arm, reach the other arm out, roll that shoulder forward, bend the elbow, and bring that hand back, now go ahead and hold on to your forearms if they're available, and with your hands around your forearms, can you feel how you can sort of roll the shoulders, like let the shoulders kind of roll back and down a little bit, let the tips of the shoulder blades get heavy, and then see what's happening in your neck and your throat, so allow the throat to feel more open, remember that post shimmy, so soft in the jaw, gooey up around the base of the skull, easy, okay now keep that grip if it feels okay, bend the elbows and bring the chest down towards the thighs, as the chest comes towards the thighs let the head dangle, and for some of you this might be enough of an ask on your shoulders today, and so this posture of holding onto the forearms might be where it's at, if it feels interesting maybe start to extend the hands so that you can now interlace the fingers, and as you interlace the fingers feel like you can kind of wiggle the shoulders back and down, chest is finding the thighs, head is dropping, now feel the arms kind of start to reach away from you, now no need to bring your palms together just yet, you don't have time for that, and then maybe roll the weight into the feet a little bit, drawing the arms up over the top of the head, yeah, let our hands get heavy now, just let the shoulders kind of donk around your ears, beautiful, okay let the hands come back to the hips, let the hands come down towards the earth, knees bent in into the chest and slowly roll it on back up, feel the belly, and feel the heart, and feel the throat, and feel the face, big deliberate inhale, and exhale let it happen, trusting the ground a little bit, soft in the belly, gooey in the back of the neck, okay super nice, so we're going to move into a sequence of some wide legs, standing poses and lunges, it's kind of a pattern that I've been using a lot lately, so I'm going to bring my blanket into the middle of my mat because I know I'm going to drop my knee down onto it, so go ahead and set that up in preparation, if that's useful for you, not everybody needs your one set, and then go ahead and step your feet out wide, turn your toes in, inhale here, and as you exhale slide your hands down the legs, and as the hands side down the legs begin to kind of lean a little bit from side to side, and as you lean a little bit from side to side you'll start to feel different opportunities through the inner thigh and through the inner groin, and then that might be enough for you but most of you it'll feel good to start to let the knees bend from side to side, so as you kind of lean over to one side you'll let the knee bend and dip in a little bit lower, as you lean over to the other side you'll let the knee bend and you'll dip in a little bit lower, that's just what feels good, okay come back into center, let the hands come underneath the shoulders, and then start to walk your hands over towards one of your feet and come into the shape of the lunge, so spin up onto the back foot, you're coming into the shape of the lunge, that front knee is bending, and with that front knee bending now curl the sit bones under, let that back knee come down onto the earth or your padding, and now introduce yourself, so kind of inhale draw back a little bit, and exhale sink in, and inhale draw back a little bit, and exhale sink in, now do you remember that tailbone work we did early on, give a little bit more attention to kind of drawing that right sit bone under, so drawing the right sit bone under to enhance the opportunity through the um sorry drawing the sit bone of the back leg under to enhance the opportunity through that that front thigh, and then snuggle into the the ball of that back foot and start to reach back through that heel, yeah let a bit of a happen soften the jaw and the back of the neck, and if this feels like this is perfect kick it here okay, if you'd like bring your hands up onto that front knee drop the sit bones under again and start to feel how the heart can lift start to feel what your shoulders can do, and if your balance is feeling a little uncertain perhaps just keep the hands on the knee, but if it feels okay to do so reach one arm out rotate that shoulder forward bring that hand behind you, and then reach the other arm out rotate that shoulder forward and bring that hand behind you go ahead and hold on to those forearms, sink in a little bit, feel how the shoulders can kind of soften back and down let the throat feel more vulnerable remember that post kind of shimmy gooey, beautiful curl that sit bone under a little bit more feel that roll back and down kinder in the eyes we're gonna hang in it just a little bit longer just to let the the fire of it kind of touch us just slightly a little bit more yeah gorgeous now slowly free the arms inhale them up and then exhale let the hands come down around that front foot walking the hands back a little bit flex that front foot dig the heel into the earth and then same idea as you exhale round and as you inhale roll the pelvis forward draw the heart open and as you exhale round and as you inhale roll the pelvis forward draw the heart open now feel that lengthening and for some of you right here's just enough some of you are going to walk your hands a little bit more forward you'll know you're being too ambitious if your jaw starts to clench and your eyes start to harden soften that again beautiful let this front knee bend lift up through the back leg back into the shape of the lunge and then we're going to make our way around to the other side so start to walk your hands back forward turning it around beautiful lunge on the other side bending that front knee curl the sit bone under adjust your batting if you need to and then kind of sink in yeah okay so introduce yourself inhale drop back exhale sink in inhale draw back exhale sink in yeah beautiful inhale draw back exhale sink in as you sink in curl that sit bone under that back leg like really feel how you can give a little bit more opportunity nuzzle the back foot in and feel how you can kind of reach back through that heel let a bit of a happen soften in the jaw and the mouth and maybe it feels best to stay right here okay if your balance feels okay bring the hands up onto that front knee and kind of sink in again so really like drawing that sit bone under feel that heel reaching back feel the shoulders drop back and down and start to find that vulnerability up through the throat through the neck again maybe it feels best to keep your hands on this front knee but if it feels all right reach one arm out rotate that shoulder forward bring that hand behind you reach that other arm rotate that shoulder forward bring that hand behind you hold on to the forearms and like sink in sink in give a little bit of drawing of that sit bone under a little bit of reaching through that heel back if your life is like mine you're finding a surprising extraordinary amount of time in front of a glowing screen and so the lunge the lunge is one of the key counter poses for the modern life stretching through the button front of the body shoulders back and down gooey or in the jaw just keep focusing on gooey or in the jaw easy in the back of the neck soft in the mouth imagine your lips more kissable eyes kinder yes yes yes beautiful so gorgeous okay slow release your arms up towards the sky and then let your hands come back down around this front foot walk your hands back flex this front right leg dig into the heel a little bit yes and then round your back curl your sit bones under and arch your spine round the back and arch the spine and when you're in this arch roll that pose for draw the heart up dig the heel in a little bit and right here might be deep enough some of you might walk your hands a little bit more forward again you'll know you're overdoing it if you can feel that fight in the mouth and the neck and the jaw like yeah beautiful okay bend that front knee lift up through the back of that leg walk your hands back around turn the toes in shorten the stance a little bit hands on the legs bending the knees chin into the chest and roll on back up feel the belly and feel the heart and feel the throat and feel the face now you shorten the stance so the feet are about hip distance for me i've got to stand a little bit behind my blanket to do that feet about hip distance and find your tadasana big deliberate inhale exhale let us soften the knees so now we've reduced some of the grip some of the holding some of the tension in the legs particularly the fronts of the thighs a little bit in the inner a little bit in the back and so that that that group that softening of the grip then there's the potential for more curiosity towards the possibility that something else might be holding us so trust the ground soft in the belly we started doing more work in the shoulders shoulder shoulder shoulder back and down elbows soft palms open and then really see if you can find the alignment of your skull so that neck tension isn't necessary and it's it's gooey up in there yeah yeah beautiful a little bit of a beautiful we'll do a very similar sequence just adding on a little bit widen your feet you know so it's common particularly in areas where so i grew up in canada canada or i grew taller mostly and when it to call somebody relaxed in canada kit was not a compliment you know here excellent hands on the legs roll it on back down if you referred to somebody as relaxed it meant generally her house was messy and she was late to pick up her children and i i i know i'm being very gender specific in that but you know this was the 70s so let one knee bend and sink in and then lean over and let the other knee bend and sink in and so is particularly if you grow up in an area or a region or a system where it's not safe to relax it it can feel there can be resistance to reducing the grip so it's just natural okay leaning a little side to side okay come back in the center let the hands come underneath you and we'll repeat with a little bit of variation walk your hands over to one of your feet come into the shape of the lunge wiggle on back to that back leg curl the sit bones under let that knee come down to the floor introduce yourself inhale drop back exhale sink in inhale drop back and exhale sink in in inhale drop back and exhale sink in and feel the difference already just on the second side it's so useful to do things twice to be like oh that that was effective curl the sit bones under draw the heart up wiggle back through that back heel now draw the hands up onto this front knee and and get heavy through there stay here or reach one arm out roll the shoulder back bring the hand behind you reach the other arm out roll the shoulder back draw the hand behind you hold on to your forearms if this is where the action is let a bit of a happen only if it feels correct start to play with sliding your hands back behind you interlace the fingers wiggle the shoulders back and down kind of start to feel into how you can can reach your hands back towards that back foot yes maybe keep the heels of the palms apart only starting to bring the heels of the palms towards each other as that really feels useful and good for your particular anatomy wiggle i'm gonna kind of let the hands reach down more towards my my back leg as they reach down towards my back leg and and maybe they land i do have long monkey arms so as they land draw the sit bones under soften the throat kind in the eyes beautiful gorgeous okay release that grip inhale reach the arms up exhale hands come back down to that front foot draw the sit bones back flex that front heel a little bit round once roll the pelvis forward arch gorgeous okay back into the shape of the lunge lift up through that back leg walk your hands around other side bend that front knee sink in sink in a few times like inhale draw it back exhale sink in inhale draw it back exhale sink in curl the sit bones under a little bit yes now stay here obviously if it makes sense otherwise hands up onto that front knee let a bit of a happen stay here this is best for you otherwise reach one arm out and roll that shoulder forward and bring that hand behind you reach that our other arm out roll that shoulder forward bring that hand behind you hold onto the forms and sink in a little bit a little bit of a yes now stay here if this is superior if it feels interesting start to slide the hands back interlace the fingers wiggle the shoulders back and down you might keep the hands apart that has its own particular nice feeling only if it's really useful and you have the anatomy where it makes sense maybe the heels of the palms come towards each other i'm gonna let the hands get heavy and kind of land down on that back leg again that's really an anatomy thing like length of arm arm seeing the sit bone under feel the front of the heart brighter kind in the throat gooey in the neck yes beautiful gorgeous really nice okay slowly release the interlace reach the arms up bring the hands back down towards the earth and then walk the hands back flex the foot around the body once and then arch take the heel in and lengthen so nice okay lunge front knee bends hands around the toes lift up through the back of the leg walk your hands back turn the toes in and then i'm gonna move my blanket out of the way little hammock pose so with the toes turned in and walk the fingertips forward kind of suction cup pull this its bones back let the heart hang let a bit of a yeah and then slide the hands back right underneath those shoulders shorten the stance a little bit bend the knees hands on the legs turn into the chest and roll down back up feel the belly and feel the heart and feel the throat and feel the face nice last tadasana feet about hip distance apart big deliberate inhale and exhale let it happen soft and so be aware be aware of of what is now available down through the front of the legs maybe a little bit of the backs of the legs be be aware of what's available to you now that there's last grip now that you've freed some of the tension maintain that as you feel the natural brightness of the heart shoulders soften back and down and allow the front of the throat to brighten and and allow your gaze so for a lot of us we spend a lot of time looking down whether it's a phone or a computer so let your gaze move more towards the horizon and beyond like a little bit more ambitious a little bit more sense of like wow what's what's gonna happen next without worry a few beats okay super nice inhale here exhale let a bit of a ah happen and we'll start to make our way back down to the earth through tenasana slide the hands down the legs let the knees bend toe heel the feet wider if malasana squats available find malasana turn the toes out to make it a little bit easier walk the hands forward beautiful then if it's okay bring the hands behind you drop it down onto your butt eggs and turn on your mount we're going to set up for a nice long slow bridge pose so heels on the earth knees bent arms out in front of you and roll it on back down beautiful gorgeous okay with the heels in line with your sit bones about spread the toes wide and you know that's an approximation let the arms come down along your side let the palms turn out big deliberate inhale exhale let a nice do that again inhale exhale let a and then eventually find an inhale that then inspires you on your next exhale to press into the feet and start to draw the sit bones under and then pause pause where it's still easy and relax the buttocks a little bit and like soften through these these um front thigh regions it was so technical okay inhale here and as you exhale root through the feet let your hips lift a little bit more this time just start to kind of wiggle the shoulders underneath you just a little bit just side to side soften the throat and pause hopefully it's still you're still in an easy spot and remember that pose shimmy gooey in the back of the neck easy in the jaw inhale here and as you exhale maybe press in just a little bit more lift your hips a little bit more kind of wiggle your arms underneath you a little bit more you might be a pinky presser this might be the spot soften again soften some of the grip in the buttocks yes and from here whether or not you interlace really just depends on whether or not that feels good to you press down through the arms letting your hips lift press a little bit more through the outer pinky pads and kind in the eyes and easy in the jaw yeah and like do what you need to do to be able to be here a little bit longer soft like see where the appropriate amount of effort really is yeah give a little bit more brooding through the feet give a little bit more drawing of the sit bones under and then relax again yeah beautiful gorgeous nice okay so relax the interlace reach your arms up towards the sky come up onto the balls of the feet and roll it on back down upper back mid back low back hips land heels land widen your feet a little bit let your knees fall towards each other let your elbows bend and turn your palms up towards the sky so my elbows are on the ground my forearms are kind of growing perpendicular out of the ground as if like flower stems and turn your palms up and soften the neck and soften the eyes yeah yeah beautiful oh nice let's do that again if you'd like setting up your legs spread the toes arms down alongside you turn the palms up inhale here and as you exhale press into the feet and draw your sit bones under just enough where you it's still easy you kind of relax some of the grip and kind in the eyes again easy in the jaw nice beautiful and then continuing as it feels good root through the feet a little bit more and you know begin to wiggle your arms underneath you as that feels good and side to side wobble way before you're in your maximum like relax again kinder in the eye like what do you need to do to be able to be in it for the long haul yeah and then maybe root through the feet again and wiggle underneath a little bit more and again if you're an interlacer fine but it's don't if you notice that to do it you have to strain it's not worth it okay root through the arms root through the feet and feel like you can put a nozzle down into the earth particularly that outer pinky pad press through the feet oh the sit bones under and then soften some of the grip in your booty yeah soften the throat easier in the eyes yeah what do you need to do to feel more relaxed here without collapse but so like rooted and lifted and engaged but also open yeah beautiful gorgeous okay as you feel ready slow you're going to release the interlace arms up towards the sky up on the balls of the feet and roll it on back down upper back mid back low back nice widen the feet knees fall towards each other elbows bend forearms growing up out of the earth palms turn up let the hands be tender and sensitive and available yeah and feel the results like feel the quality be aware of the quality up around the heart and the upper chest and the neck like gorgeous okay hug the knees into the chest little abdominal bring your knees right over your hips so as if you were sitting in a chair somebody came along and tipped you over bring the heels of your palms up on where your knees and your thighs meet and then begin to press legs into hands and hands into legs so there's equals so that if you were to move your hands your knees would move towards your face so press let a little bit of a hop and in the navel drawing that that that belly scoop a little bit of a scoop this might already be enough of a little quiver deep down in the belly but if you'd like a little bit more inhale here and as you exhale curl up yes a little bit of a beautiful let the knees come back into the chest and wob gorgeous okay cross the ankles inhale roll back exhale roll out a little easy casual bada canasana to begin with soles of the feet together but a little bit further away from your groin than maybe you're used to wobble a little bit side to side if you practice yin a little bit more yins down inhale here and as you exhale just kind of start to let yourself round like casual lean a little bit side to side just kind of let yourself round over let a little bit of a hop and so this desire that we all have the mind the manas the device of measurement ma continually and gratefully thank god for her wants to know what's happening a little bit of a the difficulty for her though is that the way she tries to find out what's happening is that she loves to move into the past and into the future to make sense of what has happened to create meaning and then to try to predict what's going to happen so that she can prepare she's a great planner slow turn into the chest let the knees come together and now extend your legs forward so a little paschimottanasana wobble a little bit side to side walk the hands forward if it's too much to have the legs straight like this you can bring your blanket underneath your knees and roll it up wobble it a little bit and then feel what you can do remember that action we have in the tailbone round the tailbone and roll the tailbone forward remember this round the tailbone yep and roll the tailbone forward now when you roll the tailbone forward if we overdo it it can feel really strained in those in the hamstring insertion point so maintain the brightness that you have in the heart now and let a little bit of a hop and just kind of relax some of that effort snuggle let the elbows bend palms up just like in the beginning remember that sort of sense of like that surrender and just let the head drop let your back round wobble let it like yeah so one of the just the brilliant seeds of asana and the invitation to allow the attention to drop into the reality of the miracle of the body of the miracle of this highly functioning organism that is doing so much for us without any of our help let us to become aware of the precious gift of this body um to be odd and amazed just kind of letting the elbows bend letting your background letting that um yeah beautiful couple more moments okay nice chin to the chest and slow let yourself roll back up slow pause and just like be aware of the colors of your environment the quality of the colors and then shift forward knees are bent roll it on back down hug the knees into the chest the spinal twist might feel nice i'm going to suggest an eagle wrap choose whatever one works for you otherwise wrap one leg over the other arms up from the shoulders so i've got my top right leg over my left so i'm going to bring everything over to the left knees to the left left knees to the left right palm onto the left kind of organize yourself and then circle that top arm back letting that elbow bend big deliberate inhale here exhale let it happen nice yes beautiful and it is kind of amazing isn't it like just you know yeah nothing has apparently actually changed in our past or what we perceive is going on around us or what we imagine our future might be and yet something about the practice of yoga something about drawing the attention into the body reducing some of the physical tensions just makes everything feel like it's going to be okay okay so unwind the legs and then lead with the top leg let it come back wobble and then other side wrap bring everything over the other side organize and then once you're organized open just allow your like just allow your like allow the the tight spots maybe it's across your chest or in your low back or hip but allow the tight spots quote unquote to hold your attention to hold your breath nice beautiful okay nice slow unwrap the legs and then lead with the top leg let it bring you back hug the knees wobble a little from side to side bring the feet back down to the floor and pause big deliberate inhale and exhale let it happen take a moment to kind of snuggle your like tuck your shoulders under a little bit and then this is something I I learned from Richard Rosen it's like be aware of how your left knuckle like be aware of which knuckle in your left hand is most heavily weighted on the earth maybe it's the middle or the index or the ring and then just let it match on the on the right side just see if you can match which knuckle of each hand is resting okay wobble the head a little bit from side to side until you kind of find the center big deliberate inhale exhale that'll happen and begin to let the jaw slacken as you let the jaw slacken like let the bottom hinge of the jaw like like open a little lips might part slightly soft now you might keep your knees bent that might be the best thing for your back if it would feel okay just slowly slide one leg forward relax that leg let that leg trust the ground beneath it and then let the other leg extend trusting the ground beneath it be aware of what your tongue is doing in your mouth and can you let your tongue feel fluffier tongue feel fluffier wider let the gums give up some of their grip on the teeth this might be closed or slightly open and and then let your awareness come around to that base of the skull so the jaw is soft and let your awareness come around to the base of the skull if you know the word occiput that occiput remember that post shimmy and let this area feel wide and with the jaw open base of the skull wide let the front part of the skull like feel more spacious blue sky so