Day 10: Freedom to Be You

Welcome, everyone. Welcome. I'm so happy to be here today. This is day 10 of Trust the Connection. I hope you're starting to feel how the connection just gets deeper and deeper and it feels more expansive. At least that's the way I'm perceiving it. For today, we're going to do what I like to call a mandala practice. So we're going to move around quite a bit on our mats in a circular fashion. Don't worry. All you need is your mat and two blocks. If you have them, if you don't have two blocks, you'll be fine. Set one block at the front corner of your mat, one of the sides, and then set one block at the back corner of one of the sides of your mat, and then you're good to go. We'll meet on your backs. Come down onto your back. Feet gather together, the soles of the feet, knees wide. If this is too much for your hips, you can always point your knees up toward the ceiling, widen your feet a little bit wider than your hips and drop the knees in toward one another for a restorative rest pose. And from here, you can rest one hand on your belly, one hand on your chest. Close your eyes and give yourself an opportunity to land inside your inner landscape. Get your ujjayi breath going. It's a slight restriction of the back of the throat, and it'll start to create a hum that sounds like the waves of the ocean on the inhale and on the exhale. And that will give your breath a little bit of texture, which will make it easier for you to release into gravity. My mind was so blown yesterday when Sunniti said, gravity reminds us that we belong because we belong to gravity. Here you can both belong to your breath, which is in a sense belonging to yourself. And you can also remember your belonging to gravity. So much of feeling connection is a feeling of belonging. And when we belong to ourselves, it's easier to belong to the world at large. On the inhale, you might feel the soft palate, which if you tickle the roof of your tongue, the roof of your mouth with your tongue, you'll feel it. You might feel it lift away from the perineum, and you might feel the perineum reach away from the soft palate. And then as you exhale, you might feel the container get a little stronger, a little more settled in itself as that releases. If it's helpful to use the hands yesterday, like we did with Sunniti, where you press the air down with your hands on the inhale, and then you press the breath up toward the crown of the head on the exhale, you can do that for a few rounds of breath. Just feeling how your torso, your container gets a little bit of delineation with the breath. One more breath like this. Point your knees up toward the ceiling. From there, roll yourself over onto one side. Come on up to sit. If you want to sit on one of your blocks, grab it and come to sit on it. And here, can you still feel that sense of the inhale expanding your cathedral, your container, and the exhale kind of grounding you in your backbone. So there's almost like that feeling of a sea anemone or amenone, I don't even know how to say that word, of kind of pulsing out and coming back in. Today, we're going to work with a slightly different chant. Well, it's not slightly different. It's totally different. Right after me, Baba Nam, Baba Nam, Kevalam, Kevalam. Baba is babe or baby. And when we speak the word Baba, we're calling to the part of ourselves that lacks cynicism, that's not jaded. Nam means name. So it's like we're calling out our name. And then Kevalam is the part of yourself, the most essential part of yourself that's always been here, will always be here, and will never change regardless because it's the more ancient part of yourself. So in this chant, we're calling to the sweetness and the innocence in ourselves to bring it forth. Listen. Baba Nam, Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam, come with me. Baba Nam Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam, Kevalam Kevalam, Baba Namsi Valaam, Baba Namke Vaalam, Baba Namke Vaalam, Baba Namke Vaalam, Baba Namke one more time give alam babanam gave alam gave alam babanam gave alam babanam gave alam babanam gave alam gave alam palms together in your heart deep inhale alam alam gently open your eyes we'll meet in a standing forward fold at the front of your mat widen your feet open your eyes widen your feet as wide as your mat and if you would like to have your block underneath you you're in a forward fold, folding over your legs lean the weight right above the ankle so your sit bones are not leaning back toward your heels, not leaning forward toward your toes we're going to work a little bit similarly to wade this week, inhale, lengthen your spine, cup your fingertips way way out in front of you and then let your ears be in line with your arms, pull your booty back and breathe getting child's pose almost and even here you can still have that sense of your container getting bigger with the inhale and on the exhale getting a little bit steadier one more breath then the right hand will come to your left ankle, right hand to the left ankle pull your left arm where it is, start to extend your left leg pull your left hip back and turn your spine over to the left bend your right knee a little bit you might feel this in the outer seam of your left leg, your IT bend turn your belly a little bit more to the left hands come back underneath your shoulders, inhale, lengthen your spine now step your left foot way back to the back of the mat listen, spin your left heel down, you'll end up with wide warrior 2 legs and then from there walk your fingertips up toward the upper left corner of your mat bring your right hand onto your right thigh, take an inhale and on the exhale traction your right thigh forward as you let your left ear dangle onto your left arm pick up your left arm toward your left ear, breathe one more walk your hands over to the left, you're coming through a straddle flex the ball of your right toes up and you'll bend your left knee into some sort of skandhasana, maybe your skandhasana is pretty tall today you keep your hips more upright, maybe you're ready to sink a little bit lower and sink down from there cup your fingertips out in front of you and on the inhale pull your chest forward fingertips are on the left side of the mat, on the floor and on the exhale rock back inhale pull forward exhale rock back, one more inhale pull forward exhale rock back toward your left heel on the inhale bring your hands under, you lift your hips straight up to turn yourself toward the back of your mat you'll feel your legs will cross into that weird scissor shape that we practiced last week walk your fingertips up and over toward what is now the left upper corner of the front of your mat which used to be the back of your mat and then from there bend your right knee, flex your left toes turn the left pinky toe toward the floor a little bit more and wag your hips a little side to side walk your hands back to what is now the front of the mat bend your left knee, plant your palms step your left foot back a little bit and toward the left side of your mat turn all the toes to the left, heels to the right reach your left arm forward as you lift the hips up and on the exhale left arm back toward your right leg as you lower your right hip down inhale lift up on the exhale lower inhale lift up on the exhale lower inhale lift up on the exhale lower lower lower rest your left elbow on your left knee you can cup your right fingertips underneath your right shoulder if you'd like shirk your right shoulder up toward your right ear and then let the right ribs hammock toward your right arm breathe into your right side waist the more you extend the right leg the more you'll feel that this will creep up right into your intercostal muscles into the ribs, nice complement to all of that wonderful lung opening we did with Arturo from there left fingertips down onto the mat extend your left leg over your right leg really lengthen the legs and you can wrap the left hip forward toward the left side of your mat and then drop the left hip back a little bit and kind of wag it left hip forward toward the left side of your mat left hip back your legs are stacked but you're kind of moving side to side and then left hip forward point your toes, turn your left chest toward the front of the mat and ripple down like a sea lion cup your fingertips out wide on the sides of your mat elbows point up, press your tops of the feet into the floor inhale, snake up your spine, press your pubic bone down lift your chest exhale ripple down inhale roll up exhale ripple down one more inhale roll up exhale ripple down from their hands next to your ribs tuck your toes under take an inhale on the exhale lengthen the neck of the tailbone and press up into plank pose inhale push back into downward facing dog and on the exhale soften your heels down so it's true now your down dog is looking in the opposite direction than when we started inhale your right leg high on the exhale bend both knees come high up onto the left tip toes pull your left outer hip back you've got one more breath here keep smearing the left hip back then as you exhale step the right foot outside the right hand lower your back knee down turn your left fingertips slightly to the left turn your right toes slightly to the right right hand on your thigh and then lean open to the left and you can wag your hips a little side to side one more turn your right toes forward hands inside your right foot tuck your left toes under extend both legs as you exhale inhale lengthen your spine maybe you walk your fingertips way way forward then on the exhale fold shrink wrap your left hip down and in and your right sit bone up and to the left bend your front knee your right knee on the exhale step your left foot you're still in a wide or you're going to land in a wide stance at the front of your mat maybe as wide as your mat maybe a little narrower cup your fingertips walk your fingertips way forward take an inhale on the exhale bend the knees fold pull your sit bones back long sideways we're going to do that whole thing one more time one more inhale on the exhale right hand to the left ankle right hand to the left ankle extend your left leg turn your chest open to the left you're still in your standing forward fold except you're twisting to the left one more inhale and one more exhale hands right underneath your shoulders inhale lengthen your spine step your left foot way back spin your left heel down it's like a super wide warrior too and then walk your fingertips up toward the left corner top corner of your mat and then the left hand stays where it is right hand onto the top of the thigh inhale lengthen your spine and on the exhale fold press the right thigh forward breathe one more inhale then as you exhale walk your fingertips out to the left you're here in your straddle or coming through a straddle turn the left heel in a little bit it's a skandhasana so you're bending your left knee any amount to sink your hips any amount your fingertips are on the wood floor or on the floor outside the left side of your mat on the inhale pull your chest forward toward your fingertips on the exhale rock back toward your heel inhale pull forward exhale rock back inhale pull forward exhale rock back walk your hands under you lift your hips straight up you're in that cross legged as you turn toward what was the back of your mat and the original front of your mat walk your fingertips up toward the upper left corner bend your right knee flex the ball of your left toes let the pinky edge of your left foot drop a little bit toward the floor and then wag your sit bones side to side from there bend your front knee hands plant step your left foot back a little bit and over to the left turn all the toes to the left swim your left arm forward on the exhale lower the right hip down right hand toward the back of your space inhale lift up roll open exhale back hip down inhale lift up and exhale back hip down release the hip all the way maybe you cup your right fingertips and kind of hug the right shoulder blade up toward the ear and then reach long through that right leg breathe into the side waist one more cup your left fingertips extend your left leg over your right leg and wag your top hip your left foot toward the left side of your mat and then toward the right side of your mat and then the next time the left hip wags forward roll your chest up drop your left hip and roll down cup your fingertips out wide on your off of your mat elbows point up press the tops of the feet down inhale snake up your spine articulate the spine exhale ripple down inhale snake up exhale ripple down inhale snake up exhale ripple down hands by your ribs tuck the toes under fire up the legs on the exhale push up into plank and then press back on the inhale into down dog on the exhale soften your heels down they don't have to touch or just lengthening the backs of the legs inhale your left leg high on the exhale bend both knees pull your outer left hip back it's a nice opportunity to feel what Sunithi was talking about that feeling of hands to feet where your container begins where it ends step the left foot outside your left hand lower your back knee down turn your right fingertips out to the right left toes out to the left left hand onto your left thigh and then wag the hips a little side to side just letting the hips know that you're thinking about them turn the toes forward extend both legs flex the ball of your left toes back walk your hands forward inhale lengthen exhale fold what is that connection hands to feet feet to hands can you allow your container to be breathed by your practice bend your front knee step your right foot behind your right wrist your feet are wide and a wide standing forward fold cup your fingers way way forward inhale and on the exhale bend your knees back three breaths one more inhale left hand to the right ankle extend your right leg pull your right outer hip back turn your chest toward the right three breaths second side one more walk your hands under you extend your spine step the right foot way way back spin your back heel down you're in a wide warrior two with your left leg forward walk your fingertips toward the upper right corner of the room and then left hand onto your thigh bend your knee a little deeper breathe and fold maybe your right your rest on the right arm the right arm lifts up toward the right ear walk your hands through your straddle and bend the right knee any amount cup your fingertips on the right side of your mat out on the ground inhale pull forward a little bit and on the exhale rock back inhale pull toward your fingertips exhale rock back one more inhale pull toward the fingertips exhale rock back lift your hips up turn toward the back of your mat which is now the front of your mat cup your fingertips up toward the upper right corner bend your left knee flex the ball of your right toes and take three breaths here to stir your sit bones side to side by now we're getting to know each other a little bit more bend your front knee hands down walk the right foot back a little bit to the right turn all the toes to the right roll your right arm up lift your hips on the exhale lower down so our connection inhale lift up and exhale lower down is also getting deeper inhale lift up and exhale lower down all the way left hip on the ground right forearm dangles there on the right knee you can cup your left fingertips let the left shoulder blade slide up toward the ear and hang hammock the left ribs toward the left arm breathe stack the right leg over your left leg really reach the legs long and then the right hip can wag toward the right side of your mat the right hip can wag toward the left side of your mat toward the right and toward the left toward the right point your toes melt the right hip down as you ripple like a little sea lion down onto your belly from there cup your fingertips out wide elbows out wide point your toes inhale roll up your spine and exhale ripple down like a little gecko inhale roll up exhale ripple down one more inhale roll up and exhale ripple down hands by your ribs tuck your toes under take an inhale on the exhale fire up the legs lift up plank pose and then push up and back downward facing inhale your left leg high on the exhale bend both knees pull the outer right hip back feel that relationship between your hands and your feet the hasta bandha, the arch of the hand the pada bandha, the arch of the foot step the left foot to the outside of the left hand lower your back knee down turn your left toes out to the left right hand out to the right left hand onto your thigh lean to the right and wag your hips a little side to side left hand to the inside of your left foot back the back toes under, extend both legs flex your left toes back walk your fingertips way forward and on the exhale fold all of those bandhas or arches in the body are what helps to maintain that vacuous cathedral like space inside of ourselves inhale bend your front knee on the exhale step your right foot behind your right wrist feet are wide, you're in a wide standing forward fold walk your fingers forward bend your knees pull your booty back breathe second round on this same side left hand to the right ankle extend your right leg pull your chest through to the right your right arm is up almost like a side angle by your ear from there hands underneath you inhale lengthen your spine step your right foot back then from there spin the back heel down hands toward the upper right corner of your mat left hand onto your thigh push and breathe walk yourself through your straddle bend your right knee flex the left foot cup your fingertips to the right side of your mat and then pull forward a little bit pull back pull forward a little bit pull back one more pull forward a little bit and pull back lift your hips turn toward the back of your mat the legs are crossed walk your fingertips up and over toward the right flex your right toes bend your left knee and turn hips sway a little side to side micro movements to almost like you're trying on a tight pair of jeans and you're trying to open up some space there in the tissue bend your front knee hands down step your right foot back a little ways to the right turn the right toes out roll the right arm by your ear and then lower the hip down arm toward the back of the room inhale lift up and exhale lower down inhale lift up and exhale lower down one more inhale lift up and exhale lower down right arm rests on your right knee reach through the left leg let the left ribs hammock breathe into those into the left lung right leg stacks over the left long legs wrap the right hip toward the right wag the right hip toward the left like that a couple more times one more rolling onto your belly through like a sea lion cup your fingertips out wide on the floor elbows out wide inhale roll your chest up exhale ripple down inhale roll your chest up exhale ripple down one more inhale roll your chest up exhale ripple down hands by your ribs tuck your toes under fire up your legs take an inhale on the exhale push up into plank pose take an inhale here you can always lower the knees if you need to exhale halfway down inhale into a cobra or an up dog press through the index knuckles and the thumbs and then lift up and back downward facing dog one more inhale on the exhale bend your knees look forward and then step step the feet forward feet come all the way together this time inhale lengthen your spine exhale fold inhale reach up exhale arms down by your sides surya namaskar a inhale reach up exhale fold forward over your legs inhale lengthen the spine and you can float or step back into your plank pose or chaturanga lower down inhale upward facing dog or a cobra pose and then lift up and back downward facing dog two more breaths inhale high up onto your tip toes bend your knees look forward and on the exhale step or float forward inhale lengthen your spine exhale fold inhale reach all the way up exhale arms down to your sides second round inhale reach up exhale fold forward over your legs inhale lengthen your spine and either step step or float back if you're floating back bend the elbows right away to land in chaturanga inhale up dog and press up and back downward facing dog on the next inhale listen reach your right leg up and back bend both knees open the thighs away from one another and then hug the right knee in toward your midline step the right foot between your hands spin the back heel down for a warrior two foot and then reach your left arm forward and up to come up into your warrior two interlace your fingers back behind your tailbone and then slide your fists down as you roll your chest up look to the left of your mat with your chest and your drishti your gaze and then as you exhale fold to the left side of your mat bring your fist up toward the ceiling breathe bend the right knee deeply this is super intense on the right hip the hips are such a big complex articulation and muscle situation that they need to be a little bit fatigued in order to release in my experience take one more inhale on the exhale hands down to the floor lift through the right leg you're extending the right leg and then bend your left knee come into skandhasana from there lower your seat down to the floor you might need your hands or maybe it's easy for you to lower down the right hand will grab the left ankle the left arm is going to reach tall get super long through the left side of you turn your chest a little to the left and then as you exhale lean out to the right try not to be worried about grabbing your toes for this one lean lean and instead press your right shoulder inside your right knee and turn your chest up toward the ceiling think of a long line from fingertips to left hip point but notice that your left seat gets light can you drop it a little bit more with the use of your breath turn your left chest down to the floor cup your fingertips lift your chest up and then it might be as simple as leaning out to the left side of your mat to lift your bum or you might have to use your fingertips to pick yourself up walk yourself forward toward the front of your mat bend your right knee and then slide your left knee in toward your chest and slide the left leg forward you're coming down to sit from there stack your right ankle over your left knee stack your left ankle under your right knee you can always keep the left leg long if that feels better for you so you're at an ankle to knee if ankle to knee is not tenable you can always cross the right shin over the left shin cup your fingertips lengthen your spine and then from there I like to pause halfway down with my forearms resting on my thighs that helps the hip joint release a little bit keep pushing the ball of the right big toe mound toward the left wall and then you might come a little bit deeper as you fold inhale lift your spine back up listen you're going to keep the right ankle where it is bend your left knee and step your left foot on the ground and then from there can you cup your fingertips underneath your shoulders and maybe walk your sit bones a little closer to the left heel now this might be plenty lift your chest and breathe if you'd like to add a little waddle of the legs side to side the left fingertips are going to remain on the ground inhale your right arm up and then as you exhale you can bring the right arm to the right knee and kind of press yourself open to the left or if you've got a little bit more room the top of the right arm can come into the right foot and you can open your chest and press the right arm into the right foot and breathe can you slide the shoulder blades down the back even so one more and then release that as you extend your left leg you might forklift which would be the arms under the calf or you might swaddle your right foot and your right knee with your arms like you're holding a baby and then again wag a little side to side I'm going to turn to face you but you can stay exactly where you are from here we might play a little bit with sundial surya yantrasan so grab a hold of your right foot with both hands on the inhale extend your right foot forward and then as you exhale bend the knee in a way that it's almost like you're trying to shave your armpit inhale extend the right leg on the exhale bend the right knee close close close to the armpit inhale extend your right leg and then as you exhale bend the knee from there your right shoulder might come anywhere under your right leg the higher you can get your right leg the better but sometimes it's not quite available so this might be plenty hold on to the outer edge of your right foot with your left hand the right fingertips cup out to the side and then as you inhale you might lengthen the leg a little bit and try to peek under your left arm and as you exhale release inhale extend exhale release one more inhale extend maybe you stay or maybe you release take one or two more breaths here press the shoulder wide the right shoulder and release that extend your legs out in front of you hands to the tops of the thighs wag your thighs a little bit yeah good everybody from there cross your ankles and roll forward step back downward facing dog if you'd like to clean the slate with a vinyasa inhale pull forward exhale halfway down inhale upward facing and exhale up and back inhale your left leg high on the exhale bend both knees pull your right hip back hug the left knee in toward your nose step the foot right between the hands second side spin the right heel down reach forward to carve you into your warrior II interlace your fingers behind your tailbone the awkward interlace press the fist down lift the chest up and then bow toward the right side of your mat and breathe two more breaths release your jaw notice how when the hips get called in the jaw likes to think that it can do anything about it but really tight jaw does not help loose hips hands down to the floor lift your spine up extend your left leg bend your right knee skandhasana from there left hand comes to your right ankle sit your booty down right arm reaches up gets super long turn to the right a little bit and as you exhale lean to the left maybe some part of your shoulder fits itself inside the left leg and then push the left shoulder into the left leg to roll open think of the right sit bone getting heavy even though it's off the ground and then turn your right chest down to the floor cup your fingertips maybe you rock toward the right to lift your bum up or maybe use your hands lift through your hips walk yourself forward bend your left knee deeply bend your right knee in toward your chest and then slide the right leg through the arms and forward to lower down super nice second side ankle to knee left ankle over your right knee flex your feet maybe it's the left shin in front you might pause on the way down and breathe and then go deeper or stay quite upright for me many many many years when the teacher would walk around the class and say fold forward in this pose I would be sitting upright and they'd look at me like nothing's happening and I'd look at them like nothing's happening so it's totally fine breathe and move the breath down into the hips wherever you are is perfect it's not about the shape it's about the space bring the hands back lift your chest up from there we're going to step the right foot onto the floor flex your left foot and maybe you walk your right sit bone a little closer to the right heel right knee points up left knee points out into figure four wag the legs poses have their own divine timing but the great thing I had a teacher who used to say that all the shapes are somewhere waiting for you and I found that very comforting from there you can extend your right leg and either oh we forgot the twist or I forgot the twist so step your right foot back inhale your left arm up and on the exhale twist and turn your arm could be at the left knee kind of pressing down into the shin or it could be somewhere on your left foot rolling you open shoulder blades down the back one more and come back around extend your right leg either forklift or swaddle that shin if you're swaddling it kick the foot into the elbow and rock a little bit side to side I like to make figure eight some kind of massage through the joint and then I'll turn to face you again hold both sides of your foot with each hand one with each hand extend the leg forward and then bend your knee like you're shaving the left armpit now inhale extend on the exhale bend the knee one more inhale extend and exhale bend that knee now slide the left shoulder under the left leg cup your fingertips out the left fingertips out to the left hold on to the outer edge of your left foot and then as you inhale you might extend through the leg a little and on the exhale release inhale extend and exhale release this time inhale extend and maybe you stay and extend the leg or maybe you just extend as much as possible take a few breaths turn your head under your right arm turn your chest to the right take one more and release yes extend the legs out in front of you wag them a little side to side bend the knees point your knees up curl your tailbone under and super super slowly you're going to roll down onto your spine we had such sweet practices this week and we spent a lot of the week very close to the floor so I thought it'd be nice to end with the feeling of your body moving we're coming into backbends now if you'd like to take a bridge pose you can come into your bridge pose for me I'm going to play with a full wheel I'll talk you through it bend your elbows they'll look up toward the ceiling hands will come down by the ears from there make sure your feet are under your knees take an inhale and then as you exhale you're going to press up just up onto the crown of the head somebody was asking Sunithi yesterday about how to get into this this is a nice way take an inhale here and then as you exhale push up I like to stay a breath past where it feels cozy chin into the chest and lower it down you can come down the same way you came up bringing the head onto the floor pausing and then lifting the chin up into the chest and lowering down bring your feet wide knees together palms together your third eye close your eyes and one more either Satubandha or your full wheel your Urdva Ganyarasana take an inhale whenever you're ready lift up and lower down feet as wide as your mat knees together palms together at the third eye center happy baby hold the outer edges of your feet leg side to side you might sense into your hip creases and notice how you're folding there maybe there's a little hint of a deeper fold or more mobility in the pelvis feet together knees wide for Supta Barakonasana you can rest one hand on your chest one hand on your belly come back to that feeling of that pulsing of the spine and the arches inside of you so that the inhale widens and lengthens you apart and then the exhale narrows you in a little bit and kind of condenses you and consolidates you can you bring your awareness to the connection with yourself could you allow that connection to open perhaps toward me towards Uniti toward Alana toward Arturo toward Wade what does it feel like to have us in your mind's eye or in your esoteric landscape and even though we may not know everybody on the call can you open your feelers up to anyone else who might be practicing with us at this time can you sense even a hint of belonging or connecting to them because we are all going through a shared experience and then finally can you allow your awareness feelers to connect with everyone else around you your pets, children anyone that you want to invite into your connective sphere if your hips feel okay you can stay here or you can slide a block underneath each knee if you'd like to point the knees up and extend the legs for Shavasana go for it there's a really beautiful story of the half man half monkey god Hanuman when he's standing on India and he's trying to help his friend Ram save his sweetheart Sita who's been abducted to the Isle of Lanka and he's standing on the edge of India and he's looking toward the Isle of Lanka and he really wants to help his friend and he's thinking what can I do and all of a sudden a whisper comes to him by his ear and it's his dad who happens to be the wind god Vayu and his dad whispers Hanuman remember who you are remember who you are and all of a sudden Hanuman remembers that he is in fact a god and he's completely forgotten and he is able to make himself bigger and bigger and bigger and he takes an inhale he stretches one leg forward and on the exhale he jumps and the wind god comes to help him as he flies to the Isle of Lanka to help his friend save his sweetheart and this practice is all about remembering remembering who we are the breath has its own mantra when you inhale the breath makes the sound sa and when you exhale it makes the sound hum sa hum I am that I am the breath at every juncture is helping us come home to ourselves remember remember who you are deepen your breath wiggle your fingers and your toes soles of the feet onto the floor roll over onto one side and give yourself a moment to come up to sit sit up nice and tall in that great remembrance palms on your heart take a deep inhale oh bow forward namaste thanks so much yogis weight is on on Monday I hope to see you next week thanks for coming