Flowing into Calm

Welcome back to this session of fluid strength everyone. I'm so happy you're here. This practice will be a calm and grounding strength practice. So we'll use the breath, we'll use a technique of starting and ending on the back and some focus into our legs and our feet to just ground our energy and bring us more here into our bodies. So for your props, grab a strap if you have that. You can always makeshift a strap at home. I'm sitting on a blanket, you might want that for your forward folds. Any other props that support you will start in a seat and if you want to take an inversion against the wall, you might want to be near a wall but there's also going to be an option in the middle of the room if you like to invert. So let's begin by taking a few breaths that we'll call straw breath. So it's a slowing down of the exhalation. So we'll double inhale, so yeah, and then exhale through your mouth like you're exhaling out of a straw. You can make that as long as you want. Let's do that a couple more times. So double inhale, fill up to the top, long straw breath exhale. You might close your eyes there, you might feel your chest fall, your weight grounding. One more time at your own pace. So when we accentuate the exhalation, we might be able to access the parasympathetic nervous system, which can give us a sense of rest and calm, grounding. After you're done that breath, just notice how you feel and we're gonna come down onto our back, maybe with your strap. So if you have that strap, grab it. We'll start this practice on the back, which I love, drawing the right knee in towards your chest. Hug that in and then let the right leg come up into the air. Maybe you're taking your strap, looping that around the arch of your foot and you can bend and straighten your right leg. Maybe bring it towards a 90 degree, maybe bring it more towards you and you're welcome to elongate your left leg. Just take a few breaths here, dropping down into your back body, letting your head get heavy. You might use that straw breath any time in this practice as a touchstone to grounding down, feeling that exhale be nice and long. And then take that strap, or your hand is on your leg, take it out to the side. So hold that strap with the right hand only and let the leg come out to the side. Maybe a little, maybe a lot, maybe the toe has even come towards the ground. Press down through the back of the body, the head, the back of the chest and breathe. You don't need to be reminded to breathe, but breathe with a little more attention, maybe a little more breath. Focus on the exhalation. Nice. Let the leg come to center, switch your hands so that your left hand is on the strap or it's holding the inside of your leg and bring the leg across the body. Fan through your toes. Notice the outside of your right hip. Take a few breaths. Let this be a warming up, a slow moving into your practice. Beautiful. Your body, your legs, your connection to the earth. Let that leg come up into center, release it out and then bring your left knee in towards your chest. Squeeze it in. Squish through that hip. You can bend your right foot to the ground. Let your left leg reach out. You can hook it with your strap or maybe you're holding on with your hands somewhere on the back of the leg. You can bend and straighten, maybe towards a 90 degree tightening through the kneecap, maybe drawing it a little more in and you might elongate your right leg. Beautiful. Take a few breaths, pressing down your back body into the ground. Noticing how it feels to start your practice connected to the earth like this and contemplate your body as your home. You're coming home into your body. Let's take that strap in the left hand only or hold the left leg with the left hand and take it out to the side. So you might take it out a little, might even take the toes down to the ground. You can open up your right arm. Kick out through both your legs. Make this a whole body activation as you press your back body into the ground. Exhale. Soft eyes, maybe even taking in the peripheral vision. Softening your eyes. Let the leg come to center. Switch out so your right hand is on the strap or maybe it's on the outside of your left leg and taking it across the body. Hello IT band area, outer hip. Breathe into that. Some energy in your legs. Some tightness around your kneecaps. This is your home. I love this analogy because I think about what happens when I'm not home for a long time. Maybe things get cobwebby. Maybe the lights burn out. Really coming back home here. Bringing the leg to center. Unhooking the strap. You can take that strap, place it to the side. Draw your knees in. Notice how your legs feel. You can rotate out through your ankles, wiggle out through your toes, and rock and roll a little bit until you come up onto all fours position. Take your time. You might roll over your shins, step back, and from the all fours position start to move forwards and back. A gentle rocking. Keep your arms straight here. You don't need to come too far forward. Press your hands into the floor. Turn your hands out to the sides and circle forwards and back into your hips. Connect into that exhalation phase of the breath. Turn your hands all the way around now. Fingertips towards the knees, and again you can circle. You can even figure eight through one shoulder and then the other. Nice. Let's release that out. Shake out through the hands, and let's take our left leg forwards, so to the outside of the left hand, and start to peel back and forwards. So breathing into this, warming up through the hips. You might inhale forwards and exhale back. Then let's stay back with the back toes tucked under, and the front toes peeled up off the ground. You might drop one elbow to the ground, test that out, or both, and let's take a couple breaths here.

Big exhales. Shift it forwards, step back that left leg, and take the right leg to the outside of the right hand. Start to shift forwards and back, introducing this movement to the hips. Back toes are tucked under. You might explore moving a little slower. You can also change the tempo, and let's peel back and stay there for a couple breaths. Maybe you try taking one elbow down, maybe both. Big exhales. Anytime you need to exhale out of your mouth, feel the contact of your body on the ground, and shift forwards. Take that right leg back. Let's tuck the toes, step back into downward-facing dog, and pedal out through the feet. Let's find some stillness in downward-facing dog. You might have a knee bend. You might press your arms towards straight, draw your low ribs towards your pelvis, and let's take three breaths. Find some projecting out through your periphery, each exhale landing underneath the belly button, touching earth here. Nice. Let's walk the feet towards the hands. Inhale, come halfway up. Exhale, fold in. Let's do that two more times. Inhale, come halfway up. Exhale, fold in. Maybe a knee bend, maybe not. Inhale, come halfway up. Exhale, fold in, and stay for a couple breaths, shifting your weight forwards and back. Heels to toes. If you're looking at your toes, fan them out, even that pinky toe. Exhale, lengthen your spine. Space between the pieces of the spine. Let your heels get heavy. Take your arms out to the sides, and come all the way up to stand. Look up, release your arms. Beautiful. Arms up. Fold in. Lengthen out here. Transfer the weight into your hands. Step or hop back into your downward-facing dog. Inhale to your plank. Find a long line here, and then invitation is to do a push-up. So you might take your knees down for this first one, even lower a little bit. Come on back up, and then you can take the tops of your feet to the floor, and roll into an upward dog or cobra. Exhale, up and back to downward-facing dog. Let's take three breaths there. One. Two. Firm your periphery hands. Feet into the ground. Long exhale. And three. You might tiptoe, you might hop, or step your feet to the top of the mat. Let an inhale lengthen out your spine, back of the neck. Exhale, fold you in. Heels heavy. Arms out to the sides. Come all the way up. Reach up. Look up. Release your arms. Nice. Adding onto that, arms up. Fold in. Lengthen out. Step where you might hop back to find your downward-facing dog. Inhale, roll to a plank. Find that. So you can do this without your knees down or knees down. Exhale to a push-up. Press back up. Either put the tops of your toes on the ground or stay toes tucked, and explore an upward dog there. Now from upward dog you could take your knees down, or you can press into your hands and come back to a plank. Firm legs. And on your exhale, back into downward-facing dog. Three breaths. One. So move like you. Any of those movements don't feel great for your spine. Adjust them slightly. Choose your own adventure. Two. I'm counting, but make sure you're breathing at your own pace, the one that grounds you. And three. So you might stop. You might tiptoe or hop to the top of the mat. Inhale along spine there, and fold in. Heels heavy. Arms out to the sides and up. Reach up. Release your arms. Again. Arms up. Fold. Lengthen out. Downward dog, however you do.

Plank. Push-up. Up dog. Push-up. Down dog. Breathe there. One. Two. And three. You might walk in a little bit. Step or hop. Top of the mat. Inhale and fold. Heels heavy. Arms out to the sides. Reach up. Look up. Release your arms. Let's do chair. Sink down into the heels. Reach the arms up. Stay for a breath. Inhale. Feel your feet pushing down. Exhale. Fold in there. Come halfway up. Downward dog, however you'd like to. Land light. Inhale to plank. Maybe knees down.

Exhale. A little push-up. Press back up. Firm legs. Inhale to your upward dog or cobra. Exhale. Pop back up into a plank and back into downward facing dog. Let's inhale our right leg up. Exhale. Take it in between the hands. Pop up onto your fingertips. So drop your hips. Look forwards. Open your chest. And then on your exhale, start to straighten your right leg and drop your back heel to the ground. Might straighten a little. Might straighten a lot. We'll do this three times. On the inhale, drop the hips. Look forwards or up. And then exhale. You're on your fingertips. Start to straighten your right leg. Back heel presses down like a pyramid. Inhale. Drop your hips. Look forwards or up. And then exhale back into this pyramid shape. Take an extra breath. Back heel grounds as much as you can. Then back forwards with your knee and step back into downward facing dog. This part is optional. Let's inhale plank. Maybe a little push-up there. A little or a lot. Roll into your up dog on your own breath. Press into your hands. Back up into a plank. And exhale to downward facing dog. Inhale your left leg up. Exhale it in between your hands. Pop up onto your fingertips. So three times again. Inhale. Arch your spine. Press through your back heel. And exhale. Start to straighten both of your legs. Drop in your right heel to the floor. Inhale brings you into a low lunge. Really reach out through your back leg. And then exhale. Draw in. Pyramid. One last time. Inhale. Press from your belly button out through your inner right heel. And exhale. Fold towards your front leg. Move it towards straight. Take an extra breath. Back into a lunge here. Step back into your downward facing dog. Again. Inhale plank. Maybe a little push-up. It can be a little tiny movement. Back up to plank. And then you're taking your upward dog, which could be toes pointed or toes tucked. And then pressing back up into your plank. Strong press through your hands. And back into downward facing dog. Let's take a breath there. You might come into a child's form. And then on your next exhale we'll walk. Step if you like to hop. Hop to the top of the mat. Inhale there. And fold. Heels heavy. Arms out to the sides. Come all the way up. Release your arms. Feel your feet pressing down into the earth. Let's bend our knees. Come into chair. Take an extra breath and chair. Heels heavy. Fold in. Lengthen out here. Step or hop back into downward facing dog. Inhale to plank. Same flow. Push up on the exhale. Upward dog or cobra on the inhale. Back up into plank. Downward facing dog. Exhale. Right leg up and back. Take the right foot to the outside of the right hand. We'll do that same thing. You can pop up onto your fingers. Three times. Inhaling. Coming into that low lunge. Maybe looking up. Straightening the back leg. And then exhale. This time as you move both legs towards straight you might pick up your right toes. So just your heel is on the ground. And fold in any amount. Two more times like that. Inhale. Press the back leg towards straight. And then exhale. And round in. Straightening both legs. Maybe the right toes pop up. Inhale. Forward.

Exhale. Back. Let's take for an extra breath. Maybe for some you drop one elbow down to the ground. Even your outer elbow. Maybe both. Pop back up. Shift towards your lunge. Exhale into downward facing dog. Inhale to your plank. Slight roundedness in your upper back. Strong legs. Exhale. A little push up. Inhale. Upward dog or cobra. Exhale. Pop back up. Plank. Downward facing dog. Left leg up. Inhale. Exhale it to the outside of your left hand. Pop up onto your fingertips so you're fully substantiated in your legs. Inhale. Arch. Press your back heel. Exhale. Start to round. Straighten both of your legs. Left toes pop up. Mm-hmm. Inhale and arch. Exhale and pull back. Last one. Move like you. So your body, your home, your breath. Notice where you need to move. Where you need to pull back. Where you need to go in. Take an extra breath. Back. Toes up. Back heel grounded. Feel your legs. Shift forwards. Hands flat. Step back. Downward facing dog. Inhale plank. Abdomen drawn slightly back for your push-up. Exhale. Inhale. You might untuck your toes. See how that feels. Upward dog or cobra. Exhale. Pop back up into a plank. Slight rounding in your upper back. Keep exhaling. Downward facing dog.

Pedal out through your feet. Find stillness or maybe a child's form. No hierarchy to the asanas. This is a breathing practice. Walk your feet in. Step or hop. However you do, find the top of the mat. Inhale and fold in. Arms out wide. Heels heavy. Come on up. Release your arms. Chair. Let's stay an extra breath. Sink down. Maybe a little lower this time. Bob up and down into it. Reach your chest up. Sink your heels down. Fold. Lengthen out. Step or hop back. Your choice. Downward facing dog. Inhale to your plank. Really protract your shoulders away from your spine. Little push-up or a big one. Upward dog or cobra. Back up into plank. Maybe to your knees. Keep exhaling. Downward facing dog. Inhale that right leg up. Exhale. Take it in between the hands again. Same as our first time. Pop up onto your fingers. Let's explore here. Reaching that right arm way forward on the inside of your right knee. And looping the armpit to the shin. Coming up onto your fingertips. So now the shin and the armpit are pressing a little in towards each other. See how that feels. Come as low as you can there. And then inhale. It's gonna be a little minimized but arch and look up. Press that back leg towards straight. And then exhale. Search around and aim your head towards your right ankle. We'll do that two more times. Inhale. Press the knee into the back of the armpit. Stretch the back leg towards straight. Exhale. Round and aim your head towards your right ankle. Inhale. Forward. Back leg reaches. And exhale. Head towards the ankle. Take an extra breath. Big exhale.

Shift forwards. Hands flat. Step back and free that right hip into downward facing dog. Your flow here. Inhale to plank. Exhale. Push up. Inhale upward dog. Your way or cobra. Exhale. Plank downward facing dog. Left leg up. Beautiful. In between the hands with that left foot pop up on the fingertips. See how it feels to reach that left arm. Way forwards on the inside of the left leg. Hook the armpit in front of the knee or the shin. Get as low as you can. Inhale. Back bends you a little. Back leg moves towards straight. And then exhale. Maybe straighten your left leg a little but aim your head towards your left ankle. Inhale. Come forwards and up. Exhale. Curl in. Aiming your head towards your ankle. Inhale. Forward and up. Exhale. Head to ankle. Breathe an extra breath there. Maybe it's a big exhale out of your mouth. Shift. Hands flat. Downward facing dog. So nice. Inhale to plank. Your choice here strong legs. Exhale. Push it out. Push up. Inhale your choice upward dog. Notice the difference between toes tucked or untucked. Exhale to plank. Push into your hands. Widen your shoulder blades away from your spine. Hips back. Downward facing dog. Feel free to take extra breaths wherever you need to. Pedal it out. Maybe find stillness for a breath. You can always exhale out of your mouth. Your body. Your home. Press into the ground. Also this ground your home. Press down. Feel contact. Feel you're here. You might walk a little further forward. Step or hop. Top of the mat. Inhale and exhale.

Fold. Heels heavy. Press down through your heels. Come all the way up to stand. Reach your arms up. Release your arms. Beautiful. Last one. Inhale. Arms up. Let's take chair. Sink down in. Maybe a little lower this time like a tiny chair. Take an extra breath. And then fold. Forward fold. Lengthen out. Downward facing dog. Inhale to plank. Firm legs. Protracted shoulders. Lower to a push-up. Wide collarbones. Your upward dog or cobra. You can always do that from the knees. Back up into a plank. Downward facing dog. Inhale your right leg up. Exhale it to the outside of your right hand. This time take your left knee down to the ground. So we're going to shift forwards and back. So maybe you exhale back. Inhale forwards. Test that out. Exhale back. Your right toes might come up off the ground. Inhale forwards. Third one. Exhale back. Maybe the elbows tap the floor. Inhale forwards. Let's stay forwards. So if you want, you can tuck your back toes under and lift the back knee off and straighten out through that leg. Just as we've been preparing for this whole time. You're also welcome to turn your right toes and your right knee out to the side on a bit of a diagonal. If you like, you can drop your left elbow down and see how it feels. Maybe you're right too. So you're in this low lizard lunge. Instead of oscillating in this one, you could kind of pulse forwards and back or stay for three of your own breaths. Back knee can be down for a little more strength work. It can be up and reaching long through the left side of your belly button. Getting that so as to elongate any amount. If it feels calming, drop your head. Look at where you are and take in your peripheral vision. How wide can your gaze be here? Maybe you exhale out of your mouth.

That's it. One hand up, then the other. If you're down, step it back to your downward facing dog. Beautiful. Inhale to your plank. Firm your legs. Firm your core. Push it out if you like. Maybe from the knees. Inhale upward dog or cobra. Up to plank. Back into downward facing dog. Left leg up. To the outside of your left hand. Drop your right knee top of the foot. Exhale back. Inhale forwards. Three times. Exhale back. Maybe tap the elbows down. Inhale forwards. Exhale back. Inhale forwards for a stay. You might turn the knee, turn the foot out a little bit. Might tuck those back toes under for a little stronger expression of this. Reach through that back leg. Move it towards straight. Maybe the right elbow comes down. Check that out. Maybe the left and your choice. You can shift forwards and back. You can stay still. You can even take that straw breath. Find your drop into the earth and then also that rebound force that keeps you buoyant in the back of the lungs, in the back of the pelvis, so your joints feel spacious even in this big lizard lunge. Might drop your head and open up your gaze. Last breath. Nice. One hand at a time. If you're down, pop back up onto your hands. Step it back into your downward facing dog. You can play with the vinyasa or I'll cue you for the inhale to plank. Exhale to your little push-up or your big push-up up to you. You're up for dog or cobra. Back up into your push-up. Find that line and downward facing dog. Pedal out through your feet. Come down onto your knees. Walk your hands more underneath your shoulders and then pop up onto the knuckles underneath your fingers a little or a lot. See if you can bring your shoulders over top of your knuckles even and then slowly lower down. Keep your breathing going. Pop up onto your knuckles. Shift that forward so you're stacking shoulders over the knuckles and then slowly lower down. One more time like that. Pop up. Shift forwards a little. Good. You can shake out one hand and then the other. Step back into your downward facing dog and walk your feet towards your hands. From here you might need to bend your knees to fully plant your hands on the ground shoulder distance apart. Start to shift up onto your tiptoes. Maybe your knees are bent here but press your arms towards straight. Press so strongly that it feels like you're leaning forwards and pushing the ground away. Maybe for some folks you come up onto your tiptoes and press for one for as long as you can. Two, push the ground away. Your shoulders can elevate around your ears. And three, and slowly lower down. Maybe a little shaking is there. Bend your knees and ragdoll your arms. Take a breath in. Your forward fold. Take a breath out. You're home here.

Walk your hands forwards. Let's try that one more time. So shifting forwards, pushing the ground away. Maybe your knees are quite bent but push the ground away. You could work your legs towards straight. You could come up onto the very tip of your big toe. Elevate your shoulders for one. Two, systems are fully engaged here. And three, and then lower those heels. Drop into a forward fold. Ragdoll your arms. Take a breath in. Let your head go even. Walk your hands forwards. Step back into downward facing dog. Then come down to your knees. Sink back onto the tops of your feet. Come on up to sit in vajrasana, our kneeling position. Take your arms forwards and then take them over your head. Now press the ground away just as you were doing. Pressing into the floor. Imagine that connection is still happening. Elevate your shoulders. Front ribs in and push. Maybe look a little bit up peak in between your hands. For one, press. Two, lift those back ribs up off of your pelvis. And three, exhale. Release your arms. Figure eight out through your wrists. You might want to come to the wall for this part. We'll try a couple of handstand hops or an option. Feel welcome to take downward facing dog or forearm downward facing dog instead. So come onto your hands. Take one leg up. Maybe the wall is behind you here. That feels the most comfortable leg to lift up. Straighten that leg. Now remember that push into the ground. You might hop your grounded leg a little forwards. When you hop up, push the ground away and elevate your shoulders. So bend that bottom leg. Hop up. Push the ground away and come back down. Let's try it three times. Push the ground away. Push and land. Two, come on up. Push the ground away. For those of you who would like to let your legs meet each other, you can catch that. Come on back down. Come back down onto your knees. You might drop into a child's form or come to seat. Take a breath in. Exhale, let out straw breath. Beautiful.

Roll on up. Preparation to do the awkward side. I know. Take your hands forwards. Find that more towards a 90 degree. Bring your arms up over your head. Elevate your shoulders. Ribs in. Anchor them towards your abdomen. Lift your torso super long. Peek up at your hands. For one, keep your exhale going. Two and three. Release your arms. Figure eight through your wrists and step on forwards. Maybe the walls behind you here. Let that other leg come up. The weird one. Elongate it. Remember that push into your hands. So bottom leg is going to be bouncy. Top leg is going to be firm and long. Let's try to come up. One, push the ground away. You might bend your bottom leg up in space too. And one more time. Push the ground away. Push into your hands. Maybe your legs meet each other.

Push and then come on back down. Maybe into a child's form. So your hips don't need to go all the way back towards your heels. They can be floating a little up. Elbows wide. Straw breath. So beautiful. Walk it forwards. Downward facing dog. Let's come towards our forward fold. So however you'd like to, come on through to a seat and step. Hop. Maybe you'd like to have a blanket underneath your hips. Let's let our right leg elongate and left leg comes in sole of the foot close to the inner thigh. Walk your sit bones back. Inhale nice long spine. Tip forwards from your pelvis and use your hands either on either side of your leg or taking a hold of your foot. Let's take a few breaths. If your left knee is floating, no big deal. You could also put a block or a blanket underneath it. Now whatever is touching the ground, press it down. Especially with your exhalation. Think about your belly button crawling towards your right big toe. And you could let your head drop. Eyes softly open you might widen your gaze. Check out how it feels in your nervous system to accentuate exhalation and also to open up to your peripheral vision. One more breath. Inhale sit bones ground to help you come up. Let's open our left knee more out to the side so the angle is bigger. Side stretch here. Right arm on the inside of the right leg. Maybe even hold your head with your fingers. Left arm up out and over. Could be straight up. Could be back behind you. Could be over your ear. For some might make sense.

To bend your right leg, take the back of your shoulder towards the inner knee. Keep that seal and straighten out through your leg. Holding the inside of your right foot with your right hand and the outside of your foot with your left. Doesn't need to be a big movement so take it where your body wants to go. Noticing if there's little cobwebs in your house and you can clear them out with your long exhalations. Really inhabiting your body here. You might ask yourself, why is that important? You're feeling. Use that top arm to help you come all the way up. Mm-hmm. And then move your left knee so it's more straight out from you. Take your left hand behind you and roll on up. You can ground the sole of your right foot into a big opening for that top side. If you want, you feel pretty firmly grounded through your left hand and the whole sole of your right foot. You could even lift your left knee off the ground. Yeah. Maybe even kick that leg out for a breath.

Come on down. Right back into your Janu Shishasana. Let's switch sides. So left leg forwards. Right leg in. Get back up on your blanket. You might walk your sit bones back. Tip your pelvis forwards. Come on forwards. Maybe a little. Maybe a lot. Press your foundation down. Drag your belly button towards your left toes. You can let your head go. Noticing the difference of like looking forwards or letting your head drop. Both are good. There's no hierarchy here. But checking in with continually grounding. One more breath. Inhale. Come up. Ground your sit bones. Open up that right knee out to the side. You might move your blanket. Slide into that side bend. Left hand on the inside of the leg. Right arm might go up. Might go back behind you. Might go over your head. For some, might make sense. To bend your left knee, seal your outer armpit to the knee. Keep that pressure. Flip your hand. Grab the inside of your left hand. Your left foot with your left hand. And right arm can come up and over. Find that space where you'd like to take a couple more breaths. Feel the language of the body which is a little bit more feeling than it is language. What happens before language forms in your head? Use that top arm to help you come all the way up. Plant your right hand behind you. Maybe plant the whole sole of your left foot. Reach up. You can keep your knee down. Make it a glorious side stretch. Arm placement is optional. Or maybe push so strongly into your right hand and your left foot that your right knee elevates. Maybe even kicks out towards straight. Wherever you are, push the ground away. Push into the earth for a big breath. And come on down. Nice. Let's face forwards again. So right leg forwards.

This time, left leg. Let's take it into a hero's pose. So the top of the foot to the floor. You might even fold your blanket. Give you a little bit more padding. A little more uplift there or a block. And take your right foot forwards. Inhale here. You can walk your sit bones back. And then exhale. Fold in. Inching your fingertips forwards. Or maybe taking the foot. Let's take a few breaths there. Reach your belly button towards your toes and then let your head go. Some might even grab a wrist around the foot. Option there. And take your head down towards your leg. And slowly come on up from that. Alright, so you might stay upright here. You might even notice that you want to take your prop out from underneath you and start to walk your hands back. Being gentle and careful with your knee. You can lift your pelvis. Tuck it under. And notice how that brings a little more stretch to the front of the left thigh. That might allow you to drop more of the top rim of your pelvis to the ground. Maybe even take your forearms to the ground. Keeping that little posterior tip. It's okay if your knee comes off the floor a little. As long as your knee feels good. There might be a big stretch to the knee and that's okay too. Being cognizant of pain. Generally pain lessens communication in the system. So we want to be home in our bodies and help our bodies feel safe. Maybe you even come right back down onto your back. Where your right leg can be elongated or pressing down into the floor. Breathing wherever you are for two. And three. Using that pad up onto your hands to pop you back up. And then let's take our hands behind us. Either fingers point towards you or away. We're going into tabletop like this. Just so you know. So pressing down. Lifting the top of the shoulder. Lifting up into a tabletop. This way you can slip your left foot out. Maybe give it a nice straight and plant yourself in tabletop. Lift up your hips. Slide your shoulders down your back and maybe let your head go back a bit. Big breath in there. Drop your hips down. Mm-hmm. Coming into boat. So you can pop up onto your fingertips and let your legs come up. Maybe the shins are at a 90 degree or let them straighten out if you like. One arm can come out and then the other.

Let's take five breaths. One. Lift the top of the sternum. But try not to overarch your back. There's a slight rounding to your back here. Two. You've got this. Three. Four. Squeeze your legs together. And five. Draw your knees in. Hug in. Balancing on your sit bones. And a challenge here is to lower down onto your low back. Exhale and inhale back up into your tuck. Five times. Exhale lower. Pop back up. Three. Four. And five. Feet down in front. Round in. Take a breath. Roll on up. Left leg forwards. Blanket if you need. I definitely like it. And right foot into hero. Top of the foot on the ground to the outside of the hip. Wiggle into that. Walk the sit bones back. Tip forwards. It's okay to have your left knee bent here. It's okay to have it straight. Folding forwards a little or a lot. Belly button towards the left toes. Head can round in. Hands can be on either side to steer both hips equally grounded to the earth. You can hold your foot or hold your wrist. Explore tucking your chin. Opening up your gaze. Explore straw breath if you like. Soft eyes. Hips heavy. You can use your hands to ground your sit bones and come on up. Hands behind you.

Lift your pelvis. Tuck it under and bring it back down. Might be nice to have the blanket there or take it out. Start to walk back. Keep that tip backwards of your pelvis as you might explore taking your elbows to the ground. It's okay if your knee comes a little bit up. Maybe out to the side. Just checking out how you want to do this in your body to target the front of the right thigh depending on your knees. For some you might roll right down onto your back trying to keep the pelvis fairly level. Maybe planting your left foot to help you do that. Push into the left foot and take a few breaths. Feeling into the language of the body. Often we cognitively ask ourselves how we are but there's a feeling language in the body that we can connect to. Often how we are is held in the body. Yoga practice really supports us with that. Checking in. Fitting our body or rather fitting the shape to how our body is today in a whole body movement. We'll slowly come up so you can pot up onto your elbows. Yeah up onto your hands. Now you can choose your fingers pointing towards you or away. Plant your left foot and lift the top of your shoulders. Come up towards a tabletop. Here you can reach out through your right leg. Tighten your kneecap. Place yourself towards a tabletop. Take an extra breath here. Maybe looping the collarbones around towards the backs of your armpits. Pressing into your hands and feet. You don't need to let your head go back. Chin can be tucked. Elongate your waist. Slowly lower down. Coming towards boat. So you can pop up onto your fingertips. You can keep your fingertips on the ground. Maybe lean back a little bit so that your shins are parallel or take them up. Take one arm away maybe than the other. Lift that top of the sternum, that clavicular notch. But keep a little rounding through your spine. Just breathe for one. Squeeze the legs together. Two. Neck is easy. Three. Four. I know. And five. Maybe those hip flexors are talking. Curl in to a little ball. And then the invitation is to drop down and come up into a tuck five times. So one. Lower back touches the floor. Two. Chin is tucked so the front of the neck is strong. Three. Four. Five. And then feet down, rounding. Beautiful. Cross out your shins here. Roll over onto your hands. Step back into downward facing dog. Inhale to plank. Exhale all the way down onto the abdomen. Lock your legs out so they're a little longer. Your choice here. So you can take your hands back, palms up. Lift your legs. Lift your chest and find a locust for five breaths. Feeling as much as you can and elongation at your hip flexors. So straighten your legs and reach them out of your pelvis. Maybe lifting your arms. Maybe interlocking your hands behind by bending your elbows and reaching back through the front of the chest. Maybe for some, bending your knees hip distance apart and grabbing one ankle and then the other. Let's find our five breaths. Maybe bow for one. You might be rocking in your shape. Two. Straw breath. Three. Hip flexor elongation.

I definitely have cobwebs here in the front of the hips. Open them up. Last breath. Use those legs. Soft gaze and release. Hands underneath the shoulders. You can come up to your knees or come straight up into a plank. Exhale down dog. Take your time to come through onto your back for a spinal twist. Lower down. Moving towards Shavasana. Take your knees and hug them in. Your spinal twist choice, if you like, I'll guide you through an eagle wrap. So you can pop your hips a little to the left. Cross your left knee over your right and then let your feet flex and catch you as you let your knees fall to the right. So your knees don't have to come down to the ground. Give yourself a comfy twist. You can open up your arms. Maybe cactus the arms or reach them out towards straight. Let's take three breaths. Option here is to use your straw breath. Even that double inhalation, which might feel a little sticky in a twist but could be interesting.

Last breath. Explore softening and opening up your eyes. Instead of focusing on something, take in a big picture view. Beautiful. So before switching sides, I like to untwizzle the legs first. So left leg comes out. Roll yourself into the middle. Set your pelvis in the middle and you could rock your knees side to side. So nice. Really nurturing your body here. Hips can go a little to the right if you're following this twist. Knees in, right leg over the left, feet flexed, and let the knees fall to the left, feet catch you. You can press into your elbows, lift your chest and rotate it, and then three straw breaths here. Beautiful. All right, so you can unhook your legs first. Set your pelvis in the center. Maybe rock your heels into the ground and let your whole body bob up and down a little, a couple times, and finding your shavasana. So if there's any little movements that you like to do, even holding onto the edge of your mat and dragging your low spine into more length, finding a position for your arms and legs. You can always have your feet planted. And then three more straw breaths. That's the invitation for a pranayama today. So double inhale. Exhale everything. Maybe the eyes softly close. Double inhale.

Last one at your own time. Welcome home. To your home that's lived in. It doesn't have to be tidy. It can be messy, warm, and welcome. Perfect as it is. You might want to stay here for a little longer. You're welcome. You can wiggle your fingers and your toes. Rotate out through your wrists and your ankles and give yourself a full body stretch. Notice how you feel. Draw your knees in towards your chest. Roll over to a side that makes sense. Press yourself up to a seat. Thank you so much for being here, for your presence, and for your practice today. Namaste.