Ease into the Hips

Welcome to guided by breath. In today's practice, we are going to explore returning the body to the breath. That's our theme. That's our guiding principle. Our organizing principle is that inhale and then that exhale that follows it and the inhale that follows that and just on and on and on. So we're very into that poetry here. And we use the shapes as ways of exploring that reality that's already happening in the body. So point of practice to get the body to reflect, you know, that perfect yoga that already exists in us as us. We're going to explore the hips today. Have two blocks at the ready. If you have something or some things to support your knees within Shavasana, you can grab those things, anything you like, anything else you like for Shavasana, you grab. And I have a gift for you. Today, we're going to begin in Shavasana, unsupported to start. So those props that you just gathered, you can set them to the side and then come to lie down on your back and allow yourself, you know, Shavasana, okay, I just lay myself down and that's it. No, there's a little bit, there's an art to approaching Shavasana. And how, what is that art? What does it look like? Well, whatever you like. So you take a few moments just to mindfully lay your body down onto your mat there. That's hopefully made of sustainable materials. And then you'll roll your shoulders back and down. So your upper back is flush with the floor. If you've got a ponytail in like I do today, you'll adjust yourself so that head is positioned in a way that allows your neck to remain long and spacious. Legs are wide apart. And then go ahead before you, you know, rest. We want to let the body, it is really an approach. And we have to invite the body to find rest, but first to find a little bit of opening. So, you know, I'm on East Coast time. So I've done quite a bit of stuff already today. And some stuff like some sitting that has contracted the body a little bit. So for me, I might like to extend myself and give myself some stretches. For you, if you're on West Coast time, for example, it may be quite easy. Actually, it's morning there. So maybe you've had a spacious morning or not. The point is, you know, you want to arrive in a way that is actually responsive to your reality. And then once physical body is set up, you go ahead and close the eyes. And with the eyes closed, we've taken away the visual stimulation. So we can do the little aperture now for some deep body listening. There's an opening. So with the eyes closed, just doing a scan of your body from, from feet to head, and making any other additional adjustments to the body that you may need to make to find comfort in the body. So we can actually assume that simply by laying the body down, you know, we're automatically in a position that suits it, not necessarily because we've got habitual, like some posture things happening, ways that we hold the body habitually that are or can be carried over to our Shavasana are being reclined this intentional rest. So just observing for the first few minutes, making those adjustments. And then once you've set physical conditions for intentional relaxation, begin to watch your breath, just watching inhales and exhales. In fact, rest your hands on your body, anywhere on the body. Breathing in and out through the nose, watching the inhales and watching the exhales as you breathe in feeling and really enjoying that quality of expansion. And then just watching and witnessing feeling enjoying that really poetic quality of quieting on the exhale.

And that's just it. That's just it. No effort required in order for this little like micro life cycle to happen in you repeatedly supporting you as you as you live your life. And if that kind of like lofty poetic thinking is odd or doesn't doesn't really land, you can leave it and just notice how the mind softens as it observes the reality of the breath and let me be that's enough. Just a few more breaths just like that. Nothing to it. Nothing to it. It's a kind of meditation this witnessing and it requires not that you do anything but actually that you do less and less and less until it's just bare bones witnessing. Receive a little bit more breath in and feel as that what that does to the body is a little awakening little quickening to the body and the mind. And then slowly step your feet to the floor and hug your knees into your chest. I actually feel complete now. I feel like we can end practice but let's move a little shall we? So move your knees in circles and these circles can be you know same direction. You can allow yourself to move the knees in opposite circles and the heels don't have to draw towards the head. So noticing that for me you know my I'm also making circles with my heels actually but you let whatever is happening in your body happen and you explore that way. Let yourself move around and then come to center and then please step your feet to the floor mat with and let your knees rest into each other. And it will take a moment to find sort of the sweet spot here. So I want you to walk your feet forward until you feel as if there is no effort required for you to let the the the knees stay resting into each other like this. So truly resting into each other in such a way that the thigh bones heads of the thigh bones are resting in the in the hip sockets. Rest your hands on your belly your abdomen and just take a few breaths here. And as you breathe in friends feel your belly expand let there be a little bit of forward tilt of your pelvis so that's called anterior tilt if you're curious. And then as you exhale reverse that so it's it'll feel like you're scooping your tailbone forward. The navel will be gently drawing towards the spine naturally. If you feel your low back make contact with the floor and then you begin to inhale and reverse that. So we are actually as we tilt the pelvis forwards and backwards we're actually just exaggerating natural movement that's already there. So I want us to feel this slight exaggeration of this subtle movement that's actually always happening in the body. And I want you now to begin to make those movements the tilting of the pelvis smaller and smaller until you come to what I keep calling lately the illusion of stillness where the body is supple enough and receptive enough to allow the breath to move through the body in a natural way. So breathe in and breathe out just as before soften the low back more soften the groin relax your belly receive your next breath deep down into the belly feel the belly expand and as you exhale navel towards your spine release all of that air a couple more like that just breathing in through the nose out through the nose great draw your knees into your chest happy baby pose holds the outer edges of your feet soles of the feet facing the ceiling extend through one leg and then the other you know I feel like I actually have like some kind of somatic memory of doing this as a as a child maybe it's like I don't know a fantasy but I feel like I remember sort of being in my small body doing this shape you know I'll roll with it I'll roll with it and pretend that you know those are real memories that I have how far back does somatic memory go I guess hmm it's a fine question please don't ask in the don't ask me because uh I I do not know I am curious though extend one knee extend the other knee come back to center extend your left leg along the floor both feet so I'm deconstructing this now draw your left knee back towards you flex the feet send the arches away from your feet and then as you continue to do that extend that left leg along the floor flex the foot arches sent away from you the leg is in tabasana the foot is in tabasana the right foot also in neutral arch of the foot up to the ceiling rock onto your right hip find a twist across the knee over the body we're just gonna move like that a few times so happy baby a little moving happy baby crossing the knee over the body and to my mind and to my my yeah to my mind I'm I'm currently moving fairly quickly this is what I would consider quickly but you are free to move even more quickly between the two shapes or to move even more slowly in fact I think I'm going to dial my movement down a little bit so rocking open to that the happy baby you can extend the knee if you like bending the knee drawing the foot towards the body and then crossing the knee over the body so we're actually moving the hip in almost every direction that it can move in so let your exploration be an exploration be curious about this let the breath be expansive as you do this the next time you are in that half happy baby pause there flex the foot flex both feet send the arches of both feet away from you and then cross your right calf or the happy baby calf over your body flex the foot send the arch away from the inner knee and then lift your head and upper back away from the floor so we're in like a reclined pigeon pose and you know depending on what's happening in your body you may be able to lift up and and sort of cradle the calf to make sure that you keep that the foot flex flex flex so you don't want to sickle you want to make sure that the arch is being sent away from you you can cradle it a little bit if you're upright try to relax head and neck if it's a strain to keep the upper back lifted go ahead and and recline but let yourself be in an expression of this reclined pigeon that works for your body right and then let's come through center draw that thigh bone towards your torso and then extend the leg along the floor and then just pause for a moment and observe the difference between the the two sides great other side half happy baby on the opposite side you pause for a moment just to explore and allow you know the the hip to to begin to release and then as you're ready you'll begin to do that moving exploration opening and then for the purposes of our exercise we'll say this is closing moving at whatever pace works for your body works for your breath so a few more passes like that once you're in the half happy baby return pause arch away from the inner knee cross the calf over the body maybe you pause there maybe you pause there maybe you lift head and upper back off of the floor and cradle the calf doing whatever works for your body trying to keep that extended leg in tadasana what does that mean the center of the thigh pointing up to the ceiling maybe finding a little bit of rocking from left to right great releasing to the floor deconstructing our exit so not just quickly straightening the leg but thigh bone coming back to neutral knee extending and pausing and observing draw the knees into your chest let's rock along the spine forwards and backwards as many times as you like massaging the spine and then come to sit facing forward facing forward and what does that mean it's relative forward is relative in this video world so you sit in a direction that you like that that allows you to see me and then staff pose dandasana extend your feet straight out in front of you about hips width my knees are slightly bent i'm drawing against the heels to lift pelvis up and and notice how try that tip the pelvis back close your eyes feel what happens up the length of the spine and then friend draw against your heels like an isometric movement tip your pelvis forward lift your chest wow thoracic spine extending do that a few times round the spine press the heels forward round the shoulders inhale draw against the heels or draw the heels towards you as you lift your chest again like that rounding exhale inhale lift the chest draw heels towards you in an isometric way you'll pause hands out to the side cross your legs sukhasana the easy seat cross at the centers of your shins flex your feet it might be helpful if it's difficult to sit in sukhasana or you just like to sit on top of something if you've got a blanket or a pillow you can go ahead and elevate the hips a little bit so they're higher than the knees but flex your feet here too just as we did in happy baby pulls so what the hips are doing inform informs the pelvis pelvis informs the spine so i'm trying to emphasize this not sickling the ankle so that you know the foot is in neutral it's balanced and that balance is what travels up the legs so we have better command and clarity in the pelvis and in the spine so once you find your sukhasana you'll pause there you'll rest your hands on your knees or your thighs lift through the crown of the head and notice how that maybe inspires the chest to lift draw your upper arm bone slightly back in space and heavy the elbows close your eyes bring the palms together at the center of your chest maybe you set an intention or dedication for your practice great lower the chin to your chest excellent release your hands down to your thighs slowly float your head up open your eyes reach the arms out to the side biceps roll forward collarbone spread begin to inhale sweep the arms up with the full length of your breath start to exhale release your arms soften the shoulders keep going like that just sun breaths breathing in receiving the full breath in and then breathing out releasing your arms again inhale exhale breathe in this time as you breathe out a little side bend to the right reach to the top fingertips root the left sitting bone down and you'll inhale and come to center and exhale on the opposite side and then just allowing yourself to continue to move like that breath first movement shapes second supporting the breath but then breath also supporting the shapes and the movement inhale comes we lift up to receive that breath in exhale comes we side bend inhale to center whenever that happens for you and as you exhale to the right you'll pause there you take a few breaths there so make sure left sitting bone is rooted down pinky side of the hand we're tapping towards the force softness in the elbow you breathe in and of course you breathe out inhale to center exhale opposite side entering softly curiously you take several breaths and let the breath invite you to so called deepen your expression of this which you know that could mean you doing something that is completely imperceptible that we cannot see that's completely internalized or maybe it means you know physically you you do do something else and make sure that the breath is free and full body is is balanced and balance in the body is what allows for that that that freedom of breath so the breath is a is a clue to what's happening in the body and in the body mind as you next inhale comes to center great keep your arms extended tip back and extend your your legs widen your legs release your arms and then you'll place your fingertips back behind you lift your pelvis up and then you'll walk your pelvis forward any any amount that feels all right for your body draw your bent elbows towards each other you're on the pads of your fingertips fingertips are acting like a kickstand to help you find that tilt forward of your of your pelvis so we'll play here and explore here for just a little bit can you spill yeah spill your pelvis forward in this shape great walk your hands forward but do that slowly so you're going to release the fingertips slowly so that you can keep that upright position right and this time fingertips in front of you sort of draw back on your fingertips so mine are are um i'm finding some traction on the on the floor here so perhaps you're able to to do that you may be on a carpet or something in which case press the pads of the fingertips down draw against the floor as you inhale lift the chest a little more as you exhale you'll walk your hands forward any amount at all maybe just a nanometer well let's keep the arms extended actually on the pads of the fingers if that's accessible and you're trying to keep your spine extended so you don't want to round forward just so you can come to the floor you actually want to keep the chest lifted and i want you to hinge from your hips rather than the center of the spine so keeping the chest lifted you hinge you lean forward you walk the hands forward any amount we pause with the long spine arms or hands or shoulder width apart biceps wrap forward so we have spreading of those collarbones heels pressing into the floor toes pointing straight up to the ceiling centers of the thighs pointing fairly up towards the the ceiling so you want to keep an element of tadasana in both in both legs so a few more breaths here inhaling to lift the chest and can you feel you know how how does really receiving that breath in and allowing the upper chest to expand the upper spine to extend how does that affect sensation in the hips and then from the other the other end how does spilling the pelvis forward affect that extension that you can access in the spine and then slowly answer that question for yourself those two questions and when you're ready you can slowly walk your hands back great grab a hold of the backs of your knees and then tip back and i'd like you to cross your legs in the non-dominant way so the opposite way as you as you had before flex the feet and pause for a moment use your hands to just gently encourage you're not actually doing anything it's like it's like a caress like like like a little self self massage little self reiki here so you're just saying you know to these thighs this action what we're going to do quite a bit of this today this is called external rotation of your of your thighs if you care it actually doesn't matter what it's called matters how it feels so have a sense of that lift your chest walk your hands out great inhale again sweep your arms up exhale release twice more like that inhale reach the arms up exhale release inhale sweep the arms up this time touch the palms and as you exhale draw the hands down the center line of your body you'll pause there for a moment the gaze can be soft or you can close the eyes if that feels right for you great and let's find a child's pose facing the front of your mat so big toes touching knees wide apart and child's pose too you know you may have done it millions of times before but approach as if it is the first time and it is in fact this particular child's pose it is the first time you're doing it so widen the knees and take your time you know finding a little more opening of the hips although we've already been exploring that and then release yourself down onto the floor rest your head on the floor and you take a few breaths there breathing into the upper back feeling as you breathe in that kind of expansion of the rib cage in all four directions and that heaviness of the hips that comes as you exhale and you'll take a few more breaths just like that might feel nice to take some audible exhales sign is actually good for you you can google that let's start to walk your hands forward look forward spread the knuckles of your fingers inhale drag yourself forward to really wide cow pose and stay there widen your feet so you see your knees are about as wide as your mat i want your feet to be that wide too and i'd like you to inhale to release your belly and spread the collarbones more and then i want you to use your exhale so lift your hips up and back to an incredibly wide down dog so hands are wide feet are wide interesting spacious arrival it's always with the arrival how pedal through the feet bend the the knees i like softening the elbows it's pretty um feels good it's pretty informative to what's happening in the shoulders what's happening in the spine spread the the toes spread the toes you can lift the heels and then descend them anything you like small movement but notice how you know these so-called small movements are so incredibly interesting so powerful that's kind of been the focus of my my practice for for the past year or so just quiet quiet what is it to be quiet what is it to move from the inside rather than you know doing sort of big external movements which are great too not to say that this particular movement is is small requires quite a lot to be in down dog but can the approach be slightly different can you your your locus of of focus arriving be from from deep deep inside start to inhale whenever that happens it'll happen you'll lower your knees to the floor you'll release your belly and open your chest and then you'll exhale to child's pose inhale you'll come forward exhale you're pressed back wide down dog spin the inner thighs back behind you keep going like that the breath in will come and then again hand on the dial i'm moving a little bit more quickly than i i might typically and i invite you to explore what feels right for you so if you tend to move quite slowly maybe move a little bit more quickly if you tend to move quickly how slow can you go oh and maybe you can somehow find some combination of those two approaches but you know main thing is that you are exploring and that there is an element of like sovereignty and and honesty really about your practice that you're practicing in a way that's responsive to your reality so we're moving collectively but it's got to be room for for what's happening individually too a couple more passes like that you're inhaling and lowering the knees to release the belly you're exhaling to find a child's pose that close shape bowing to the breath inhaling to open the front body again and then exhaling to down dog and then landing in a down dog walking your hands and feet towards each other in as funky away as possible hmm and then coming to the the center of your mat i'm actually going to um i'm going to turn to to face you you can stay facing whatever direction you're in but widen your feet so that they are about mat width apart dial your toes out actually do not dial your toes out left yet parallel your feet soften your knees spill your pelvis forward i want us to be in this forward fold for a little bit and then please sway yourself from left to right and really deliberate sways you know that are generated from the inside that have a quality of curiosity rather than kind of and you can kind of see this when you're watching movement or even in your own movement when you're just moving in a mechanical way that has no kind of deeper content but then when you get really quiet and curious and you move from the inside of your body maybe your hands are making contact with the floor and they can kind of play and then please make your swaying a little smaller and a little smaller and smaller until you are in center inhale to come to a kind of prepare pose hands to the floor on your shins lift the center of your chest and then exhale forward fold again and do that again inhale hands to your shins or to the floor lift the chest exhale forward fold stay in the forward fold now dial your toes out so we're going friends to come to malasana the squatting pose so if you know that you like to be supported by a block or you've got a wedge of blanket underneath the heels for stability go ahead and and prepare yourself for that and if you're unsure try to lower the seat towards the the floor knees are open and you see what experience you're having and support yourself in a way you need to be supported so it may help to sit on top of a block or two lift the arches of your feet lift the center of your chest bring your palms to prayer at the center of your chest hmm interesting and impress elbows into knees knees into elbows and lift the center of the chest more lift the crown of your head more soften the gaze or close your eyes i want you to do two completely oppositional actions here lift the crown of your head up as much as as you possibly can but also descend your tailbone lengthen lengthen lengthen full breath in long breaths out maybe you find a little bit of of movement in this malasana shape this garland pose little shifting of the weight from left to right and then come to stillness center place your right hand down on the floor reach your left arm up to the ceiling so you're getting broad across your chest make sure the shoulders are softened away from the ears take one breath in there and then as you exhale sweep your arm forward and alongside your ear breathe in and as you exhale you're gonna sweep the arm forward and out to the side inhale exhale sweep it forward inhale and then exhale sweep it down and forward a couple more passes like that for yourself and once you land in that sort of side angle arms quite complex actually to to do all these various things for doing in the body can you open the chest more slide the shoulder down the back take one breath in there and as you exhale you'll release that huh yee-haw and you'll find the opposite side left hand to the floor right arm up to the ceiling open breathe in broad across the chest sweep the arm forward and you're transitioning with breath the exhale will travel on the exhale pause and receive a breath in at either end of the spectrum there the next time you're with the the side angle arm you pause there soften the neck open the chest take one more breath in there and then exhale to release lift your seat up separate your feet a little wider than your mat and again with the the swaying this time involve your upper body let it get a little bigger a little weirder let the spine be nice and fluid i'm involving now my feet in this i'm lifting my toes up off of the floor spreading them um arms are moving spine is also moving it's all sorts of weird stuff happening and hopefully that's the case for you too but keep moving but not in a way that takes you out of your body in a way that actually draws you deeper into your body so there's a qualitative difference and it's subtle and it may take some exploring to find that that sweet spot and then friend slowly really weirdly move yourself up to a standing position so you're already facing forward i'll join you there soften your knees bounce through your knees hands on your hips circles with your hips and they can be little half circles they can be full circles whatever feels right for your body this is really interesting for my body right now it's a combination of a lot of sinning but also a lot of like glute strengthening movements oh okay let's let's bounce a little shall we bounce shake okay okay okay you can keep doing that for as long as you need tatasana mountain pose feet are are parallel turn the palms to face slightly forward in the in a natural way just to encourage broadness across the chest and then start to inhale sweep the arms up receive the breath in exhale your hinge forward soft knees inhale prepare pose lift the chest unfurl your spine exhale let's do that twice more so right from here let's fold right back forward the inhale will come you'll respond with a prepare pose the exhale will come you'll bow to the exhale another inhale will come you'll respond by coming up to stand sweeping the arms up and let's go right back into the next one hinge forward with your breath out lift the chest with your breath in bow forward with your breath out inhale rising up arms rise up exhale weirdly descend your arms rest your hands on your body take a few moments of breath here and arrive even here even here always this approach right to the to the shapes this approach this imprinting like suppleness and curiosity into the body that way when we do land in these shapes that have you know form and name and all these sort of constricting elements we're approaching from a place of softness so we can be expansive and open to the reality of the body which is dynamic movement at at all times life pulsating inside of the body at all times i feel i feel like i should have a like a an anatomy bible mentioning pounding on it now relax your body and breathe and what what a what a miracle right inhale reach your arms up this time as you exhale a little side bend to one side doesn't matter which i'll let you decide inhale to center and then keep switching sides exhale opposite side and we'll keep passing through like that and you know you do this i'll face you you do it in a way you like so maybe it's inhale center and then exhale side bend and it's pretty clear right and deliberate but you could also you know be pretty fluid about it and i might like to be a little more fluid but neither one is better than the other you just have to do you know whichever calls to you and be inside of that be inside of that the next time you're on one side pause there doesn't matter which but let the bottom arm float alongside your body reach through the top arm and as a breath in comes this time let's move very clearly and then exhale side bend in the opposite direction it's okay if we're moving in opposite directions soften the bottom shoulder arm by the side inhale back to center lift both arms up very clearly as you exhale chair pulls inhale lifting up exhale chair pause inhale press through the heels to stand up exhale chair pose this time stay here and breathe in and as you breathe out you'll hinge forward breathe in to lift your chest up and then exhale to forward fold inhale to sweep your arms around and up come up halfway arms are reaching directly out of the shoulder sockets and then on another inhale i want you to sit into chair and extend your arms and pause bring your hands to your hips lift your left heel up and step your left foot all the way back and slightly over to the left and then find a high lunge lift your torso up lift your arms up as you breathe in lift up and then exhale little side bend to the to the right draw your left hip forward soften your your right shoulder as you breathe in center pause peel your back toes all the way back clarity in the shape and there can be this moment of like you know almost i don't want to say extreme clarity but there's a deliberateness there's a linear quality about the shape you can be there or you can also be soft and in fact try that clarity in your lower body peel the back toes back back leg active front heel pressing down upper body just get fluid with it however that looks for you fluid in the spine but let the bottom half of your body be incredibly grounded and clear how interesting and then come to center arms will lift up exhale your hands to your two blocks under the shoulders palms on the blocks inhale reach your right arm up to the ceiling pause there for a moment in low lunge twist take one more breath in and as you exhale hand to the block raise the height of your blocks shift your weight forward into a little supported warrior three so hands on the block so you may have to walk them forward i'm going to actually walk myself back so give yourself space to express the shape reach through that that top heel and then inhale to open the hip the toes will turn outward and then exhale to turn the toes towards the floor we'll do that a couple of times that opening again and then closing and you go at your own pace and you just feel opening the hip so pelvis is sort of revolving over the the head of that that standing thigh bone so interesting and then once you're in that supported warrior three again press the hands down lift the chest up and then slowly soften the front knee and step your foot forward and pause for a moment and standing forward fold release your head inhale lift your chest soften your knees reach your arms out to the side sweep your arms up as you lift your torso up and breathe in breathe out your hands see your hips step your right foot back and a little over to the right so you've got stability in your your stance there clearly press that back heel back peel the back toes back extend your arms breathe in exhale you'll side bend to the left you take a couple of breaths there just like that ribs facing forward inhale yourself back to center clarity in your lower body fluidity in your upper body so let your spine move let your shoulders move wow i feel i'm feeling more creative on this side maybe you are too but what an interesting pairing clarity in the lower body strength groundedness in the lower body with this you know this roundness the suppleness in the upper body inhale reach your arms up and then exhale your hands to the blocks you'll lower them to the medium height you'll organize yourself so you can set yourself up for a low lunge twist and with a breath in you reach your top arm up to the ceiling and we'll take a couple of breaths there broad across the chest soften the shoulders take one more breath in there exhale your hand to the block raise the height of the blocks shift yourself forward lift your back heel and leg up walk myself back reach back through that back heel find neutral so you can look at the toes point them towards the floor and then you'll play with opening the hip and then closing that you keep going like that with a curiosity so so much going on here actually so you choose you know what you want to focus on if anything maybe it's just a sort of the whole experience of doing this movement maybe it's just pairing the the breath with the movement but you can be as kind of holistic or as granular in your your attention as you like and that's the fun of it it's not what we're doing it's how wow my standing hip is um has a lot to say about this the next time you're in the warrior three pause there lift the chest lengthen the crown of your head forward breathe in good and as you breathe out you step that back foot forward you soften your knees supported uttanasana standing forward fold crown of the head releases to the floor and you breathe great bring your hands to your hips with soft knees draw your elbows together reach your heart all the way forward coming up to stand with an extended spine releasing your arms turning to face the long edge of your mat separating your feet so that they're about a leg's distance apart and then placing your hands on your hips turning your let's go to the right side first turning your right toes towards that that side of your mat angling your left toes in and then bend that front knee to whatever degree works for your body so maybe a little slight bend maybe you like to bend quite deeply but see you know you may have this preconceived idea and then you go to do something and the body the breath are telling you you know no no you need to do x y and see but you've got to listen long tailbone so that the lumbar spine is spacious extend your arms breathe in straighten your front leg lift your arms up and then breathe out bend the knee lower the arms keep going like that breathe in exhale breathe out inhale exhale pause this time you take a few breaths here let's breathe into a little reverse warrior so left hand down the right arm extends and then let's bring the right arm as you exhale to your forearm sweep that left arm forward extend it alongside your ear reach through the fingertips pressing that right heel down and not sinking into the hip but lifting actually a little bit up out of it let me take a few breaths there just like that you might like to extend your elbow and reach your fingertips towards the floor that's fine or not make sure you're lifting up out of the shoulder though if the forearm is resting on the thigh you know take a breath in there let's take a few breath cycles here all quiet now use and exhale to make your way back to warrior to extend your arms straighten your front leg bring your hands to your hips parallel your feet little bend of the knees shift of the weight from left to right in fact turn your heels towards each other and find a little bit of a of that horse stance lengthen your tailbone extend your arms turn your palms to face up reach your arms alongside your ears wide v sit nice and low breathe in and then breathe out lengthen your tailbone a little bit more release the arms straighten toes will turn in the opposite direction so center of that thigh pointing forward bend the knee to whatever degree you like or need extend your arms breathe in lift exhale lower inhale lift exhale lower inhale lifting up exhale lower and stay here soften the shoulders long tailbone grounded in the lower body supple in the upper body receive breath let it move move you let it move through you on an inhale you'll reverse this warrior and on an exhale you'll find your expression of side angle poles reaching through the top fingertips short space in the the bottom shoulder and you know it's quite linear in a sense this the shape even the upper body but can you let you know the keep the architecture of the shape soften around it and and within it so what can you what can you soften and whether that's you know mechanically in your in your body or maybe it's just a part of your mind that's holding on to an idea about the shape or the experience take one more breath in use an exhale to come back to warrior two great straighten your front leg parallel your feet feet wide apart and and parallel draw your elbows back breathe in as you exhale you'll hinge forward keeping your spine long as you do this so we did this exact same shape to to start when we were seated on the floor same actions hands can float to the floor and let's bring the hands underneath the come up halfway hands under the shoulders keep your spine long so lengthen it a little bit more and then you can slowly release your heart towards the floor of course blocks under the hands is an is an option you can begin to walk your hands back so that the heels of your hands are in line with the the heels of your feet but of course hands stay shoulder-width bent elbows stay shoulder-width start to walk your hands forward and with your hands on blocks or the floor please heel toe your feet towards each other it's a kind of odd unusual exit there and then bend your knees legs extend them forward step your feet to the floor reach your arms forward and slowly lower yourself down onto the floor draw your knees into your chest step your feet to the floor a little forward of your your hips and we're going to do just a quick restorative bridge pose so you grab one of your blocks you'll press into your heels and place the block underneath your pelvis on its lowest height so you've got maximum real estate maximum surface area for your pelvis if you like more height just stack another block on top and then here you roll the shoulders underneath the body you'll be sure that your position so that your pelvis is in fact supported and you'll keep the knees bent or you might like to extend your legs and if you're not sure you can try both and then you land in a place that that works for you and we'll just take a couple of breaths here allowing the pelvis to be completely supported by the block breathing in and breathing out every breath out give a little bit more of the weight of your pelvis to the block and friends you can if this is feeling good to you please stay here for as long as you like i am now going to lift press into my heels to lift my pelvis up and slowly remove that block and place it off to the side when i replace my hips back down onto the floor and hug my knees into my chest then i'll extend one leg doesn't matter which crossed in the over the body for a twist and i'll come to center and switch sides re-center the hips hug the knee in twist come to center re-center the hips extend one leg and then the other preparing for shavasana so if you grab those things to support your knees go ahead and and do that you're curious about how blocks can support your knees you can just angle the blocks towards your thigh bones and then lay yourself down onto the floor and i'll take a few moments of of rest just letting go of of all efforts receiving the weight of your front body with your back body and continuing to rest for as long as you like as you need you could rest for an extended period what if you'd like to come up and have a sit with me can wiggle fingers and toes and extend your arms alongside your ears give yourself a long stretch and roll onto one side and pause for a moment and then keeping your eyes closed you'll make your way up to a comfortable seat sitting well resting your hands on your knees or your thighs lengthen your lift the crown of your head up towards the ceiling palms can come to prayer at the center of the chest bow your head to your hands and just thank yourself for practicing and honor your body and your breath and the connection between the two may you carry a sense of lightness and curiosity and play with you always the light in me season honors the light that's also in you namaste