Flow into Ease

Happy Monday or whatever day it is while you're watching today. Welcome back to Joyful Flow Season 2 and it is our last session together. So let's make this one special. If you've been joining us live, thanks for joining. If you've been joining recorded, thank you for following this whole series.

And let's have fun today. We're going to use two blocks and a blanket is optional or a beach towel like I have for the knees. Today we're going to play with that juxtaposition of moving quickly, a nice fiery flow. And then the second part of class, we're going to slow things down on hold, maybe even a couple of massaging opportunities as we finish the journey today. So you can find a nice comfortable seat.

If the spine isn't able to find height in a comfortable seat and you're rounding the spine, great opportunity to sit on one of the beach towels. Move your abundance back a little bit. We've all been given abundance, our little seat cushions for life. So move those back a little bit so you find your tall spine. And before we connect with our breath, let's just take a couple of movements to feel the spine and the seat.

Hold onto the front of your shins, draw the navel up and back, exhale a little rounding of the spine and then lift the sternum, chin and chest, sternum to the sky, heart to the sky, chin lifts away from the chest as you inhale. A couple of cow and cat tilts just to massage the front and back body so it's easier to find a comfortable tall seat. Let's do two more of those pulsing with the breath. Exhale rounding, inhale, lengthening, lifting, perfect. Last round, wonderful everybody.

As you come to that neutral spine, that tall spine, slightly draw the chin back towards the chest or the chin back towards the chest and then lengthen the crown of the head. We'll bring the hands just on top of the knees today. We're going to be using the arms in our breath work today. So when you're ready, take a nice, slow, deep exhale. Let the breath out through the mouth, inhale through the nose.

Let's try one more of those exhales through the mouth. Let some tension go. As you inhale through the nose, slowly lift your elbows up to the height of your shoulders. Take a moment, pause, hold the breath, three, two, one. As you exhale through the nose, keep the elbows bent and start to draw the palms towards the midline of the body.

When you're ready for the next inhale, lift the elbows. Hold the breath, three, two, one, exhale, draw back to the midline, short pause before you start your inhale, lifting the elbows, feeling the left of the sternum and the chest. Hold for three, two, one, exhale, draw the palms a little closer together. Maybe they even touch this time, take a short pause, start your inhale all over again. After that inhale, hold the breath and see if you can invite stillness to be your friend here, listen for the heart rate.

And then exhale, draw the elbows back to the midline, the palms back to the center. Two more times, focusing on the hold after the inhale. Inhale the palms up. Hold the breath, enjoy silence, listening, withdrawing your senses inward, exhale, palms back together, last one, really connect with that hold, inhale, lift the elbows, hold the breath, enjoy silence, and then exhale the palms back towards the midline. The next time you inhale and lift the elbows, bring the fingertips right up to the tops of your shoulders with the elbows bent, circle the elbows forward with your exhale, and then inhale, lift the elbows up, circle the elbows back, start your exhalation again.

Inhale the elbows forward and up. Pause for a moment with the breath, and then exhale, circle it down. Go back to those pauses after your inhale, circle it forward on the inhale, pause, and then exhale, shrug the tension away. Try two more just like that, lift it with the inhale, pause, shrug the tension away down the spine, melting it away. One more round, inhale, lift, pause, interlace your hands behind the base of the head.

As you exhale, let the torso draw to your right, a side bend to your right. As you inhale, come on back to center, pressing the head back, tall spine. And as you exhale, let the elbows drop over to the left, side bend to your left. Two more pulses just like that, inhaling to center, exhaling to the right, enjoying the side stretch that movement of the spine that we don't get to experience that much. Exhale to the left.

As you inhale back to center, reach out with your right hand, place the right hand, about a foot, foot and a half away from you. Inhale the left arm over the head, a little roll back with the left shoulder. Take a nice big inhale, hold the breath, three, two, one, exhale, bend your right elbow a little bit. Inhale straight in the right elbow, hold the breath, three, two, one, exhale, bend the right elbow maybe a little bit more. You got one more of these, enjoy the holds, the pauses, the kumbaka, exhale, bend, beautiful.

Lower that left hand on top of the right knee. Walk the right fingertips behind you, tall spine, lift and lengthen the spine, soft rotation to the right. Maybe walk the fingertips a little farther behind you, lift and lengthen with the inhale, soft twist with your exhale. One more time, just like that, inhaling through the nose, hold the breath, exhale, soften into it. As you turn back to center, switch the cross of your legs, inhale the palms to the sky, bend those elbows, bring the fingertips to the tops of the shoulders, one elbow circles at a time.

So a little bit of bent elbow backstroke here, find a little bit of movement, a little freedom in the upper back and the shoulders, one more round. Lift both elbows up, interlace your hands behind the base of the spine, tall spine, exhale your elbows over to the right, side bend, inhale back to center, exhale your elbows over to the left. Stay here over to the left, reach out with the left palm, plant it on the floor, right arm up and over the ear, enjoy that side stretch with a little bend, add a little twist to your right, take a big inhale, hold the breath, three, two, one, exhale, bend your left elbow, reach with that right arm, straighten the left elbow with the inhale, hold the breath, enjoy the stillness and then bend the elbow with the exhale, take one more round just like that, inhale lift, soft turn of the torso to the right, hold the breath, exhale bend the left elbow, beautiful, right hand on top of the left thigh, left fingertips behind you, lift and lengthen, tall spine, soft rotation to the left, inhale lift and lengthen, maybe walk the fingertips back, tall or spine, exhale ring it out, we're going to do our hold this time, inhale lift and lengthen, hold the breath, exhale release it, softly melt into the twist, wonderful, coming on back to center, let's set up for table pose, I wish you a wonderful journey, let's set it up, I don't know, you just have to do things like that sometimes, palms underneath your shoulders, knees underneath your hips for your table pose, one or two rounds of our cow and cat tilts just to feel the extension and flexion of the spine, cow tilt, heart forward, look up, round with the exhale, cat tilt, push forward and down into your palms, let's try one more of those, glide your heart forward with the inhale, exhale round the spine, push forward and down, come to your neutral spine, think of like the Chinese dragon, you know where the head moves, then the tail moves in the opposite direction, the head starts to turn and then the tail follows at last, so we get a little side bend from side to side, little freedom in the middle of the torso, long the side body lats intercostals, we're going to feel this side bend also in our first down dog, so come on to a neutral spine, walk your hands a palm print forward, tuck your toes under, lift your hips to the sky, push actively forward with both hands, as you find the down dog, pedal the legs out one at a time, feel the hamstrings, the calves as you press actively forward with both hands, bend your right leg, keep it bent, pivot your heels to the right so you're feeling that same side stretch that we were talking about, the left heel is turning to the right, breathe into the right side body, push forward strongly with the right hand, so you feel that left side body stretch, keep the right leg bent, lower the right knee to the floor for easy side plank, the right hand, right knee, left heel line up, inhale the left palm to the sky, take the left arm up and over the ear for that side bend, push forward and down with the right hand, feel free to stay right here with your right knee or right ankle above the left knee, open up the hip, hover the right knee off of the floor, option two, one more round breath wherever you are, if the right knee is off the floor, bring it back, as you bring the left palm to the floor, lift the left leg off of the floor, extend your right arm forward, take an inhale, as you exhale left knee, right elbow draw to the midline, engage your core round the spine, inhale lengthen the spine for the cow tilt and exhale round the spine for the cat tilt, I'll get my cat and cows right today, inhale lengthen for the cow, exhale round and contract for the cat, one more round of breath, lengthen extend the arm and leg, lower the left foot to the floor, draw the right hand right to the sternum and open the right arm out to the side like a wing, squeeze the inner thighs to the midline, lengthen the spine for this nice little lunge, this nice little twisted variation of side plank and then thread your right arm underneath your left, lowering the right shoulder to the floor if it's available, pushing the floor away with your left hand or we can play with that prayer option, left palm on top of the right, bend the elbows, a little elbow stand if you dare, balancing on your right elbow, if it still feels interesting, shift your weight to your right leg and hover the left leg off the floor, try two more rounds of breath, lengthen the spine, push the left palm into the right, one more round of breath, lengthen and rotate, left palm to the floor, right hand to the sky, we're going to play with one of those holds, take a nice big inhale here, hold the breath and then exhale softly turn to your right, just a little bit more, right hand to the floor, left knee to the floor, come up to your fingertips, little easy cow and cat tilt on our fingertips, strengthening the muscles in the hand, guide the heart forward with the inhale, round the spine with your exhale, pulse with your breath, lengthen forward with the inhale, round with your exhale, perfect everybody, last round, alright, let's walk those hands of palm print forward, lower the palms to the floor, tuck the toes under, going back to our side bending dog, lift the hips to the sky, press the chest to the thighs, bend your left leg, keep your right leg straight, pivot your heels over to the left so you feel the side stretch on the right side body, push actively forward with your left hand, breathe into the right side body and enjoy the side bend while you're pressing your chest towards that left thigh, lower the left knee to the floor, right underneath the hip, easy side plank, right heel, left knee, left palm line up, inhale the right palm to the sky, take the right arm up and over the ear for your side stretch, same option two that we had on the other side, if you want to place the left ankle above the right knee for a hovering hip opening side plank, feel free to explore. One more round of breath wherever you are, lower the left knee to the floor if it's off, lower the right hand to the floor and then immediately lift that right leg off the floor, extend it behind you, lengthen the spine, inhale your left arm forward, find your balance, elbow, right knee into the chest, cat tilt round the spine, lengthen forward, extend the right leg back with the inhale, pulse with your breath, two more rounds, one more, the next time you extend the arm and leg, pause here, lower the right foot to the floor, toe pads to the floor, left hand at the heart, turn to your left, open up the wing, inhale the left palm to the sky, squeeze to the midline with the inner thighs, thread the left arm underneath the right, lower the left shoulder to the floor, stay here for a softer twist, right hand presses into the floor for more rotation or take the right palm on top of the left, palms into prayer, a little elbow stand, bending on that left elbow, lengthen the spine forward and twist, you may have to slide that left elbow forward a little bit just so you have your balance, if you're playing with the lift off the right foot lifts off the floor, beautiful, lower the right hand back to how you started, push forward and down into the right hand, inhale the left palm to the sky, pause for a second, exhale it out, one more inhale, we're going to hold the breath, inhale, hold and exhale draw the navel to the spine, lose the breath, open up the wing, beautiful, left hand to the floor, right knee to the floor, give yourself a little wrist stretch on the right hand, flip the right palm so the right wrist is facing forward, back up your seat a little bit or a lot and enjoy that stretch for that right forearm, wonderful, release the right hand, shake it out a little bit, flip the left palm, left thumb turns out, left wrist forward, same opportunity as you back up the seat, you'll feel a little bit more, excellent everybody, shake out the left hand, walk the left hand and right hand to palm print forward, one more round of the down dog in this series, hips to the sky, chest to the thighs, this is yogi's choice, move that dog around any way that feels necessary for you, whether it's bending one leg at a time, whether it's chugging your shoulders, whether it's pivoting your feet, feel your way around the next three breaths of the down dog, wonderful, we'll meet in plank pose where you can lower the knees to the floor to make it an easier lower down or just bend those elbows without the knees on the floor lowering all the way down, untuck the toes, replace the palms with the elbows, easy Sphinx pose today, this is a great spot to stay and enjoy the back bend as you move the heart forward and soften the shoulder blades down, pressing to the tops of the feet will activate the muscles and the legs keeping that lower back safe, we're going to be here another three breaths if you just want to let the left ear drop towards the left shoulder and roll back and over to the right, releasing a little bit more tension, feel free, all right, work your way up through table or press up to plank on your way back to down dog your call here, engage the core, lift up hips to the sky, chest to the thighs, we're taking a little journey forward to the front of our map, as you bend the knees at the finale of your next exhale, you can walk or float the feet to the front of the mat, lengthen the spine with the inhale enjoy a soft fold with your exhalation, good, bend the knees, take your feet wider than your mat, you can either walk them off or bend the knees, plant your hands into the floor and take a little float a little wider than your mat with your feet, I'm going to cheat to the camera a little bit so you can see me, bring your hands to the hips, take a little soft bend in one leg at a time and let the torso sway left and right, continue on with our torso circles the next time you bend the right leg, inhale the torso up to the sky crown of the head lifts and then bow over your bent left leg, folding, creating nice little torso circles, opening up that connection between the torso and the limbs and if you want to get the upper back and shoulders into it, release the arms and inhale the palms to the sky and explore your range of motion through the upper back and shoulders, two more rounds of breath, this just gets the whole body moving, all the directional movements of the spine get to be explored here, the next time you're bowing towards the floor, keep your legs bent, walk your left hand over towards your right shin, hold on to it and then inhale the right hand to the sky, drape it around the waist, right now your legs are bent as you're bowing over the right leg, if you want to feel more, straighten just the right leg and lean your hips over to the left, lean your torso to the left so you feel a nice big side stretch, nice big inhale, exhale soften, let's try an inhale and a hold, nice big inhale, hold the breath and soften and melt a little deeper into it, perfect, bend both legs, bring your hands to your hips, let the torso sway from side to side as you bend one leg at a time, the next time you bend the left leg rise up, torso circle all the way over, bow over the right leg, remember as you continue on with these torso circles you can keep your hands on the hips much safer for the lower back or you can let the upper body arms start to explore the range of motion and space, feels good to get those upper body muscles into it, the shoulders, the chest, the sternum, the heart opening up a little bit more as you explore, feel out one more full round and we'll bow forward once again with our knees softly bent, right hand reaches over for the outer left calf or ankle, left hand drapes around the waist behind the back, as you bow over the left shin if you want to feel more start to straighten the left leg and move your hips to the right, feeling that nice big side stretch on the right side body, take an inhale and exhale let it out, let's try one of those inhale pauses, nice big inhale, hold and then exhale melt a little deeper, bow your chest towards your left thigh, perfect, bend both legs, your feet are still a little bit wider than your mat, with your knees bent engage your core roll all the way up to your stand, take your arms out to the side like wings and then as you exhale walk or float your feet to the center of the mat like you just finished that perfect gymnastic routine, alright you've got your blocks available here if you need them, we're going to do a nice little sun salutation, see at a little quicker pace, take an inhale, exhale let something go, inhale reach the palms to the sky, exhale hinge at the hips forward fold, inhale palms to the shins flat back, lengthen the spine, exhale bend both knees, fingertips to the floor, step the right leg all the way back, lower the right knee to the floor, untuck the right toes, inhale the palms to the sky, lift the sternum, lift the chin, lift the chest, exhale the palms around the left foot, tuck the right toes under, left foot steps back to meet the right, lower down, your first back bend if you're going deeper than Sphinx pose, palms by the ribs, lift the sternum, lift the chest maybe baby cobra pose elbows bent or start to straighten the arms of the lower back finding some space, exhale back to your down dog, beautiful take a nice big inhale here, exhale let the breath go, let's try one of our inhale holds, inhale hold the breath, push forward with the hands, exhale draw the navel the spine, let it out, look to the front of the mat, step your right foot forward, lower the left knee, low lunge, arms to the sky, soften the shoulder blades down, lift the sternum, lift the chest, exhale frame the right foot with both hands, look forward, tuck the left toes under, step your left foot forward to meet the right, palms to the shins, lengthen the spine, flat back, exhale soft fold, inhale reverse the dive, rise all the way up, reach the palms to the sky, exhale them right into prayer, close the eyes, take a moment to connect with your breath, if you'd like to join me for an om as we bow to the floor feel free to share your energy, inhale the palms to the sky, hinging at the hips, palms to the shins, lengthen the spine, flat back, this might be a good one to use your blocks on, shift your weight to your right leg, L shape with the left leg, toes pointing down, lengthen the spine, long spine, flat back, use the blocks if it's right for you in this posture, if you feel like taking the right hand into prayer or the left hand into prayer, feel free to play with a moment here in the warrior three variation from this L shape, fingertips to the floor, step the left leg all the way back, lower the left knee to the floor, high low lunge, inhale your palms to the sky, bend your elbows and lift your sternum, lift your chest as you cactus feel go the arms, enjoy the breath, beautiful, lower the palms to the floor, around the right foot, tuck the left toes under, right leg to the sky, three-legged dog, bow your chest towards your left shin, right heel up, toes pointing straight down, squeeze to the midline, lengthen the spine, flat back, bend the elbows, lower down, glide into your back bend, untuck the toes, inhale to cobra or up dog, heart moves forward, shoulder blades soften, exhale back to your down dog, settle out the legs, enjoy the breath, two more rounds, one more, shift your weight to your right leg, inhale the left leg to the sky for your three-legged dog, look forward, step the left foot to the front of the mat, lower the right knee to the floor, inhale the palms to the sky, cactus feel go the arms for your low lunge, heart lifts, shoulder blades soften down the spine, squeeze to the midline, exhale your palms to the floor, framing the left foot, use your blocks here, tuck the toes under, L shape, fingertips on the block, right leg lifts off of the floor, lengthen the spine, stay here or play with the left hand moving to the sternum, maybe even the right for that little play in warrior three, fingertips back to the block or floor, step the right leg forward, easy forward fold, enjoy a little moment here, soften into it, relax the muscles of the face, relax the jaw, bend both knees, engage your core muscles, roll all the way up to your stand, inhale the palms to the sky, exhale the palms into prayer, give yourself a moment with the hands in samastitihi, that equal balance of energies, the solar and the lunar, the play that we're playing today with the energetic flow followed by the softening, releasing, opening part of our practice at the end. If you have a dedication or an offering for your journey now is a great time to set it as your mind starts to settle a little bit more.

We can seal that offering with an om as we bow to the floor, arms by the side, inhale the palms to the sky, lift the sternum and chest, exhale, hinge at the hips, palms to the shins, lengthen the spine, flat back, take a moment here, really lengthen the spine, take an inhale, hold the breath, exhale, pull the navel to the spine, soften into your forward fold, bring your fingertips to the floor or your block, step the left leg all the way back, spinal twisting lunge, left palm stays, lining up with the right toes, right palm to the sky, lengthen the spine, rotate the torso to the right, draw the right knee forward over the right ankle and simultaneously push the left heel back in opposition. One more big inhale, hold for a count and then exhale, ring it out. Right hand to the floor, left knee to the floor, straighten the right leg, easy split, point the toes and flex, point and flex, wake up the muscles and the calf, the ankle, rebend the right leg, tuck your left toes under, high lunge, hands to the hips, make sure the feet are hip distance, straighten your left leg, inhale the palms to the sky, bend the right leg, come into cactus field goal, straighten both legs, send the palms to the sky, bend the elbows, cactus field goal, lift the heart. One more round of breath, lift it with the inhale, cactus field goal with the exhale, take a nice big inhale, hold the breath and then exhale, bring your palms together in prayer, turn your left heel to the floor, turn your torso to the left, heels are lining up, straighten the right leg, take the arms out to the side like wings, bend those elbows and bring the hands right behind the base of the head, side bend to your left, left elbow leaned to the left, torso side bend to the left, bend your right leg, right elbow towards the right knee, pulse with your breath going back to the side bends, rise up, straighten the right leg, left elbow leans over to the left side bending and then bend the right knee, right elbow towards the right knee, last round. Next time you rise up, pause right here, take that right hand to the sky, left hand reaches up for the right wrist and then bend into that right leg for a reverse triangle or peaceful word, depending if you want that right leg straight or bent, give yourself two more rounds of breath, one more round of breath, beautiful, interlace your hands behind the base of the head one more time, draw that right elbow towards the right knee, release the right elbow down, keep the left hand behind the head, lean the head back as you turn the torso to the left, lengthen the spine, stay here with your right hand or bring the right hand to the calf, the ankle or for some of you even the floor, maybe the block is there, lengthen the spine, soft rotation to the left, lower the left hand next to the right, walk your hands over to the left, turn your toes straight forward, line them up wide legged stance and then turn the left toes to ten o'clock, the right toes to two o'clock, bend your left leg, walk the fingertips over towards the left foot, bend the right leg, walk the fingertips over towards the right foot, little crouching tiger, skandhasana party, you're all invited, if you want to lift the toes of the straight leg side of the foot off the floor as you explore, moving a little bit deeper into the hamstrings and hips, feel free to play, remember this is the fiery part of our pose so if you're breathing strongly you're probably doing it right, last two, last one, straighten both legs, palms underneath the shoulders, lengthen the spine, flat back, right hand stays, left hand to the sky, big inhale, thread the left arm under, across and through, grab on to the outer right calf ankle or heel, inhale the right palm to the sky, drape it around the waist and take a little bow over your right quad, two more rounds of breath, one more nice big inhale, long hold, three, two, one, exhale soft and a little deeper towards that right shin, turn both toes to your right, left heel off the floor, right hand to the sky finishing with a twist that we started, beautiful, right hand frames the right foot, right leg to the sky, one leg a dog, lengthen forward to plank pose, lower down, glide forward to your back bend as you untuck the toes, lift the sternum, lift the chest, exhale back to your down dog, with the next exhalation bend the knees and either walk or float your feet forward, lengthen the spine for your inhale, soft fold for your exhale, relax the muscles of the face, relax the jaw, while you're forward folding I'm going to turn to the other side of my mat so you can follow me a little easier, forward folding at the front of your mat, bend both knees release the arms, round the spine, roll up, inhale the palms to the sky, draw the palms right into prayer, samastitihi, that mudra where we're exploring the balancing of the left, right side of the brain, the energetic body, the ida, the pingala, the cooling and the heating, and we're firing up the body and the pingala side so we're going to take one more round on this side and cool things down, inhale the palms to the sky, join me for an om as you bow, om, palms to the shins, lengthen the spine, flat back, bend both knees, fingertips to the floor or your block, step the right leg all the way back into a lunge, right hand lines up with the left foot, left leg stays bent, left palm to the sky for the twist, lengthen the spine and exhale, twist, push a little farther back with the right knee, lengthen the spine, exhale, twist, let's try a hold, nice big inhale, hold and then exhale, ring it out, draw the navel of the spine, beautiful, lower the left hand, outside of the left foot, lower the right knee, half split, pull the toes back towards your shin and then point the toes to the floor, plantar flexion, dorsiflexion, waking up the muscles in that calf, the ankle, the foot, re-bend your left leg, make sure your feet are hip distance as you set up for your high lunge, much easier to find your balance, hands to the hips, rise all the way up, as you straighten the left leg send the palms to the sky, as you bend the left leg cactus feel will the arms lift the heart, pulse with your breath, straightening the left leg palms to the sky, bending the left leg, elbows, heart lifts, enjoy the breath, one more round, next time your cactus feel will the arms, take a moment here for that pause, that hold, nice big inhale, hold and then exhale, enjoy the breath, palms into prayer, pivot your right heel to the floor, turn your torso to the right, straighten your left leg, heels are lined up, arms extend out, interlace your hands behind the base of the head, press the head back, side bend to your right, right elbow moves to the right, torso side bend to your right, bend the left knee, left elbow moves to the left knee, keep drawing the right shoulder back in space, pulse with your breath, inhale rise up, right elbow towards the back of your mat, bend the left leg, left elbow in the direction of the left foot, just don't draw that right elbow forward, two more rounds, beautiful guys, one more, the next time you rise up, send that left palm to the sky, right arm reaches up, pulls the left wrist back, be right here with a straight leg version of reverse triangle or bend into that leg if you need a little extra work today for a peaceful warrior with that side stretch, wonderful, left elbow comes to the left knee, right hand right behind the base of the head just like you found it when we started, turn your torso to the right, lean the head back into your palm, great spot to feel the side bend inside angle, if you're going deeper with the left hand slide it down to the calf, the ankle or the block, lengthen the torso, twist to your right, one more round, let's try the hold, lengthen, hold, softly turn to the right, free the right arm, lower the right hand inside of the left leg, walk your hands hand over hand to your right, bend your right leg, turn the right toes out, crouching tiger, bend the left leg, turn your left toes slightly out, crouching tiger, you've been here before, maybe less weight on your fingertips, pause from side to side, the next time you bend your right leg, pause right here, see if you can lower your hips a little bit lower to the floor, maybe take the left hand outside of the left leg and bow over the left leg if this is okay for your right knee and your right ankle, let's see what happens on the other side, shift your weight to the right foot, bend the left leg, straighten the right leg, second time here we might be right here with the hands or right hand behind you, left knee guides away, bowing over your right shin, excellent, come on back to center, turn both toes towards the long side of your mat, parallel feet, left hand under the shoulder, right hand to the sky, big inhale, lengthen the spine, exhale, thread it under, across and through, right hand grabs the left calf ankle or pinky toe side of the left foot, inhale the left palm to the sky, drape it around the waist, lengthen the spine and start to bow over your left shin, one normal round of breath and then we'll play with that hold again, nice big inhale, hold the breath, enjoy silence, enjoy stillness, listen to the heartbeat and then exhale, softly fold deeper into that left quad, free the left arm, right hand to the floor, pivot your toes to the left finishing off in that twisted lunge, beautiful, left hand to the floor, left leg to the sky, three-legged dog, I got good news for you, once we move into plank pose we're lowering all the way down and staying down for the count, so lower it all the way down, good, lie on the belly, extend your right arm out to the side like a wing, right out into a T, line it up with your right shoulder, bring the right ear to the floor, roll over to that right straight arm and enjoy the pectoral stretch, left foot behind you, maybe bend the left leg, we're going to try to take a little quad stretch here while we're enjoying the pec stretch, left hand reaches for the left ankle, drawing the heel closer to the glute, letting the left knee line up hip-wise with the right knee, so the left knee is not too high, it's still parallel, good, breathe into it, enjoy the stretch at the front of the chest, enjoy the quad stretch, we're slowing these down a little bit more now, entering the cooling stage of the practice, to go a little deeper into the hip flexor start to move the left heel away from your seat, reclining dancer pose as you open up, the left foot will move closer to the right hand, don't move the right hand, just move it in that direction and go back to your breath, take a nice big inhale, hold and then exhale, softly release and roll out, let's set up for the other side, so left arm out to the side like a wing, straight out from the shoulder, left ear to the floor, roll it on over for the pec stretch, right hand can stay, if you can bend that right leg and bring it behind you, most likely you can reach for the ankle for your quad stretch, lift the right knee, drop so it's parallel to the left, not lifted up, right heel just outside of the glute, give yourself a couple moments here, enjoy the breath, take your time here, and slower longer inhales, this one it actually feels nice to play with a little hold or two, and same opportunity to go deeper into the front of the hip, the hip flexor so as, move the heel away from your glute, reclining dancer pose, the right foot moves towards the left hand without you moving the left hand, you'll feel a nice stretch through both sides of the chest here, take a normal round of breath, and then a nice long inhale and a nice long hold, enjoy the silence and then slowly unwind, lowering on to your core, full guys, come on up, palms next to the ribs, maybe it's an easy back bend up to table, maybe you're excited about the space you've created in the front of the chest and you want to take a full back bend, and we'll meet in table pose, knees right under the hips, palms under the shoulders, take a little journey forward with your hands without moving your hips forward or backwards, so the hips stay right over the knees, puppy pose as you walk the hands forward, softer variation holding longer, easier if you bring that forehead to the floor, start here for a couple of breaths, and then as the muscles in the upper back and shoulder, the arms start to release a little bit, maybe if it feels good, if you don't feel any force, look slightly forward towards your thumbs and bring the chin to the floor, soften the breath, lengthen it out, take your time with the inhales, extend them, hold a little longer than you normally would, and then exhale soften into the experience, kind of letting go without force, melt into the new space that you created with the breath, you've got two more breaths, you might notice that the chest is getting a little closer to the floor, whatever variation you're experiencing, try not to force anything, wonderful, move out of the pose really slowly, back to your table pose, as we slow things down you may have totally forgotten all the things that we did earlier, all right, so you may want your blanket or a block close by, depending how we're working today, okay, from your table pose, replace your palms with your forearms, a mock version of dolphin pose, but with the knee on the floor, so lift your right leg up to the sky, take a little scorpion tail, toes lengthening, lifting up, heart, sternum, chin, and chest lengthening forward, now if this is perfect for you, stay here, keep moving the heart forward, if you'd like to try the quad psoas stretch, shift your weight to your right hand, reach up with the left hand, try to grab the pinky toe or big toe side of the foot, depending the shoulder, how the shoulder is experiencing life, and as you move the heart forward, lift the right knee away from the floor, lengthen the spine, draw the heart towards your thumbs, go back to lengthening out all four parts of the breath, the inhale, the hold, the exhale, and that short pause before you inhale again, beautiful, keep the scorpion tail where it is, lower the left hand to the floor, push into the earth, lift the right elbow off the floor, come up to your fingertips, lengthen the heart forward, look forward, step the right foot between the hands, good, this is where we might use a block or a blanket, I like to use a block right in front of my knee for the psoas stretch, the block catches the very beginning of the quad, where it connects to the knee in your lunge, so we want the kneecap off of the floor, toes are untucked, a nice psoas stretch, walk your fingertips forward and lift your heart, relax the muscles of the face, relax the jaw, if you want to use your blanket on top of the block to give you a little bit more padding, feel free but remember the knee's not on the block, if you're starting to open, maybe press that right quad forward, come up to the left fingertips or put a block underneath your left hand, your left hand's right underneath you supported, the higher up you lift, the more psoas stretch, hip flexor stretch, you get for the left hip, remember the left knee is supported and it's off the floor, enjoy the nice stretch and invite a little smile to the face, as you send a smile the body thinks you're relaxing and enjoying this and it might even relax into the posture a little bit differently, two more rounds of breath, one more, lower the palms to the floor, move the block out of the way so that you can lower the knee down and just for a moment straighten your right leg, shake it out for a second, good, so we're going to play with that quad stretch on this side, this is where you might want the blanket underneath the knee so that when you reach back with the left hand for the left foot you've got a little bit more padding under the patella, if you know this isn't good for your knee, stand up, balance on the right leg and take the quad stretch, we did some nice quad strengthening so either grabbing with one or both hands drawing the heel towards the seat going back to your breath, relax the muscles of the face, relax the jaw and enjoy holding a little bit longer, if you want to feel a little bit more just draw your right knee forward a little bit, you'll feel the patella as quad connection, excellent, left knee stays, right foot walks off the mat to your right, a nice hip opening version of frog so turn the toes to ten up to two o'clock, I can't tell my time today, as the right knee moves away from your torso walk your hands to the left, shift your hips to the right, you'll feel this in the outer glute and in the outer hip, relax the muscles of the face, relax the jaw, melt into it, if the ankle is fine the right big toe side of the foot can start to lift softly off the floor, relax, breathe, soften, oh that feels so good, walk your hands back, slide your right knee back to meet the left, all right move your blanket to the side, I'm going to turn the other way so that you can see my left leg easier, okay so the right the block is right underneath your right knee, all right, just keep it there for a moment, place your palms underneath your shoulders, lower the forearms to the floor like you're setting up for dolphin, lift the left leg up for your scorpion tail, glide your heart forward, lengthen the spine, this is a great spot to be, just moving the heart forward, inviting the back bend in and breathing into the heart center, or shift your weight to your left forearm, reach back with the right hand, grabbing the big or pinky toe side of the left foot, as the left knee lifts away from the floor, glide your heart forward, this is a great way to release the psoas as well, enjoy the back bend, soften into it, go back to your breath, breath, longer holds, longer exhales, a pause, long inhale, you'll find more space if you work with the breath, left leg stays lifted, right palm pushes into the earth, replace the left elbow with the left palm, come up to your fingertips and step the left foot forward, low lunge setup, block is right underneath your right knee, remember you can use the blanket instead if you need to, your right kneecap is not touching the block, you're really right where the quad connects to the knee, so the knee is hovering off the floor, back toe is on top, lift up a little bit if you want to come up to fingertips, put that block underneath your right hand or bring your hands to the quad, make friends with your psoas muscle, we've been contracting it so much, those flexing the forward folding movements, this is a celebration of that psoas area, wonderful, carefully lower that knee to the floor, move the block to the side, straighten the left leg just for a moment, perfect, put the blanket under, right in front of that right knee and then you can slide your knee on top of the blanket and we'll work with that quad stretch, so we're in our low lunge, lifting the right foot off the floor, remember if this doesn't work for your leg, stand and balance on your left leg, reach back, grab onto one foot at a time, maybe you're just holding it with a right, two more rounds of breath, maybe lean into that left knee a little bit more, one more, squeeze towards the midline, keeping the posture steady and easy, lower the right foot, heel toe your left foot off the mat, turn the toes, open the hip a little external rotation, so the left toes are turning to 10 o'clock, you can walk your hands over to the right and shift your hips to the left, maybe the big toe side of the foot comes off the floor, maybe not, breathe into it, soften it out, two more rounds, remember those holds and the soft exhales helping you to sink deeper, excellent, one more round, lower the foot, walk your hands back, take your blanket off the mat, step your right foot forward into an easy malasana, turning the toes out and we're just using this pose to come all the way down to our seat, feet a little wider, fingertips drawing back, walking the hands a little closer together, a little massage for the glutes, let the knees rock from side to side, relax the muscles of the face, relax the jaw, you feel this nice release in the upper back and the shoulders and as you rock the knees from side to side you get a little glute massage on each side of the body, wonderful, slide one hand at a time in, palms next to the hips, lower down, keep the feet hip distance, plant the palms into the floor next to the hips, slowly lift the hips off of the floor and we're focusing on the exhale down, so as you exhale down massage each inch of the back as slowly as you can into the floor, take your time here, navel draws to the spine, last, one more time, lift your hips to the sky, press into the earth, lower down one inch at a time, wonderful, let your palms flip up straight into one leg at a time, let the toes turn out, the feet turn out, take a nice big inhale, let something go with the next exhale, nice big inhale, let it go with your exhale, one more time, nice big inhale, this time hold the breath, enjoy stillness, enjoy the heartbeat, enjoy silence and then exhale through the mouth, let it all go, relax the muscles of the face, relax the jaw, send a wave of relaxation down the neck, over the shoulders, down the fingertips, feel that little energy pulse, for the next inhale feel the expansion of the torso and with your next exhale let everything just soften and melt into the floor, let the body breathe itself, with the glutes, the hips, the calf muscles and the heels melt into the floor like warm sand, and let go of any doing in the mind, enjoy just being right here present for yourself, and we invite balance in, symmetry in, you can almost feel that lightness of every cell in the body smiling after your practice, bring some soft intuitive movements back to your physical shape and form, and choose the opportunity to roll into a little ball, fetal pose for a couple of breaths here, and going back to that innocence, that opportunity that we used to have to connect with the source so easily, when we move back into that sense of wonder, everything feels fresh and new in our mind, take your time helping yourself up to your seat, keep the eyes closed and the neck relaxed, as you find your seat with the hands rest on the knees index and thumb touch, bring your awareness all the way down the spine to the base of the spine where our first chakra resides, imagine a bright red light at the base of the spine, connecting with that bright earth tone, that right red earth tone from the core of the earth, pulling the energy up from the earth, helping us to connect with that sense of stability, family, safety, community, invite that bright red light to glow beautifully at the pelvic floor, bring the energy up to where your hips are, invite a bright orange light like a freshly picked orange, as you peel the orange open you get that scent and that aroma, invite that visualization into sadhistana chakra, your second chakra or senses are alive, passion, passion for life, fluidity, bring your awareness up to the navel, visualize the wonderful heating element of the sun, connecting with your solar plexus or power center, healing our empowerment and using that empowerment to move up into the heart space, the giving receiving space, that beautiful green light at the heart center, anhata chakra, the color of a perfect spring forest where the lungs reside, that beautiful fresh oxygen, the giving receiving center connecting to earth and connecting to source, bring your awareness up to the throat, beautiful light blue as if you're looking over the horizon to a greek sea in front of you, the tranquility, peace, speaking our truth from the heart, being the peacekeepers, bring the awareness up to the brow, anha chakra, that indigo light, the mystery, the wonder, the sense of connection, bring your palms together, give yourself a little rub, up, place your palms over your eyes, may we keep this connection to source, feel the little tingle of energy at the crown of the head as you open the portal to the divine, bring the palms right into the front of the heart, we share the sound that connects us to all, take a nice big inhale, let something go first, nice big inhale for all.

Aum may all beings everywhere be peaceful, happy, may we share the love and peace in our heart with everyone that we need, slowly open the eyes, thank you for sharing your love and peace with me, thank you for being on this journey for Joyful Flow, season two, namaste.