Playing into Joy

Hello and welcome everyone to this episode of Fluid Strength where we will invite a playful practice in today so I want to ask you what does play mean to you and I'll just throw out a few words of what it means to me curiosity, wonder, timelessness, being myself so think about that and maybe you're starting on in a seat with me here with a blanket underneath your hips and consider some of those aspects of play for yourself maybe moving like yourself and start to move your body in a free-form way so I'll give you some suggestions but you could roll your shoulders in a seat begin to breathe in a way that you like to for your practice you could take a side bend so giving yourself opportunity here to move in any way that you want to to start this practice maybe there's a twist in there so that's also an option on your seat take a few moments to free-form move you could also forward fold down through the center lingering in one of those places maybe adding a little rocking into your movement maybe adding a smile walking back up one of the things I use play for so you're still in your free-form movement is a pressure valve so releasing pressure releasing pressure that might be built up if I'm in a bit of a funk so last few moments in your movement and then we'll walk ourselves onto all fours so coming on to all fours and I'm gonna mention too if you didn't catch that we might use two blocks for the practice so if you have them go ahead and grab them and have them at the top of your mat so we'll come on to the hands and the knees and start to shift forwards and back you can tuck your toes get into the soles of the feet hmm sighs are welcome any noises with the breath and let's take our hands and point them up to the sides and then circle circle forwards and back moving the emphasis point around on the hands changing directions and then let's turn our hands all the way around towards the knees and still maintain that circling action you could even walk your knees in closer if you want a little less pressure on your wrists in this way beautiful let's release that come on to all fours and let your right leg reach back and out behind you take a breath there you can also let your left arm reach forward find a little balance find out your abdominal area can support your spine and then take your left hand down exhale your right knee in towards your right armpits you really curling in and it's like you're trying to kick yourself in the butt with your right heel and then take your right foot to the outside of your right hand and then we'll circle through the hips here so the foots to the outside of the hand you can roll around your weight onto that foot even pick up the toes a little bit you can move in any direction that you'd like to here maybe even figure eating through your hips or circling warming up to the hip joints and then let's talk the back toes under and sink back and start to let the right toes come up off the ground so you can have your fingertips on the ground being up a little bit here or maybe lower your elbows down and let's take a couple breaths into this posterior leg stretch if you use a sounded breath that's great something to give attention to or you don't have to you can breathe in any way that you like here alright let's shift forwards and step that right foot back and other side to left leg back and up yeah right hand forwards if you like find a bit of a balance notice how your abdominal wall can support you keep you nice and long right hand down left knee in towards your armpits squeeze everything in like you're kicking yourself in the bum with your left heel and then take the foot to the outside of the hand and circle through the hips a nice flow starting here to our flow can roll around your weight onto that left foot maybe even pick up the toes shift forwards and back figure it through the hips and then let's lean back tuck those back toes under the right back toes and let your left toes pop up you could be up on your fingertips yeah or you could lower down onto your elbows exploring this shape back of the left leg couple breaths and then shifting it back forwards step the left foot back tuck the toes and come into a downward facing dog pedal out through your feet and you can move your dog around or stay still for a couple of breaths noticing yourself here in your practice with your breath your connection to the ground and then walk your feet towards your hands inhale lengthen out exhale fold into a forward fold inhale lengthen out two more times exhale fold into a forward fold maybe big knee bend there inhale lengthen out fold and stay a little so stay for a couple breaths there let the head go maybe shift the weight forwards and back and take the arms out to the sides and up reach up look up and release the arms down by your sides inhale the arms up exhale and fold forwards here inhale lengthen out exhale step or you might want to hop your way back into downward facing dog inhale come forwards into plank exhale into downward facing dog inhale two more times forwards to plank exhale downward dog forwards to plank downward dog couple breaths step or hop if you like to the top of the mat lengthen out here and fold let the top of your head empty to the ground arms up to the sides and up reach up look up beautiful release your arms samasthiti all right arms up reach up look up and fold forwards let's take a moment here so if you have blocks inhale lengthen and take your blocks for underneath your hands exhale hands on the blocks or on the floor whichever works and step back into downward facing dog you might notice here that in your downward facing dog it's a little easier to get your heels to the ground even walking your feet a little bit in your thumbs can wrap around the inner edges of the blocks let's do that same movement inhale three times to plank and exhale the downward facing dog inhale to plank exhale down dog last one here plank down dog and then let's inhale our right leg up into the air three-legged dog and exhale same as we did on all four suck the right knee into the right armpit pause there for a moment press the ground away and then step the right foot to the outside of the right block or your hands on the ground let's come into a twisted lunge right hand on the right knee or up into the air open up through your collarbones shift back through your back heel maybe look up take a couple breaths spreading through each finger bone pressing down into the ground you can move around in this in your own way let's circle the right hand to the ground or the block and step back into downward facing dog three times inhale into plank exhale down dog plank shifts that weight down dog one more time so forwards feel that slide forwards and slide back hips back and up inhale your left leg up exhale knee sucks into your elbow or your armpit hover there for a breath try to kick yourself in the butt with that left foot and then place it to the outside of the left hand twisted lunge so left hand can go on the knee or circle up and it's a little bit wide in this twisted lunge so notice how that feels a little wider stance through your feet and breathe there you might open up through each finger bone press down into the ground with your bottom hand and let's circle that left hand down step back to downward facing dog inhale to plank pause there and then exhale stop start to drop your hips and ripple through to an upward facing dog with your toes tucked press into your hands spread your shoulder blades and step back into downward facing dog nice step or hop if you want hands on the blocks to the top of the mat inhale lengthen it out fold let's do that two more times lengthen out and fold move like you here lengthen out fold and stay for a couple breaths maybe shifting the weight forwards and back have a little fun with it you could even take your hands behind you and interlock your hands and fold like that one more breath let your hands go ragdoll to the ground look a little forwards press into your heels come all the way up reach up look up release your arms arms up and fold hands on the blocks there inhale lengthen or your hands are on the floor fine with that exhale step back to downward facing dog three times inhale plank exhale down dog two more times slide forwards press the ground away come up on tippy toes push back one more time and push back and we'll take the right leg up three-legged dog exhale knee into the elbow or the armpit squeeze everything in lightly plant the foot to the outside of the right hand and then twisted lunge hand right hand on the knee or up into the air maybe even opening up a little bit more find your own space here in this shape your own breath your practice then let your right hand come down and take your back foot on a wide angle like you're going into warrior two gradually you weight both of your feet and windmill up into warrior two perfect arms up to the sides that's a little bit wider warrior two than you're used to take a breath feel your back foot pressing into the ground freedom in your back hip then we're going to straighten our right leg tighten the kneecap and come into like a reverse triangle right arm up left arm down the back leg and then exhale sink into a nice big warrior two let's do that two more times inhale reach up tighten the kneecaps yeah and then exhale nice sink into your hips into warrior two one more time reverse triangle and then sink it into warrior two nice take a breath there now we're going to do our reverse warrior so you can keep that front knee bend reverse that windmill the hands to the floor turn the back foot on a pivot on your toes and step back to downward facing dog three times inhale to plank down dog inhale to plank you could even add in a little push up here down dog inhale to plank down dog and then left leg up reach it up exhale knee into the elbow or into the armpit pause there slow motion place that foot to the outside of the left hand twisted lunge so left hand on the knee or up into the air take a breath find your movement remembering that sliding a little bit and your movement is great for your fascial tissue you don't have to be still if you don't want to or maybe stillness of your jam and then left hand down turn that back foot on a wide angle gradually weight into your feet windmill up into your warrior two so check out slightly wider stance maybe the left foot's a little wider than you normally would have it warrior two and then we're going into that reverse triangle so straighten your left leg any amount tighten the kneecaps and tip yourself like a reverse warrior and then sink back into warrior two again tighten the kneecaps lift up and out and then warrior two we've got one more like that reach up and back you can even bend your top arm lots of experiential movement available sink into warrior two stay a little now you've got your reverse warrior keep that big front knee bend windmill it down step back to downward facing dog this time we're going to inhale to plank pause there keep the toes tucked under let the pelvis drop come into an upward dog and then push into the hands spread the shoulder blades wide dome the upper back and press yourself back into downward facing dog breath in and out we'll make it to the top of the mat so you can step or hop lengthen out you can always get rid of the blocks here too fold forwards and then come on up up reach up look up maybe take the arms behind you and release your arms beautiful take the arms up again pull forward hands on the blocks are on the ground inhaling exhale step back downward facing dog inhale to plank exhale down dog you're welcome to add that push up in if you want inhale forwards you might do a little dip back into downward facing dog inhale forwards last one little dip back into downward facing dog and then right leg up exhale the knee high up into the elbow or the armpit suck it in and then slow motion place it to the outside of the right hand twisted lunge hand on the knee or hand up in the air find your space there then right hand down to the floor down to the block turn your back foot on a wide angle gradually weight your feet and windmill up into warrior two let's do that three times reverse triangle so straighten your right leg reach up and back sink in one straighten your right leg reach up and back sink in two up and back sink in for three hold it there reverse that warrior open up those right ribs and windmill down to the ground turn onto a pivot on your back foot now we're going to step that back knee in between our hands and hover it there and then press it back so all your weight goes into your right foot we'll try that again we'll find some buoyancy in the back leg so we'll do it three times so driving me into the chest it's like you're in a little perch position kicking yourself in the butt with your left foot and then up and back use a little momentum with that movement so you can do that one last time or if you'd like to play with kick it forwards and then see if you can maybe come into a bit of a squat maybe kick that leg forwards have it on the ground or hover it and then move it back so you might place your foot on the floor to hover it back or even clear the ground find your low lunge there and then step your way back into downward facing dog perfect inhale to plank exhale down dog inhale to plank might be a little push up there exhale to down dog or find that sliding forward and back and then we'll inhale our left leg up exhale suck it in towards the armpit hover there slow motion place the foot and then our twisted lunge so left arm up up find your space there left hand down back foot on a wide angle gradually weight the feet windmill up into warrior two beautiful find the reverse triangle and sink into warrior two two more times reverse triangle so warrior two you can exhale out of your mouth anytime you want breathe into that sink into warrior two stay there and then your reverse warrior nice big front knee bend reach up and back windmill those hands down to the ground turn your back foot so you're on the tuck toes and we'll do those little perch positions so find the buoyancy in your back leg spring forwards and suck your knee in towards your chest hover there and then pop it back into your long low lunge okay let's do it two more times pop it forwards suck everything in same position there it's like you're kicking yourself in the butt with your right heel press back so you can do that again or you can try that more challenging mobility movement where you suck that right knee in and then maybe you find a squat and then maybe kick that right leg through press your hands into the ground and it might take a couple of steps back or maybe suck in and clear the ground step back into your low lunge beautiful let's exhale it into downward facing dog this time inhale into a plank ripple into your toe tucked upward facing dog press into your hands widen your shoulder blades round your upper back downward facing dog nice anytime you want to come off of the blocks you can for some folks um if you have foam blocks they can be a little um dumpy in the wrists so just being aware of that and then either stepping or hopping top of the mat lengthen out fold in press your heels down arms out arms up release so we can do similar things slightly different arms out and up fold in i'm going to try without the blocks this time inhale lengthen downward facing dog plank maybe a little push up downward facing dog up to you plank plank downward facing dog your plank keeping the low back as it is downward facing dog right leg up exhale sucking that knee into the elbow or the armpit pause there slow motion foot to the outside of the hand twisted lunge right arm up for some you might even take the left knee down bend the left knee and reach for the back foot that's all in one variation sometimes called and then circle your right hand down to the ground plant your back foot on that wide angle like warrior two gradually weight your feet lighten your hands windmill up into warrior two two reverse triangle warrior two reverse triangle warrior two reverse it thinking warrior two stance reverse warrior big peeling open of your right lungs yeah windmill hands to the floor turn that back foot tuck toes and this time let's see if we can take the left knee to the outside of the right shin so i'm just going to show you this way so you can see that so i'm going to pop it in and take it to the outside and hover it and then step it back yeah let's try that two more times so pop it forwards take it to the outside of the knee you'll likely feel a lot of strength on your outer right hip and then pop it back use momentum show you one more time there this time if you want you can pop it to the outside of the knee let your right hand come off the ground and kick that leg towards straight maybe put it on the ground maybe hover it maybe even do it like a little push-up with your left hand and then you can use the floor to help you or wow press up and back into your lunge perfect from your lunge step back downward facing dog inhale plank exhale dog play with it inhale plank you might take your knees down even touch the floor come back up up to you and help link maybe a little push up there exhale down dog left leg up exhale knee sucks into the elbow maybe into the armpit hover it there place it slow motion to the outside of the left hand back foot on a wide angle windmill up warrior q reverse triangle sink in warrior q you're doing so great reverse warrior or reverse triangle sorry warrior two last one like that feel into your hips here into the pressure of your feet into the ground warrior two stay in your warrior two reverse your warrior peel open those left side ribs windmill your hands to the ground turn on to a tuck toe back foot so three times we're gonna pop that back knee forwards to the outside of the left shin and then up and back your wide low lunge let's try it again shift it forwards take it to the outside or it could be right behind the ankle too feel that strength on your outer left hip up and back to your wide low lunge if you want to try this last one one pop it up take it to the outside maybe your left hand comes off the floor can kick that leg out to the side could also have it on the ground maybe there's a little chutter angle or push up action in your right arm and then up and back into your wide low lunge and into your down dog inhale to plank exhale drop the hips inhale into your tuck toe up dog then tuck your chin widen your upper back push into your hands that straight arm strength and press back into downward facing dog hmm nice play stepping or hopping to the top of the mat lengthen out fold in arms out and up come on up reach up look up see the sky exhale hands down arms up fold in lengthen out here step or hop back to your downward facing dog this time we'll add a little side plank in so you might want to watch this first one and then join in we'll inhale to a plank take the knees down and then spin your right shin and just off your mat behind you come on to the outer left edge of your foot and come into a side plank with your bottom knee supporting you then we'll exhale turn back into a knee plank you might do a little push up there or stay there and then go onto the other side so your left shin kicks off the mat a bit tuck toes like a little kickstand right foot goes in like warrior two right arm goes up you've got your side plank supported with that bottom knee take it down to the ground knee plank find your long line maybe to the ground or maybe a little push up let's try the other side again so downward facing dog inhale to plank knees down exhale right shin out to the side turn onto the outer left edge of the foot side plank exhale turn it into your knee plank little push up maybe turn it onto the other side so left toes behind you right outer edge of the foot to the ground side plank and then just keep going with this so find this oscillating movement side to side we'll push up in the center or simply a hold if you like find a little momentum maybe even that top arm opens up a little bit yeah a little swivel through the shins one more time or a couple more times and then exhale to the center downward facing dog come down onto your knees sit back on your heels and come up to a kneeling position you could be cross-legged if kneeling doesn't work close your eyes if it feels safe and take a few breaths notice the quality of your upper body your breath notice your contact with the ground okay so we'll try that again but maybe we're going to add on a little more to that so from downward facing dog we inhale into a plank with the feet pretty wide and then turn onto the right edges of the feet turn onto the right hand and come up into your side plank and then you exhale into the center back to your full plank if you like or your knees can be down maybe there's a push up in there maybe you come right down to the ground turn onto the left edges of the feet open up swivel yourself back to center maybe there's a little push up come to the floor even come on back up in your own way so play with it side to side right edges of the feet left edges of the feet doesn't have to be a big movement can be whatever you want can be on your knees can be more about the paws and plank have a little fun with it a couple more moments in that play oh i'm getting tired it's a good thing though yeah okay come into the center downward facing dog oh come down onto your knees sit back on your heels kneeling or your cross-legged maybe close your eyes feel the quality of your body your breath all right let's play with another oscillating play so i think i said play twice there that's okay so we'll come into downward facing dog we're going to shift into plank and then as we exhale we're going to bend our knees swivel our feet to the left or heels to the right so we're on our right hand mostly and kick our right leg forwards your left arm can come off the floor so you're hovering there you can sit down if you want totally fine or you could hover and then swivel yourself back into downward facing dog so with inhale plank exhale bend the knees hips go low to the floor right arm comes off and your left leg can kick forwards and we'll swivel it back this is a beautiful twist into downward facing dog so let's play with that movement plank knee bend to swivel the feet maybe sit down or kick the right foot forwards open up through the arms shift it back downward facing dog other side turning kicking that left leg out finding the span through your arms sometimes it's nice to go slow motion or maybe you go quicker even if you don't really know what you're doing just play with the movement sometimes the first time doing these things it can be a little confusing breathing breathe into those spirally twisty movements through the spine a couple more times maybe for some as you kicked out right leg forward you grab onto it with your left hand bring it up try that just make it up as you go along maybe for some you find that movement and then you take your elbow down and you find a little arm balance a little shelf one more just move like you any way you'd like to you land and downward facing dog come on down into your vedrasana your kneeling position watch the quality of your breath little buzz of aliveness to your body and let's pop up onto the shins open up the arms and this is less from your lower back more in your upper back flick your fingertips behind you and then hug yourself curl into the center like a child's form let's pop up rejuvenation here opening that top chest and then curl in give yourself a hug um inhale up and back exhale curl in one more time up and back maybe arms up on a diagonal like a a y and then exhale curl in shift it back to downward facing dog come on through to your seat and here you might want to have something underneath your hips like a little support if you like right leg forwards left leg into your janu shishasana so sole of the foot or the toes towards the inner thigh walk the seat back and fold in and fold in a little fold in a lot find your zone and taking full breaths whatever is available to you there press your legs into the ground inhale come on up let's open that left leg a little out to the side so we're going to turn on a diagonal and then do a big side bend so right hand down on the right leg your side bending your torso over your right leg and your arm can go up it can go over you can hold your head you can do little movements like moving that bottom lung towards the ceiling and then back down you can even turn your sternum towards the ground like get back into that free form movement where you just got the liberty to explore how does your body want to move you could even do it with your eyes closed tracking those areas that want a little more breath support that want a little more movement those places that feel pleasurable to stretch let's come on up and sit towards the front indandasana again you might sit in dandasana your nice 90 degree or something like that the knees can be bent you can take your hands in front of your hips and try a little l-sit so if you want to press down into your hands try to pop your bum off off the ground and plop it back down you could do it three times like pull come up plop down or maybe come on up lift one leg lift the other leg suck the hips back and then come back down left leg elongates right leg into janu shishasana walk those sit bones back fold in find your zone there press your legs down into the ground beautiful let's walk on up heavy sit bones widen that right leg out to the side and come into your side stretch you can slide your hand your side bending over that left leg down the ankle down the inner leg and then find your free form movement here maybe you're working with changing the angle of that top arm or rolling the chest towards the ceiling you're holding your head last couple breaths and come on up from that let your right leg kick forwards so here you can sit in that dandasana maybe with your knees bent or you can pick up your bum drop it down one two little lean forwards three maybe on one last one you lift one leg you lift the other leg suck the hips back and drop them back down let's take that prop out of the way and roll down maybe one vertebra at a time curling down through your spine rolling down let your head come down and we'll play with a rolling bridge so here's the idea we'll press the low back into the floor and then roll up into your bridge onto your shoulders and then roll back down and maybe you're even getting some segmental movement from this for the spine so this is so healthy for your spine it's like you're peeling up one vertebra at a time and rolling down for some folks popping up onto your toe pads to bring the hips a little higher can help you with that process of segmental movement through your spine play around with it should feel should feel really nice so go after those nice feelings now if you want a little more sensation or you're a wheel person let's play with rolling up turning your hands popping up onto the top of your head and then tucking your chin landing on the back of your head and rolling back down we'll do that a couple times roll on up flip your hands tap back of the head roll on down that nice segmental movement so you're using this momentum using this a little bit of help you're not doing it all by yourself there's a little bit of a rocking action happening through your whole body and then this time if you want pop up on the top of your head and then push all the way up into your bridge maybe rock a little forwards and back and then tuck your chin roll all the way down so you can flirt with this a couple of times no agenda you don't need to come all the way up so maybe last one wherever you are and then draw your knees and towards your chest squeeze them in and let the legs come up do a little bit of abdominal work so hands press down in this one back to the arms engaged and we'll think about lifting the legs straight up and down so instead of them coming towards you it's like you're trying to lift the pelvis straight up off the mat and plop it back down so 10 times and the slower you do this obviously the more control you'll have to find or you could do a little quicker that's great three four five six straight up seven seven side bones go up out of the pelvis nine ten and then knees in swabble side to side soften your abdomen and then let's go for making a jay so we'll take our hands behind the back of our head this time elbows in legs up now as our legs go up we're also going to lift our elbows up and lift our shoulder blades off of the floor so we're making a jay let's go for 10 so one two three you might even pause at the top four five six seven eight nine and turn draw the knees and tuck them in and wobble them side to side all right so now we're going to play with a little bit of rolling through the spine this is one of my favorite things to play with so check out what's behind you and we'll play with a rolling plow so our hands can come down onto the ground and press into your hands and then take your legs up over your head any amount they can be bent to and then slowly lower that segmental movement through your spine feet come down let's try that a few times press into your hands roll maybe towards the plow your feet don't have to touch the ground obviously and then segmental movement roll back down you could do this with your knees bent and really using that press down of your hands if you love plow you could rest and plow find yourself and plow i'm going to invite you to add a little more onto this so when you roll up can you land in a like a perched position or a navasana roll back use your hands roll up and perch on your sit bones and there's a little play that you can explore you can even use your hands to help you roll you can press them down into the ground and then use them to push you up anything goes right and then here's something else that's kind of fun you can go over and then come into like a squat push yourself into a squat stand up slow lower you might even be in a toe squat hands behind roll back and roll up any combination of those movements you'd like to play with can kind of lose yourself and have a little fun with it you might add in some of your own movements like as you come up maybe there's a side bend in there maybe there's a forward fold let's play with it for a few more breaths maybe there's a rolling bridge so end up on your back draw your knees in towards your chest cup your hands on your knees and circle your knees away from you and in towards you it's like a massage for your hips here other way and then slide your hands down the insides of your inner let your inner shins and clasp somewhere maybe it's mid shin or a little lower towards the ankle and then wobble side to side it's almost like a happy baby but your feet are coming towards the center you can land in the center and even apply a little pressure on your inner thighs with your arms and then you can come into happy baby where you're holding either the backs of the knees or the backs of the or the ankles themselves or even the outside of the feet and finding a wobble lots of variations for you to explore here in this position i'll give you a few suggestions but you might be moving on your own so this is another opportunity to find your free form movement find your own movement your practice but if you want some suggestions you can kick out through one leg and then bring it back in and kick out through the other one maybe kick out through both both maybe a little wobble in there you can also from this happy baby position take a supine lunge where you keep one knee close to your armpit and stretch the other leg out to the ground and both hands can go on that one happy baby leg and you can switch or you're playing with your own movement switching sides with that if you like or whichever side you're on and last couple breaths with your exploration of that shape can come back to cupping your hands on your knees and circling them um just feeling all that goodness into your hips that oscillating movement for your connective tissue and then let's draw the knees in together take the hands out to the sides straight out from the shoulders and this is one actually you could use a block in between your inner knees it'll give you a little more connection through your inner thighs and let the knees fall about 45 degrees over to the side and then into the center and 45 degrees over to the other side so little floating twists I love oscillating movement because there's nowhere to go there's no end point so there is more opportunity for exploration of course you could land in a side twist if that's what your body wants so give yourself that space to do whatever is appropriate in the moment for you for your practice you might even straighten out your legs put the block if it's not a wooden one in between your feet and find a little bit of those tick tock movements and a twist that floating twist with your legs a little straighter last few moments playing around with your twist any little movements that you would like to explore before your shavasana one I could suggest is lengthening out your legs taking your arms overhead and stretching through the whole right side of the body right leg right arm reach away from each other and then letting that all soften back to center and whole left side of the body stretch and letting it all soften back to center any other little movements you'd like to take before finding your relaxation maybe descending your inner shoulder blades dropping the top of your shoulders finding a place for your hands that's comfortable and I'm going to invite you into an s-breath a really long exhalation with an s sound which I always feel like is a little bit fun and also can be really like pressure releasing can open up that pressure valve again like play so inhaling into your nose and exhaling with a long s sound and maybe find one more of those after you're done with those let the breath be natural and easy and rest into the space you've created and you deserve to play you deserve to preserve your joy with curiosity and wonder if you so you might want to stay there for a little longer but if you'd like to end this class on the hour feel free to wiggle your fingertips and your toes give yourself a nice big full body stretch find your own way of coming up to a seat and as always it's an absolute honor to spend this time with you and to practice with you peace