Stable and Open Flow

Good morning. Welcome to our practice. So this practice will be a little bit more dynamic. You'll get to move a bit more. We will start with some core work on our backs. So why don't we go straight into that. So when you're ready, please lie down onto your back. Go ahead and bend your knees and bring your feet about hips-width apart. Parallel your feet and your knees. Place your hands on your belly. Take a deep full breath in and exhale maybe side out. And then on your next exhalation, start to press your lower back into the floor. Kind of curl your tailbone forward and slightly above the floor. It's also called a posterior pelvic tilt. Then as you inhale, start to arch your lower back. So you're moving more towards your tailbone. And there's a lot of space between the lower back and the floor. It's an anterior pelvic tilt. Then as you exhale again, press your lower back into the floor. Draw your belly in. And as you inhale, arch your lower back. Just do that one more time. So these are very gentle, easy. And then eventually as you relax here, your pelvis and lower back will find a more neutral position. And in that neutral position, there's a little bit of space between the lower back and the floor. So your lower back is not pressing into the floor. Now take your feet off the floor. Bring your knees into your chest. And notice when you do that, your lower back will flatten onto the floor. Bring your knees away from your chest until your thighs are perpendicular to the floor. And lift your feet until your shin bones are parallel with the floor. Place your hands to the front of your thighs. And then as you press your hands against your thighs, press your thighs against your hands without pressing your lower back into the floor. So you keep that neutral lower back. And notice as you're doing this, hands pressing against the thighs, thighs pressing against your hands, you'll feel the abdominal muscles working. So hold on to this. Kind of amp it up a little bit. And then just for a moment, relax, hug your knees into your chest. So we're going to add on. Bring your knees away from your chest. And press your hands against your thighs, thighs against your hands, and you can flex your ankles, toes pointing straight up. Now maintain that muscular engagement of the abdominal wall. Reach your fingertips up towards the ceiling. Take a deep full breath and you can imagine you're holding a block. And then as you exhale, bring the left hand to the right thigh and press the hand against the thigh, thigh against the hand. And then add reaching your right arm over your head. So holding on to this work, now start to straighten the left leg and start to lower the left leg. And you find your edge, but making sure that you continue, you continue to firm your belly towards your back body. If this at any time feels uncomfortable for your lower back, press your lower back into the floor, maybe raise your left leg. Now inhale back to the starting position, fingertips pointing up, thighs parallel, exhale right hand to the left thigh. Extend the left arm overhead and straighten the right leg forward, maybe until the right foot is maybe a foot off the floor, but keep firming your belly in. And then inhale back to starting position, exhale first side left hand to the right thigh, right arm overhead, straighten the left leg. Inhale back to starting position, exhale right hand to the left thigh, left arm overhead, straighten the right leg forward. Inhale starting position, exhale left hand to the right thigh, right arm overhead. Inhale starting position, exhale right hand to the left thigh, left arm overhead. One more time inhale starting position, exhale left hand to the right thigh, right arm overhead. Inhale starting position, exhale right hand to the left thigh, left arm overhead. Inhale back to where you started, hug your knees into your chest. And then please bring your feet down, roll over onto your right side and find your way onto your hands and knees, coming into a quadruped position, so tabletop. As you inhale start to open up your chest, arch your back, this might feel really good after having done that abdominal work. Exhale round your back, let your head dangle, draw your belly, lower ribs in. Inhale open up your chest, pausing at the top of the inhale and exhale round your back. Inhale open up your chest and then walk your hands forward a few inches, tuck your toes under, Downward Facing Dog, Adho Mukha Svanasana. So have your feet about hips width, hide your heels behind your toes and have your hands shoulder-width apart, index fingers parallel to one another. As you inhale come forward into plank pose, check that when your body is straight as a plank that your wrists are beneath your shoulders. On your next exhalation firm the triceps in and move your hips up and back, Down Dog. Twice more, inhale plank pausing at the top of the inhale, exhale Down Dog. One more, inhale plank, pause, firm your belly in, front ribs in, exhale Down Dog. And then please go ahead and simply walk your feet up to your hands. Coming into Uttanasana, soft Uttanasana, so grab hold of your elbows and just let your head dangle here. Now cup the floor with your fingertips, inhale lengthen your spine, open your chest. You can always bend your knees a bit more here and bring your hands to your hips, firm your belly in and then leading with your chest, inhale standing up, Tadasana. As you inhale circle your arms overhead, turn your gaze up, you're welcome to seal your hands and keep your hands apart, shoulder-width. Then as you exhale hinging from your hips fold, you can always bend your knees Uttanasana. Inhale open up your chest, Ardha Uttanasana. And then as you exhale step your right foot back into a high lunge, take a deep full breath in here, press your right thigh up and as you exhale you can plant your hands flat, fingertips in line with your toes, step into plank pose. Inhale here, exhale Downward Facing Dog, Adho Mukeshvanasana. Now inhale raise your right leg behind you, leading with the inseam of the right leg, pin the left hip in and as you exhale bring the right foot up between your hands. Come up onto your fingertips so that you can more easily lengthen your spine and check that your right knee is above your right ankle. Now feel free to stay right here or inhale spread your arms out to the side, firm your belly in and then start to bend your left knee, turn the palms of your hands to face the ceiling, raise your arms overhead. Kind of pull the mat back with the right foot, pull the mat forward with the left foot and then see if you can do the action of that posterior pelvic tilt. So lift the lower belly in and up, you'll feel the left buttock firming forward and then use your arms to find more length. If you feel ready for this you can straighten the left leg but continue lifting the lower belly in and up. Also welcome as you lift your chest to look up, maybe even seal your hands. And then as you exhale bring your hands down, step into down dog. Inhale, raise your left leg behind you, firm the right hip in and as you exhale step the foot up between your hands. Might have to carry the foot part of the way. Check that the left knee is above the left ankle, again you're welcome to stay right here or spread your arms out to the side, firm your belly in and then start to bend your right knee quite a lot. Lift your chest torso, turn the palms of your hands to face the ceiling, reach your arms overhead. So kind of pull the mat back with the left foot, pull the mat forward with the right foot, square the pelvis straight ahead and then draw the lower belly in and up. You'll feel the right buttock firming forward and then use your arms to create more height, more length, more space and maybe it feels right to slowly straighten the back leg. Lift your chest, you can look up, maybe seal your hands. And then as you exhale bring your hands down, step into down dog, stretch it out. Inhale plank pose, firm your belly, front ribs up towards your back body. Look about a foot or so in front of your fingertips, push the floor away from you, broaden across your collarbones. Welcome to set your knees down. Come forward with your chest, slowly lower down, keep your elbows in but not squeezing. Inhale, lift your chest, reach your fingertips straight back, palms of the hands facing one another. Lengthen the buttocks to your heels, optional, lift your feet and legs above the floor. Spin your inner thighs up towards the ceiling, pressing out through the balls of your feet. Feel free to stay right here. You can intilate your fingers, that typically gives you more leverage to lift and open your chest. Always welcome to use a strap between your hands. Take one more deep full breath in, exhale lower your feet, place your hands by your lower ribs, either stay here in low cobra or coming into a high cobra, pull the mat back with your hands, breathe your chest forward and up. For some of you, maybe udvamukrishvanasana, upward facing dog. Strongly press your thighs up, move your tailbone in, pull your chest through the up arms and then exhale, down dog. For three full breaths. If you normally practice with ujjayi breath, bring the sound of the breath to the back of your throat, whispering soothing ha sound to the breath and then just simply walk your feet up to your hands. You can step your feet all the way together if that works for you. Inhale, open your chest, see if you can keep the weight center to the front of the heels. Exhale, fold. Inhale, spread your arms out to the side, firm the outer hips in, leading with your chest, rise up and exhale, hands to your heart, pausing for a moment, soften your gaze. Lower your arms, inhale, circle your arms overhead, grow an inch tall or maybe and then exhale, hinging from your hips, fold, uttanasana. Find to bend your knees. Inhale, open your chest, lengthen your spine. Exhale, step your right foot back, step into plank pose. Now you can set your knees down again and as you come forward with your chest, you can either lower all the way down or if chaturanga dandasana is in your practice, you can do that. Inhale, either cobra or up dog.

Exhale, downward-facing dog for three to five full breaths. A little bit more weight in your fingers, especially to your thumb and index fingers. Align your ears with the inner upper arms, firm your outer upper arms in. At the bottom of your next exhalation, step or lightly hop your feet up between your hands. Inhale, open your chest, exhale, bow. Inhale, spread your arms out to the side, rise up, exhale, hands to your heart. One more. Inhale, circle your arms overhead. Exhale, fold uttanasana. Inhale, arda uttanasana, lengthen your spine. Exhale, just simply step back, plank pose and use that exhale to lower down, maybe all the way. Inhale, cobra or up dog. Exhale, downward-facing dog for about three full breaths. Press the tops of your thighs back. If you have a tendency to hyperextend your knees, I would put a slight bend in the knees so that as you're pressing your thighs back, you're not just locking your knees. And I speak from my own experience with hyperextend knees. At the bottom of your next exhalation, step or lightly hop. Inhale, arda uttanasana. Arda means half. Exhale, uttanasana. Inhale, press your feet into the floor, lift up and exhale, hands to your heart. We're going to continue with some samsalutes, moving into a variation of samsalute B, surinamaskara B. Lower your arms. Inhale, uttanasana, chair pose. Draw your lower belly in and up. Again, you're welcome to look up, maybe seal your hands. See what works for you. Exhale, fold uttanasana. Inhale, arda uttanasana. Lengthen your spine. Exhale, step or lightly hop directly into chaturanga, if that is in your practice. Go through the vinyasa. Take your time. Vinyasa means to place in a special way, so it really implies moving mindfully. We meet in down dog. Inhale, raise your right leg behind you. Exhale, step your right foot up to your right thumb. Make sure you're not in a tight rope. Pivot the back heel down. Make sure the back foot is turned in quite a lot.

Inhale, Virabhadrasana 1, warrior 1. So strongly press the left thighbone back. Kind of spin the left inner thigh back, so see if you can drive the left hip forward a little bit more. Draw the lower belly in and up. You'll feel the left butt affirming in. And then use your arms for more height. You can look up, maybe bending the front knee a bit more. You can also seal your hands. Then as you exhale, hands come down. Step into plank pose. Slowly lower. Broaden across your collarbones. Inhale, cobra up dog. Exhale, down dog. Inhale, raise your left leg behind you. Exhale, step the left foot up to your left thumb. Pivot the back heel down. Inhale, Virabhadrasana 1. So press your right thighbone back. Spin the right inner thigh back. See if you can drive the right hip forward a little bit more. And move your lower belly in and up. Again, you'll feel the right butt affirming in. Use your arms for more height. Take one or two more breaths here. And then exhale. Start the Vinyasa. Step into plank pose. Slowly, meticulously, go through the Vinyasa. If you do Wap Dog, check that your wrists are underneath your shoulders. Exhale, Down Dog. Anywhere between three to five breaths. So Down Dog is a great place, like I'm doing, to start to smooth out your breath. Bottom of your next exhalation. Step or just simply, well, hop or simply step your feet up between your hands. See what works best for you. Inhale, Ardha Uttanasana. Move your shoulders away from your ears. Exhale, bow. Inhale, Uttanasana. Chair pose. Fierce pose. Exhale, back to center. One more little different. Inhale, Uttanasana. Chair. Keep your knees bent. As you exhale, hands come down. Slowly, straighten your legs. Fold. Inhale, open your chest. Exhale, step or lightly hop back. Luxuriously go through the Vinyasa. And we meet back in Down Dog. And inhale, raise your right leg behind you. Exhale, step it through. Move the right foot an inch or two more to the right. Set the back foot down again. Inhale, Warrior One. Now from Warrior One, we're going to come into Humble Warrior.

Interlace your fingers behind your back. If you have tight shoulders, simply take your hands to your hips. Draw the shoulders, elbows back, just to keep your chest nice and open. And then coming into a tabletop position, take your chest to the inside of the right leg if that's possible. Keep plenty of weight to that back heel. Pin the right hip in. And for some of you, maybe you start to lift your hands up. Maybe you take your head towards the right inner ankle. Humble Warrior. One more breath. Press your feet into the floor. Inhale, rise back up into Warrior One, which suddenly feels easy. And then exhale. You can simply step into Down Dog if you like. Or once again, go through the Vinyasa with curiosity. Because sometimes we do these more in automatic. Inhale when you're back into Down Dog. Raise your left leg behind you. Exhale, step it through. But take the left foot and inch or so more to the left. Set the back foot flat. Inhale, Warrior One. Interlace your fingers the non-habitual way behind your back. Roll your shoulders back. Lift your chest. And as you exhale, coming in to Humble Warrior. Pin the left hip in. Maybe reach your hands up. Bring your head closer to the left inner ankle. Keep pinning the left hip in. Plenty of weight to the back foot. To the point where you can see the inner arch of the back foot. Press your feet into the floor. Inhale, rise up. Warrior One. Exhale, you pick either Down Dog or you go through the Vinyasa and we meet in Down Dog for three breaths. When you're ready, please come on to your knees. Take a well-deserved Child's Pose. Let's sit back up. Press your hands into the floor and go ahead and sit up. I'm gonna move your hips to one side and bring your feet out in front of you. Half your feet about hips width. Parallel your feet and approximately heels about a foot to a foot and a half in front of your buttocks. Place your hands behind you, about a foot behind your hips. And for this pose today, let's just simply turn our hands out and then roll your shoulders back. We're going to come into Reverse Tabletop. So roll your shoulders back. Lift your chest. Press your feet into the floor and then start to lengthen your tailbone forward and up so that back to that posterior pelvic tilt. And then strongly press through the inner edges of the feet to keep your thighs parallel. Kind of pull the mat towards your hands with your heels to activate the hamstrings. Move your tailbone forward and up. Lift your chest and let's just keep looking towards our legs. Take one more full breath in and then as you exhale, lower back down. Now feel free to repeat this pose otherwise we're going to come into Purvottanasana.

You're gonna flex your feet and then start to press out through the balls of your feet. Let's keep that same hand position. Lift and open your chest. Shoulders back please and then inhale. Lengthen your tailbone forward and up. Lift your hips. Spin the inner thighs down. Lengthen your tailbone forward and up and reach your toes towards the floor any amount. So as you're lifting your chest, just for today, keep your head lifted. Take one more deep full breath and lift your chest and then exhale, lower back down and flex your feet sitting in Dandasana. So you might have to sit on a blanket again like we did last class so that you're able to draw the lower back in. So keep that in mind. Coming into a seated twist and open twist. So bend your right knee. Bring the right heel towards the right sitting bone and then take your right arm to the inside of the right knee. Left hand cup the floor with the fingertips. Inhale, lengthen your spine. Draw the lower back in. Sit as tall as you can and then as you exhale, gently twisting to your left. The right knee wants to splay out. Press the knee against the right arm. So inhale elongate. Press the back of the left leg into the floor. Press your sitting bones into the floor. Get a little bit more of a lift. Exhale, twisting maybe a bit more to the left looking over your left shoulder. And then inhale, look straight ahead and exhale. Release. Straighten the right leg back out in front of you. Bend your left knee.

Bring the heel towards your sitting bone. Cup the floor with the fingertips of the right hand. Take your left elbow to the inside of the left leg. Inhale, lengthen your spine. Sit as tall as you can and as you exhale gently twisting to your right. Maybe looking over your right shoulder. Press your right sitting bone. Right leg into the floor. Lengthen as you're inhaling. Twist as you're exhaling. One more breath here. And inhale, look straight ahead and exhale. Release and stretch that leg back out. And then when you're ready, bend your knees. In a moment you're going to roll down on your back. Just gonna turn around here for a second. Take your hands the back of your thighs. Inhale, lift your spine. Lift your chest and as you exhale make a C curve with your lower back. Now you can keep your hands onto the backs of your legs or you can reach your fingertips straight ahead. Scoop your belly in and then very slowly one vertebra at a time. Lower down and then once you're down, bring your knees into your chest. Stretch your legs vertically up. Imagine you're standing on the ceiling. Take your hands in between your legs. Bring your legs wide apart. Keep the back of the pelvis on the floor. Some of you might be able to grab your big toes. Not terribly important but some of you might find it interesting. Okay, one or two more breaths here. And then bring your legs back together. Bend your knees. Happy baby pose. Keep the back of the pelvis on the floor. Maybe rock a little bit from side to side. Bring your knees together. Sit your left foot down. Bring the outer right ankle on top of the left thigh. We're coming in to threat the needle pose. So you can either hold around the back of the left thigh or the left shin. And as you're pressing the back of the pelvis into the floor, just gently move the left knee towards your chest.

Squeezing the right knee away from your chest. And then when you're ready, stretch your right leg up for a moment. Bring the right foot down. Change sides. Bring the outer left ankle on top of the right thigh. And then either hold around the back of the right thigh or around the right shin. And do flex especially your left foot to stabilize your left knee. And as you're pressing the back of your pelvis into the floor, gently move the right knee in closer. Squeeze the left knee away from your chest. Couple more breaths here. Relax your face. Shoulders. Just a few more breaths here. And then please go ahead and stretch both legs up in the air for a moment. And hug your knees into your chest. So feel free to come into Shavasana. Make yourself comfortable. So that is if you have time. Otherwise you can join me as I sit up. So you can roll over onto either side and sit up. Thank you so much for joining me in this morning's practice. I hope you feel more awake. I'll see you soon. Namaste.