Flow Like Water

Welcome and thank you for joining me for this watery, continuous flow where we'll tap into the element of water and really move with our breath, letting the breath guide our movement. So let's begin in a comfortable cross-leg seated position. Just taking a moment to land, let your sitting bones root down, find some length in your spine, just letting your hands rest on the knees. Maybe close your eyes for a moment and just tune into the fluidity of your breath, noticing the natural rhythm of your breathing, the rise of the inhale, and like a wave, the fall of your exhale. And as you arrive here at your practice, taking a moment to just observe, notice what you're showing up to your practice with, perhaps setting an intention for your practice today, and maybe it's just calling in that fluid quality, that easeful quality. Beautiful. And so staying connected with the breath, gently blink the eyes open, we'll start to take some circles with the spine for Sufi rolls. So as you inhale, you can come forward, reaching the heart forward, as you exhale, just kind of rounding back, letting the spine round, letting these circles be as big or as small as it feels good in your body. And feel free to linger anywhere that it feels good to linger. Maybe take the circles in the opposite direction. Your eyes might be closed as you let the head, neck, and shoulders become a part of the movement. Just releasing any tension you might be holding on to, noticing areas where you might be holding tension, and letting that go. So taking just a few more rounds here, and then begin to let the circles become a little bit smaller as you come back toward your center. Beautiful. Take a moment to observe where that movement lands, and then meet me in all fours. So we'll come to tabletop, and as we come to tabletop position, same idea here, just start to create some circles. So shift the weight around, take some barrel rolls, move the hips, and feel that crackling in the body as you move. I'm feeling that in the shoulders and the hips, taking it in either direction. So you're really feeling into the hips, into the wrists, and really just tapping into that fluid quality, that watery movement, moving in a way that it feels good to move. So letting this be your own practice today. Good. And then let your breath bring you back through center. We'll walk the hands forward just a little bit in front of the shoulders, tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back into our first downward facing dog. And then same thing here. How would it feel good to move in this shape? What would it mean to move like you? So pedal it out, maybe sway your hips side to side, shake the head yes and no. It's kind of feeling into the back body, the hamstrings. You can always put a bend in the knees or step the feet a little wider if that feels good today. Beautiful. And then on your next breath in, let's glide forward into plank pose, top of a push-up. We'll take a moment just to land in plank, shoulders over wrists, hips in line with shoulder blades, and then soften the knees a little bit, lift the hips up and back into downward facing dog. So kind of moving like a wave as you inhale forward, round into plank pose, soften the knees, exhale, lift it back to downward facing dog. One more, fluid movement, inhale, gliding forward, exhale, gliding back, soften the knees, lift the hips up and back. Beautiful. This time come forward to plank pose, lower all the way to the belly. Hug the elbows in as you lower down and then take your hands on either side of the mat. So tenting the fingertips, let the elbows lift up toward the ceiling, taking a wide cobra as you inhale, press through the tops of the feet and just start to peel the chest up off the earth, any amount, and then the exhale brings you back down. So we'll take rolling cobras, two more like that, inhale, peel the chest up, exhale, lower and release. Good. One more, inhale, peel up, wide arm cobra, exhale, soften, and release. Good. Meet me back in down dog, either pressing up through plank or hands and knees, lift the hips up and back, and then just take a nice slow walk to the front of the mat, bring your feet up towards your hands, maybe take a breath or two as you fold over the legs, soften the knees, and then one vertebra at a time, roll up nice and slow, coming to the top of the mat, bring your shoulders with you, and then just let them melt down the back. Good. Step your feet together, come right into chair pose, Utkatasana, bend the knees deeply, sweep the arms up. Now keep the shape in the legs, so knees stay bent, big full breath in. As you exhale, sweep the arms back behind you, lower the torso toward your thighs, and two more like that, inhale, gathering energy, arms sweep up, exhale, sweep the arms back, lower the torso, go one more inhale, gathering. This time as you sweep the arms back, come all the way into your forward fold. Good. Inhale, lift halfway, lengthen through the spine, plant your palms, step back to plank pose, top of a push-up, lower halfway or all the way down through Chaturanga. Inhale, cobra pose, peel the chest out. Good, and then exhale, bring it back to downward facing dog, either moving up through plank or hands and knees will meet there. Beautiful. Now sweep the right leg up to the sky, big breath in. As you exhale, gaze between your hands, step your foot all the way through, stay on the ball of your back foot, and we'll set up for crescent pose. So as you inhale, sweep the arms forward and up, take a moment to lend, so let the tailbone melt down, soften through that back knee, energize up through your fingertips. Beautiful. And then put a soft bend in your elbows to goal post your arms or cactus arms. Feel the lift in the heart space here. Good. On an inhale, sweep your arms up, start to straighten through your front leg, open up to warrior two for a moment. So bending through that front knee, opening the torso up to the side of the mat, reaching forward and back. Beautiful. Now keep the shape with the legs, flip your front palm, tilt back, reverse warrior. Inhaling. Good. Exhale, circle hands to the earth, step back to plank pose, move through Chaturanga halfway or all the way down. Inhale, cobra, maybe upward facing dog. As you straighten the arms, lift the thighs up off the earth, and then meet back in down dog. Beautiful. Holding for a big full breath in, long breath out.

Good. Inhale, sweep the left leg up. As you exhale, gaze forward, step your left foot through between the hands, stay on the ball of the back foot. You might widen your stance a little bit. As you find your base, sweep the arms up, feel the lightness and ease in the upper body as you sink into crescent, letting the back knee soften a little bit, tailbone melting down. Good. And then start to put that bend in the elbows as the heart lifts. Sink in a little deeper, maybe lift the gaze. Beautiful. On your next breath in, start to straighten through your front leg, and then open everything up to warrior two, facing the side of the mat, spin the back heel down, let the shoulders soften. And you might kind of move in and out of warrior two a little bit, just keeping that fluid quality. Good. Flip your front palm inhale, tilt back, reverse warrior. Good. As you exhale, circle hands to the earth, take your vinyasa, stepping left foot back, halfway or all the way down, chaturanga. Inhale, cobra or upward facing dog, meeting in downward facing dog, breathing in, and then letting something go. Exhale. Beautiful. And then back to the right side as you're ready, float the right leg up, big full breath in. Exhale, step through. So same beginning. This time we're linking one breath per movement, inhale up to crescent pose. As you exhale, put a bend in the elbows, cactus your arms. Good. Inhale, straighten through your front leg, reach the arms up as you exhale, right back to warrior two, and then right away we'll flip the front palm, tilt back, reverse warrior. This time start to straighten through your front leg. So feel reverse triangle, excuse me, and then from your reverse triangle, we'll come all the way up and over to half moon. So putting a bend through that right knee, let your right fingertips find the earth or a block, float the left leg up, flexing through the left foot, playing with balance. We won't be here long if you're wobbling, let it be fluid. Good. And then stepping your left foot to meet the right, come to chair pose at the front of the mat. So we're back to chair, utkatasana, big full breath in. As you exhale, keep the shape, sweep the arms back. Good. Let the torso lower. Inhale, right back to chair. This time exhale, forward fold, uttanasana. Let everything melt down over the legs. Good. On an inhale, lift halfway and lengthen and step or lightly float back through your vinyasa. Inhale for cobra or up dog. Exhale back to downward facing dog. Nice work. And then taking it to the second side. As you're ready, inhale, left leg lifts. Exhale, step it through. Same beginning, crescent pose. Let the inhale bring you up. As you exhale, bend the elbows and cactus the arms. Feel the lift in the heart space, maybe the gaze. Good. Inhale, start to straighten through the front leg. Really reach back through the right heel. And then exhale, open it up for warrior two. Good. Right away, we'll flip the front palm tilt back. Reverse warrior, start to straighten the front leg for reverse triangle pose. Feel that nice length in the left side body. Good. And then start to bend through that left knee as you come up and over into half moon. So left hand under the shoulder, float the right leg up, stacking through the shoulders. Embracing the wobble, flex through your right foot. Beautiful. And then easy transition, stepping your right foot to meet the left, utkatasana, chair pose, front of the mat, arms sweep up, big breath in. Exhale, sweep the arms back, lower the torso down, keep the legs. One more time. Inhale, gathering energy, arms lift. Exhale, let that all go, utkatasana. Nice work. Inhale, lift halfway, arda utkatasana. One more vinyasa if you want it. Plant the palm, step or lightly float back, chaturanga. Inhale, lifting the heart cobra or up dog. Exhale, meet me in downward facing dog. Nice work. Take a big full breath in. Long breath out to release. And just taking a moment here in your down dog to really tap in to the movement. And even if you're finding some stillness here, noticing how much movement there is in stillness. Beautiful noticing the residue, the echo of that movement where it lands. And then we'll float the right leg up to the sky, big breath in. Start to draw your knee in towards your nose and then parallel your shin toward the front of the mat as we settle into single pigeon. And just taking your time as you set up at the top, know where to get to, let the transition be just as much a part of the movement of the posture. Just letting the posture meet you where you are today. So if you need any props under that right hip or if there's another hip opener that you prefer, feel free to honor that. Otherwise waiting for that invitation to go a little deeper as you walk your hands forward. Breathing into any sensations as they arise. Just tuning into the quality of your breath. Just this inhale. Just this exhale.

And again noticing how much movement there is in stillness. That even though we're pausing, we're holding the posture, there's still so much going on. Tapping into that. Notice if water is starting to drip down your face as it is mine. Doesn't take much. The hot desert. Good. And then take your time. Peel your way up. We'll come back to downward facing dog. If there's anything you need to let go of that side, feel free. So if you want one more vinyasa, maybe kind of gliding back to plank pose. Finding that wave in the spine. Noticing how the right side feels versus the left side. And then floating left leg up as you're ready. Big full breath in. Exhale, knee toward the nose. Start to parallel the shin toward the front of your mat. And then just take your time as you settle in. So easy transition. No rush. Nowhere to get to. If you need any props under the left hip, go ahead and grab a bolster, a blanket, whatever you need. And then taking your time. Waiting for that invitation to go a little deeper. Noticing how the posture transforms as you breathe into the shape. Letting the shape meet you where you are in this moment. Be different every time we visit the shape. Be here and breathe.

Just allowing for a few more full deep breaths. And just tapping into that healing quality of water. The sea of sweat. Anywhere you can. Maybe jumping into the ocean or a lake today. And just noticing how refreshing that feels. And taking your time as we move out of this side. If it feels okay, just let your weight shift off toward the left hip. If you want to come back to down dog and that would feel more complete for you, feel free to do that. Otherwise we'll meet seated at the front of the mat. Reaching your legs out in front of you. Sitting up nice and tall. Flexing through the feet. Inhale as you sweep the arms up and then leading with the heart as you come into Pashimottanasana. Forward fold. Just letting your hands fall wherever they fall as you fold in. Feel free to soften the knees a little bit. Maybe close your eyes. On an inhale maybe lengthen through the spine. Come halfway up. As you exhale soften and fold. Good. On your next breath in. Come all the way up. Keep the heels connected to the earth. Reach the arms forward. Soften the knees a little bit and then slowly roll all the way down to the earth. Notice where the heels wanted to lift. And then draw your knees in toward your chest and rock it out. Side to side. Massage the lower back. Maybe take your knees in circles in either direction. Again that circular movement. That fluid movement. Intuitive movement. What do you need to feel complete in your practice here. Beautiful. And then as you're ready let's draw the knee. The nose to the knees. Knees to the nose. Hug everything in. Big full breath in. You hold the breath up at the top. Sip in a little bit more air. Exhale. Side out and let everything release into Shavasana. So letting the legs go long on your mat. Let your feet just roll open like books. Softening through the lower belly. The pelvis. Letting the palms face up on either side of the body. Let the shoulders draw down the back as the heart lifts. Just let yourself rest the fluidity of your breath. Breathing together on the count of inhaling. One, two, three, four. Brief pause. Exhale for four, three, two, and one. Just rest. And bringing the awareness back to the natural rhythm of the breath. Feeling the rise of the inhale. Like a wave, the fall of the exhale. Inviting any gentle movement. Back in. Fingers, toes, ankles, wrists. Reach your arms up over your ears.

Full body stretch. Big full breath in. Exhale to release. Let the soles of the feet find the earth. Maybe roll to either side or just simply make your way to a comfortable seated position. We'll bring hands together. And this mudra of gratitude. Anjali mudra. Thank you so much for sharing this practice with me today. I hope to practice with you again soon. Namaste.