Day 8: Ease

Friends, we're back at it again. This is day eight. We're going to explore ease today. I have a feeling you might appreciate that after day seven. We explored levity, but you discovered, I imagine, that levity did require a little bit of strength.

Today we'll dial it down just a little bit and just try to find, you know, that rediscover that suppleness and that sense of ease, returning to breath always, right? Every single day returning to breath. But today maybe welcoming it a little bit more. So why don't you join me in a seated position. Please have handy a block if you'd like to sit on top of a block as I am.

And a blanket might be useful as well, and you'll set those things off to the side. You will come and join me in a cross-legged seat of your choosing. I happen to be seated on a block. You can join me in doing that. And then rest your hands on your knees or your thighs.

Go ahead and soften the gaze or close your eyes and take a few moments here just to breathe. Ease, easy breaths. Ease full seat, easy seat. Letting the breath just move through you in the way that it does, very naturally, expansively. Full breath in, a nice long breath out.

And as you're ready, you'll open your eyes, extend your arms, lift your chest easily. And as you breathe in, you'll sweep your arms around and up, receiving that breath in. As you exhale, twist to the right as you lower your arms. Nice fluid, gentle twist. Inhale, coming to center, breathing in.

And then exhaling, twisting in the opposite direction. Again, inhale, come to center. Exhale, twist. Inhale, center. Exhale, twist.

Once more, each side, you'll inhale to center. And then exhale, twist, and just hold the twist. And noticing if there's any sort of compulsion to crank yourself into the twist, to do a little exorcism, easy, no exorcism today, softness. Look in the opposite direction of the twist as you breathe in, lengthen the spine. As you exhale, a little more gentle, easy clarity in the twist.

Then as you next breathe in, come to center, exhale, twisting in the opposite direction, twisting any compulsion to sort of crank yourself into the twist, easy. Gaze in the opposite direction, inhale to lengthen your spine. Exhale, a little more clarity in the twist, just twisting along the axis of the body. Now as that next inhale comes, you'll come to center, you'll exhale, and you'll find a side bend to the right, reaching through your left fingertips, turning the pinky side of the hand down towards the floor, softening the shoulders, softening the elbow of the top arms, a little soft bend of the top arm. As you breathe in, you'll come past through center, and then you'll exhale and find an easy side bend in the opposite direction, rooting that sitting bone down, softness everywhere in both elbows, both shoulders.

Breathe in, come to center, great, exhale, sweep the arms out to shoulder height, and then wrap your right arm underneath the left, either backs of palms touch or palms touch, lift the elbows up to shoulder height, bring the hands forward, so there's some release happening here, but can you be soft as you move through that experience of released elbows, lift up a little more hands, a little bit more forward, as you inhale, lift your chest up, finding a little cow action in this seated position. As you exhale, draw your elbows in towards you, tuck your chin, curve your spine, inhale, lifting up. Great, exhale, reverse, inhale, reaching the elbows forward and up. This time as you exhale, just come to a neutral spine, but keep the elbows shoulder height, keep the hands moving forward, you might feel a little release of the rhomboids, those muscles on either side of the spine between the shoulder blades. Take one more full breath in, and as you exhale, you'll release that, extend your arms out to the sides, pause, soften the elbows, and then opposite side.

Left arm underneath right, backs of hands touch or palms can touch, lift the elbows, hands forward, inhale, lift the chest, exhale, curve the spine, tuck the chin, keep moving the hands away from the face, inhale to lift up, reaching the heart through the upper arms, exhale, curving the spine, tucking the chin, inhale, lifting up. Exhale, curving the spine, inhale, lifting up, spreading the collar bones, exhaling, coming to a neutral spine, elbows shoulder height, hands stay moving away, feel the shoulder blades moving apart and slightly forward as the hands move forward, take a breath in there, as you exhale, you'll release the arms out to the sides, press through your palms, then little shoulder flossing, so head of one shoulder can come forward, and then you'll alternate sides. You can soften the elbows as you do this, no real right or wrong way to do this, you're just trying to move those arm bones, head of the arm bones in the shoulder sockets, maybe synchronizing with breath, maybe not, but just find fluidity, notice if there's any kind of bracing, even as you do this, and how can you soften just a little bit more, and I'm feeling like I'm sort of going from side to side, if you're called to do that, go ahead, and then a couple more passes like that, great, extend your arms, turn your palms up, breathe in, sweep your arms up, exhale, float your hands down the center line of your body and pause for a moment, great, float your hands down, come to a tabletop position facing the front of your mat, move your block off to the side if you use one, and then big toes touching knees wide apart and easefully, easily send your seat towards your heels, descend the seat, soften the elbows, rest the head so that the back of the neck is spacious, and you take a few breaths here, breathing in to the upper back and letting every exhale help you get a little closer to gravity, crawl your hands as far forward as you can, so gathering length on the sides of your body, take a nice full breath into the sides of your body, and then crawl your hands over to your right side, bend your right elbow, tenth of fingers, press into the fingertips to lift your torso up and drape it over your thighs, you can keep the hand in that shape or you might like to extend your right arm straight forward, hands can stay apart or you can place your left hand on top of the right, take a couple of breaths here, feeling that left side of the body releasing, inhaling and exhaling, breath moving through the body, body in a position in a shape that allows that breath to move fully and completely and freely, expansively, easily, take a full breath in and a long breath out and then walk the hands through center staying long in the side body and then over to the left side and once you're there you'll bend your left elbow, tent the fingers, press into the pads of the fingers to drape the torso over the thigh and then extend that left elbow, maybe placing your right hand on top of the left and softening and if it's not so comfortable to place the right hand on top of the left, hands can stay apart, find an expression of this, that is easeful and don't be surprised if doing that is a little challenging, you know, we're sort of habituated to doing the most, so take a few breaths just like this, feel and allow that right side body to release and after your next exhale you'll walk your hands to center and then come up onto hands and knees my friends, grab your blanket if you have one and you'll place it at the center of your mat to pad your knees, this will come to hands and knees with knees on the blanket, I think I'm going to come forward so that my shins are fully padded, great and then you're going to return to a child's pose, so big toes touch, knees come wide apart, you'll relax the elbows and pause there for a moment, shift your hips a little from left to right, so easing your way into the child's pose, descend and relax the hips and then when an inhale comes you'll stand on your knees, lift your arms up, let the chest expand and then as you exhale you'll make your way back down to a child's pose, we'll do that a few more times, so inhale come to stand on the knees, riding the full wave of that inhale up, you can widen your arms if you like and then exhale, riding the full wave of that exhale back down to a child's pose, again like that inhale standing on the knees, opening the chest, exhaling child's pose, one more time like that, inhale come to stand on the knees, receive the breath, feel that expansive quality of breath and then exhale child's pose and then come back forward on to hands and knees, let's make some circles with the hips, so these circles can be as large or as small as you like, let's start in one direction whichever direction suits you, palms stay nice and broad so you have a nice broad base of support as you shift your weight forward especially and then go ahead and change direction as you're ready, let's come to a neutral tabletop position and enjoy that soft padding beneath the knees and step your right foot back, spread the toes, press your heel towards the floor and feel your calf release as you do that and then shift your weight forward and feel the front of the foot release and you'll just shift a couple of times that way, maybe one of those positions feels especially good in which case you can stay there and then come to neutral as you're ready, lift the right leg up, lift up by the inner thigh, inhale reach the heel back, as you exhale draw your knee to your nose, inhale extend the leg back, reach the top of the head forward, exhale draw your knee to your nose, one more time inhale reach the leg back, getting long through the heel through the crown of the head and then as you exhale knee to the floor and then step your left foot back and same thing, pressing the heel towards the floor as in downward facing dog, shifting forward as in plank pose, the feeling you know whatever releases is happening in the foot, you feel how the positioning of the foot affects sort of the sensation in the leg and then let's come to neutral, let's lift the left leg up by the inner thigh so the hips are level, inhale reach back through the heel, exhale draw your knee to your nose, contract, inhale extend, exhale draw the knee to the nose, inhale extend, exhale knee to nose, inhale extend and pause breathe in and then exhale knee to the floor, circle your right arm forward as you shift your hips forwards and backwards and then let's switch sides, circle the left arm forward as you shift the hips forwards and backwards, breath very expansive all the while come to center, great pause here, take a breath cycle here, as you inhale please step your right foot back, turn the toes towards the back of the your long edge of your mat, reach your right arm up to the ceiling, as you exhale hand to the floor knee to the floor, we're going to alternate sides like that, inhale step the left foot back open, exhale come to center and you can play, you can vary you know the the arm variations, we're just moving through parigasana gate pose, this alternating sides and let yourself play a little bit and be pretty easeful and curious as you do this, and one more time on that left side, you'll come to center and pause and then from here let's tuck the toes under, walk the hands back just so we can get rid of the blanket, you know place the blanket gingerly and beautifully off to the side and then return to that tabletop position wrists under shoulders, knees under hips, spread the knuckles of your fingers, this time we'll keep the hands here, we'll tuck the toes under and lift your hips up and back to downward facing duck, let the inner heels descend, soften the knees, spill the pelvis forward and then extend all the way through your knees and then see if without bending your knees you can walk your feet up to your hands, once you're at the top of your mat soften the knees and find uttanasana grab opposite elbows and breathe, nice full breath in, feel that expansive quality of breath and that reality of expansion as you breathe in, as you exhale soft and a little more, a little easier this standing forward fold and then release your hands to the floor and then let's roll ourselves up to standing, let's keep the knees soft as we do that to protect the lower back, shift your weight from left to right, and then come all the way up to standing once you're there, little human movement, roll the shoulders back and down, roll one shoulder back, one arm back and then the other and find tadasana, mountain poles, feet planted firmly, pause and feel, begin to breathe in, sweep your arms around and up, exhale soften your knees and hinge forward, inhale to prepare, pose hands to your shins or your blocks or the floor, exhale forward fold, inhale sweep the arms around and up, look up touch your palms, exhale draw the hands down the center line of the body, pause there for a moment, hands in anjali mudra, release the arms, inhale sweep the arms around and up easily, naturally, exhale and hinge forward naturally and easily, inhale and find prepare poles, lifting the chest so you can take that full breath in and exhale forward fold, inhale lifting up again, prepare pose, exhale bowing to the breath, inhale prepare poles, root the inner heels down, hands to your shins this time, send your tailbone back and the crown of your head forward, so nice fully beautifully extended spine, broad across the collarbones but then soften, so keep the architecture of the shape and soften around it a little bit and as you're doing this, you're going to soften around it a little bit and as you inhale reach just the right arm forward and then float it down, inhale left arm, exhale float it down, one more time each side, breathe in and breathe out, inhale good exhale, inhale reach both arms forward and pause there, sit a little bit lower into the chair, sit lower still as you breathe and press into your heels, come all the way up to stand, exhale release your arms, this time as you inhale sweep your arms forward, sit into utkatasana with the arms extended and then exhale to forward fold, inhale sit and sweep the arms forward, exhale forward fold, inhale utkatasana, exhale forward fold, this time interlace your hands behind the back, heels of the hand, such elbows together as you breathe in next, bend through the knees, draw the knuckles back, reach the heart forward, so the shape you know takes a lot of muscular effort but can you apply just enough effort so that you're not over efforting, can you find a little quality of ease inside of this fairly demanding shape, sit a little bit lower, lift the chest as you breathe in, let that breath expand the chest, draw the knuckles back, breathe in, exhale to forward fold, keep the hands clasped, as you inhale bend the left knee straight in the right knee and open your chest to the right little twist in this skier's pose, exhale come pass through center and opposite side, press to the left heel, straighten the leg, breathe in and then exhale come to center, great release your hands to the floor and pause, relax the elbows, relax the head and the neck, bring your hands to your hips, elbows together with an extended spine, come all the way up to standing, great release your arms, pause, rest your hands on your body, hands to your hips, soften your knees, step your left foot back and a little over to the left so we can maintain balance just preparing for a high lunge, so you'll peel your back toes all the way back, that back knee is bent to whatever degree you need to keep space in your lumbar spine, so you play with that a little bit and what expression of this shape allows you to feel easeful, so demanding but can you soften a little bit, inhale to sweep your arms up, let the elbows be soft, so typically you know we might be inclined to be really just a little over efforting, where can you soften inside of the high lunge, softening the elbows, softening the shoulders, inhale to lift up, take one more breath in here, as you exhale float your hands down to the floor, your blocks reach your right arm up to the ceiling, breathe in, exhale float your hand to the floor, inhale to plank pose, maybe lowering your knees to the floor, lift your chest up, use your exhale to lower all the way down to the floor, inhale to bhujangasana, exhale lower down, press back to downward facing dog, look up between your hands, you can walk, step, hop forward once you're there, inhale with a long spine prepare pose, exhale forward fold release release release, inhale sweep your arms around and up as you sit into utkatasana, exhale float the hands down, hands to your hips, soften the knees, step your right foot back and a little to the right preparing yourself for a high lunge on this side that is clear but also supple and easeful, extend your arms and pause, reach through the fingertips but soften the shoulders, how can you express in the shape so that you're not feeling rigid, take one more breath in there, let the breath move through you and let the body express that movement of breath and as you exhale hands to the floor, inhale reach the left arm up to the ceiling and then exhale hand to the floor, inhale to plank pose, lower your knees to the floor and let's lower ourselves down easily, once you're there untuck your toes hands next to your body with the palms face down, lift your right leg up, lengthen it, lift the left leg up lengthen it, as you breathe in lift everything off of the floor, legs, chest, arms, exhale lower, inhale lift and exhale lower, inhale lifting up and pausing here, inner thighs lifting up, think more length than lift, reach the crown of your head forward, can you give a little bit more your body to your breath so you've set the shape, let the breath move through the body and take one more breath in here, as you exhale you lower yourself down and let's press back to a child's pose so hands next to the lower ribs, press back to child's pose and pause, nice full breath in long breath out and then as you're ready my friends you'll come forward to a tabletop position and from here you will step your left foot forward and you'll come to an upright position and then let's hook the left thumb into the left hip crease and extend your right arm alongside your ear, let's get long in the spine and hinge slightly forward and begin to revolve the chest towards that left knee as you hook your elbow, bring your palms to prayer at the front of your chest, let this pressing of the palms help you access maybe a little more rotation of the spine but remembering right this quality of ease that we're trying to to access, so breath expansive, breath easeful, breathful and you can stay here, there's always the option to tuck your back toes under and lift your back knee up but will it serve our pursuit of ease, so completely up to you, it's a couple more breaths there, take one more full breath in and a long breath out, let that exhale help you find a little more clarity in the twists and then at the bottom of that exhale you'll pass through center, you'll bring your hands to the floor and step the back knee back, maybe a little hip circle or two and then you'll step your right foot forward, come to an upright position, hooking your right thumb into that right hip crease, extending your left arm alongside your ear, inhaling to lengthen through the spine, hinge forward and start to revolve to the right, hook the left elbow on the outside of the knee, palms are in prayer and you pause here, you pause here and you sort of body recalibrates with every breath and you let it and maybe you stay here with back knee on the floor, if you're called to tuck your back toes under and lift the back knee up, go right ahead, just try to stay in this place of easeful supple movement, I'm going to take one more breath cycle, after that next exhale you can release and come to center, great and then join me in dandasana my friend, so come to sit, extend your legs straight forward, step your feet to the floor, reach your arms forward, scoop your tailbone forward as you lower yourself all the way down to the floor, hug your knees into your chest, step your feet to the floor, cross your right ankle over your left knee, flex the foot strongly, send that thigh bone away from you, right thigh bone as you hug your left thigh bone in towards your chest, flexing the right foot strongly as you draw the left thigh ever closer but you know staying in that place of spaciousness right and supple this, less about effort and more about release, keep the legs in this configuration my friends and then please find a cactus shape with your arms and then take a little twist to the left so you'll let that right foot stand on the floor, let that knee point up to the ceiling, you can use your left hand to press into your right thigh bone to traction your hip and you'll take a few breaths there and just sort of enjoy whatever sensation arises but you know noticing if there are any areas where you can soften where they're still holding, invite those places to to release, release, great, arms back into the cactus position, you'll come to center, you step your left foot to the floor, uncross your legs and let's go to the opposite side so crossing left ankle over right knee, flex the foot, draw the right thigh towards you as you press the left thigh away and then you're actively doing those two counter actions right thigh towards you, left thigh away, that's pretty active and then at some point you can release that and just let the let the stretch be what it is, release the arms, backs of hands to the to the floor, the elbows bent, goal post arms and then twisting to the right, stepping your left foot to the floor, knee up to the ceiling, right hand presses into the thigh bone creating a little space for that, for the hip and breathing there, excellent, release that hand, you'll come to center, you step your right foot to the floor, uncross your legs, good knees into the chest again, let's bring the soles of the feet to touch, draw the ankles towards you as you press the thigh bones and the knees forward and then release the feet onto the floor as close or as far away from your pelvis as you like as is comfortable for you, hands can rest on the thighs or on the on the torso, you know take a couple of moments there in Supta Baddha Konasana, staying there for as long as you like and making your way to Shavasana by extending one leg and then the other, palms can be face up and away from the body, relax the hands, let the fingertips curl gently and naturally and towards the centers of the palms, feet are relaxed, legs relaxed, I'm softening completely, completely, completely, you can stay in Shavasana for as long as you like friends but if you're ready to come up and have a seat with me, begin to deepen your breath, wiggle the fingers and toes, roll to one side and very gently and carefully keeping the eyes closed if you can coming up to a seated position and once you are upright sitting well, resting hands on your knees or your thighs, closing your eyes, palms come together at the center of your chest into Anjali Mudra, bowing head to hands honoring your body, your breath, the incredible gorgeous connection between them and your beautiful commitment to deepening your connection to your breathing body. Namaste.